//------------------------------// // Day 26: All's Fair in Love & Games - Part 3: Sometimes Sorry is Not Enough // Story: The Problem With Magic // by deathtap //------------------------------// “How'd you talk me into this!” I shouted as the mine cart climbed higher and higher towards the top of the highest point on the roller coaster. This thing was huge! Massive! How did they manage to build something like this without me noticing? I was petrified. Ever sat in a mine cart with hooves? Ever ride on something bumpy and shaky, yet have no fingers that you can use to wrap safely around something? Saying that it was scary would be an understatement. It terrified the shit out of me. “You said you wanted to go on rides,” Twilight shouted back as loudly as she could over the sound of the cart bouncing on the rails. “No! You suggested rides!” “You agreed!” “But why a roller coaster?” I looked at Equestria below me, “You know how I feel about heights!” “Just relax, have fun.” The roller-coaster coasted along the highest point quickly inching towards the big drop. “Fun? Fun! How can I have fun when I think I'm going to die-” I screamed as the cart went over the highest point and plummeted downwards after going over the point of no return. The feeling of my stomach clenching as we rode down the other side was both terrifying and exhilarating. Twilight had her hooves firmly wrapped around my neck as the cart twisted and turned with the tracks, all the while screaming in glee, while I screamed in fear. The ride eventually ended as the mine cart came to a slow halt. The restraining bar loosened itself. The door along the side was pulled open by an Earth pony who smiled widely, “Enjoy the ride?” “It was real fun!” Twilight informed the attendant. “Ooh. I feel sick,” I stated feeling the contents of my stomach bubble up. He laughed and smacked my back, “Heard you screaming like a little filly.” I gulped, “T-that was Twilight!” “Sure it was.” Twilight laughed and nudged me along, “Come on. Let's go.” We left the roller-coaster ride and walked a little away from it. I turned around and took it in. For a small fair in a small town, that was a pretty impressive sized roller-coaster. “Tell me, how long did it take them to set that up?” Honestly, it wasn't that big or complex, but it was still thrilling. “Not sure. Not long, I guess.” “How did I not notice them put it up?” Twilight shrugged, “Well, what were you doing yesterday?” “I spent the majority of it at the hospital... oh. No wonder I didn't notice. The hospital was on the complete opposite side of town, and with the hill in the way it would have been impossible for me to see the ride from there. “What can we do now?” I asked. “Well, we could go play more games, go on more rides, or have some lunch.” We got our stuff back from the ticket booth. We couldn't exactly bring our things on the ride with us, so we let them hold it while we had our dose of adrenaline. Twilight helped me buckle my saddlebag on my rear. “Lunch? What time is it?” “Just past two. A late lunch?” Twilight grinned, “Just us two.” “Okay. Sounds good. Let's go and eat.” “How did I know you'd choose food?” “'Cause food is good.” “So, how about something we can share? Pizza?” “Pizza? I love pizza! Sure, let's go feed ourselves some pizza!” I said imitating Applejack. It didn't take us long to find a pizza stand. They sold the traditional round pizzas, but I was more interested in their calzones. We each ordered our selected forms of nourishment and sat down at a picnic table on the far end of the fair facing the lake. Here the music was not as loud so talking was a lot easier. Plus it was nice to see ponies splashing about in the water. We ate in relative silence, my body imploring me to shove as much of the delicious slices down my gullet as quickly as humanly (ponily?) possible. As I scarfed down my last slice, I looked up to see Twilight looking at me. “Something on my face?” I asked, my mouth half full. Twilight shook her head, “You eat way too fast. Chew your food. You got some pizza sauce on your lips.” I made to wipe it with my foreleg. “Wait! Here. Use this.” She took a paper napkin in her magic, expertly releasing it before my hoof touched it. I wiped my muzzle. She kept on smiling at me. “Are... are you enjoying yourself, Twilight?” She looked shocked that I had said that. “Of course. Why?” “It's just, you know, I'm not the most... how do I put this...” She sat back, “You're not going to tell me that you feel that I'm too good for you, are you?” “Well, now that you mention it...” “Stop. Stop right there. Please. I've heard this enough times.” Twilight looked away from me, “I mean, what makes you think that I'd be with you if I didn't want to be?” “It's not that, Twi. It's... well, I just feel that I'm not good enough. I'm not complaining. Not at all. I'm just worried about you.” “Worried about me? I'm fine, Forest. I don't want you to-” she stopped and looked at me. She saw the smirk on the corner of my lips. “You didn't.” “I did.” I couldn't resist stealing a slice of her pizza. She turned away angrily, “That's not nice. You had me going for a moment there.” “I just wanted to give you a little taste of what you put me through this morning.” “That's different! I had a genuine reason to be worried.” “And I don't?” I said before taking a bite of said slice. She pulled the half eaten pizza from my hoof and took a bite. “Not like I did.” “While that may be true, it still doesn't change the fact that most of Equestria is wondering what I'm wondering.” “Good point,” she mumbled with her mouth half full. “I don't know, Forest. I really like you. You are... there's just something about you.” We heard a loud scream and turned to see a bunch of kids in the lake. They seemed to be having a wonderful time playing in the water. We both just watched them without talking for a moment. It was nice. This was nice. Even without talking to the wonderful mare next to me, just being next to her was amazing. I turned my head to see her looking at me. She averted her gaze slightly. “Were you staring at me, Twilight Sparkle?” She laughed silently before looking me in the eye again. “Remember our not-date?” “Of course. I'll never forget it. It was one of the best times of my life.” That was true. “Remember when we watched Celestia's sun rise at that look-out point?” She leaned closer to me. “Yeah...” I leaned closer to her, “what about it?” “Y-you... you stole my heart at that moment.” I could feel my cheeks grow red. “R-really?” “Really.” We both sat there in silence for a full minute. I didn't know about her, but I was content with merely being in her presence at that moment. “You know that when you first came to Ponyville, I... I didn't trust you,” she said quietly. “I remember.” It seemed so long ago now. How did we come from there to where we were now? “Twilight, I want to tell you something...” “Yes?” “Twilight. I...” “Yes?” she looked up at me, her eyes opening wide. “I... that is to say... I want to tell you that l...” “Yes?” Her eyes grew bigger, they were practically twinkling. “That I l-l-lo-” “Hi guys!” a voice shouted making the both of us jump. “Where have you been?” “Pinkie!” Twilight and I shouted at the same time. “Have you been playing all these games and winning all those really cool prizes? I've got so many look at all the stuff that I've won just by playing some of the games!” she shouted in her extremely fast way of speaking. She then pulled out a huge bag out of nowhere and plopped it in front of us. There were at least a dozen stuffed animals of various sizes there. “I don't know what I'm going to do with all this stuff because they are so good! I've got so many toys and things that I won! Oh, I know! Maybe I can exchange them for something else! Like... like candy and other sugary sweet sweets to eat! Ooh! Maybe I can win candy instead of prizes from the stands! Then I could eat them after I show them to Granny and win the contest and celebrate with my very own prizes!” “That's a lot of toys you've got there, Pinkie,” I mentioned with envy. “How did you ever manage to win all this so quickly?” Twilight had to peer around the massive mound of toys on the table to look at her friend. “This? Oh, it was easy.” “Rub it in won't you,” I muttered quietly lowering my head in defeat. “Hi guys,” another familiar voice said. I looked up and saw Rainbow... again. She floated over to us, “How's the prize winning going?” “Badly,” I stated. “All right,” Twilight replied. “Easy peasy,” Pinkie squeaked. Rainbow just looked at each of us for a moment before focusing on me and laughing out loud. I threw the pizza crust in my hoof at her. She easily avoided it. “Well ain't that just dandy. Everypony's comin' together.” Applejack took a seat opposite me and smiled, “You guys havin' fun?” Twilight and I looked at each other, then at Applejack nodding slowly. Why was I acting so shy all of a sudden? “Glad to hear it. Anyway, was just talkin' to Granny and Applebloom. They're gonna be bringin' some pitchers of cider here once Big Mac comes back from the rest room.” “How come your brother doesn't hang out with us, AJ?” Pinkie asked. “I