A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

2 - First Contact

Martin groaned as he came back to the world of the living. He rubbed his head where he smacked himself with the rock and felt a knot and pain as he gently poked it. "Damn… I had the weirdest dream…"
"That we saw two talking colored ponies? Cause I had the exact dream…" Mike said as Martin looked over and saw him holding his side. "And why the hell do I hurt so much?" He tried to sit up but hissed in pain.
Martin looked around the room, noticing that they were in a library of sorts, lying on two couches. "Mate, I'm not too sure that it was a dream…"
Something shook a nearby table and Mike saw the end to a pink tail. "Uh… I don’t think it was either." He said, pointing towards the tail.
Martin slowly got up and made his way towards the table. "Um… hello?"
There was a small squeak of fear as the tail started to shiver. "Uh… I think you're scaring it." Mike whispered as he forced himself to his feet and stumbled over.
Martin caught him before he fell. "You ok?"
Mike coughed and some blood came up. "I'm fine; I think the rib hit a lung or something." He coughed again. "I think we should leave it alone, it looks petrified."
Martin raised an eyebrow. "Your rib is sticking into your lung but oh no, just gimme a plaster!" He chuckled.
Mike faintly smiled. "Well, if only we had a basilisk, that problem would be solved… but I'll make do with a stick and some tape." He noticed a book covered in a purple aura floating behind Martin. "Uh… what the hay is that?"
Martin turned around and yelped in fear. "What?! How… I mean, that can't be real!" He poked the book and it slowly floated away.
Mike heard soft hoof steps behind Martin and saw the purple pony from yesterday, her horn surrounded by the same purple aura that held the book. His eyes grew as he realized it. "Dude… I think… I think that's magic…"
Martin looks at Mike like he's crazy. "Magic? I think you hit your head a lot harder than we thought; we both know there's no such thing…"
Mike bent down and ignored the pain as best he could to get a better look at the other pony. "Dude… this one… this one has wings?!" He said, dumbfounded as he slowly went to poke it.
The pony eeped and tried to force herself farther underneath the table. A purple force field materialized in front of them and pushed them away from her. Mike staggered backwards and Martin stumbled over the couch and land on his back.
"Ouch!" Martin yelled, lying on the ground.
"Leave her alone!" The other pony shouted.
"Why? Of all things it could've done, it chose to make me fall over!" Martin grumbled as he got up and angrily stared at the purple pony.
"What were you two doing to Fluttershy?" She asked, staring at him.
"I think I'm still dreamin'." Martin muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"Someone must have put something good in our drinks when we weren't looking." Mike whispered.
"Mate… I think I'm gonna conjure up a stiffy if things keep going the way they are…"
Mike laughed as he held his side and shook his head. "Pretty sure that wouldn't help us in this situation."
Martin put on a goofy grin. "You never know…"
"What in the name of Equestria are you talking about?" The unicorn asked, confused.
Mike gave her a small smile. "It's nothing of importance Ms.?"
Martin walked over to her and she quickly takes a few steps back. "Not even Notch could know what is going on right now…"
Mike chuckled. "Notch would ask why everything isn't pixelated." He glanced back at the pony underneath the table; her bright aqua eyes staring into his emerald ones. "It's ok… I promise I won't hurt you…" He whispered. "Besides, I'm in no condition to do anything…"
Martin turned around and stared at the pony too. "I swear you will not be harmed by me and if I do, Arkay shall have my soul."
"Psst… I don't think she understands…"
Before he could say anything, the library door flew open and five other ponies rushed in. "Get away from Fluttershy ya hairless monkeys!" One of them shouted.
Martin looked at the group, they all barely came up to his waist. "Who are ya calling monkeys? I don’t think they have very good knowledge about any other species." He said angrily, staring at them.
Two ponies in particular seemed to glare at the two humans. One was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane that flew up right into Martin's face. "Who the hay do you think you are?" She asked.
"Is it wise to argue with them?" Mike whispered, still resting against the back of the couch.
Martin moved a little closer to him. "Mate, I'm not even sure if this is real… and even if it is, what's the worst that could happen? I'm sure Steandarr will watch over us."
Mike eyed the purple unicorn. "I'm sure that the purple unicorn over there can throw us pretty high in the sky with her magic powers." He whispered before clearing his throat. "Why don't we all try and calm down and take a moment to talk?" He tried to reason with everyone.
"Alright sugarcube… we're listenin' ta ya." The orange pony said. She had bright green eyes and a few freckles underneath along with a long blonde mane and tail. She wore a brown stetson hat on her head and had a very noticeable southern drawl.
