Chapter Eight: Rehabilitation
Whirl was carried off of the train by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. When they got onto the platform Twilight woke him up and he got off of them. He wobbled a bit and was a little more than groggy. “Whoa, I think you over did it Twilight.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “I did that on purpose, what with you magic resistance and all.”
Whirl would have fallen forward had it not been for Derpy who helped him stay standing. “Applejack, before I leave I have a question. I need some work, not so much for pay, but to keep my mind off of everything for a little while. Is there anything I can do around the farm?”
Applejack chuckled. “Ahm sure I can find somethin for ya to do, just stop on by whenever you feel like it and ah’ll get ya somethin for yall to do.” She said happily.
“Thank you Applejack. Derpy, let’s head home.” He said groggily.
Derpy giggled and started to guide him away from the station. “Do you mind if we go to my place? It is much closer and you are kind of heavy.” She said as she started to sweat a little bit.
“Sure, if you don’t mind me crashing on your sofa.” He said with a chuckle.
“Not at all, my home is your home.” She replied with a smile.
When they arrived Derpy quickly opened the door and lead Whirl to the sofa. He flopped down on it and was nearly nodding off. “S-sorry I was little help…” Whirl said groggily.
Derpy sat down in a chair and was panting heavily. “It’s okay… I have to go to work. Will you be okay here?”
Whirl was asleep and snoring already. Derpy simply giggled and wrote him a note before heading off to work.
****
“Ah’m tellin ya Twi, I can’t pay him! We just don’t have the money! I don’t know what to do!” Applejack said as they walked to her farm.
“Well, he said he was just looking for the work and not for money. I think it will be fine if he were to just do something to help.” Twilight stated.
“Ah can’t just let him work for free. That would be takin advantage of his situation for free labor.” Applejack explained. “Yall remember what happened when Spike was workin for me? Ah felt awful about it, so much so that ah had to fake a timber wolf attack just to get him to stop.”
“He really seems to need this Applejack, you would be doing him a favor more than you would be taking advantage of him. Just find him some small work he can do to keep him distracted.” Twilight pleaded.
“Alright, alright. But ah don’t want him ta do too much. Ah’ll just have him do some apple buckin around the orchard. Ah don’t think he will get too much done, but ah guess ah’ll find out.” Applejack said enthusiastically.
****
Whirl Wind awoke with a start. He had the worst headache he could have imagined as he rubbed his head. “Augh, I feel like I went two rounds with Thunder Driver, the wrestler.” He thought with a chuckle. He spotted Derpy’s note and read it.
Dear Whirl,
I had to go to work, please make yourself at home while I am gone. Feel free to enjoy the strawberry punch in the fridge, it is really good. I should be back at four o’clock after work, although I think you might still be at Applejack’s farm. If you are not here when I get home I will try to find you so we can hang out.
Love,
Derpy
“Love. Maybe this is love. Actually I am sure it is. The only other pony I have loved like this is Luna and she told me to find somepony else so… I guess Derpy is the one. Who would have thought that my friend would become my marefriend and potential wife?” He thought as he got ready to go to Applejack’s farm. He decided to leave his saddle bag here to let Derpy know he would be back. The first thing he did when he stepped outside was look at the clock tower, it was only ten o’clock. Whirl smiled and started to trot to Applejack’s farm with a bounce in his step. A few ponies stared at his eye bandaging but none of them looked at him with malice or hate, which made Whirl feel good about himself.
He spotted Applejack bucking a tree as he approached. “Hey Applejack, I am ready to work!” he said excitedly.
Applejack smile and walked over to him. “Alright sugar cube. Now, before we get yall started ah have ta tell you somethin. Ah can’t pay you, Ah mean ah would if we had the bits to spare but we don’t so ah can’t.” she explained nervously.
Whirl let out a slight chuckle. “Applejack, you don’t need to pay me. Anything that you have will be a light load for me and not worth pay anyway. Also, I don’t need the bits at all. I could go a whole year without getting paid and still have enough to last a few more months if I needed to. Also, as painful as it is to think about, I am probably going to inherit everything my family owned, so there’s that.”
