Chaser

by sslacyhadals

The End of a Long Day

As I stepped out of the hospital, the chilly night air made my cheeks burn that much hotter. I didn’t notice Applejack waiting for me next to the hospital sign until she cleared her throat. The noise startled me, and I jumped, looking around quickly until I saw her.

“Pinkie was right,” She chuckled, “You do jump somethin’ quick.”

My cheeks were no longer an issue; my whole face had gone red. “It’s, uh, one of my better traits,” I mumbled.

“Well, jump on over this a ways, Chaser.” She started down the path, and I quickly fell in step beside her. We walked in silence for a few minutes, and then she turned to me and said, “So, what’s your story?”

“Huh? Oh, um... Wha-what d’you want to know?”

She smirked at me. “Anything you reckon’s important. I got no problem lettin’ you stay at the farm, but it’d sure be nice to know who I’m bringin’ home tonight, don’t you think?”

I laughed a little nervously. “Right! Right. Of course, that’s totally reasonable.” If only she knew...

“You okay, there, Sugarcube?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Fine. Just, uh, tired.” I cleared my throat, and tried to think of how to explain myself without giving away... well, everything. “My story, huh? Well, uh, what did Rarity and Pinkie Pie tell you?”

She looked up, thinking. “Not much. They said you was a pony from outta town, and you came in on the train this mornin’. I think we coulda figured that much out anyways, though.”

“Probably.”

“So,” she looked at me, “Where you comin’ from?”

Normally, I don’t like answering personal questions, but for some reason, Applejack’s queries put me more at ease than on edge. I answered softly, “I-I came from Snowfall. It’s a village up in the mountains.”

“I know it,” she nodded, “My second cousin, Honey Crisp, lives up there.”

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, “I know Honey. She’s a, uh, really nice mare. Good with a shovel, and quick with a warm cup of snow cider when it’s cold. Which,” I added, “is most of the time.”

“Yep. That’s Honey for you. Which reminds me, I gotta send her a letter sometime. Granny Smith keeps wantin’ to know how she’s been doin’ up there, and see if she can send some of that snowapplesauce she makes...” She grinned, and looked at me again. “Aw, shucks. Here I am jawin’ on about my family, and I was askin’ about you!” She chuckled. “So what about your family?”

“It’s just my parents. My father, Crash Course, teaches Creature Studies at the university in town.”

“An’ your momma?”

“She’s a part-time journalist. She used to travel all over to get the latest scoop or the biggest headline, but nowadays she more or less does interviews and fluff pieces.” I paused, looking around at the shops in the market district as we passed through. It was quieter, and much emptier, without all the stalls and carts filling the space. Applejack watched me, but said nothing, waiting for me to continue after we passed the square. When I didn’t, she tried prompting me again.

“So why’d you come here to Ponyville?”

I took a moment to respond. “I’m... trying to find something...”

She eyed me for a few moments, started to say something, then stopped. I watched the wheels turning in her head, and she finally looked up at the starry sky, and replied, “I know how that is. I left home once, too, when I was a filly.”

I looked up at her, surprised. “You... did?”

She nodded. “Yup. Tryin’ to find somethin’. Thought I’d be a fancy big city pony. Turned out what I was really lookin’ for was right in front of me the whole time. I just needed to leave home to figure out how much I loved it.” She looked down the road, lost in memory, then turned back to me. “What’re you tryin’ to find, Chaser?”

“Me? Uh, w-well... I’m... just looking for my place, I guess.” And my cutie mark. I sighed, and let my gaze fall to the ground as we walked.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Uh, no. Not right now.” I could see she was concerned, so I added, “Maybe later, though. When I’ve had some rest.”

Her expression smoothed into a smile, and she nodded. “Fair enough. It has been a long one, hasn’t it? Well, The farm isn’t far now. That’s the edge of town up yonder.” She pointed, and sure enough, the road exchanged buildings for landscape only a few yards from us. “Shouldn’t be more’n ten minutes or so.”

“So, um, you live on the farm with your parents?”

Her wince was almost lost in the darkness. Almost. “No, just Granny Smith, and my brother and sister. I’ll introduce you in the mornin’. They’re all likely asleep by now.”

As if to confirm the lateness of the hour, I yawned as I answered, “I don’t blame them. I think everyone in town is, except us.”

