=Fracture 12=
 
>If there was one good thing that could be said about the direction your life had take, it was that it had taught you how to sleep almost anywhere.
>The steady rhythmic sound of the train underneath you riding along had lulled you into a fit-less doze.
>At least until one particularly harsh section of track jostles you awake.
"Snrk! Buhwah!?"
>You rub your eyes and look around the empty train car.
 >Right...train out of Trottingham.
>First one you could find, headed back out west.
>:Ah, the West! Home of the blistering sun and the acrid dust!"
>You'd prefer we make our lives somewhere else?
>:Are you kidding? Let's go down the list. Griffin Kingdoms? Cold. Ib'Xian? We don't speak the language. Zebrica? Same things as the Mild West just with more grass and bugs.:
>Could always go back to Equestria proper.
>:Yeah, because sprawling hills, tall mountains and dense forest doesn't get old after a while.:
>You lean your head against the window.
>Well maybe we can just go live underground with the Changelings.
>:Are you STILL on that?:
>What he said was ominous as all get out, I'd say we're vindicated in worrying.
>:You worry too much.:
>+Should the Changelings become a problem,+
>*We'll deal with them as any other problem.*
>You gently caress your bag next to you, the one holding your pilfered bell and the sword you received.
>Well...back to the old grind...
>You begin nodding off again as the train keeps chugging.
>"Ponyville. Next stop: Ponyville."
>Waitwhat?
 
"I paid for a direct ticket!"
>The conductor gives you a delightful "Are you serious?" look.
>"And as I've said seven times sir, we have to fill the water tank and the coal bed up before we can depart again. I would thank you for your cooperation." he says before trotting away.
>"But I can't BE here!" you shout to his shrinking form.
>When no response comes, your face falls so fast it breaks the sound barrier.
>God.
>:Fucking.:
>*Dammit*
>You crane your head out and look west along the tracks.
>Could walk it...
>:If you don't mind it taking a week.:
>It's not that long.
>+By normal train, it is 63 hours. We walk at a third of that.+
> Your face falls even further as you consider the numbers.
"Perfect."
>The next hour or so you spend trying to waste as much time as you can at the train station.
>Try.
>You can't go out around the town, too many reminders.
>You try pacing or singing old war songs or polishing your new sword to entertain you but having as crowded a head as you have makes legitimate entertainment hard to come by.
>You're halfway through counting all the planks in the station for the third time when a familiar voice catches your attention.
 
>"WHOA!"
>Ohgodpleaseno-
>A cyan blur streaks around you and stops in front of your face to inspect you.
>"Anon, is that really you!?"
>You bat her hooves away.
"Y-yeah Dash, it's me."
>A thousand watt smile lights up on her face and she wraps you in her hooves
>"Well where've ya been you big dummy!? We haven't seen or heard from you since-"
>You can hear Dash's indecision.
>"S-since what happened."
"Yeah, I've been-"
>You wriggle out of Dash's hug.
"-busy."
>Her eyes drift down to the sword on your hip. "Yeah...I can tell."
>You stand there awkwardly in front of Dash for a bit, trying to decide if you should be saying sorry for being gone so long or just try to leave again.
"Look, Dash, I-"
>You feel a pair of hooves snake around your hand and pull you down the station stairs.
>"C'mon! You got people to see!"
>:GAH:
"WAIT, DASH, PLEASE."
>Dash isn't listening, just pulling you along the ground.
 
>Dash yanks you through the center of town, drawing the attention of practically everyone you ever knew.
>Many of them look happy to see you for the brief instant you saw them.
>You saw Lyra and Bon Bon, The Cakes, even Thunderlane is still here.
>Boy, was it embarrassing seeing him again.
>That was the day you swore off hard liquor.
>Dash continues to drag you along the path, clear purpose in her direction as she rockets along.
"What the hell, Dash!? What is it!?"
>"You're due somewhere, Anon!"
>What the hell!?
>:OH GOD, PINKIE DOESN'T KNOW WE'RE BACK, RIGHT!?:
>WE SWORE OFF THE HARD STUFF!
>*Pfft. You did.*
>Seriously, where the hell are we going?
>+She is taking us out to the outskirts of town.+
>But the only thing out that far is-
>Ohgod.
>Rainbow skids to a halt in from of a gated fence, beyond the fence rest hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees.
>You feel the others go conveniently silent.
"D-dash..."
>Rainbow looks at you with a proud smile.
"I-I can't be here, Dash."
>That smile melts away in a moment, replaced by a confused stare.
>"What? Why? I thought you'd WANT to see the old family."
>You start down the road.
"It's not that, I just...I-I can't be here.
>Not after everything that's happened.
>However, there is one sound that could stop you as you walk along the wooden face. One sound that grinds you to a halt.
>The high pitched accented young girl shouting "ANON!"
 
