Chapter 5: Welcome to Ponyville

Mac slowly made his way down the dirt path that led to Ponyville. Each path was torture as he reached the place of his birth, death, and rebirth. So many memories, all that which brought him pain, flooded through his mind. He wanted to turn back, to run from this place but, with the threat of a demon in the town, he could not.

In his five years of being with the Rider, he had faced many demons, but demons that could make the Rider take off like he did were few and far between. He had only encountered three such demons in his life, and each nearly killed him and the Rider, a task not easy to do. Each demon had brought death and destruction wherever they went, and mostly to small towns like Ponyville. Mac feared for his sister and all that lived in the town, for a demon might be able to destroy a trusting town like Ponyville.

As he got closer to the town, he saw a figure standing right in front of the bridge that went over a small river to get into town. It did not take Mac longer than a few seconds to recognize the figure; making him want to turn tail and run right then and there. For just a few feet in front of him was one of the most social ponies one would ever meet.

Pinkie Pie.

As if knowing his dread, the pink mare turned to him and with an unnaturally large smile and began to bounce over to him. As many times in the past Mac had seen that, he could never understand how she could bounce everywhere she went. It did not take her long to reach Mac, the smile still ever present on her face.

“Hi there! My name is Pinkie Pie! I just knew ponies were coming today!” she shouted, bouncing up and down in front of Mac; whose head was bobbing up and down to keep up with her. Suddenly, she stopped bouncing and started to look over Mac’s shoulders, as if she had been expecting something. “Hmm...that’s strange; my Pinkie-Sense told that the ponies coming to town today would be in pairs, but you're all alone,” she commented, tapping her chin.

“Well no matter! My name is Pinkie Pie! Did I say that already? I’m just so excited to see a new pony in town! What’s your name? Where are you from? Are you planning on living here? Do you have a marefirend? Do you have a wife? Do you have a husband?” the questions just kept coming, each one getting either more random or more personal by the second. Mac could only wonder if this was the reason why not too many travelers came through town.

“Wild Blaze,” Mac said flatly, not really looking at Pinkie Pie as he told her the name he had been using since he left Ponyville. “And for all those other questions, mind your own business,” it was a struggle for Mac not to use his normal country accent, but to keep his cover he had to, and he had to be blunt and rude with Pinkie like every other pony he met. He also made his voice deeper to try to keep his real identity a secret still.

Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to notice the bluntness in his voice, for she was still smiling and seeming to be as happy as could be still.
“Oh! That’s a very cool name! Wild Blaze! Like you should be a stunts pony! Ooo! Are you part of a circus or something?! That would be super amazing if the circus was coming to Ponyville!” Mac was starting to get a headache, after dealing with a demonic voice in his head for five years, how did this mare come off as more annoying?

“I’m with no circus; just passing through,” Mac said, still trying to keep his voice in check. A task that was proving harder to do.
“Aww...that would have been so much fun! Oh are you a wanderer then? A drifter? Or are you traveling from town to town the cleanse the souls of the evil and demonic?” Mac had to keep himself in check and not to give away anything, but just hearing that made his whole mind go blank. She was so close to the truth that it was scary. Pinkie Pie just stood there smiling, as if she had said nothing strange and waited for his answer.

“Drifter,” Mac said flatly, trying to move ahead but Pinkie Pie cut him off.

“Wild Blaze: The Drifter! That sounds super cool! Being a drifter you must be in need of money right? I bet all of my friends would be happy to have you work for them! Well, except Rainbow Dash, because she works in the clouds and, unless you really a Pegasus, you wouldn't be able to help her. You’re very big! Oh, maybe you can go help my one friend! She has a apple farm and is always looking for help her name is-”

“Ah’m not lookin’ for a job. Just a cheap place to sleep. Won’t be here no longer than a few nights,” Mac was quick to cut her off; he didn’t want to hear his sister’s name. He then mentally slapped himself for slipping back into his country accent, but he did at least keep his voice deep.

“A cheap place to sleep?” Pinkie repeated, not seeming to notice the change in how Mac was speaking. “Well Berry Punch owns the bar and tavern in town, but I don’t think she is that cheap...oh! Cherry Jubilee has an inn that is supposed to be cheap! She usually gives a discount to good looking stallions and you’re pretty good looking!” Pinkie said, making Mac roll his eyes.

He remembered Cherry Jubilee a bit too well. She always made some more than friendly advances on him. She was one of the main reasons why Mac didn’t like to run the stand in town. Mares like her just made it uncomfortable to be a stallion at times.
“Thanks,” Mac said with a grunt, moving pass Pinkie Pie and over the bridge. Pinkie Pie, however, just kept talking to him bouncing the entire way.