mean, he's always around, but he never actually joins us.” “'Cause he's always busy, Pinkie. We don't got much time for playin' on the farm... well, that was until Forest here built that harvester. That really changed our lives, y'know. Now we got a lot more time to spend doin' other things that we usually don't get ta do. Where were you when I was a filly?” Someplace far away. I thought in my head. “Dunno. Can't remember.” “Uh-huh,” she intoned disbelievingly. “Now that you've got your harvester, why don't you make him hang out with us more?” Pinkie asked, leaning in towards the orange mare. Applejack pushed Pinkie back, “You know what? You're right! It ain't fair for me to have all the fun. I mean, he must want to let loose every once in a while.” “He certainly let loose back at the bar,” I muttered quietly, remembering how he single handedly (hoofedly?) beat all of us up in that bar brawl. If Applejack heard me, she made no sign of it. “I'll be right back,” she said, walking off just as Rarity and Fluttershy arrived. “Where's Applejack going?” Rarity asked. “To get her brother,” Twilight replied. “R-r-really?” Fluttershy asked, her face suddenly brightening up. Now, I'm no expert, but I would venture to guess that Fluttershy has some warm feelings for a certain pony. A certain red stallion, might I add. If I noticed it, surely the others would have too. Right? “Howdy, y'all,” Applebloom said as she helped Granny sit down in front of me, taking over Applejack's seat. The elderly mare looked up at me and leaned on the table. She had turned her head to the right and was eyeballing me with her left eye. Her scrutinizing games made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. I knew what was coming. “Please tell me you've won somethin',” Granny stated. “Y-y-yeah...” “How many prizes?” “Er... not many...” I didn't want to tell her. “I just hope fer yer sake it's more than one...” A shiver ran down my spine. “Y-y-yeah... because winning only one at this point would be silly.” I laughed out loud, but it was a nervous laugh. A very, very nervous laugh. “Dang it! I knew I shouldn't have relied on you to win against that Lance feller. Now, I've gotta find somepony else that can save my daughter's innocence.” “Granny!” Applebloom moaned, her face turning bright pink, “Please stop. You're embarrassin' me in front of my friends.” “Quit your yammerin',” Granny snapped back. “I'm doin' it fer yer own good.” Despite her words, it was clear that Granny was enjoying her granddaughter's torment way too much. “Hey, what's taking Applejack so long? I better go check on her and Big Mac!” Rainbow shouted, obviously finding an excuse to beat a hasty retreat and with a quick flit of her wing she was gone. While she managed to escape Applebloom's public humiliation, the rest of us had to suffer in uncomfortable silence as Granny revealed all sorts of saucy things about Applebloom's previous attempts at romance. Some of which were hilarious. Okay, most of them were hilarious. Poor, poor Applebloom. Her face was now matching the color of her mane. “What's goin' on?” Applejack asked once she arrived and found a place next to her sister at the table. We all looked at her, but our eyes naturally drifted to poor Applebloom who couldn't look up at us. “Granny, are you teasin' Applebloom again?” “I was just tellin' the truth, I was.” “Big Mac?” The brother turned towards the elderly mare, “Granny, you know it ain't nice to talk about Applebloom's failed love-life.” “Mac!” Applejack gasped. I couldn't hold it in at that; I snorted out a laugh. I looked down at the ground trying to hide the huge grin that was spreading across my face. “It ain't funny, Forest!” Applebloom bemoaned. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold it in. My shoulders started shaking. Applebloom covered her face in her hooves and shook her head.  “Can today get any worse?” “Hey everypony!” Spike waved to us and sat down at one end of the picnic table. He looked over to Applebloom and furrowed his brow, “What's up with her?” “Don't worry about her, Spikey Wikey. She's just got a bad case of the siblings,” joked Rarity. “Is Applejack revealing things about Applebloom? Anything that can make her blush like that, has gotta be a good. Care to share?” I wiped the grin off my face, “Sure. Why not-” “No! Stop, Forest! Please!” Applebloom begged. “Aw. Fine,” I slowly replied at her plea, then half-whispered to Spike, “I'll tell you later.” Applebloom gave me the 'I'm gonna beat you up' look. “So, did everypony grab something to eat?” Twilight asked around the table. Some nodded, some didn't. Some said they weren't hungry, others begged that food was necessary within the next fifteen seconds else they'd pass out from starvation. With that, they all started chatting about all sorts of things. Sitting in the middle of the table, I was privy to all the conversations being had. I sat there content with just watching and listening to them. To me, this was perfect; this was paradise. The Apples were really like family to me, and the rest were wonderful friends. I bit my lower lips as I fought the feeling of despair that welled up within me. This was where I belonged. Here I felt a part of life. It pained me that soon I would have to say goodbye to all this. To all of them. I'll miss you all so much. Twilight placed a cup of warm cider in front of me. She gave me a sweet smile, “You okay?” “Yes. I'm fine,” I took the cup and drank from it. “Really?” I laughed and placed the cup on the table. We've been saying 'really' to each other all day. Gently, I ran my hoof over her cheek, “Really,” I replied softly. She leaned forwards and kissed my nose. For a moment she looked like she wanted to tell me something before her attention was diverted towards Rainbow, who was now giving her a rundown of one of the Wonderbolts' latest stunts with her in it. As fascinating as it was, it went completely over my head. Getting up, I excused myself and walked towards the lake. Walking right up, I put my front hooves in the crystal clear water and watched as small waves lapped against them. A bunch of fillies and colts chasing each other charged past me, getting me soaked slightly, but I didn't mind. One of them ran right up to me and jumped up. It took me by surprise as I stumbled backwards and caught her in my hooves. “Hi!” “Hi, Pumpkin.” I lowered her to the ground, “You scared the living daylights out of me.” She giggled at that. Two more kids ran up to us and stood on either side of Pumpkin, “These are my classmates Cinnamon Roll and her brother, Red Chili.” The two kids smiled up at me. They looked almost exactly the same. Both were bright red, had tiny freckles on their snouts, possessed bright gray eyes and were of the Earth pony persuasion. The only thing that differentiated the two of them were their manes. One was brown and lush, the other a mixture of greens. That and one of them was a colt, the other a filly. “Didn't I see you two in Cheerilee's class?” “The one where you fainted afterwards? Yeah. We were there,” the colt with the green mane shared. He laughed and shook his head, “How can someone so cool like you be so lame?” I shrugged, “I'm allergic to mag- what do you mean lame?” That made the kids laugh. “Anyway, magic's over-rated-” Red Chili announced. “Hey!” Pumpkin protested. “What? It is! You get to do pretty much anything you want. You don't have to work for anything like we do.” “That's not fair, Red. I work hard too!” “Yeah, yeah.” Pumpkin's eyes began to water. “Good grief. I'm sorry, Pumpkin. I didn't mean it,” Red Chili stated in a very bored tone. That managed to appease Pumpkin because her tears dried up almost instantly. “That's okay, Red. I'm glad you didn't mean it,” Pumpkin looked around, “Have you seen my brother?” “No. I was with my friends over there,” I pointed to Twilight and the others. Twilight spotted me and waved. Spike joined her, as did Pinkie. The others just smiled in my general direction. Still, they all stayed where they were catching up on things. Except for one mare. “Heya, Forest!” “Hi. Having fun?” I asked Rainbow. “Please. You think that somepony as awesome as me could have fun at an event like this?” “Yes.” She pounced pinning me to the ground without effort. I think she thought she was being playful, but I swear, if this was Rainbow being playful, I'd hate to mess with her if she ever got mad. She was super strong. Or maybe it was because I was tired. Yeah. Tired... “Ow.” “Aw, c'mon! I touched you gently!” “Well, if that's how you touch stallions gently...” I wisely did not finish that sentence. Rainbow looked at me dryly before bursting out into gales of laughter. She fell back on the grass next to me as her laughter died down. She inhaled slowly, catching her breath as she stared straight up at the sky. Shrugging, I lay down next to her and we both just laid there without saying anything for a long moment. In the background I could still hear the sounds of the fair, the laughter of the ponies enjoying themselves, the occasional rumble of one of the rides, sounds of water splashing and children screaming – yet through all this everything seemed so