Subchapter 1: A family not Forgotten
Dan continued to work the farm, often doing more harm than good in the state he was currently in. None of his family members dared to approach Dan and tell him to stop or take a break though, for fear of how he might react in his current state of mind, all of them having been aware of just how hurt Dan was a few days ago by Zoe’s departure.
Two days after Sam had set about brining Dan his first glass of water, which had been a chore added to her routine now, another familiar figure approached Dan, ready to talk some sense into him.
“How ya doing there son?” James spoke up from his place behind Dan, seeing Dan stop his digging of many more holes in the apple orchard to plant more trees that his family did not even have.
“Please go away Gramps. It’s nothing personal towards ya. I just don’t wanna talk ta anyone at all for a might longer.” Dan replied, being somewhat rude to his grandfather for the first time in all his life.
“Ya don’t need ta talk to me Dan. Just listen some as I speak aloud ta myself alright?” James told Dan, seeing Dan give a very noncommittal shrug before turning around and returning to digging holes in the apple orchard.
“Good son. Now listen closely. I know what you’re going through right now.” James began, seeing Dan stop digging to throw down his spade and turn around to face him again at those particular last words.
“No ya don’t. Ya can’t possibly understand ma situation fully. I understand that Grammie left ya and all, same as ma situation, but ya don’t understand the key differences in ma situation at all. And I’m not up for informing ya of the differences myself.” Dan nearly shouted at his grandfather, not allowing himself to be lectured by anyone, even a man Dan greatly respected, about this issue of his.
“Oh really boy? Ya think all that? So I suppose ya think I also don’t know what it’s like ta love someone who came from Equestria too then?” James replied, making Dan go entirely silent and completely unresponsive for a few moments.
Dan had no idea how to respond to his grandfather now, nor any idea how exactly James had figured out that Zoe was really from Equestria, when he and Zoe had both worked so hard to hide the fact from everyone around the farm.
“W-What do ya mean there Gramps?” Dan spoke up, unsure of how else to begin approaching this subject.
“Don’t play dumb Dan. I knew all about your and Zoe’s situation. I kept quiet cause I was once exactly like ya boy. I too love a gal that came from Equestria. Her name was Spring Maker, but I called her Mildred here so as ta not raise suspicion, like y’all were doing with Zoe. Or should I call her Applejack?” James explained to Dan, waiting for his grandson to fully recognize the name his grandfather had just used.
“Wait…Mildred…But that’s Grammie’s name.” Dan responded, unsure if any of what he heard or said at the moment was in the tiniest way true.
“Yup. You’re right about that Dan. Spring Maker came ta Earth from Equestria one day many years ago. I fell in love with Spring Maker, and offered her ta stay here til she could go back ta Equestria, disguised as a gal named Mildred to fool the rest o’ the family. She ended up loving me back eventually, and we got married much like you and Zoe were planning ta. Mildred had your daddy and his three brothers too, before she had ta go back ta Equestria. Celestia herself came ta get her back, what with Spring Maker being one o’ tha older Bearers of tha Elements of Harmony that most no one knows about.” James explained further to his grandson, knowing he could only and would only reveal all this to Dan, the one man he knew in this world that would believe him.
Dan stayed quiet for quite a few more moments, trying to fully decipher all he had just learned about from his grandfather’s past. Eventually, Dan chose to speak up with the question that now plagued his mind greatly.
“So…what did ya do when Mildred left ta go back to Equestria? How…how did ya go on with your life at all?” Dan asked his grandfather, still mostly unsure as to whether or not James could help him out of his situation.
“It was very hard. I aint gonna lie about that at all. But I had your daddy as his brothers ta look after, and then their kids after them, and in a way, all o’ them were constant reminders o’ Spring Maker. I know that y’all didn’t have as much time with Zoe as I got ta have with Mildred, and that aint right at all, but I’m betting she still gave ya something o’ hers when she left.” James explained to his grandson, glad to see Dan reach into his pocket and take out the hair ribbon he had received a few days ago from Applejack before she left.
“She…she gave me this hair ribbon. And also she said I had all her love. Forever.” Dan told James, surprised to see his grandfather rise and come fully over to him.
