“Ouch!” I hooted as a wincing force of agony erupted along the right side of my body forcing me to sit up.
“Oops. Sorry about that. I didn’t think you were awake,” Dr. Stable declared before flaunting a wide grin. “I’m proud of you, Forest. Staying here was the right decision. It has really helped your injury along.”
Even though the doctor was only checking on me, I couldn’t help but glare at him a moment. That really, really hurt! Shrugging off the pain, I asked the doctor: “What time is it?”
Dr. Stable used his magic to levitate a pocket-watch, “It’s time for breakfast!” He showed me the clock’s face. Just past nine. So, I had slept the entire night away. In truth, my body did feel a lot better, but my thoughts were only on Applejack.
As if on cue, my stomach growled. It was time for breakfast.
Peering to my right I saw that Brian was sitting up on his bed reading a book quietly with Rainbow lying next to him so that her head rested on his lap. She was peering over to me with her eyes completely disinterested in my goings on. She did raise her eyebrows and smile at me, her lazy and silent ‘good morning’.
Just then the door opened and Nurse Redheart walked in with a tray of food. She spotted me awake, “Oh, Forest. You’re up. I’ll go get you your breakfast in a sec.”
After shooing Rainbow off the bed to make room for the bed-tray, Nurse Redheart set down Brian’s plate. There were a bunch of things on there – eggs, waffles, toast, a selection of fruits... many delicious looking things. It looked so good that it made my mouth salivate.
Nurse Readheard exited the room and returned in a few minutes with my plate. It looked seriously lacking in the presentation and my heart sank when she put it down in front of me. It was porridge. Boring, tasteless porridge. My eyes looked up to her in confusion.
“Sorry, Forest, but you need to eat this. Trust me. It’ll help heal your broken bones faster,” Nurse Redheart then gave me an evil look, “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about your antics the other day disguised as that animal. You’re lucky I couldn’t find you. Do you know how long it took me and my staff to clear out all the leaves? You cause me a lot of headaches.”
“But you had to admit, that tackle was amazing…” Dashie sang out the last part, “How I pinned you down. Remember, Forest?”
How can I forget? “Yes, I remember.” My voice lacked any emotion; I was still pretty bummed out about the breakfast. As if I wasn’t suffering enough already. My heart was broken, my ribs were broken and now my morning illusion of a complete breakfast was broken.
“Why didn’t you just come to us instead?” Rainbow rolled her eyes while shaking her head. “That would’ve been, ya know, easier?”
“I… didn’t want to involve you, or any of the others. I thought that by acting on my own anything that I did would’ve led to me being the one to suffer from any repercussions.”
“That’s stupid…”
“Eat.” Nurse Redheart pointed to the bowl of milky white grossness interrupting my conversation.
Sighing, I took a spoon and dipped it into the porridge before lifting it up to my lips. It didn’t smell so bad. Looking down at the bowl, I saw the gooey substance leveling itself to make up with the sudden loss of volume. Taking another long sigh I put the spoon in my mouth, closing my eyes bracing myself for the impact of blandness. But as I chewed, letting my tongue taste the flavors I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t bad at all, and to be honest it was actually quite delicious!
There was a slight nutty taste coupled with a sweet milky overtone. Also, my senses detected a hint of cinnamon and something else. My next spoonful was actually quite larger, and my stomach welcomed the nourishment eagerly.
All through my eating, Nurse Redheart was unhooking equipment around me. After she was done, she went to the door and peered out of it. From my angle I could make out that she was waving to someone down the hall. She stepped aside and allowed the two orderlies that I had crashed into during my run around in the hospital to enter. They carefully wheeled out the various apparatuses towards the door, both flaunting me a knowing look. They knew who I was, and were not too happy about what I had done.
I grinned back nervously.
Dr. Stable had been sitting on the sofa opposite the foot of my bed writing something on a clipboard using his magic. Even when he was so little of it, I could feel my bracelet heat up. It was hungrily absorbing magic. “Well, Forest. You’re fine. I’m going to prescribe you some painkillers and that porridge. You can get that from Sugarcube Corner. Oh, and no heavy lifting or strain on your body. Already you’ve been incredibly lucky, so try not to push your luck.” He tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to me.
I took it and placed it on the bedside table next to me. “Thanks for treating me and looking out for me…”
“Anything for my favorite patient,” Dr. Stable ruffled my mane, “Want a lollipop?”
“Uh… sure?”
He took one out from his breast pocket and placed it in my hoof before turning and heading out.
Brian guffawed. After a couple minutes he calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye, “Dr. Stable is an amazing doctor, but he has a nasty habit of treating patients younger than him like children.”
With my porridge now happily being digested, I opened the wrapper and put the sweetie in my mouth. It was awesome! It was sweet, but had this tangy flavor as well. “Wow. This is good!”
Brian laughed inwardly.
With the lollipop in my mouth, I slowly stood up out of the bed. There was a brief wince of pain as my body tried to get used to standing up again, my ribs remembering that they were broken. I took a deep breath and felt them expand in agony. As I exhaled, the discomfort faded away and I took shorter, lighter breaths that worked. Taking a few steps, I found that walking didn’t hurt them either. Great!
“Are you sure you’re okay, Forest?” Nurse Redheart looked at me with genuine concern, “You can stay. You don’t have to leave. You can leave after another day or two.”