Mike looked at Martin and gave him a small smile. "Didn't think that would actually work." He whispered before he cleared his throat again. "Well… anyway my name is -" he's interrupted as he started to cough, blood spewing from his mouth.
"Mate… you should rest..." Martin looked at him with concern.
Mike held up a hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine…" He clears his throat for the third time. "Now as I was saying, I'm Michael and this is…" He looked at Martin to continue.
"And I'm Martin; we're humans from the planet Earth and we come in peace. May thee Nine guide you." He said as he gave them a small bow.
"Nine what; ponies?" The blue pegasus questioned as the orange one glared at her.
"The Nine gods that guide us; well at least they guide me." Martin admitted, standing to his full height again.
The ponies stared at Mike as he raised an eyebrow. "What? I don’t believe in that Nine gods hullabaloo…" He looked at them. "And may I ask what your names are?"
Suddenly the very essence of pink shoved her face into Mike's. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie but my friends call me Pinkie. It's nice to meet you and since you're new to Equestria, that means I can throw you a party." She talked a thousand words per second. "You'll let me throw a party right? What pony wouldn’t want me to throw them a party?" She giggled.
"Oh god… pink is attacking!" Mike stammered.
The orange pony laughed as she grabbed Pinkie away from him. "Mah name is Applejack, but you can call me AJ fer short."
A marshmallow white unicorn with poofy purple hair that looked like it was styled stared at them with her blues eyes. "And I'm Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire."
The cyan pegasus hovered in front of them and puffed her chest out with pride. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria!"
The purple unicorn sighed as the force field dissipated. "And I'm Twilight Sparkle and the pegasus underneath the table is Fluttershy."
Mike and Martin both nodded to each of them as they said their names. "Nice to meet you all." Mike said with a smile as he pointed to Fluttershy. "Is she like this with everyone?" He whispered.
Twilight nodded. "Yes, she is very shy to anypony…" The table shook as Fluttershy's pink mane came into view as she slowly got out and stood on her hooves, her mane blocking anyone from seeing her face.
"Hey Fluttershy…" Mike whispered, giving her a little wave.
She peeked at him and their eyes locked for a brief moment, aqua pools staring into liquid emeralds before their faces turned red and Fluttershy went back to hiding beneath her mane. She whispered something that no one could pick up.
"Um… excuse me, I couldn’t hear, what was that?" Mike asked, his voice a few decibels higher than hers.
"Um… nice to meet you…" She whispered, trying to make herself invisible.
Mike smiled at her. "Nice to meet you too…" He whispered.
There was an awkward pause as no one knew what to say. "Soooo… I don’t wanna be rude, but my friend here needs some medical treatment."
Mike rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
Fluttershy, AJ, and Twilight looked between Martin and Mike. "What happened ta him?" AJ asked.
Martin scratched the back of his neck. "Well… he sorta broke his nose and rib." He paused. "In the name of Stendarr, I ask you to help my friend."
Twilight's horn glowed briefly as the same aura encased Mike. "Hmm… he has a similar bone structure to us but the anatomy is different." She looked at Martin. "We can get a nurse over but I'm not sure what she could do."
"I said I was fine…" Mike muttered.
Martin smiled. "Thank you."
Twilight nodded before looking at Rainbow. "Dash, could you go get Nurse Redheart?"
Rainbow gave a quick salute. "I'm on it; I'll be back in ten seconds flat." She paused to look at them before disappearing, her tail leaving a rainbow trail.
Martin whistled. "Gotta go fast..."
"That's…really fast…" Mike muttered.
Pinkie giggled as she waved a hoof. "Oh that’s nothing, you should've seen her break the sound barrier."
Martin and Mike looked at each other as there was a moment of silence, only to be broken by Martin's stomach voicing a complaint. He smiled sheepishly. "Oh boy, I haven't eaten since…" He rubbed his chin, trying to remember. "I don’t even remember…"
"It's been a while…" Mike admitted.
Twilight shuffled her hooves as she gave them a smile. "It may not be what you're used to, but I can go get you something to eat." She said as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Thank you kindly." Martin said.
More silence as the four ponies and two humans didn’t know what to say. "Are you hungry?" Rarity asked Mike as he leaned against the couch.
He shook his head. "Not really, more in pain than hungry."
"Aww, he's just bluffing." Martin said as he bent down and slapped him on the side.