“It’s true boy. I can feel her love on ya. I can feel it on that ribbon too. That thing’s magical, and it may well end up being your way back ta her, as long as ya believe strong enough.” James explained his thoughts, knowing full well how girls from Equestria usually thought.
Dan couldn’t speak, hitting himself mentally for not realizing the importance of the hair ribbon before now. It had just sat there in his pocket for days now. Dan could find his way back to Applejack with this hair ribbon, but he also realized what he would have to give up in order to do just that.
“But…If I leave…the farm…” Dan tried to explain his reasoning to his grandfather, glad to feel a hand supportively grasp his shoulder instead.
“What did I tell ya all them months ago Dan? Tha farm’ll always be here, but Zoe aint gonna be. Ya may not have realized it, being distraught as ya were, but your brothers and sisters have stepped up fully and can run the farm without ya now. They hardly even realize you’re even still here, expecting ya ta just up and vanish one day. They’ll all be okay without ya here. Follow your heart. It’s usually a might smarter than your brain.” James told Dan, turning to go back towards the house as Dan smiled fully for the first time in many long days.
Dan immediately looked down at the ribbon he held in his hands, and began to focus and think. Dan began to remember everything he could about Applejack and Zoe. As Dan started to remember the best moments of his life with her, the ribbon began to wrap tightly around Dan’s hand and Dan began to hear the same wind that had brought forth and taken away Applejack from this world.
Dan decided to open his eyes one last time on Earth, merely to fully see what he was experiencing with his other senses. As Dan opened his eyes, he came to realize he was several feet off the ground, a small hurricane seeming to appear around his person. Dan wasn’t scared at all though. Dan knew he wasn’t leaving everything he ever knew, having come to know he loved Applejack more than his family at that moment.
“Hold on a bit longer Applejack. I’m a coming for ya. And aint nothing gonna stop me this time round.” Dan yelled within his personal hurricane, just as it swallowed him completely and sent him on the way to Equestria, and to Applejack.
***
Subchapter 2: A Life without any Sparkle
Noah sat down on the street out front of the area of space that was once his grandfather’s store, wondering why all this had needed to happen right now, when Noah had already lost everything else of true value in his life.
Noah’s faulty stove element had finally succeeded in outliving its usefulness and had set about burning down both Noah’s home and his business to nothing but ashes. In addition to that, Noah’s Prius had been stolen a few days ago by a chop shop, and had just been recently found, though it was now completely destroyed.
As Noah continued to contemplate the apparent irony and cruelty of the universe towards everything he loved at all in his life, the fire chief of the city, Nicholas, approached Noah.
“Excuse me sir? We’ve done all we can now unfortunately. I’m sorry to say this, but it appears as though nothing survived the blaze. I’m sorry for all of your losses.” Nicholas explained to Noah, seeing Noah look up at him with a demented and uncharacteristic smile on his face.
“You don’t even know the true meaning behind those words you just spoke to me. I do thank you for trying to save my store and my home though. If it’s acceptable to ask this now, could you and the rest of the firefighters leave? I need to be alone for a while to consider what to do with what others might call the remains of my life now.” Noah asked Nicholas, seeing the fire chief nod in agreement at his strange yet still reasonable request.
Within about half an hour after Noah had first requested it, everyone was gone from what was the previous site of the Owl’s Nest bookstore. Everyone except Noah himself though. Noah stood up from the seat he had taken on the street beside his store, and decided to walk around for a short while to take stock of the shredded remains of his once great life.
The Owl’s Nest was gone now, beyond any hopeful repair or reprise. Noah’s home was also gone now, destroyed to the same if not a worse extent than the Owl’s Nest. The car that was once Noah’s father’s was stolen, no doubt reincarnated in a lot of different cars around the city in some way. And worst of all, Twilight was gone from Noah’s life too. Gone forever from Noah’s life were all these things he loved beyond all else. Noah collapsed onto the street as he remembered all he had lost, not wanting to go on anymore with this shamble of a life.
As Noah lay down on the street though, he began to feel an odd sensation inside his right front pocket. Reaching inside it to try to discover the cause of this strange sensation, Noah came across the ring he had gotten to give to Twilight a short while ago. Seeing the ring again brought out many emotions from Noah’s almost completely shattered mind, but the greatest feeling apparent was longing to see Twilight again.