peaceful. I noticed that Pumpkin and her friends were bored of us now and had run off in search of adventure and fun. “You know, I don't miss it.” “Hm?” “I don't miss it. You know. It.” “Not sure what you're getting at, Rainbow.” “Earth!” she barked sitting up. She then realized that she had just shouted at me and lowered her voice. “I don't miss Earth.” “Well, okay, I'll bite. Why don't you miss it?” I asked. “Because... I dunno. Maybe it's because you don't get sights like this there...” “There are some places like this on Earth too, you know.” “Yeah? Name one.” “Well...” she had me. I knew that there were some places on Earth that were fantastic. How could there not be any? It was just that I didn't know any place. “See what I mean?” “Did you see much of it?” I asked. “Well... no, but...” “Then I guess you can't say for sure then, can you? There are always some bad things and some good things everywhere you go. I can think of a number of bad things here on Equestria, for example.” “Like what?” she was now looking at me as if I had said the most insulting thing ever. “What about Ursas? And Changelings? Diamond Dogs?” “Not all Diamond Dogs are bad, okay? I heard what happened from Twilight and AJ. If I'd have been there...” she trailed off still looking at me, “And wild creatures like Ursas don't count.” “Uh-huh.” “Forest, do you mind if I ask you something... personal?” “It depends.” “Do you... do you love Twilight?” That caught me completely off guard. It took me a second to process what she had just asked me. I sat up and scratched my head, “Um... wow... that is kinda personal.” She shrugged, “I just want to know. She's my best friend. I just want to make sure you're not just leading her on or anything.” I sat up, “I'd never, ever, ever do that to her.” “So... you do?” “I'm not answering that. And even if I wanted to, I'm so not telling you.” She grinned, “So you do.” “I just said...” It took me a moment to realize what I had done. Accidentally, because I'm a complete idiot, I had confessed it. I sighed and lowered my head towards the ground, “Don't tell Twilight.” “Why not?” The massive grin on her face gave away just how much she enjoyed this. “I... I kinda what to tell her myself.” “Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh...” “Can you please stop!” “Hey you two. What are you talking about?” the mare in question asked. She was standing behind me. Rainbow laughed, “You should see your face! It's priceless!” “Rainbow!” I barked. “Aw. Are you angwy wid me?” she asked in a baby-voice. “I'm sowwy.” I just grumbled to myself. “What's so funny?” Twilight asked. “Nothing! Nothing at all!” Rainbow nudged me with her elbow, “So? Aren't you going to... I dunno... say anything?” “No!” I shouted. Her wide smile started to morph into a very evil looking one. Instantly I knew what she had in mind. “Don't you dare!” I threatened. “Or what?” “I'll... I'll...” What could I say? This was a mare that could probably pound my fat ass into the ground blind-folded with all four of her legs tied behind her back. “I'll be very sad!” She lost it, rolling over in a fit of laughter. “Come on! Let me in on it! What's so funny?” Twilight asked sitting next to me, putting herself in between the evil cyan Pegasus and myself. “Is it about me?” “She's teasing me, Twilight. Tell her to go away, please!” “Aw, is da baby sad?” Rainbow cooed. “I'm not a baby!” I protested. “Please tell me! I wanna know,” Twilight demanded, “anything that can make Forest squirm this bad must be good.” Rainbow looked over to me and tried her very best to suppress another laughing fit, “Sorry, Twi, but this is something I don't want to tell you... besides, this makes it so much funnier.” “You're a mean one,” I growled. “You say that like it's a bad thing. Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me... for now.” “You guys sound like you're havin' a good time.” Applejack stated plopping herself next to Rainbow, “We're goin' back to the fair to just hang around and have some more fun. You guys comin'?” Desperate to get away from Rainbow's constant taunts, I jumped at the opportunity, “That's the best idea! I also need to win some more toys otherwise I'll never be able to look Granny in the eye.” “Alright,” Applejack stood up and shook herself a little, “I'll just ask Applebloom if she wants to join us.” With that, she walked back towards the picnic bench. Twilight stood up and followed a moment later, so I made to get up, but was promptly pushed down by Rainbow, “I'm so gonna tell her if you don't.” “That's so not fair!” “Mm-hmm. Tell it to a judge. So, be sure to tell her before I do.” “You said you wouldn't!” “Did I? Did I really?” She had a point. She never actually made a promise to me that she wouldn't tell her. Suddenly I felt very vulnerable. “Please don't tell her, Rainbow. I'll tell her myself, just give me some time!” “Sure. I'll give you until when we hand our prizes over to Granny. Until then...” she lowered herself to the ground and leaned in close to my ear, “watch out.” Before I could respond, she trotted away giggling to herself. I was so screwed. Deep inside me I knew that the I felt love for Twilight. But I also felt that there was something amiss at the same time. Did I really love her? I mean, I had these really powerful feelings for her, but did I love her, love her. The kind of love that made you want that one special person – or in this case it would be a pony. The kind of love that you wouldn't hesitate to protect. I wasn't sure and the more I thought about it, the more I felt that these feelings were skewed. This felt almost like those that I had for Applejack – and still had them to a much smaller degree still. Confused, frightened and ashamed, I looked at the purple Unicorn. Twilight liked me so much but what Rainbow said bothered me as well. What was I even doing? I can't lead her on. Not unless I... The same nagging thoughts drift through the back of my head. Do I tell Twilight everything and try and get her to save me, or do I follow my word and return to Tutela? Was it worth risking the absolute truth for? Twilight believed me to be a Changeling, not a human. Would she still love me if she knew that? I caught up to the Rainbow, walking in pace beside her, “Do you mind if I asked you something?” “No. Go ahead.” “If you liked someone, and I mean really liked someone-” I shook my head, “Pony. If you really liked somepony, and they told you something that you know that'd make them hate you, would it be worth it?” Rainbow looked at me with a furrowed brow, “I'm not sure. Why?” “Just asking. I mean... what made you think that Soarin was the right one for you?” “What? How can you ask me tha-” “Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry...” Okay, that was really callous of me. “I wasn't thinking...” She looked at me for a moment before shrugging, “To be totally honest, I didn't.” “Didn't what?” “I didn't think he was the right one for me, okay? I mean I always wanted to be in the Wonderbolts and the life that it led was so amazing, but honestly, Soarin was... boring. Dad said he didn't care so long as I was happy, and I kinda wasn't... happy... I mean, I was happy, just not happy happy.” She groaned and rubbed the mane on her head in annoyance, “Look, I don't know how else to say it... just, it wasn't what I thought it would be. I mean, the sex was great but-” “Too much info! Too much info!” I shouted covering my ears. Did not want to know that. “... but, that's all there was. Apart from that, we seemed kinda... empty as a couple. Great fliers, great stuntponies, but nothing outside the skies. Like neither of us was really all there.” I looked up at her face. “Do you miss him?” “A little. Still can't get over what he did to me, though. That jerk.” “I can think of more descriptive words to call him.” “I can too.” We both looked at each other before sharing a laugh. “You know, the more I get to know you...” she didn't finish her thought. “Yes?” “Nothing. Just was thinking aloud.” “Okay...” Our conversation abruptly ended when we reached the picnic table. Everyone was packing up what was left, and placing it into a basket on Big Mac's big back. He turned around and started walking away, Granny following slowly. She saw me looking at her. “I'll be waitin' for some good news, y'hear?” When she was out of ear shot, I felt a presence behind me. “Forest, I wanna apologize for my gran. She's... quirky.” Applebloom shuffled in her hooves, “You don't hafta take what she said seriously, y'know.” “Are you kidding? And miss out on her super awesome hooch? Never!” I made an evil laugh. Applebloom giggled, “In that case, I hope you loose.” I gasped, “How mean! Did you hear that? She wants me to loose! She wants me to be defeated! She wants me to fail in my endeavor! Why?” “I think its got somethin' to do with a certain colt...” Applejack teased, making her sister squeal and hide her cheeks. “Darling, there's nothing to be ashamed of. You like somepony, there isn't anything wrong with that,” Rarity said giggling at Applebloom. “No, no, no!” I shouted, “That's not the reason!” The all looked at me as if I had just lost my marbles. “She