Just a day in Equestria

by dave89898989

37 - Going nowhere in a hurry

I had to go and see Destiny. My guess was that she was back at her home, in the comfort of Braeburn’s forelegs. I stretched my legs, and ran out the door to the train station, just in time to catch the train about to leave. I had no ticket, but maybe the Princesses had put in a good word for me. The coal powered engine sped towards Appleoosa, my destination. I got off, and hurried towards Braeburn’s orchard. I so badly wanted to stop for a drink before I approached the couple, though. Destiny was in the air, constantly flying in circles. Probably training in order to take the pain away.

“Howdy Blue,” Braeburn greeted me, with a cold stare. “Ah don’t think ya’ll should be here though.”

“I-I...just wanted to apologise to Destiny for keeping the truth from her. I suppose she doesn’t want to see my face, so you if you could pass on the apology, please?” My heart felt like it had gained a load of weight, pushing it to the ground.

“Ah’ll tell her. Now, you’ve gotta leave.” The sandy-haired colt was unusually unfriendly this time. I suppose the one dearest to him was hurt beyond belief, so obviously he would copy the emotions of Destiny.

I turned back and walked towards the train station. I had lost my longest standing friend, but at least she was alive. My heart had been broken so many times in just a short interval, by getting the most important characters of my life removed from me. I approached the station, and the train had already gone, smoke clouds following behind it. I kicked the ground in frustration. What could I do now? The only two ponies I know here don’t want me near them at all, and this wasn’t my kind of town. The saloon took my fancy. I sat at the back, watching the other resident ponies have a good time, unaware of the situation I had gotten myself into. Ignoring Applejack’s words, I took my last drinking session, and hit the bottle as hard as I could. I wanted to get as intoxicated as possible, and choke on my own vomit later on. I still didn’t have much to live for, so I kept that thought running in my mind.

At the point of nightfall, I was absolutely surrounded in bottles. It forced the other ponies to evacuate the premises by the sight of it. Although some ponies admired how much alcohol I had consumed. I got up out of my seat, fell over followed by the crashing of stacked bottles, almost swam through the wreck, and awkwardly stumbled outside. A train whistled a couple of times, and I realised I needed to be on that train. I flung myself aboard, and the locomotive headed off. I arrived back in Ponyville, and struggled to find my way home, but I got there after taking a very strange detour through trees unknown to me.

My head pounded rapidly as each second passed in the morning. Applejack was there, tutting at my pathetic form and mistake. She was right to, after all. But what else was I about to do after losing everything dear to me?

“Rise and shine, sleepy head!” she said in a quiet shout.

A trickle was felt on my forehead, but then it broke out into a whole torrent of water being dropped from a bucket. At least that calmed the thumping of my head.

“Ah’m disappointed in ya, Blue. Ya went out drinking yesterday, didn’t ya?” The light orange farm pony said.

“How...how did you know?” I asked, intrigued by her knowing of what I did.

“Well, ya darn reek of the stuff! And ya look pretty hungover too.” She shook her head slowly.

“Oh, yeah...that...I’m sorry Applejack, I had to give in for one last time,” I admitted my mind’s defeat.

“Why’s that then?” she inquired.

“I...I lost my friend by telling the truth of her family being long gone ages ago, when I told her they were just missing. I also had my brother killed. I couldn’t take having a clear head because all I did was think and repeat those scenes.” My throat had become painful while saying that.

“Blue...Ah’m...Ah’m so sorry...” Applejack rested a hoof on mine in comfort.

“There’s no need to apologise, it wasn’t your doing. Like you said, it’s in the past, so I should forget about it. I mustn’t grieve on what has been and gone. Destiny will never accept me as a friend anymore, and I’ve got to come to terms with that. With my brother, I have to respect his passing, and consider that I’m the only member of my family left,” I finished my sentence, and sulked afterwards.

A silence stayed for a few minutes while I stared at Applejack’s hoof on mine, then to the ceiling. There would be no hope in looking back to the past, so I could only move on from there. At least Destiny won’t have to put up with my horrible antics anymore, and the evil attracted to me, I thought.

“Blue, let’s go do some trainin’...would ya be okay with that?” she asked.

“I suppose we should do that. I have an important career to get into after all. Thank you again, Applejack, for helping me out here.” I got out of bed, and we exited the house.

We went through a similar session as before, but more pressure was added this time. I ran around the house for a about fifty laps, making a sort of shallow, grassy moat around my house, bucked trees until more purple leaves fell and covered the ground, did more push ups whilst carrying a heavier amount of bricks. Applejack introduced sparring to me, in order to help me with my ‘sloppy’ fighting skills. I thought they were alright...I threw some punches at her while she blocked them, and returned some punches to me, mostly hitting me straight in my face. I had always been slow when it came to hoof-to-hoof combat. I had also pretended to be burlier than I actually am, just to boost my confidence when fighting. After that long session, we went back inside to get a refreshing drink and rest.

