A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

6 - Broken Cowpony

The night was cold as the snow continued its steady downpour till the early morning, the sun just beginning to rise. It was hard to see, the heavy cloud cover blocking its warmth.
Mike yawned as he woke up, stretching and blindly reached around for his glasses. He saw Martin was still fast asleep. He checked the time on his phone and saw it was still really early as he stealthily made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He went into the main room, and scanned through the shelves again, before he picked another book at random and sat down to read.
Martin woke a little while later. He looked over at the empty sleeping bag and staggered up, his legs still asleep. He grunted in pain as he hit the door frame, coming into the main room. He saw Mike sitting on the couch, reading a book. "Mornin' mate." He said groggily, yawning into his good hand.
"Mornin'." He said, not looking up as he continued to read.
"Whatcha reading this early?"
"Equestrian Myths and Legends." He muttered. "Figured that we'd be in here somewhere… and yeah, we apparently may have been in Equestria or at least our early ancestors."
"Hmm… cool." Martin said, walking into the kitchen, noticing it was only five twenty in the morning. "Damn, we got up early…"
Mike chuckled. "Yeah, well this is the usual time I get up anyway…"
Martin stifled a yawn and rummaged through the cupboards till he found a glass and filled it with water from the sink and drank some. "You want some?" He asked.
Mike looked up from his book. "Sure, I'll take a glass of water."
Martin nodded and grabbed another glass, quickly filling it with water before walking back to him and handed it him. He raised his glass. "God save the Queen." He said, tapping his glass against Mike's before draining the water in one sip. "Aww… that's exactly what I needed."
Mike nodded and drank some. "Wow… this is pretty good for tap." He slowly sipped some as he went back to reading.
The sound of hooves coming down the stairs caused Martin and Mike to turn and looked at Twilight, who had a serious case of bed mane. "Morning." She said, walking right past them and into the bathroom.
Mike stared at the closed door before he laughed. "Morning Twilight."
"Mornin' Twilight." Martin responded.
A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, her mane back to normal. "How are you two?" She asked with a smile.
"Can’t complain." Mike said, turning back to his book.
"Feel good, nothing to complain about." Martin smiled as Spike hopped down the stairs and went into the kitchen.
"How about you Twilight, how'd you sleep?" Mike asked.
She smiled at him. "I slept well, thanks for asking."
"Good to hear." He said, looking at her with a smile.
There was a moment of silence. "So when am I supposed to be at AJs?" Martin asked curiously.
Twilight paused and looked at the clock. "She said to be at the farm 'bright and early' so I'm assuming she meant sunrise, which is about an hour or so away… just enough time for breakfast."
"Oh… ok." He said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a loaf of bread. "You don’t have to make anything for me Spike, just something small."
He smiled. "I was gonna make what I made yesterday, that seemed to work and why mess with something you like?"
"Ok Spike, do what you think is right." He nodded and went back to work.
Twilight coughed to get Mike's attention as he looked up. "Fluttershy said you can come over whenever you want…" She trailed off, watching him.
He gulped and buried his head in his book, hiding his blush. There was a brief pause. "Oh... we still have to pick up the new clothes from Rarity too…" He whispered, still flustered.
Martin looked at the all important clock. "Then we better hurry up with breakfast."
"Yeah… I wonder what time she opens though."
"Rarity always opens at five thirty… ya never know when there's an early customer." Spike said as he made breakfast.
"Thanks Spike."
Once Spike finished cooking they quickly ate and got ready to go to Rarity's Boutique. Martin stood in front the door. "Hope it's not as cold as yesterday, if not colder."
Mike smiled. "Yeah or I hope that she has a long sleeved shirt or something." He pushed his glasses back up. "Well… I guess we'll back later."
He slowly opened the door. "Let's get goin'."
A cold wind hit them in the face as they stepped onto the frozen wasteland; they both shivered. "Well, this is gonna be fun… let's try and hurry…"
Martin agreed and led the way, snow almost a foot deep.
"Jesus! No wonder people wear snowshoes…" Mike muttered as they struggled through the snow.
