I deliver a few blows to the top of the wooden fencepost, driving it further into the ground until it matches the one beside it. Having done that, I pick up a board from the small pile that lays before me, holding it against the newly driven post and an older fencepost, picking up a few nails with my free hand. I start driving them in, one at a time, until the board can hold its own weight, nailed against two different fenceposts. I start repeating this process for a board below it.
After a few minutes, I step back, admiring my handiwork. The wooden fence surrounding the Apple family's property is back to working condition, all of the breaks in the fence repaired. Smiling to myself, I turn and start to walk away, taking with me my extra nails and hammer. Alright, I ought to pick up some ice while I'm out and--
"Mark?" Applejack calls out behind me. Shoot. I turn, smiling to the orange pony. She is inspecting the fence, pushing on it with a hoof. "Did you fix the fence? All of it?" I nod. "Yah' didn't hafta' do that!" she says cheerfully, looking at the new fencing. "Shoot. You done saved us a might of trouble. Let me go getcha' some payment." I shake my head quickly, smiling. Applejack frowns. "C'mon, now, that's only fair. Yah' done all this work." I shake my head again. "Ah' ain't gonna take no for an answer, Mark." I shake my head, folding my arms with a grin. "Mark..." she warns. I purse my lips, staring at her for a while. Eventually her brow creases. "Dang it, Mark. Ah'm gonna' find a way to pay this back, y'hear?" I smile again, waving my hand dismissively at her as I turn and leave.
I've already earned enough money for a week, today, anyways. I recall having spent most of the morning constructing an entire second floor in a young couple's home. That was a bit tricky to figure out, but I just had to set up the support boards so that the floor could hold weight evenly. And the pony couple paid me a fairly hefty sum; they said it was cheaper than hiring an actual carpenter, though, as well as faster. I get the feeling that I might be stealing some business; I decide to keep the jobs to a minimal for the next few days.
As I begin heading along the route back to my house, I start going over a mental shopping list. More ice, definitely. Carrots. Maybe some other stuff...oranges sound nice. I wonder If I could find some here? Definitely some silverware. Plates, bowls, see what I can find. Rainbow Dash...wait, what? My eyes refocus, and I find myself looking at an upside-down light blue face. Rainbow Dash grins at me, cerise eyes looking friendly, as always.
"Hey, Mark!" I smile to her, and she rights herself in the air. "Been lookin' for you. You still seemed kind of...freaked out, yesterday. Any better today?" I nod lightly. I've mainly kept my mind off of it, trying not to re-live that experience. It truly frightened me, being unable to control myself in any way. I couldn't even fight against it within my own head. As long as I don't have to do it again, I think I'll live.
"That's good. I mean, I wasn't worried or anything, but...yeah." She glances off to the side before looking back at me. I smile to her. "So, I never really got the chance to ask, what happened in there? Did the Princess find a way to send you home, or something?" I think I hear a tinge of hope in her voice; not like she is hoping I can go home, rather, the opposite. I shake my head, my mouth twisting in a frown. I start to pull out my paper and pencil to explain. As I begin my reply, an idea pops into my head. She's been someone nice to have around. Why not? I erase my old answer, scribbling one anew.
Why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight? I can explain there.
Rainbow smiles happily. "I'd never turn down free eats! That sounds awesome." I smile, pleased. "What are you going to make?" I glance down in thought. Well, I know how to make a lot, but most of it involves meat...I write down a suggestion that pops into my head.
Ever had chili before?
She shakes her head. "No. Is it cold or something?" I'm not sure whether it's a joke or just her not actually knowing, but I laugh, anyways.
It's like a thick tomato soup, only spicier and with more ingredients.
"Well, I don't really like tomato soup, but I do like spicy stuff. Might as well try it, y'know?" I nod in agreement. I add a last statement to my piece of paper.
I've got some errands to run. Meet me at my house sometime before sunset?
Dash nods, grinning. "Cool. See yah' then!" I wave to her as she darts off into the sky again. I pick up my pace, starting to go over the things I will need in my head.
***
I'm stirring a bubbling pot of reddish liquid when I hear the door open. I look over to see Rainbow Dash stepping inside, using her hind leg to shut the door again. She looks a little different; after a moment of observing, I realize she must have brushed out her mane and tail, as they look much smoother than normal. It's a nice look on the rainbow-maned pony.
"Hey!" she greets, pausing to sniff the air. "Smells good." I smile in thanks. It is nice not to have my house smelling like dust, wolf blood, or fish, for once. I stir my pot of chili, then spoon out a mouthful and taste it. After a few seconds of thought, I decide to add some more salt and some leftover hot sauce from the party. Oh, wait, salt has a different effect on ponies...I stop adding salt, hoping the chili will dilute it. I keep adding the hot sauce until the chili has a nice heat to it, just the way I, and hopefully Rainbow Dash, like it.
I remove a pair of new bowls from a cupboard, setting them on the counter beside me. I begin spooning chili into one of them, then the other. I turn to flip off the burner, and see a light blue hoof inching its way towards the pan. I give it a playful smack, smiling at Rainbow Dash. She grumbles, grinning at me, and goes to sit down at my small table. She has a little trouble getting into the chair, being that I made sure it was built a little taller than the average pony chair, but eventually clambers up. I set a bowl of my chili before her, returning to my cabinets to fetch some new silverware. I turn with two spoons in hand, then glance at the pony sitting at my table, more specifically, at her hooves. Oh, right, no hands. I replace one of the spoons, grab my bowl, and sit down in the chair across from her.