doesn't want me to win because she wants all of Granny's hooch all for herself! She doesn't want to share any of it with me! I know that's the real reason.” Twilight bonked me on the head with her hoof. The girls chuckled amongst themselves. It was nice to see Applebloom joining us. Spike and Sweetie were standing off to one side whispering something to each other. Whatever Spike was saying was certainly making Sweetie's complexion rosier. I wondered what it was. Could it be something about me? Something on my face? Maybe something to do with my joke? Did I accidentally offend them and they were laughing out of politeness? “... yeah, so until it wears off, he's going to drift off like that.” “I was gonna say, 'how hard did you hit him?' Seemed like you knocked him out cold.” Applejack waved her hoof in front of my face. I shook my head, it felt slightly dizzy, like the few times I had passed out before. “I zonked out again, didn't I?” “You certainly did. Scared me for a moment there. Twilight said that you caught somethin' called a 'Sleepin' Sickness'?” “Yeah. In jail there was a pony who must've had it. He was real sleepy, kept falling asleep. Last I saw of him, he was passed out on a park bench after we got out.” “How boring. How could something like that interfere with you having fun? I mean, come on! If you're going to just fall asleep then you might as well-” Pinkie flopped to the ground and started snoring lightly. “Wow. That was quick.” Rainbow poked her friend on the nose. Pinkie didn't flinch. An evil grin spread across her face, “Anypony got a marker?” I was about to open my mouth and tell Rainbow that I had one in my saddlebag when Twilight kicked my shin making me groan in pain instead. “We can't leave her here. Not unless somepony watches over her,” Twilight looked at Spike. “Me? B-b-b-but... I'm kinda on a date.” He tried to hide behind Sweetie, but she walked to the side to reveal him cowering behind her (not that it was hard, he was after all nearly a full head taller than her standing up). “Why, Sweetie? Why? How could you turn me in?” Sweetie turned herself around and lifted her forehooves, planting them on his shoulder as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Whatever she said made Spike's face explode. It was redder than Applebloom's mane. This wasn't lost on us. “Woo,” Rainbow cooed. “Way to go, Spike.” Rarity did her best to ignore what had just transpired. Spike replied, but his voice was so muddled, I had no idea what he said. “I'll stay here with Pinkie,” Fluttershy offered, “I want to rest for a bit anyway.” “I know! Why not rest with Big Mac and Granny, Fluttershy? That way you don't have to wait for her to wake up on your own,” Applejack suggested. Fluttershy's face seemed to brighten up at that, “O-o-okay... if you don't mind...” “Mind? Why would we mind?” Rainbow stated, “Let's go. Forest, you carry Pinkie.” “Me? Why me?” “Because it's your fault she's like that. She caught your Sleeping Sickness, otherwise there's no chance in Tartarus she'd drop off like that. Pinkie sleeping through a fair?” “Tartarus?” “You know? The place where the most evilest, baddest creatures of Equestria are all locked up?” “Oh yeah. That place. Fine, I'll carry Pinkie. At least she's light...” Twilight floated Pinkie just above me then Fluttershy and Rainbow helped lower her down so that Twilight's magic couldn't touch me. As soon as Pinkie was placed on my back, she instantly wrapped her forhooves around my neck and her legs tightened around my torso. ”Giddyap...” she mumbled before resuming her snoring. That made me chuckle lightly. We walked on towards the AppIe's stand, which wasn't very far from the picnic table we had lunch on. By the time we reached, Big Mac was already filling mugs with cider as more and more ponies came to the stand. It was in the late afternoon now and evening was right around the corner. Perhaps more ponies were getting off work? “Forest? You okay?” Twilight was looking right at me. “I'm good. She's not that heavy.” “I wasn't talking about Pinkie, but I am glad to know that she's not weighing you down. I'm asking how's your sleeping problem coming along?” “That's the thing, I don't feel sleepy. I mean, I haven't passed out like Pinkie?” “Yesterday you did.” I remembered my conversation with Spike from this morning on how I had literally fallen asleep. After talking to the doctor it made so much sense. Why did I put up such a fuss on going and seeing one? It didn't take any effort or time at all, and was a great way on finding out if whatever it was could be harmful. No thanks to that stallion from the jail. What was his name again? Speaking of jail, I spotted Aiden walking over to us, “Hey everypony!” We all said hi back. “Forest, we caught Sleeping Sickness from that-” “I know.” “Y-you do?” “Yeah, Twilight got me to talk to a doctor.” “And you've been here all day?” Aiden shook his head, “Ponyville's going to be a pretty sleepy town tomorrow. I just woke up a couple hours ago.” “How long did it take you to get over it?” Twilight asked. Aiden thought about it for a moment, “One day about. Not exactly sure. Why?” “Maybe you should go back. Wouldn't want you to get a relapse.” “Eager to get rid of me already?” th green Unicorn said in a dry voice. Twilight replied with a mixture of guilt and innocence in her voice, “No, nothing like that. Just... I don't want you to catch Sleeping Sickness again.” Aiden shrugged, “Not to worry, I won't ruin your date, I promise. Anyway, the Doc says that I can't catch it again so quickly.” “You went to the hospital?” I asked.   Aiden nodded, “Certainly did. Spent the night there.” Twilight turned to me, “Maybe we should go back home and let you rest?” “And miss the fair? No way!” “Forest, come on. You can always go to another fair next time.” Aiden took Twilight's side and as soon as the words left her mouth. She was looking at me with such high hopes in her eyes, I could tell she was asking me to reconsider staying. She was trying to say so much without uttering a word and it didn't take a genius to realize what she wanted from me. She was making it so hard for me. I couldn't shirk my promise to Tutela. I owed her. She had brought me to Equestria in the first place. Without her I would never have met Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie or Rainbow. I would have never made such great friends. I closed my eyes and took a breath. I knew what I was about to say was going to hurt. “But this fair is for me and my team!” I moaned looking away from Twilight. I stole a glance at her. The look she had was as if I slapped her in the face. It pained me to see that, but what choice did I have? “So, what should we do?” Aiden asked trying to somehow get rid of the sudden awkward silence. “Let's play some more games!” Rainbow practically shouted. “I want to ride the roller-coaster,” Applebloom put in. Rarity struck a pose, “I want to look at some of the stores and see what they have on sale. You never know what you might find in places like these.” “Somewhere nice and quiet to relax and have a meaningful conversation,” Sweetie said, staring at Spike with eyes full of affection. I wondered what 'meaningful conversation' actually implied, and promptly reminded myself to take my mind out of the gutter. “Or maybe we should have a toast first!” Rainbow exclaimed, her mouth hanging open and a mug of cider in each hoof. “A toast to us for being awesome!” “I'll drink to that!” If I had any bits to pay for it. I found a mug forced into my hoof. Big Mac looked at me and nodded, “On the house.” At those words, our friends took a mug each, thanking Big Mac and the rest of the Apples for their generosity and toasted to 'being awesome'. The cider was excellent, as per usual. It had this delicious spicy zest to it as it found its way down your throat. “Care to join yer frens, Macky?” Granny asked her grandson, “Ain't there anypony you wanna, I dunno, show around town? Somepony... special?” “Nope.” “Are you sure? Nopony comes to mind?” Applejack put in, following Granny's lead. “Nope.” The two of them looked at one another. I wondered who they all had in mind. “Come on, Mac. Just for a little bit,” Applejack insisted. Big Mac looked at his sisters who both stared at him full of hope. He stared at them for a long moment before sighing and relenting with a resigned nod. “Fine.” Little sisters could be very convincing. “Just for a little while, 'kay? Can't leave Granny alone for too long,” Mac stated. “You don't worry about that,” Applejack replied patting her brother on his shoulder. “Granny's not gonna be alone. I'll stay behind and keep an eye on her.” “I can stay,” Fluttershy offered quietly. “No!” almost everypony roared at the same time. Even I wanted to duck behind the cider stand like the poor butter colored Pegasi. “O-o-okay...” Pinkie was picked up off of me and gently placed on a pile of hay behind the stand. She mumbled something before turning over and rubbing herself into the hay. It looked so comfy, but after eating the stuff a few times, I knew that it wasn't. How could it be? We left the slumbering mare behind with Applejack. It seemed her mere appearance