Twilight Sparkle's Anguish

by Trailblazer Rocker

The Hole In The Sky

Two months have passed since the Demon Witch was spirited away. None of the ponies had to worry about losing their lives in any sort of catastrophe at that time. They were grateful for the efforts that the six ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Trailblazer, put into to stop the Demon Witch. All those that were bullied by Trailblazer in the past has forgiven him when they learned that he was involved with saving all of them from certain doom. As for those loyal to Black Hole, they all parted ways, never causing any other pony trouble.

A few of the others found a coltfriend to be with. Rainbow Dash and Soarin' were now together ever since she got accepted into the Wonderbolts, Rarity found her soulmate with another fancy gentlecolt by the name of DiamondBack, and Fluttershy found acceptance with another animal-loving pony named NightWing. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were the only two out of the seven that couldn't find a colt of their own. Pinkie Pie remained optimistic that she'd find somepony soon, but Twilight felt left out and sad that she was alone.

It was nighttime now. Trailblazer was with AppleJack that night. They were both outside on a small hill near her barn. The two were cuddling each other like they have been for some time now. Their bond was stronger than ever, unwilling to part.

"I really love you, AppleJack," he said as they were hugging each other.

"Ah love ya too, Trailblazer," she said back.

"Well, I love you even more."

AppleJack smiled and laughed. "Oh, yer so silly!"

They stopped talking for a little bit and continued to hug and cuddle each other, keeping themselves held tightly together. Trailblazer took his right foreleg, wrapped it around her shoulders, and brought her closer to himself. This brought AppleJack's head underneath his chin. She didn't mind this at all, and eased herself towards him more, snuggling underneath it.

"Y'know, sugarcube, if it weren't for you, Ah'd probably still be miserable and zeroed out from the other ponies as a hillbilly. It'd be just me, Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Applebloom, just barely scraping by."

"Hey, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be a worse pony than I was. In all honesty, I didn't know what it meant to have feelings for another pony until I met you. I feel like, you complete me, you know?"

AppleJack turned her head to the side a little bit, drooped her ears, and blushed.

"Awww, you're cute when you blush."

AppleJack's smile only got bigger at that comment. "Ah also feel like you complete me too. Ah wouldn't trade ya for anythin'. You mean THAT much to me, y'know?"

"You're also my one and only. You're the best special somepony I could ever have."

"Awwww, sugarcube!"

They began to kiss each other for a little bit, eyes closed, and legs around each other.

"Hey, if we both felt empty without each other, then why do you think we felt that way before we knew each other?"

AppleJack stopped for a moment. "Well, in my family, it's just been us four, just sellin' apples and harvestin' them. Now, sure, there's the rest of the apple family, but we all had our own nuclear families to take care of. There's my grandma Granny Smith, my older brother Big Macintosh, my younger sister Applebloom and..." Her words trailed off.

"And... What? Didn't you have a mom and dad?" asked Trailblazer.

At that question, AppleJack started to shed some tears, and then it grew to some soft sobs.

"Oh, no, what's wrong?" asked Trailblazer. He felt guilty, thinking that he made her upset.

"Ah never knew my parents..." she cried. "All Ah know 'bout them is that they had a different job to take care of involvin' their own grandparent's farm. After Applebloom was born, they just, disappeared. Ah don't know where they live, Ah don't know how they're doing, Ah don't even know their names!"

"Oh... I never realized..." Trailblazer couldn't think of anything to say. He never wanted to hurt AppleJack in any way, yet he felt like he just hurt her feelings. Now, he found it hard to apologize in a way that would make it up to her.

"No, it's... okay, ya didn't know..." wept AppleJack. "Ah never talk 'bout them anyways. It just makes it hard for me..." She looked up at Trailblazer, showing some tears streaming from her eyes.

"Well, please know that I wouldn't do anything to make you feel bad. I, I love you too much to hurt you in any way." Trailblazer wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"Ah know, but... Thanks anyway..." AppleJack stopped crying, yet still looked sad. "That's another thing. Yer always there to comfort me and be there when Ah need it most."