Mike coughed and some blood landed on his hand. "Ouch; broken rib remember?!" He said, glaring at Martin. "Probably did that on purpose…" He muttered.
Martin looked appalled and put his hand on his chest. "Me? I would-" He started to laugh. "Ok, who am I trying to kid here?" Mike chuckled and smiled. "You know I don’t mean it right?"
"Of course you don’t."
"See." He said, smacking Mike on the shoulder.
"Oh gee, thanks." Mike chuckled.
"Oh… um… maybe you shouldn’t hit him… I mean, if that’s ok with you… it looks like it hurts a lot… I'm not sure, but only if you want to." Fluttershy whispered, surprising everyone.
Martin smiled as Mike and Fluttershy's faces turned red. "Of course; I promise I won't harm you and if it causes you harm to see him in pain, I'll stop."
Fluttershy face turned even redder. "Would you like some hay sandwiches or some dandelion salad?" Twilight asked from the kitchen.
"Uh… no, but thanks for asking." Mike whispered as his stomach betrayed him.
"Your stomach says otherwise." AJ said with a smile.
He glared at his stomach. "Quiet you, what did I tell you earlier?"
Pinkie walked up and rested her head on his stomach and listened for a moment. "No more eating dirt? But why would you eat dirt, that’s not good, even with sugar…" She said.
Martin looked at the pink pony before looking at Mike. "The fuck?"
Twilight walked out of the kitchen, dejected as she looked at them. "I forgot that I haven't gone to the market so all I have is bread? Is that ok?"
"Sure, that’s no problem." Mike whispered as he looked away from Pinkie to Twilight.
She nodded and went back inside the kitchen, coming out moments later, levitating two plates next to her; each had a loaf of bread. She passed one to each of the humans, who started to bite into it.
"Thanks again Twilight." Mike whispered in between bites.
She smiled at him as she looked at the clock. "You're welcome, I'm glad I could help. I'm surprised Dash isn't back ye-"
She was interrupted by a voice outside. "Dash, what in the name of Celestia are you doing?"
Dash flew through the still open door and carried another white pony on her back. "Dash, you can't just ponynap me; there are sick ponies that still need my help." She said, glaring at the pegasus.
"Well we have a sick monkey that needs help here."
"Not monkeys." Martin stage coughed as the nurse looked at him. "Anyways, my friend is in need of aid. Could you please help him?" The unicorn stared at him confused, before hopping off Dash's back.
She slowly circled around Mike, poking him in random places, and grimaced. "I'm not sure what I can do… his anatomy is too different for me to be what the rib damaged… but I can put it back in place, but it will hurt… a lot."
Before Mike could say anything, Martin spoke with a grin. "You want me to hold him down, Nurse Redheart?"
"Wait what?" Mike said as he tried to get to his feet. "No, no, I'm fine; I don’t need any crazy pony doctor."
Martin pushes him onto the ground and holds him still. "Don’t worry, it won't hurt that much."
"Make sure you keep him steady." Nurse Redheart said as she put her forehooves on his chest.
Mike looked skeptically at her. "Huh… I thought you said it was going to- FUCKING A!" He screamed as she pushed against the broken rib and tried to realign it with the other one. The world swam and started to turn black as he babbled incoherently, fighting against Martin.
Martin looked sadly as he fought to keep him still. "We're almost done." Redheart said, her eyes narrowed in concentration, beads of sweat on her forehead. There was a resounding crack and she sat down, wiping sweat from her brow.
Mike's face was completely pale. "Ouch…" he said in a tiny voice before he succumbed to the pain, his eyes rolling back into his head.
"Wow… must have been painful." Martin said as he leaned Mike against the couch.
"Yeah, I had to realign his rib into place." Redheart said as she quickly realigned his nose. "Not to be rude, but what are you? I mean no offense, but you look like hairless bipedal apes to me."
Martin sighed. "By Julianos, we are humans, homo-sapiens if you desire. We aren't monkeys… but we are closely related to them; we are the product of thousands of years of evolution."
"Oh… I'm sorry if I offended you." She smiled apologetically before looking over at the mares. "If that was all, I need to return to the hospital."
Twilight nodded. "Thanks again Redheart."
Redheart headed towards the door. "May Stendarr bless you Nurse Redheart." Martin bowed to her as she left the library. Martin picked Mike up and gently laid him down on the couch, his head resting against the armrest.
"Is he going to be alright?" Twilight asked, looking at the resting human
"I'm sure he will, he's had worse before."