“Alright, if yall insist. Ah got you quite a bit ta do and yall arrived a bit later than ah expected.” She said as she walked through the orchard.
“What kind of work do you have in store for me? I can’t wait to get started.” Whirl said happily.
“Ah got a whole orchard for yall to buck over the next few weeks. It will take yall that long to get the whole thing done and yall can stop at any time and let me take over if you find another job.” Applejack explained.
“That sounds perfect.” Whirl said with a grin.
“Well here we are, the south orchard. To goes east to west for a few acres then it becomes the east and west orchard, don’t worry about buckin the wrong trees because there are fences blocking the two orchards. What do ya think?” Applejack asked with a smile.
“I will make a dent by days end.” Whirl said happily. “So I just buck them until all the apples are down in these baskets?”
“Yup, come and get me if something goes wrong. There is fresh lemonade inside our house if ya need it, take as much as ya need sugar cube.”
“Thanks Applejack. I’ll get started now.” He said as he bucked the first tree. All of the apples fell into the basket in one kick and he moved onto the next.
“Have fun!” Applejack said with a grin. “Oh, and if Big Macintosh asks just tell him yall is tempin!” she called out as she walked back to her part of the orchard.
Whirl bucked the next tree and made sure the coast was clear before he picked up the pace. “Always leave them doubting your abilities so they are more impressed when you do far better than they expected.” Whirl thought as he bucked his fifteenth tree.
****
Derpy came home over an hour later than usual because she had to make up some of the work she missed the day before. She was absolutely exhausted as she tossed her mailbag down and took off her uniform. She was a bit disappointed that Whirl wasn’t there but she perked up when she saw his bag with the photo album still in it. Lying down on the sofa for a moment she stretched her legs out and groaned. “Today was rough, but seeing Whirl should give me a smile.” She thought as she got up again and headed out the door. It was getting dark as she approached Applejack’s farm. She spotted Applejack gathering up the last bit of apples for the day and walked over to her. “Hello Applejack, is Whirl here?”
“Yup, he is in the south orchard and ah was just about ta head out there ta get him. Yall are welcome to join me if ya’d like.” Applejack said happily as she started to trot to the south orchard.
When they arrived Applejack was truly amazed at the amount of work he had gotten done. “Whoa nelly! He done bucked half the orchard! Do ya see him anywhere?” Applejack asked.
Derpy looked around for a moment but she couldn’t see him through all the trees. “I don’t, maybe if I fly up I can see him from there?”
“Good idea sugar cube!” Applejack said with a smile.
Derpy took to the air and looked around in the orchard for no more than a minute before spotting him. “He’s over here Applejack!” she yelled as she descended.
Applejack ran over to where Derpy had pointed and found them both together. “Well ah’ll be a sloth in the jungle. You did one heck of a job here Whirl, better than I thought for sure! How long you been apple buckin?” she asked excitedly.
“Well, two months total. One month in Appleoosa and one month just outside of Manehatten.” Whirl said with a smile.
“Whoooee, that is some fine work for only two months of experience. Makes me feel kind of bad I can’t pay such a wonderful worker.” She said sadly.
“I said you don’t need to worry about that, but I think I will need to work in more than one orchard.” He said with a chuckle.
“Ah’ll be sure you get dibs on the west orchard. You can work with Big Macintosh and we will get this harvest done faster than ever before!” she said excitedly.
“Well, I best be heading out with this lovely mare here. I think I owe her a date that doesn’t involve foalnapping, crying, and vomiting.” He said jokingly.
Applejack and Derpy both laughed. “Alrighty then, see yall tomorrow.” Applejack said as she headed home.
Whirl waved goodbye before lifting Derpy up and flying away. “So are you excited about this date?”
“How can I be excited about it if I didn’t know it was going to happen?” Derpy said with a smirk.
