Chapter 10: Breakfast
Roadie, Fluttershy, and Anonymous were in the kitchen, deciding on what to do for breakfast. Roadie whistled, "Do either of you want something specific?" Anonymous looked at Fluttershy, and she looked back at Anonymous, but it was Anonymous who spoke, "Well it's not my house, so I don't think I should decide." She smiled, and then Fluttershy said, "Well… surely… you could decide what you would like to eat." Fluttershy noticed Anonymous' stubbornness, "No, really, I insist." Roadie sat patiently as the two debated who should decide to eat. He was a very patient colt, but it looked like arguing to him, and he did not like arguing, as it led to fighting, or hate. So he whistled, "How about some fruit salad?" The two mares both turned to face him, and then Roadie suddenly felt like he had interrupted something important. Fluttershy spoke happily, "That sounds wonderful." Anonymous agreed with a nod. Roadie stood up out of the kitchen chair, as he was the only one sitting.
Roadie went to collect an assortment of fruits sitting out inside large glass bowls. Fluttershy and Anonymous walked over to help him, but he turned to face them, "Why don't you two take a seat while I fix this up?" Fluttershy wanted to help, so she kept walking, Anonymous almost stopped because of how warm the tone of whistle he used was, but she kept going. They stood on both sides of him, and grabbed some of their own fruit to slice. Roadie was touched by how much they wanted to help him, but was more surprised when they both didn't reply. Fluttershy had some oranges, which she was peeling quickly, but carefully. Anonymous had some peaches, which she was slicing carefully with a small knife. Roadie had quite a stack of citrus fruits and other assortments, including kiwi. But Roadie noticed that he was missing something, something that really seemed to take the cake, "Um… Fluttershy…" She looked up from her oranges to see Roadie, "Yes?" She was smiling lightly. Roadie was suddenly nervous to ask his question at the sight of her face.
"Do you have any green apples?" He simpered, and Fluttershy didn't understand the sudden shyness from him, but she answered anyway, "I don't think so, actually I ran out a while ago. But I do know somewhere you can get some quickly, if you're willing to go." Roadie nodded, and Fluttershy continued, "Do you know where a farm called Sweet Apple Acres is?" Roadie knew where a farm in town was, but he wasn't quite sure if that was the one she was talking about, so he shook his head. Fluttershy went and got a notepad, it was the same lime green notepad that was the next in the pack where Roadie got the orange one before. She was writing something as she walked back into the kitchen. When she handed Roadie the notepad, it read an address, and Roadie recognized the street name, and the farm he knew was in fact Sweet Apple Acres. The only problem is that Sweet Apple Acres is on the other side of town from Fluttershy's cottage. "So you know where this is?" Fluttershy pointed at the notepad. Roadie nodded again, and Fluttershy spoke again, "Make sure you ask for Applejack, she'll get you some apples real quick."
Roadie whistled and closed the notepad, "I'll get back as soon as I can." Fluttershy suddenly felt that same feeling she had been feeling every time Roadie isn't there, it was a mix of worry and loneliness. She had an urge to jump out and grab him as he began walking towards the door, so she did. When Roadie stopped in front of the door to open it, he felt Fluttershy hug Roadie around his neck from behind, she had him gently, but she was not about to let go. Roadie turned around inside of the hug and wrapped his hooves around her back. "I'm not going to be gone long, I'm coming right back, I'm certainly not going to stop anywhere, that would only delay my return, and I don't want that." Roadie rubbed her back reassuringly, and Fluttershy was suddenly voided of every worry and negative emotion that was in any corner of her being. They let go of each other, as much as they didn't want to, but Roadie really had to go get the apples he needed to finish their breakfast.
