//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: The Price of Failure // by Humanity //------------------------------// This sucks… I haven’t felt this out of things since the last time I got a hangover from binging on apple cider. I got dragged out of bed to say goodbye to the princesses, and not even twenty minutes later, I’m on the next train outta Canterlot. Things were really quiet. You’d think somepony would at least try to start up a conversation to help pass the time. It’s at least an hour to get from Canterlot to Ponyville by train, after all. But nopony did. None of us said a thing. I’d normally be a chatterbox during boring times like that. But… How could I even talk? I don’t even really know what to write. All of these emotions are new to me… I can’t believe he’s gone… Just… Now those stupid tears are building up in my eyes again. Please, I want to stop crying… My eyes and head hurt enough already. I never knew what it’s like to fall in love until I met him. It felt so good… It wasn’t until I got to spend some quality time with him in the sky that I started to see the inner him. The way he watched my back and I watched his in the Everfree Forest that night… I learned something important from him that day. But now that he’s gone… James, why didn’t I stick with you when I found you? I can’t believe everything you did. Is that how much we meant to you? You became a total monster… But was that all according to Discord’s plan? Was he planning to turn you into that just to see what would happen? He was still himself when I found him… The instant I got my wings back, I went looking for him. I… I felt him die in my arms… Why couldn’t I do anything?! I’m the one who’s connected to the Element of Loyalty, darn it! Why couldn’t I save the most important man in the world to me?! I pleaded and screamed for him to stay with me…and he still left us… Maybe we deserve this… We promised… Pinkie Promised, even… And we still ended up failing him. All I could do was look out the window the entire time. The rain started to pick up along the way. I couldn’t see anything past the water pouring down the window. All I could see was my reflection. My eyes were bloodshot. I didn’t sleep well that night. In that reflection…I could almost see him looking back at me as he lay there…dying… I squinted my eyes shut and bumped my forehead against the window. It hurt so much… I’d rather have both my wings broken and me wrapped up in a full body cast than feel this pain! Maybe… Maybe if he… On Hearts and Hooves Day… Maybe if he left Fluttershy for me, he’d still be… No, that’s really sick, Rainbow. You shouldn’t think like that… But still, it was Fluttershy who… In the end… The train pulled into town and we all got out. There was hardly anypony else on the train besides the six of us. We instantly got soaked, but it’s not like any of us cared. Even Rarity wasn’t throwing much of a fit when her mane and tail got soaked. We all turned to Twilight. She’s usually the brains when something bad happens. She looked at all of us and spoke with a really worn out tone of voice. “Well… Let’s all go home… We need to rest and… I need some time alone to really think about all this…” “I think we all do… I’ll… I’ll see you girls tomorrow, right?” Pinkie Pie asked, her mane and coat still being that weird darker shade of pink that I’ve only seen once before. “Of course, darling… We’re still friends, after all…” Rarity then muttered while trying to crack a smile. It didn’t show though. We all started to make our way home. And for once, I just couldn’t bring myself to fly. And Fluttershy… She didn’t say anything. She just shambled away without even blinking. But before I got far, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I looked to the right and saw Applejack looking at me. Her hat was keeping her dry and she had a big white bandage over her bruised eye while dabbed in ointment to help with the swelling. “Hey… Wanna come over ta my place until the rain clears up?” I’m guessing more of Discord’s cotton candy clouds moved in while we were gone and turned into normal rain clouds once he was…dead… “Sure… Lead on…” Hardly anypony was out in the rain. We eventually ducked under a shop’s awning to get out of the rain for a little bit. But Applejack then reached under her hat and pulled out a slip of paper. “Thought ya’d wanna see this. It’s… It’s one of the invitations for…you know.” I guess Princess Luna must’ve passed one of the first ones that were printed. I took a look and… Oh man, the tears started building up again. It was an entirely black card, but with James’ cutie mark taking up most of the top half while the rest was written in white text. “In loving memory… James of Ponyville… You are invited to our friend’s final farewell to pay tribute to a friend of Equestria…” There was some more, like when it would be happening, but I couldn’t keep reading. I handed it back to Applejack and almost lost my balance. Good thing she was there to keep me up. She’s always been an awesome friend. “Ya loved the guy, didn’t you?” “You know it… Never thought it’d happen…but it did…” I couldn’t lie about it. I mean I’d deny it if it kept my reputation going with everypony else in town, but I could share it with a close friend. Once I finally started to catch myself, Applejack brought up a question I had been trying to not think about. “What’re we gonna tell the youngin’s…? They’re probably at my place right now.” The kids… James was part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And Scoot… He adopted her as… “We’ll have to tell