A Friend
Rubble McScooperton rubbed his head. He was having one heck of a hangover. Across the floor lay bottles of Applejack Daniels. Rubble pinched the bridge of his nose with his hooves in a futile attempt to remedy his pounding headache.
Last night he had brought some of his construction worker friends over for a party. For any other pony the levels of alcohol that had consumed would have been enough to kill them, but Rubble McScooperton could hold his booze better than anypony. The stallion had passed out into his chair and stared at the ceiling the rest of the night. gazing up at the plaster he couldn't help but notice that at this particular angle it looked as if there was a indentation of a boat on the ceiling. He pondered the boat indentation for a moment until he grew bored of staring at it. His gaze went from the ceiling to the table across from the chair.
At the table sat a brown furred colt with a droopy blond mane that looked like someone kept dumping water onto it. Poopy was eating breakfast ,a bowl of Wheatie'os. Beside Poopy lay saddlebags brimmed with school supplies, today was his first day at school. Despite the oath, the father couldn't help but feel a bit of pride seeing his son going out into the world for the first time. The feeling was quickly shaken away once he reminded himself of his oath. This child killed his wife. The emotional wall between the wall had to be held up.
It had only been 8 years since the day Poopy McScooperton was born. Rubble's hatred for the child had calmed over the years. Despite this he kept true to the oath he had made years ago. He did all that he was required to do for the colt, nothing more. Poopy was fed, clothed, and given a home, but he was never loved. Being around the tiny colt and taking care of him was still irksome as ever to the large McScooperton.
Poopy finished his cereal, washed his bowl and hitched his saddlebag onto his back. "Bye Dad!", Poopy said with a tilted head and hopeful smile. Rubble merely snorted in return. "Stop talking. Your going to be late and I'm not going to take you there." With that Poopy left the house, his smile no long present.
On his way Poopy could only wonder why his father was so unhappy with him that morning. Thinking back on it, his father was always like that toward him. One year Poopy had made him a picture out of macaroni and glue for Father's day. Instead of a smile as he had seen so many other father give their sons, Rubble only grimaced at his son and proceeded to yell at him for wasting good noodles. After that Poopy received time in the corner and hoof across the face. That was the last time the small colt cried. Rubble told, well more of yelled at, him that tears were for the weak and a McScooperton shouldn't show tears.
Young Poopy took these words to heart. He couldn't bare to seem weak in front of his father. He loved his father more than anything, even if it seemed that the large stallion didn't share the feelings. the little foal couldn't figure out why his father was so disappointed in him. He just figured it was something he was doing wrong. As with all other things Poopy had done wrong before, he resolved to do better next time and make his father proud.
Getting to the schoolhouse was a difficult task. Every time it seemed the path taken was correct Poopy would wind up at a dead end. The most recent path ended with him in front of a group of ticked off chickens. Now covered in scratches and peck marks, he was finally on the right path. A elderly green mare with a apple pie cutie mark kindly pointed out the way for Poopy after shooing away the blood thirsty birds. Soon enough the schoolhouse made itself present to the brown colt. To others it would seem a prison of books and papers, but to Poopy this schoolhouse was like a golden temple shining brightly before him.
He bounced up and down excitedly in a manner similar to a certain pink filly he would soon be meeting. the child could just tell this was going to be a great day for him. He couldn't wait to meet all the students. Rubble may not have liked Poopy very much but that didn't mean his new classmates would feel the same way. Poopy became even giddier. He would finally have chance to make friends and play with other fillies and colts his age. Before school all he had was a stinky old shovel called "Mr. Shovey" that Rubble gave him. While he loved that shovel with all his heart it wasn't a good conversationalist. That and it was smelly too.
Putting the memories of Mr.Shovey aside Poopy bounced inside the schoolhouse and grinned at his teacher, his eyes twinkling in the light. A light blue mare with what could only be described as a toothpaste mane looked down on Poopy and gave him a smile. "You must be the new student" .Poopy only nodded in response. "Would you please tell the class your name". The brown colt looked around the room. In front of him were a variety of colts and fillies, the most notable being grey wall-eyed young pegasus and a poofy maned pink filly. At first glance the children all appeared to all be friendly ponies. "Poopy McScooperton" The young colt declared with a semblance of pride.
All conversation ceased at that moment as every pair of eyes set themselves on the small colt. He gave nervous smile and looked around the room wondering what came next. A roar of laughter shook the room. The McScooperton child could only stand there was a confused look on his face. It soon dawned on him. They were laughing at him. Even the teacher, who was supposed to keep all the children in line, had broken into hysterics. Every hope, every expectation, ever good thoughts that Poopy had had about the school house were instantly shattered that in the next few seconds. He had hoped their laughter would just soon pass and they could get on with the day, but this was not to be . Some of the Fillies even started to throw paper at him and insult him.
