"You... you were a fighter?" Applejack asked, unsure of what to make of it. Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo listened in themselves quietly.
"Boxer," her brother corrected.
Applejack still didn't understand. "So, you lost a match. A long time ago. That's why you're none too eager to head back to Neigh York?"
Big Mac lowered his head again. "There's more to it than that," he said, again his words just hung in the air for a silent moment. Applejack waited for some kind of response from her brother, for him to pick up the story again. But he remained silent as the train pulled into its destination.
The train arrived at Neigh York City in the late afternoon. The conductor would've announced it to the passengers but he was unconcious again. Applejack remained in her seat for another few moments, waiting for Big Mac to say something else.
Her brother took a deep breath. "Well, time to go see our cousins and see if we can find Granny's supplies." Big Mac got out of his seat, Applejack followed. It was clear Big Mac wasn't going to part with this story that easily and she didn't want to pry it out of him. The best she could do was follow and try to be supportive to her big brother.
"Now, the three of you stay in sight," she said to the fillies as she passed by them. "I don't want none of you gettin' lost out there. You stick together and we'll get this over with."
"Yes, ma'am!" the CMC replied. They were excited enough just to be there, even if it was going to be a short trip. The three of them followed Applebloom's older siblings as they walked out of the passenger car and disembarked the train. Waiting at the station was a tan pony with an orange mane and a dark brown filly nearby her.
"Cousin Babs!" Applebloom shouted, running over.
Babs was almost shocked. "What the hay are yous guys doin' here?"(This is the best I can do trying to write this accent)
"We came to see you!" Sweetiebelle said.
"Yeah! A monster destroyed the barn!" Scootaloo added.
"It was really Fluttershy. She became giant and destroyed the town, there was cheese and Trixie and a tank and we tried to hide her in the barn but she was too big and it blew up," Applebloom explained quickly. Babs' eyes went wide as her three friends' excitement quickly overwhelmed her.
"Hi there, AJ, Big Mac," the other pony greeted them.
"Good to see you Sesame!" Applejack said, walking over with Big Mac.
"You enjoy the train ride here?"
"Eeh, can't complain," Big Mac said. The reply was a tad out of character for her older brother, it caused Applejack to raise an eyebrow.
"Well, I got a touch of bad news for ya," Sesame said. "That material granny sent you out here for? The supply's exhausted this season. I'm afraid you've all came here for nothing."
"What?!" Applejack asked, devestated.
"I'm afraid so. I got this letter from Granny Smith just this morning," Sesame said, hoofing over a piece of paper. Applejack looked it over. Indeed, it was in Granny Smith's hoofwriting. In it, Granny apologized for the inconvience and requested that Sesame take in Applejack, Big Mac and even Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo for a week while Granny went to Haywaii to bring back the appleluminum. The letter claimed she'd 'forgotten' that there wouldn't be any in Neigh York at the time with the season for harvesting it being over. Granny Smith had apologized again and strongly suggested that Applejack, Big Mac and the others take the time to go on a little vacation for themselves.
Applejack got done reading the letter and frowned. Granny's message, the circumstances behind it all were all too convenient. While she never jumped to conclusions, it was all too obvious Granny was using this whole trip as an opportunity to take her own leave of abscence on the sunny beaches of a tropical island in the Ponycific. The disturbing image of Granny Smith surfing crept its way into Applejack's mind and she cringed.
"So I guess you guys are stuck here for a while," Sesame said. That seemed to be the case.
"How do ya figure that?" Applejack asked. What was to stop them from getting back on the train and heading home right now?
"Well, that's the last train heading back to Ponyville for at least a week," Sesame said flatly. Behind Applejack, the train had already begun to depart. AJ watched in vain as the locomotive accelerated away. Mysteriously, two colts hopped off the back of it as it left.
"Why is that the last train?" Applejack said, turning back to her cousin.
"I'm not sure but after you guys left Canterlot, the tracks got all messed up somehow. Entire lengths of it got strung out and displaced. Don't know why but no trains will be able to head back to Canterlot until the rails get fixed up," Sesame said.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What's to stop us from flying? Or walking back?"
Sesame shrugged. "Plot convenience. Or inconvenience in this case, I guess."
"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed. He hadn't even glanced at Granny Smith's note yet somehow Applejack knew he understood already. She turned to her little sister and her friends who had overheard the entire conversation. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle were hopping in a circle around Babs Seed.