“I know. But I think I should go. Thank you for worrying about me, I appreciate it.” It was not the fact that I didn’t want to stay, but I needed to find Applejack. She had been constantly on my thoughts ever since I awoke, her words ringing in the back of my mind.
Nurse Redheart smiled gently placing a hoof on my shoulder, “That’s my job, Forest. Taking care of my patients is what I born to do and you’re as accident prone as they come. So, please, please do me a favor and don’t get yourself hurt.”
“I suppose, but drugging me to make me stay… that was mean.”
“I know. But you really needed it. Medicine can only help you so much. Your body needs time to rest itself. I don’t really like doing things like that, but if it helps speed up your recovery, then I will do it, and I need you healed up.”
“What? Why?”
“For the mischief you’ve caused. Hurting hospital staff members, making a mess, disturbing other patients are a few things I can think of. You’re lucky that you’re hurt, otherwise you’d be mopping the floors from the basement up.”
Wow. She was a devil in angel’s clothing, although in this case I probably deserved it.
Brian once again burst out in laughter.
Did I really throw the hospital into chaos when I tried to take Brian’s medical files? If so, Nurse Redheart had a right to bear some sort of grudge against me. “When I’m better, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She then handed me the piece of paper I had placed by my bedside table, “Don’t forget that. It’s for your prescription for painkillers. You’ll need this to buy it from the pharmacy. And don’t forget to get some of that porridge to help heal you faster.” And with that she walked out of the room.
I stared after her with the piece of paper in my hoof.
“So bored…” Rainbow moaned, floating back onto her father’s bed.
Brian had pushed the bed-tray as far away from his body as possible so that it was not over his feet at the complete opposite end.
“Dashie, why don’t you go outside and get some exercise, or how about you help Forest move.”
“Nah. That’s okay. I’m fine.” Rainbow plopped her head down on her father again.
“You just said you were bored, you silly Mare.” Brian ruffled his daughter’s hair.
Rainbow squealed, “Quit it, dad! You’re mussing up my mane!”
They both had a good laugh as I headed for the door.
“Forest!” Brian called as he took something from his bedside table and tossed it at me. I flinched as I caught it in the nick of time, my body slightly discomforted by the sudden movement my hoof made. “Those are the keys for my house.”
I looked at the keys in my hoof as if they were treasured artifacts. There were two of them. A brass colored one, and a smaller silver one.
“The brown one is for the front door, the other one is for the shed at the back of the house.”
I looked back at him, “I… I don’t know what to say, Brian. This is very kind of you.”
“A simple ‘thank you’ would be enough.”
“Thank you.” He lied. It wasn’t enough.
“You remember how to get there?” Rainbow asked.
“Yes. I think I’ll be fine. If not, I’ll just ask Sweetie Belle, she led me to your place the last time.”
“I’ll swing by later to check up on you. Oh! The guest bedroom is on the bottom floor behind the stairs. You can’t miss it.” Rainbow looked at her father, “Help yourself to whatever’s in the kitchen, and the guest bathroom is right next to you.”
“You… you don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you. Thank you both so very much.”
“Get out of here, ya goof! You keep thanking us like that and we’ll get snobby,” Brain chortled.
He completely humbled me. Yes, he was aggressive at first, accused me of being a human and tried to find the truth. , but that was only because he wanted to protect his daughter. And with that, I stepped out of the room, closing the door gently behind me. Standing outside the ward, I gazed up at the ceiling. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be the one lying on a hospital bed waiting.
Slowly, I made my way to Sugarcube Corner. It was great being back in Ponyville and I strolled through the town. Some ponies greeted me, others went on about their businesses and a few flashed me dirty looks. Not sure why they did that, but I suspected that it had something to do with being annoyed at me for what happened with Pinkie. After all, she was everypony’s friend, it would make sense that a few of them would find what I had done to her unforgivable. It would’ve been stupid to hold that against them.
The bell tingled as I opened the front door to the bakery.
“Forest! It’s good to see you on your hooves! Welcome back to Sugarcube Corner!” Mr. Cake greeted me with a wide grin, “It feels like you’ve been gone forever. How are you feeling?”
“A lot better,” I replied walking to the till, “I’ve come to ask if I can borrow your cart and purchase some of this porridge.” I plopped the prescription paper down.
“Sure, of course you can and I’ll just go into the back and pour out a couple cups of the porridge,” He leaned over the counter, “Might I ask why are you looking to borrow the cart?”
“I’m… moving out of the clubhouse and moving into Brian’s place. He’s letting me stay there until I can get things sorted out. I’ve… it’s… complicated… between Applejack and me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Forest.” Mr. Cake poured me a mug of my favorite coffee. “We’re here for you.”
Despite his sympathetic response, I couldn’t help but think he was actually happy about that news.
“Forest, what a pleasant surprise! Right, Pinkie?” Mrs. Cake grinned, and gave a ‘light’ shove to the pink Pony who stumbled a bit before catching herself. She stood there like a deer caught in headlights.
“Oh hi, Forest. It’s super-duper-luper cool that you’re back your hooves! Do you want to have that party tonight?” Pinkie asked after a long moment of silence.
I smiled at her, “No, not tonight.”
“Okee-dokee-lokee! How about tomorrow then?”
“Let’s wait a little bit, okay?”