The Boutique itself was covered in a thin layer of snow, the lights on in the building. As they opened the door a small bell tinged, announcing their arrival. "I'll be right there." Rarity said, her voice coming from the second floor.
Mike leaned against the wall and took his glasses off and tried to clean the snow off of them. Rarity came down the stairs moments later and looked at them with a smile. "Wonderful, I've been waiting for you two. I managed to make some proper attire." She led the way into the other room.
There were two coats hanging on the wall, both brown and seemed to be made of some sort of leather. Next to the jackets, two pairs of black trousers, two white shirts and suit jacket. On the floor rested two black boots, all in all very formal, yet warm. "Formal is the newest trend and I had all the materials ready so I thought, why not? They might look like they'd get damaged easily, but the cloth is very durable and slightly dirt resistant." Rarity explained.
"Wow… that’s amazing and you did this in one night." Mike asked as he stared at the clothes.
She smiled. "It was nothing really, I could've done more but my darling sister Sweetie Bell insisted that I sleep."
"Well I'm impressed… if there's anything you need help with, just ask… these clothes look really expensive…"
Martin walked over to the smaller set of clothes and whistles. "Damn… I love formal things… always been a fan of suits."
Mike grabbed his. "Umm… where can we try them on?"
She pointed a hoof towards a small room off to the side. "Over there, I hope it's not a problem but you have to share a room."
Martin looked at him. "Zero fucks given." He said, heading straight into the room.
Mike chuckled and grabbed his suit, heading after his friend. "Just like changing for high school P.E. eh?"
The room they entered had numerous hooks on the wall, all level with ponies. A wall size mirror covered the back wall, right next to a small window. Martin took off his shirt and started putting on the white button shirt and the suit jacket. "I never wore anything like this before…" He said, taking off his jeans and grabbing the trousers.
Mike took his glasses off before taking his shirt off and buttoning on the new one; he hissed in pain when he bent the wrong way. "Wow… this stuff feels nice…" He put on the vest. "Not a big fan of fancy wear, but it works." The new shirt covered their entire arm. "At least we'll have some protection from the cold and I can always roll up the sleeves…"
Martin had some difficulty with one arm, but he managed a few moments later. "Feels good, definitely warmer than they look." He grabbed the boots and stuck them on, kneeling down and tied the laces. He got up and looked in the mirror. "Damn, looking smart, aye?"
Mike glanced over and nodded his eye. "Aye… looks like you're ready for a dance or something." He finished tying up his laces and patted himself down; making sure everything was in order. "Huh… a lot warmer than they looked." Feels like I should be in the Lord of the Rings movies…
They grabbed their jeans and removed the various items, putting them in their pockets. "Not going without them." Martin muttered, slipping the knife in.
Mike nodded and looked at his cell phone. "Huh… I wonder if we have service here?"
Martin reached back in his pocket, grabbing his phone and turned it on. "Nope… nothing…"
"That’s what I thought… oh well, was an idea…"
"Too bad." He shrugged.
"Are you boys done yet?" Rarity asked from the other side of the door.
Mike opened the door and walked out, blushing as she eyed his clothes. "Yeah…"
"All I need now are a pair of sunglasses and I'm in MIB." Martin said, following Mike.
Rarity giggled as she levitated him a pair of sunglasses. "Well I don’t see why anypony would want to wear these ghastly things but I made them just in case." She looked at Mike. "Would you like a pair?"
He shook his head no. "No thanks, I need to keep these glasses on at all times to be able to see."
Martin grabbed the sunglasses and put them on. "Oh yeah, kicking some alien butt and looking awesome while doing so." He had a huge grin on.
Mike laughed. "Keep it together Agent J, we got work to do, ponies to see." He shook his head.
He looked at Mike, all traces of humor gone. "Let's do this." He said as he walked towards the door and turned around as he opened it. "Thank you Miss Rarity; I hope you have a nice day." He left, leaving Mike alone with her.
She giggled as they watched him leave. "He's funny."