“Good point. But you are still going to love it.” He said happily.
“I know I will because I am with you!” she replied just a happily.
“Hey, I am supposed to be the one saying super sweet stuff!” Whirl said in an obviously fake irritated voice.
“Sweet stuff doesn’t have your name on it!” she replied in the same tone Whirl had.
“Alright, you got me. But you are still way too adorable to be giving me a couple of bruises. Those kicks really hurt you know?” he said with a chuckle.
“Well somepony had to knock some sense into you. I don’t think your friends were ever going to do it.” Derpy said with a giggle.
“How often do you have the sense knocked into you?” Whirl asked with concern.
“Every time I make a mistake that involves me hitting my head on something.” Derpy said bluntly.
“Well, I am sure that none of those mistakes were really your fault and even if they were I don’t think that you should look at it as a bad thing. You should look at is like—“
“A lesson.” Derpy finished his sentence. “That is the best thing I do with my mistakes.”
“Exactly. I didn’t think anypony else knew that lesson. At least it doesn’t seem like it.” Whirl said with a smile. “Here we are! This is my favorite spot outside of town.”
Derpy wasn’t paying attention at all to where they were flying but the place they were in now was spectacular. It was in between two of the mountains near town and it was beautiful. There was a small lake where the run off from the mountains ran into a caldera. “I call it Ice Lake! When the moon rises it looks like there is a sheet of ice over the lake. I don’t know anypony else who comes out here.”
Derpy’s eyes were lit up with joy. “Oh Whirl! It is so beautiful! Are we going to go swimming?”
“Oh no, you wouldn’t like that. The water is as cold as the name. You would turn into a Derpy ice cube.” He said jokingly.
“Oh okay. Well what are we going to do?” Derpy asked curiously.
“There is something amazing near here that we are going to do after the moon rises. You will just have to wait and see.” Whirl said as he started his descent.
They landed on the shore of the lake gently and sat down next to each other. They cuddled together to stay warm as the moon started to rise between the two mountains. “Here it comes.” Whirl said as the moon reflected off of the lake.
“Wow! It does look like ice!” Derpy said excitedly.
“Wait, it gets better!” Whirl said with a smile.
The moon was rising even higher and the lake became translucent. At the bottom there was what looked like the entrance to a cave.
“Oh wow, look at that Whirl! There is a cave at the bottom of the lake! Let’s go explore it!” Derpy said excitedly as she stood up.
“We can’t, the water is way too cold.” Whirl said plainly.
“Oh come on! I am going to go and you can join me if you’d like.” She said as she jumped into the water.
“She is crazy! Just my kind of mare!” Whirl said as he jumped in after her.
The frigid water nearly made his heart stop. He dove down after her as fast as he could, using his wings to make him swim faster. He caught up to her just as they got to the entrance to the cave and he was starting to run out of breath. They entered the cave and they surfaced inside. Whirl exhaled as they resurfaced and then took in two big breaths. They made their way to the shore inside of the cave, which was already lit oddly enough, and got out of the water. “Wow, it is surprisingly warm in here, and it is lit up for some reason.” Derpy said with a smile.
Whirl nodded in agreement. “It is strange. Why would this cave be lit?”
“I don’t know but it would be cool to find out.” Derpy said as she started to move farther into the cave.
“Wait! We can’t explore too much, otherwise you will not get sleep to work.” Whirl said in a concerned voice.
“Whirl, it’s Saturday. No delivery tomorrow.” Derpy said with a grin.
“Oh, well in that case let’s go all out!” he said as he trotted ahead of her.
They continued forward through the cave looking for the source of the light. What they found made them both drop their jaws in shock. Princess Celestia was standing in front of what looked like a miniature sun. She turned and saw Whirl and Derpy standing there with shocked looks on their faces. “Well hello there Whirl Wind and Whirl’s friend. How did you find this place? A better question might be, how did you manage the swim?” Princess Celestia asked curiously.