>Against your better judgment, you spin around and scan the horizon for any sight of that voice.
>Came from just over...there!
>A red mane and pink bow, higher off the ground and fuller than you remember, bounces along the other side of the fence and screeches to a halt outside the main gate.
>Her face lights up as soon as she sees you. "It IS you!" she cries as she runs over and hugs you.
>Applebloom had grown up quite a bit in the years you hadn't been home. Gone was the tiny little filly you once new and in her place was a young mare who seemed as strong of body as she used to be of mind.
>...The only new addition was the unmistakable feeling of well healed burn scars along her entire left side.
"...Hi Applebloom."
>You do your best to hide the sword on your hip and the knives on your back from her as she snuggles into your chest.
>"Where ya been? We aint seen ya since those dragons came through the town a few years back!"
"Yeah. I uh..."
>You remember back to everything you did during that month on that mountain.
"Went away...for a bit..."
>"Where?" she asks with big amber eyes.
"Uhhh..."
>It is now you notice that Rainbow has buggered off, some bro.
"N-nowhere important."
>Applebloom doesn't press and drags you just like Dash did.
>"Well that don't matter none now! Y'all gotta come inside and see AJ and Granny again!"
>Granny and AJ...
>You missed them, even if they were another reminder.
>Seeing them can't hurt...right?
 
-Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UBRkn-kB6I-
>You step out of the farmhouse later that night, saying your timid goodbyes to Applebloom and Granny after you put them both to bed.
>You sling your bag over your back and make for the road back to town. You missed the train you were on but there was always another one heading out.
>A blotch of orange on a hillside nearby draws your attention over to it.
>She sits on her hindquarters under a nearby tree staring at the moon, she looks like she's talking.  
>...
>Dammit.
>Stupid guilty conscience.
>You trek off the path and head over to the hill, picking up a bit of what she's saying as you get closer.
"-nd the southern field is coming in real nice this year, got the farmhands workin' their flanks off trying to get it all."
>You sneak up and knock the tree twice when she's silent.
"AJ?"
>She doesn't jump or even raise her head, just let out a sigh. "Howdy, Anon."
>You come around to her side and finally catch her eyes.
"What are you doing out here?"
>AJ looks up to the tree next to her. "Oh just...talking to 'im."
>You follow AJ's eyes up to the tree.
>Strong thick trunk, full canopy of leaves...bright red apples hanging from the branches...
"Oh..."
>"Yeah..."
>You remember an old story Granny used to tell you...about how every Apple family member who had passed got a tree named after them.
>You place your hand on the bark.
"So this is his..."
>AJ nods. "Yeah."
 
>"I like talkin' to him sometimes. Makes me feel like he's still around."
>...Hey Mac.
>You rub the trunk of the tree.
>AJ comes along your side. "I know what y'all r' thinkin'..."
>You remove your hand.
"Just a bit faster..."
>AJ socks you in the side. "Now don't you think like that. Y'all are the reason that Applebloom is still here."
>You look down to her.
>"The reason she got to grow up into that mare down there." she says pointing to the house.
>You glance between the house, the tree, and AJ.
>Still...
"Should have been faster." you whisper.
>You walk down the hill and leave AJ waiting at the tree.
>Once you clear the gates you make a slow and steady beeline for the train station.
>Everyone else in Ponyville was tucked in to bed, casting the town into silence.
>You lean up against the train station wall as you wait for morning and the train out of town.
"We can't come back here..."
>Too much here.