“Twilight…I miss you…I need you…And I love you…” Noah whispered into the ring itself, somehow hoping and believing Twilight would know what Noah had just said.
As Noah stared deeply at the ring box though, he began to notice that it was cracked and something appeared to be leaking out despite how impossible that sounded. Upon closer inspection, Noah realized, that somehow, small amounts of wind were pouring from the ring box itself.
Standing up almost instantaneously from the street, Noah set himself about thinking of Twilight even more while still holding the almost destroyed ring box. Noah was certain that thinking of Twilight with the ring box in hand was the key to finding her again, just as doing it in the first place had allowed Noah to notice the wind coming from it.
Once Noah let all of his memories and feelings flow openly through his mind and his words, the ring box expelled a burst of wind so great that Noah simply vanished from the world instantly, ring box, body, soul and all.
Noah awakened in what he could only later describe as a purple colored sideways hurricane. Noah instantly stood up and began walking the way he was facing though, certain that the light at the end of this tunnel would indeed be Twilight Sparkle.
***
Subchapter 3: The Second Sonic Rainboomer
The rev of his engine was what drew Lucas’ opponent’s attention to him finally arriving for the race that day. Chuck, the rival Lucas faced most often in his races, was the one who would speak up and goad Lucas for his choice of arrival first.
“Almost late there Lucas. Where’s your little girlfriend? She finally dump a loser like you?” Chuck laughed at Lucas, hoping he could distract Lucas enough to make him lose or crash in the race that was about to begin.
“Shut up Chuck! I warn you only once today. I promise you I will run you down repeatedly if you so much as make an allusion to Sophie again.” Lucas yelled back, surprising everyone there with the true venom he spoke with, Lucas not normally reacting at all to any sort of goading.
Just as Lucas finished speaking, the flag girl, Rachel everyone believed her name was, stepped up and began to signal the start of the race. Within a few moments, every bike at the starting line was gone with nothing but the sound of their bikes remaining in the air. Every bike except for the Rainbow Dash however.
Lucas began to think about the true reason he had come to this race, and decided that racing was no longer worthwhile at all to him when he realized it. Without Rainbow cheering him in the stands, or beside him on the track, Lucas no longer felt the urge to win or even to race at all anymore.
Lucas set off back along the way he had come from, intent on running the Rainbow Dash right out of gas this time. As Lucas took to the open road again, he began to feel the wind strongly in his hair. It did not feel natural though, as though the wind was purposely pushing Lucas straight forward down the oddly straight road.
Lucas looked around himself at these sensations, and was shocked to see nothing but a huge tunnel of wind, that cycled through the colors of the rainbow rapidly in its outer walls. Lucas had no true clue what all this meant for him, but he had a strange belief that perhaps Rainbow Dash was on the other side of this mysterious wind tunnel. And Lucas at least had an idea on how to get to the other side of this tunnel to confirm his belief or not.
Lucas pushed the Rainbow Dash to the fastest it could go naturally in this strange storm, and then floored his fully fueled nitrox booster, hoping it would give him the burst he needed to reach the other side of the storm. Lucas was not disappointed as he felt himself experience what he could only call a Sonic Rainboom from then on as he lurched forward into the unknown areas of the wind tunnel, feeling the world itself finally leave him as he raced forward.
***
Subchapter 4: The Proof is in the Cupcakes
“NO!” Ben screamed almost to the kitchen itself as he threw yet another tray of cupcakes to the already overcrowded floor of his kitchen.
Ben had been baking cupcakes for well over two days straight, not being satisfied with a single one that exited his ovens when they were done. Ben continued to throw the ruined cupcakes to the floor of his kitchen, quickly running out of space along with baking tins.
Just as Ben prepared to take yet another tray of cupcakes out of the oven, he heard the doorbell ring. Screaming at himself for not disabling the doorbell to prevent interruptions, Ben proceeded forward to open the door and came face to face with the manager of Sugar Stop, Shirley.
“What do you want with me Shirley? I don’t have any time for you now.” Ben told Shirley brutally, shocking Shirley greatly with his new demeanour.
