I was awoken by the sounds of a smooth bass guitar with a steady bass drum-line and the occasional tap of a hi-hat cymbals that was followed by the blare of a trumpet.
Gotta leave that nine to five
Let the music get to you,
And enjoy yourself
You live it off the wall
And just enjoy-
I groaned as I rubbed a hand across my face before I set the alarm to sleep for five minutes as I got my bearings. I could smell something right below my nose that was akin to the forest and some sort of flower and cracked an eye open, looking down to see pink. I was confused for a few seconds, as I don’t remember the covers of my bed being pink, before the pink shifted and I realized that I had something, or rather someone, pressed up against me.
Did Fluttershy…? I trailed off in my thought as I shifted slightly and saw the butter colored pony, her muzzle pushed into my chest. I looked around in slight panic, thinking that I had gone to bed with her, but a quick look around the room let it pop into my head that it was the living room, and we were on the couch.
Why is she sleeping on top of me? Did… she want me to sleep with her?! I could feel my throat hitch and my face flush heavily at the implications. Before I got ahead of myself, I took a deep breath to calm myself as I glanced at her prone sleeping form, her body moving ever so slightly as she and I breathed in unison with one another. I shifted myself again to try and get her to subtly wake up, but all I got was the feeling of her breasts pressed against me, and I trembled slightly as I registered the feeling in my head.
Oh dear lord… I could feel blood rushing downstairs. I squeezed my eyes shut as I thought of bad things, disgusting things, so that I wouldn’t have a boner pressed up against the mare if and when she woke up. I opened my eyes open and realized that I actually had one of my arms wrapped around her neck, as if I was hugging her while I was asleep.
I cringed slightly as I slowly let go of her, before I made a grab for my iPod and looked at the time. It was Monday and it was seven in the morning. My alarm was for when I was supposed to be leaving for school, not when I woke up, but that didn’t matter since I wasn’t going to be going to high school again.
At least, not an official high school. Twilight was still going to drill that information into my head later.
I decided to wait until Fluttershy woke up herself instead of waking her up myself. I didn’t want to disturb her if she needed her rest, and I didn’t want to get up in the first place. Call me lazy, but… well, I shouldn’t really try to lie. I was enjoying it honestly. I just didn’t want to admit it at the time because I was still in that mindset of fearing for my life and not letting anyone get close to me. I closed my eyes and started drifting back to sleep when I felt Fluttershy shift and move to get herself comfortable, and felt her resting her head right below my chin.
I swallowed thickly and looked down into the mess of pink hair that the mare had. Instead of trying to act flabbergasted and make excuses for her being there for some reason that I might’ve been at fault, I got comfortable, her warmth radiating off of her and calming me back to sleep.
Some time later, I could feel Fluttershy shift on top of me, and I cracked an eye open as she sat up, letting loose a cute little yawn as she stretched. She was looking around, and I could see that she was confused for a few moments before she looked down to me and she squeaked, jumping off of me.
I rubbed my eyes and yawned myself, blearily looking at the mare that appeared to be steadily growing red. “Weren’t you sleeping in my bed?” I asked blearily, rubbing the top of my head as I smoothed down some loose strands.
“I-I… I was… I-I had a nightmare l-last night and w-when I woke up, y-you weren’t there… I went t-to go look for you and f-found you down here...” She started messing with her mane, spinning a lock of her hair around her finger nervously. “I-I couldn’t get back t-to sleep after that, s-so I came down here to wake you up, b-but I didn’t want to disturb you and… e-ended up falling asleep on t-top of y-you...” She stuttered, her face disappearing in a see of red. She was practically glowing with her embarrassment.
I decided to not tease her if that was the case. “That’s alright then Fluttershy. If you need anyone to talk to you about it, or if you just want a little bit of comfort, then I can try to help in any way I can.” I heard her mumble something that sounded like, ‘You already did’ but I couldn’t really make it out.
“What was that?” I asked, and she looked up.
“I said, t-thank you Daniel… y-you’re a really good friend...” I gave her a weak smile before I turned my attention to my little alarm clock playing a remixed Michael Jackson song, turning off the alarm.