Derpy was down in a bow before Celestia could finish her question, Whirl however was not. “While it was a cold swim, it was not an impossible one when you have the right inspiration. I found the lake just after I moved to Ponyville, it has been my favorite place to go and relax. What is all of this?” Whirl asked as he took a few steps forward in amazement.
Princess Celestia smiled. “You can stop bowing now young one.” She said to Derpy.
Derpy stood back up and caught up to Whirl. “Your majesty this is wonderful.” She said in awe.
“This is the celestial monitor. This is where Princess Luna and I monitor the sun, the moon, and the stars. Right now I am keeping an eye on a solar flare that is about to occur. Would you care to see it?” Celestia asked with a smile.
“Yes please your majesty.” Derpy said excitedly.
“This ought to be amazing.” Whirl said as he took a few more steps forward.
Princess Celestia’s horn started to glow and the miniature sun turned around. A string rocketed off of the side of the sun in a half ring and spread outward. It was truly an amazing sight.
“This isn’t going to hit us is it?” Whirl asked with concern.
“No it won’t. It is on the side of the sun facing away from us. It is just beautiful to watch.” Celestia responded.
“I agree Princess, it is amazing!” Derpy said happily.
“Indeed it is, you just made our nights I think.” Whirl said with a chuckle.
“I am glad I was able to make this night special. I was not expecting on having company here. It is a nice change considering this is the first time in a few thousand years since somepony found this place. I must ask you two to keep the cave a secret, it would be awful if I had to move again.” Celestia said kindly.
“Of course we can keep it a secret. Whirl here hasn’t even told me how much he likes me so he is good at keeping secrets.” Derpy said with a giggle.
“I was showing you how much I like you by bringing you to the lake I had never shown anypony else. But you have my word Celestia, I will not tell anypony.” Whirl said with a smile. “And I love you Derpy.”
Celestia let out a giggle. “A little informal tonight Whirl?”
Whirl blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry Princess Celestia, Luna got me into the habit of treating you like anypony else.”
“I understand, did you get her last letter?” Celestia asked with a smile.
“HER LETTER! Oh Whirl, I was going to give it to you when we got to my house! I am so sorry I forgot!” Derpy said sadly.
“It’s okay, I can read it later.” Whirl said with a chuckle.
“What were you two doing at the lake anyway?” Celestia suddenly asked.
“We were on a date!” Derpy said happily.
Whirl smiled. “Yes we were. I took Luna’s advice and started to look for love, and I found it right in front of my nose. It is the best kind of love, the kind that might lead to the perfect love.” Whirl said as he looked into Derpy’s eyes. One of them started to drift upward and Derpy covered her eye.
“No, not now.” She said sadly as she looked away.
Whirl took her hoof off of her eye. “Don’t hide it, it is a part of who you are and I love every bit of you.” He said lovingly.
Derpy smiled and hugged Whirl. “Thank you Whirl, you make me feel so good.”
“What is wrong with your eye? If you don’t mind me asking.” Princess Celestia asked just as suddenly as before.
“Not at all Princess Celestia, I uh… well look.” Derpy said as she walked over to Celestia and showed Celestia her eye.
“Oh dear, do you want me to… do you want me to fix it for you?” Princess Celestia asked.
Derpy gasped. “You… what? Fix? I-I-I-I-I…” she stammered.
Whirl walked up to Derpy and wrapped a wing around her back. She jumped at his touch. “Whirl, I don’t know. I mean you did say it is a part of me and that you loved me for it…”
“I would love you no matter what. If you think it will be good for you, then I say go for it. Whatever will make you happy.” Whirl said with a smile.
Derpy was almost crying. “I don’t know. It is what I have always wanted, but now that the offer is here I just don’t know.”
“Derpy, if you have always wanted it then it is a good thing for you. It will make you happy and if it doesn’t I will spend the rest of my life doing whatever I can to make you happy again.” Whirl said sincerely.