She peers into her bowl for a moment; I do the same, wondering if my chili appears odd. It doesn't to me. I try to recall what all I put in. Tomatoes, kidney beans, some spices, hopefully not too much salt, hot sauce. Fairly generic chili ingredients. If I could add some honey, or brown sugar, that might make it better. After a few more seconds of observing her chili, Dash leans down towards her bowl and laps up some of it.
She clicks her tongue a few times, looking up in thought. Her eyes brighten, and she looks a little surprised. I watch as she leans down again, drinking up more of the chili. The Pegasus comes up for air after filling her mouth with chili, smiling at me.
"Thif if reawwy gooh!" she exclaims, swallowing the chili. "Where did you learn how to make this?" I smile, withdrawing my pencil as she goes down to her bowl again.
I learned how to cook a lot of things a long time ago.
She peers up at the note, nodding before eating more of the chili. I worry I might need to give her the Heimlich maneuver. I pick up my spoon and take a bite of my own chili. Yeah, some honey would make it better. I don't think Rainbow Dash minds, though. Maybe if I could add some fish to the leftovers? That might be good, I muse as I swallow another bite of chili. I see Dash grab a hold on her bowl with her forelegs, tilting it up against her face. I chuckle, scooping out some chili from my bowl.
The apparently very hungry Pegasus sets her bowl down, licking her snout with an orange tongue. She looks at me with a sheepish smile. "Um...can I have some more?" I laugh, nodding and standing up. I grab her bowl and refill it with chili from the pot on the oven, returning to her place at the table. Her face plunges into the bowl as soon as it hits the table. I smile, returning to my meal.
I finish at around the same time she finishes her seconds. With a contented sigh, she leans back in her chair, placing her hooves on the table. "That stuff's really good...I think I'll explode if I eat any more, though," she says, laying a hoof against her swollen belly. I smile, happy to see my cooking went over well with her. I take our bowls over to the sink, rinsing them out and setting them inside it before returning to the table. After looking at Rainbow Dash for a moment, I wonder something, and decide to ask, writing out a note and sliding it across the table to her.
Do you know how to cook?
She reads the paper, then shakes her head. "Nah', I've never learned how." Well, that explains why she ate it like she's never had a home-cooked meal...I smile as I scribble out another note.
If you ever want some help or want me to teach you, just ask.
Dash laughs. "I dunno', cooking seems pretty uncool..."
There's a lot of fire involved.
She laughs her scratchy laugh again. "Okay, maybe I'll take you up on that sometime." I smile to her, holding her gaze for a moment. Her eyes are so friendly, so welcoming...she looks away, seeming to remember something. "Hey, you said you'd tell me what really happened in there, when you went to go see the Princess," the sky-blue pony points out. I look at her for a while longer, then sigh, nodding my head in agreement. My pencil and paper already on the table, I write out a request.
Can this stay between us?
She nods. "Yeah, okay." I continue writing.
Promise?
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she chants, reciting a Pinkie Promise to me. I smile, then begin writing, choosing my words slowly and carefully.
The first thing I noticed was that Princess Celestia could read my thoughts. She sounded like she was inside my head, and already knew basically everything about me.
"Whoa...I didn't know she could do that! Weird..." Rainbow Dash muses. Glancing back at me, she gives an embarrassed smile. "Sorry. Keep going." I give a small smile to her, then focus on my paper again.
The closer I got to her, the more relaxed I felt. I couldn't stop walking towards her, though, and eventually, it felt like I was in a dream. I couldn't control my body or think about anything. I felt free, but trapped at the same time.
"What do you mean?" Dash asks, looking up at me. I frown, then think of a good way to phrase it.
Imagine if you were really high in the air, except you didn't have any wings.
Given the way her face changes, I think she understands. The freedom of flight, but being unable to control how you fly. I keep writing, going off of the memory that feels burnt into my mind.
She told me that she really didn't want to see me, that her sister, Princess Luna, wanted to. I met Luna, and she told me it was her fault, how I got here. She said she created a spell, thousands of years ago, that was meant to search the universe for other life. I guess when it found life, it found my planet, and somehow I ended up here. Even she admitted she didn't know why it brought me here. Just a side-effect of the spell that wasn't accounted for.
I set down my pencil, pushing the paper over to the rainbow-maned pony sitting across from me. After a minute or so, she looks up at me in shock and wonder. "So you're here because of a spell Princess Luna made a really long time ago? And it just threw you here?" I nod, shrugging a little. "Whoa...that's...whoa," she says softly, looking at the paper on the table again. "So...they don't know how to get you back?" I nod again, frowning. "And you're the only one that got sent here?" Another nod of confirmation.
Rainbow sits quietly for a while, reading over my writing again. "What about your family? And your friends?" What about them? I ask silently, looking at her. I pull my paper back to me, turning it over to a clean side. My pencil remains still for an eternity, then begins moving along slowly.
The friends I have made are here.
"But what about your family, and your other friends?" she presses. The paper sits before me, mocking me with its emptiness. The pencil in my hand starts to shake lightly.
Are you doing anything tomorrow?
Rainbow Dash gives me an odd look. "Well, no, I don't think so. The next rain isn't scheduled until...uh...the day after tomorrow, I'm pretty sure, so all I'll have to do tomorrow is clear out the usual clouds. Wanna' hang out?" she asks cheerfully. I nod, smiling. "Cool. See you tomorrow, then?" I nod again, and she hops out of her chair. As she begins trotting towards the door, I stand up, getting the door for her. She smiles to me; her smile is mixed with that odd look, though, one I can't quite place. After a moment, it disappears. "Bye, Mark." I wave to her, smiling again.
I shut the door, then walk over to my table, sitting down. I turn on the small lantern that sits upon it, watching the flames inside flicker as their light fills my quiet house.