Friendship is Not a Drug

by BR

Honesty

After Celestia left, there was nothing to but wait for the first mentor to arrive. He floated around the void, frustrated that he couldn't control his direction, leaving him with only one thing to do: think about why he was here.

He had taken drugs before, so why did he end up here this time? Andrew was deeply disappointed with himself. He knew that there was a lack of friendship in his life, but he was so occupied with the cocaine and the loss of his job to worry about it. As a consequence, he was now stuck in a void. With PONIES. Of all things, ponies.

Andrew thought deeply. He had a coworker who often spoke of ponies, so he tried to remember if he had mentioned any of those names. Certainly he had mentioned Rainbow- whatsahoosit before, but he couldn't place any of those other names. This meant that Andrew was talking to several characters from a little girl's television show

Andrew would have laughed, but all he could do was sit and wait for the first mentor to arrive.

He had no idea how long he waited, but soon a voice rang out from the darkness.

"Hullo? Anypony there Ah need ta talk to?" The voice was distant at first, but then it grew louder, informing Andrew that the speaker was fast approaching.

Andrew readied himself to talk to one of these ponies. Did the ponies really care about how he looked? Did he have to speak to them like he spoke with Celestia? And why did everything smell like fudge?

The first pony came into his peripheral vision. It wore a rustic cowboy hat, and it's dark yellow coat, blond mane, and piercing green eyes were beacons compared to the dark tones of the realm Andrew was in.

He almost laughed in the pony's face. He couldn't believe it: talking ponies! He really must have taken a lot of coke.

As the pony approached, she took off her hat with one hoof and offrered the other to Andrew.

"Howdy. Mah name's Applejack, and from what Ah reckon, the Princess says you are gonna need a talkin' to."

Andrew looked at the mare, debating whether or not to tell her about his problems and addictions. he still thought this was a strange dream, and he figured that it was worth admitting it to someone...or somepony.

He shook the outstreched hoof of Applejack, but kept his eyes staring at the ground the entire time. Applejack noticed this, and gave Andrew a quizzical look. "Well, If Ah'm not mistaken, y'all must be that Andrew fellah Celestia told us about."

Celestia. Andrew thought back to what she had told him after the accident. Honesty... He glanced at Applejack again, noting that her eyes showed no sign of deception or lies. He took a deep breath. If he was gonna survive, honesty was one of the things he was going to need.

He took a deep breath.

"Applejack, I do need a talking to." the pony looked up at Andrew expectantly. "I have pretty much been trashing my life. Between the loss of my job, drugs-"

"Whooaa there nelly," interrupted Applejack. "What the hay are 'drugs'?" Andrew was shocked. Of course ponies didn't know what drugs were, they came from a children's television show! His mind quickly raced to think of a way to tell the pony what drugs were, in a way that wouldn't destroy her innocence.

"Well...umm..." he began, "Drugs are something that some humans take in order to make themselves feel good." Applejack's confused look left her face as she nodded in understandment.

"Well, sugarcube, Ah see your point now. Humans take these 'drugs' because whatever they're doin' is not good. Humans take drugs to feel better, right?" Andrew was shocked at the perceptiveness of the orange pony; he had thought Applejack to be a simple farm girl. Or pony.

"Actually, yeah." What else did this pony know about him? She may represent Honesty, but could she tell if he was lying? He had no choice; he had to tell Applejack everything about his horrible life.

"Applejack, it all started when I lost my job as a advertising manager."

"What in the name of Luna is that?"

"Well, I kind of...exaggerate....things so people will buy stuff." Andrew never felt more embarassed about explaining his job in his life, especially to a cartoon pony.

Applejack gave him a look that Andrew predicted that a long lecture was going to follow.

"Sugarcube, exaggeration ain't the truth. When y'all are bein' honest with others, you gotta tell them everything. This means tha' you can't leave any other part of the truth out, even if it is a bad part to the truth.

Take farmin', for example. When you take the apples down from the trees, y'all can be honest by only selling the good ones. If you sell a bad apple to a cusotmer, y'all are basically lyin' to them. You need to be honest and make it right, even if you don't make the sale. That's why farmin' is called 'honest work' so often."

Then, something happened. The blackness that currently enveloped Andrew now twisted as Applejack said these words. Andrew found himself spinning, and then it stopped.

***********

"Can I help ya, buddy?"

It was the voice of the bartender. The same bar he was in before the accident. The bartender that had tried to help him.

At first, Andrew was incredulous that he was still alive, his imprisonment inside the blackness so brief. But, as he looked around, he noticed that the windows were black. Indeed, he was still trapped inside the blackness, and this was only an illusion.

The second thing he noticed was that Applejack was there. She sat across the bar, returning Andrew's stare, taking sips from what appeared to be a mug of cider.

"Can I help ya, buddy?" It was the bartender again. Andrew looked back at him, the concerned look on his face, remembering what he had told him the night of the accident.

""I lost my job and I'm back in rehab, and I have no money, plus my wife's cheating on me, so I don't quite see a reason to keep on living," He carefully repeated, his mind struggling to regain the memories of him on that night. "So I drink."

He caught sight of Applejack, who mouthed the words make it right while giving Andrew a look that plainly said: anything ELSE?

He turned to the bartender. "Also...I'm addicted to cocaine." The bartender was slightly taken aback by Andrew's declaration. Andrew expected him to kick him out of the bar or call the poilice, but instead the bartender reached down behind the bar and pulled out a business card. Andrew looked it over. It was a card for a drug therapist.

"I was on it a few years back," admitted the bartender, "and this guy really helped me get over it. I hope he can do the same for you."

As he said this, the blackness closed in on Andrew once again.

***************************
As soon as he returned, Andrew was filled with regret. If only he had been honest, he wouldn't be in this situation right now. He would even be back on the road to regaining happiness in his life. If only he had been honest, he would have become a better person.

Maybe I really do need honesty in my life.

Having thought this, Andrew felt something new inside of him. It was a refreshing wave of morals, cleansing him of his past lies and deceptions.

This feeling of renewment was accompanied by a real feeling-pain. Andrew felt something hot on his arm, burning into his skin. He yelped and rolled up the sleeve of his sweatshirt to discover a small tattoo.

Three small, red apples. The mark lined up on the inside of Andrew's wrist, leaving enough space for what appeared to be five more of the small marks.

"What...what ARE these?" asked Andrew, staring at the small picture on his arm. He showed Applejack, who regarded them with a sense of triumph.

"Well, Ah'm no professor-scientist like Twilight is, but Ah think you just trult learned what Honesty really means."

Immediately, Applejack began to turn transparent, phasing out of the place Andrew occupied, and back to her own world.

"Wait!" cried Andrew. "What do I do next? Who is the next one coming?"

Although Applejack was almost gone from sight, Andrew could still clearly hear her voice.

"Just wait for Rarity, sugarcube."

And then she was gone.

Comments

[nonameguy0010]

:3
This reminds me of that christmas movie with the three ghosts or something. :D

The only thing that I felt was odd is the pace that the story went. I feel like things went a bit too fast. Like this chapter probably could have been around 5k words. I just feel like this guy wouldn't have been so accepting of what was happening. Like it would have taken him longer to actually be honest. I don't know. Still a nice chapter.

There, are ya happy? I made a comment XD

[BR]

712294

[Throwaway12345]

gud. and here comes rarity