“Seven thirty? Time to get ready for the day, see what I can do around here...” I sat up on the couch and rubbed my eyes, yawning.
“I-I should have s-some shampoo and body w-wash that’s not too mareish...” She mumbled.
I glanced at her and cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t really care about smelling too feminine. I’m not some sort of insecure macho man that thinks wearing the color pink turns someone into a faggot.” Fluttershy gave me a blank look at that, so I’m assuming that they don’t have homosexuality, or at least widespread homophobia, here. I know I shouldn’t say those things in this day and age but… honestly, who the fuck cares? The snowflakes that'll melt in the heat?
I don’t know why I’m strangely disappointed in the fact that there might not be homosexuality in Equestria. Maybe the idea of two lesbian ponies going at it was getting my gander up. It doesn’t help that they do actually look human, and most of them have curves in all the right locations.
Not that I’m looking…
“W-what does that mean?” She asked.
I just shrugged. “It’s just something from my world that's a bit of a pet peeve. Doesn’t really matter anymore, since I don't have to worry about it.” I waved it off, and she seemed to want to continue but thankfully dropped the subject without trying to prod into it. She walked off to give me my privacy, which was just me following her upstairs to go to my bedroom, taking off my dirty clothes, and grabbing the next set and a towel that was in the bottom drawers of the dresser.
This outfit was a casual gray vest with another white undershirt with matching pants that all felt like polyester to me. I didn’t bother with the tie that I had as it didn’t really fit with the whole outfit. I knew that I was going to have to fill out my wardrobe a bit more, but for now, I had three outfits that looked great and I still needed to pay Rarity back for it.
With that came to my next series of thoughts.
Jobs.
Since I was still technically underage and still in school, the only job I had was a part-time job as an assistant to the local library, which I thought was nice because I was able to read a lot of books in my downtime since the library didn’t really get many visitors. So, I figured that I could offer my services to Twilight in case she needed someone helping her organize the library and the books.
After that, I thought about backup plans, like working at local restaurants as waiters, dish washer, something that wasn’t just sitting around while Fluttershy busts her ass to make her money. I remember hearing Twilight say that Applejack was busy with harvesting, so I figured that I could try my hand as a laborer over on her farm, worst comes to worst. I mean, what farmer would turn down an extra pair of hands if they’re willing and able to work?
I always saw myself as more of a white collar worker, maybe sitting at a computer doing web design or maybe some form of coding, maybe something like cyber security to protect against hackers. I didn’t see myself as a blue collar worker, but I’m not going to turn down a job, especially if it’s someone like Applejack, since she seems like she’s the most grounded of the entire group that I’ve met.
No pun intended of course.
I could still hear the water running after what seemed like forever in my thoughts, so I checked the time and saw that it had been just about thirty minutes since Fluttershy had gotten into the shower.
I’ll go let her know that I’d like a shower some time in the next hour. I can only hope that I get a little bit of hot water I thought as I walked down to the bathroom.
I gently rapped my knuckles on the door. “Hey Fluttershy, it’s been thirty minutes, are you going to be getting out soon?” I asked through the door, and heard her squeak softly.
“I-I’m sorry Daniel! I-I’ll get out n-now if you want!” Before I could answer, the mare turned off the water and the door swung open, the mare wrapped up in two towels. I looked away with no small amount of blushing, and I could practically feel the heat radiating in waves from Fluttershy as she darted down the hall and disappeared with a slammed door into the confines of her own bedroom.
I shook my head vigorously to get the mental image out of my head and stepped inside. I set my clothes down on the edge of the sink and placed the towel on the rack next to the shower.
Stripping down the rest of the way, I pulled myself into the shower and figured out what did what in the shower. Turns out, she used up all of the hot water while she was in here.
Nice, great, fantastic...
I took my shower, used whatever scents that caught my fancy, which was this nice mint body wash in bar soap form and citrus shampoo and conditioner combo that I quite enjoyed. It was a rather quick shower since I didn’t have any warm water to enjoy for myself, and I toweled myself off quickly since the water was becoming icy towards the end, and got dressed in my casual vest combo.