Pinkie’s hair deflated a little bit. And that expression! Who could say no to that?
“Don’t be sad, Pinkie. I’m really, really happy that you’re thinking of me. Really, I am. But it’s just… I’m not in the mood to party.”
“How can anypony not be in the mood to party? Partying is the most funnest thing ever!”
“I’m sure it is, Pinkie, but let’s just wait a bit. Please.” My voice cracked, the pain in my heart was resurfacing. It was hard. I knew that Pinkie meant well, but the more she pressed about having fun and partying, the more I thought about Applejack and her words. “Sorry, my chest still hurts.”
“Oh, I’m super sorry, Forest!” Pinkie rushed over to my side and placed a hoof on my back. “Are you okay?”
Her touch was like electricity. Not in a bad way. It was nice to be touched without having pain as a natural side-effect. She was just being friendly. I smiled at her. “Thank you, Pinkie. I’m fine.”
“Did you take your medicine?” Mrs. Cake asked, walking over to me and looking at my face as I tried to hide the tears that were threatening to reveal themselves.
“Yeah, but it’s probably wearing off.”
“Forest is moving out of the clubhouse. Apparently him and Applejack are… taking a break?” Mr. Cake said it like a question. I couldn’t blame him; we weren’t officially going out in the first place. I mean, we sort of had one date… but I really fell for her.
“What?” Mrs. Cake and Pinkie both asked at the same time, clearly this news had not reached them.
“Yeah, last night after you all left, she… ended things. It’s strange because we never actually started… anything.” I tried to laugh, but it sounded strangled.
“Sorry, Forest. I had no idea… I guess… oh, that poor girl.” Mrs. Cake looked over to her husband.
What about me? I wanted to shout.
“Pinkie, Forest needs helping moving. Do you mind giving him a helping-hoof? He’ll need somepony.” Mr. Cake looked at Pinkie. “He’s probably still hurting on the inside. I mean from his broken ribs…”
Pinkie looked at me, “Do you want me to come with you, Forest?”
Her voice changed. It was… different. A nice different but different nonetheless, she sounded… concerned. My head swam, my heart sank, and my brain throbbed. Why did I feel so strongly for Applejack? And why did it have to hurt so damned much! We weren’t even going out…
“I’d like that, Pinkie. An extra pair of hooves would be welcome,” I replied truthfully, “Just… I don’t want to lead you on. What I did to you was inexcusable.”
Pinkie tilted her head to one side. “What are you talking about, you big silly?”
“The… the kiss… when I…”
“Oh, that! Don’t worry your lil’ ol’ head about that. It was just a teeny tiny peck on the lips. Nothing special.” She rolled her eyes as she said the last part, implying that any significant meaning to that exchange of affection was ridiculous.
Ouch.
“Oh. Well. Okay then.” Now this was awkward. What was I thinking? It’s Pinkie! Of course she’s not into me. She only kissed to help end that ridiculous spell. I’m such an idiot. “Well then, shall we go?”
“Okee dokee lokee!”
We exited through the back of Sugarcube corner to the loading dock where the Cake’s cart was parked. Pinkie placed herself at the front and I helped put the yoke over her head. Together we walked towards Sweet Apple Acres in silence. There were a few times I tried to break the silence, but I couldn’t find the words and Pinkie didn’t seem to mind.
Knocking on the door to the house, I waited a few minutes before Applebloom opened it. She looked at me, and then shook her head, “Applejack’s not here, Forest. She left this morning to do some thinkin’ and she hasn’t come back yet.”
“I see…” I hung my head.
“Forest, I hope you don’t think this rude, but I want you out of the clubhouse.” Big Mac stood behind his little sister. Despite the way he said it, Big Mac wasn’t being mean or discourteous, rather he was being quite gentlemanly. “My friend has agreed to put you up until you find a place on your own.”
“Thanks, Big Mac, but I’ve already got a place.”
“Oh? Where’s that?”
“Brian Dash’s is letting me stay at his for now.” It felt strange saying that. Just over two weeks ago we were practically at one another’s throats. Looking back, it all seemed surreal.
“That’s a surprise.” Big Mac’s only display of that emotion was his eyes opening a teeny bit wider. Did nothing faze this guy? “Forest, it’s been a pleasure havin’ you. I just wished things turned out a little differently. You’re a nice guy.”
Applebloom had huge tears in her eyes, “Ya don’t really have to go, do ya?”
“I’m just moving down the street, Applebloom. I’m not going anywhere.” She was too adorable.
“I know, but it ain’t the same!”
“You’ve been very kind and generous to me. But… it’s just… too much for me and it’s unfair to Applejack. She has a past, I understand that. Until she comes to terms with that, I can’t impose. It wouldn’t be fair to her. Please understand.”
“Forest, it’s you who doesn’t understand. You’re the best thin’ that’s happened to her since…” She didn’t finish. She knew that she couldn’t tell me.
“When your sister’s ready, I’ll be there.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Throughout this conversation, Pinkie remained silent. What was going on through her head was impossible for me to tell. I guess that’s true with everyone. She watched as I said bye to Granny, who challenged me to another ‘drink-off’, to which I politely declined. It was still morning! Then Pinkie did her thing, which pretty much was made up of making noise and saying random things. After that, we waved farewell to the Apple family and headed to the clubhouse.