brought more customers to the stand as the line grew longer and longer. Perhaps it was the fact that she was the Element of Honesty, or maybe she was just so gosh-darn cute that everyone wanted to be able to look into those emerald green eyes. Poor Atom -- that lucky bastard. The rest of us soon found ourselves marching through the fair as one big group. There were a lot more ponies walking around now. Guess some were just getting off work or finished their chores, maybe even arriving from out of town. It was nice to see such a blend of ponies and other creatures as well. It was actually really cool. I even saw some Diamond Dogs, but unlike the ones I ran into in The Pit, these were a lot more friendly and, well, normal. They seemed to come from a better breed – literally. There were quite a few around, usually keeping to themselves, but the ponies didn't seem to mind. I even saw a few small Dragons and some other creatures that I wasn't really sure what they were. Still, seeing the Dogs like that brought a gut wrenching feeling to me. The kind of feeling that makes you feel guilty for something you did that was terrible and had to keep it stored inside. Slowly my mind replayed the last time I had seen those creatures, remembering that I had the displeasure of... tangling with them violently. Diamond Dogs had died by my hooves, whether or not it was intentional was besides the point. I had killed some of them. Me. I felt sick. “Hey! You gotta problem with my friend?” a mare barked getting right up in my face. Instinctively I backed off more than a little bit surprised. “You deaf? I said: You gotta problem with my friend?” I looked at the mare in front of me, then to a Diamond Dog, then back to the mare who was still glowering at me. Boy, was she pissed. She was a red Unicorn with a mane that kinda looked like a flame. Her Cutie Mark was a blob of fire. Gee, I sighed inwardly, I wonder what her talent could be... “Answer me!” she spat making me jump and back off. “N-n-n-no, I've got no problem with your friend... no problem at all,” I chuckled nervously, back up to the point where I was now sitting down on the ground. “It's ignorant ponies like you that give good Dogs a bad name!” the mare continued still spitting on me from sheer anger. 'Oh yeah! Well, I was trapped in an iron cage, dragged through a bunch of underground tunnels, forced into slave labor to mine gems for a really mean Diamond Dog called Tyrant Rex. So yeah, my opinion on these creatures might be a little one sided,' is what I wanted to say. Instead all that came out was an apologetic whimper. Nice, Forest. Real nice. A sharp whistle came from the Diamond Dog who smiled and shook his head at the mare. Well, at least I hoped it was a smile. Those canines weren't exactly the friendliest looking. His teeth were a lot longer and sharper than the other Dogs I had the displeasure of making an acquaintance with, plus this guy's forearms were frickin' huge! I mean, for his size. Tyrant Rex was still a lot bigger than him, but still... this guy's forearms were frickin' huge! “... did you fall in love with him?” her voice asked. That stunned me. Did I miss something? “W-what? I don't... what?” “I said: Did you fall in love with him?” The fuck? “No!” “Then why were you staring at him again? What other reason could you have for leering at him the way you just did?” She took a step forwards making me shrink back. “I-I-I wasn't s-s-s-staring... I mean I was, b-b-b-b-but not at him...” My voice got quieter and quieter as she stared me down. “Then what were you lookin' at?” “N-n-n-nothing...” That was true. I wasn't staring at anything. “I...” Was it just me, or did it just get warmer? She stood over me angrily. I shrunk back further to the point where it felt like I was a turtle trying to hide in his shell, only I didn't have a shell to shrink back into. Just then a rainbow blur swished and stopped in front of me. There was a brief moment of pause before I was pushed backwards so that my rear stayed where it was, but the top half fell over backwards. Did Rainbow just kick me in the face? “Ow.” “Hey! You gotta problem with my friend?” Rainbow stood in front of me and took up a threatening stance by lowering her head down and spreading her wings towards the Unicorn. She even kicked some dirt up with her forehooves. “My hero!” I said. “A hero that just kicked me in the face...” I mumbled the second half to myself. The two mares ignored me. “Your 'friend' there needs to learn some manners,” the Unicorn growled. Rainbow did not back down, “He may be an idiot, a doofus, slow and a moron, but he's harmless.” The words felt like arrows getting stuck into me. “Why?” I asked whisperingly. The two mares continued to glare at one another aggressively utterly ignoring me lying on the ground. Standing up, I placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, “There's no problem. Just a simple misunderstanding.” “Relax, Forest. I got this...” Rainbow said through the corner of her lips still in her stance. She looked so bad-ass – or is that bad-flank? Still, the the two mares glared at each other with such intensity that I could almost see lightning forming between them. It made me feel really unsafe, like at any second something could snap and I'd get badly hurt. Both these mares were tough and dangerous. Had to do something! “Rainbow, stop!” This time both the girls glared at me. “What?” the Element barked. Wasn't she supposed to be on my side? “I think I spaced out again... that's why I was staring.” Without making any sudden movements, I backed away from the Unicorn and Pegasus. “Look, I'm really sorry to have offended you, but it wasn't intentional. You see, I've got Sleeping Sickness and-” The red mare recoiled, “I-is that dangerous?” “No, it's just annoying... I just... fall asleep standing up... and yeah, I guess you could say that I was staring because I was sleeping... with my eyes open... and... and... please don't kill me...” At those words the Diamond Dog shook his head and laughed silently. It was at this point that a mare, this one a brown Pegasus, landed next to him and nuzzled his side. They looked at each other affectionately before the Dog laughed again. The Pegasus gave him a smirk before she also started laughing along. I failed to see the joke. Was there a joke? I heard no joke! The Dog nodded. He made some sort of gesture with his hands. “Echo says he would like to talk,” the Pegasus said. “You've got to touch him.” Both Rainbow and I tilted our heads slightly to one side, “What?” The Dog pointed to his throat revealing a real nasty scar. Whatever gave it to him must have been one hell of a creature. He looked like he could handle himself in a scrap, so anything that could do harm to him must have been one tough mo-fo. The thought made me shudder. Although the wound looked real old, even with the fur covering it, it still looked somewhat fresh. It must've been a real clean cut. “Okay... fine...” Rainbow said slowly and walked closer towards him. He offered her his paw and she placed her hoof cautiously into it. The cyan Pegasus pulled her hoof back almost instantly and looked around for a second before focusing back to the Dog. “That was you?” The Dog nodded, and patiently offered his paw again. “How... how did you know my name?” Rainbow asked. Even I knew the answer to that. She was Rainbow friggin' Dash! Who wouldn't know her? The Dog looked like he was 'saying' something to Rainbow and she seemed to be listening. Meanwhile the brown Pegasus walked over to me and tipped her Indiana Jones look-alike hat to me. “Sorry about Ginger. She can be a little hot-headed sometimes. Usually she's a good girl. Usually.” The mare in question flashed a look at the Pegasus before shifting her attention back to me. I laughed cautiously, not really sure if it was safe to. “I don't like you,” the Unicorn known as Ginger said coldly. I wanted to say something. Something clever, something witty, but all that came out was air as I opened my mouth. Nice, Forest. Real nice. That's two for two. “Howdy. You okay there?” Applejack walked up and stood next to me. “Been better.” Then Twilight appeared and I felt a million times safer as she stood by my side. She rubbed the side of her head against my neck like a cat before approaching the mare known as Ginger and her Indiana Jones companion. The mares began talking to one another. Hesitantly at first, but then they evolved from polite introductions to proper conversation. I hung back and watched, content with being involved from a distance. Ginger scared the shit out of me. “Hey. What's going on?” A sharp slap met my back. “Ow! Spike! That hurt!” He smacked me again. Harder. “Nothing much! Ah,” I hissed in pain. “You and your Dragon strength...” He threw his arm around my neck and pulled me close, “I saw that red mare about to whoop your butt.” “Oh that... it was just a simple misunderstanding.” Spike nodded, “I can't help but notice that you didn't deny that she could whoop your butt?” “I can deny it all I want, but that doesn't change the fact that even if she spits at me with magic, I'll be on the ground in a semi-comatose state.” Spike