"Come now, Shh-hh-hh-hh, you're okay..." Trailblazer stroked her mane in an affectionate way and hugged her again. She rested her chin on his right shoulder as she hugged him back.

"But back to the completion feelin's, why didya feel empty before ya met ME?"

"Well, I..." He exhaled. "Really didn't have much for a family to begin with either. Really, I think all I have left is my younger brother and sister..." Trailblazer hung his head. "I know for a fact that my parents are dead..."

"What??"

"And what made it worse... I saw it happen with my very own eyes..." His voice became stuffy.

"You... Watched your parents die?"

"They didn't die... They were murdered."

AppleJack gasped and covered her mouth with her front hooves. "What... Happened?"

"It all happened when my little brother, Blaine, was still an infant. A burglar broke in one night. He was trying to steal some of our pricey goods. My mom and dad got up because they heard him sneaking around the house. I heard it too, and got up myself. I saw that he grabbed one of the kitchen knives and stabbed away at my mother and father, killing them in just a few stabs..."

"That's... Just awful!"

"I was horrified, but I didn't want him to get away with it. He didn't notice me when he fought off my parents, and he went off into the living room to try to find something. I took one of the kitchen knives and crept up behind him. I stabbed him in the back, and then the neck, killing him for killing my parents..." He shut his eyes tight and grimaced.

"That was... Wow, it looks like you had it way tougher than Ah do now... Ah'm truly sorry to hear about your loss."

"It just happened so fast... I don't know why it had to be me. Was it karma? Bad luck? Just the wrong place at the wrong time? I don't know... My sister StarBright walked in after hearing the noise and saw what happened. She, too, was terrified. I told her what happened, and we mourned. Saddest... Moment... We have ever shared together..."

"You and Ah... We have a common discomfort..." AppleJack stroked his mane now. Although Trailblazer didn't care for that at all, he allowed her to do it.

"Don't worry about me... You need more support than I do."

"Can't ya see this, sugarcube?" AppleJack leaned closer to him. "We both have the same kind of feelings and we share the same kind of grief! Ah think we're brought together to be there for each other."

He stopped and looked at her, then at the ground, thinking. "I guess you're right. But I want to keep you happy because... You mean that much to me."

"Oh, hush now..." AppleJack whispered. "We can make each other feel better. It don't matter how."

They hugged each other for yet another time, and rested each other's chins on the other's shoulder. A couple tears fell from AppleJack's eyes, still thinking of her lost parents. But they started to feel better knowing that they had each other.

They never noticed Twilight Sparkle watching them, overhearing everything they said and talked about. She was hiding in a bush in the field, seeing and hearing everything they talked about through a hole in the bush. She looked away from them, and began to cry.

"Look at them... They're there for each other, they care for each other, and they even love each other." Her ears became floppy, and she covered her face with her hooves. "And then there's Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy... They all found a guy, but then there's me, all alone... I can't find anyone..." She laid down and curled herself into a loose ball and wept quietly.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie...?" Twilight Sparkle walked to her place looking for some answers. It was during a sunset that day, and Twilight was feeling left out again.

"Hi, Twilight!" She bounced around towards her, but she noticed that Twilight wasn't feeling well, and she settled down. "What's the matter?"

"It's about how all of the others have a colt they're going out with... I know you're also one out of us six that doesn't have a coltfriend. I... How can you handle it so well?"

"Ohhhh, this is going to be awkward..."

"Don't tell me... You have one now?"

"Well..."

"Oh, Piiiiin-kiiiiiie!" a masculine voice called out from another room in her house.

"In here, Fireworks!"

A colt with a pale yellow coat and a faded blue spiky mane zipped into the room, energetic as ever. He put a hoof around her shoulders as he came in, then noticed Twilight. "Hey, who's this?"

"She's Twilight Sparkle, a friend of mine," said Pinkie.

"Oh, nice! Hey, do you think she could help us with our little experiment?" he asked quickly.

