//------------------------------// // The beginning of the end // Story: Epidemic // by ReflectedColt1 //------------------------------// "Hey there fella! You're up awfully early." It was Applejack. I had been staying with her and the Apple family for two weeks, and all I can say is that their hospitality is more than enough. Big Mac and I worked the fields, long days of labor, but the least I could do to repay them. Needless to say, it was my first time fully knowing what an apple was. "Yeah I couldn't sleep," the memory before I landed was seared in my brain like a hot brand. I couldn't believe there was this much guilt pent up inside me. The thoughts lingered in my skull like a rattle, and I didn't have the courage to tell Flare about it ever since we set hoof on land. I saw Rainbow Dash, but she looked at me, hurt, and I glanced, never looking for too long. "Guilt?" "Yeah. That's all I ever feel now. Guilt for what I said to... him." She just stood there in her thoughts, wondering as to what I could have meant. I didn't expect her to understand right away. We were standing at the marketplace working the apple stand. This was always the usual place that I met up with Rainbow Dash. "Well feller we need to go see your brother than let's go." "Just up and leave the stand," I wasn't use to the earth pony and unicorn ways of work. I knew everything about an apple. Talking about apples is practically all that me and Applejack talked about for one whole day. There were a lot to know about them before you could work with them, even if they were just pieces of fruit. Surprisingly, much care and planning had to go into them. She grabbed my hoof and pulled me close. "Of course! We always do it! I know everyone in Ponyville; they wouldn't steal from me." "Whatever you say." I was a bit skeptical, but it was her product. I was in no position to argue with her ways. She drug me all the way to Flare and Dash's house. I stood on the door step staring at the door, hesitating to actually knock. "Well are you going to knock or what?" I tapped the bottom of my hoof on to the door. Within that small sliver of a moment, time seemed to stand still. I knocked a second time, but still no answer. As soon as I was winding up for a third, Rainbow Dash opened the door. I saw the house was dimly lit, and Flare in the background laying down. "Can I help you Storm? I was actually about to come out and get you." "Hey Rainbow," Applejack called from behind me ",he wanted to talk to his brother is this a bad time?" I couldn't say anything the memory played over in my head I teared up. "What's wrong with him? He never rests!" She exclaimed with a worried look on her face."He is always working on something." "He is sick! Zecora, Twilight, and the town doctor don't know what it is, but he isn't the only one. There are a lot of ponies out there sick." "Sick? No! Impossible! My brother never gets sick." No way he could get sick. I don't even know what he was infected with. That was the scary part; not knowing what was wrong with my brother. And to top it all off, I couldn't do anything to help him. With a quick gallop, I pushed Rainbow Dash aside and met him at his bedside. He groaned as if trying to say something, but he couldn't. "I'm so sorry, Flare. I shouldn't have said those things the day we left home. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry." Rainbow and Applejack both laid their hooves on my shoulders, trying to reassure me that good will come, but I didn't buy it. I didn't buy it one bit. I threw them off. Though I was aware that was rude, I wasn't leaving. Not while my brother was like this. "Storm, the doctor sedated him. He's going to be asleep for sometime now. He was in so much pain and being here won't help you. If anything, you will only run the risk of getting sick." "No! I'm not leaving!" Applejack walked to the door and whistled. Within ten minutes, Big Mac appeared at the door. He began to push me away from my brother. He was trying to keep me away. I thrashed around, but it didn't work. All I could do was cry the entire time. I couldn't help it. The gnawing guilt at away at my insides, feeding like a parasite. When we were outside, he placed me on the ground. I collapsed, not wanting to move for any given reason. I cried, trying to cover my eyes with my hooves, but it wasn't any use. The stallion that would and did give his life for me. My own brother. Now, even after harsh and demented words, he's condemned for sickness. Twenty minutes passed and the town clock chimed, signaling noon. I picked myself up and trotted up to Applejack, who happened to be standing in front of the door, right beside Big Mac. "Where does Twilight live? I need to see her now." "Uhhhhh sweetie, she doesn't like you very much. You know, since you bad mouthed Flare." "I don't care!" I retaliated. I was in no mood right now to be told no. "I need to see her now with or without you guys." "The town library is where you can find her" Rainbow Dash said while pushing past Big Macintosh. "But it isn't a good idea to see her since she doesn't like you very much, especially after your outburst on the balloon trip." "I don't care what she thinks! She can want me dead for all I care. Flare needs me now!" "I wouldn't try to stop him, Rainbow Dash." Applejack interjected. She stood next to me, shoulders cocked back and her chest puffed out as a display of power. She eyed Big Mac who was right in front of her. Though, of