Location; Sweet Apple Acres.
Time; nearly sunset.
--
Okay, long story short, Applejack set up the tracker and Cloud picked it up, setting off as soon as it was activated. That's when I learned an incredibly valuable lesson...
Don't let Cloud drive, like, ever. The price in return is severe whiplash and nearly throwing up... Several times... Not really something I want to relive, but I guess it got the job done, somehow.
By the time we landed, I busted out of the main hatch faster than I can be bothered to describe, desperate for solid ground and some fresh air. Twilight followed shortly after, not seeming any better than I was. As such, I was a little bit pissed at Cloud.
"What the hell do you call that?" I asked Cloud, trying not to be sick in the process. Twilight passed out briefly, but I wasn't really concerned about that at the moment, as I knew she'd be up in a moment.
"Ah, come on! I can't be that bad of a driver!" Cloud claimed, raising his holographic arms in defence.
"Cloud, you drive like a teenager and a pensioner, who were somehow combined and also blind," I insulted him in my small fit.
"Huh, I'm that bad?" Cloud asked, scratching his back lightly. "Well, It's not like we had much choice. No manual option, remember?"
"Then that's your next job; either find a manual flying mode, or make one. Because I'm not going through that shit again!" I told him, slowly regaining my bearings and standing straight up.
"Well, I honestly would, but your little plan has put the ship in low power mode!" Cloud told me, disappearing from sight.
"The solar cells ain't gonna work at night, so we're going to have to charge the ship over the course of the next few days. So luckily for you, we can't fly again for some time, even if we wanted to."
"OK Cloud, I've got it," I told him as I began to walk over to Twilight. "You should log off for now, It'll help conserve power."
"Right. I'll talk to you later," Cloud concluded, before going silent. I gathered he was gone, so I turned my attention to
Twilight, who was starting to come to. I crouched nearby where she was for while she came around.
"Hey Twilight, you good?" I asked, not fully sure what else I could do in that situation. Luckily, Twilight was slowly coming round by herself.
"Ugh, what happened?" she asked, moving around slightly.
"Long story short, Cloud's a bad driver. I was nearly sick, and you passed out," I explained, groaning as the last of my dizziness left my system. Twilight slowly sat up.
"Did we make it to Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight asked again, looking around slowly to see for herself.
"If you mean Applejack’s farm, I don't really see where else we could be," I guessed, looking around and seeing nothing but apple trees as far as the eye could see. "Speaking of, I can't really see your friend any-"
And almost as if my second comment was a summon spell, Applejack appeared, walking around the ship (If someone is just gonna appear through me saying their names, this is going to get annoying really quickly).
"Are you guys alright?" Applejack asked, walking (or trotting) around the slight scorch marks left from my ship’s landing.
"Yeah, we're fine Applejack, just a bit disoriented," I called over to her as she slowly made her way towards us. "We didn't exactly have the best ride over here. Cloud might need some more flying experience."
"Well, at least you ain't outside Everfree anymore, so that's good at least," AJ said, her actual good point giving me some form of relief after, well, that!
"Well, point taken. I guess I'd rather take some apple trees over those... Wolf-things any day," I said, flapping my arms around while trying to recall what the names of the wooden wolves were.
"You mean the Timberwolves?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, them things. Lord knows I'm getting payback the next time I cross eyes with one of those things," I boasted confidently, firmly covering the spot I was scratched by one of the smaller Timberwolves, faintly feeling the grooves from the obvious claw-like scar that remained.
"I'm glad to hear that, and ah' was hopin' you'd feel that way," Applejack started. "We get a couple of those little varmints comin' onto the farm from time to time, and they can cause a lot of trouble for passersby, and even more for us while we're harvestin' apples."
(Okay, I can see where this is going).
"And I'm guessing you want me to take care of them for you whenever I see them?" I assumed. "Is that my condition for staying on your farm, by chance?"
"Well, that and helpin' with the chores when you can. That sound fair to you?" Applejack asked, holding out her hoof for either a pony version of a hand-shake or a hoof-bump of sorts. I was too unfamiliar with this new world to make any accurate assumptions.
I quickly scanned my head for any other choices, with an emphasis on 'quickly'. To be fair on AJ, her proposal wasn't that bad if I was being fully honest with myself. I guessed farm work would require some early wake ups, but I felt this would fit with my regular sleeping schedule fairly fine. Besides, without the ability to move my ship for the foreseeable future, I guess I didn't really have a choice.