laughed at that. “True. Sucks to be you. Who's the Dog?” I shook my head, “Not a clue. I think his name's Echo.” “He seems a lot friendlier than the last bunch of fleabags we ran into,” Spike pointed out. I didn't know what to say to that. While it was certainly true that the last bunch of Diamond Dogs we tangled with were less than friendly, they all were under the leadership of that nasty Tyrant Rex. This Dog seemed to be on his own, with the exception of the Pegasus and the angry mare. “Well aren't you going to introduce yourself?” Spike asked. “Me? Nah. I'm just going to hang back here,” I replied, fighting a yawn. “That mare scares the... stuffing out of me. Besides, that Dog talks by touching you. It kinda sounds... awkward. That aside, if the reason why he communicates that way is because of magic, then touching him would be a really bad idea on my part." Spike nodded, "Yeah, you and magic certainly do not mix." I yawned again and shook my head. "Wow. I must be tired.” “You wanna head back to the library and sleep?” “I think I'll be fine. If I feel like I need to sleep, I'll just head over to the medical tents. Nurse Redheart's there, so she'll know what to do.” “Considering the amount of times you've ended up under her care... yeah, I bet she does.” I socked Spike in the thigh (his arms were too high for me to reach without standing on my rear hooves), which only made me cringe in agony as the Dragon armor felt like it broke my hoof. Spike just laughed. “My poor hoof!” “You'll live. Anyway, I'll see you in a sec. I want to meet these guys. They look cool. Especially the Dog. Anypony who wears a hood like that has got to be cool.” “Don't you mean 'anydog'? What about 'anypuppy'? Anymutt? Anycanine? Any-” This time Spike punched me in the arm with more strenth. It really, really hurt and I fumbled a little bit as he sauntered off. He introduced himself while I watched from where I stood. This time Big Mac stood by my side, his stoic expression unchanging. Twice I tried to start a conversation with him, but each time I was met with his usual one word answer, so I gave up and went off with the excuse of searching for something to drink. Something with a lot of caffeine. It was not like I didn't want to sleep, but I wanted to let my honorary grandma to be proud of me. Granny was expecting me to win some toys and, more importantly, I really wanted that hooch. So, without another word to the farmer, I turned around and walked aimlessly through the fair. A couple of ponies stopped me along the way and asked me for my autograph, which I happily obliged. After a short while I did start to feel somewhat lonely, but I needed time to think about things without having to be reminded of my unwanted nap attacks. Sadly the harder I tried to think of things, such as what to do with myself in the time I was left with here on Equestria, nothing of note came to my mind. Eventually all I managed to do was get myself lost. Typical. “Hey Forest!” a familiar voice called out to me. Oh, thank Celestia's bright sun! Somebody I know! “Hello Mrs. Cake, how's business doing?” I noticed that the Cake's stand was painted bright pink purple and orange trimmings along the edges, and some sort of gold border around the sign which read: Grain of Sugar. Underneath that it read: a little piece of Sugarcube Corner. As corny as it sounded, it was also quite adorable. At the edges of the sign were a bunch of ribbons of a multitude of colors that swayed with the wind. On the very top of the stand on the edge of the upper-most point were two yellow triangular flags that had something written in pink lettering, which I couldn't make out because of the wind, but I assumed it was also the name of the stand. “It's doing great, I just wish my husband were here to help me a bit. He's busy in Canterlot today. Right now it's fine because it's slow- wait! Forest, how would you like to earn some bits?” Must be my lucky day! “Sure!” “I'm going to need more coffee beans for our press. They're ready for pickup. All you need to do is go to the edge of the fair and look for a large Pegasus mare by the name of Carry. You can't miss her... literally! She'll be the biggest mare there, and she knows that I'm sending somepony to get the beans, although she'll be expecting my husband. There should be five sacks. If you go and get them for me, I'll pay you a little something.” “Right away!” I shouted before turning around and cantering off towards the edge of the fair. That was when I realized that I might have gone the wrong way and had to go along the edge until I spotted the area Mrs. Cake was talking about. There were a bunch of unmarked wagons full of stuff in a secluded area with a few ponies around looking bored. Guess they were just making sure nobody took anything. I looked around trying to find the 'biggest mare' here, but failed. There were a few ponies, but none overtly huge as Mrs. Cake was saying.. “Lost?” a Unicorn asked. I yelled in surprise. “Whoah! Didn't mean to sneak up on you like that.” I gripped my chest with my hoof and took a few deep breaths, “Yeah. Sorry, just a little jumpy for some reason.” “Okay... so, you lost?” “No. Just looking for a pony named Carry?” “Carry's not around. She went off to find something to eat. Loves her food, that gal.” He suddenly got nervous, “Not that I'd call her fat! No, never thought of it. Never mentioned it...” “Okay,” I replied slowly slightly weirded out. “I can help. I'm one of the overseers for the goods for the fair. So, are you... wait, I know you. You're that Racer. What's your name again? No! Don't tell me...” “Um...” “Wait, wait. It's on the tip of my tongue.” “Sure...” “Okay, just the first letter.” “Er... 'F'?” “F... hm... Freedom? No. Frosty? Nah. Fart? Sorry, just had to get that one out,” he laughed at his own joke. “Fffff-f-f-f-f... okay, next letter?” “'O'.” “F-O? Fortune? Forensic? Fountain? Four? Fondue?” “Um... it's kinda got something to do with the woods? You know? Like the Everfree?” I hinted with a forced grin trying to speed things along. “Forest?” I nodded. “Forest, of course! See, I told you I'd remember.” I tried my hardest not to roll my eyes, but probably failed. “Anyway, Forest, you're here to pick up your stuff? Which stand?” “Not my stand. I'm here for the Cakes. The Grain of Sugar.” “Yeah, I know the one. They've got one of the biggest bundles. They're a popular stand. Come along, follow me,” he said, gesturing with his head for me to do so. We walked for a few minutes through a bunch of carts parked with small signs nailed to the back of each one. After a second or two, I spotted a yellow sign with a pink font on it, similar to the ones on the flags. I noticed that there were two carts twice the size of the others, and one of said carts was half empty (or would that be half full?). A small clipboard was attached to the tailgate next to the sign. The Unicorn picked it up, “This is the one. You know what you need?” “Five sacks of coffee!” I was proud of myself. I actually remembered something for a change. The Unicorn looked at me funnily, “Okay then. Do you have a cart?” “Uh... no.” “You wanna carry them on your back? They're kinda heavy, even for an earth pony like you.” “I think I can manage...” The Unicorn raised his eyebrow for a second, then shrugged, “If you say so.” Using his magic, he levitated each sack one at a time onto my back until all four sat on top of me. I groaned from the weight. “Can you take one more?” I shook my head vehemently. My legs started to shake a little. “Okay. Come on back when you drop those off. I'll be here.” “Thanks,” I managed to spit out. The walk back to the Cake's stand took me a lot longer than I thought, mainly because I had to take small baby steps. Everything looked the same – probably because I kept looking down at the ground trying to keep the sacks of coffee from touching the dirt. Although I got pretty far into the fair, because I wasn't looking where I was going, I once again found myself lost. Eventually two helpful ponies helped me by taking a sack of coffee each off my back. They knew where the Grain of Sugar was and led me to our destination without delay. “Thanks, you guys,” I panted, smiling at the two of them as the sacks of coffee were lifted off my back and placed gently behind the counter near the coffee grinder. “No problem! Just... why didn't you just take three sacks in the first place?” the light green Unicorn asked. I didn't have a response to that. The mare next to her, a light yellow Earth pony giggled a little and shook her head at me, her blue and pink dual-tone mane swaying from the momentum, “You certainly live up to your reputation, Mr. Fire.” “Reputation?” “You know, the slow moron-” the Unicorn shoved her hoof in her friend's mouth stopping her from saying more. “Never mind her, but next time don't try to do things in one go. Sometimes it's better to sit back and relax for a moment.” Those words struck a chord inside me. That seemed like really good advice. “Thanks, I'll remember that...” “Lyra, and this here's Bon Bon.” “Thanks, Lyra, Bon Bon.” “Don't mention it,” the Unicorn smiled. Bon Bon just smiled friendlily