Derpy smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “Princess Celestia, would you please fix my eye?” she asked kindly.
Princess Celestia’s horn started to glow. “This may hurt a little.” She said as she concentrated her magic.
Derpy’s eye started to drift back into position as the magic continued. Then everything stood still and Derpy let out a squeak of pain. Celestia’s horn stopped glowing and Whirl held his breath. Derpy turned around slowly and Whirl saw her eyes, they were perfect. Derpy was crying and she jumped into Whirl for a hug. Whirl caught her and hugged her tightly while mouthing ‘Thank you.’ to Princess Celestia. Derpy was sobbing with pure joy as he held her in his fore hooves. “This is the happiest day of my life!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Whirl was crying a bit too now. He had never felt so happy for another pony. “I would have to agree with you Derpy, this is the happiest day of my life too.” He said with a crying chuckle.
Princess Celestia smiled. “As much as I would love to be able to stay longer, I must return to Canterlot. Unfortunately I cannot leave you here, but I can take you to where ever you want.” She said sadly.
“Take us to my house, I will walk her home.” Whirl said softly.
Princess Celestia’s horn started to glow again and they both felt a pulling feeling on them as they were teleported to Whirl’s house. Whirl was still holding her tightly. “Where do you think this will go?” he asked softly.
“What do you mean?” Derpy asked in a slight sob.
“Do you think we will ever… get married?”
“I-I don’t know… I never thought of it. But if I did marry it would only be you… just give it time.” Derpy replied happily.
Whirl let out a hum of approval and nuzzled Derpy as he held her. “I love you Derpy.” He said softly.
“I love you too Whirl. We should go to my house now.” She said softly.
“What do you say we get going then? We can make good time if we fly.” Whirl said with a smile.
“I would rather take our time and walk together.” Derpy replied as she broke away from the hug.
“That’s fine too.” Whirl said softly as he stood up as well.
Both of them walked out the front door with their wings over each other’s backs. It was late, almost midnight when they arrived at Derpy’s house and both of them were exhausted. “Whirl, tonight was amazing, thank you for showing me such a good time. I have never been on a date before.” Derpy said happily.
“Neither had I before tonight, it was really fun. What would you like to do tomorrow?” Whirl asked with a smile.
“Tomorrow? We are going to do this again?” Derpy asked with a grin.
“Why not? I figure you deserve the best and I definitely have the bits to do whatever you want.” Whirl said happily.
“How about I figure things out and I pay for it this time?” Derpy asked as she walked up to him a booped him on the nose.
“That does seem very gentlecolt like of me, but if you insist. I want you to do it only if you have the bits though.” Whirl said sincerely.
“I have a few bits saved up, not many, but enough to show us a good time. Don’t you worry about a thing, I will have a whole day planned for us.” Derpy said happily.
Whirl smiled widely and nodded. “I can’t wait, but we should get some sleep.”
Derpy nodded and yawned. “I agree. Come on, you can sleep with me.”
“Sleep… with you? In your bed?” Whirl asked awkwardly.
“Of course silly! I won’t let you sleep on the sofa when there is enough room for us to share a bed.” Derpy said happily.
Whirl was blushing intensely. “Oh, well I don’t want to be rude so…” he said as he followed her to her room.
The bed was just big enough to fit two ponies on it, but only if they were close together. Derpy leaped onto the bed with a giggle. “Well, are you coming?” She asked as she patted the bed.
Whirl got up onto the bed slowly and laid down. Derpy quickly pulled him close to her and gave him a kiss. “Comfy?” she asked with a smirk.
Whirl was blushing even more now, his whole coat was practically red. “Uh huh…” he said nervously.
“What’s wrong Whirl? You seem tense and nervous.” Derpy asked with a slight tone of concern.
“I uh, I have never shared a bed with anypony… ever.” Whirl admitted. “Let alone a pony I love, it is just a bit… different.” He said with a chuckle.
