A/N: Alright everyone, the tally hasn't changed from the last chapter, so if you wish to place your vote, and haven't already, go to my blog post sometime before the next three or four chapters come up. Otherwise, enjoy!

You really can’t believe the situation you’re in as you walk into the carpenters shop. You blame the alcohol partially, though you hadn’t drank that much, but the rest of the blame falls on your nature. You’d always been one to help those who needed it most. Everyone in your town had known you as the local do-gooder, and deep down you knew that you’d agreed to help the mare known as Trixie because you couldn’t bear to see her in such a state of depression. You sigh as you walk through the door, shaking your head. “Hey there, how can I help you today?” asks the stallion behind the counter. He’s a unicorn, which doesn’t surprise you much. He has a dust brown coat, but a bright white mane, which seems a bit odd to you.

“Hey, I don’t suppose you sell blueprints here, do you?” you ask, not seeing any sign of them in the store. He nods a bit.

“Yeah, we got ‘em around here. What are you looking for?” he asks as he levitates a large box out from under the counter and opens it, looking at the labels that adorn the rolls of paper within.

“I need a blueprint and all the supplies needed to build a caravan. Nothing to fancy, large enough for one pony to store some things and maybe sleep in.” you say, remembering that Trixie had said she lived in her old caravan. The stallion nods slightly as he glances over a few rolls.

“Aha! Got it right here, medium sized caravan with built in bed. All you’d need after throwing it together is a mattress.” he says, levitating the blueprint in front of you. You take it with a nod. “As for the supplies, I’ll look out back, back I’m not gonna make any promises that we have everything. Wait right here.” he says, opening a back door and walking through as the scent of pine wood drifts into your nostrils. He closes the door again, and just as quickly as it came, the scent is gone.

You take this time to observe your surroundings, noticing the slight amount of saw dust on the white tile floor. You then turn your attention to the walls, which appear to be brick, and have pictures of who you assume to be past owners hanging upon them. Any further inspection is interrupted by the stallion coming back through the door.

“Well, looks like today is your lucky day, we have just enough for your little project.” he says as he approaches the counter and hit’s a few buttons on the cash register. “Your total comes to…. About one hundred and twenty bits.” he says looking up at you. You wince a bit at the price, but pull out your stash just the same. You open the small bag and look inside, not sure if you have enough. Seeing the worry on your face, the cashier sighs. “Alright, listen.” he says, his voice lowered a bit. “The boss would have my hide for this, but just give me what you’ve got and I’ll give you the stuff, alright?” he says. You smile and nod, handing him the bag. He tucks it away into the register and smiles. “Alright sir, I’ll have one of the new guys carry your stuff out for ya.” he says before looking of to one side. “HEY! SAWDUST! GET OUT HERE!” he yells.

A slightly smaller unicorn stallion steps out timidly. “Yeah boss?” he asks, sounding slightly frightened.

“I have some stuff stacked out back, I want you to carry it to wherever this gentleman tells you to, you understand?” he asks, a serious expression on his face. Sawdust just nods and rushes out the back door. “You go on out, he’ll meet you out front.” he says, to which you nod and walk out the door, surprised to find him already out there waiting for you, the supplies held in his magic.

“So, where are we going sir?” he asks. You simply point and walk, and he follows behind you. You walk to a relatively empty field, and motion for him to set everything down.

“Thanks for the help Sawdust.” you say, to which he extends a hoof.

“Not a problem sir.” he says as you take the hoof and shake it. You wave as he walks away, then roll out the blueprint, and start working.
**********************************

A few hours later, the sun is starting to set, and you’ve just finished the construction. You check to make sure you didn’t tighten the wheels too much, and find that you did. With a sigh, you kneel down and begin to loosen them until the wheels roll. You stand proudly, wiping the sweat from your brow.

You’re currently wearing nothing from the waist up except your undershirt, which is commonly referred to as a “wife-beater”, your jacket and button-up work shirt laying in the grass not to far away. You pack up the tools you used, throw your clothing over your shoulder, and begin to push the caravan car towards town. It moves smoothly, and you get to town with little trouble, save the occasional up-hill push. When you get to town, you receive a couple odd stares, but ignore them and continue pushing the car down the cobblestone streets, looking for the light blue mare you made it for. After a while of wandering aimlessly through town, you stop, slightly angered. “Where the hell is she?” you ask no one in particular.