Twilight walked up to Mike and poked his glasses. "And those things on his nose, are glasses?"
"Indeed they are." Martin said as he walked towards the group.
Fluttershy eeped and backed up. "…Yes?" Twilight as she looked up at him.
His face was emotionless. "I have a few questions…"
"Oh; what's on your mind?" Twilight asked.
"Where… are we?"
"Specifically my house, also known as the town library or in general, we're in the land of Equestria. And you two are from Earth? I've never heard of that place…"
He sighed. "It can't be…" He whispered to himself. "Well Earth isn't a country, it’s a planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. It circles around the sun with eight other planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune."
Twilight scratched her head with her hoof. "So wait, your sun doesn’t need anypony to raise and lower the sun or moon and it has its own gravitational pull?" She squealed, clapping her forehooves together. "This is so exciting!" She levitated a scroll and quill over and started to write down everything he said. "Hmm… those names sound like ancient Equestrian constellations."
Martin raised his eyebrow. "Uh huh… well there is one more planet, but it's not a planet anymore; it's a dwarf planet, Pluto. But let's go back to Earth; it's inhabited by millions of species, mostly humans though. There are more countries than I could ever remember. All humans vary in height, shape, color of skin, and everything like that. Some are black, some are Asian."
She frantically scribbled them down before she paused and re-read it. "Black, Asian? What do you mean?"
"Well as you can see, my skin is white… and black people have a fairly dark skin color, and Asians are just a certain type of person from a certain part of the world."
"Oh… I guess that makes sense." She muttered, making a small note. "So there's more than one type of humans?"
"No, we are all the same… there is no such thing as a difference apart the way we look."
"Oh… so all different looks, but same personalities?" She asked.
"That must be soooo boring." Dash muttered.
"No… everyone has a mind of their own, we all think differently. It's just that I think no matter who you are, we are all still equal." He sighed. "But not everyone shares my opinion."
"Oh…" They all seemed to say together, minus Fluttershy, who was looking at Mike from behind her mane. There was a pause.
"So…" Dash started.
"Yes?" Martin asked, his eyebrow rose.
"What type of government does your planet have? Who rules your planet? What did you mean the sun raises and lowers itself? How long have you two known each other? What does your species eat? Why are you wearing clothes? Why do you have hair on your arms and head but he has facial hair and not the rest of your body? How did you even get here?" Twilight interrupted, rambling a bunch of questions.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not one person rules the entire planet; we have a democracy in most countries. The Earth rotates in a clockwise motion while it circles the sun. Michael and I have known each other for maybe a few weeks. We eat almost anything, being omnivorous; our teeth can handle most things but our bodies can't, for example we can't eat hay. We wear clothes to keep warm and we have hair on our arms and legs because of the way our ancestors used to live. It was still required thousands of years ago." He shrugged. "And I'm not sure how we got here; one moment Mike and I were fishing, then this creature comes and throws us through a portal and then here we are."
"And you choose to wear those… rags as clothes?" Rarity huffed.
"And the portal closed behind you two?" Twilight asked as she glanced at Rarity.
"That it did." Mike muttered as he leaned up, gasping in pain, holding his side.
"Welcome back." Martin snickered before he looked at Rarity. "And what's wrong with a good old Minecraft t-shirt?"
"Minecraft? What is this Minecraft?" Rarity asked, confused.
"Oh yeah, it doesn’t exist here…" Martin mumbled, his eyes widened. "Anyways, Michael, how do you feel?"
"Like that car came back for revenge, but I'm feeling a little better… just sore as hell." He muttered, still holding his side as he took a shaky breath. "So, what did I miss?"
"Not much." He said as he patted Mike's shoulder.
"Ah… good, for a minute there I thought I missed something important…" He looked around. "Where did nurse go? I wanted to thank her."
"Don’t worry, I took care of that." Martin sad.
"Ah, thanks buddy."
"Anything for my meat shield." Martin chuckled as he raised a fist and waited as Mike bumped his fist with it.
Mike looked at Fluttershy, as she cowered behind Rarity. "What happened to her?" He whispered to Martin.
He grinned. "Ya know… it's just Fluttershy."
"Yeah, but she didn’t look completely scared of us as she does now." He muttered.
Martin glanced at her briefly. "You're right, no idea what's wrong though."
"What are you two discussing there?!" Dash interrupted, flying close to them.
"Uh… nothing?" Martin said with a shrug.
"Yeah… we were just wondering why the portal dropped us here, right?" Mike looked quickly at Martin. Martin nodded his head.