Babs, awkwardly cowering in discomfort was completely trapped by the adorable display of foalish jubilee. The three fillies continued their excited bouncing, nearly absent-mindedly skipping and chanting expressions of delight as the filly native to the city was encircled in love and left with a complete and utter loss of understanding and words. Big Mac's expression had turned into a mile-long stare, Sesame, standing in fronf ot them both wore a humble and welcoming smile. Applejack sighed heavily, very heavily. This was going to be a long week.
"Well, our place is around the block," Sesame said. "We'll get you guys set up and then maybe got see your Aunt and Uncle Orange,"
"Oh," Applejack started. "You don't have to go to such trouble on our account. We can just-"
"AJ," Sesame interrupted. "If you keep refusing our hospitality like this, it's going to get really complicated for the author to keep making up excuses. It's best if you just go with it." Sesame turned into the station, Big Mac followed her. The four fillies, now in a joyful group followed the two older ponies through the train station. Applejack followed as well, still pondering the circumstances, her stride showed no hint of reluctance.
The group walked through the station and out onto the sidewalk. Currently, they were in Albarny, Manehattan was still an island over. They hailed a stagecoach, which appeared in a decidedly GTA 4-style fashion, got inside and then took it to the Seed's residence in upper Manehattan. You should probably imagine a bunch of other Liberty City-esque stuff because that's all I got as far as imagery goes.
Compared to the Crystal Empire, Neigh York City's buildings were more... contemporary. Where as most of Equestria's buildings were of marvelous, lavish and regal architecture reflecting style, convenience, effeciency, simplicity, good taste and an appreciation a general appreciation for everything, Neigh York City's buildings appeared to be a collection of dull-colored pillars rising out of a solid gray piece of rock. The roads were crowded with stagecoaches, carts, covered wagons and a couple of those lightcycles from Tron.
They arrived at the duplex the Seeds called home. Sesame payed the taxi driver, who thanked her in an overly-familiar Serbian accent. She then led the group into the modest two-story building. Sesame's husband Pumpkin, an orange pony with a green mane greeted them as they entered.
"Cousins AJ and Big Mac! How nice of you to come for a visit!" he hugged them both. Although they were Babs' parents, neither of them had Babs'... unique way of speaking. The origin of their daughter's colorful accent and vocabulary would not be explained in this fan fic.
"So, what would you guys like to do while we're here?" Sesame offered.
"Can we go exploring?!" Scootaloo asked.
"Sure, why not?" Applejack said, having given up on trying to to curb any amount of enthusiasm anypony else had. Big Mac had no objections either, the two of them continued walking into the living room of the duplex's first floor.
Sesame left the fillies by the door for the moment. "I guess I'll take the girls out for some fun. You three going to be okay?"
"No problem, Ses, you guys have fun!" Pumpkin yelled back.
"All righty then, we'll see y'all later," Sesame replied. The older, tan pony led the four fillies back outside for some sort of filler I'm too lazy to come up with right now. Pumpkin led Big Mac and Applejack into the living room of the duplex where they took seats on some comfortable furniture.
"So, how are things back in Ponyville?" Pumpkin asked, starting conversation.
"We lost the barn yesterday," Applejack mentioned. "Giant pegasus destroyed it."
"Ah, heard about that. I guess things like that do happen, though."
"My best friends turn into giants, go on rampages and destroy half the town?" Applejack asked, questioning not only the statement but also what it implied.
Pumpkin thought. "Yeah, I guess so," he finally said.
Applejack was tired in more ways than one. "We should be on our way back to Sweet Apple Acres. We should be trying to fix the barn," she declared.
"AJ," Pumpkin walked over to her. "Sometimes accidents happen."
"When accidents happen, it's up to whoever caused it to be responsible. What we should be doin' is building a new one," Applejack steadfastly proclaimed.
"You can't always fix everything that goes wrong right away, Applejack. The barn wasn't built in a day and it won't be rebuilt in a day,"
The words seemed to be lost on the hardworking mare. "It COULD be rebuilt in a day if we all worked hard, pitched in."
Pumpkin decided to give up there.
"While we're in Manehattan," Big Mac said, "there's something I need to do. Something a little... personal."
"What exactly is that? You've been actin' real... strange since Fluttershy knocked down the barn," Applejack accused her big brother. "You weren't exactly keen on coming back to this town anyway, why are you suddenly so inclined to stay?"
Big Mac's head was submerged in visions of his past again. This was one of the brief moments where the words came easy for him, he felt his mind slip back in time as the story unfolded before him once again.