"Applejack? I believe we have ourselves a deal!" I said confidently, firmly gripping her hoof as we both shook on the deal. We then shared a confident grin with one another.
Suddenly, an incredibly loud ringing noise filled the air. I could tell it was a bell of sorts, but I wasn't really sure what it was for. (Ugh, it's like Sam on steroids!)
"And there's the dinner bell!" Applejack declared, seeming to recognise the sound immediately. "Come on Marc, I gotta introduce you to everypony!"
"Trust me, If they're as nice as everyone else has been so far, then I can't wait to meet them!" I declared, stretching my muscles thoroughly.
"You wanna come Twilight?" Applejack offered her friend, but was met with a quick answer.
"I'm ok, I need to get back to the library and drop off these papers. Besides, Spike gets annoyed when I eat out without him," Twilight explained, gesturing to her saddle-bag.
"Suit yourself. Come on, Marc," Applejack told me, as she began to walk off towards... Somewhere, I guess. Probably her house.
"Catch you around, Twilight. Thanks for the maps," I told her as I began to walk away.
"Not a problem, Marc. Hope they help!" Twilight called over to me as she began to do the pony equivalent of jog away.
-0-0-0-0-0-
As Applejack and I approached her house, it was needless to say I was really impressed by its design. I'd never really seen farms much before, so the fact they built their house connected to their barn was highly impressive, as I didn't really know they could do that. The colour scheme was also fairly cool, sporting a mostly red design with yellow shading in some places.
Just outside the house sat a simple table setup, set along with 5 seats and a pile of plates. To state the obvious, it was clear we were going to be eating outside. And from the smell, I guessed we wouldn't be waiting all to long for some grub.
As we got to an opened door near the table setup, Applejack stopped for a moment, turning to face me.
"Could you wait here for a minute? I'll just let Granny Smith and Big Mac know you’re here." Applejack told me, just before entering through the open door. This gave me a brief moment alone, where I just decided to lean against the barn and wait quietly. One leg was placed firmly against the wall, with the other anchoring me to the floor and my arms crossed. This position was quite typical for me, as I felt it straightened my back, something that got hurt a lot due to Sam injuring me.
After a few more minutes of muffled speaking, Applejack returned from what I guessed was the kitchen (based off of what my nose told me), slowly followed by someone else. That someone else was visibly older than AJ, as shown by her green coat covered in wrinkles. If that wasn't a big enough clue, then her short, grey hair would clearly show her old age.
"Marc? This here's my grandma, Granny Smith.”
"Nice to meet ya, son. Good to see we've got a few extra hooves on deck for help." Granny Smith introduced herself, a somewhat rusty voice becoming quickly noticeable. However...
"Nice to meet you miss, but I don't really have hooves, I have hands," I corrected, holding out my hands to her (I was fully aware of the figure of speech, before any comments are made). "Thanks for letting me stay, by the way."
"That's not a problem son, even though I didn't know up till' just now," she told me, before giving me a stern look to Applejack, who responded by covering her face with her Stetson.
"Let me guess, you made the decision without running it through with your family?" I asked in a plain tone. But just as Applejack was about to answer, a larger pony exited from the door, balancing a large tray on its back.
"Eyup," he declared, before tipping the tray and sliding it onto the table. This was, surprisingly, the first male I'd met on this planet, and he was a hell of a lot bigger than the rest of his family, but only up to my chest by comparison. He had a bright red coat and short blonde hair, and was bulkier than I could reasonably describe.
Applejack put her hat back on properly. "Ah' know I was quick to ask for his help, but these Timberwolves have been trespassing on our land for too long! You'd have probably done the same thing."
Big Mac (presumably) walked back through the door with another tray of food, and I gave him a brief nod as he did. He returned the nod and placed the second tray on the table, taking a seat directly after.
"We know Applejack, but you should really run it by me and Big Mac first in the future," Granny Smith explained, before slowly making her way to her seat. "Now quit with the yappin', arguing in front of a guest ain't right."
I sniggered a little. "Trust me, family arguments aren't unfamiliar to me. It's cool."
While our small conversation was going on, a couple of smaller ponies walked up to us. One was a smaller filly with a blond-ish coat and red hair, with a red bow to top things off. (C-Can I get away with saying filly?) I figured she was related to the others in one way, going with the 'blonde in some way or another' theme. The one who was with her however...