Poopy nearly broke into tears , but his McScooperton pride forced them back. What would his father think?. " Why do you keep disappointing me Poopy? why?", that's what is father would say to Poopy if he cried. He couldn't disappoint his father again, not like he had already done so many times. Instead of tears Poopy just looked at the floor solemnly, hoping to escape the gaze of his new classmates.
The laughter seemed like it had gone one forever. Only one pony stopped laughing, A poofy maned pink Earth pony with A three balloon cutie mark. She had a found the name hilarious at first and laughed for a few seconds. However, it stopped being funny when she saw the other fillies start throwing paper and calling their new classmate names. The little pink filly's grandmother had taught her many important lessons. One was to giggle at that which scared her, the other was to laugh with ponies not at them. All the foals were laughing at this colt not with him. She knew what was happening was wrong. Her ears drooped as she sat there, realizing there was nothing she could actually do to make them stop picking on the new student.
Slowly but inevitably the laughter came to a halt. Most of the foals calmed down and returned their attention to the teacher. Only one wall-eyed grey filly was still laughing, but by this point it was obvious the source of her laughter was the large delicious muffin sitting on her desk and not Poopy's name. Poopy ,however, did not notice. He was too depressed by the constant onslaught of names and laughter that had just recently taken place.
The teacher wiped a tear from her eye. "Alright. Take your seat Poopy", Again she and the rest of the class (save a pink earth pony and a cross eyed pegasus) stifled their laughter. Class started normally after that, except for Poopy it was still torturous. The other students would turn their heads and look at him throughout the whole class. He could see their sneers and smirks from the corner of his eyes. How he wished it would end, but it never did.
" I bet his cutie mark is gonna' be manure", Poopy was sure he heard the pale yellow filly with a gold spoon cutie mark that sat across from him say this. The remark hurt him even further because in his current sate he wouldn't be surprised if that's what his cutie mark would end up being. After what seemed like endless hours the school bell finally rang. Poopy hitched up his saddle bag and headed for the door. The teacher waved goodbye as all her students left the classroom. She tried to repress a giggle as Poopy passed by. He lowered his head and ran out to avoid her sight.
Laying under a tree ,Poopy processed all the memories of what had happened that day. One thing was for certain, He did not want to go to school again. Nothing happened as it was supposed to. Instead of warm greeting he was given a barrage of laughter and insults. Once again the tears threatened to cascade down his face but he forced them back with hoof to the face. Poopy sighed and pulled out his favorite treat, A perfectly frosted cupcake he bought from Sugarcube Corner.
Looking at the cupcake, Poopy couldn't help but remember the time he had tried to make his own cupcakes. Rubble yelled at him because the attempt had set off the fire alarm. Poopy had always had an interest in baking, but this interest was not something he was good at nor did his father approve of it. He sighed as he looked at the cupcake. Perhaps the sugary confection would be able to clear his mind of horrible event of the day. He felt himself fall back to the ground when the pink earth filly from earlier suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Poopy let out a scream of surprise as the pony came down out of thin air. " Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie".
He stared at this pink filly that was seemingly hanging upside down on nothing but air. " H-h-hi", Poopy managed to stutter. "Ooooooh is that a cupcake?! I love cupcakes! Did you make it yourself!?". Poopy was very nervous around this hyperactive pink pony. He had never really spoken to anyone other than Mr. Shovey and his father, neither of which liked to respond. The very idea of actually talking to another pony shook the brown colt to his core. It was at that moment Poopy realized he was shy. Very very shy.
" N-No", Poopy managed to squeak out in response to Pinkie. " I- I'm not very good at baking".
Pinkie let out a gasp. " You like baking too!?". Poopy just nodded slowly. " You like cupcakes! I like Cupcakes! We both like baking!". By now Pinkie's arms were moving faster than a hummingbird's wings. Poopy tried to tell her again that he wasn't good at baking but she interrupted him with another shout. " We should totally be friends!",exclaimed the hyperactive filly as she stretched her arms and fell out of the tree.
Poopy didn't notice she had fallen as he was too stunned with the fact that some pony actually wanted to be his friend. "F-f-friend", He hear himself say to no one in particular. " That a yes?" Pinkie asked with a squeaky grin. Poopy instantly twisted his head to her direction and blurted out " Yes!". The filly just stood there as her smile grew wider. " Aaaaaaaalright! See ya' tomorrow new friend", And with that Pinkie happily bounced off to her home. Poopy could only sit there in joyous bewilderment saying the word "friend" repeatedly to himself.
He wasn't sure if friendship worked that way. He always thought it would have to be slow process, but then again he had never had a friend before. Its didn't matter at this point anyway since there was now somepony who was actually willing to give Poopy a chance.
Coming back to reality Poopy ate his cupcake in one bite and happily bounced back to his brick home. He had managed to make a friend, someone who that didn't yell at him and wasn't a inanimate object. Life was finally looking up for little Poopy.
Author note: Hopefully I didn't take Pinkie out of character. I just see her as someone who will befriend nearly ANYONE.