"That he is… very odd too. Well, thank you again Miss Rarity and I hope you have a nice day." Mike said, heading towards the open door.
She waved goodbye. "Ta-ta!"
Martin was too far away already, only a distant brown spot in the snow as Mike waved and headed towards Fluttershy's cottage.

=

The town wasn’t too busy but every now and again, there was a pony walking through the snow. They paused and gave each of the humans a hesitant wave, as they waved back.
Mike saw the imposing Everfree Forest and the small dirt path that led to Fluttershy's cottage. He noticed a pair of hoofprints in the snow, leading the same house.
He paused in front of it getting ready to knock when he heard Fluttershy's voice through the window. "…Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find somepony better than him…" She said, her voice barely carrying.
Huh… I wonder who she's talking too… maybe I should come back later… He turned around and slipped on some snow, his head smacking into the door, unintentionally knocking. "Since when did I become the fourth member of the Stooges?" He groaned, rubbing his head.
Fluttershy yelped in fear. "W-who could that be this early in the morning?" She asked, her hoof steps getting closer to the door. She slowly opened it and saw him lying on the ground. "Oh… Michael… it's you… what are you doing here so early?" She asked. There were sobs coming from the living room.
He held his head. "W-well… um… Twilight said that you could use my help but I see that you're busy so I'll come by later." He squeaked the last few words, his face bright red.
She hid behind her mane. "Umm… it's ok… I'm not busy at all…" She opened the door, making room for him to walk through.
He hesitantly walked through, almost smacking his head on the door frame. He murmured his thanks and waited for her to lead the way. He hung his coat on the hooks by the door and noticed a brown cowboy hat hanging by itself.
Hmm… that hat looks oddly familiar… He ignored it though and followed her to the living room but before he entered she stopped and turned around.
"Umm… I hope you don’t mind but Applejack is here as well… she's having a hard time at the moment…"
His eyes widened. "Sure, that’s not a problem." He quickly said. "Um… if it's not too much to ask, what's wrong… I mean, I understand if you won't say, we did just meet a few days ago…"
A sad look appeared on her face. "Her coltfriend… he left her this morning… she's been here ever since…"
Mike instantly felt bad for her, his heart sympathetic for her. "Ah… I'm sorry to hear that… that’s not a fun place to be… if she needs anything from a total stranger, I would gladly help... and I'm sure Martin would too." Something clicked in his mind. "He was actually on his way to meet her at Sweet Apple Acres… oh dear…"
"Oh my… well, I'm sure he'll understand." They were interrupted by another sob. They quickly entered the living room and Fluttershy sat down on the couch next to AJ, her eyes red and puffy.
Mike knocked gently on the door frame and AJ whipped her head around to look at him. "Hey AJ… I just wanted you to know how sorry I am and that if you need anything, just let me know…" He said, giving her a sad smile.
AJ looked at him with puffy red eyes and sniffled. "Thank ya Michael… Ah really appreciate it." She held in a sob.
"No problem AJ. I know how it feels to get your heart broken and I can tell just by looking at you that you're stronger than I am, you'll beat this, don’t even think about him anymore, he wasn’t good enough for you anyway." His face turned red.
She held her head in her hooves. "Thank ya… but Ah'm not sure about that though…"
Fluttershy kept running a hoof through her mane. "Don’t worry… we'll all help you… we'll be there for you…"
He nodded in agreement. "Like she says, you're as strong as you are in your weakest moment. Just keep putting your hooves forward and nothing can stop you."
Fluttershy looked at him worriedly. "Maybe you could feed the animals… I'll be making some tea for all of us. If you don’t mind of course…"
He nodded. "Of course, don’t worry, I got it." He said, heading outside and to the storage shed. He got the feed and carried to the chicken coop. "Ok… just like last time, minus the crazy rabbits." He muttered.
The animals were still hesitant but were too hungry to care and he managed to not get overrun by rabbits. The faint smell of something apple related swept from the cottage and after feeding the animals and putting the food away, he went back inside. AJ was still sitting on the couch and didn’t seem to be any better, a cup of steaming apple tea in her hooves. Fluttershy was sitting next to her, a cup of tea in her own hooves.