Yep, thought I recognised her. Full orange coat, purple hair, and tiny wings. That was definitely the one from Everfree.
"Hey Applejack, can Scootaloo stay over for dinner?" the red-headed kid asked.
"Sure, just go wash your hooves first," Applejack told them before the two girls dashed into the house. Applejack looked
over at me. "That's my sister Applebloom. Heads-up, she's quite energetic."
"I gathered. That's just kids in a nutshell," I joked, leaning back slightly in my chair.
As soon as the two girls came out, they both immediately noticed me. I was mostly expecting shock, but they seemed more in awe. Well, Applebloom was anyway.
"Wow, who are you?" she asked, slowly walking over to me in interest.
"Wait, you’re that thing from Everfree who saved me from those Timberwolves!" Scootaloo finally realised, pointing her hoof at me. She had a somewhat complex and hard to understand expression on her face, almost like she wasn't expecting to see me again.
"Hey kid, nice to see you’re still in one piece," I said to her, offering her a warm smile.
"Wait, that's the 'friendly monster' you met in everfree?" Applebloom asked, turning to her friend in disbelief.
"Yeah, you should've seen him! He swung his sword through a Timberwolf that jumped right at me, and got another one while I was getting away. It was awesome!" Scootaloo said, recalling the event as fluently as I could describe. Everyone present was quietly impressed.
"You think that's awesome, you didn't see what happened later," I started. "Shortly after you left, I got attacked by about 15 more of those little beasts. Took those lot out, took a breather and then they all merged into one massive one! I doubt I would've beaten it myself if Rainbow Dash hadn't shown up."
"Wait, there's no way. You can't have faced all them Timberwolves without getting a scratch... Did, you?" Apple bloom asked, now looking around me for any signs of injury.
Reluctantly, I raised my shirt up, revealing the scars from my fight. A large group gasp could be heard. "Slashed in the ribs, bit of wood shrapnel hit my chest. Long story short, I passed out and woke up in Fluttershy's place. It's a miracle I healed so quickly," I explained.
"Ah' guess you were right about getting his help, Applejack. If he can face all that an' still be standin', then you made a good call," Granny smith said. "Now can we get to eating? The food'll go cold at this rate!"
And so we dug into the meal, which mostly consisted of a large pot of pasta, some apple pie, and several other unfamiliar apple-related foodstuffs. I decided to steer away from anything unfamiliar, and stuck to the pasta and pie. I ate about 30% of the pasta and a couple of slices of the pie, a feat mostly everyone was shocked by (well, bigger body typically means more food is needed, and I have an above average appetite anyway). I honestly would've eaten more, but I didn't want to look like a pig... Well, even more of a pig.
I eventually finished my food, but it was clear I wasn't the first to finish. Big Mac beat me by a good minute or two. I'm typically a fast eater, being the quickest out of most of the virtues when it comes to it, so seeing someone else who eats faster than me was definitely a weird feeling.
Luckily for me, conversation eventually picked back up, starting with Granny Smith. "So where ya from, son?”
I stirred the last few bits of pasta on my plate.
"It's... A long story," I began. "Long story short, I'm from another planet, and I came here to avoid dying."
"Hold your horses, you’re an alien?" Applebloom asked, everyone immediately looking back over to me. Well, except Applejack, who covered her face with her hat again. (HA! 'Hold your horses!' Priceless!)
I sighed. "Trust me, the story is long and complex, and I really want to avoid repeating it as much as possible. The short version is; I'm an alien, but I'm a nice guy." (Yep, I fucked up!)
That's when the awkward silence arrived. Nobody really knew what to say next, which gave me a little breather after what felt like a small interrogation. That said, it felt a little awkward to end the conversation there. Luckily for me, it seemed Applejack felt the same.
"What's your family like then?" she asked. Everyone else looked directly over to me afterwards. Luckily for me, this was a question I could work with.
“I… I really don’t know where to start," I started. "well, my dad was a legend. He seemed to have a joke for almost every occasion, even if he repeated them most of the time. He was the guy who got me interested in films and that, and that was the one thing that we always agreed on. And his cooking couldn’t be beaten, hands-down!
"As for my mom... I can't exactly fully describe how amazing she was. It was like she always knew how I felt after looking at me for a second. That said, she didn't raise me to be an idiot, and was the one who made me start learning self-defence, something I keep up to this day.