We shared the silence for a while after that. At first, it was nice, but as we walked, I started to think about everything that had happened today, and tried to think of ways to make up for the mess I’d gotten Fluttershy into, and how to deal with the rumors that would surely circulate about me tomorrow. I was so wrapped up in my head, I almost missed the large arched sign appearing suddenly to one side of the path.

“Here we are.” She turned, and I followed silently. As we crossed under the large sign over the path, Applejack announced, “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres.”

It certainly was sweet; the delicious scent of apples hung heavy in the air as we entered, and it made me realize how long it had been since I’d eaten. The grumbling in my stomach alerted Applejack to the same fact. She looked around at the apple trees, said, “Hold on to your stomach, Partner,” and ran over towards a nearby cart. The cart was loaded with barrels, and she grabbed one quickly, looping back around to slide it under a tree. She turned and raised her back legs, facing away from the thick trunk. Her legs hung in the air for a moment, then slammed into the trunk of the tree with a loud thump. The whole tree shook violently, and then the apples began to fall. Applejack stepped away and watched as, almost like magic, every apple I could see came falling out of the tree, bouncing off branches to land in the single barrel effortlessly. After it was done, she turned back to me, smiling. “Go ahead.” She gestured towards the now-filled barrel.

I approached cautiously, eyeing the barrel of apples. It’s not that I was afraid or anything. I just wasn’t used to feeling so readily accepted, and it felt a little odd, like with Pinkie’s baked goods this morning. She nodded towards them and said, “It’s alright. We got plenty.”

I reached out and took one of the apples off the top of the barrel. I took a slow bite. It was fantastic; sweet, crisp, and juicy. Before I knew it, I had finished the entire apple, and had grabbed a second without thinking. Applejack sat down to one side of the barrel and began munching on them with me, and before long, the barrel was down a dozen apples, and I was comfortably full. I lay down in the cool grass and looked up at the stars...

Applejack was above me suddenly, gently shaking me by the shoulder. “Woah, now, Chaser. Your room’s inside. C’mon.” I felt very heavy and sluggish as she grabbed my forelegs and helped me up.

“Uhn... How long was I out?”

“Oh, not more than a minute or two. You’ll be out again soon, no worries.” She started walking towards the large farmhouse up the hill. “Door’s over here.”

I sleepily followed her, yawning loudly as we trekked the short distance up to the house. Applejack led me around the side to the door, and led me into a large kitchen. “Just up the stairs, now, Sugarcube. That’s it.” I decided I didn’t want to bother with steps, so I used my wings and lazily flapped my way to meet her on the upper floor. I landed softly, the cobwebs in my tired mind finally beginning to clear.

“Okay,” she half-whispered, “now the guest bed is that door on the left, at the end of the hall.” She pointed to the door, and then to several others. “That one is Big Macintosh, my brother. That’s Apple Bloom’s room- she’s my little sister. And that one’s mine. Granny Smith sleeps downstairs, on account of her hip always gives her a mite bit of trouble with stairs.”

She walked me to the door of my room, opening it without ceremony, and turned on the light. Inside, I saw simple country decor, a comfortable-looking bed piled with fluffy blankets, and a single dresser and side table. It was sparse, but homey. “Here you go, Chaser. She’s all yours.”

“Um, thanks. You really didn’t have to do this. I could rent a room, I have money...” At that moment, I realized something I should have noticed hours ago- I didn’t have my bag. “Oh, frost!” This was bad.

“What is it, dumplin’?”

“My bag!” I thought back to the last time I had seen it, my eyes frantically searching for what could not possibly be here. My pulse had shot up, and I started feeling like someone was sucking the air out of the room... “I... I think I left it at the bakery this morning!”

Applejack put her hooves on either side of my withers, and looked me in the eyes gently as she spoke. “Chaser. It’s okay. Ponies leave stuff behind at Sugarcube Corner so often, they have a whole room for lost and found in the back. We’ll just go down and get it in the mornin’. Ok?”

I tried to calm down and breathe, but it wasn’t easy. Everything I owned was in that bag. “Yeah. O-ok. Sorry. I just... how did I not notice until now?”