Roadie left his guitar next to the couch where it sat overnight, and Fluttershy walked back into the kitchen with Anonymous. Roadie flew out the door, closing it gently behind him. When Fluttershy arrived next to Anonymous and returned to peeling her oranges, Anonymous looked over at her and smiled, "He is just too kind for his own good." Fluttershy looked back up at her, "What do you mean?" Fluttershy let on a coy smile and Anonymous spoke, "He left first thing in the morning, to go all the way to some farm he's never been to and to talk to somepony he's never met, for you." Fluttershy understood that she was talking about the apples for the fruit salad, and Anonymous thought that he was doing it for Fluttershy, Fluttershy said, "Well I'm sure he's doing it just as much for you as he is me…" Her voice trailed off, and Anonymous raised a brow and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "I think that you two really have something special." Fluttershy flushed, "I-I think you m-may be right." They both giggled a bit, and worked on their fruit, but that didn't stop their conversation.
Roadie was flying quickly towards the dirt road specified in his notepad, when he saw the farm known as Sweet Apple Acres. It was a large place, with a field that spread a large way around the house that seemed to be in the very center of the field. On the porch of that house was an elderly pale green mare who had a gray mane tied up into a bun, she was resting on a rocking chair, and Roadie decided not to bother her. Outside of the field was the largest apple orchard he had ever seen in his life, it seemed to go on for miles. But as he gazed at the orchard, he noticed that the treetops were shaking, one by one, apples falling. Roadie flew over the gate and straight for the shaking, he was not stopped by anypony on the way there, as there was nopony that he could see.
As Roadie approached the source of the shaking, he noticed a young orange earth pony, bucking the trees and catching the apples in large wooden buckets. Roadie was writing in his notepad as he flew over to her. The mare looked up to see Roadie gliding his way over, she smiled. The mare was orange with a light blonde mane and tail; both were tied at the end. Her eyes were green and she had a few freckles adorning her face along with a nice looking brown hat. Her cutie mark was three apples. Roadie looked up out of his notepad to see the mare smiling; he noticed that she was actually quite an attractive mare. He showed her his notepad, it read, 'Are you Applejack?' The mare spoke with content, "I sure am, how can I help you this fine mornin'?" She spoke with a thick southern drawl that only made her look that much more attractive. Roadie scribbled in his notepad again, "Nice to meet you Applejack, My name's Roadie, and I would like to buy some green apples." He smiled, and Applejack's eyes twinkled at reading his name.
She asked a question, "I do have one question for ya hun'." She was still smiling, she continued, "What brought you to Sweet Apple Acres?" She knew that he came for the apples, but she wanted to know who sent him. Roadie flipped the page in his notepad and wrote something else, "Fluttershy sent me here." Applejack's smile could not have gotten any wider, "I knew it!" She jumped a bit from excitement, but Roadie was really confused. He was writing in her notepad when he was interrupted by Applejack, "You match her description and everything." Roadie could not help but to raise a brow in thought, 'Wait What? When did she…? Why did…? What happened?' Applejack looked up at him very seriously, "You best not hurt her feelings now, ya hear?" Roadie wrote quickly, desperate to let her know, "Why would I ever want to hurt her? She's the only pony who willingly gave me somewhere to sleep. She's the only pony who's ever been so kind to me as to give me a place that I can call home and look forward to seeing every day. I would never hurt her, I would never think about hurting her." Applejack saw his face, and noticed the wholehearted expression on his face, and realized what she said had actually hurt him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that." Roadie forgave her and Applejack continued business, "So how many apples would ya like Roadie?"
Roadie only needed four, but he asked for five, just in case. "Coming right up sugar cube." Roadie liked the little nickname she used, it made him feel welcome. She walked over to a tree and turned around towards Roadie. She removed her hat and held it bottom side-up next to her as she bucked the tree with one leg. She was smiling at him as exactly five apples fell out of the tree and landed in her hat. She walked over to Roadie and tossed the apples up to him, as he was flying. One by one he caught the apples. He pulled out a small bag of bits and tossed it down to Applejack, but she turned and lightly bucked it, making it perform a rainbow shot right onto the top of Roadie's head, where it sat still. "I can't take your money when you are such a close friend of Fluttershy's." She winked at him and he blushed as he put away the bag. He wrote down in his notepad with the apples in one arm, 'Thank you Applejack.' She smiled, "Anytime hun…" She dropped the smile and her face turned to worry, "… Oh, would you happen to know a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle by any chance?" Roadie recognized the name at once; she was the unicorn who helped Roadie when he was unconscious in the park. Roadie nodded with a smile, but Applejack still looked worried, "Well if you see her anywhere, can you get her to come home? She has been missing for a few days now, and we're getting worried about her." Roadie's smile turned into a concerned one as he wrote again, 'I'll keep an eye out, if that means anything.' He really he could help more at the moment, but he had to get back to Fluttershy. Applejack said, "Thank you, well I'll see ya around Roadie." She waved as he flew off.