"Then... There's my brother, Sam." I sighed. "Sam and I had a weird sort of relationship. He seemed to be... Emotionally unstable at times, and I was pretty much the one who had to cheer him up. It was so bad that I had to note down all the ways I had to do it as well!" I paused. "But... We always had each-other’s backs, no matter what situation we got ourselves into. Even when one of us seemed at the end of our rope, the other was there to support them."
"Sounds like you were close," Scootaloo asked, looking slightly upset (Not a clue why, I never even brought up anything bad yet).
"We were inseparable... But I might never get to see him again," I told them, as I started to slouch (Well, here comes the explanation). "I came to this planet because, well... My planet froze over." Another loud grasp could be heard from everybody except Applejack, who already knew the story (probably). " Both my parents died in the cold, trying to get the lot of us to safety. This left me alone to look after Sam. And... I'm not sure If I'll ever see him again."
And thus started a slightly tense silence. I wasn't really sure what to say after my depressing story, and it seemed everyone else felt the same. And that was until...
"Y'know, we've lost our parents too, so we know how ya feel, Marc," Applejack said, looking around the table to her family members. "What matters is rememberin' them."
"Yeah, or so everyone says," I mumbled, leaning back in my chair for a bit. "But life goes on, I guess. The future is what's important."
"Eyup." Big Mac said, before stuffing his face with more food (jeez, this guy has the appetite of a horse!)
(And I will now accept any and all obvious comments and remarks for making that joke.)
-0-0-0-0-0-
(3 hours later)
Well, after the remainder of an awkward fusion of a meal and interrogation, I eventually managed to get myself excused and made my way back to my ship. While the apples were quite friendly, welcoming, and incredibly good cooks, I had a really hectic day and just wanted some time to myself.
So I was basically just chilling for a bit, laying on my sofa bed, a can of cola by my side, reading the book Twilight gave me with the emergency lights faintly casting a red glow around the whole room.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that my history and geography skills aren't too good, and I'm not too fond of reading from books, but the history of Equestria was quite intriguing. I was only about ten or so pages in, but I was already highly impressed by how the three original pony races came together to defeat some weirdly familiar beasts called windigoes. (Did equestria have frost sirens too?)
The book was also in structured English, which I really should've been more surprised by, but decided to shrug off. Seriously, how does an alien race thousands of years of space travel away not only incorporate the same spoken and written language as on earth? It shouldn't be physically possible!
But that's now the most believable part of this madness! The rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Luna... Claim to control the movement of the sun and moon... What kind of cactus juice are the people of this planet drinking to believe that? I mean, I get that magic is a thing in this world, but moving a celestial body such as the sun and moon should take 'Superman' or 'dragon ball' levels of power! One thing’s for sure; if these claims are true, I definitely don't want to get on their bad side.
I eventually grew fed up of trying to make sense of this world’s broken history and physics, so I decided to give it a break. With a heavy sigh, I got myself of the sofa and made my way to outside for a breather.
I didn't really know what to think of my situation. A planet of fully sentient ponies, some even with wings and horns. Magic is a prominent force, there are wolves composed of wood, and physics take second priority! I was fully aware things would be different to how they were on earth, but this takes the cake!
That said, things could be a hell of a lot worse. I knew my fellow virtues were out there somewhere, and I would likely find them in given time. On top of that, the planet’s inhabitants seemed rather nice, seeing as they accepted me as a friend despite how I'd come from another world (note to self; don't show them any alien movies!). It was quite a good sign that my kind would be accepted here, which made me feel a little more at ease.
But whatever ease I currently felt was immediately removed and replaced with shock when a heard a large crashing noise coming from nearby. It immediately knocked me out of my thoughts, and my instincts took over. I quickly picked up my sword from the table and rushed outside towards where the sound came from. My earlier conversation with Applejack flashed into my head.
"We get a couple of those little varmints comin' onto the farm from time to time, and they can cause a lot of trouble for passersby, and even more for us while we're harvestin' apples."
If this was another Timberwolf, then I really didn't have time to waste. Judging from how loud the crash was and its direction, I had a good idea where the noise came from; the nearby clubhouse.
During the long conversation with Applejack's family, I learned the clubhouse belonged to Applebloom and her friends, who referred to themselves as "the Cutie Mark Crusaders". While I had little to no context about the exact origin of that name, I knew one thing for sure; Whatever's in the clubhouse, shouldn't be.