course, he was bigger, he still obeyed even a sibling. "I'll talk to her for him." I looked at her with something I've never looked at with a mare before she looked at me with a smirk. "Fine, but he must stay outside, Applejack," Rainbow Dash warned. "Eeyup" Big Mac added, concluding Rainbow Dashes statement. "I promise he will stay outside the entire time," Applejack said. "Good" After the ordeal, Applejack and I left, making our way to Twilight's house, which took about thirty minutes to get to. Though to most that would seem a tad bit long, it seemed to go by relatively quickly since me and Applejack chit chatted the entire way there. I could hold a conversation with her as long as she wanted. I would even continue rambling if she would be inclined for me to. It was, however, an opportunity for me to tell her my feelings, how I truly, but right before I said anything, the thirty minutes were up, and we were finally there. I didn't want Twilight to know I was there. It would have been an awful situation for her to find out. It was about one in the afternoon, yet the house was dark. The tree in which the library was built around was wilting to the point of dying. It's burned colored bark looked coarse and lifeless, dry and lacking substance. The lights were off, and the leaves were brown, beginning to show weary signs of aging. Though the season was spring, this tree showed quite the opposite. I worried, of course, but I didn't let my inclination show. "This don't look right at all." "What? What's wrong?." I exclaimed. "Stay here I be back lickity-split. I've never seen the library like this since Twilight moved in," and like that, she was in the door. I could hear the tapping of her hooves as she walked in. "Must be hardwood floors," I thought. "Hey there... um... Storm. May you come here please!" She yelled out. I could feel my stomach drop, just like the very first time I had took flight. I trotted up to the door and hunched down, peering a watchful eye past the door. I saw nothing but two silhouettes, shadows of unknown figures, walking next to a bump in a bed. From the distance, I was able to make out who the shadowy figures had belonged to. One was Applejack, and the other was Spike. All the while, however, I wondered what the bump on the bed was. I walked, now next to the bed. I stood beside Spike, who was at the head of the bed, shaking out of intense fear. I looked over at the bump. It was a mare, yes, but not AJ. It was a sea foam green mare. After examination, I came to realize she had no horn, so being a unicorn was out of the question. However, I did managed to see that she had wings, indicating that she indeed a pegasi. She tumbled and rolled over. She had a stark and bleak face, void of any sort of expression that a living creature could have. The mere image rattled my nerves. I froze inside my own skin, unable to move even a muscle. It was like being an animal trapped within the confines of a cage. I saw why neither of them moved. This was no ordinary mare... She was my mother. She appeared to be a corpse, lifeless to say the least, but she was very much alive. Blood flowing, heart pumping, lungs breathing. She was tossing and turning, all while whimpering each and every breath. AJ had glanced at me, witnessing the horrendous pain that clenched my very being. She lowered her head and dropped her stetson. and all the while stood there. It hadn't even been five days since Granny Smith had passed away. AJ didn't appear to be phased by her death, now that I come to realize it. She knew it wouldn't be long until the inevitable had happened. However, it hurt Apple Bloom the most, leaving such a young innocent filly distraught with the horrible weight of the death of a loved one. I hugged her for days, just like Flare held me when my mom and dad left. But now, my greatest fear became reality, almost to the point of sheer mockery. She was here in front on me, fast asleep. I reached my hoof out and touched her head. She was cold, clammy, and sweaty. Without warning, the once lifeless body was now fully alert, jerking up at my touch. "Who are you?! Why are touching me?!" She looked at me, wincing at my sight. After her primal state of shock, she exploded in to a coughing fit. After her episode, she looked up to me, scared and mortified. "I'm no one. I'm a new pony here." I tried to explain to the best of my ability."You probably won't know me," I said with so much anguish deep within my heart. I started to tear up. My first thought would be to not let anyone see, but I was grateful that it was a dark area, so then no one would witness me like this. "Well..." She began, trying to muster up some,"... I'm Star Runner. What is your name, strange pony? Do you have a name?