"Well, now isn't the best time for her..." Pinkie turned to look at Twilight, only to see that she was gone. She looked back at Fireworks, who was her new coltfriend. "She's feeling left out and lonely because all of us have coltfriends, and she doesn't. And she's been feeling down because of it."

"Aww, feeling bad is no fun. I wish she knew I wish the best for her."

Twilight Sparkle ran away from her house, feeling insulted. Only recently, Pinkie Pie was also alone, but she only found this pony recently, and it felt so quickly too. She ran back to her library, went upstairs to her room, buried her face into her pillow, and screamed into it. Her loneliness was turning into sadness and frustration, and being singled out only made it worse. She laid in her bed for a little bit, immobile, pondering on her dilemma, then got back up. She let out a deep breath and calmed down. Twilight walked back outside and went to head over to the grocery store. She wanted something sweet to make her feel a little better now.

On the way there, she passed by Trailblazer's house. On the front porch, was him strumming his acoustic guitar and singing along with a song he had playing over his amp.

"...I want to run, through the halls, of my high school. I want to scream, at the top of my, lungs! I just found out, there's no such thing as a real world. Just a lie, you've got to rise, above." he sang.

"Trailblazer?" Twilight walked up to him.

Trailblazer looked at her, then muted his amp that was playing the song, and let go of his acoustic. "Hey, Twilight!" upon a closer look, he noticed that she looked a little upset. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well, yeah..." She walked onto the porch and sat down next to him. "You've noticed how I can't find a colt to be with at all, right?"

"Kind of."

"Yeah, that's the thing... There's you and AppleJack, Rarity and Diamondback, Rainbow Dash with Soarin', Fluttershy with NightWing, and now, Pinkie Pie with this one guy named Fireworks. But I'm left out and... I feel unwanted..."

"Oh, don't beat yourself up about it. Seriously, I've seen some ponies that couldn't find their special one until, like, their 30s or 40s."

"That's not the thing. I'm singled out because none of the colts want to be with me. I'm about ready to start begging because... I just feel so alone, and there's nothing I can do to change it..." She sniffled.

"Oh..." Trailblazer looked off to the side, and then back at her. "Here, let's go inside and talk." He picked up his guitar and amp and walked inside. Twilight Sparkle followed him. Trailblazer walked upstairs into his room and put his gear away, then came back down. "Take a seat," he said to Twilight as she sat on his couch. She sat down next to him. "Okay. Go ahead."

"Well, thing is, you all have your special friends, and I just can't seem to find one of my own... Look at you and AppleJack. We know how close you two are, but... I just want to be accepted like that, really, but nopony is avaliable. They're either taken or just plain refuse to be with me. I don't want to be alone, but I'm not given that choice..."

"So what you're saying is, you'd like a close relationship like the rest of us, yet you just simply can't."

"Yeah... Am I really that repelling??"

"I wouldn't think so."

"How was it with you and AppleJack? How did it start to work out between you two?"

"Well, when I first met her, she was feeling unwell because she... Actually, she was feeling like you. Miserable, lonely, and ignored. When I talked to her, we found out that we had a lot of things in common, and the bond just grew stronger ever since."

"Interesting..."

"Maybe if you find somepony that likes what you do, then it can work out from there."

"Yeah, it could." She looked up, showing a small grin. But it slowly dwindled and turned into a frown. "Oh, Lord..."

"What?"

"Who's going to like a student for Princess Celestia and bookworm?"

Trailblazer grumbled. "To be honest, I still think of you as a solid friend, but you may be looking for love in the wrong ways..."

"I must be..." She looked down at herself, sad.

"Oh! I know!" Trailblazer jumped off the couch. "There are a lot of guys in my home city, Tethleon. You might find a coltfriend there."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Chances are, there's somepony there that's alone and could use a marefriend."

"Oh, that'd be great!"

"Hey, would Princess Celestia mind if we use her guards as an escort? It'll be quicker that way."