You take a look around, and then spot the familiar coat hue of Trixie, and begin pushing the car towards her. As you get closer, you hear her talking to someone, the other pony obviously not in a good mood about something. You stop pushing the car, and approach on your own, seeing the stand-out mane of Rainbow Dash, hovering just above Trixie. “Is there a problem here?” You ask when the two mares are in ear shot. They both turn towards you with looks of shock on their faces.

Then Rainbow’s face turns to a scowl of contempt. “You bet there is! She brought an Ursa to town a while back!” she says accusingly before turning back to trixie. “You’ve got some nerve coming back here.”

“Hold on just one second…. The same Ursa that destroyed her caravan car?” you ask, holding your hands up in confusion.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Rainbow asks, looking from Trixie to you and back again multiple times. “Have you two met already or something?”

“Yeah, we’ve met. Now, answer me this… Did she do it on purpose? Better yet tell me how, exactly, did she bring it here?” you ask, deciding that logic was probably the best way to settle this dispute.

“Well, uh, she was saying that she defeated an Ursa Major all on her own, so Snips and Snails had the great idea to go find one so she could prove it an-”

“Wait wait wait….. So she didn’t even actually bring the damn thing?” you ask, before letting out a small laugh. “Sounds to me like you’re chewing out the wrong pony, Rainbow. Sorry.” you say with a shrug. She gives you an evil glare before flying off. You then turn your attention to Trixie, who hugs you again before you can say anything, sobbing quietly onto your shoulder. “Whoa girl, it’s alright, it’s alright. Everything’s okay now.” you say after looking around awkwardly. You slowly close your arms around her as you shake your head. Comforting others had never been your strong point, so you have no idea how to handle the hysterical mare in your arms.

“I tried to say I was sorry, but she just kept yelling.” she says in between sobs. “She said such hurtful things.”

“Shh, it’s alright Trixie, she’s gone now.” you say as you pat her lightly on the back, looking around awkwardly for a way to get her off of you. “Hey, I got a surprise for you.” you say, to which she looks up at you, slightly confused. You point to where you’d left the car. She looks over and squeals with joy as she runs over to it.

“Oh my gosh, it’s better than my old one!” she exclaims, making you smile a bit.

“I just hope you didn’t blow all your cash on booze, cause you’re gonna need a bed too.” you explain as she steps inside. She looks out the window facing you with a large smile that makes you wonder if the word ‘impossible’ has any meaning in this world. She steps back out and walks briskly towards you.

“Thank you sooooo much!” she exclaims, throwing her hooves around you once again. You wonder if she’s this huggy with everyone, but only shake your head and smile, returning the hug. Helping her made you feel good. Like you were changing someone’s life for the better. And you were changing her life for the better. Now, once she bought a mattress, she’d have a place to sleep.

“It’s no trouble, really.” you say, rubbing her back slightly. “So, does this mean you’ll be moving on to the next town? Continuing the whole ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ act?” you ask jokingly.

“I’ll stick around here for a while. See if I can make sure I’m more welcome next time I come to town.” she says with a laugh as she ends the hug. She looks at you with a meaningful look in her eyes and a smile. “Thank you, really, you have no idea how much this means to me.” she says, blushing slightly.

You kneel down to her level with a smile. “It’s no problem, really. Think nothing of it.” you say with a small chuckle. Trixie quickly leans in and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek then pulls back, blushing even brighter than before, then walks back to her new caravan car and pulls it away. You reach up to your cheek and sigh. You wonder if you should start over completely, start looking for love again, but shake the thought from your mind. ‘They may act like humans, but their still ponies.’ you think to yourself.

You stand back to your full height and put your jacket back on before pulling the apple out of its pocket and taking a bite. It still has its crunch, and it tastes better than any apple you’ve had before. With a smile on your face, you continue eating your apple and wander aimlessly around town, looking for something to do. You decide to simply relax for a while, and return to the park.

You walk slowly, your work shirt slung over your shoulder as you finish your apple and toss the core into a trash bin. When you get to the park, you soon find your bench, your guitar still sitting underneath it. You sit for a moment, simply taking in the sunset as it passes slowly by. You debate picking up your guitar, but decide against it, figuring that nopony would really appreciate it too much this late. You decide, instead, to light another cigarette.

