> You can't take it anymore. > You nail your tie to the ceiling and jump off your chair. > It's longer than you thought, but you suffocate, no regrets. > You wake up in an attic somewhere, and wonder who thought that was a good place for an insufficiently dead body. > You get to your hooves and don't freak out because you have bigger fish to fry; ie yourself. > You check to see if you still have your neck tie for round two. > The good news is that you do. The bad news is that it is stuck; can't loosen or tighten. > You try to walk down the stairs, and immediately tumble down what feels like an eternity of stairs, but which is probably only one flight, a tight corner, then another flight. > You had been hoping that the stairs would finish the job, but you only feel bruised. > Someone gasps, and you get the feeling there may be a surprise party in your future. > You get to your hooves and see you are behind the counter in Sugarcube Corner. > Everyone is standing still, some in mid bite, and one pony is just sitting there, coffee pouring into his mouth, then dribbling down his chin. > Only Pinkie Pie is moving, and she is having a hard time getting around a clump of ponies at the counter. > You make eye contact with Mrs. Cake, and her face relaxes. She says, "You shouldn't have worn that tie." > That's weird. "I'm not sure the tie was the problem. It held out for longer than I did." > Mrs. Cake takes one unnaturally jerky step towards you. "That tie was a gift." > You start to suspect that you are not talking to Mrs. Cake. > Pinkie Pie heaves you over the counter, and you slide into the legs of someone. > She tosses you onto her back and starts bouncing out of the shop. > Out of the corner of your eye, you see Mrs. Cake return to her former position. > The streets of Ponyville are just as unnaturally still, and you have the presence of mind not to look anyone in the eye. > At the town limits, Pinkie Pie sets you down and shakes her mane. > Space curls around both of you, and you find yourself in a white, padded room with an airlock. > You spend the next few days in mildly unpleasant isolation. > Food and water teleport in, waste products teleport out. > On the fourth day, a voice tells you to leave. > The airlock opens, and you exit. > The halls are bare concrete with white, shining gems set into the walls and ceiling. > There is only one other airlock, and you go through. > It is a nearly identical room to the last one, except for a small plexiglass window in the wall. > The airlock closes behind you. > You step a little closer to see on the other side of the window, there is a nervous looking pony with a short cropped mane and a tag on his ear that reads, "D55847" > He is frozen like the ponies in Ponyville. > You look away, highly nervous yourself. > You hear a voice telling you to look at the other pony. > You shake your head. > The voice tells you that you can go to the other cell if you do. > Reluctantly, you look into the eyes of the frozen pony. > His face relaxes. "You shouldn't have worn that tie." > You shakily answer, "Believe me, I know." > The pony continues, only slightly muffled by the window. "That tie was a gift." > You back away, keeping your eyes on the pony. He continues. "That tie was for me." > The pony lifts his hooves up and places them on the window. "I was supposed to live forever." > You look away, thoroughly spooked. > Out of the corner of your eye, you see the pony get back down, and resume his nervous expression. > You turn to the airlock, and wait. > The voice asks if you would please look one more time. > You shake your head. > Forty five minutes later the airlock opens, and you return to what you now think of as your room. > You curl up in a corner and try not to dream. -The End.