“Don’t you want to know where it is? Ponyville is a small town but it’s been getting bigger! I can show you! It would be like following the leader! We could stop by Sugarcube Corner, that’s where I work, then maybe stop by the library to see Twilight, we couldn't see Rarity she is off on some big date, Fluttershy lives out in the Everfree forest so if you wanted to make it a long trip we could go there, or I can show you where-”

“Aren't there other ponies supposed to be waitin’ fer?” Mac asked, not caring about his voice right then and there. He would rather deal with the Rider’s laughter all day long to hear her rant. He remembered hearing her rants from time to time, and they never bothered him so much back then. Just being back in this town, and all the memories attached to it, just made it feel like torture.
Pinkie’s eyes suddenly widened as she turned around and started to bounce back to her spot, to greet all the other ponies coming into town today just like him.

“Almost forgot! Thank you, Wild Blaze!” she shouted back to him, as she came to a stop in front of the bridge and sat down. She was definitely an odd mare, but seeing her so happy and filled with energy gave Mac a bit of reassurance, that being if she was still the same old Pinkie Pie, the Demon Soul here had not done any damage yet.

Mac proceeded to walk through Ponyville, trying to keep his head low and on his target. If he remembered correctly, the inn that Cherry Jubilee owned was just on the edge of town, near the Everfree Forest. That would make it a lost easier to transform at night with the trees for cover. As he walked, he could not help but to take in the familiar landscape of his home town.

Seeing everything, Mac felt like no time had passed since he had last been there, as if Celestia and Luna placed a spell upon the town to make it never age. Every store that was there when he left was still there, even the same potholes along the street were there. Nothing seemed to be out of place or missing, like if he was walking into a dream, a dream where he was still Big Mac and this was his home. Passing a large store window, Mac looked at and saw his reflection.

The reflection was not of a bright red pony with a blond mane, green eyes, and an apple cutie mark. The pony looking back at him was Wild Blaze, a dark maroon one with golden eyes, black mane, and a fireball cutie mark. He would never be Big Mac again, and trying to think different was just a recipe for heartache. He just needed to find that Demon Soul and leave.

Before Mac could take more than a few steps further, however, somepony shouted in his direction. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he couldn't make out what they had said. Turning his head slowly, Mac looked for the pony that had been shouting at him. What he received however was blur of rainbow before something or somepony smashed into his side. The force was enough to make the normally rooted pony lose balance and bump hard against the wall behind him.

Mac was able to right himself in a few seconds, but the pony that crashed into him fell onto the street with a loud ‘oof’. Mac looked down at the pony, and instantly recognized them. It was hard to forget that rainbow colored mane, seeing that in all his travels he had only met one pony with it.

Rainbow Dash.

“What the buck did I fly into?” She groaned, rubbing her forehead with one hoof, and pulling down her goggles with the other. She looked up at Mac with a curious look, before what seemed like anger took over her face. “Well?!” she practically shouted, looking up at him like he was the worse pony he had ever seen.

“Well what?” Mac asked, half amused by the term buck. It had been a long time since he had heard that for a swear.
“You should be apologizing for crashing into me,” she growled, getting to her hooves and ruffling out her feathers.

“If I wasn’t here right now, you’d would have flown right into that wall,” Mac said, his voice a bit harsher than it should have been.

“No way! I was about to pull upwards and miss it by inches if you hadn’t gotten in my way!” Rainbow shouted, stomping her hoof into the ground. A small crowd of ponies had stopped what they were doing, and look over at the pair of ponies now arguing.
“If ya say so,” Mac grumbled, as he started to walk away, but instantly was blocked off by Rainbow Dash, who was glaring right at him.

“Was that sarcasm?” her tone that of accusation as she stared Mac down. Mac looked down at the Pegasus, and a smile cracked upon his lips. After being stared down by much bigger ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs, and everything else in between, a glare from Rainbow Dash was almost cute.

“Might have been,” Mac said, making Rainbow’s face turn a shade red with anger. “But I don’t want to get into no fight with some filly so I’m sorry for crashing into you,” Mac said, walking by Rainbow Dash, whose face seemed to get a darker of red. She whipped around and was glaring at Mac as he walked away.

“Do you know who I am?!” she shouted, at him, flapping her wings and getting airborne so she could follow him. Mac didn’t give any indication that he had heard her, as he took a left onto a street that led right towards the inn. “Didn’t you hear what I asked you?” she growled again.

“I don’t know who you are, and don’t think I care to know,” Mac said, his honor as a stallion taking a hit for being mean to a mare, even if they had started to fight, but to keep his identity safe he had to keep everypony he met at a distance. He heard a loud growl from Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be about ready to go off on him when a pink blur past by Mac and seemed to tackle the angered Rainbow Dash to the ground.