After that, we both headed to the clubhouse. It didn’t take long to take out the only thing that I really wanted to bring; the laptop. And my belt-bag, the one that Spike had given me, which I had ‘hid’ inside the bottom drawer of the dresser. Throughout my ordeal with the Ursas it might have been useful, especially that blade. But then again, Spike entrusted me with it… so maybe it was good that I didn’t have it. Things might have gone very differently and I was glad to have made it out of there in one piece.
“Forest, aren’t you taking anything else?” Pinkie asked, “How about your sofa-bed?”
“Doubt I’d need it, Pinkie. After all, I’m moving into Brian’s guestroom. I think they’re going to have a bed and everything there.” We both stood there and looked at it. For some obscure reason, it felt painful leaving it behind. I had grown somewhat attached to it.
“Can… can I have it?”
“What?”
“Can I take it, silly billy?” Pinkie giggled nudging me. “It’s really cool!”
“Of course you can.”
“Goody-goody gum-drops,” Pinkie bounded around me, “I’ve got the super perfect place for it too!”
Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but laugh. It still hurt to do so, my ribs didn’t approve of my rapid intake and outtake of air, but I couldn’t help myself.
Together we somehow managed to take it down and place it on the cart. As we left, I saw Applebloom watching me from the porch with Granny. They waved to me as I started down the front path towards the main road with Pinkie pulling on the cart. I stopped and waved back.
“Let’s go back to Sugarcube Corner and drop off the sofa-bed, since we have the cart and I can help you move it,” I offered.
“Okee, dokee, lokee,” Pinkie grunted pulling the cart along.
“Do you need help, Pinkie?”
“No, no. I’ve got this!”
As much as I enjoyed her efforts, it was clear that she didn’t ‘got it’. So, I ducked under the yoke, and together we walked back to Sugarcube Corner side by side. It was actually not so bad; it hurt whenever Pinkie made me laugh, so she tried to not make me laugh. This plan failed miserably. The harder I tried to ignore her and not laugh, the funnier it got until I resigned myself to adapting a half-chuckle.
Our antics didn’t go unnoticed. A couple of Pegasi had spotted us first, fluttering overhead. Then more and more Ponies seemed to ‘come and see’ us. It actually got pretty ridiculous as we arrived into town.
“Do I detect a little hostility?” I whispered.
“Ooh. It’s all that Amethyst’s fault! Sorry, Forest. I told her to quit it. But she’s a super-duper stubborn Pony sometimes.”
“Quit what?” I had no idea what she was talking about.
Pinkie rolled her eyes irritably when two younger mares danced in front of us giggling away. “Forest and Pinkie, sittin’ in a tree…”
Pinkie growled. Really, she growled. It totally caught me off guard, and due to the ridiculousness of her actions and the situation, I had to laugh. “Ow, ow, ow. My side,” I moaned.
“Stop laughing, you ninny!”
“Stop making me laugh, you Pink clown!”
“I’m not a clown!” Pinkie then thought about it, “Oh wait…”
Finally we reached Sugarcube Corner, and parked the cart back where we had gotten it from. Mr. Cake had helped Pinkie unload and bring the sofa-bed upstairs into Pinkie’s room. And what I saw was the last thing I expected to see, especially because it was Pinkie’s room. It was so tidy! Almost uncharacteristically tidy. Not a single item seemed out of place. On the far corner of the room was a desk, and right next to that was a bed. The rest of the room was full of shelves and drawers.
“Welcome to my room!” Pinkie dropped her side of the sofa, making Mr. Cake fall into it.
Pinkie bounced around, “This is where I keep my streamers!” She pulled one of the drawers out, dug a hoof in and threw a hoofful of the colorful strips of paper into the air. Then she zoomed by me and went to another drawer. “This is where I keep my balloons!” She took one and blew it up until it burst, pieces of rubber getting everywhere.
“Pinkie…” Mr. Cake said dissonantly, still lying on the sofa.
“… and this is where I keep the confetti! And this…”
“Pinkie!” Mr. Cake yelled.
Pinkie stopped in mid-air and plopped to the ground. How? How does she do that?
“Oopsy. Sorry, Mr. Cake.”
“That’s okay, Pinkie. Where do you want your sofa?” Mr. Cake gently replied standing up.
“Um…” Pinkie looked around her room. There was really no place for it.
“How about we just get rid of it?” I offered.
Pinkie looked at me as if I had physically hit her.
“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” I was genuinely concerned. Was it something I said? I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.
She looked down at her hooves for a moment before looking up at me, “I want it… for my bestest friends for sleep-overs and stuff…”
“Okay, okay. How about this, then? Why don’t we put your bed horizontal so that the head rests against the corner, then put your desk at the foot of your bed and then put the sofa where your bed used to be?”
“Yay! That’s a really smart idea! You’re a smarty-warty sometimes!” Pinkie Pie rushed to her desk and pulled it from the wall before helping her push her bed to the corner. Under her bed was a stack of books. Most of them were about partying, but I saw one in particular that caught my eye.
How to Woo That Special Somepony.
Out of reflex I picked it up and was about to open the cover when I heard a yelp from behind me and Pinkie’s face got several shades brighter as she literally dove across the room, snatching the book out of my grip.
“No! No, no! Don’t look! Bad, Forest! Bad!” She quickly hid it behind her back, still blushing ferociously.
