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Prologue365 words
How All This Happened...594 words
First Impressions of Ponyville2,800 words
The Market1,454 words
Exile1,704 words
Late Night Rescue4,378 words
The Breaking of Shells1,833 words
The Date2,094 words
Loving an Apple1,273 words
Sick Day1,128 words
The Job2,335 words
A Day With the Apples3,775 words
Another Doctor's Appointment2,469 words
The Truth Was Bound to Come Out1,850 words
Telling Big Mac6,044 words

Exile

Angel was not used to the silence of her confinement, at first, it was haunting. Just the slightest creak of the floor under her hooves spooked her, and the fact that the only other pony there was to talk to was herself kinda creeped her out. Although, thanks to her meds, sometimes she slept the whole day and didn't worry about it. But one day she decided that it might be best to get out more than once a week so she wouldn't suffer from cabin fever and go completely insane. So as the weeks came and went, she went out of the house 3 times a week. One day would be for grocery shopping; the other two would just be for getting some fresh air, she would mostly sit in the park for a few hours while reading a book and maybe take a walk around Ponyville while trying to avoid contact. She only went into town for fresh air and when she needed to shop for groceries or for doctor appointments.

This activity made Twilight concerned for her, she had seen Angel walk through town on multiple occasions and had been observing her. She wasn't making any lengthy conversations with anypony, not responding to any 'hellos' given to her, or even saying 'hello' to anypony. At the market, she just selected her merchandise, smiled at the seller, and paid for said merchandise. When she went to the park, she just walked through town to the park; once there, she would crack open her book and not move from that spot for a few hours. Twilight saw that she did that twice a week and if she already did her shopping earlier in the week, she would then go home, close the door and it wouldn't open until the next week. Something Twilight noticed about Angel's house was that everything was closed, the windows were closed, the curtains were closed, and it was clear that she never used the back entrance. Everything was always closed.

"What is that pony doing in there?" Twilight asked herself.

This pattern had been going on for 3 weeks now since Angel arrived in Ponyville and Twilight was certainly puzzled as to why and what she was hiding. She knew it wasn't good for somepony as young as Angel to be locked in and living like herself pre - Ponyville. She decided to approach Angel the next time she came out next week. When she did, she came out to do her grocery shopping in the morning. Twilight was on her way to the local restaurant to meet her friends for breakfast when she saw Angel at the flower stand. She had just bought a dozen red roses that would be in a vase on her dining room table later when Twilight came up to her.

"Hi Angel!"

Angel cringed, and decided to be polite. She turned around to greet Twilight with a fake smile.

"Hi Twilight!"

"How are things going?"

"Good."

"Great! I was wondering if you'd like to get some breakfast with me and my friends."

Angel's heart skipped a beat, she thought avoiding others when she went out would help to prevent this.

'Make up an excuse! What could I say? Anything! Just anything!'

"I...I can't...I'm sorry."

"Oh, well...maybe tomorrow?"

"I have a doctor's appointment early tomorrow."

That excuse was true.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Angel, are you...okay? If there's anything you need to talk about..."

"No! No...I mean...everything's fine. It's just...I'm not much of a conversationalist."

Lie. Total lie.

"Why do you lock yourself away then? All you have to do is...well...talk! Like you're talking to me right now."

"I don't know...I...um..."

"Look, I know how daunting it can be moving to a new town where you don't know everypony. But you could at least try and give it an effort."

Just so she could quickly steer away from this conversation, she said, "Alright."

"So, what's the doctor's appointment for?"

"It's just a regular checkup...I have to do it since I moved to Ponyville, making sure I'm healthy...no biggie."

Twilight could tell that she was lying but decided not to press further, "Alright, but...if you wanna hang out with me or my friends, or if you just need to talk...all you have to do is ask."

Angel didn't know how to respond so she simply said, "Okay..."

Twilight nodded and left with a warm smile, Angel was touched that somepony wanted to include her, but she had to be the bad guy right now so nopony got hurt because of her. In truth, she did not intend to contact Twilight about 'hanging out' anytime soon. She then gathered herself and headed home; once there, she arranged the roses in the once empty vase on her dining room table. As she did this, she thought of what Twilight was offering; it was an offer she had to refuse because of the reason why she was there. If she were here for a change of scenery and wasn't disguising herself as an introvert, things would be different. But for now, the only thing she could do was decline and keep declining until they got the message.