“Dashie! Dashie! Dashie! Guess what?!” Pinkie shouted, Mac turned around to see that Pinkie Pie had tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground, and was standing on top of her, their faces a few inches apart.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow growled, as she tried to wrestle herself out of the energetic grasps of Pinkie, trying to glare at Mac. “One! I told you never to call me that! And two I am in the middle of-”

“She said yes!” Pinkie almost squealed, jumping off Rainbow Dash and started to bounce up and down. Rainbow stood up slowly, shooting Mac a death glare, before looking back at Pinkie.

“Who said yes?” she asked, now watching, like so many other ponies, Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down.

“Fluttershy! She said yes!” Pinkie laughed, as she bounced back over to Rainbow. Rainbow stared at her confused for a few seconds, before what looked like realization hit her.

“Wait...are you saying that Rarity was right and-”

“She was!” Pinkie exclaimed again. Rainbow took to the air and did a loop now smiling just like Pinkie Pie.

“What are we doing here?! Let’s go find the others!” Rainbow grinned, as she shot off in the direction that Mac knew was of Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie Pie was still bouncing up and down, till she looked over at Mac, who was just standing there confused.

“Oh, hey, Wild Blaze! One of our friends just got engaged!” she said, bouncing up and down still. “Oh, I get to plan another reception party! That makes two out of six!” she said happily, before bouncing away leaving Mac bewildered and confused.

Two out of six? Mac thought, trying to take in what Pinkie Pie had just said. Does that mean three of Applejack’s friends are married or...wait...coudn’t that mean Applejack is- Mac shook his head hard. He didn’t need to know, he didn’t want to know. Applejack wasn’t his sister anymore, he was related to her, he was Wild Blaze, a drifter that was just passing by. Before he could see any more of sister’s old friends, he turned back towards the inn, just wanting to get this job over and done with.

--

Ding Ding

“Be with you in just one second!” a voice shouted to Mac, after he had tapped on the silver bell. Mac stood at the front desk of Cherry Jubilee’s inn, Easy Inn, and already Mac felt a bit more of his sanity slipping. From the wallpaper, flooring, and even the ceiling, everything was decorated with every shade of pink, pictures of happy looking ponies, and some picture of Cherry Jubilee herself, in positions that were a bit suggestive.

“Welcome to the Easy Inn , my name is Cherry Jubilee, the owner of this inn,” Jubilee said, walking in from the back, pushing the pink drapes out of her way. As she did so, her eyes instantly locked onto Mac, who could already feel the uneasiness that he had always felt around her. “And you, my friend, are one handsome stallion,” she said, batting her eyes at him as she walked toward the desk, swaying her hips more than needed.

Mac didn’t reply, he just kept a stoic look on his face, as his eyes tried to find anything to focus on in the room. Jubilee didn’t seem to take any notice of this as she leaned against the desk separating the two, not hiding the fact that she was looking him over.
“So what can I do for such a handsome stallion like yourself?” she asked, her voice seductive as she gave Mac a wink.

“One single bedroom,” Mac said in such a flat tone, that Jubilee actually recoiled a bit, apparently never been rejected like that before, after giving such obvious signs. Though, she quickly fixed herself as she just gave Mac another look over.

“Oh? Is that so?” she asked, as she started to move towards the back wall where keys were hanging. Once more, she was swaying her hips more than necessary, and flicking her tail a bit as she walked. “I take it you are single?” Mac didn’t give a response, as he kept staring right ahead, focusing on a key instead so he didn’t have to look at the grown mare, who was giving him every sign of wanting to have a good time. Jubilee giggled at the fact that he gave no response.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of hun, just haven’t found the right mare, I take it?” she asked, sliding the key towards Mac. “Well, it’s normally fifty bits a night, but for such a looker I might be convinced to knock it down to twenty five,” she gave Mac another wink as he slid the key. Once more, Mac ignored the clues and reached for the key with his black hoof.

“Fifty is fine,” he replied dryly, sliding the key back to himself. Before he could though, Jubilee's hoof was placed on top of his own.

“You say that now,” she said, leaning over the desk and getting a bit too close to Mac for his liking, “But just remember, here at the Easy Inn we are able to give service twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. So if you ever feel lonely in that room all by yourself, don’t hesitate to call me,” she whispered in Mac’s ear. “For you, I will always be able to take a call,” she let go of Mac’s hoof and gave him another wink, before walking into her office, the sway of her hips more than they needed to be and adding a slight flick of her tail.

If the Rider was awake, Ah would never hear the end of this. Mac thought as he took the key and made his way up the steps towards his room. Looking down at the room key, Mac gave a groan of displeasure at what he saw. The room Jubilee had given him was room number sixty nine. How many innuendos can one mare give? Mac thought, approaching his destination and opening the door.

The room was much nicer than any of the rooms he had been visiting in the last few years, actually having a clean floor and beds that didn’t look like they had been used in delivering a foal or used in a murder. The shades of pinks and reds were evident in the room still, and instead of a single bed, he had been given a king sized. There was also a large bathroom with a nice looking shower, and no yellow ooze coming from the wall, which was always a nice plus.

