//------------------------------// // The Path // Story: The Light's Love // by Scremises117 //------------------------------// “Are you crazy?! You could’ve gotten hurt!” Fluttershy exclaimed, clearly frustrated that I put myself in harm’s way like that. We were still on the path to her cottage, and I was still carrying her animal feed for her. “How? He was weak and slow to start with. I was trained to fight anyway; he wouldn’t have been much of a threat.” “Don’t go doing that again; I don’t want you to get hurt.” “Alright I won’t,” I sighed, defeated by the yellow Pegasus. “What do you mean by ‘trained to fight’?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, I took some classes for about 8 years and trained during that time as well. It was just a personal defense class that I took a while back,” I said, not wanting to tell her that I was a black belt in Karate and how I got my second Dan (ranking system for the black belts). I didn’t really feel like explaining that right now. As we neared her cottage, my stomach let out a growl to let me know it was time to eat. “Oh, are you hungry by any chance?” she asked, obviously hearing my stomach’s clamorous plea for food. Luckily we were right outside her cottage so food was not far away. “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry.” “If you want I can make you a salad like last time,” Fluttershy said as she opened the door to reveal a horde of animals awaiting their meal. One stood out in particular. Angel, her rabbit who she told me about but I haven’t really seen until now. He was pointing at his wrist and giving Fluttershy the evil eye; he obviously wasn’t happy with our delayed arrival. Today was going to be interesting, I just knew it. So after I ate my lunch and Angel stopped throwing a hissy fit over not getting his food on time, I decided maybe going for nice run would be beneficial to me. I am still taking in all of this change. “Hey Fluttershy, I’m going for a run, so I’ll be back in a few,” I said as I got up from the table I was eating at and walked to the door. “Oh, alright. Be careful,” she said, and turned her attention from her animals to me. “Okay,” I like that she cares about my wellbeing but she needs to stop worrying; I really can handle myself. Before I started I pulled out my iPod, I always like to run with some good music. The time read 1:30 P.M; not a bad time for a run. I started jogging down the path to her cottage into town and once I reached the end I went across the bridge and to the left. It was quiet over here and today was an all-round beautiful day. The sun shown bright and birds flew through the air and pegasi rested on clouds. Soon enough, I was away from the town and all of its occupants. I kept jogging for a few minutes until I saw a long path. I saw that it went on for a while, so I just went into a full-blown sprint. The farther I went in the more the scenery changed. I felt the sun’s hot rays beating against my neck as the various smells of nature filled my nostrils. The dirt under my feet was soft and cool to the touch. Leaves and twigs crunched under my feet. The soft cool breeze flowing into my face was hungrily devoured by my burning lungs. I ran not knowing where I was going; only knowing that I was going somewhere. I needed a run to clear my thoughts and take in all of this. I soon stopped my run and come to a farm with an array of apple trees abaft to it. I stood up on a hill to the farm letting the soft breeze blow my stained white shirt. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small number of ponies. I only recognized one and that was Applejack. There was another red one with a yoke around his neck. The second thing I realized was the voluminous number of apple trees. They must’ve gone on for miles. I stood looking at the vast countryside in front of me. I stood there for a while until I heard hooves coming in my direction. It was Applejack, one of Fluttershy’s friends. I haven’t really talked to this one much, only a little on the way to the party. “Hey there Sugarcube, what brings ya to our farm?” Applejack asked as she took off her Stetson and wiped sweat from her forehead. “This is your farm? Wow, it’s huge. How many people work for you?” I asked in awe over the size and beauty of the landscape before me. “This here is Sweet Apple Acres, and this is our family run business here. We Apples take pride in our work.” “Do you ever need help with all of this?” I asked wondering if maybe I could do something other than stay home with Fluttershy all day. I don’t mind staying with her but I imagine it’d get quite monotonous after some time. “Not really, mah kin and I do most of the work,” Applejack said proudly. “Well I was wondering if you need any, I could lend a hand. I’m quite an able bodied person, I can even do a lot of heavy lifting,” I said trying to convince her to let me do something here. I didn’t want to do what I did at the hospital, and that was mediocre workouts and nothing. Toward the end it was hard to do anything so I just lay in bed, sulking. “Well ah think that an extra helpin’ hoof… err, hand… never hurt anypony.” “Great, I’d love to help any time I can. Do