The first thing I noticed when I awoke was that I was fully conscious, no delirium or wooziness. I slowly sat up, groaning as my back protested the movement. I blinked the sleep away, looking down at my body. I noticed two things in the next few seconds.
One, I was buck-ass naked. The thing that made this somewhat terrifying was that I didn't remember undressing myself.
Two, I was half-submerged in a bathtub filled with partially-melted ice. Sitting ramrod-straight in the tub, I twisted to get a look at my back. No cuts...it seemed my kidneys lived another day. Sighing with relief, I shakily stood and swung a half-numb leg over the rim of the tub. I cautiously shifted my weight to the unsteady limb, and—
"N-NGH!" My soaking-wet foot slipped across the hardwood floor, sending me tumbling forward. I reached out to catch myself, my hand catching the sink and sending several mane-brushes, hair-ties, hoofheld mirrors and a pair of dentures sailing across the room. With a massive crash, I hit the floor.
A massive jolt of pain shot through my chest as soon as it touched the floor. My body tensed and I let out a hoarse, agonizing groan, stiffly raising my body with my arms and tossing myself onto my back. I raised my head to focus on my chest, my eyes immediately drawn to a patch of angry red skin, already blistered. My eyes traced the jagged red lines spiderwebbing out from the central burn, confirming my fear.
I had been electrocuted. Judging by the size and severity of the burn, it was at least on the level of a small lightning-strike. I groaned, laying my head back. Before I'd come to Equestria, I never knew what the burn from a lightning-strike looked like. I closed my eyes and put my hands over my face. How did Rainbow Dash find me here? I lay there for a moment, taking deep, cleansing breaths.
My breath immediately hitched in my throat when the faint rhythmic thuds of hooves across the floor began approaching, my body tensed like stone. The hairs on the back of my neck raised. That was NOT Applejack. The walk was more of a limp, an unsteady hobble as if walking was painful or difficult for the pony in question.
"Applejack, ya best keep down yer dern racket when Ahm takin' a nap!" An old, creaky mare's voice rang through as a hoof pounded against the door. I remained silent, frozen into inaction by my dread. "Applejack? D'ya fall n' hit yer head or summin?" The door knob began turning, but my voice caught in my throat before I could call for her to stop.
The door swung open. I stared at the old mare, somehow eerily calm despite being naked, soaked, burnt, and laying helpless on the ground. Two seconds. Five seconds. Half a minute. After a full minute of us staring at one-another, I decided to try my hand at diplomacy.
"...E-ugh, Gragh-Smih." My words were unintelligible even to myself, and had an unnatural scratchy, wet sound to them.
"EEEEEEEEKKK!!!" The door slammed shut and the shambling hoofsteps grew marginally quicker, hobbling away. I heard a panicked, shrill shriek of "BIG MACINTOSH, APPLEJACK, GIT YER FLANKS IN HERE!!!" and...just lay there.
Well...that went better than expected, I thought. At least she didn't hit me. I struggled to my feet, my neck feeling uncomfortably warm and tight, as if the skin were stretched. I pulled a towel from the rack and wrapped it around my waist, turning to the mirror. I grimaced at the angry red puffiness around my scar, the skin shiny and flaky in spots. Yeah...that's infected. A couple years ago, I wouldn't have even thought about raiding a stranger's medicine-cabinet. But that was before said strangers had bucked me off their farm—literally—or, as the evidence suggests, attempted to electrocute me in a bathtub.
I'm not entirely sure why I wasn't more angry about that, but I couldn't really bring myself to care. Finding a tube of what looked like an antibiotic, I applied as much as I could. It took nearly the entire tube to cover the area, but the Apples SERIOUSLY owed me. I wrapped a white gauze bandage around my neck and exited the bathroom.
I made it just out of the room when I came face-to-muzzle with a massive red stallion. I recognized those sleepy eyes and that well-worn yoke anywhere. Staring at Big Macintosh with what I was sure was a well-practiced scowl, I tried to push past. A hoof on my stomach halted me, followed by a quiet but firm "Nope."
My scowl deepened. I tried to muscle past the fuzzy roadblock, but there was no way my emaciated form could budge the gargantuan pony. The stallion seemed uncertain—Most did, almost ready to bolt when I displayed even the slightest hint of anger. I wasn't sure why, especially one that could mop the floor with me like Big Mac. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Applejack's worried 'bout ya."
I didn't visibly react to the news, but inside, my heart was racing. Applejack had told her family I was staying? Well, it was a good thing I'd dressed my wound before I left the bathroom. I doubted I'd be welcome any longer. The stallion's eyes darted from side to side after several tense moments, before slowly backpedaling and trotting away.
I snorted and continued to the door. I needed to go for a walk...I'd decide while I was out if it was worth coming back.