I dropped my towel off in a small bin she had next to the door, went back into my room to drop off my dirty boxers, grabbed my wallet as a habit whenever I was going to go outside, grabbed my iPod, pulled on some socks to go along with my shoes when I got a knock at the door and Fluttershy poked her head into the room.
“D-Daniel? B-breakfast is ready i-if you’re hungry...” She stuttered. I looked up and saw that her eyes were trailing down to my feet and I looked over at her. She squeaked softly as her face grew red, and she slammed the door shut behind her.
I sense a lot of tension in that mare. Though I wonder why she was looking at my feet before she left.I thought as I finished putting socks on and tied my shoes before stepping out the door behind her. I could hear the clinking of silverware on plates below and stepped down the stairs to see Fluttershy was in the middle of feeding one of her animals a morsel, with the form fitting dress she wore riding up slightly.
The longer I stay here, the more perverted I feel for all of these circumstances. I blushed heavily before turning away, but Fluttershy turned her head to gaze at me as I went to walk past her.
“I-I’m sorry that I didn’t give you a tour of m-my house yesterday, i-it’s just that I didn’t w-want to seem overbearing...” I glanced back over to her as she was running a hand through her hair, looking at the floor. I cleared my throat of the lump that had formed and adjusted my tie.
“I-it’s fine Fluttershy, I understand. I appreciate that you aren’t trying to dictate what I do and where I go.” She blushed slightly as she ran a hand through her hair once again.
“I-if you go down the hall, to the left i-is the dining room with b-breakfast...” I nodded my head and followed her instructions, and saw Angel sitting on the table with a bowl of food that he was glaring at, which turned to me as I walked in. I sat down at the table, looking down at my plate to see my meal before me, a stack of pancakes and some scrambled eggs.
I wonder if she knew I liked my eggs scrambled. Maybe she added some cheese, salt, and pepper to it as well. I took a bite out of the eggs. I could definitely taste some form of cheese in it, and some pepper as well. I couldn’t really make out the salt, but then I remembered salt was like a drug to horses back home and she’d probably not eat any since it’d be illegal here. At least, that was my assumption. That might not even be true, and that they probably just enjoy them taken in small doses rather than slathering their food in it, like a few people I knew.
Fluttershy walked down the hall and saw the look on my face and froze, a small smile coming to her face as I was contently chewing away at the eggs before it disappeared into worry.
“A-are you okay Daniel? Are the e-eggs not h-how you like them?” I shook my head as I took another bite.
I chewed and swallowed before giving her a happy smile. “These are amazing Fluttershy. I didn’t know you could cook this well!” I shoveled another scoop of eggs into my awaiting maw, and practically inhaled the rest within the next few minutes.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy was fighting with Angel to get him to eat the meal she had prepared for him. “Angel, please eat y-your breakfast...” She mumbled as she held a carrot up to the rabbit’s head, which he responded with a vehement shake of his head and a scowl aimed at Fluttershy.
I frowned slightly as I watched the rabbit continue to try and refuse the food she was offering, and she started to pout adorably as she continued to try and goad him with more treats mixed with his food. I knew that at this point, her own meal was going to get cold by the time he ate everything on that plate of his.
“Hey Fluttershy, you mind if I have a word with Angel Bunny?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“I-I don’t mind...” She looked down at the table to her own plate, and I grinned at the little bastard as he looked up at me with unmistakable fear in his eyes, and he tried to jump away as I stood up but I managed to snatch him and grabbed him by his body and carted him off into the living room, giving him a glare as I held him up by his ears.
“Look you little meat sack, don’t give Fluttershy a hard time. She’s giving you a nice home, good food, and lots of love for some damn reason since all you do is throw it back into her face. Either you learn to play ball and treat her with a little bit more respect, or you and I are going to go take a long walk into that nearby forest. You understand me? Be nice to her.” I gave him a bit more of a stink eye as I finished up, and he gave a frantic nod as he beat his paws against my clenched fist around his ears.