you think I could get started now?” I asked, visibly excited about finally doing something useful for a change. “Well shoot, why the hay not?” Applejack said as she turned and waved her hoof for me to follow. “C’mon, I gotta show you to mah family.” This should be fun. --- It was now 6 o’clock at night. I met their family and they were all very kind and welcoming. Granny Smith got used to me fast although she initially thought I was a monkey. After a while she had grown to like me and accepted me. Apple Bloom was frightened of me at first but when she worked up the courage to talk to me and saw I was nice she warmed up to me quickly. She kept asking questions like where I was from, what it was like there, and what we did for fun. She also insisted on telling me about her little friends club ‘The Cutie Mark Crusaders’. Then she kept asking me what my cutie mark was and if I was interested in participating in it. I had to explain to her that I don’t get them we just find our talents. Applejack eventually got her to stop her incessant questioning and told her to go help Granny Smith with dinner. I got along good with Big Macintosh seeing that neither of us talks much. At first he was apprehensive of me and we kept our distance, but seeing that we would be working together we put it all aside and focused on the work at hand. My job was to carry buckets of apples in and help pick up any that fell. Applejack noticed my work and complimented me on it; surprisingly she even offered me a job with great pay she said this would make me an honorary Apple. I quickly accepted this and thanked her for her kindness. By the end of the day we had hulled in over 250 buckets of apples. It felt good to get out and help others for a little while. I was just about to leave an hour ago but they insisted I stayed for dinner. I didn’t want to be a burden but Granny Smith insisted on me attending dinner. We ate vegetable soup and apple pie for desert. It was the best apple pie that I had ever tasted. They even gave me a piece to give to Fluttershy. It was getting dark outside so I left for Fluttershy’s cottage. I said my goodbyes before I left and thanked them all for being so kind to me. The walk home turned into a run, I didn’t want to be stuck in the dark since I don’t really know my way around here. On my run there I realized something. There was a time difference between earth and here. My birth was on February 23rd, yesterday, and today is November 24th according to what Fluttershy told me this morning. I wonder if any of the ponies will hire me. After some time of running I reached Fluttershy’s home. I saw the light escape from the windows of her cottage making a beacon for me to guide my way. I opened the door and took off my shoes placing them next to the door. I walked in slowly clutching the plate that was holding Apple Pie. The first thing that graced my vision was her dusting the shelves of her cottage whilst humming a soft tune. She turned around abruptly as she heard me enter her home suddenly startled by me entering her home. “H-hello Paul, how was your run?” Fluttershy asked with a weak smile on her face. “Good, I went to Applejack’s farm though I was there for a while helping them with carrying buckets. I also brought you a slice of pie,” I said as I held it for her to grab. “I knew you were there because I got worried when you didn’t come back so I asked Rainbow Dash if she saw you and she told me you were at Sweet Apple Acres,” Fluttershy said, making me slightly uneasy. “Okay, thanks but I’m fine on my own, you don’t need to keep tabs on me.” “O-okay sorry,” She said hanging her head low. “No, no, it’s fine, I’m just not used to being looked after like this,” I said reassuring her that I wasn’t upset. “Oh okay, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. After I heard how you felt here I just wanted to make you feel more at home,” she said in an innocent tone. “If you want to talk about anything I’ll be right here to listen.” I walked over to her couch and sat down; when I collided with the soft cushions I let out a lengthy sigh. I ran my fingers through my shadowy hair and look at her with my coal eyes. I don’t want her to know the whole story I never want her to know its entirety. “Fluttershy, when I was younger, my dad told me something that I would never forget. He told me that if you have something to talk about, tell it to someone who cares. At that very moment, I realized nobody cared about how I felt. I thought, ‘if my dad doesn’t care, then who will?’ Then I realized that I didn’t want anyone to care. I don’t want you to care because then I’m just another person for you to worry about. I just want to stay out of your way and not become more of a burden than I have already.” “Sometimes, you just need to let it out and vent to someone,” she said trying to propose a new way to make me feel better. “I’ve kept too much in to let it out now,” I said. “Thanks again.” She walked over next to me and sat down beside me. She looked me in the eye and rubbed my hand with her hoof. “You’re welcome just r-remember I’ll be right here if you need me,” she said, feebly stroking my hand. “I know… I know.”