“I-I came to check up on you Ben. No one has seen you in days, and everyone is worried sick about you.” Shirley explained, sad at not seeing Ben’s face relax at all at what she said.
“Tell them I’m fine. In fact, I quit. I don’t have time for a job with you anymore.” Ben replied, turning right around and returning to his latest batch of cupcakes, not caring that he burnt his hands as he took them out without any oven mitts on.
Ben took a nibble of one of the latest batch of cupcakes, and then threw the entire tray to the ground like all the others. Shirley had followed Ben to his kitchen to demand an explanation for his new demeanour, but she could find none that made sense to her in this kitchen.
“What are you doing Ben? Why did you waste those cupcakes? They look good to me.” Shirley said, seeing Ben turn around and advance on her quickly.
“Oh yes. They look good. But they’re not right. Just like all the others I’ve tried. Only when I recreate them perfectly can I hope to find her again.” Ben announced, turning back towards the counters to begin mixing another new batch.
“F-Find who Ben?” Shirley asked from afar, already heading back towards the door she now regretted walking through.
“My true love. Pinkie Pie.” Ben whispered the last two words after shouting the first three, not even caring if Shirley was around anymore to berate him.
Looking around for the vanilla, Ben came to the realization that he was completely out, and collapsed, defeated, on to the last open spot of floor in his kitchen.
“I can’t do it. I can’t recreate the Laughter Cupcakes. I’ll never see Pinkie Pie again.” Ben voiced aloud, looking upon the last of the 6 Laughter Cupcakes Pinkie had left him with.
Ben had only tasted half of the first one before realizing that if he could recreate the experience of making them, perhaps he could get to Pinkie Pie. The other 4 of the missing Cupcakes had been ripped apart to look for indications of certain ingredients. Ben had no luck in deciphering the full recipe, and could not bring himself to eat the last Pinkie-made one until he did.
As Ben finally admitted defeat though, he felt an odd urge overtake him. An urge to fully eat the last Laughter Cupcake Pinkie had made. Ben immediately sprang to his feet at this idea.
How had Ben not thought of it before? He had felt closest to Pinkie when he had eaten the first Cupcake, and not felt close to her since then. The Cupcakes Pinkie had made were the key to finding her, not the ones Ben could not make. Pinkie herself had laid the path for Ben to come to Equestria.
Ben stood before the last Laughter Cupcake now, letting all his hope and thoughts of Pinkie flow through his very soul as he took the Cupcake into his hand and began to eat it.
Upon taking the first bite of the Cupcake, a huge wind was released from it that swallowed Ben. Ben continued to eat the Cupcake though, worried that if he did not eat it completely, he would not be able to fully go to Pinkie. Once Ben had taken and swallowed his last bite, he opened his eyes to behold a swirling pink wind tunnel before him.
This strangely colored wind did not scare Ben at all though. Ben set about marching forward through the wind as fast as he could, feeling certain in knowing that this wind was the last barrier between him and Pinkie, and being beyond determined to destroy it quickly.
***
Subchapter 5: Ignorance Without Bliss
Oliver walked along the side of the highway, almost entirely unaware of the rest of the world around him except for a few select feet in any one direction. Oliver normally never walked at all, save for the day he went up the mountain with Dan and his friends.
Remembering that day and what had come of it made Oliver stop completely in his tracks to simply become overcome by his raging emotions. Oliver knew now what he thought of Fluttershy, and why he had been able to say what he needed to so as to inspire her to return to Equestria a short while ago.
Oliver loved Fluttershy, not having been able to come to proper terms with it though while she still inhabited his own world, and not having been even mildly aware of it before she had come there in the first place. As Oliver realized all this, a small creature came over to him.
This creature was a monarch butterfly, which had always been one of Oliver’s favorite animals. The monarch landed on Oliver’s shoulder and simply waited until Oliver would become aware of its presence there, as though it were nearly as if not more intelligent than him.
Eventually, Oliver did indeed become aware of the butterfly on his shoulder, and turned to ask it a question, unsure of why he felt compelled to do so.