Roadie was flying high above Ponyville, high enough so that he wouldn't run into anyone, and if he dropped an apple he would have time to catch it. He reached Fluttershy's cottage a lot faster than he reached the farm, and walked in, as he didn't want to interrupt whatever Fluttershy and Anonymous were talking about, as he could hear them from the window. Fluttershy was quiet, but her cottage wasn't very sound-proof. He walked in quietly and closed the door just as quietly. He heard Anonymous talking, "… So that's what happened after Roadie flew off, I really wish I let him help me." He set down the apples on the living room table as Fluttershy spoke, "Well you're okay now, and I'm sure that he's willing to do whatever he can to help you whenever you need it..." Roadie was heading towards the bathroom because he really had to go.
Anonymous looked up at Fluttershy and said, "Did you hear something?" Fluttershy shook her head, "No… I'm sure it was just a squirrel." But there were still no animals inside of the house, it was really strange. Fluttershy asked, "Do you really think that Roadie and I have something special?" Anonymous nodded, "I don't think someone with such a nomadic nature would stick around here for any other reason." They got to know a bit about each other while Roadie was gone, and Anonymous got Fluttershy's name, but Fluttershy pretended to not know Anonymous', because she already knew from Roadie's story, so she asked again. Fluttershy spoke, "I really wish I could have met him sooner." Anonymous looked at her, "I wish the same." They both heard a flush, and turned to the entrance of the kitchen, and Roadie came around the corner, and Anonymous asked, "When did you get back?" Roadie smiled and answered, "I just got back, hang on…" He left and came back with the apples he left on the living room table, and then set them all down on the counter.
Anonymous asked another question, "What did you hear?" She would have been a bit embarrassed if he had heard their conversation about him. Roadie smiled, "What do you mean, I just got back." Anonymous was relieved, as was Fluttershy. The two mares had sliced kiwi, pineapple, oranges, honeydew, grapes, and some lemon; they could not have made that salad any better than he wanted it. He took one of the apples that he set down and began slicing it; he worked quickly, and enjoyed himself while doing so. Fluttershy couldn't help but ask, "So how'd it go with Applejack?" He smiled as he finished the first apple, "It went well, let's just say she 'recognized' me." He looked up at Fluttershy with a grin, and she lightly blushed, because she knew what he was talking about. When Roadie left Fluttershy the morning they played their guitars together, she worked for a bit, then went to tell her friends about him She met Applejack and Rarity, but she couldn't find Twilight or Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie was probably busy doing… whatever she does during her free time.
Fluttershy spoke, "Well I'm glad that it worked out…" She was still blushing, but she started smiling. Roadie finished two apples, and they were quite large, so he wasn't really sure that he needed any more, so he took the slices and put them in a large bowl with all of the other fruit slices in it. He took the large bowl and spread the salad evenly among three smaller bowls. He set the large bowl in the sink and set the smaller bowls down on the table, where Anonymous and Fluttershy sat down. The table was round, so they sat in the shape of a triangle. Roadie did not talk much while they ate, but Anonymous and Fluttershy were talking most of the time, Anonymous was talking more than Fluttershy, as she was a pony of many words. Roadie and Fluttershy were not very big on talking. Roadie finished and was sitting quite patiently for the two mares to finish, and Fluttershy noticed. "Roadie…" He looked up, and Fluttershy continued, "… How about you go set up your mix tapes so we can finish what we started yesterday?" She was smiling, and Roadie beamed back. He stood up and set his bowl down in the sink inside of the larger bowl.
