//------------------------------//
// Waiting For The End 
// Story: He Was Number One 
// by Acoustic Pulse 
//------------------------------//

It had been a couple days since the followup appointment. Rotten Core had already begun writing his will. He didn't really have a whole lot to give, so he was unsure as to what to do. He had no wife or foals, no friends, or even acquaintances. All he had was Applejack and Braeburn. Really, the only one who ever treated him like he existed was Braeburn.

Applejack's words still echoed in his mind, 'All you have ever been is bad news.' He stared around the walls of his empty house. He had never felt so alone in his life. He had begun to wonder why he was even born to begin with.

"Applejack was right about me. All I have ever been is a nuisance and a problem. I haven't done a single good thing for anypony in my entire life. I don't make anypony happy, nopony, except maybe Braeburn is ever happy to see me. I saw the way Granny Smith was looking at me when I went to visit Applejack last year. It was a look of total hatred and disgust. I'm surprised she even let me in. I was half expecting her to tell me how many different ways I could jump in a creek," Rotten Core rambled aloud to himself. He had nopony else to talk to. He was attempting to keep himself company, but even that didn't work.

Something clicked in him at that moment, "Maybe I won't have to suffer for an entire month, I'm going to wither away and die anyway, I might as well speed up the process. Nopony will miss me anyway. Braeburn might, but he'll forget about me, just like everypony else."

He pondered for a few minutes, realizing the decision he was about to make was irreversible. He rose from his bed, the sudden movement causing blood to rush to his head. His vision blurred for a moment and he blinked several times to clear it back up. Once he could clearly see again, he very slowly and painfully trudged toward Braeburn's barn. 



Braeburn left his house, heading next door to check on his dying cousin. He knew his days were numbered and he wasn't gonna be able to see him much longer. A freshly baked apple pie was being balanced on his back, "I hope I don't drop it, I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea."

He made it to Rotten Core's front door and he called out to him, "RC, are you home? I brought you something," he waited for an answer. When he didn't hear one, he reared up on his hind legs and used his front hooves to knock on the door.

There was still no answer. He decided to just let himself in, "I'm coming in, I hope that's okay," he announced. He opened the door, entering the house. He let the pie slide off his back and land on the little table in the kitchen. He looked around, expecting Rotten Core to jump out and scare him as he used to do before he became sick.

It was deathly quiet in his house. Braeburn checked each room twice. It was then that he finally realized that his cousin had left the house, "Where in Equestria could he be?"



Rotten Core had finally made it to Braeburn's barn.  He saw his cart sitting against the wall, just outside it. He gently pushed it into the barn and lowered the ramp. He looked around the inside of the barn, the dust was so heavy he could visibly see it floating through the air. He look in the corner to see a bundle of rope sitting on the floor. 

"Well, here goes nothing," Rotten said to himself. He picked up the rope with his teeth and dragged it over to the cart and up the ramp. He was now standing inside the cart. He looked up at one of the beams that went across the roof. He took a deep breath and began going through with his plan.

He used what little strength he still had to hoist one end of the rope over the beam. He let out an uninterested sigh and began to tie a noose. It only took a few seconds. He pushed a decent sized rock across the floor so that it would pin down the extra rope and hold the noose in place. 

He climbed back up the ramp and proceeded to push his head through the noose. Once it was around his neck, he decided to look around one last time. It was at this moment that he heard a familiar voice call his name, "RC? Where'd you go, cuzzo? I made you a pie, it's getting cold."

He ignored it, but Braeburn's calls got closer and closer. Rotten Core could tell he was heading towards the barn. Braeburn turned the corner to see this spectacle, "RC, NO! DON'T DO THAT, ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

Rotten Core looked up at his cousin and smiled, "Goodbye, Braeburn, and thank you for always being there for me. I finished the will. I left everything in your name and Applejack's. Do with it what you want. It won't be my problem anymore. I'm done being a nuisance. That's all I've ever been. A problem, bad news, nopony gives a filly's flank about me."

Braeburn took off in full gallop, attempting to stop Rotten Core from hanging himself. Rotten Core reared up on his hind legs and pushed the cart back, leaving himself to hang freely. The noose began to asphyxiate him. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. Braeburn was looking around, panicking. He finally noticed the rock that was holding the rope in place.

He galloped over and kicked it, causing the rope to fall. The rope slid over and off the beam, Rotten Core hit the ground with a thud. His throat hurt, but he was alive. Braeburn had saved his life.

"YOU PSYCHOPATH, YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED," Braeburn exclaimed.

Rotten Core wheezed, "I was... trying to... do you a favor."

Braeburn shook his head, "No, I would never want anything to happen to you. You're my cousin, you're family, I love you. I never say it because I always thought it was a weird thing for one stallion to say to another stallion, but I do. The fact that you're terminally ill is tearing me apart, but I would NEVER wish death on you or anypony else. Nopony deserves this fate, you were blessed with a final month to make amends, right past wrongs, say your goodbyes to your loved ones. You're snuffing yourself out already? I know your sickness might be clouding your judgement, but you must have lost your apple-picking mind!"

Rotten Core lost his composure and began to laugh uncontrollably. This made Braeburn very uncomfortable, "What's so funny?"

His ill cousin looked up, "You know I have never had anypony say those three words to me in my entire life? You're the only one. I always thought I was a nuisance to you, I thought you only helped me because that's what family does."

Braeburn nodded, "That's a part of it, but the other part of it is, I never thought you were bad, just different. Different is good, there's nopony else like you, Rotten Core. There never has been and there never will be."

Rotten Core got back up off the ground, brushing himself off with one of his front legs, "Thank you, Braeburn. You're the only friend I've ever really had."

Braeburn shrugged, "Don't mention it, cuzzo, it's what I'm here for. Now how about we settle down and dig into that pie? It's probably cold by now, but I ain't worried about that. I'm just glad you're still alive to eat it."

Rotten Core laughed, "Yeah, me too. Don't know what came over me. I was just feeling really down, I guess. All this pent up anger and frustration at my own mistakes pushed me to a bit of a breaking point. It caused me to overreact. I'm glad you were there to stop me."

Braeburn thought for a moment as they headed back to Rotten Core's house, "You know I gotta be here to keep you in check. I'm like your battle buddy, except you're doing most of the fighting, I'm only here for moral support, and to save your crazy flank when you decide to pull stunts like that one."

Rotten Core apologized again, "I'm sorry I put you through that."

Braeburn gently nudged his cousin with his left front leg, "Don't sweat it, buddy, it's over now. Don't bring on the end, let it happen on its own. You said it yourself, there's still so much you wanna do."

Rotten Core raised an eyebrow, "How'd you know I said that? You weren't even in the room with me and Dr. Cross."

Braeburn shrugged, "I was outside the door the whole time, the nurses tried to get me to stay in the waiting room, but I wasn't gonna let that happen. We're family, we stick up for each other. You expect me to trust ponies that don't even know you?"

Rotten Core chuckled, "I guess not. I appreciate you being here, once again."

Braeburn nodded, "I always will be. Apples to the Core, remember?"

End of Chapter 3!