As I made my way up the clubhouse’s drawbridge, I could immediately tell my size difference from these ponies, as my head was almost touching the leaves above the clubhouse (The main reason I hate tree houses, everybody!). I quickly adjusted my body weight and crouched a bit, giving me a little headspace.
I stared at the clubhouse door for a moment, making sure I was ready for whatever I was going to face behind the door. It could be something that fell over, a Timberwolf, or even something else. Either way, I had to be prepared. I opened the door quickly... And got something I wasn't expecting; an all too familiar scream.
Yep, I found Scootaloo. She was now shaking in the corner in the far left from the entrance, scared out of her mind. I will admit, I didn't see that one coming.
"Scootaloo? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home right now?" I asked her, a sense of relief now spreading through me.
"It's.. I... I can't..." Scootaloo said, her fearful stuttering preventing her from saying anything. Having calmed down myself, I approached her.
"Woah, calm down. Breathe first, speak later," I instructed her, putting my experience of dealing with Sam to great use. "I came over because I heard a loud bang. Do you know what happened?"
"I heard it... I got scared... Hid in the corner," Scootaloo told me with her broken speech, slowly calming down.
"And... I guess my overly dramatic entrance didn't help things, did it?" I asked her, with a slow nod being the only response I got back. "Sorry about that, I thought that noise was a Timberwolf or something, and didn't really think twice about it."
"It's OK, you’re just doing your job," Scootaloo told me. "It was me who was scared by a falling branch." She pointed out the window, where a whole section of the treehouse’s upper branches was visible on the ground.
"Well, that's one mystery solved," I stated, turning back towards Scootaloo. "Why are you up here? Shouldn't you be at home or something?"
"That's... A long story, and one that's hard to explain," she told me, attempting to avoid any form of explanation. Unfortunately for her however, I have numerous methods for getting around that...
"You’re kidding me, right? I have to explain my life story several times in the same day to numerous people, and yet when I ask someone for any form of explanation myself, I get rejected? That's hardly fair," I complained, attempting to trick Scootaloo into telling me the truth.
Nope, nothing but an awkward silence... And a bit of a chill. Hang on, I just got an idea...
"Do you want to come over to my ship instead? It's definitely a lot warmer over there," I asked her, placing my hands in my pockets for their warmth.
"You know us ponies have fur, right?" Scootaloo pointed out. (Drat! foiled! Come on, think of something else!)
(Alright, if you’re going to be like that...)
"I could also whip up some food if you want?" I offered her, being answered almost immediately by her ears immediately perking up.
(And checkmate...)
-0-0-0-0-0-
After leading Scootaloo back to my ship, I decided to sit back and watch as she took her first look at the insides of my ship shard, her face filled with wonder and intrigue. Her mouth hung wide open in awe. I, on the other hand, still didn't see things as a big deal (Seriously, why do these ponies think it's such a big deal?)
While the kid decided to fully explore the whole area, I decided to head over to my pseudo kitchen and prep some grub for the two of us (yes, I said the two of us. I'm a freaking bottomless pit. Deal with it!). I then discovered one fatal flaw in my plan; I have no idea what this race's diet is.
"Hey Scootaloo? What do you feel like having?" I asked her, trying to avoid bringing up the whole 'different diet thing'. (Yeah, I know it's a valid question to ask, but remember; I'm a fucking idiot!)
Curious as to her options, Scootatoo snapped herself out of whatever she was doing and sprinting over to my fridge. She then took roughly three minutes to fully scan everything inside.
"Those pancakes look nice," she told me, grinning at me over her not-so-obvious hint. In response, I shook my head and chuckled, picking up the pack of pancakes in question and began to microwave some.
"I really don't get why you ponies seem so interested in my ship. There's not really much to see, since most of my stuff is in storage," I said, walking over to the table and unfolding another chair from the side of it. From there, Scootaloo jumped onto the chair, and then the table.
"It came from outer space, we don't need any other reason!" Scootaloo told me, now slightly closer to eye level. "That and everything in here's super futuristic. Can you blame us for being interested?"
"Yeah, I guess that's true," I answered. I guess that the ship would be a hell of a lot more interesting to them than it is to me.
"Any toppings?"
"Do you have chocolate sauce?" Scootaloo asked. I rolled my eyes and reached into my cupboard (she's lucky I have a food obsession.)
"OK, before you eat anything, are you going to tell me why you were in the clubhouse on your own?" I asked her, holding her plate of pancakes in my hand. She had an uncertain look on her face. I sighed. "I won't tell anyone if you do."
