Where…where am I?

I’m lying down, on my back. I don’t want to open my eyes. I don’t know why, but I get the gnawing suspicion that if I open my eyes, I’m not going to like what I see. It’s just a feeling I have.

But hey, when am I ever right?

There. Eyes open. And…that’s not the roof of Sugarcube Corner.  That’s the sky. A starry night sky, to be specific. Why am I outside? I sit up and hold a hand to my head, rubbing my temple. My other hand feels the ground below me, and runs through the long grass. Before my eyes lies a long, seemingly endless field. The hell…

I stand and turn around, but take a panicked step back. Directly in front of me is a sheer cliff face, the ocean below beating hard upon the rocky shore. It must be a fifty foot drop, at least. The salty ocean breeze runs through my hair and over my face. Where the fuck am I? Why am I here? What the hell is going on?

I don’t do heights, and this cliff is freaking me out. I-I have to get back to Ponyville, I have to get back to Sugarcube Corner. Back to Pinkie, back to the Crusaders, to Twilight, to Maud, to the Cakes, to-

“Hunty!”

“GAH!” I scream in surprise and turn around, and in front of me is…what…no, no no no, this can’t be right, this can’t-

“Hunty?” Jenny repeats, waving her hand in my face. “Are you okay? You’re looking at me weird.” She giggles and jumps up to bop me on the nose. “You’re silly.”

“Y-You’re not real,” I stammer, an outstretched finger shakily pointed at my sister. “You’re de…you're d-dead, I s-saw you d-die!”

Jenny tilts her head, her big blue eyes wide and her lips in a pout.

“That’s stupid,” she says bluntly, smiling. “You’re being silly, Hunty.” She reaches out and grabs my outstretched hand in her own. “C’mon, let’s play!”

I…I know this isn’t real. I know she isn’t here, I know she’s dead, I know I was there when she died, that I held her in my arms and sobbed onto her corpse, and…oh God…

She started pulling me towards the cliff.

“Jenny?” I asked quietly, trying to pull my hand back. Her grip was like iron. My legs wouldn’t move. “Jenny?!”

“We’re just going swimming, Hunty,” Jenny said, not slowing her pace as she rolled her eyes. “Jeez, we go swimming all the time. Remember the beach? Remember when we used to make those sand castles, and find those cute little hermit crabs, and-“

“Jenny, I’m serious, stop!” I yelled, using both hands to pull hers. It did nothing. She kept walking, and I was still being pulled along.

“Hunty, I just want to-“

“Jenny, let go of my hand right now! Stop walking! Jenny, please!” I screamed, pulling with all of my might, but to no avail. We were upon the cliff face. Jenny hovered one foot over the edge while the other remained planted firmly on the ground.

“Don’t worry, Hunty. I’m with you! And I never get hurt when I’m with my big brother! You would never let me get hurt…right?”

“J-Jenny-“

“You wouldn’t just let me get hurt, right?!”

“Jenny, sto-!”

Jenny’s suddenly pulled backwards, flinging me over the side of the cliff. My body hit the face of the cliff, the pain unbearable. Jenny still stood on the edge, holding onto my hand.

“JENNY, STOP! PLEASE, I’M SORRY!”

Jenny paused, and leaned down.

“Why would you be sorry?” she whispered happily. “I know you’d never hurt me.” She let herself fall forwards, pulling me down from the cliff and sending us both tumbling towards the rocks. I screamed louder than I ever had in my life, but still pulled my arm up and held Jenny to my chest. I turned my back to the rocks, hoping that at least she would survive.

“You never change, do you Hunty?” was the last thing I heard before a rock crushed the back of my head.

“Hunter?”

“WHAT?!” I screamed, lifting my head up from the table and looking directly at the source of the noise.

Mrs. Cake. A truly frightened and shocked Mrs. Cake.

Shit.

“M-Mrs. Cake, I’m so sorry I snapped at you,” I babbled quickly, “I-I just had a rough night, and I didn’t see who it was, and-“

“Hunter, it’s quite alright,” Mrs. Cake said in a placid tone, though I could tell she was still pretty miffed about being yelled at. “But…maybe I’ll take your shift today. Just so you can collect yourself.”