“Hey.” Comes a familiar voice. You turn your head to see Berry standing not too far away. She doesn’t seem like she’s been drinking, which comes as a slight surprise for you.

“Hey.” you respond. She sighs shakily and takes a couple steps towards you.

“You said to be sober next time I talked to you, so here I am.” she says, shocking you further. You vaguely remembered saying something to that effect the last time the two of you spoke, but are more shocked that she remembers, considering the state she was in.

“So it seems.” you say, motioning for her to sit next to you as you slid over to make room. She nods, and takes the seat. “I have to admit, I didn’t think we’d be speaking again.” you say, causing her to sigh yet again.

“Yeah, me either.” she says with a sad chuckle. “So…. Are you really married?” she asks curiously. You hesitate before answering.

“I was.” you say sadly.

“What happened?” she asks.

“I’m not sure what went wrong, but I figured we’d pull through. We always did… But we never got the chance.” you say, inhaling deeply and letting the deadly smoke rest in your lungs for a moment before exhaling. “Getting killed tends to put any ideas of pulling through to rest.” you say matter-of-factly. She gasps slightly.

“You… died?” she asks. Instead of answering, you pull the collar of your undershirt low, revealing the scar made by the bullet that took your life.

“Nobody takes a bullet to the heart and lives, Berry.” you say, letting your collar move back to its original position. “Long story short, I want to fix things with my wife, but I can’t due to the fact that I’ll never see her again.” you say, feeling tears begin to well up in your eyes. “Life’s a bitch like that, ain’t it?” you say with a sad laugh.

“Ya got that right.” she replies sullenly. “My husband bailed after our daughter Ruby was born.” she says, now sounding angry. “Haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” you say, genuinely feeling sorry for her. You look up towards the sky for a moment before putting out your cigarette. “I’ve got a daughter too.” you say sadly. “I don’t want to imagine what she’ll grow up like without me there. Don’t get me wrong, I know I was never father of the year. I was always away on work, but whenever I came home I tried to be that dad that she could look back on when she’s successful.” you say with a sigh.

“It’s the attempt that counts.” she says, putting a comforting hoof on your shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” you say, looking up again. You can see the moon rising slowly over the horizon. “It’s getting late, you should probably be getting home.” you say. “Don’t want Ruby thinking you’ve forgotten about her, do you?” you say jokingly. She laughs slightly, but soon takes a more worried tone.

“Hey…. I know this probably sounds silly, but…. Could you walk me home? I’m afraid to walk alone in the dark.” she says with a sheepish smile. You chuckle lightly and stand up.

“Sure, it’s no problem.” you say, leaving your work shirt on the bench.

“Thanks Joe.” she says, though she still sounds afraid. You motion for her to take the lead, and she does after she gets off of the bench. She walks, looking over her shoulder now and again to make sure you’re still with her. She leads you to a part of town you haven’t seen before that reminds you of the more ‘ghetto’ parts of your home town. Now you understand why she’s uncomfortable walking alone at night.

The two of you get plenty of evil looks and snide comments, followed by the occasional threat or challenge directed at you, but a look is usually enough to silence them due to your superior size. You soon reach a rundown trailer, and Berry walks up to its door and pushes it open a bit.

“Ruby, I’m home, unlock the door.”

“No! you’re drunk again mommy, I know it!” comes the response from within.

“Ruby, I’m not drunk this time, I promise, now please unlock the door!” Berry says, raising her voice slightly.

“No! Not unless you can prove it!” you sigh.

“I think that’s my queue.” you say, stepping towards the door. “I think I can say, with more certainty than usual, that your mother is not drunk.” you say through the crack in the door. You look back to Berry, who has stepped back to allow you more room. She looks back at you, simply mouthing the words ‘thank you’.

“Wh-who’s there?” asks the voice in the trailer. You can vaguely see a small, bright pink unicorn.

“My name’s Joe. I’m a friend of your moms. You can trust me.” you say. You hear her mumble something, followed by hoof-steps towards the door. You back up, and soon hear the sliding of deadbolts. The door opens, and you see a slightly frightened unicorn filly standing in the doorway.

“You’re tall.” she says, making you laugh.

“I get that a lot.” you say back. You bid your goodbye’s, and Berry gives you a hug before you go. You soon find yourself back in the relative safety of the park, dead tired after the events of the day. You don’t even bother taking your jacket off, and simply lie down on your bench and fall asleep.