at me. “Forest, you could've made two or three trips!” Mrs. Cake exclaimed after she had opened the bag and put a large scoop full of coffee beans into the grinder. “Yeah, that would've been better.” I had wanted to do it on my own, maybe to convince myself that I was useful in some way. It was my own stupidity that got myself into that mess in the first place. Mrs. Cake had offered to pay the Lyra and Bon Bon something for their troubles, but they declined. Instead they accepted a cup of delicious juice and a generous slice of cake. As the two of them walked off, I couldn't help but smile after them. Not in a creepy, leering way, but in a humbled, friendly fashion. They had gone out of their way to help me, something that nobody had really done for me- Raj. The name hit me like a sack of bricks. I had completely forgotten about him. The one person who actually showed an inkling of kindness towards me, and what did I do in return? Kick him in the face. Was I the biggest sack of shit in all the Known Lands? Probably. I treated him awfully. I felt like scum. I was scum. No, calling me scum would have been an insult to scum. I was lower than that. How pathetic could I get? How could I do that? “You okay, Forest?” Mrs. Cake asked. “Hm? Yeah. Just thinking about someone- pony. Somepony.” I grinned sheepishly. “I'll go and get the next sack of beans. You stay here and manage the stand-” “No, no! I said I'll do it, so I'll do it. Plus, I can't stay here and manage the stand because I don't know anything about coffee or... cakes or whatever. This here is forbidden territory for Forest Fire. Besides, I'd tarnish Sugarcube Corner's reputation! Can't have that.” “No we can't!” Mrs. Cake laughed along with me. “Are you sure?” “Yes. It's not problem. I carried five sacks most of the way by myself, and three was no problem. One sack will be easy peasy, as Pinkie would say.” She looked at me for a moment then shrugged, “Okay. But let me give you some bits for your troubles.” “When I get back,” I said over my shoulder as I headed towards the carts once more. Frustratingly, I got lost again trying to find my way back to the carts. “What is wrong with me?” I shouted towards the Equestrian skies. “But that's not fair!” Pumpkin moaned. Her mother bit her lip in obvious annoyance. “Dear, I know I said I'd take you on the roller-coaster, but mommy's got a job to do since daddy's not here to help. You'll have to wait.” “You promised! You said after the last customer!” she sulked, folding her arms across her chest. Mrs. Cake stopped what she was doing and looked at her daughter, “Honey, I'm not going to tell you again. I have to help the customers first, then I'll take you.” As quietly as I could, I turned and tiptoed (tiphoofed?) out of there before I got- “Forest can take me!” Damn it! Mrs. Cake looked over to me, “Is that okay with you?” I sighed. “Sure. I guess I could take her. But... I'm not very good when it comes to high places...” “Yay! Let's go, Forest!” Pumpkin jumped up onto my back, “Everypony wants to go on that ride! We need to hurry or else the line will be really, really long!” “Yes, ma'am!” Putting my head down, I ran through the fair towards the large roller coaster, and promptly stopped dead in my tracks as we reached the end of the line. It was a pretty damn long line – compared to what it was when Twilight and I rode it. “Aw. Now we're going to have to wait forever!” Pumpkin whined. “Good things come to those who wait,” I told her. “But that's bor-ring!” she whined again, clearly emulating Pinkie. “How about we play a game then?” That seemed to perk her interest. “What game?” “How about... Twenty Questions?” I suggested. Pumpkin looked at me suspiciously, “That doesn't sound very fun. How do you play it?” “Well... I think of someone- pony... think of somepony, and you have to ask me yes or no questions and guess who I'm talking about. Okay?” “That sounds boring,” the little filly replied. I made a face, “Why not give it a try?” “Fine. Okay, so... you start.” “Okay.” I closed my eyes for a moment and nodded, “You can start.” “Um... is he a colt?” she asked. I shook my head, “Nope.” “Is she a mare or a filly?” I chuckled lightly at that. “Yes or no questions, Pumpkin.” “Oh okay. Um... is she a mare?” “Eeyup.” “Is she a Unicorn?” Pumpkin was doing pretty well. “Yes.” “Is she purple?” “Yep.” I heard Pumpkin giggle on my back before she shouted, “It's Twilight Sparkle!” “Yay! You got it!” I laughed along with her. “I knew you would pick her. She's your special somepony,” she cooed. That made me blush, but I didn't argue. “Okay, my turn!” It took her a moment before she was ready. “Is he a colt?” I asked. “Nope.” “Is she a mare?” “Yes!” “Is she a Unicorn?” “Nope.” “Pegasus?” “Uh-uh.” “Oh, so she's an Earth pony?” “Um... yeah. That's kinda implied, Forest. I'll not count that one.” “Well, don't I feel silly. Okay... so an Earth pony mare. Um... have I met her?” “Yup.” “Is she one of the Elements?” “Nope.” “Okay, so not Pinkie Pie or Applejack.” I thought for a moment. “Is she somepony related to you?” “Uh-huh.” “Is it your mommy?” “Yes,” she squealed in reply, giggling to herself. After she had calmed down she patted my head, “This is actually kind of fun.” “Yeah, and it makes time pass quickly. We're here!” “Finally!” She hopped off my back as we walked up to the ticket booth and requested two tickets. “That'll be one bit,” the pony inside said. Placing the bit on the counter, I watched as Pumpkin ogled at the ride. She eyed the mine-cart with slight apprehension. ”Forest... I... I don't think I want to ride that,” she said after I had bought the tickets and pushed her towards the next half of the line. “Really? You don't want to go?” My body cheered on the inside. Now I could back off without having to humiliate myself like I did with Twilight earlier. Pumpkin looked up at me and grinned, her nervous demeanor vanishing without a trace, “Are you kidding? Just try and stop me!” “Of course you're kidding,” I grumbled and followed her as Pumpkin rushed up the steps and hopped in place in the line. The attendant recognized me and nodded, “Welcome back. I see you've brought another beautiful lady.” Pumpkin blushed and giggled. I sighed and handed (hoofed?) him the tickets. “Try not to scream like a filly this time round,” he taunted as he latched the restraining bar in place. “I only promise to try.” He barked out a laugh before pressing a button with his hoof that sent the mine-cart forwards and chills up my spine. I felt the cart move towards the chain and felt it lift the roller coaster upwards to the top of the ride. There's no place like home, there's not place like home, there's no place like... “Cone on, Forest! Raise your hooves up in the air!” Pumpkin pulled my hoof upwards just as the mine-cart reached the top. Even I knew that the sound coming out of my mouth was exactly like that of a filly's. If possible, it was even higher pitched than Pumpkin's, who had a great big grin spread across her face. At least one of us was having a good time. As we dismounted, I jogged to the nearest dustbin and promptly emptied the contents of my stomach into it. Not because of the ride itself, but of the pure terror I had felt flooding through my veins. The shock was too much for my fragile system to take. At least Twilight let me hold onto something. “Thank you, Forest. That was really fun!” Pumpkin bounced around excitedly, oblivious to my agony – or deliberately ignoring it. “Aw, no fair! You took Pumpkin and not me?” a familiar voice accused from behind me. Reluctantly I turned around and spied Pound looking enviously at Pumpkin, who was grinning from ear to ear. “S-sorry, Pound. Why don't you go and ride it on your own?” “They won't let me! I tried. They said I was too little to ride alone and I need an adult,” he declared before folding his forehooves and pouting at me. “You have to take me.” “Why?” “Because you took Pumpkin.” “Can't you find someone else? Someone who can actually enjoy-” I cut myself off. Once again I had used someone instead of somepony. Hopefully the kids wouldn't notice. “No. It has to be you. You took Pumpkin, Forest! It's not fair. You have to take me.” Somehow, through some means of divine force, I managed to get back in line and take both the kids for yet another ride in a mine-cart of terror. At the end of it, I once again found myself with my head in a bin. I felt sick, but no longer had any contents within me to empty. Maybe I was just trying to hide from the twins, lest they somehow managed to sucker me into another ride. “Forest? Are ya okay?” Applebloom asked, patting me on the back. I removed myself from the bin and looked up at her. “I'm just peachy,” I replied wiping a tiny bit of dribble from my lower jaw. “Kids, what happened to Forest?” Twilight asked pulling me away. “He took us up the roller coaster!” the two shouted. “He took me for a ride twice!” Pumpkin declared arrogantly a moment later, sneering at her brother. He stuck out his lower jaw, “Yeah, but that's only because Forest couldn't babysit you and take me up at the same time. He said I could go alone...” While the two argued, I looked at Twilight