Ouch. Was I really that much of a wreck that my boss had to give me time off? I don’t think so.

“Mrs. Cake, I’m…” I began, but paused after a thought wormed its way through my thick skull and into my tiny brain: Scootaloo. I completely forgot. Am I going to go with Twilight? Or should I just let Scootaloo sort it out?

…No. I’m Scootaloo’s friend, and if me stepping in helps her, then I’ll do it. No matter what the cost. I refuse to let any of my friends get hurt, even if it is none of my business. You know what, no. It is my business.

“Actually…thanks, Mrs. Cake,” I said after a pause. “I could actually really use the day off today. Make sure to take it out of my paycheck, alright?”

Mrs. Cake smiled at me. “I wouldn’t dream of doing that, Hunter. Just take some time to relax, okay?”

Game plan for today: Confront Scootaloo on her home life. I wouldn’t really call that ‘relaxing’. But I suppose what Mrs. Cake doesn’t know can’t hurt her. I gave her a smile and a quick salute.

“You’re the best, Mrs. Cake.” I said gratefully. She just smiled and made her way to the counter. I took some time to look out the window, and noticed how early it was. Crap, Twilight should be here any second. I ran upstairs and quickly took a shower, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. I ran back down the stairs with a new outfit on, thankful that I didn’t rouse Pinkie nor Maud. The two slept like boulders.

…Heh. Rocks.

I bolted out the door with a quick ‘thanks again’ to Mrs. Cake, and almost ran right into Twilight.

“Hunter!” she exclaimed, surprised. I steadied myself and stood up straight, a bit embarrassed about almost barreling into her. I looked her up and down, taking in her appearance. She looked pretty normal, except she had a saddlebag slung over her back.

“Morning Sparklez,” I say breathlessly, trying to get air back into my lungs after all that running. “You, ah…whew…you ready?”

Twilight eyed me curiously for a moment before levitating both a map and a sheet of paper out of her saddlebag. The map displayed all of Ponyville, with many numbers written over each property and landmark. The sheet of paper only had one thing written on it: '1405'.

My heart fell a bit as I realized the significance of the number. I wearily pointed at it, and raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

“Is that...”

“I went over to Town Hall early this morning,” Twilight said quietly, her wings ruffling idly at her sides. “I figured you were pretty set in your decision, and didn’t want to waste any time.” She looked up at me questioningly. “You didn’t change your mind, by any chance, did you?”

I didn’t say anything. I just shook my head. Twilight sighed deeply, gazing off to the side.

“Well,” she began somewhat somberly, “are you all ready to go?”

“…Yeah.”

Twilight looked down for a moment before turning around. Looking over her shoulder, she gave me a weak smile.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

I looked down at Twilight, slightly uncomfortable. We’d been walking for about ten minutes, and she hadn’t said a single word to me. Is she mad at me about something? I mean, all I did was actively avoid her for two months and...

…Oh. Right.

“Sparklez?” I ask hesitantly. She doesn’t respond. Now that I look at her, she looks bothered. Well, duh Hunter, of course she’s bothered. Not twelve hours ago did you mention to her that you had suspicions that one of her friends was getting abused at home.

“You alright?” I asked, a little louder this time. Twilight blinked and glanced up at me, looking a bit out of it.

“Sorry, what was that?” she asked groggily.

“I asked you if you were alright,” I repeated. Twilight looked back down at the road.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. “Thanks,” she added after a moment.

I frowned. I’ve heard the ‘I’m fine’ she just said a thousand times by a thousand people, and it’s never genuine. I don’t know why she doesn’t trust me to know whatever’s bothering her. It’s not as if…

Right, already covered that, yeah. God, I’ve been a dick.

I mean…okay. She kissed me. I can’t deny that. It happened. And it could have just been because of the mistletoe, I know, but if it was something else, then…well…fuck. I don’t know where it would be coming from. Yes, I’d say we’re friends, and yes, in the first month I spent in Equestria, we spent quite a bit of time together, but we just sort of drifted. I still saw her, still came by the castle, but not nearly as often. So I have no idea what would have spurned these kinds of feelings. Christ, I don’t even want to think about it. I don’t want to have to shoot down someone so innocent, but I can’t avoid it either.