“Hello there little friend. May I ask what you’re doing here?” Oliver asked the monarch, seeing the butterfly almost seem to turn its head towards him, and then slowly take off to hover next to the forest the highway passed by at this point.
Oliver was not immediately certain of what all this meant, but did acknowledge it as one of the strangest things he had seen in his life so far. Eventually, Oliver acknowledged that the butterfly was waiting for him to follow it or not, unsure how he had been able to gleam that particular fact.
“You want me to follow you? Okay.” Oliver told the butterfly, feeling certain this creature understood him now.
The monarch turned around from Oliver, and began to fly slowly, leaving enough of a trail for Oliver to follow. Oliver followed this butterfly’s path, unsure of what to expect but certain it would be something he wanted badly.
Eventually, Oliver emerged into a wide open field, not at all unlike the one where he had met Fluttershy. As Oliver took note of his surroundings, he realized that the butterfly who had lead him there was gone.
Oliver was initially distraught at the loss of the butterfly, but then realized the true reason for his distress. Butterflies reminded Oliver greatly of Fluttershy. Thinking of Fluttershy’s name brought back various memories of her to the forefront of Oliver’s mind. Oliver closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of the memories for a moment, before snapping his eyes wide open again at the feeling of wind in the meadow.
The entire meadow was coming alive, every blade of grass and every tree leave slowly transforming into monarch butterflies, which began to circle Oliver to create the same wind he had felt when Fluttershy had left him earlier.
Oliver suddenly knew why the butterflies had brought him here. They had brought Oliver here to return him to Fluttershy, the magical creatures somehow sharing a link between Earth and Equestria as well. Oliver simply closed his eyes, and revelled in the experience of going between the two worlds.
“Fluttershy. I’ll be with you soon. That’s a promise.” Oliver spoke aloud a moment before the cyclone of butterflies separated, and Oliver vanished forever from the Earth.
***
Subchapter 6: A Lack of Inspiration
“Yes. I’m truly sorry. Do forgive me. Of course I’ll send you a full refund.” Antonio voiced, no longer caring who he said those words to, repeating them having merely become habitual for him in the past few days.
Antonio had attempted to finish all his placed orders as he had promised himself when Rarity had left, but he had been unable to properly design a single thing since Rarity had left.
Complaints were coming in from all around the world, from the various countries Antonio sent his creations too. All of them were upset by his lack of enthusiasm, his shoddy work, or his inattentiveness to the issues themselves.
Antonio no longer cared at all, his entire reason for being able to create beautiful designs having left his life entirely. Antonio no longer cared if the reputation of Fabulous Fabrications fell greatly, or if he lost money on every single order. Antonio simply no longer cared about anything in his world.
Antonio decided that today had been enough to put up with already, and thus set about disconnecting his phones, locking his doors, and disabling anything electronic that could annoy him for the remainder of the day. As Antonio went to turn off the last light in his store, he realized exactly what the light was illuminating.
The light was connected to a podium that displayed the first wedding dresses Antonio had designed, both alone and with help from Rarity. Antonio went along the line of dresses, remembering the inspiration and reason for each dress clearly, until he reached the last dress on the podium. This dress was Antonio’s favorite.
The last dress in line was the ocean blue and gold trimmed dress, or at least the initial product Antonio and Rarity had based the eventual dress on. Antonio would always love the dress, and not merely because it was the first of his very successful Stand-Out Weddings Line. Antonio loved this dress because he felt as though he could still feel Rarity’s presence woven within the fabric itself.
As Antonio inspected the dress, he realized that a stitch had come out along the trim near the bottom of the train. Antonio pulled lightly on the trim and, seemingly magically, the entire thread came out and draped itself around Antonio’s arm. Antonio looked down upon the trim, remembering it had been Rarity who had thought gold would make the best color accompaniment for ocean blue, and let a few stray tears fall from his dreary eyes.
Once Antonio’s tears had made contact with the gold trim, the entire thing whipped up and around Antonio’s being as though possessed by a demonic wind. Antonio knew what this wind meant though, and saw it as angelic now instead of demonic.
This wind would take Antonio to Rarity, and Antonio could not have felt happier about that as the trim whipped about one last time before removing Antonio’s entire being from the world he had inhabited all his life before now.