them… I can’t do it alone though…” “I’ll do it with ya, Rainbow. I just hope they don’t take it too hard…but who am I kiddin’?” Applejack said while trying to crack a smile. Sure enough, she couldn’t do it. Nothing to smile about right there. The rest of the walk isn’t worth mentioning. Just some of the most miserable weather I’ve seen in months. And right as we stepped into Applejack’s place, there they were. And I have to admit, I got a bit of a laugh outta it. The three girls had Granny Smith laced up with some ropes tied to her arms that looked like they were looped around the rafters in the ceiling that led into the kitchen and upstairs. I think she was taking a nap and was wearing a pair of glasses with fake eyes placed behind the lenses. Apple Bloom looked like she was having tea with her. “So, uh… Granny Smith? About back when the Apple family first moved in around here? Who was the first pony ta move in after y’all?” For some reason, Granny Smith’s mouth moved while a voice up the stairs spoke up in reply. But it was just Sweetie Belle talking with a phony accent. “The first? Well…uh… That was…” She then stuck her head down the stairs and called out through the posts. “Hey, Scoot! Do you remember who Granny Smith said was her first customer for that zap apple jam?” Scootaloo then called out from somewhere in the kitchen. “Why’re you asking me?! I’m not her granddaughter! But I think… Wasn’t it some guy called Stinking Rich?” “Who gets stuck with a name like Stinking Rich?! Oh well… Ahem… Oh, that was Stinkin’ Rich! He bought half of our entire stock of zap apple jam that year! And that’s how Ponyville started!” Well, Applejack and I just couldn’t keep ourselves from laughing. Man, I really needed that too. What the hay were those girls doing to her?! Our laughter got their attention right away. Apple Bloom looked our way and grinned really brightly. “Huh? Oh, hey sis! Howdy, Rainbow Dash! Where were ya?!” Sure enough, the other two started coming into the room. But they forgot to let go of the ropes and ending up dragging Granny Smith’s head into the ceiling before they almost got yanked off their hooves. That woke her up right away with the old mare hanging from the ceiling by her arms. “Huh?! Whazat?! Where am I?! Who left the stove on?!” “Oops! Sorry, Granny Smith!” Scootaloo spoke up before she and Sweetie Belle backed up to lower her back down into her rocking chair. “Well, hey there, youngin’s. All cooped up in here? It’s rainin’ cats and dogs out there!” Granny Smith said while rocking a bit in her chair. But then she took a good look at us. “Well, you fillies look like ya got soaked to the bone out there! I’ll go whip up a fresh batch of hot cider in a jiffy.” Once Granny Smith was out of the room, the kids then turned their attention to us. Apple Bloom was the first to speak up. “Where were ya, Applejack? Spike came by yesterday and said that ya had somethin’ important goin’ on up in Canterlot. Is somethin’… Wait! What’s wrong with yer eye?!” Didn’t take long for them to notice that cotton patch over it, huh? Applejack tried to crack a reassuring smile to keep them from getting too worried while she lifted it out of the way. “Oh, this? I just got walloped pretty good. Just a good ol’ black eye.” Yeah, the girls reacted to that about as well as I expected. They all cringed and backed away together. “Ewwwwww!!!” Applejack quickly put the patch back over her eye while grinning nervously. “Well, now ya know why I’m wearin’ this patch. It ain’t pretty. It’ll be fine though. Just give it a while and it’ll be back ta normal.” Sweetie Belle then came closer. “Well, if you’re here, does that mean Rarity’s home too?” “Yep… I reckon she’s home by now, sugarcube. We all came home on the same train. But now, would ya mind tellin’ me what y’all were doin’ with Granny Smith just now?” Applejack looked like she was trying to avoid the problem for as long as she could. I was too… But with Scootaloo there, it wouldn’t take long for it to be brought up. Apple Bloom suddenly looked back at her flank while the other girls did the same. But there was still no cutie mark. “Hmm… Well, look’s like we ain’t gettin’ our cutie marks by bein’ ventriloquists.” Scootaloo then took a couple of steps forward. “That’s OK. We’ll just ask James for some suggestions at our next meeting. Hey, that’s right! He came home with you guys, right?” I felt my gut twist itself into a knot when I heard those words. The kids weren’t going to take this well at all. As much as I wanted to tell them… Well, OK, I didn’t wanna tell them at all. But still… I looked at Applejack. She always has a knack for being honest. She nodded at me before looking at the kids. “Yeah… About him… Girls, I’ve got some terrible news…” Sweetie Belle came a bit closer while still showing that cute little smile of hers. “It can’t be that bad. I heard from Scootaloo that all of you got called up to Canterlot by the princesses. And since you came home, everything must be OK!” “All of us except him, that is…” I managed to say while being totally unable to even look at them. “Girls… This… This isn’t easy for me to say. But he… James…died yesterday.” Well, they took it better than I expected at first. They just looked at us with confused stares. Finally, it was Scootaloo who answered. But she looked pretty annoyed. “Wow, Rainbow Dash. That’s the unfunniest joke you’ve ever said. Come on, where is he? Is he home yet? Can I go see him now?” Yeah. Denial. No surprise there. I looked at Applejack again. “Show them, AJ.” She reached under her hat and dropped the