//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Not so bad after all! // Story: How Did I Get Here? // by k12314 //------------------------------// CHAPTER 3 As I walked down the street, I was watching as the ponies of Ponyville went about their daily business. Buying apples, talking with friends, and general milling about. I had a content smile on my face, but something was still eating at me: How did I even get here? I decided to ignore it and go about looking for something to do. I looked around, but I didn't see anyone (Excuse me, anypony) I knew, and nothing to do. I sighed, and wandered a bit more, until I noticed a grey pegasus pony, sitting over a crushed box, sobbing. I walked over and noticed that the package was supposed to be a delivery. "Whats wrong?" I asked, hoping I might be of some assistance. She opened her eyes, and they were a bright shade of yellow. I noticed the poor mare was cross-eyed. She managed to stop crying, and looked at me with a confused look on her face. Then she switched to a look of sudden realization. "Hey, you're that thing that fell on Rainbow Dash the other day!" Oh boy. Word gets around quick here doesn't it? "Yeah... Hey, do you need any help?" "Yes, I was supposed to deliver this to Rainbow Dash, but as you can see, I broke it." Tears began to well up in her eyes at that last part. Oh boy, breaking something that was meant for Rainbow Dash... This poor, poor little pony. "Hang on, lemme see what I can do. I'm good at fixing stuff." I opened the box, carefully making sure not to damage the tape or cardboard as to repackage it like it was never opened. It was a clock, with designs of blue ponies with yellow lighting bolts on them, with some simple mechanisms that have been knocked loose, and a hinge on the back to repair them was broken, and wouldn't open. "Got a screwdriver?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After repairing the hatch, I had slid the mechanisms back into place, and bent a metal rod that was in pretzel form. The clock looked brand new, and it looked as if the box was never opened. All those years of looking at my Christmas presents behind Mom's back payed off. The mare looked at me with sincere thanks. "Thank you... What is your name?" "Kyle. Always glad to help." "My name is Ditzy Doo, but my friends call me Derpy. Well, thanks, Kyle. Bye-bye!" Derpy flew off in an erratic pattern. I grinned, and kept walking. That's my good deed for the day. I pulled my MP3 player out of my pocket (Where it has been since the parachuting incident, along with whatever was in the carrying pouch on the chute) and turned on some music. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was sitting on a park bench, leaning back, my eyes closed, head in my hands, bobbing it to the music. I felt something poke my stomach, and my eyes popped open. I leaned up and paused my music, removing my headphones. I saw it was Applejack. "Well hey, AJ, what's up?" She looked at me with a smile on her face. "You need a better place t' stay than my ol' barn, right?" "Uhhh... I guess so." I wonder where that came from. "Well, ya' need some money to get a house fer' yerself, so why not come an' help me with th' apple buckin'?" I looked at her, confused. Apple bucking? What on Earth- I mean Equestria is that? She noticed my confusion and said, "Apple buckin' is when ya' kick th' apple trees t' make th' apples fall out inta buckets we put under em'. Ya' got any strength in ya'?" I took that as a challenge. "Of course I do. Lead the way, AJ." I grinned at the rhyme. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We arrived at the farm, and went straight towards the orchard. My jaw hit the ground when I saw how many apple trees there were. "We have to get ALL of those apples!?!?!" AJ chuckled. "Oh no, not 'till apple buckin' season. That's more n' a year away. Naw, we just gotta get that lil' patch over there." She lifted a hoof to point at a small group of about fifty trees. Oh boy. This is going to be a pain. Literally. I walked up to one of the trees, and placed the buckets down under key points on the tree. I took a few steps back, and lowered down so my shoulder was sticking towards the tree. I charged... SLAM. "OW." I watched as all of the apples on the tree fell into the buckets, and rubbed my shoulder. That was a bad idea. "Hey, AJ?" "Yeah?" "I think I need a shoulder pad or something..." "Pro'lly a good idea." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After I finished the last tree, I counted how many I had gotten. Twenty. AJ said she would pay me five bits per tree, so that was one-hundred bits. Not bad for my first day, but also nowhere near enough for a house. "Hey, ya' look tired, why don't you hit the hay fer' the night?" I couldn't feel my arm anymore. "Good idea." I went to the barn, and opened the door. I was greeted by a burst of confetti and screams. I looked around and saw a sign that said "Welcome to Equestria!" "Hey there! This is a super-uper-duper party, huh huh huh!?!?" Pinkie Pie was obviously hyper. "Yes, this is quite amazing... Are those muffins?" "Yep!" "Thank you Pinkie!" I ran over to the snacks, and saw Derpy chowing down on a muffin. "Hey, Derpy! I didn't expect you to be here." Derpy looked over at me, and smiled, her lazy eye rolling in the wrong direction. I chuckled. "Weff, I wafn't plannif onf..." She swallowed her mouthful of muffins. "Well, I wasn't planning on doing anything today, and Pinkie showed up at my house with an invite, and I saw your name. I just wanted to thank you again... And I also came for other reasons..." She looked at the muffins, grinning with a small bit of guilt. "Well, I'm glad you showed up, Derpy. You know, Equestria isn't that bad after all." I bit into my muffin as the party raged on behind me.