I dropped him down into the palm of my hand and gave him a small pat on the head. “There’s no reason for you to act like a dick.” I stated as I carried the two of us back into the dining room, where Angel propels himself towards the bowl that had his food and starts munching on it rather swiftly. Fluttershy looks up from her food in surprise to see the little rabbit eating without complaint.
“What’d you say to him to make him eat his food like that?” Fluttershy asked, sounding like she was in awe as Angel gave her a smile, and I shrugged.
“I just told him that he was lucky that he had someone taking care of him with as much love as you show for all of your animal friends. I told him to be nicer to you, hit him with a small glare, and he straightened up immediately.” I answered dismissively, waving my hand around as I went back to my pancakes, enjoying the hint of vanilla she had in it and the fluffy texture of the pancake.
“I don’t think I had pancakes this good Fluttershy. And those eggs were perfect for me.” I said between bites, and she looked up with a small blush and wide eyes.
“T-thank you Daniel...” She mumbled, retreating back into the shell she had as she twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers. I finished up just as she finished, so when I stood up, I picked up her plate before walking to the kitchen.
“Oh, Daniel, y-you don’t have to wash the dishes… I-I was going to do that myself...” She mumbled, but I shook my head.
“Don’t hit me with that sh- nonsense Fluttershy. You cooked, so I’ll do a little by washing up.”
Notice how I didn’t say anything about just the dishes. That’s because after the dishes, I washed the counters since they needed a good cleaning, then swept and cleaned the floors. She had gone outside and was feeding her animals, but had come back inside just as I was finishing up with one particular stain that seemed to want to not be cleaned, but was breaking apart little by little.
“D-Daniel? D-did you clean everything in h-here?!” I heard her exclaim, and ran a finger across my forehead for any sweat that may have been gathering before nodding, hitting her with a small grin.
“I noticed it was a little dirty, so I figured that I’d clean up a bit more.” I gave her a wink and she turned her attention to the floor, blushing softly.
“T-thank you...” She mumbled, but I waved it off.
“Just trying to do my best. I couldn’t, in right mind, just sit around all day with my thumb up my ass while you worked yourself to the bone to provide for those animals of yours.” I responded, using the old saying that my grandfather used to say whenever him and Grandma had to watch my brother and I.
Papa always talked bad about how we just sat around the house, always watching TV or playing video games instead of going outside and doing something like hunting or fishing when we were younger.
Granted, we weren’t allowed the old man’s rifles, even under his supervision, and we weren’t allowed near sharp objects, so hunting and fishing weren’t allowed, but Papa always griped about how he had to spend his childhood outside and how we’re living with the privilege of not having to go outside.
I think it was more or less just him complaining about how we weren’t doing the same as he did when he grew up because when he was young, they didn’t even have TVs and had to eat dirt for fun.
I’d never say that to his face because, for one, he was a veteran of the Korean War and probably put me on my ass even if I was bigger and stronger than him, and two, I had more respect for him than I did my own parents. Grandma did her best to try and spoil my brother and I, but that mafia got involved and put a stop to it after the first couple of times by threatening her.
Christ, I think that pissed me off the most, that they were willing to threaten a sweet old woman with violence, just because they were trying to mold a couple of kids into their perfect bastards of crime.
I broke the quill that I was writing with because just the thought of them doing what they did made me clench my fists and look for the closest motherfucker to punch.
Deep breaths… Deep breaths…
So I finished cleaning up the kitchen, Fluttershy thanked me and complimented on how I apparently made it shine, but all I did was just wiped down the counters, swept the floors, and clean up the small amount of stains on the floor and counters. I didn’t even mop or polish anything.
After I finished cleaning, I helped her out with feeding by carrying her bags for her as she went around and fed her friends. After about thirty minutes…
I swear these animals are multiplying every day. Yesterday it was a hundred or so, now it looks like about fifty more. Maybe it’s just my imagination…
After those thirty minutes passed, Fluttershy stepped back into her house while I put the bags away, and was walking out onto the porch when I came out. “I-I’m going to be going into town for some things, I d-don’t know how long I’ll be gone...” She murmured as she looked to the ground again.