She narrowed her eyes at him before she flew back towards the others. "What do you think we should do?"
"No idea…" Mike muttered.
Martin sighed. "We better finish the bread." He walked over and sat down on the opposite couch and started eat the bread.
"I guess… could you pass me my piece?" Mike asked and Martin nodded.
While they ate, the ponies watched them carefully, especially Dash, who looked at them as if they were doing something suspicious. Soon, nothing was left but crumbs on the plates and Martin patted his stomach happily. He grabbed Mike's plate and set it down on top of his.
"Aww… that was lovely." Martin said.
Mike nodded. "Thanks Twilight, I'd have to agree with him."
Martin rubbed his hands nervously, his fingers twitching. "Damn…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a butterfly-knife. He flung it a few times and the blade appeared, the metal blade reflecting in the light. Everypony gasped at the sight of the metal reflecting. Fluttershy eeped in fear, shaking as Dash and AJ stood out in front while Twilight's horn glowed.
Mike looked at the ponies. "Uh… you should put that away..." Mike insisted, looking quickly between him and the ponies.
Martin ignored everyone as he began flicking the knife between his fingers; the blade looked as if it was dancing around his hand without cutting it. It was elegant yet frightening to watch. He sighed and closed the blade in a smooth, practiced motion and put it back inside. "Sorry, I-I just needed to do that."
They looked at Mike and he quickly raised his hands. "What? I don’t have anything like that on me."
Dash slowly hovered towards Martin. "Why do you have a knife?" She calmly asked.
He stared at her. "To protect those I love and to deal with nervousness." She didn't answer and floated away. "I don’t intend to harm any of you unless you harm me or my friend." He said, emotionless.
Mike sighed in exasperation before looking at Twilight. "So… any questions?"
Pinkie immediately raised her hoof and jumped up and down. "Oh me! ME! What type of cake do you want for the party?" She asked, continuously bouncing.
Mike looked at Martin. "Party? Why would there be a party?"
Before Martin could answer, Pinkie hopped close to them and tilted her head. "Oh you dummy; if there's a new po- I mean human, I have to throw them a party to celebrate that you’re here!" She yelled with a huge smile.
Mike stared blankly at her. "I don’t need a party, do you?" He asked Martin.
He shook his head no. "Uh… I'm no fan of parties to be honest."
Pinkie stared at them and blinked a few times before she giggled. "Aww, you old fibbers! You almost got me there!"
Martin scratched the back of his neck. "…I wasn't lying…"
"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of parties either." Mike said, looking at her sadly.
Her bottom lip began to quiver and her eyes got huge, tears starting to form in the corners. "No party?" She said, doing the best puppy dog face either had seen.
"I mean, I would love a party, right Martin?" Mike said quickly, giving Martin a look to agree.
"…I guess…" He said, still uncertain about the idea.
She smiled and bounced up and down faster. "Yay, then we'll have to have super duper awesome 'First Humans in Equestria' party bonanza!"
Mike looks at Martin. "Lucky us…"
"Indeed." Martin agreed with a sigh.
"Oh, I should write a letter to the Princess and inform her!" Twilight yelled, startling everyone before she disappeared into the other room.
"Princess?" Mike asked the remaining ponies.
"Duh? She's the one in charge." Dash said as she rolled her eyes.
"What about her mom or dad; shouldn’t they be in charge?" He asked.
All the ponies seemed taken aback. "What do you mean?" Rarity asked, confused.
Mike rubbed his hands together nervously. "The king and queen; if she's a princess, then her parents would be the ruling king and queen…"
"I'm afraid there never was a king or queen as far as anypony can remember." Rarity answered. "It has always been Princess Celestia and Luna for thousands of years."
"Oh… oh then my apologies…" He said in his low voice.
"By the divines, this is one hell of a different place if you ask me." Martin muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah… it's a bit different than where we're from…" Mike sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.
Twilight came back from the other room with a sigh, rolling up a parchment. "I informed the princess of our unique visitors and she said she'd like to formally introduce herself but the soonest she could is tomorrow afternoon."
"That's good?" Mike asked her.
The parchment flew to rest on the coffee table next to Mike and Martin. "Not as good as it could have been."
"Oh? What do you-" Mike paused. "Never mind…"
The awkward moment from earlier reared its head and continued in full force before Martin cleared his throat. "It's still pretty early; maybe we could do something to pass the time?" He looked at the assembled ponies. "Do any of you need help with any work?"