-----
Twilight shifted awkwardly under Applejack's stare. She looked up from the ground to speak, but gave up before any sound came out. Applejack lifted an eyebrow. "Well?"
Twilight winced, slumping down. "Okay, I'm sorry! I just-I wasn't thinking. His heart stopped and I couldn't think of any other way to—"
"So ya zapped him with magic lightnin' while he was in a tub full o' water n' ice." Applejack put a hoof to her muzzle, shaking her head with a sigh. "How can such a smart pony be such a...UGH!"
Twilight glared slightly, offended at the insult to her intelligence. "Well if somepony had listened when I said we needed to add the ice gradually, maybe he wouldn't have gone into shock!"
"Girls?"
Applejack pressed her forehead to Twilight's narrowing her eyes. "Well if SOMEPONY hadn't lollygagged while gettin' the ice we needed, maybe we wouldn't have had ta rush!"
"Umm, girls?"
Twilight growled, pushing right back. "And if YOU hadn't been acting like such a CRAZY-PONY I wouldn't have been scared to leave you alone!"
"GIRLS!" A butter-yellow Pegasus shoved herself between the feuding pair, pushing them apart with her hooves and shouting as loud as her little lungs would allow. "Arguing isn't going to solve anything!"
"I'm afraid Fluttershy is right, dears, please just settle down...and exactly why are we all here?" A snow-white unicorn mare with a luxuriously-curled deep purple mane inquired, thankful for the cover of the library. The summer sun was not kind to fair coats such as hers.
Twilight sat back and took a deep breath, pulling a foreleg to her chest on the intake and extending it outwards on the exhale. "Right...thanks, girls." She cleared her throat, before continuing. "Rarity, have you ever encountered a creature roughly twice your height, looks a bit like a monkey with clothes and a mane?"
The white unicorn sniffed, her face twisting into a grimace as if she had tasted something bad. "Unfortunately, yes. The beast smelled positively dreadful, he would have filled my boutique with his funk if he'd had his way!" Twilight nodded, turning to the next. The cyan pegasus gave a victorious grin, lifting herself in the air. Before Twilight could ask, she had already begun.
"Hay yeah I have! I saw that monster prowling around Ponyville looking for some ponies to eat, and I gave him some pow! Bam! Kaboom! With each provided sound-effect, she flipped into a different pose, most likely intended to imitate some kind of strike. Trying to resist a growing urge to smile, Twilight turned to Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy, have you seen him?" The timid yellow pegasus shivered lightly and hid behind her mane, giving an almost imperceptible nod. Continuing, Twilight further inquired, "and...what did you think?"
"He scares me..." Rainbow snorted hovering over to her fellow pegasus.
"Doesn't take much to do that, Flutters." The prismatic pegasus wrapped a foreleg around her friend's withers, Twilight shot her a look, before sighing and continuing.
"My point is, we've all seen this creature, but none of us know anything about him." Twilight started. "Well...Almost none of us. Applejack?"
The orange mare cleared her throat before starting in somber tone. "About a month ago, Winona started actin up somethin fierce, jes' out of the blue, runnin 'round, barkin at nothin an' carryin on. So Ah went ta th'barn ta get mah rope. Ah was gonna leash her to a tree ta keep her out from under hoof. But when Ah got there, mah rope was gone."
The rest of the group was rapt with attention, even the unusually sedate Pinkie Pie. After a moment, Rainbow Dash shot into the air with a boisterous shout. "Well why didn't ya say so earlier? I'm the fastest pegasus in Equestria, I can run down a stupid monkey-monster in no time flat!"
She reared back to dart out the open window, but Twilight's magic managed to anchor her tail in place. "Rainbow! Let her finish."
The pegasus descended back to the ground, a sheepish smile and nervous chuckle masking her embarrassment. "...Sorry."
Applejack sighed and continued. "Ah followed some weird tracks into the edge of the Everfree, and...Ah saw 'im. He was sittin' in the branches of a tree high off the ground, with the rope around his neck. Ah tried ta stop 'im, but he...he..." She pulled her hat down over her face, unable to continue.
Twilight gulped, a spike of dread rending her insides. She'd seen the scar on his neck...She had an idea how this story ends. But she had to be sure. "...He what?"
Applejack growled and tossed her hat to the floor, eyes screwed shut. "HE HANGED HIMSELF! Right in front of me, told me we pushed 'im to it and tried ta kill himself."
Silence. Complete and utter silence.
Twilight grimaced. She'd hoped it wasn't that, despite what her common sense had told her. Not stopping, Applejack continued in a frantic, almost hysterical ramble.
"H-he looked like he hadn't seen a bit o' charity in years! Ah could see his ribs, his legs were thinner than a sapling, and his eyes..." Applejack opened her own eyes, looking at the group with a haunted expression. "He was...He wasn't right...in th' head."