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity, followed by another chain of coughs. "Oh, it's, uh, not relevant. I'm leaving tomorrow for my next job," I lied... and it killed. She started to speak, but her voice became slurred. With a faint whimper, she rolled her eyes to the back of her head, and blacked out. I went to touch her again, yet I didn't want to wake her again. With a rapid dash, I raced my way out of the the place. AJ and Spike both made desperate attempts to block my path, but I blew pass both of them, out the front door. Still hyped on my energy, I galloped my way to the Everfree forest. I just ran and ran, not wanting to stop. In fact, I couldn't stop. Life had just turned into a living hell. I was being a pansy-ass about telling Applejack my true feelings. To top it off, I yelled at Flare for a damned horrible reason. To add injury to insult, he's sick, possibly dying at this very moment, and I found my mother who I hadn't seen in years, stricken with the ghastly sickness just like Flare. I slid to a stop, right before a pool of water. With no where to turn, with no one to take me in, with no one just to hear me, I broke down. I collapsed on the ground, bawling in a torrent of tears. It was hard to stop. I could only think about the ones I love. And when I would think of them, the tears only came harder. Within my terrible state, a growl made it's presence. The roaring snarl echoed within the bark of the trees surrounding me. A deep rumbling, with vicious undertones. Timberwolves, I presumed, howling in the forest, low voices that rumbled from their throats. Their glowing eyes shimmered a radiant bright yellow. In perfect timing, they started to slink out of the woods one at a time. With each breath they took, they snarled and growled. I never looked up. I didn't have the courage to. I just sat there, amazed at the sight. With a brisk breeze sweeping over me, one jumped. I opened my wings, knocking one of the wolves down. His body collapsed into a entropic pile of disembodied sticks. I jumped in the air, hovering in place. I screamed at the top of my lungs, piercing the air with a signature war cry. They ran, fearing what's to come if they were to stay. With great agility and speed, they fled, leaving their trashed accomplice scattered in pieces. I felt the heat of my body, the fire in my blood rising with each passing moment my anger stayed. Frustration and anxiety were the only things to come from this day. And the only escape was a yell. "Storm Runner! Are you okay up there?!" I heard faintly as the voice passed through the rage and the flapping of my wings. I looked down to the earth, seeing all of the Apple family, huddled to see me. Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and her the beauty of them all, Applejack. she was the one who yelled up at me. Though she was there, her very presence had calmed my nerves. I dropped to the ground before them, waiting to hear what they had to say. "I'll be fine. I just needed that," I said rubbing the back of my neck with a bit of nervousness. She was genuinely worried. They all were, as a matter of fact, with expressions on their faces that were that of distraught. The last time I felt like this was when we took the family picture that I always keep under my pillow, the very one that Applebloom found. Applebloom ran up, hugging my leg with a grip too intense for somepony her age. "I heard you ran off, and went into the evergreen forest! Then I heard the timberwolves! I was worried! So so worried!" she said crying, rubbing her tears on my skin, soaking my coat. "What were you thinking?! You could have been hurt" Applejack said. Her head was pressed against mine, rubbing her skin against mine. "I'm fine, you guys, really, I am. But thank you," After all this time, now I truly realized how close I was to losing the closest thing I have to a family. All because of my idiotic mistake. Tears began to swell in my eyes. I wasn't in the mood to hide them. "What's wrong Storm?" The little filly questioned, bringing herself together, staring up at me. "It's nothing," She knew I was lying. I was never good at lying, to tell the truth. It was rather easy to see through it. I didn't know what to say. This family, it reminded me of Flare. So much so that it hurt. I felt a tightness in my chest, a tight squeezing on my heart, constricting. "Storm, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?" Applejack asked as she held Applebloom away from me. Not because I would hurt her, however. "I don't know how to put this but..." I paused, not wanting to say it. I couldn't. How could I? Applejack and Big Mac knew everything the day we landed. There was no secret, no piece of information to hide. They looked at me with sad but caring eyes. I knew I had to tell them the truth. All of it... "I love you guys as family. I couldn't do any of this without you," I said. The tears subsided, all the while the entire group slowly but surely shared a smile that grew bright on their faces. Big Mac to my right, and Applejack to my left. She kept bumping me, I suppose trying to signal something, but I didn't know what. All the while, she stared at me with big bright eyes. We walked back to sweet apple acres, leaving the area that could have been the place of my demise. Dusk was arriving as we made it to the farm. We all missed Granny Smith, constantly asking us how were the chores we had done and asking us if we were tired and hungry. Though it had only been about a week of me knowing her, I felt like a piece of my family was gone, no longer here. Lost forever, never coming back, not even just to say hi. She was nothing now more than a cold memory. Applejack was, however, my source for comfort and warmth... "Well, anypony hungry?" Applejack had asked with a gleaming. "I'm not, but thanks though," I replied, smiling as I headed up the steps to my room in the Apple family house. They all looked at me, yet not one spoke a single word. They all soon went their separate ways. AJ, however, continued to look at me. Her eyes shining radiant. She began to sniffle, and tears started to roll. Maybe this will have to wait another time...