“Me? Bad?” I made a face. Although she laughed, I could tell she was still really embarrassed that I had found her book, “So, who’s the lucky Pony?” I asked.
Pinkie just blushed more, “Oh, somepony. Twilight let me borrow it… she said not to let anypony look at it,” She looked up at me, “And I promised.”
A promise was a promise. But why would such a promise me made? “Okay, then let’s finish moving. I want to settle into my new place.”
Soon the sofa, the bed and the desk were in their new places. Pinkie had to fumble a bit to get the sofa to fit, but it was just right. The edge of the sofa pressed against the side of the bed, so that if you were to pull the bed out, Pinkie’s bed and the sofa-bed would be parallel to each other. The only difference was the height. The back of the sofa met the edge of the window sill so it did not disturb the sun’s light from flowing into her room. We couldn’t have planned it better if we tried.
We rested a bit as she showed me the rest of her party paraphernalia. She had almost everything in its own place, and in moments the room was a mess. I felt bad leaving it like that, so I helped tidy up, but my attention kept returning to that book. Woo somepony special? I wondered who Pinkie had in mind.
Mr. Cake had left earlier and had returned with two large glasses of yellow liquid, which he had carried on his back with a tray. It was delicious lemonade. It was amazing. Pinkie downed hers in practically a single gulp as I slowly sipped mine. After I was done, Pinkie and I left. I didn’t know where the pharmacy was, so I had asked her to lead me there.
“Well hello, Pinkie,” An old Stallion stated when we walked in, “Long time no see. And that’s a good thing. Who is this strapping young colt?”
“Hello, Amoxi. I’m not here to pick up medicine, my friend Forest is!”
I walked over to the counter and placed the prescription in front of him. He took it, read it then went into the back room. It didn’t take him long to return with a small paper bag. “Take two after eating and one more if the pain doesn’t subside. No more than ten pills in one day, and don’t operate heavy machinery when you take these.”
“Heavy machinery?”
“Yep. Anything else?”
“No… that’s all…” I took the bag and placed it into one of my free pockets on the saddlebag that Spike had given me.
As we exited, I thought I heard him say; “I thought he was with Applejack…” But I didn’t really listen.
We made our way back across town, all the while Pinkie was talking at a million words a minute, about all sorts of random things. It was hard to keep track of what she was saying, but it was a pleasant change to the silence I had to endure earlier on. In what felt like no time at all we were both standing in front of the house.
Using the keys Brian had given me, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Brian had a mail-slot in his door and I had to shove the door a little hard to get inside. A large number of letters lay on the ground. Picking them up, I carefully placed them on a small table in the hallway – I would have to bring them to Brian later on. Why hadn’t his daughter done so already? Surely she must have come to the house at least once the past few days…
Finding the guestroom was easy. Indeed, it was located right next to the stairs, the very same ones that Brian had descended from when I first came to Equestria. It seemed like another lifetime. A time when I thought being here was a curse. Now, I couldn’t imagine going back.
Just then I heard a knock on the door.
“It’s open!” I called.
“Hello, we just heard from Brian that you’re taking care of his place,” Twilight entered followed by Spike. Spike saw my saddlebag and it looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t. Twilight’s eyes opened wide when she saw the Pony behind me. “Pinkie?”
“Hi, Twilight, I’m helping Forest move in. What is my bestest friend in the whole wide world doing?”
“Spike and I were on our way to visit Fluttershy and we decided to stop by. Are you going to Fluttershy’s, Forest?”
“What for?”
“Your pet?” Twilight raised one of her eyebrows. “Don’t you want to pick her up?”
“Tessie! I completely forgot about her!”
Spike snickered, “She saves your life and you already forgot about her…”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind, Spike.”
“Oh, sorry, Forest, I forgot.” He turned away, “Seriously, Applejack says she’s not interested and you bounce over to Pinkie.”
“What?” I asked genuinely having no idea what he was on about.
“Spike!” Twilight barked, “That is no way to talk about our friend.”
Friend? Do you really consider me a friend? I thought to myself. I was touched. “Spike, I don’t know what you’re implying but Pinkie has somepony else special.” I was getting good at replacing ‘body’ with ‘pony’ now. It was almost second nature to me.
“Pinkie does?” Spike furrowed his head, “Really?”
We all turned to Pinkie, who took a deep breath, “I don’t wanna talk about it! It’s a secret and I don’t like telling secrets.”
Twilight made a noise, “Pinkie’s really good at keeping secrets… and making sure you keep them as well.” She muttered the last part to herself.
The joke was lost on me.
“Okay, let’s go to Fluttershy’s together.” I said aloud when it was evident that they wanted me to tag along. Why they just didn’t tell me was a mystery.
On our way, we got to talking about my bracelet and the three spells that Aiden had explained to me.
“There are three more spells, you know. But they work differently. Do you want to know?” Twilight asked.
“As long as you don’t test them on me, I’m okay with that. I doubt my body would be able to take it.” I jested.
“I’m not really sure that you should know these spells...” Twilight began; the expression on her face was easy to read. They were bad.
“Why not?” Spike asked.
“Well, I made the bracelet out of an old magical obedience trainer that was once used to train dangerous creatures long ago. I had tried to modify it so that any of the spells initiated by somepony else would not work, but I couldn’t do it. Instead, I think I’ve managed to put certain types of spells into that bracelet.”