“I expect it has somethin’ to do with you fightin’ timberwolves and trompin’ through the Everfree forest with Fluttershy all day. I’d forget somethin’ like that, too. Honestly, don’t worry your head about it. I’m sure it’s fine. Just try and get some rest, alright?”

I nodded, feeling my blood pressure slowly returning to normal. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll try and rest. I’m sorry.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Darlin’, you apologize almost as much as Fluttershy.” She turned and headed out the door, towards her own room. “I’ll be up early for mornin’ chores, so if you don’t see me, I’ll be out in the barn or the orchard somewhere. G’night.” I heard her door quietly open and close, and then I was alone.

I sighed, and prepared for bed. After making sure the door had a lock on it, I removed my cloak for the second time today, folding it neatly and placing it on top of the night stand so I wouldn’t forget to grab it when I got up. I turned off the light, and walked over to the bed. Pulling back the blankets, I slid into bed as quickly as I could. I closed my eyes, and tried to put this whole day to rest, at last.

***

I couldn’t sleep.

I tossed and turned for a half hour or so. Then, I tried counting sheep. I counted to 175 before giving up. I tossed the blankets off, and got up out of the bed. It was too bad- it really was cozy.

I paced for a few minutes, too exhausted to sleep. My mind was abuzz with everything that had happened to me today. I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic all of a sudden, so i went over to the window on the far wall and opened it.

The window was one of those old farmhouse-style lifting types, unsurprisingly, but it was well-made and oiled, so it slid up almost noiselessly. Just like the doors, I mused. They took good care of this old house.

The cold air carried the apple smell with it as I poked my head out to glance at the countryside. Above the treetops, the stars twinkled brightly in the night sky.

I looked out at the stars for a while, and tried to empty my head of all my busy thoughts. One thought in particular took over my attention, and I found myself back in the Everfree forest, by the fire with Fluttershy. The shining lights above reminded me of her reaction when I told her about being a blank flank. I remembered her tears, how they had twinkled in the firelight, as the stars did now in the darkness.

No pony had ever cried for me before.

It didn’t make sense. I had sent her into harm’s way, and almost gotten her killed. And yet, she had cried for me. Tears of real kindness and heartache. I’d seen it in her eyes. I had thought I was prepared for any reaction from ponies about my defect- disgust, confusion, revulsion, pity, indifference. But compassion? Empathy? I suppose... I hadn’t prepared for everything. Maybe... Maybe things would be more different from home than I had thought, here in cheery Ponyville. Maybe there was enough cheer for a lone, broken pony to have some, too.

For the first time since I had left home, I felt something stir inside of me. Something I had not felt in many years. It was so foreign that, at first, I didn’t recognize the feeling, but as It reached out to me from the days of my youth, I clung to it like a lifeline.

As I gently lowered the window closed, I smiled. I turned back to the bed, and quietly walked back to lay down again. The feeling wrapped me tighter than the soft downy blankets I slid over me, warming me like a blazing fire in the midst of a long winter.

Hope.

I drifted off to sleep a few minutes later. My last waking thought was of tears, twinkling in firelight like stars.

Author's Note:

Yeesh. Has it really taken this long for the poor stallion to make it through one day?

Well, this one's a bit short, but only because it started as half of a much longer chapter. My editor convinced me it would be better served as a standalone, so don't fret- the next one is coming up real soon!

Enjoy!

Comments

[RadBunny]

Pinkie- care to explain how we feel about this chapter?

Thanks Pinkie ^_^

[sslacyhadals]

2434192 You, sir, win a gold star! And a Mustache

[RadBunny]

2434209

A moustache?
SMASHING!
XD Great chapter. ^_^

[Nolongerposting]

Trust me about a week to get through a day isn't bad. I've left characters hanging for like a year before a week is nothing. Im just glad to get a new chapter. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[TimeLord_Whooves]

Excellent chapter. can't wait for the next one. (btw I think your editor is a genius, it did come out better as two chapters)

[sslacyhadals]

2437443 At first, I was like how would he know that, if I haven't posted the second half yet? Bu then, I realized you're a time lord, and I was like I see what you did there.

[TimeLord_Whooves]

2438473 I merely mean that I'm waiting in suspence

[sslacyhadals]

2438497 Oh. Of course. I knew that.

Carry on!