Derpy let out a giggle. “You ought to get used to it, because we will be sharing a bed a lot more.” She said as she cuddled against him.
Whirl’s eyes widened. “I oh uh I heh…” he sputtered nonsensically.
“You should see the look on your… face.” Derpy said with a yawn. “Just close your eyes and soon you will be asleep.”
Whirl nodded and closed his eyes, feeling so relaxed as he did so. “Goodnight Derpy.”
“Goodnight Whirl.” She replied.
****
BANG BANG BANG! Derpy let out a moan and Whirl rolled over, unwittingly rolling off of the bed and onto the floor. “Who could that be this early in the morning?” Whirl asked as she stood up. He walked to the door and another set of loud bangs rapped against the front door. Whirl opened it up, putting on his best ‘I wasn’t asleep two seconds ago’ face. “Hello, can I help you?” he asked the strange red earth pony at the door.
“Eeyup, you are working at our farm today right?” Big Macintosh asked with a smile.
Whirl didn’t recognize him and he thought for a moment to see if he could figure out what the pony was talking about. “Uhhh, this is probably going to sound very stupid… but who are you?”
Big Macintosh let out a small laugh. “You don’t remember me? I hauled you to the library when you got yourself cover in that black crystal stuff before the war.”
Whirl suddenly perked up. “Big Macintosh! How could I forget the pony who saved my life?!”
“Who is it Whirly bird?” Derpy asked sleepily.
“Derpy, this is Big Macintosh! He saved my life just before the war started! Oh wait, did you ask if I was going to work today? It’s Sunday, don’t you take breaks on Sundays?” Whirl asked in a confused tone.
“Nope. We can’t waste a single day if we are to get harvest in on time.” Big Macintosh explained.
Whirl turned to Derpy then to Big Mac, then to Derpy over and over. “Oh no… Uh Derpy, I need some help here.”
Big Macintosh look on in confusion as Derpy trotted up to Whirl. “What is it Whirl?” Derpy asked with a smile.
“Okay, it seems as though Big Macintosh and his family work on Sunday and I made a promise to work on their farm and if I go we will not get to spend today together.” Whirl said sadly.
“It’s okay, you made a promise. Go ahead and go to work, we can go spend a day together when you are done with the harvest.” Derpy said with a smile.
“Thank you Derpy, sorry about this.” Whirl said as he grabbed his saddle bag. “I’ll leave my album here. I want to look at it with you later.” Whirl said as he took out the heavy book and set in on the small table in front of the sofa. “I will be back at the end of the day. Love you Derpy.” He gave her a quick kiss and walked out the door, following Big Macintosh to their farm.
“So was that yer wife?” Big Macintosh asked with a sort of half smile.
“Someday I hope she will be, she is really amazing.” Whirl said happily.
“Ah know that feeling, ah was forced to experience it when my sister poisoned me and their school teacher with a love poison. It was the cutest thing ever, but after they managed to break the spell it had put over us we found a real connection with each other that we never expected to find.” Big Macintosh said happily.
“Funny how that goes huh? One moment you are just living and working, the next moment you are in love and you are planning a wedding in your mind.” Whirl said in a reminiscing tone.
Big Macintosh let out a laugh. “Love is definitely a kick to the head, but a good kick none the less. Ah’ve been meanin to ask ya, why are you so big? Normally you flying types are really light and nimble.”
Whirl let out a loud laugh. “If I had a bit for every time I was asked about my size I would have enough to buy my own apple orchard. You see, my father was an earth pony and my mom was a pegasi with an earth pony heritage. It resulted in my family being really diverse. My older brother was a unicorn, as surprising as that may sound, but my great great grandfather was a unicorn and it skipped a few generations. My little brother and littler sister were earth ponies, both of them were quite strong as well but they never used their strength for any practical use. That just left me, the only pegasi in our family besides my mother. We have speculated that the earth pony blood is running heavily within me while I have just a hint of pegasi. And don’t you be fooled, I am quite nimble for a pony my size too.” Whirl explained.