“What do you mean?” I was keenly interested now.
“To counter-act the three spells; the Signal spell, the Obedience spell, and the Want spell, I created three other spells that were supposed to counter-act those three. For the Signal spell, there’s the Hidden spell. The Obedience spell’s counter is the Disobedience spell, and for the Want Spell, there is the… what’s the opposite of ‘want’?”
“Un-want?” Pinkie offered.
“Dislike? Disinterest? Hate?”
They all turned to look at me when said the ‘H’ word.
“Hate is a little… strong, don’t you think, Forest?” Twilight looked slightly scandalized.
“Those are the opposites of ‘want’, Twilight. I guess we could just call it the Un-Want Spell.” I winked at Pinkie when I said this, making her giggle.
“Fine, the Un-Want Spell sounds a lot better than the… Hate Spell.”
“So, how does it work?” I asked.
“When a spell is cast, their opposites also activate. When you were… on your kissing spree…”
“A little bit more discretion, Twi.” Spike said through gritted teeth, gesturing over at Pinkie with his head.
“But Pinkie said she already has somepony else she likes,” Twilight replied.
Pinkie just blushed a little at that.
“Anyway, the night when Sweetie Belle activated the ‘Want’ spell, you resisted the urge to do it, that was from my counter-measure; the Un-Want spell.”
Despite the seriousness of Twilight’s statement, the name made me grin stupidly. It really was a ridiculous name for a spell. I’m so glad that Pinkie thought of it.
“The problem is that whenever you use it, you also lose some of your memory.”
“Some?” I asked.
“Well, yeah. I don’t know how serious it is, but at least I know that it’s not permanent.” Twilight looked at me, “I’m sorry, Forest. Every time we talk, I feel that I’m just bringing more misery into your life.”
“Well, can’t say I blame you. I mean, I’ve been here two weeks, and it feels like a lifetime. Plus, I bring most of it on myself. So, don't blame yourself.”
The girls grinned at one another.
“We’re super-happy that you feel that way, Forest. It’s always nice when a new Pony finds a home here in Ponyville!” Pinkie bounced behind me.
Fluttershy was outside watering some plants when we arrived. At first she acted shy, but then she seemed to mumble something to herself and instantly grew bolder.
“Oh, hello everypony,” She said gently, “Tessie’s just helping me weed the garden. She’s a very smart rat, aren’t you girl?”
Tessie had bounded up to us and sat herself on the corner of Fluttershy’s fencepost. When the yellow Pony praised her, Tessie hid her face behind her little hands.
“Tessie, do you want to come home with me?” I asked.
Tessie looked up at me, and shrugged. “Aw, you little meanie!” I pretended to be hurt.
The little rat flashed a grin at me as another rat bounded up next to her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Forest. But it looks like Duncan has fallen for Tessie.” She smiled and let out the cutest squeaking noise.
“Well, I’ve never considered Tessie a pet. So, I can’t tell her what to do,” I grinned, “So, whatever you want to do, I’ll be happy with it.”
Tessie jumped off the fencepost and jumped on my back and hugged the back of my neck. Then, she leapt off and the two rats disappeared into the bushes that bordered the Everfree Forest. We all watched them go.
“At least one of us gets to be happy with somepony special…” Spike muttered quietly.
We all chatted for a bit before we heard a shout from above us. It was Scootaloo. “There you are Forest! I went to your old house in Sweet Apple Acres. Applebloom says you moved out! I didn’t know that.”
“Well, that’s because I just moved out this morning.” My response was met with a gloomy look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I just can’t help that this whole thing is our fault. We were only joking…”
“Sometimes magic can be fun to joke with, but not always.” Twilight gave her a stern look, then sighed, “But everything worked out in the end.”
“Not everything,” Spike interrupted, “There is that one small issue with, oh, your best friend, Applejack?”
“Applejack has deeper issues,” Twilight snapped back.
“Com’on, everypony! Let’s not talk about AJ this way, k?” Pinkie stated, standing up on her hind legs putting both Scootaloo and Twilight under her forehooves, “She’s just super-confused and we need to be there to help!”
“You’re right, Pinkie,” Twilight smiled at her pink friend, “We should be there for her.”
“If you’re looking for Applejack… um… I saw her at Rarity’s house,” Fluttershy whispered the last part.
“Should I go?” I asked everypony.
“If it were me, I would,” Spike shrugged.
“Oh, really?” I smirked at him.
He just blushed in response.
“I would give her some time to think and sort things out, Forest. You don’t understand what she went through… I’m not really selling this right, am I? Just, it’s important you do give her time. Trust me, she’ll come round. You just need to be patient.” Twilight was really smart, and her advice was sound.
“Oh, Forest, I just wanted to let you know that we’re having a team-meeting at the town hall at six. Will you come, Twilight?” Scootaloo looked at the two of us.
“Should I? I’m not going to take part in the race, but I am still on the team…” Twilight glanced over to me.
“We’ll be there.” I replied on behalf of the both of us.
“Great! See you then!” Scootaloo hovered over the ground for a moment then she raised her wings up to their highest point, flexing them. The next moment she pushed her wings down hard whizzing her high up into the air. She gave us all a quick wave before she sped away.