Jeez, I almost forgot about Twilight’s talk. An off limits conversation with Twilight. I’m so boned. Just off the top of my head, she could ask why I’m so adamant about exempting her from the magic that is my massages, any number of things about her kiss, anything about humans (God forbid if it’s about our anatomy), just…anything.

Annnnnd five minutes of silence has passed. I open my mouth to say something else to Twilight, but I hesitate.

The last time I tried to help somebody that seemed troubled, I ended up being screamed at and snowballed. Scootaloo. Maybe…maybe people don’t always need me to help them. Maybe all I’m doing is pushing them further away. I mean, yes, they’re my friends, and I should be worried about them, but…maybe I shouldn’t act on that worry. Maybe I shouldn’t try to help, because all it ends up doing is wrecking our friendship. I was lucky that Scootaloo got over what had happened last winter as soon as she did, and that’s probably just because she’s a kid. Maybe…

You know what, no. They’re my friends, and I will do everything in my power to help them. Even if it ruins our friendship, if I managed to help them in the process, than it’s worth it. If Scootaloo is getting abused, and she never forgives me for coming to her house unannounced and…

Fuck. Wait, no. I didn’t think this through at all. Shit!

Okay, okay, calm down. Worst case scenario, she hates you forever and never wants to speak to you again, but hey, at least you’ve helped her out in some small way concerning her home life. Somehow, that didn’t calm me down. Shit, okay, um…it’s fine. I’ve made this decision, I had a lot of time to think about it, and now I’m going through with it. I can’t just turn back now.

And if I do, Twilight might gore me with her horn for worrying her, wasting her time, then pussing out. If that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.

“…I got furniture for the castle.”

I looked down at Twilight, surprised to hear her finally speak up; without any prompting, no less.

“Excuse me?” I asked, not sure of what she said. Twilight looked up and braved a smile, making me do the same in turn.

“You mentioned how my castle was looking empty last time you were there,” she said. “It sort of opened my eyes. I-It didn’t really feel like a home, so the girls and I made it more…homey.” She pondered for a moment before chuckling nervously. “That sounded much more eloquent in my head.”

I couldn’t help laughing. I was glad that someone was finally bringing some levity to the task at hand.

“Tell you what,” I said, hunching over a bit as I walked in an attempt to get down to her level. “After this business is over, we go over to the castle, I’ll make some grub, and we can talk over dinner. Sound good?”

She looked back up at me, her expression much less troubled than it had been a moment ago. “Yes…yes, I think I’d like that.”

Alright, good. Made her feel a bit more at ease, and I didn’t even have to press her about it. And hey, now we’ve got plans for dinner for our talk. That might…wait…

Does she think I’m talking about a date? Based on her reaction, probably not, but when you tell a girl you’re going to cook dinner for her, it kind of implies-you know what, fuck it. I’m not going to over-think this. I can over-think it when it’s an immediate problem. As for right now…

Twilight stopped in her tracks, and I halted as well.

“Here we are,” Twilight said, sounding unintentionally foreboding. Looking up, I took in the home before me.

It was…average. Like, painfully average. Hay roofed, three floors, pink tinted windows, some moss growing up the side, simple oak finishing, and light tan walls. It was like any house you’d see in Ponyville proper. But here we are, on the very outskirts of this town, and here’s this perfectly normal house, just sitting here. I both feel more and less at ease at this.

Twilight and I didn't exchange any words. We just both looked at the house for a moment, thinking. Eventually, she nudged me, and pointed at the door. With a nervous gulp, I walked up to the small (for me) magenta door and knocked three times.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited...

...until finally, I heard the door being unlocked. Shit! Bail! I can't do this! I...

Turning around briefly, I met Twilight's eye. In her deep purple eyes, I saw something that gave me the strength to stay; trust. Complete and utter trust that I would do the right thing. Trust that I could help a little girl in need. Trust that I wouldn't puss out like a bitch. Steeling myself, I turned back around, and looked to the pony that had opened the door.

"...Can I help you?"

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