“Well, that would explain it then. And look at that, your long explanation was just what we needed to pass the time.” Big Macintosh said with a smile as they reached the farm. “You and ah will be bucking the rest of the south orchard this morning, then if you are as fast as AJ says you are, we will buck as much of the west orchard as possible.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s get started then.” Whirl said as they started to walk towards the southern field.
“Now hold up yall! I know for a fact you to didn’t eat breakfast like I told Big Macintosh to tell you. Now get your tukuses in here and grab a bite before I tell Applebloom that there is a cutie mark for wrangling ponies that skip breakfast.” Applejack said sternly as she poked her head out of their house.
“There’s a cutie mark for what?!” Applebloom shouted in the distance.
“Nothin Applebloom, we were just talking about somepony else’s cutie mark!” Big Macintosh called back as he and Whirl stepped into their house.
Whirl chuckled and he walked in the door, he spotted a table with five plates sitting on it. He waited for everypony else to take a seat before he took one. “Alright everypony, we have company over so yall mind yer manners.” Applejack said sternly.
Applejack lifted a lid off of the tray that was in the center of the table. On the tray laid the largest mountain of pancakes Whirl had not seen since he dined with his family. Applejack and Big Macintosh served up everypony at the table and Applejack announced, “Dig in!” happily. Whirl smiled and leaned back in his chair, he then plopped one of his fore hooves down on the edge of his plate sending the pancakes flying into the air. Whirl opened his mouth and caught all five in one bite and chewed them up quickly before swallowing.
“Well would yall look at that! Whirl is just full of surprises!” Applejack said with excitement.
“I want to try!” Applebloom suddenly shouted as she slammed a hoof down on her plate.
“Applebloom no!” Whirl called out, but it was too late. The pancakes, which were covered in syrup smacked into Appleblooms face, not getting into the air at all. She just sat there for a moment thinking about why it didn’t work and the pancakes fell into her lap.
“Applebloom, just because somepony else can do it, doesn’t mean you can.” Applejack said with a sigh. “Now go get yourself cleaned up and come fix yourself some more pancakes.”
“Yes Applejack.” Applebloom said sadly as she pushed back away from the table.
Whirl had his fore hooves over his mouth trying to hold back a laugh, he didn’t want to embarrass Applebloom. Once she was out of the room Whirl contained his laughter and let out a sigh. “Sorry about that you guys, I didn’t mean to put the idea in her head.” Whirl said with a nervous chuckle.
“It’s alright youngin’. She was bound to try it eventually.” Granny Smith said as she copied Whirl’s move perfectly. “She just needs practice.”
“Wow, that was amazing uh… I don’t think I caught your name Mrs…?” Whirl asked kindly.
“Yall just call me Granny Smith now, I won’t have this Mrs. this and Mrs. that stuff.” Granny Smith replied with what looked like a toothless smile.
“Granny Smith I didn’t know you could do that.” Applejack said in a surprised tone.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me whippersnapper. Maybe you should act out more.” Granny Smith said with a laugh.
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh said simply as he finished his last pancake. “Let’s go get to work Whirl.”
“Sure thing. Granny Smith, it was nice to meet you. Applejack, the pancakes were amazing, best I have had in a long time. Thank you.” Whirl said as he excused himself from the table and followed Big Macintosh out the door.
When they were outside Big Macintosh let out a loud laugh. “That in there was priceless!” he said as they continued to walk.
Whirl let out a laugh of his own. “It was funny, I had to fight back the urge to laugh right when it happened. I didn’t want to embarrass her or anything. Not that she should be ashamed or anything, I did the same thing the first five times I tried that. The key is to not have syrup on the pancakes.” Whirl said loudly as he saw Applebloom out of the corner of his eye.
“No syrup huh?” Applebloom said quietly before heading back inside to finish her breakfast.
“APPLEBLOOM!” Applejack said as Whirl heard a clatter of dishes from inside.