and smiled. I plopped my rear on the ground and took a few deep breaths. This fear of heights was getting really annoying. “Had fun?” “Oh, you know it,” I replied lightheartedly, and smiled at her. “You?” “Yeah. You know that Diamond Dog with those two mares from earlier? Turns out, he's not like other Dogs. He's smart, and can actually talk properly and... well, he says he's from far, far away.” “Yeah? And...” “Nothing. Just thought you'd like to know. His name's Echo.” I nodded, “Seemed nice. Would've liked to talk to him, but you know me. Being allergic to magic and all kinda puts a dampener on the whole 'touch-to-talk' thing. That seems really, really magic-like. That and his Unicorn friend... yeah, didn't feel very safe around her. Had quite the explosive personality. I think it was in my best interest to make myself scarce.” Twilight frowned at me, “I'm sure she would've been fine if you had explained yourself a little better. You know, she's reason why there are so many Diamond Dogs at this fair. They're all following Ginger.” “What?” That red Unicorn had all these Dogs with her? “That's a lot of Dogs. They her pets or something?” Twilight gave me a dry look. “Okay, so they're not pets.” “How familiar are you with the hierarchy of canine packs?” she asked. I know that! I learned it in school! “There's the leader... and... yeah, that's pretty much all I know.” Twilight sighed, “The leader of a Pack is called an Alpha. Ginger is the Alpha of this pack.” “B-b-but how can a Pony lead a pack of Dogs? That doesn't seem possible!” At that, the purple Unicorn shrugged, “Nor does being allergic to magic, but here you are.” “Why you so mean to me?” “I'm not being mean to you, Forest, just letting you know you shouldn't judge others too quickly.” I still felt a little hurt. “Echo is her second in command. Her Beta.” Twilight looked up, “What fun they must've had! Going on one big adventure, seeing all of what Equestria has to offer...” “Yeah... that does sound like a lot of fun. Seeing everything. Traveling. Going on a long journey... going away...” “Please don't go,” she said quietly all of a sudden. “What?” Before I could blink, Twilight seized me in a tight embrace, “Please don't go. Don't leave us. Don't leave me.” What could I say to that? What could I possibly say in response? I couldn't look at her, I felt awful. I felt so horrible. “Forest is going somewhere?” Applebloom asked looking at us. “Where's he going?” Pumpkin put in. Pound furrowed his brow, “Is he going away?” The three of them kept on asking questions to the point where their voices seemed to meld into one another, but there was one voice that stood out, and it was now sniffling. “S-stop,” I pleaded.  “Please don't ask. I'm... I can't... it's... too hard...” Twilight refused to meet my eyes. I could see the pain in them and seeing her hurt killed me. And still the three kept on asking those questions, pressing me further and further back into a corner. “Stop!” I shouted, silencing the three. “You think I want to go? No! I want to stay! I want to be here! I don't want to leave! I want to stay here forever... but... but... I can't. Please don't make this harder on me!” “But... why do you have to go? I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're safe. You can trust me, Forest.” “I... I know, Twi. Trust me, I know. I know you'll do everything you can for me... but... just... you can't stop me from-” turning back into a human. I had wanted to say it, but Twilight cut me off when she put her lips against mine. That surprised me. It took me a moment, but I succumbed to her and kissed back. It wasn't like our passionate one from earlier. No, this one was different, but much more special. It was a kiss to remind me what I have was real. Right here, right now, was a mare who actually liked me. Maybe more. Here, I had a future with this mare. Here I had a life. Here was where I belonged. Everything was real. Everything was perfect. Everything, except me. “Don't talk,” she said when our lips parted. She stroked my face, “Please don't say anything. If you have to answer, at least lie to me. I don't want to know the truth...” I didn't know what to say to that. I closed my eyes. It hurt. It hurt so much. It felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest, like my insides were churned in a blender. There was absolutely no way I could lie to her. But at least there was something that I could say that was true. Something that she deserved to know. I had to tell her how I really felt. “Twi...” Pumpkin looked at Twilight, “Are you okay, auntie Twily? Are you crying?” Twilight quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, “No, no. Just got something in my eyes.” The twins exchanged looks before whipping around on me. “Why did you make her cry?” “I-” “Why?” Pound said pushing my chest with his hoof. “How could you make auntie Twily cry, Forest!” Pumpkin shouted, tears forming in her own eyes. She moved in front of her brother making me take a step back. “Yeah! How could you?” Pound said, taking his sister's side and pushing in front of his sister making me take another step back. Pumpkin move in front of her brother making me back up again, “What did you say to her, you big meanie?” “Meanie?” That I was. No use denying it. The colt moved past his sister once more and made me step back yet again, “How would you like it if I made you cry?” “Kids. Stop.” Twilight surrounded the twins in her magic and plopped them on either side of her, “Forest didn't make me cry.” The twins exchanged another look before glaring at me. “I didn't mean to make auntie Twily cry. It's just that... well, I am a meanie, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm a bad friend. I'm sorry for being a big, fat meanie.” At that the twins walked over to me and hugged my legs, “Why are you a meanie?” “Because I can't do the one thing that will make auntie Twily happy.” Pumpkin sniffled, “That doesn't mean you're not a meanie, Forest.” “I am, kids. I really am. A horribly mean meanie.” Twilight walked over to me and hugged me, “No, they are right. You're not a meanie, Forest. You're just too caring.” “What?” “Why do you think you can't stay?” Twilight put a hoof around the back of my head pulling it close to hers so our foreheads touched. I could feel her horn parting my mane slightly, “Why do you think you have to go? It's because you think you owe somepony? I know you're struggling inside to let me help you, but I don't want you to go. None of us do. This is where you belong. This is your home. I want you to stay here. With me.” I looked up and stared into her eyes. She was beautiful. Everything about her was more than I deserved. The affection she felt for me was more than I deserved. What did she see in me? My nose began to sting, and Twilight's eyes began to close as tears started flooding my eyes. No matter how hard I tried to stop them, they kept on coming. “I... don't... want... you...” she leaned harder against me, which took me by surprise, “to... go... Forest...” Her head slipped from mine and came to a rest on my shoulder. “Please... stay... with... me...” she whispered before her breathing started to slow down. I hugged her tightly. There was so much I had wanted to tell her, but the words failed to come. “For... rest...” came one last weak whisper, then she was gone. The Sleeping Sickness had taken her. “If you only knew what I really am, Twilight. If you only knew. I wish so much that I could stay here with you and your friends forever... but I can't. I want to more than anything else in the world, but I can't. I can't be here when the magic inside me wears off. I don't want you to see what I really am. I don't want you to know that I've been a worthless liar all along. If only I had known how much I'd fall in love with this world...” I hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek, before nuzzling her. “If only I'd known how much I'd fall in love with you. I love you, Twilight Sparkle. I love you so much. I will always love you. Forgive me, but I can't stay. If you found out what I really am, you'd despise me and I cannot live with myself knowing that. I'd rather you live without me around remembering me as I am then having me around and hating me for lying to you and I know that it's selfish, but I can't help myself.” I laughed bitterly to myself. “Look how pathetic I am. Now that you're asleep I tell you all this, not when you're awake when I should say it. I'm weak, Twilight. You really do deserve someone better. Not me.” I held her tightly, carefully and gently caressing her head as it was draped over my shoulder. “What do you mean 'you can't be here when the magic inside me wears off'? I thought you were allergic to magic. And what exactly do you mean 'if you found out what you really were'? What are you really, then if not a pony? Hm?” My head snapped up and I saw Applebloom standing there with a mixed expression of confusion and anger. Applebloom, the Royal Guard assigned to protect the Elements of Harmony. And here was Twilight, the Element of Magic unconscious in my embrace. Ah. Fuck. How in Luna's mane did I forget she was right there?