little slip of paper in front of them. They all took a closer look at it before Scootaloo picked it up. “In loving memory…?” I could almost feel the tears coming back to me. I really didn’t want to cry in front of the kids, but I couldn’t help it. “He died in my arms… There was nothing I could do…” I really wasn’t expecting what happened next. Scootaloo grabbed the thing by her teeth and tore it to shreds. “This isn’t funny! You’re really pushing it now, Rainbow Dash!” All three of them looked up at us with really angry glares. Sweetie Belle then spoke up. “He’s not really dead! He’s one of us! He’ll come home soon, right?” Applejack sighed and shook her head. “Girls… You know I’d never lie ta you ‘bout somethin’ like this. I wish it wasn’t real either, but…” Apple Bloom didn’t give her the chance to finish. She got right up in her face. Or at least she would if she was as tall as Applejack. “Well, yer lyin’ to our faces now! It’s not true! And you know it!” Applejack started to get pretty defiant by that point. You know, sisterly quarreling and the like. With tears starting to stream down her face, she started to raise her voice. “Hey, I’m just tellin’ it like it is! Don’t go thinkin’ I’m not bothered by this, all right? I was there, Apple Bloom. I saw him lyin’ out in…” Scootaloo was the one who ended the whole thing right there. She pretty much just screamed at us right before running up the stairs. “Shut up! It’s not true! It’s not true!!!” One by one, the other girls followed her right up the stairs until they were gone. And right after that, I heard a door slam. Probably all rounded up in Apple Bloom’s room. I looked at Applejack while she looked at me. She was crying. I did what I could and draped my wing over her to pull her close. “I just don’t get it, Rainbow… Why’d this have ta happen…?” “I wish I knew, AJ…” I really didn’t have an answer. I could feel the tears coming too. I still remember the moment when his grip on my hoof went limp. It still hurts… Oh god, it hurts… I loved that man…and he died right in front of me. We looked towards the kitchen when we heard the sound of rusty and cracking joints. Granny Smith was standing in the doorway with two big warm glasses of hot apple cider topped with whipped cream set on a tray on her back. “I heard everythin’, youngin’s. There’s been a death in the family, eh?” “Extended family, Granny. James, he…” Applejack tried to talk, but she had to catch herself when she was about to have a breakdown. “I know… Don’t get yerself all worked up, youngin’. Just sit down for a spell and relax.” She nudged a couple of stools over to her rocking chair for us to sit on. Once we were sitting down, she handed us those glasses of cider before she took a seat in her rocking chair. “It just ain’t the right order of things… He was a real quiet fella unless ya spoke up. Then he could get pretty chatty.” James never really interacted with Granny Smith all that often. But whenever he stopped by Sweet Apple Acres for a little volunteering for some extra bits and she wasn’t taking a nap, they got along really well. He always thought she’s a really funny and cool grandma. It just… I can’t believe how much I hate thinking of someone important to me in the past tense… Not much later, I was just walking through town. Still raining like somepony forgot to turn the clouds off. I’ll have to take care of that tomorrow. I didn’t even have the urge to fly. I couldn’t… I felt so…heavy. But while I was walking, I swung by a place I never really stopped by. The local bar. I just stared at it for a minute. It’s pretty weird. When you’re depressed, you get a really weird urge to drink even when it tastes bad. And that urge was calling louder than ever before. So I went inside and pulled up a stool to the counter. The place didn’t have many ponies in it, so I just set my head down on the counter until the bartender noticed me. “Hey there, Rainbow Dash. What brings you by here?” I heard a voice speak up ahead of me. Berry Punch was standing behind the counter. She’s a wiz at coming up with all sorts of fruit beverages, including some stronger stuff. She’s also the bartender. “No questions, OK? Just set me up with something strong.” I really wasn’t in the mood to talk. Just in the mood to try to drown my sorrows. She tried to give me a little compassionate smile while she started rooting around the bottles on display behind the counter. “Sure thing. You OK though? Did the Wonderbolts turn you down?” I know she was just trying to help and lend an ear. Lots of bartenders do that. “No… It’s just… I really don’t wanna talk about it.” Once she finished whipping something up that used a bunch of different booze with lots of different colors, she set the glass down in front of me. “Here you go. Pretty strong stuff here… What’re you writing?” I guess she noticed this journal. Well, I decided to be honest. “It’s to help me cope… Just don’t go anywhere, all right? I think I’m gonna be here for a while…” I’m setting the quill down for now. I wanna get this stuff in me before I start crying again. At least if I’m a bit intoxicated, I can blame it on the booze and nopony can say I’m going soft. Oh wow, everything’s spinningggg. Heheh, the clouds in my house are all moving. Are they talking to mee? Man, that stuff really loosened up my head. What time is it? Whatever. I’m in bed now. I don’t wanna write anymoooree. I’ll just cry myself to sleep now. Yeah, I can feel the tears coming on really fast now. Wish you were still here, big guy. You could’ve had me instead, but you chose the wuss. Your loss…