"I don't think so. It should work. But, I do see what you're saying. I can get a fresh start on getting a stallion in a new place! Thanks, Trailblazer!" She got up and wrapped her forelegs around him, giving him a hug. He simply stood still, not returning it. He looked out his window, and then he immediately became frightened.

"Uh-oh..."

"What?"

AppleJack walked through the front door.

"Hey, Trailblazer..." AppleJack's voice sounded stern, and she squinted at the two. "What's this all about?"

"AppleJack, it's not what I think you think it is," said Twilight, defending Trailblazer.

"She just needs some support and comfort, that's all," said Trailblazer. "Really, it was just us talking."

AppleJack raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that all?" She let out a small laugh, and then stopped. "What was it about, anyways?"

Twilight let out a sigh. "Well, it's about how you two have each other, as coltfriend and marefriend, as well as the other four, but I'm the odd one out. You've noticed, right?"

"Oh, yeah, Ah have... Ah've felt the same way too, Twi'..."

"I just agreed to have her come over to my hometown for a chance at getting one, and that's when she ended up hugging me, that's all that happened," Trailblazer said, in an attempt to convince AppleJack.

"Oh, that's why she needed some comfort, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, Ah see now. No hard feelin's then... Say, could Ah tag along?"

Twilight and Trailblazer looked at each other. "Why do you ask that?"

"Ah just wanna see what his hometown is like, that's all. After all, we've only skimmed through it when we were all comin' back from the Crawnite Mountains."

"Hmmm, that shouldn't be a problem." Trailblazer looked at Twilight Sparkle. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, I wouldn't mind at all."

"All right, it's settled. We'll go there tomorrow."

"Wait, where will we stay if we have to be there overnight?" asked AppleJack.

"My sister takes care of my original home, so we can stay there."

"Yeah, we've been there before, AppleJack," Twilight filled in.

"All right, sounds good. Anyways, Ah'll letcha go now." She turned around and stood in the doorway, then turned again. "Good luck, Twilight." With that, she left.

Trailblazer let out a relieved exhale. "Dodged a bullet..." he mumbled.

"Well, thanks again, Trailblazer. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Good night, Twilight."

She left his house, and walked back to her library. She got into her bed and slept.

The next day, Two of Princess Celestia's guards carried the three ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Trailblazer, and AppleJack, to Tethleon by chariot. They landed near the front gate, free from running into anything. The three jumped out of the chariot.

"Thanks, guys," said Twilight.

"We'll keep ourselves parked here. Just come back to us when you want to leave," one of them said.

"Okay, first thing's first, let get ourselves set up for an overnight stay at my place," said Trailblazer.

The three ponies made a 15-minute walk into one of the residential areas, and walked towards his home. He knocked on his door and waited.

StarBright answered the door. "Trailblazer! You're back!" She got excited and gave him a hug right away.

"Yeah, I'm back. It's good to see you again, sis."

"And, I see you've brought some friends too."

"I did. You remember Twilight Sparkle and AppleJack, right?"

"Yes."

"Well... Hang on, I'll explain in the other room."

Trailblazer brought StarBright into their living room past the kitchen. "The thing is, I invited Twilight over here to Tethleon because... Her self-esteem is getting low because she can't find a coltfriend."

"I know how she feels..."

"But I brought her here so she can have a fresh slate on her chances of getting a stallion."

"Okay, that's good! But, what about YOUR marefriend?"

"Oh, AppleJack? She's here just to visit."

"All right. Well, I was getting ready to go to the Risong Warriors dojo. She can come along too."

"Sounds good! Let's just get settled here. We might stay around overnight."

Trailblazer walked back into the foyer, while StarBright walked into her bedroom.

"Hey, Twilight. We were just talking about where to go first, and we agreed on going to the Rising Warriors dojo."

"Okay, thanks." said Twilight.

"We'll be ready to go in just a little bit." Trailblazer stood around with the two others in the foyer. Then, he got an idea. He walked over to AppleJack and started to whisper something in her ear. She looked up while she listened. After listening to it for several seconds, she looked surprised, and then she placed a hoof over her mouth. Twilight could see a big smile from behind her hoof. Even Trailblazer was laughing quietly through his sentences. Then, he stopped. AppleJack nodded with a big grin, and started to snicker.