Roadie glided into the living room and the two mares carried on their conversation. They both jumped as the song 'Voodoo Child' by Jimi Hendrix Blasted halfway through the song out of the living room. The volume dropped as quickly as it started, "Sorry!" Roadie whistled. They both got a good laugh out of that. Then they heard 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd start playing, and they finished eating.
The two mares entered the living room just as Roadie began playing the acoustic solo, he knew the part exactly, note for note, and every rhythm. Fluttershy and Anonymous sat down on the couch on both sides of him as they did when they were at the kitchen counter. Fluttershy was leaning against the arm of the couch, facing Roadie, but her eyes were closed, relaxing. Anonymous was leaning against the back of the couch, watching him play. Roadie was just sitting up playing his guitar with one of his favorite Pink Floyd songs. The solo finished and the vocals came in. He played the chords with perfect timing and perfect pitch. The two mares were singing along with the vocals, but Roadie could not sing, even though he knew all of the lyrics. Fluttershy was singing as softly as she spoke, and Anonymous was singing just as softly.
At the police station in Manehatten, the blue unicorn that cut Roadie was walking down the hallway with an envelope in his teeth. He opened the door to an office and walked in. At the desk was the same white unicorn who had questioned Roadie, the blue unicorn spoke, "Detective Holmes, we have a report that involves the unknown mare case." Detective Holmes' green eyes looked up at the blue unicorn standing in his doorway. "Let's see it, Sergeant Starstruck." The sergeant stepped over to the desk and set down the envelope on Holmes' desk. "Thank you." Starstruck stepped out and closed the door behind him. Holmes' looked at the envelope, it was labeled 'important: Unknown Mare Report.' He opened the envelope and read a whole report about sightings of a mare that matched Anonymous' case file. They were all about sightings in the Everfree forest, near the cottage where they found Roadie. Holmes looked out the window to see Derpy flying away with a mail satchel, then at the mailbox. The mailbox had a large hole in the back; he couldn't help but chuckle at this. But then he got back to business and got on his phone. "Can you send up Sergeant Starstruck and Captain Dredd? Thank you, Barbara." He hung up and waited for about a minute. When that minute was up, Sergeant Starstruck re-entered the room with a large red earth pony wearing a red helmet that had a black visor that covered his eyes. The visor had a red x going from his forehead and crossed in between his eyes. His cutiemark was a gold shield that said 'DREDD' in the middle. The helmet was mostly black but the edges had a thick red outline. Holmes spoke, "Sergeant, I would like for you to return to where you previously found Roadie, and ask him if he has seen the unknown mare again. If he says no, then I would like for you to search the place, if he says yes, ask him where. Just follow standard procedures." Starstruck looked a bit terrified, as he was bringing Captain Dredd with him, and they only used Captain Dredd for the big and extremely serious operations. Starstruck nodded, "Alright, I'll come back with a full report sir." Holmes nodded at Starstruck and looked up at Dredd, "You get that Captain?" Captain Dredd didn't move an inch except to speak, "Affirmative." His voice was extremely gruff and serious. Holmes gestured towards the door and the two officers stepped out. Detective Holmes returned to his work.
Roadie, Fluttershy, and Anonymous had just finished their song when Fluttershy looked up at Roadie and said, "We have to play that one." All three of them were smiling, and Roadie nodded. The song 'Santeria' by Sublime came on as there was an extremely loud rapping on the door. Roadie looked at Anonymous, "If I give you a signal, you go hide." Anonymous nodded, and Roadie stepped over to the door. He looked through the small window to see a blue unicorn and a large red earth pony with a terrifying helmet on. Roadie turned around to Anonymous and gestured upstairs. She wasted no time and flew up the stairs into Fluttershy's room, where there was an open window that she could use to make a quick escape. Roadie opened the door and smiled at the two officers at the doorstep. The blue unicorn was happy to see Roadie. "How are you doing Roadie? Well, I hope." Roadie looked around him without moving for something to write on, and the unicorn noticed, "Oh I'm sorry, I forgot that you cannot speak, do you have someone in there that can translate for you?" Roadie nodded, and whistled to Fluttershy, who was still sitting on the couch, "Can you come help me?" Fluttershy nodded and walked over to the door.