"Promise you won't?" she asked in return, being met with a calm nod. After which, she sighed. "Ok. I'll tell you.
"A few years ago, Equestria was involved in a huge war with the neighbouring country of Zebrika, just beyond the sea west of Equestria. Their leader never really did like ponies, so when Equestria began to expand to the islands in between the two continents, he considered it a threat to their land."
"So, it was a border war?" I asked, being met with a slow nod. "Ugh, those are never a friendly sight."
"I know," Scootaloo responded. "Equestria isn't a violent country, but if even one pony is attacked, it's not a pretty sight."
"Since we never really had an army like Zebrika did, we had to recruit ponies from all over Equestria in order to help protect our land... This included my parents..."
"Your folks were soldiers?" I asked.
"No, they were doctors. They were called to help out in the war, but never came back... And I never had any other family to look out for me..."
"So you're an orphan..." I said quietly, now understanding why she wanted to avoid the subject. "I get it. Losing your parents is rough. I know how you feel."
"Yeah... I've been living in a foal’s home since then. I ended up meeting my friends Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, and we got given the clubhouse. I stay there now." Scootaloo explained.
"But why? You'd be fed over at the foal’s home, and it's definitely safer," I told her, putting the pancakes on the table for her. They were ignored.
"I don't think 'safe' means bullies take your stuff and beat you up for fun," Scootaloo moaned, her head facing the table surface.
"Alright, no need to get depressed. There ain't no bullies in here, are there?" I asked her, a shaking head as my response.
"Exactly. The only ones here are me, you, and the pancakes that I made you. Seriously, are you going to have them or not?"
"Oh, right," Scootaloo realised, beginning to eat the pancakes I sorted out for her.
"But seriously, I really don't think this farm is that safe at night. Applejack told me some Timberwolves have been spotted nearby lately, so staying in the clubhouse might not be all too safe anymore," I explained to Scootaloo, who seemed unfazed.
"I'm not scared. As long as you're here, the Timberwolves have no chance!" Scootaloo declared confidently, a bright smile filling her face (Hmm... Why was that so familiar?)
I was now conflicted. On one hand, I now understood a bit more about Scootaloo, and thought it was best to let her choose where she stayed. But on the other, I couldn't be held responsible if she decided to keep staying in the clubhouse and got hurt, Timberwolf or no Timberwolf. So I had to do something.
"Look Scoots, I'm going to get even with you here," I told Scootaloo, who turned over to me. "I respect your choice to stay on the farm rather than the kid’s home, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Sure, I'd get in shit for it, but so would Applejack and her family business. I don't want to sound mean, but do you want that to happen?"
"No, I don't, but there's nowhere else I can go!" Scootaloo argued, once again slightly upset (Seriously, I'm getting the weirdest feeling of deja-vu over here).
"Well... I guess you could stay here if you want. If you really have nowhere else to go, that is," I suggested, making Scootaloo's ears perk up. "I don't see a problem with it on my end, as long as Cloud doesn't freak out about you.”
Suddenly, Scootaloo decided it was alright to leap onto me, hitting my chest and sending me falling to the ground. I probably would've shouted at her if it wasn't for the huge smirk she had on her face (My god! The smaller ones are worse!)
"Really? You'd let me stay?" Scootaloo asked frantically, her eyes... Sparkling... Somehow... Wow, that's weird.
"Ugh, only if you don't jump on me like that!" I told her, being released from my pinned position. "Does everything in this world just want to hurt me or something?"
"Sorry, but it's just so cool! First you save me, then you give me a place to stay. What did you expect me to do?" Scootaloo asked.
"Anything except jump on me! Seriously, you’re just as bad as... Sam..." I said, suddenly understanding my earlier confusion.
"Huh, you two really are alike. Behavior-wise, that is."
"Sorry, I know you still miss him," Scootaloo said, seemingly regretting making me remember my brother.
"Hey, I never said it was a bad thing! If anything, it's a good thing," I told her, reaching under my shirt and revealing my pendant. "In a way, he'll always be here in spirit."
"That's nice to know," Scootaloo said, jumping back onto the table and knocking her plate of pancakes onto the floor. Realising this, she looked over at me. "Hey marc?"
Aware of what she was about to say, I sighed. "Alright, I'll sort some more out."
"Thanks!" she said with a cheery grin.
(Well, looks like that's dealt with. I can rest easily now... Probably... Hopefully...)