She noticed Mike as he shut the door. "Oh… Michael… um… thank you f-for your help." Her face turned slightly red as she tried to hide behind AJ, who seemed lost in her own world.
He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "It's no problem; it's the least I could do."
AJ sighed. "Ah wonder what he's up to…"
Fluttershy looked at her worriedly. "You can't think about him anymore…"
"AJ… if you keep thinking about him, the wound will never close; eventually, time will heal your heart… it's hell now and I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, it's probably gonna be hell for awhile, but if you have friends that'll help you get through the rough spots, then you'll realize how stupid he was. Love blinds us to others true characters..." His face turned bright pink. "I mean, it's just what I've learned." He said nervously.
She sighed again, taking a sip of tea. "Ya make it sounds so easy…"
"It's all from personal experience."
AJ put her cup down on the table. "Didn’t Ah ask Martin ta come to the farm?"
"Yeah… I'm sure he's there by now…"
She looked at the ground. "Ah hope Big Mac'll give him somethin' ta do..." She frowned, her blonde mane hanging in front of her face. "Ah don’t want any more ponies worrin' about me…"
"I'm sure he will understand…" Fluttershy mumbled as Mike stood there awkwardly.
AJ got off the couch and headed towards her hat. "Ah need some time ta think." She put her hat on. "Thank ya for everythin' Fluttershy and Ah really appreciate Michael." She opened the door and left before either of them could say anything.
Mike helplessly watched her leave and sighed sadly. "I wish I could've said something to help her." He sat on the hardwood floor and ran a hand through his hair.
Fluttershy stared into her cup sadly. "She never was this sad before…"
"Heartbreak doesn’t get any easier… it only gets worse." He stared at the ground. "She's a strong one, she'll get through this."
"I hope…" She mumbled before hoofing over a tea cup. "I… um… made you some tea." She whispered, her face red.
His face turned the same color. "Oh… um… thanks." He said as he took a sip.
"I hope you like it… it-its Applejack's favorite…"
He smiled. "This is really good… what flavor is it?"
She looked everywhere but at him. "Summer Apple…" She said.
"Oh wow…" He drank happily. "I can see why it's her favorite."
Fluttershy nodded, her face still bright red.
They enjoyed their cups of tea. When Fluttershy finished, she glided across the room and grabbed a duster from the top of her armoire. "I still have to clean… um… if you want… you can h-help me… "
"S-sure… what do you need help with?" He asked, setting his cup on the table and stretching.
She blushed again. "Um… there's a b-bucket with water and a towel over there…" She pointed to the corner by the door. "If you don’t mind… you could help me clean the windows… only if you want to though…"
He smiled faintly at her. "It'll be my pleasure to help." He said as he walked over to the bucket and grabbed it before he got the towel wet and started washing the windows farthest from her.
The two of them spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon cleaning with some small talk but they were mostly silent; still they enjoyed each others company. Fluttershy came out of her shell, able to talk to him and look him in the eye and not hide behind her mane as much; the stuttering went mostly away but she still blushed from time to time.
On his way back to the library, the town seemed to have come alive, ponies walking around in the snow. Fillies had snowball fights and couples walked close to each other, their tails intertwined. The snow still fell slowly from the sky as Mike pulled his jacket tighter.
He tried to enjoy the snow but AJ kept coming back to haunt him, the look of pure depression in her eyes hurt him and he sighed, wishing he could do something to help the cowpony. I wonder if the others know…
He finally made his way back to the library and shook his jacket off outside, making sure he wouldn’t accidentally drag snow into the library as he hung it up on a hook. He glanced at the clock; it was a little after two in the afternoon and Twilight was sitting on the couch reading while Spike nibbled on some gems. On the table in the kitchen, a plate of sandwiches sat for the two humans. Mike headed towards the kitchen, stopped only briefly with a hello from the two.