“Fluttershy, thank you for taking care of Tessie,” I expressed my appreciation with the warmest smile I could muster, “If you need any favors, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Oh… that’s okay, Forest…” She blushed a bit when she said my name, “You really helped me… after…”
She didn’t need to finish, I knew what she was referring to. We just exchange a knowing look. She didn’t want to relive that moment and nopony here would understand it, only Rarity and Applejack would understand the torment she had endured. It was easy to see that she was still fragile, and I instinctively wanted to protect her. Every Mare and Stallion from here to Canterlot would have felt and done the same if they knew what she had experienced.
Turning back towards Brian’s house we walked slowly, enjoying the evening air. We talked about random things, but I think the center of focus was on Pinkie and her ability in building huge cakes that continued to confound chefs and cooks around Equestria. It was a fact that Pinkie was amazing at baking, and she absorbed the skills and knowledge from the Cakes and using her own vivid imagination and flare, she created works of art. Delicious edible works of art.
Pinkie basked in the praises, but tried to act humble at the same time.
Stopping at Brian’s proved to be pointless. By the time we got there it was almost time for the team meeting in town. So, after I downed a couple of those painkillers, we briskly walked to the town hall. Of course we were late, and the meeting had already started. There were quite a few more Ponies than just the Race team.
“Glad to see you guys made it,” Amethyst put in. When Pinkie arrived just behind me I heard her gasp and put on a wide smile.
Pinkie just blushed and slightly shook her head. It would have been unnoticed if I hadn’t been looking at her.
Twilight sat herself on one of the chairs and I sat next to her. Spike made his way over to a table where there were drinks and snacks laid out and helped himself. Pinkie sat next to me.
“So, we’ve got a problem,” Lavenderhoof stated, “We’ve got no bits for the team. We need bits to buy the costumes. Rarity has agreed to design costumes for us all, but she needs the bits to buy the materials, and she needs them as soon as.”
“So, we were thinking about how to raise some bits,” Scootaloo sighed, “But we need something fun and that will raise enough bits. Rarity says she’ll need around fifty bits per costume.”
“Fifty?” Twilight eyes boggled, “That’s a lot!”
“You have to see what other towns are doing, Twi! If we don’t match their level, we’ll be the laughingstocks of Equetria!” Amethyst protested.
Twilight rolled her eyes, “This is a physical race, not a fashion show. Fifty bits it way too much. And if Rarity’s designing it, then she’s really going out of her way to give us something spectacular.”
“Rarity’s the Element of Generosity, she’s very kind and generous and likes to give, give, give!” Pinkie whispered over to me. In the same moment Lavenderhoof’s smile widened. We needed to hurry, otherwise we’d be late.
“How are we going to raise that much money? A bake sale?” I asked.
“No, we tried that. We only raised twenty three bits.” Lavender put a pouch down on a table that jingled.
“Can’t anypony think of anything else?” Scootaloo moaned.
“How about a date auction?”
Everypony turned to the source of that. It was Rainbow Dash. She was splayed down across the window sill.
“Date auction?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow sighed and glided down to us, “It’s simple. You guys will auction yourselves out on dates. When I was on Earth, I saw some movies about it.”
“It could work…” Lavender began, “But it just sounds so… scandalous.”
“It’s fine. As long as the Ponies are aware that it’s only a date,” Rainbow grinned, “Then we should have a fair or something going on. Pinkie, can you organize that?”
“Of course!” Pinkie bounced up, “We can have rides, games, fairs, games, rides, and more games! Ooh, and rides!”
“I think that’s a great idea!” Spike announced, “It will really help the team.”
“Then, let’s do that.” Scootaloo grinned, “What do you guys say?”
A part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to date Applejack exclusively. This felt like I was whoring myself out, but if this was the quickest and best way to do raised funds…
“I’ll do it.” I offered.
Everypony looked at me.
“If it’s something the team needs, then I’ll do it.” I looked at Twilight, “Unless you can think of something else.”
“I can’t think of anything else, and it does seem like something that would be fun for the town to take part in. I’ll do it.” Twilight grinned, “But what about Derpy?”
“Oh yeah, she can’t do that…”
“Why not?” I asked.
“She’s not single,” Twilight answered.
“Well, I’m sure that the five of us can raise enough. And we can cover Derpy’s costume.” That was optimistic of me, but with Ponies like Twilight and Scootaloo on the team, we were sure to get a lot of bits. And Lavender and Amethyst surely had Stallions interested in them.
“Well, then it’s agreed? We’ll have a date auction, and Pinkie will get a fair started?”
Pinkie nodded, “A party! Fun! Games! Oh my! I have so many ideas…”
My mind was unable to compute this new turn of events coherently, “Isn’t tomorrow too soon? How can Pinkie organize all that in less than a day?”
“It’s Pinkie. She has an uncanny ability of doing things like this, Forest. Don’t worry too much about it. When it comes to Pinkie, you just have to accept it.” Twilight rolled her eyes, “You haven’t had a chance to experience her ‘quirks’.”
“Quirks?”
“She has… these tweaks and twitches that happen, and when they happen things happen. It’s hard to explain.” Twilight saw my expression, “I don’t understand it myself, and I’ve been Pinkie’s friend for years.”
“Oh, you mean like my twitchy twitch?” Pinkie asked.