Angel went to bed early that evening so she could wake up early in the morning for her appointment, the appointment was at 10 and was 5 blocks away so she had to get an early start. The next morning, she got up at 9, ate a bowl of oatmeal and walked the 5 blocks to the doctor's office. Once there, she checked in with the receptionist who silently gave her clipboard of papers to fill out. Angel sat down and read the papers, it was all personal information like: 'Where do you live?' 'Are you Married?' 'Are you pregnant?' 'Have you had any Exposure to Asbestos?'

Angel honestly had no idea what Asbestos was and she didn't want to know, so she filled out what she could and gave it back to the receptionist and waited for a half hour before the doctor called her in.

"Is there a Ms. Angel Wings here?"

Angel got up and approached him as he introduced himself, "Hello Ms. Wings, I'm Dr. Horse."

"Hello."

They then shook hooves and went into the examination room and began conversing, "And how are you Ms. Wings?"

Angel was still a little hesitant about ponies knowing about how she really was, so she responded half-heartedly, "Good, thank you."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Ms. Wings...I have your past medical records so I'm very much aware of your condition. Let's not beat around the bush here, tell me how things are REALLY going."

Angel sighed, "Okay, to be honest, I'm throwing up more frequently than I'm used to and am having random nosebleeds."

"Well, that's normal for somepony with your ailment...how often are you vomiting?"

"About 4 or 5 times a day and sometimes I'm spitting up blood as well."

"How many times out of the 5?"

"3."

"Interesting," he said as he wrote this information down in his clipboard.

"And how many times are you getting nose bleeds?"

Angel had to think on this fact, "Um...I'd say...about twice a week."

He nodded and wrote that down, he looked up and had Angel sit on the examination table. He checked her blood pressure, her heartbeat and pretty much everything else to she where she was in her condition. Once he was done writing the last piece of information in his notes, Angel asked the daunting question, "How long do I have?"

"Well, at this rate...I'd say you have until late Autumn."

She only had 4 months left, 'Better sooner than later I guess,' she thought.

"Now, are you taking your medication?"

"Yes sir."

"Now, since your timeline is short here, I am going to make you an offer. There's a medication that, if taken everyday after dinner, it will extend your life by another 4 months."

"How would it be taken?"

"There's a needle with a tube attached to it and it goes in your foreleg above your hoof and you'd attach the hose with the medicine bag and it'd pump the medicine into you."

Angel considered this, but really, what would be the point? She had nothing and nopony to live longer for.

"I'm sorry sir, but, right now...I'm going to have to say no."

He looked at her quizzically, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

She paused for a moment, "I have nothing else to live for."

He then removed his glasses, "Angel...what you're doing to yourself...shutting yourself away like that...yes, I know all about it, small town remember? Word gets around quickly. But, I would suggest that you surround yourself with other ponies. Trust me, you're going to need it later on down the road. Closing yourself away isn't going to take the problem away."

"That's not why I'm doing it."

"Oh, then...what's the reason?"

Angel thought for a moment on how she could put this, "Look, think of me as a tornado...if I touch base with anything or anypony...all I'm going to do is destroy and hurt others."

"Angel, you're going about this all wrong."

"How do you suggest I go about this situation then?"

"Get out, make some friends here."

"But-"

"Doctor's orders...live life as normally as possible if you can."

"But, I don't want everypony knowing about...you know..."

"You don't have to tell them right off the bat! Just tell them when you're ready."

Angel sighed, "Alright, alright! I'll...I'll try."

Dr. Horse raised an eyebrow, and Angel quickly corrected herself, "I mean I will."

"Good."

Angel was then excused from the office and headed home, she thought about what her doctor's orders were and honestly was caught between a rock and a hard place at that moment. On one hoof, she didn't want to argue with the doctor any more than necessary but on the other hoof, she'd have to break her own rule and knock down the walls she built up around her for the protection of herself and others. She thought she could keep herself contained and not risk the feelings of others, but it seemed like brick by brick her fortress was tumbling down.

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