Whirl and Big Macintosh let out another series of laughs as they walked along. “I forgot the mention that you can only do it when you have bigger hooves.” Whirl said with a laugh.
Big Macintosh gave him a pat on the back. “That was just cruel Whirl, but funny.” He said as they reached the south orchard.
They soon got to where Whirl left off and started to buck the trees. “Want me to keep your pace, or do you want me to go as fast as I can.”
“Take your time, there is no need to wear yourself out early.” Big Macintosh said as he bucked another tree.
“No need to worry about that, I have excellent endurance thanks to my father.” Whirl said with a smile as he bucked another tree.
“Is that because he was an earth pony?” Big Macintosh asked with a chuckle.
“No, it’s because he made me hold rocks over my head for hours on end. He used to always say that if I dropped it I would only be hurting myself. Boy was he right!” Whirl said with a laugh.
“Alright then, but if you are tuckered out half way through the day I still expect you to work.” Big Macintosh said plainly.
“It’s a deal.” Whirl said as he started to pick up that pace. One tree, two trees, five trees, ten trees. Whirl was working like a machine as he bucked one tree after another.
“Now how come I never heard about you before Whirl? I mean my cousin never stops talking about Appleoosa and AJ tells me that is where you used to work.” Big Macintosh explained.
“I gave credit to my team, I usually tried to fly under the eye of the leaders. I didn’t want to be treated differently.” Whirl admitted. “My team was ranked number one in apple bucking while I was there.”
“Mighty noble of ya ta do that. Why not take credit where credit is due though?”
“What would I do with credit? I have tons of credit right now and I don’t want it. I am just an average pony with an average life and that is all I have wanted really. Even my dreams of joining the Wonderbolts was just something I wanted for a career. I didn’t want fame, I didn’t want money, I just wanted to live my life to the fullest. Then the war started and everything changed so fast. Suddenly I was hated by everypony and there wasn’t a single one of them who didn’t know my name! I went and did something I thought was noble and everypony paid the price! King Sombra stole my body and killed thousand!” CRACK!
Whirl’s anger had been building as he spoke and he had unintentionally kicked a tree in half. It fell with a loud thud against the ground and Whirl just stared at in with a dumbstruck expression. Big Macintosh walked up next to him and stared at it with a neutral expression. “Nothing like letting out your anger huh?” Big Macintosh said calmly.
“I’m sorry Big Ma-“
“Just answer the question Whirl, did it feel good to let out you anger?” Big Macintosh interrupted him with the same calm voice.
“Yes it did. I’m sorry it was directed at your tree.” Whirl said with a guilty tone.
“It’s alright, it wouldn’t be the first one that has been kicked down. I kicked one down after Applejack left home for Manehatten when she was just a filly. Granny Smith simply laughed and said, it’s good you are putting that anger into your work instead of holding it inside.” Big Macintosh said with a smile.
“Wise words indeed. I could have used them when I got home. Thank you for helping me to get rid of my anger. Is that why Applejack wanted you to work with me today?” Whirl asked with a smirk.
“Eeyup. She thought you could use the extra motivation.” Big Macintosh said with a chuckle. “Why don’t yall take the rest of the day off? Yall should reflect on what you were saying when you kicked down this here tree.”
“Alright, I think I will. Thank you again Big Macintosh, I owe you all one.” Whirl said happily.
“Taint nothing Whirl, glad to help a friend.” Big Macintosh said as he got back to work.
Whirl smiled and took off to Derpy’s house. He went as fast as he could and arrived quickly. He skidded to a halt just outside her door and knocked on it excitedly. The door opened shortly after and Whirl grabbed her and swung her around. “I just had the greatest feeling ever! I’m not angry anymore!” Whirl said happily.
Derpy laughed as he swung her around. “That’s great Whirl! But why are you back so early? You were only gone for two hours!”
“Big Macintosh gave me the day off after I kicked down a tree!” Whirl said happily.
“You did what?!”