"Well… are ya any good at apple buckin'?" AJ inquired.
"Buck what now?" Martin asked, his eyebrow raised as he looked at AJ.
"Ya know, buck the apples off a tree?" She said a little irritated.
"She means kick them off the tree." Twilight whispered.
"Well why didn’t you say that in the first place?" Martin asked, confused.
AJ shrugged. "Kickin', buckin', it’s the same darn thing."
Mike chuckled as he looked at Martin. "I don't think they meant what you were thinking."
Martin was silent as a light bulb seemed to go off and he looked at Mike with horror and disgust. "JESUS MICHAEL! DEAR LORD NO! OH GOD… WHO GAVE YOU THAT IDEA!?"
"You implied it."
"Oh Jesus no! That's not what I meant at all!" He said loudly, putting his hands over his ears. The ponies looked at them confused.
Mike started to laugh, holding his side in pain. "Well if I knew it was that easy to disturb you, I would've done it a long time ago. And you were implying it you know." He turned and looked at the ponies. "It's a complicated human thing."
Martin glared at his friend. "One day Michael, my knife will be stuck in your back!"
"Well that’s not very nice and here I thought I was your friend."
He glared at him. "But you know you deserve it sometimes… we all do."
"That we do." Mike said as he glanced at AJ. "So… apple kicking?"
"Eeyup, just follow me and Ah'll lead ya ta Sweet Apple Acres." She said as she walked towards the door.
They both got off the couch, Mike with a little more difficulty before falling back onto it in pain. "You know, why don’t I just stay here. Martin, go see it and tell me how it is."
"See what?" He asked before he blushed slightly. "Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention."
Mike sighed. "Go with AJ and see her farm, it sounds nice."
He stared blankly into the air before quickly snapping out of his thoughts. "Uhh… sure, lead the way."
AJ nodded and walked out of the library, beckoning him with a tail flick to follow her. "It's not that far, just on the other side of town."
Martin quickly caught up to her, shutting the door behind him and frowned. "And how big is the town?”
She was silent as she put a hoof to her chin and thought about it. "Not that big, maybe a couple thousand hoof lengths? I'd say it'd take a good fifteen minutes."
He stared at her. "A couple thousand?" He looked around for a second. "Well ok… could be worse."
"Ya, we could be in Manehattan, that place is huge! Takes ferever ta find anything and ta get anywhere."
Martin stretched his arms in a Superman pose. "Onwards to victory!" He yelled, running in a random direction.
She whooped and ran after him. "Now that’s the spirit but mah farm is over that way." She said, pointing behind them.
He stopped and quickly turned around. "I knew that; test for you!"
She shook her head and trotted in the opposite direction as Martin ran after her, and passed her. She caught up to him with a few strides. "You remind me of Mare Do Well." She said with a laugh as she led him back to her farm.

=

Twilight walked over to Mike. "So Michael, right?"
He looked at her. "…Yes?" He said, his voice small.
"Maybe you could help out here or you could go with Fluttershy and help her at her cottage?" Twilight suggested and Fluttershy winced after she heard her name mentioned.
She lightly tapped the unicorn's shoulder. "Umm… Twilight, I don’t want to be rude… but do you think it's a good idea to leave him with… me?" She squeaked the last word, hiding behind her mane with a terrified look.
Mike looked between the two ponies and fiddled with his fingers. "Whatever makes you comfortable, I'll do to help out… I don’t want to be a problem to any… pony?" He mumbled.
Twilight looked at her friend before looking back at Mike. "Well we don’t want you doing any hard work like AJ would've asked you. I'm sure you'll be more helpful to Fluttershy since I have Spike." Fluttershy still looked worried, ruffling her wings.
Mike looked at Fluttershy and they both blushed. "Do you mind if I help? I mean, if it'll make you feel better, I'll stay here and help Twilight." He whispered with a small smile.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight and her friend gave her a reassuring smile. "I… um… if you want…" Her voice was barely audible.
Twilight smiled. "Then it's settled, you'll help Fluttershy around her cottage."
He gulped as he got off the couch and held his side as he limped over to the door and opened it for her. She mumbled something to inaudible and sunk towards the ground as he got closer. "I'm sorry but could you repeat that?" He asked.
She slid lower to the ground, her face now completely hidden. "I-I'll lea-lead the way…" She said, slightly louder.
He nodded and waited for her by the door of the library as she made her way slowly towards him. He waved a quick goodbye to Twilight before shutting the door behind him, walking silently with the terrified pegasus.