The unicorn said, "Where are my manners, I never properly introduced myself, Roadie. My name is Sergeant Starstruck, and this is Captain Dredd." Dredd just grunted. Fluttershy reached the door, "Nice to meet you both." She noticed Dredd and was panic-stricken by his face, it was completely devoid of any emotion, or at least the parts you could see. "M-my name is F-Fluttershy…" The sergeant saw that she was afraid of Dredd, most ponies were, but she was terrified. Starstruck got straight to business, as he didn't want to be there long with Dredd, "Have you seen this mare lately?" He held up another picture of Anonymous, Roadie knew it would be about her, he shook his head. Starstruck continued, "Would you mind if we took a look around?" Roadie knew that if they were heading upstairs, then Anonymous would go out the window and hide outside. Fluttershy didn't mind, neither did Roadie, they looked at each other and nodded. Starstruck and Dredd both stepped in, Dredd had to duck his entire head and neck under the doorway. They were just kind of looking around, not really picking through anything, which was nice. Dredd looked like he was scanning the area more than actually searching.
Starstruck looked at Fluttershy, "You don't mind if we head upstairs do you?" Fluttershy shook her head. Dredd went first, making loud footsteps on his way up, after about three seconds of the sound, Roadie looked out of the window to see Anonymous running into the chicken coop that Fluttershy had outside. Roadie was extremely relieved, not just from her being safe, but from her being recovered enough to be able to run. The two officers came back down after about five minutes, and Starstruck spoke, "Okay, well we're done, but if you see anything strange happening in the forest, then you call us, okay?" Roadie and Fluttershy both nodded in agreement. And the two officers stepped out of the cottage and walked slowly back towards Manehatten. Roadie took Fluttershy in his arms and she hugged back, it was a close call, and they could not afford to take a risk like that again.
Anonymous came in through the front door, as well as ever, "Close call, huh?" They all laughed but then Roadie noticed that Anonymous still had the leaf gauze on her legs and forehead. "Do you want me to take off the gauze, Anonymous?" Anonymous thought it was too soon, but then she realized that she felt completely fine, so she nodded. Roadie sat her down on the couch. He began unraveling the leaf around her left hind leg first, as it was closest to him. He was on his knees, catching the powder inside of the leaf, preventing any from getting onto the floor. Anonymous noticed that the wound was completely sealed, and there was a faint scar, much fainter than Roadie's. He removed the leaf on her right foreleg next, with the same outcome. The scar on her forehead looked very faint, and was naturally hidden behind her mane. Anonymous stood up, as healthy as she's ever been.
"That's amazing…" She felt like she could move a lot more freely now without the gauze on. Roadie smiled at her, "I only did what I could to help." He looked over at Fluttershy, "Would you guys like to go somewhere?" He looked back at Anonymous before he finished the sentence, Anonymous spoke while Fluttershy thought on it, "Well I don't know where anything is in this town." She was still stretching when Fluttershy said, "Do you want to go ask Rainbow Dash where we're performing Friday?" Roadie was just hit with realization because he was never actually told where they were going to perform, only when. It was Thursday, so they had to perform tomorrow, they should probably know where.
Roadie nodded, and then looked at Anonymous, "Would you like to come with us?" Fluttershy was a little confused, because she had almost been caught by the police, and he wanted to take her out into public. Anonymous shrugged, "Yeah, sure." Fluttershy flew out of the room and came back with Anonymous' jacket, it was freshly clean. "I washed this last night, it was covered in blood." Anonymous thanked her and put it on, placing her arms and wings through the holes they needed to get through. Roadie grabbed her aviators off of the bookshelf and handed them to her. She thanked him as well and put them on. Roadie just realized that he never saw her cutie mark, but he wasn't about to ask, what he did ask was, "You guys ready to go?" The two mares nodded and Roadie held the door open for them, when the y all left, Angel stuck his head out from under the couch, and hopped out to the center of the room. He saw the coast was clear, and thumped his foot on the floor a few times, and the stillness was ended by a multitude of small animals suddenly thriving around inside of Fluttershy's cottage.