“Hey...that was a pretty good training session, wasn’t it?” I asked my coach.

“Of course it was, mah friend!” Applejack happily replied.

“You...you called me your friend...” I was startled. Why did she say that?

“Yeah, ‘cause Ah am? Did ya forget or somethin’?” her hoof gently knocked on my head a few times.

“I thought you all weren’t my friends anymore, since what I put you through...” I reflected on the time that I was possessed by Rose, making me impersonate an even more corrupt Princess Opare.

“We’ve always been yer friends, and we will be no matter what,” the workpony assured me.

“And...and what about my relationship with Fluttershy?” It had been so long since we had talked directly.

“Well, Ah don’t even know about that one. But she’s still yer friend after all, Ah guess just on a strange level,” she explained, puzzled at the old situation I had with the yellow pastel coloured filly.

I had to go see her again at some point. I have doubts if she’d actually be able to talk to me though...
In any case, I had to get the position of royal guard accepted, so I grabbed a piece of paper as well as the quill and ink, and started to write with my mouth.

“Whatcha doin’?” Applejack asked me.

“I’m writing a letter to the Princess, telling her that I’m going to accept the role as one of her guards,” I wholeheartedly said while concentrating on writing. It looked a little bit messy, but I hadn’t written anything down in a while.

“That’s quite a commitment ya are gonna make; ya know Twilight’s brother is captain of the guards!” she exclaimed, looking proud of herself knowing an important pony.

I laughed in acknowledgement. “Oh really? It’d be interesting to meet this brother of Twilight’s. What’s his name?”

“Shinin’ Armour is his name. Maybe ya can learn a thing or two from him, eh?” the farm pony encouraged.

“Maybe so...there could even be some rivalry,” I replied, thinking back to my time as a leader of some military groups during the war.

I finished the letter, placed it inside and envelope and sealed it, then went out to send it away. The evening sky was a brilliant orange and purple, just like yesterday’s evening...it was only recent, but it felt like talking to Destiny for the last time happened ages ago. Not that she was already a distant memory, it just felt weird to think back to yet another saddening moment when it was so soon from the present.

“Is that letter about your recruitment?”

“How do you know about that?” I said as I turned to see Princess Luna standing there.

“Miss Opare taught me a trick to read through envelopes, to figure out what mail should be read or not, since we get a lot through each month, back at the castle.” The Princess of the night offered to take letter from me, so I kindly gave it to her.

“What brings you here, Princess?”

“Ah, I was just patrolling Ponyville. It’s nice to walk around here in the evening, after the lanterns have been put up around the town. They’ve been left from Hearts and Hooves day, but it seemed like a nice touch to keep them on for now.

“Destiny loves Hearts and Hooves day...” I remarked in a melancholy tone.

“What was that?” the dark blue alicorn asked about my mumbling.

“I...I lost my best friend yesterday from telling the truth about her family...they had passed away in a crash, and I covered it up for her by saying they went missing. For about ten years I had said that...” I sighed and looked directly at the ground, hanging my head in shame.

“Ten years ago...I remember Celestia telling me about that. It was a sad day for her, as she saw the whole thing,” Luna explained as she remembered what went on.

A spark of hope appeared in my mind and my eyes. “So I wasn’t the only one to witness it?! That gives me an idea...would you mind asking Princess Celestia to help me get my friend back? I assume she’s had her share of seeing passing, as have I...but she can handle it better, I’m guessing. Or even get Aora to reason with Destiny...could you-could you do that for me, your royal highness?”

“Hmm...I shall see what I can do. You are a friend of us, and so we shall try to help you and your friend out,” the moon-marked mare agreed with my request.

“Oh thank you, thank you Princess Luna! That means so much to me!” I couldn’t contain my excitement, but I had to restrain myself from hugging the Princess, she was royal material after all.

“You’re quite welcome, Electric Blue,” Luna formally replied.

“Thank you so much, I’ll let you get on with your patrol now.” I tipped my head at her and returned home.

As I was walking back through the trees and up the hill, the memories of me parting ways with Destiny when our treehouse inside the forest was burned down, and reuniting with her that fateful night in Appleoosa. Even though I tried, I couldn’t quite remember what happened in between. Even I did have all that I lived through with me now, why did I not know what happened in that timespace?

“Applejack!” I shouted as I burst in the house, then looking at her sipping some sort of hot beverage.

“Y-yes?” she nervously answered at my strange intrusion.

“Can you tell me how I got here, because I don’t quite remember...” This was one weird question to ask her at random.

“Uh...well...when a mare and stallion love each other very much...”

“No! Not that! I’m trying to figure out how I arrived in Ponyville.” I just couldn’t help but smile at that remark.