By the time he finished his sandwiches, it was getting close to three and he grew bored waiting for Martin, so he went into the other room, relaxing on the sleeping bag while he tried to beat his highest score in Solitaire. A little while later and still unsuccessful, Twilight slowly opened the door, agitated.
He put his iPod down and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"Martin should've been back a half hour ago…"
He checked the time on his phone. "Oh yeah… I wonder what he's gotten himself into now."
Twilight nervously bit her lower lip. "…What if something happened to him?"
Mike got up. "Knowing him… that’s a good possibility." He left the room and headed towards his jacket, slipping it on. "Maybe I should go look for him…"
Twilight trotted over and levitated her scarf to her, wrapping it snuggly. "I'm coming with you; Princess Celestia made me responsible for the two of you. Spike, watch the library while I'm gone." He nodded briefly before delving back into his plate of gems.
He chuckled. "Not sure if that’s a good thing, but I'm glad you're coming with me, since I can't really see." He opened the door and held it for her. "Ladies or mares first."
She smiled slightly and led the way as he shut the door behind him. "You're very kind Michael; I hope people tell you that."
He laughed slightly. "Not really, kiss ass maybe, nice… not so much."
She giggled and began the trek to Sweet Apple Acres. "Maybe he's just busy working?" Twilight suggested as she tried not to think otherwise.
"I hope he just wasn’t paying attention to the time…" AJ's behavior came back to bug him in full force. "Hmm…" He thought as he rubbed his chin.
They arrived rather fast at the farm and saw a tall red stallion leaning against a white fence that encircled a large red barn; he seemed to be chewing a piece of straw. He saw them arrive and waved a hoof before walking towards them.
Mike hesitantly took a step back as the stallion came closer; he was nearly as tall as the human, coming up to his shoulders.
Twilight smiled at the stallion. "Hello Big Mac, is Martin here?"
"Nnope." The stallion, or Big Mac, said simply, his voice deep.
Twilight started to look worried. "Did he leave a long time ago?"
Big Mac looked at the sky for a few moments. "'Bout an hour ago or so, give or take."
Twilight glanced at Mike before looking back at Big Mac. "Did he say where he was going?"
"Nnope, Ah'm 'fraid not." The stallion seemed to look at somepony coming down the same path they just traveled and waved a hoof in greeting.
Mike turned around and tried to see the pony but couldn’t see that far. Twilight turned around as well and looked at the approaching pegasus. "Hey Fluttershy." She said, giving the pegasus a small smile. Fluttershy was carrying a little box in her as she trotted towards Mike.
She paused briefly to hug Twilight before she took the box out of her mouth. "Um… hello Michael…" She blushed but managed to look him in the eye.
Glad it's really overcast… "Hey Fluttershy…" He muttered, his face red. He noticed the box and tilted his head slightly. "What's that?"
She looked at the box. "Um… i-its some of the tea from this morning… and I thought… Applejack would like some more since she didn’t finish hers." She mumbled.
He smiled. "That’s real nice of you… I bet she'll like that… when we find her…" He muttered.
Fluttershy grew worried. "…She's not here?"
"Nnope." Big Mac answered.
"We can't find Martin either… they’ve both disappeared…"
Big Mac scratched his chin. "Now that Ah think bout it, he said somethin' bout goin' ta town… but Ah'm not sure…"
Everyone looked at him. "Really? When was this? And why didn’t you say anything earlier?" Mike asked, slightly agitated; that vanished when Big Mac turned to look at him.
"Ah just remembered it… almost fergot it honestly." Big Mac said, sheepishly scratching his neck.
"Oh…" Mike said nervously.
Twilight sighed. "Alright… guess we'll have to look in town; c'mon Michael." She started to walk back down the dirt path leading back into town.
He looked at Big Mack and Fluttershy briefly before following Twilight. Twilight shook her head. "What would he want in town?"
"Hmm… maybe he went back to Rarity for something?" He offered.