If I was confused before, then my mind was completely gone at this point, “What?”
“Pinkie Perks, we call them. When something is about to happen, Pinkie has these tweaks, and usually it means something will happen.”
“Ah.” I didn’t get it, but I dropped the subject.
“I will work on spreading the word. So, what time should we have the auction?” Twilight asked us all.
“Not too late, but late enough. Say, this time?” Scootaloo suggested.
“What do I do?”
“Forest, you just concentrate on resting your body. The rest of us will handle this.” Twilight turned to the others, “Is that okay?”
Nopony said nothing, so I resigned myself to accept ‘concentrating on resting’ as a valid team contribution.
“Then the meeting is adjourned. See you all tomorrow.” Lavender grinned at me, “You should get all gussied up. Have you been to the spa?”
“No… I’ve never been to a spa.” That was true. I’ve never been to one. Ever.
“Well, then here you go.” She put a ticket in my hoof.
One ‘full treatment’ was written in golden letters on a light, sky-blue background. On the other side it gave the address of the spa, where I had no idea where to find it.
“What’s a ‘full treatment’?”
“They’ll make you handsome.” She winked when she said that.
I just laughed at her insult, “Thanks, Lavender.”
“Anyway, you owe us for getting hurt, so the most you can do you is to raise as many bits as possible for our costumes.” Lavender grinned at me.
I saluted her, “Yes, ma’am.”
We all headed out separate ways. Twilight and Spike walked Pinkie and I to Sugarcube Corner before they proceeded towards the library.
Pinkie watched me starting to walk off and jogged after me. “Forest, are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yes, Pinkie. I’ll be fine. It’s only broken ribs.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I sighed, “What’s wrong, Pinkie?”
“You just… you just looked so sad, Forest. It makes me sad to see you sad.”
“I’m fine, Pinkie. I’m… I’ll manage. Go, you’ll need your strength for tomorrow. I’ll see you, okay?” I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Really, I’m fine.”
“Okee dokee. See you tomorrow, Forest.” And with that, Pinkie returned to her delicious looking home and shut the door behind her.
Standing there, I watched Sugarcube Corner for a long moment when I felt a sudden chill in the air. My blood froze as I heard a voice from behind me.
“So, Forest Fire.”
Suppressing the urge to shudder, I turned around to face the source of the voice, “Hello, Crystal.”
“How have you been?” Her eye was twitching. It was freaky.
I gulped, “Fine. Just fine.”
“I hear you’re seeing Applejack… or was it Pinkie?” She said Pinkie’s name as if it were synonymous with evil.
“I… I’m really tired, Crystal. I need to get some rest.” I started to walk by her.
She whipped around, making me jump. I shuddered from the pain in my sides. “I don’t like you, Forest, but I’ve been told that Brian has let you stay at his place. You better take good care of it, or I’ll make you regret it.”
That wasn’t an empty threat. “I won’t.”
“Good, because if you do… I know certain words, phrases, which I can use that will make you sorry.”
Every time she said the word ‘make’, my bowels felt like evacuating. She was literally scaring the shit out of me. Message received, loud and clear. After that, she just left.
All through my walk home, I was worried. What exactly did that psychopath mean? She was starting to really freak me out. Cyan Crystal was never on good terms with me, and from what I heard she was not on good terms with anypony else in Equestria, and yet she somehow befriended the only human. I would need to talk to Brian about her one day.
I sat at the edge of the bed in the guestroom gazing at the pictures and posters on the walls. One photo in particular caught my eye. It was Rainbow as a little Filly, she was sleeping on a bed on Earth, and she looked so calm and peaceful. I took the photo from its place on the wall and studied it for a long moment. It was so cute and beautiful.
“Forest! Forest!” I heard my name being called.
Walking to the hallway, I picked up the laptop from the pile of my stuff and brought it into my room, and placed it in the corner, “Hello, Tutela.”
“Oh, Forest! Thank Chrysalis you’re safe.”
“Who’s Chrysalis?”
“My queen… sorry, my ex-queen, not really a Changeling anymore,” Tutela face smiled gently to me. She looked so different, not like the bug-like creature from before. Now she looked more… pony-like. “Forest, you need to get that bracelet off.”
“I can’t.”
“Then, I can’t help you. That bracelet won’t allow me to touch you. Surely you felt it heat up in the caves?”
“Yes, I did… I thought it was from the grass I ate.”
“That was gross. I nearly puked from watching it. But no, the reason why your bracelet was hurting was because I was trying to get you out of there. But that bracelet just sucked up my magic. As long as you have that, I can’t pull you to safety.”
“But… then I could just keep this on and live here.”
“You could, but there is one spell you cannot change. The spell inside you that will change you back into a human after thirty days. And that magic isn’t preventable, not even by that thing.” Tutela gestured to the bracelet followed up by her giving me a sour look.
“I wasn’t really going to do that, I was just saying…” My excuse was pathetic.
“Then there’s only one way back here. Remove the bracelet and I can pull you back into this world, or smash yourself through your laptop. The magic stored inside will bring you here.”
“Look, I’m feeling very tired. Can we talk tomorrow? I’m not really listening to you.”
Tutela looked at me humorously for some time before she spoke. “Good night, Forest.”
And with that, I dropped myself on the bed letting the sleepy-express take me on a trip to dreamland.