She shook her head with a smirk. “Oh right! You coulda told me, sugarcube. Ah remember ya came ta Ponyville in a carriage, with a very angry look on yer face. Ah said this before, but ya were lookin’ fer a fight. Ya picked on me ta challenge, and ya beat me too. Ya went away fer quite a while, Ah don’t know where, then came back and apologised to me! Yer mood changed ta that of Rarity’s, and Ah gave ya some old furniture when ya were movin’ in to yer old house. Does that make sense now?”

“Not quite. Why was my behaviour aggressive, and then suddenly the opposite?” I questioned myself.

“Ya’ve done things like that a few times now, if Ah recall. One time ya are bad, then ya’re good, one time sad, the next happy, yer emotions change pretty quick,” the blonde maned mare said in an observant tone.

“I’ve never really noticed that myself...” I changed the subject rapidly. “Applejack, I know you probably won’t be able to answer this, but, where did I go wrong in my life?”

“What do ya mean, Blue?” her head tilted to one side as she replied with a question.

“Ever since birth, all that happened to me was in a bad form. I was hated as a human child when I went to school, just because I couldn’t let go of my ‘little girl’ ideals. The war came shortly after I matured, so my family were killed in a bomb blast as I escaped, except from my brother, but him and I were separated for the longest time. I was forced to join a group of bandits or thugs for my teen years, and all we did was bully anyone that passed our camps. We raided government supplies frequently, and we killed a lot of people too. I didn’t want any of that, but if I left I would have been killed myself.

Soon enough the group disbanded after we all had a fair share of action, and I received a lot of hurt from the others throughout. I got angrier and more emotional as things progressed when I walked through the wasteland of what was once a world, while getting fought or generally harassed by passers-by. I enrolled with the rebel military a few years later, and we fought a lot of crooked government agents.

The person called Glais joined my group one day, and we took a break for a while when the government were little in numbers. I was invited to a ball, where I danced with my friends, not that I remember how I got them. Glais showed up and took me away from that place, and we had a good time with each other. I had fun for one night in my life, practically. Terrorists invaded Glais’ home and wrecked the place the next morning, almost killing us both. We kind of were on shaky terms after that incident.

After a time, I became crooked myself as I rose through the ranks, so it was like reverting back to being in the group of thugs when I was a leader. All we did was steal and kill, non stop, because I felt like exacting my revenge of my family’s death. The military got word of my atrocities, and took away my ranks and state in the army. I was losing hope and gaining rage; all I wanted to do was settle down but I just had to keep moving. The food and water I stocked was harshly running out, I couldn’t find good shelter, I was dying slowly. Glais and Rose then showed up one day, and shot me in the head after I killed Glais with a knife.

Everything was black, and then the Gods came out of the darkness. They offered me a second chance, and I took it because I was selfish and wanted to keep going. I awoke in a building where I was introduced to my author, the person who created my character that you see in front of you, and who brought me into this world. I also met up with my brother, but he despised me for everything that I had done prior.

After that, I grew up for sixteen more years from some sort of re-birth, and here we are today. The details of what went on in this world were not pleasant either, as I witnessed Destiny’s family in a crash, I only brought evil to my companion through the years through Rose constantly writing in embodiments of bad and fighting us. We parted ways because I wanted to stop her from being attacked; it was getting to be too much for us both. She stopped being my best, or only friend for a time, because I forgot all about her. We were meant to stay close together at all times, otherwise our memories together got erases, which they did.

And I think you know the rest.” It had been a long time since I had poured out so many words, but it all had to be explained. Applejack was probably my closest friend now, and I had to take comfort in knowing that she was. I didn’t want her friendship to be wasted like before, with Destiny.

“Ah...Ah guess ya just made some bad choices in yer life?” Applejack told me, still pondering the whole timeline.

I almost, almost got mad there, but me getting angry wouldn’t have helped anypony. “Why did I make those choices? Because the thoughts brought on by my family instructed me to. I was so focused on revenge, that I did whatever I could to get it. But later on in life, it lost meaning, and I just...went bad.”

“But what about here? Ya have been a good pony to all of us!” the workpony encouraged that notion onto me.

I gave into my anger, once again. “What are you talking about?! I’ve only made everypony’s lives worse by interfering and bringing evil upon them through me! My existence here is pathetic, and I only cause negativity. I shouldn’t have gone for the second chance. I should have just died unhappy, instead of descending into the mess that I am today. I tried in the early days, to be as good as possible, but under that guise, I was really a savage.”

“Now listen here Blue, you ain’t a savage at all! Ah’ve seen things from the Everfree forest, and Ah know ya don’t compare ta what it holds in that place.” She tried the hoof of my hoof thing again, and I swatted it away. I didn’t want her to touch evil.

“That isn’t going to cut it, Applejack. I’m sorry, but this time there’s no sorts of advice that can help me anymore. I have become a monster, and it can’t be reversed; it’s affected my mind too much.” I slumped to the floor and hung my head in the shame of who I was.