She sighed. "Maybe…"
"That's the only thing I can think of… unless…" He looked at her. "Do you think he could've gone to Pinkie for something sweet? Maybe AJ bought him something to repay him for working on the farm…"
She looked at him. "I'm not sure if she's in the mood for company right now… you know her coltfriend left her this morning…"
"…Oh you knew? I wasn’t sure she would want me to blurt it to everypony. Hmm… maybe he bought her something nice? Somehow?"
"I was there when he left her… I was around the corner and I heard them…"
"Was it really bad? I mean, you don’t have to say, I understand…"
"Well… he tried to make it sound as painless as possible but it still hurt her…"
"Yeah…" Mike put his hands in his pockets. "I wish there was something I could do to help…"
They arrived in the market; it wasn’t as busy as it was a few hours ago but there were still groups roaming. Twilight suggested splitting up to cover more ground but meet back at the library once the moon rises. He agreed and they split into opposite directions, combing the town for an orange cowpony and a human. Time passed and it got colder as snow started to fall faster and harder from the sky and soon the moon was hidden by clouds. He had given up hope and was heading back to the library; he saw a familiar shape in the distance quickly walking along the road.
He cursed having horrible vision and briskly ran towards it, his side nagging him to the point that he got winded faster. The wind had gotten stronger and snow blew into his face, quickly covering his glasses. He stumbled and fell face first into the freezing cold. He tried to stand but his body was locked in pain as he held his side. Suddenly a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him up.
"Mate, what are you doing out here?" Martin asked, brushing the snow from his shoulders.
"Oh you know, just getting rid of that farmer's tan." Mike held his side. What the hell is wrong with it, didn’t the nurse heal it? "Anyway, where in the world have you been? Twilight was starting to worry… is AJ with you?"
He shook his head. "No, I've been looking for her all over town, she ain't here… or at least she isn't anywhere I thought she would be…"
"Well… crap..." He ran a hand through his hair, knocking out the snow that had nested in it. "We need to find her; no one's seen her since she left Fluttershy's this morning…"
Martin sighed. "I saw her earlier today but I lost her in a group of ponies…"
"Where was she heading?"
"She was just running around randomly… she seemed upset." He looked at Mike. "Do you know if something's wrong?"
Mike looked away. "I'm not sure it's my place to say… but we need to find her."
Martin looked around; it had gotten dark and no pony was outside, the town going quiet. The silence was interrupted by somepony humming a tune and both humans turned to look at the sound. Their eyes widened as they stared in shock. "My god Applejack." He said as they watched her tumble around in a daze.
She noticed them. "Ah… Ma-" She hiccupped. "Martin… how are ya?"
He glanced at Mike before responding. "AJ… are-are you drunk?"
She hiccupped again. "Ah'm just havin' some fun… 'ello Michael, ya look a little pale ya know?"
"I'm fine… AJ, how much did you drink?"
She grinned at him. "Maybe Ah dra-drank…" She paused, trying to tap her chin with her hoof. "'Bout two thirds of a whiskey bottle; maybe more, Ah lost count." She said, her words horribly slurred.
Mike looked at Martin. "We need to get her back to the farm and get her to lie down…" He whispered.
Martin nodded. "Umm… AJ, maybe we should get you someplace else…"
She looked at them angrily. "Ah'm fi-fine… yer ain't taking me nowhere… Ah-ah just…" She stood for a moment, her mouth wide open before she fell on her flank.
Martin's eyes opened in shock. "AJ?!?!" He ran over and picked her up, she fought against him, her hooves failing about. He ran the opposite direction, heading towards the farm, Mike followed close behind. "Ya need help AJ; you can't kill yourself like this." He told her as he ran. His arm screamed in pain but he ignored, running faster.
Snow had started to pick up again, the wind pushing against their faces, AJ's hat flying off. The Sweet Apple Acres sign was dead ahead, the barn could be faintly made out in the glum. Mike gasped in pain, clutching his side as he slowed them down.
"Come on Mike, we're almost there!" He yelled as he ran towards the sign.
He wheezed. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up!" He yelled and Martin nodded and he sped up, leaving Mike in the snow. As Martin sped on ahead, Mike turned around and went back to pick up AJ's hat before turning around and trying to catch up.