"Okay, don't hint that this is a joke until AFTER you say the whole thing."

"Gotcha," she chuckled.

A little bit later, StarBright walked into the living room. AppleJack walked into it.

"Oh, hi, AppleJack," StarBright said. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, things are great. Ah'm back at the apple farm, lookin' after my brudda, sister, and grandma."

"Okay, that's nice! So, how are things with MY brother?"

"He's just the sweetest! He's strong, looks out for me, and he's AMAZING in bed!"

StarBright's ears immediately drooped, her pupils shrank, and she looked worried. "Good... For, him...?"

Trailblazer let out a small laugh, then quickly put on a straight face.

"Oh yeah. If there's a colt out there that knows how to please a mare, it would be him!"

StarBright's jaw dropped a little bit. "Uhhhhhhhhh..."

"Hey, AppleJack!" Trailblazer walked into the living room. "What are you talking about here?"

"Oh, Ah was just talkin' about how you are SUCH, a great lover!"

"Ohhhh, you've been naughty! Looks like you need a spanking tonight!"

"Okay, stop!" StarBright closed her eyes tightly and raised a hoof to cover them. Her teeth were also grit. "Trailblazer..."

Both of them started to chuckle, and then they burst out laughing. They continued to laugh, then AppleJack fell down and rolled over on her back.

"Oh, I really can't believe you fell for that!" Trailblazer continued to laugh, then had to clutch his stomach from laughing too hard. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

StarBright looked confused, then started to chuckle. "Oh, this was a joke the whole time..."

The laughter quieted down, then stopped. "Yeah, it was."

"Well, I'm just about ready, so we'll go once I'm done." StarBright walked down towards the basement.

Twilight walked into the room that Trailblazer and AppleJack were in. "Does having a sense of humor work when trying to find a guy?"

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe!" said Trailblazer. "It almost always works, because it makes you both feel better." He put a foreleg around AppleJack's shoulders and brought her closer to him. "That's how it worked with AppleJack and I."

"I can see that working. Thanks for the tip," said Twilight.

StarBright came back from the basement. "Okay, I'm ready, are you all ready?"

"Yeah, we're ready," Twilight spoke again.

"All right! Off we go!"

The four walked outside and began to walk to the dojo.

"What the..." Trailblazer looked up at the sky. "What the hell is that?"

"Is there somethin' wrong, Trailblazer?" AppleJack wondered.

"Look over there."

Trailblazer pointed towards the sky. The other three looked up at where he was pointing. There, they saw a black hole in the sky, black in color, a purple center with cracking purple lightning bolts, and a blood-red trim. It had arms around it that swirled like a hurricane, with the purple center of it looking like it's "eye".

"What IS that??" Twilight Sparkle took her mind off of finding a date and paid attention to the hole. "That wasn't here before we came inside!"

A bunch of other ponies in their residential area got outside to observe it. A few were asking around seeing if they saw that void too. For all they knew, they could be hallucinating. But every other pony was seeing the exact same thing. All thoughts on it now suggested that it was genuine.

"I don't like what that thing is one bit..." Trailblazer stopped staring at the hole. "Sorry, Twilight, but it looks like we have to head back and find out what that thing is."

Twilight was disappointed, but she knew that this was of a higher priority. "Yeah, okay..."

"You have to leave already?" said StarBright.

"I'm afraid so..." Trailblazer responded.

"Well, whatever it is, good luck, and stay safe." She headed back to their home and went inside.

The other three ran back to where the guards were. They were looking up at the swirling hole too.

"Boys, we have a problem," said Trailblazer. "We need to go back to Ponyville and find out what this hole in the sky is, pronto!"

"Rodger that. Climb aboard."

The three ponies got back on the chariot. Then the guards got airborne and flew back towards Ponyville. Although this hole was still a mystery, it certainly had to be something hostile.