//------------------------------// // Closer Than You Imagine // Story: My Little Heartbreak: Meanwhile, Back at the Farm // by Jet_Black1980 //------------------------------// Chapter 44 Closer Than You Imagine Applejack stuck to the shadows as she watched her cousin creep towards the house. She watched him creep to the side of it, shimmy the drain pipe and slip back through his bedroom window. “So that’s how he’s been doin’ it.” She lowered her head and looked through the knot hole at Heartbreak. The pony was visibly shaken and was burying her face in her hooves. She glared at the rubber chicken that was near her and smacked it away. The way that things were going, it looked like she wasn’t going to get a good night’s sleep. “An she has enough trouble with that as it is. Alright A.J., time ta make good.” She walked to the barn door and rapped on it with her hoof. “H.B.?” Heartbreak looked up and nearly jumped back into the hay behind her. “Applejack!” she shouted. Applejack put a hoof up. “Calm down,” she said soothingly. “Ah think we need ta have another talk.” Heartbreak blinked and then rolled her eyes before her head drooped down. “You were by the barn for that entire thing, weren’t you?” “Uhm...How’d ya know?” Applejack asked. “Lucky guess. Or maybe just cosmic irony,” Heartbreak replied. “How much of that mess did you hear?” Applejack chuckled. “Ah got to hear most of that story of yers.” Heartbreak rolled her eyes. “And here I was hoping that thing would never see the light of day.” Applejack rapped her hoof on the door frame. “Right, ah’m just gonna come out an’ say what needs ta be said.” She looked up at Heartbreak. “Yer a confusin’ critter an’ it’s hard to know what ta make of ya. An’ ah haven’t been the best of teachers here. Ah’m not saying that ya weren’t wrong in leavin’ ma cousin like that. Ah’m not sayin’ ah was right in punishin’ ya.” “But we’ve both said and did some things that we didn’t mean to do?” Heartbreak asked. Applejack nodded. “An’ ah’m sure that we’re both sorry for it. What’s more, ya actually calmed...Dib down and got him ta see rational like. And that’s no easy feat.” Heartbreak traced her hoof on the ground. “I just told him a terrible story.” “Don’t put yerself down like that there, H.B.” Applejack said. Heartbreak looked up upon hearing her preferred name. “This was a long, mind boggling difficult trek here, but,” Applejack sighed, “Ya did good here. An’ ah know we’ve been through this song an dance before. But after givin’ a bit of thought, ah would really like it if ya came back in the house.” Heartbreak looked taken back. “Don’t give me that look, if ya know me like ya go on about, then ya should know that ah am willin’ to admit to when ah’ve, uhm... fetted up?” Heartbreak jumped a little at hearing Applejack use her word. “Yeah, that would be the right way to use that word.” “Right. Now come on. Let’s get back ta the house before we both catch a cold,” Applejack said. “Wait, Uhm, Applejack?” Heartbreak said, pushing herself up off the ground. “What is it there, H.B.? An’ ya are welcome ta call me A.J. if ya like,” she said with a soft smile. Heartbreak returned that look before speaking. “I got some hay in my hoof. You mind helping me get it out, please?” Applejack couldn’t help but smirk. “Ah wouldn’t mind a bit, there, H.B. Come on now.” ============================================================== Dib re-entered his room. He was shaking with so many different feelings. H.B. had said that things were ok between them, but that didn’t make the feelings of guilt and shame go away. How could he have been so stupid?! How could he have been so wrong!? What was the saying that his sister kept using? ‘Only foals rush in?' He looked at his saddle bag. “Lyra,” he growled. He had trusted her. Listened to her. Tried to help her in her dead ended quest. He was so tempted to smash the communication crystal and just be done with the whole HLC thing. He paused. “No, be rational and keep a cool head. Talk to her and confront her about this.” He took the crystal out of his bag. It flickered with a bit of indigo light. “Lyra? Are you there? We need to talk.” Dib waited for a few moments. “Lyra-” The crystal jumped to life and a horrible sobbing sound emanated from it. “Lyra?” The only response was crying. “Lyra? Are you ok?” Dib asked with concern. A hard sniffing came through. “I...I heard everything, Dib...” Dib blanched and realized that the crystal had been receiving the entire time. “E-everything?” “Yes,” she replied. “Everything. Ugh! What was I thinking?! How could I have you do this!?” Her voice went to a quiet hush. “I’m a horrible pony...” In the back of Dib’s mind there was a voice that said, ‘Yes, yes you are.” He stifled it with an internal glare. After all, didn’t he just have this conversation with H.B.? How could he yell at her and demean her like he was about to when a pony named Heartbreak just practically forgave him? He cleared his throat. “You are not a horrible pony, Lyra. You were just confused and wanted to catch your dream...our dream, so badly that you couldn’t see that we were in danger of crushing it,” he replied. “I think that we can all see this as something to maybe learn from?” Lyra sniffed from the other end. “Y-Yeah. Next time I won’t take strange folders from ponies so pale that vanilla ice cream has colour in comparison,” she replied bitterly. Dib blinked. “Uhm, yeah, that’s a good idea. And I think you should try to make it up to H.B. I don’t think she knows that you were involved in any of this, but...” he paused. “If she’s as smart as I am, it won’t take her long to put the pieces together.” ============================================================== Lyra looked at the cork board in front of her. There were a web of pictures all tethered together by coloured strings. Humans connected with Heartbreak, connected with Twilight and her friends and somehow it was all connected with a shadowy conspiracy involving the Princess. The communication crystal was set up like a microphone held by mechanical hand-like contraption. She thought she had used all the information that Tale Spinner had given her correctly. She thought she had finally gotten a good handle on what was there. Though thinking about, when the instructions said, ‘Wave a rubber chicken over the head of a werequine and speak these words to show their true nature?’ That should have been a big clue that something was up. “Yeah...you’re right,” Lyra replied, sighing. She tapped a hoof on the cork board that was mocking her. “I doubt you ever want to see me again.” There was a deafening quiet from Dib’s end. Lyra sniffed. Only now did she realize that this could have been an opportunity to make friends. “I wouldn’t say that.” The crystal fluttered. “As long as you make it up to H.B. somehow.” Lyra smiled a sad smile and then chuckled. “I think I’m the last pony she wants to see right now.” “You never know,” Dib replied. “You could always try being her friend. I think she could use a lot more of those.” “I...could try.” She looked at the board. “But after what just happened? I’m going to give her some space” “That’s most likely the best idea,” Dib replied. “Good night Lyra.” “Good night, Dib. And stay in touch?” Lyra asked. “I will,” came the reply before the crystal fluttered off. Lyra glared at the board and envelope that lay on her desk. She was so frustrated, so angry. “If I ever see that pony again, I swear...” She shook her head. It could be easy to be angry at Tale Spinner, but it was she that had taken the folder and followed Heartbreak. She sighed and lifted the two offending objects up with her magic, guiding them to the closet to be out of her sight. Just then, there was a rapping at her door. Lyra rolled her eyes. Part of her wanted to just be alone, another part of her craved somepony to hug and tell her that she wasn’t as horrible as she thought she was. “Come in,” she finally said. Bon-Bon walked in. “Lyra, I think we need to have a talk about your most recent ob-” Lyra looked at her friend with tears in her eyes. “Geez, Lyra are you ok?” The unicorn looked down. “No...” She finally replied. “But I will be...” She looked up at the blank wall in front of her. “Do you want to talk about it?” Bon-Bon asked uneasily. “I’m going to leave this one alone,” Lyra finally said. “What?” Bon-Bon asked. “Yeah,” Lyra said after a short silence. “I have come to the conclusion that I was just seeing patterns and things that weren’t there. And that by obsessing over them, I was hurting others at the cost of my own personal curiosity.” Bon-Bon blinked and walked over to her friend cautiously. She lifted her hoof to Lyra’s forehead and blinked. “You don’t feel feverish...Who are you and what have you done with my Lyra Heartstrings?” “Stop that, I’m serious,” Lyra said rolling her eyes. She sniffed hard. “Criminy, what happened?” Bon-Bon asked. “I don’t want to talk about it, B.B.” She looked down. “Let’s just say that I heard a really, really, really sad story, and that it got me thinking.” Bon-Bon looked around. She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “Bon-Bon?” “Yeah, Lyra?” “Can we sit on the couch together and read? Just the two of us? No humans or elves or trolls? Just the two of us? And nothing sad? I could use some really happy thoughts right about now,” Lyra said scratching her desk with her hoof. Bon-Bon smiled. “Of course. Come on. I’ll even make you some coco.” ============================================================== Off in the distance, I can see a puff of white smoke coming from the morning train. After A.J. got that pesky hay out of my hoof, I laid down on the couch and she tucked me in. From there I proceeded to have one of the most restful sleeps I have had since I got to Equestria. No nightmares, which was strange, seeing what just happened before I fell asleep. Oh well, I’m sure the rubber chicken will find some way to haunt me further down the road. Not much else to tell about the early morning. Had breakfast, a shower and then decided to draw a little bit. I am so grateful that A.J.’s house is full of creaky old boards and echoes quite a bit. I was able to stash my mechanical pencil before Dib came downstairs. With A.J. making her rounds on the farm, the two of us had a small chat. Nothing profound. Just the basic chit-chat of, ‘how are you?’, ‘I’m fine, did you sleep well?’, ‘I could have been better, about last night?’, and ‘Water under the bridge.’ It was a song and dance that was peppered with small awkward silences. He reminded me that today was the day that he was going back and he wanted to know if I wanted to see him off at the train station. “Of course I do,” was my reply. That summery might seem a bit lackluster, but it’s morning. I haven’t had my coffee and I am having all sorts of mixed emotions from this whole ordeal. I have no fucking clue if anything that I am meant to have learned worth sharing with pretty-pretty Princess Cake Eater. So there we have it. The three of us are now at the train station waiting for the train to come down the line and stop at our platform. Which of course isn’t too far away now. “Now, ya sure ya got everythin’?” Applejack asks. “Cause ya know ah don’t want a repeat of last yer when ya forgot yer-” An embarrassed blush rushes over Dib’s face. “I’m sure I have everything, A.J.” Applejack ruffles her cousin’s mane playfully. “Ah can’t believe that ya left a whole suitcase full of them back here.” He waggles his hooves at her and shakes his head. “It could have happened to anypony!” After fixing his mane, he coughs and eyes Applejack. She looks at Dib blankly for a moment. “Oh! Right! Ah should get ya some...” she looks around. “Pretzels! Fer the ride back!” She turns and walks in the direction of what I can only assume is a food vendor of some kind. Smooth Applejack. Really smooth. Dib looks at me. “You’ve been awful quiet, H.B.” “I’m just thinking,” I reply. “About what?” He asks me. “About everything. About this. About what happened. And stuff,” I reply. He looks up at the partly cloudy sky. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too.” He swallows hard. The train is getting closer. “You know, I can’t think of any other time that I actually enjoyed coming to the farm.” “If it is how you described, I can’t imagine that it was too terribly fun,” I reply. Crap, this is that stupid sappy, ‘goodbye before the goodbye’. I always hated sappy moments like this because they either make me tear up or laugh. More than often I laugh to stop myself from tearing up. He looks down, opens his mouth, and then closes it and shakes his head. Fuck Dib, if you are going to say something just fucking say it. Don’t make this moment last any fucking longer than it needs to be! “I really like you, H.B.” A spike of panic strikes me, but is only slightly calmed by what he says next. “As a friend.” He looks up at me. His expression is a mixture of cute sad hopefulness. Fuck! Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh! That would totally kill the moment! “I mean, we have just kinda met and all, but I feel...connected. Like we’re on the same wave.” I bite my lower lip. Great, now I have a case of the awkward silences! Say something! Anything! Brain! Help me out here! “I like turtles-” SHUT UP BRAIN, SHUT UP. I cough. “That’s...really...uhm...touching.” Fuck, that sounded fucking cold hearted. Damn it, H.B.! Think! Why are you fumbling on this so much! Just say that you feel the same way and be done with it! His face droops. “I don’t use the word, ‘friend,’ lightly due to the fact that, back in Hoofthorn I get picked on a lot. I mean, I know that I have said it once or twice, but I really would like to think of us as friends. And I really hope that you feel the same way,” Fuck! What do I do here?! He wants to say that we’re friends. What’s so hard about that?! “What isn’t so hard about that?! This is your prison! This is a place where you are being punished! If you admit to him being a friend, you’re giving into that punishment! Fuck! He’s still looking at you! Do something! Anything!” I close my eyes and giggle nervously. Fuck! that’s not what I want to do either! “I mean, I can understand if you don’t after last night. It’s just that I-” Brain blast! I know! “PEN PALS!” I shout in a freakish sort of way. “Wait, what?” He asks. I clap my hooves. “Yup! You can be a pen pal! I’ll write to you and tell you what’s up and happening with me, and you can write to me and tell me what’s going on. I’ll vent to you, you can vent to me!” Please, please, please let him buy this. He busts out into a large smile. “I think I would like that.” He winks at me. “Pen Pal.” I give a nervous laugh. I have never been good at goodbyes or even at ending things. Add the fact that I lived in Minnesota for over a decade, home of the, ‘never-ending-goodbye-why-aren’t-you-gone-yet?’ Yeah, this is going as well as I am expecting. “Sure thing, uhm, pen-pal.” Another awkward quiet enters the conversation. Fuck, where are you Applejack? Do those pretzels weigh a ton or something? “Do you think...” he begins. I blink. That is an odd place to stop your train of thought. “Do I think what, Dib?” “I know you’re not a...Werequine,” His voice falls to a hush. “Or even...uhm...human. But-” He says looking at the sky. “Do you think there are any out there?” “They’re closer than you image.” No, bad brain. No putting those ideas into his head like that. Applejack will kill you. “Fine, how about, ‘be honest with yourself?’” I take a deep breath. “Honestly Dib, I don’t know. Equestria is a big place. There might be.” He blinks and nods. “If there are, I would like to meet them. What do you think they would be like?” “You mean other than selfish, rude, obsessive, stupid, and downright insane?” I told you to shut it brain! You’re not helping. “I don’t know. But if they are out there? They are either really good at hiding or very rare. So I would guess that they would be really lonely.” I blink. “So if you’re lucky and you actually found one, they might want to make...” I cough and nearly stumble on my next word. “Ffffriends with you. I mean as long as you kept a cool rational head about things.” “You really think so?” He asks me. “Yeah, you’re a really cool p-p-pony, Dib.” A moment of playfulness enters my being. “Of course, if they are just really good at hiding, you might have already met one and not even have known it.” I give him a sly grin. “For all you know, they could be standing right next to you. Hiding in plain sight.” He looks at me a bit frightened and wide eyed. I muster up the courage to do something silly. “Boo!” “AH!” He shouts jumping back. I laugh a bit and turn back to look at him. “Gotcha.” He frowns and pushes at my shoulder. “You...you!” “Admit it, I had you going for a bit didn’t I?” I ask, giggling a bit. He finally snickers and rolls his eyes. “Yeah...”