Chapter 4 - Part 4 (Buy Some Apples)

Running, that was all I had been doing for what felt like hours. At this point, I could only vaguely remember why I began running or what I was running from. I remember feeling someone or something breathing down my neck as if it was stalking me. I felt the paranoia taking over my mind as adrenaline rushed through my body, and I knew that I needed to try to make an escape. I was evading my pursuer by relentlessly charging through the streets and alleys that were placed before me. I needed to escape. The more I ran, the more chaos seemed to strike. As I deftly swerved around corners and over obstacles, the roads and buildings were slowly being ripped apart as if by some god-like power. I needed to be free. Suddenly, as I was vaulting over a low wall, my head exploded in a sharp pain that was very unfamiliar to me. After my fall from the vault, I felt my airway slowly closing up as I hopelessly grasped for air. What is happening to me?

I woke with a start to see that the breath of a small filly had caused my nightmare. This filly didn't look much like Dashie, so I reached to side of my chest where she was still curled up and happily sleeping. Once my eyes adjusted to the light that was seeping through the window from the lampposts outside, I realized that the soul-breaking stare originated from the stare-master herself, Fluttershy. Although it was only three o'clock in the morning at this point, I gently rubbed my eyes to ward off any possibility that I had descended into madness overnight. In all honesty, the prior day wall full of events that would have made any normal individual think himself to be insane. In some odd way though, those events brought us together in ways that we never could have imagined.

My tranquil moment of inflection was broken by the sound of objects falling in the dorm next to mine. I quickly took hold of Fluttershy and shot down the ladder attached to my bed. Luckily, our dorms were suite-style, and this meant that there was a shared bathroom that connected my dorm and the dorm that the noise was coming from. Through that shared bathroom I dashed with the little Fluttershy in tow, not thinking about the consequences that would present themselves if she were to be seen by anybody that hadn't shared my experience with Dash. Upon reaching the door, I rapidly pried it open to reveal a rather large heap of clothes on the floor along with other piles that consisted of items such as movies, video games, and books. This room was usually somewhat clean since it belonged to my friend, Fang. We hardly called him by his real name due to reasons that have since escaped all of our memories, but even he didn't mind our forgetfulness.

"Fang, " I began, "have you been redecorating? I'm liking the new look." He averted his strong gaze from the doors of his closet and proceeded to stare me down as if I was one who had made this room look like an unnatural disaster. With my usual sarcastic tone, I asked a simple "What did I do this time?" It was only at this very moment that filly Fluttershy had decided to joyfully flutter out from behind my back. And then, as if on cue, Rainbow Dash poked her head out from behind the doorframe. "Daddy, I had a bad dream…" she muttered solemnly, almost afraid to admit this to me.
Fang finally broke his vow of silence against me by pointing a finger at me and saying "This was your fault wasn't it?" "My fault?" I asked with a shrug, "What are you talking about?" "Don't act like you're clueless, Ryan. You know I'm not a brony, and yet you think putting a fake Rarity in my room is a clever joke." "Well, Fang, you seem to know some of the ponies by name…" "You're not being helpful." In the end, I caved and admitted that this Rarity was real and that I had nothing to do with her appearing to him. Again, as if on cue, Rarity shouted "How dreadful!" in an adorable filly voice, and shortly after, a shirt was thrown from the opening in the closet.

Suddenly, there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at Fang's dormitory door. Being a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, I took the opportunity to tell him, "Tis some visitor tapping at your chamber door. Only this, and nothing more." Fang quietly glanced at me once again, with a look of disdain in his eyes. Obviously, he was back to ignoring me for the time being. "Okay, I get it, I'll get the door for you while you deal with Rarity." As soon as I uttered the words "deal with Rarity", the fashionable filly's voice chimed from the closet once more. "Excuse me?" she asked with a prolonged emphasis on the word "excuse". "I'm sorry," I said without breaking my stride to the door, "I meant while you assist Rarity, of course." A low mumble rose from Fang's lungs, but he couldn't find it in him to complain at the moment, and so he walked over to the closet where Rarity had made herself at home. In fear that the ponies would be seen by our visitor, I asked, "Dashie…Flutters, I need you two to hide under Fang's bed, okay?" Hearing the safety in my voice, they were quick to comply with what I had asked of them.

Upon finally opening the door, I was happy to see my good friend, Blees facing me. "Well, top o' the morning to ye'!" I said jokingly with a large grin. I was happy to see a smile erupt from Blees' face after my horrifyingly bad Irish accent traveled through the canals of his ears. The first voice I heard was both familiar and unfamiliar to me at the same time. I felt like I knew this voice from somewhere, and yet I couldn't name whom it belonged to. It was quite a distinctive voice, and its southern twang flowed through the air as smooth as a knife, reaching all of our ears.

"Well, how are y'all doin'?" the voice asked cheerfully as I glanced around the room, unsuccessfully attempting to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. Fang, however, was still preoccupied with his rare issue, and wouldn't be willing to help me even the slightest bit at the moment. As I felt something hitting my shin, Brandon poked his head out from behind the wall next to Blees. Within a few seconds, Pinkie Pie's head appeared above Brandon's. "We have more visitors," Brandon excitedly told me, "Did you learn anything new about our situation?" I shook my head and looked down at my legs to find that a filly Applejack was gently tapping at my shin with her hooves. "We're doing pretty well, Applejack," I said with a smile before turning back to Brandon, "And what did you even expect me to learn? I'm not magic. That would be Trevor's job now."

Blees, being a peaceful person, stepped between Brandon and I in fear that we were about to fight. He looked at both of us and said "Guys, we need to remember the whole love and tolerance thing. Fighting will get us nowhere." After hearing this, Brandon and I shrugged in unison, and we effectively dropped that line of conversation. After that was taken care of, I let Dashie and Fluttershy come out of hiding, and I calmly cantered over to Fang's window. Dashie quickly followed me to the window and tugged at my pant leg to get my attention. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asked with a voice full of confusion and sadness. Fluttershy sheepishly stood next to Dashie and echoed her concerns. "Everything's fine, girls," I cheerfully answered, "Things just seem a bit…odd tonight."

Almost as if this scene was orchestrated by a mythical being, I observed a single bolt of lightning pierce the darkness of the early morning as it struck the ground in front of the dorm. Nobody was awake yet other than the ever-adorable fillies, and the four of us but I felt something pulling me, drawing me to the location of the lightning bolt. Feeling this odd magnetism, I turned around, and I saw that my friends felt it as well. It was as if we were supposed to go down there for some important cause. As we met with Trevor and Twilight in the solemn lobby, I thought Hell, it's about time we get some answers.

Now we marched out the door as a group. We were like a Roman legion marching out to war and preparing to fight an unknown enemy. To the far right, Fang walked quietly with his head shrouded by a hoodie to hide his identity. To Fang's left was Blees, my agile and honest parkour instructor, and he was wearing his typical short-sleeved shirt and jeans. I was taking point for the group, and my blue eyes roared with a fierce look of determination as my somewhat tall figure echoed that determination in its stride. To my far left, Brandon happy marched along, and although he was shorter than all of us, he definitely seemed the happiest of the group. And to my left, was my good friend Trevor, one of the most intelligent people I know.

"I don't know why we were all drawn here, but I do know one thing for sure," I said, the fire in my eyes getting brighter, "It's time we got ourselves some answers, guys!" I triumphantly threw my fist into the air as we approached the origin of the magnetic field, still unaware of the unavoidable string of events that we had become important parts of.

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