Placing his saddle bag in the closet of the room, he went over to the window to see what he could see. He was facing the back of the inn, which faced the Everfree forest, the perfect room for Mac, seeing that at night he could head out there to transform without much notice. Bursting into flames indoors was never a wise idea. With one more look over his new temporary living arrangements, Mac started to make his way back outside and into Ponyville. As much as he hated the fact of being back in the place, the Rider was right: the sooner he could get some details on this Demon Soul, the sooner he could leave.

Passing by the front desk, and blowing off an advancing Cherry Jubilee, Mac started to make his way back into town again. The easiest way to track down this Demon Soul was to look for strange occurrences. Disappearances, ponies acting strangely, unexplained acts of vandalism, and of course, murder. Demons were predictable in this way, always looking for things they desired much like normal ponies, but they had powers and skills that allowed them to take what they want faster, and much more violent.

This is why Ponyville confused Mac. Most demons would head to the big cities, where vice and sin was rampant, where they could fulfill all of their seven deadly sins in just one night. Ponyville was one of the nicest towns their was; sure it had it’s dirty little secrets, but what town didn’t? Was there something this demon knew that Mac and the Rider didn’t? That didn’t seem likely, they had fought demons before and knew how they worked, this one just had to be very dumb.

Before Mac could take a few more steps into town however, somepony shouted his new name. Looking behind him, his heart suddenly dropped, his mind felt as if it went numb, and every part of his body seemed to go cold.

Walking towards him was an orange Earth Pony with a blond mane, a long blond tail with a red ribbon around her tail, and a old and worn tan cowcolt hat. She was smiling right at him, green eyes so bright and full of life that it seemed impossible that anything could pull her down into the depths of darkness.

“Howdy there, Ah’m guessin’ yer the Wild Blaze feller Pinkie Pie told me about?” Applejack laughed as she approached him. Mac fought to keep a stoic look on his face, but looking at his younger sister and seeing how much she had grown in the past five years made it difficult. He gave a simple nod, afraid to speak to his sister after so long.

“Well she hit the nail on the head with her description; kind of hard to miss a stallion of yer size and cutie mark,” she laughed, walking over to him and extending her hoof for a hoofbump. “Ma name is Applejack, Ah run the apple farm here in town,” she said, with a noticeable amount of pride in her voice.

“Wild Blaze,” Mac said with a grunt, would she be able to recognize his voice? It had been five years, could she recognize it?

“Glad to meet ya. Pinke now told me that yer a bit of a drifter, are ya not?” Mac only gave a nod in response. “Can’t imagine you got too many bits to yer name then, and Pinkie let it slip that you asked her fer the cheapest place in town. If yer plannin’ on stayin’ in town fer long you’re gonna need a job. Lucky fer ya the farm is always lookin’ fer a big pony to help out. With spring here we’re gonna need a hand ta get the farm ready for Apple Bucking season, how about it? Ah can promise a decent paycheck and free meals at the farm,”

Mac looked right into Applejack’s face. Her smile was so warm and inviting, her eyes bright with eagerness and hope. She wanted to help him out, to give some stranger a benefit of a doubt and helping hoof to every stranger. If it had been any other pony, he would have shot their advance down, keeping himself distant from everypony he came in contact with. However, after seeing his sister for the first time in such a long time, and to have her look so eager to help he just couldn't say no, not even when he was still really Macintosh Apple could he ever say no to her.

“That would be very kind,” Mac said, slapping himself so hard for accepting her invite, knowing it would bring more pain to him.
“Wonderful! Now, we don’t have much work fer ya to do today seein’ as we got them done already, but tomorrow we’ll have lots of work fer ya, but you can still join us fer supper tonight. Just follow me and we can have ourselves a nice little chat on the way to the house,” at that, Applejack turned around and started to make her way towards Sweet Apple Acres. When she turned around, Mac notice a slight glimmer coming from Applejack’s hat.

Squinting a bit, Mac looked to see what she added to her hat, but as he looked it wasn’t something on her hat that was glimmering, it was instead coming from her right ear.Everything in Mac’s world came to a sudden stop as he noticed what was hanging from his sister’s ear. It was a wedding earring.

“You alright there? Looks like ya saw a ghost,” Applejack shouted back to him, turning around and making the earring swing in her ear.

“Uh, ya. Just a passing thought,” Mac said, looking down at the ground a following her towards the farm.

She was married. His little sister was married.

He had missed so much.

Author's Notes:

I celebration of Captain America: Winter Soldier coming out today, I decided to throw another chapter up!

Thank you to Bad_Seed_72, MercHunter, Jake the Army Guy, and jszellmer for the edits and looking through the story.

Please leave a review, I always love to know what you guys think of my work!