“Funny, I was looking to go into town myself. I need to get a job so you’re not paying for everything.”
That, and this awkwardness between us is killing me. The last thing I need is for something to go down and to get out of hand, and she goes off to tell her friends that I’m a perv or a sex offender or something…
I went inside and grabbed my sunglasses, donning them to hide those damnable red eyes of mine.
Some people probably think they’re cool, and while they do great for standing out in a group and intimidating some people, I used to get a lot of hate for them growing up, especially when my parents took me to church. With how things are here, the last thing I need is for these ponies to isolate me even more than they probably would just because I have red eyes and they think I’m evil or something.
At least, that’s how it was working in my head. For them, they probably didn’t even need to see my eyes to know that I’m different from them.
I could see that her ears were a bit perked by the time I stepped back outside, and she scraped a hoof down at the floor. “Y-you know you don’t have t-to do that… I-I wouldn’t f-force you to do that...” She stuttered, but I just shook my head.
“I can’t be doing that to you Fluttershy. You’re too good for that.” She blushed slightly and continued to scrape a hoof against the ground, a small, pleasant smile on her face.
However, it led to an awkward silence between the two of us as we walked towards town. I felt like this would become a normal thing between the both of us, this awkward silence.
Not really my ideal trip to the market if we’re just going to keep acting like this.
She gave me a few words of encouragement and hoped that I could find something worthwhile as she disappeared past a few buildings, and I decided to split off in a different direction, trying to remember in my head where all of the places were in Ponyville. I was going to start with Twilight at the library, but if for whatever reason she doesn’t need an assistant to help her, I’d go around and see what I can do…
I just realized I didn’t really have a resume that the ponies could use. Everything I did was back on Earth, and all of my contacts and references were humans that they probably wouldn’t ever talk to. Things just got a bit more complicated than I thought they would…
So, I went to Twilight’s treehouse, and asked her if she needed an assistant for the library, but she had apparently a pet dragon that was filling in that role for her. When I heard about, and then saw said dragon, I practically freaked the fuck out mentally because it’s a goddamn dragon, and one that’s in a highly flammable space.
So, after introductions were in order, and after I asked a few questions about dragons to Spike, Twilight’s assistant, she pulled me to the side and asked me why I was asking about being an assistant to her.
I told her that I was looking for a job and my previous one was as an assistant to the local library, and she looked extremely conflicted for a few minutes until she sighed and told me that, while it was tempting to hire me on, she couldn’t do it because she already had an assistant. She didn’t know how much money she’d have to be able to give away as paychecks to me as she lives off of stipends from the crown, since she’s apparently a princesses student.
That went into a whole other conversation that lasted a few hours about her childhood growing up, with her studies at a prestigious school of magic before she became the student to the ruler of the goddamn country.
I asked her why they, they being Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, were princesses instead of queens, since they were ruling the country instead of being the next in line for the royal bloodline. Twilight just said that they haven’t taken the title for fairness sake for the other sibling, since if either one of them takes a suitor and get married, they’d become a queen and it would seem like they were trying to outdo the other by rushing into a relationship. They didn’t want to hold it over the other’s head if they do get to that point.
I guess it makes sense, in a rather convoluted way.
She told me about her brother, Shining Armor, and how he became a royal guard, which meant that her family had to have been some sort of nobility in the realm at this point. Seeing as she came from the capital city of the country, and she became that much closer to the ruling class by becoming a student, she was and is capable of using that power for her family’s benefit. I doubt she’d do that since she doesn’t seem like the type of person to let that sort of power go to her head, but still…
That conversation about her personal life led into her starting a few lessons with me about local politics, the history of Equestria as a country, and a short walk through its short military history.
Given that I came from America, where we had a major war just about every ten years since our conception as a nation, and coming from Earth, where we’re constantly fighting with one another just because of the word of one man, or a handful of men? I was rather disbelieving.
And that’s not considering all of the other minor wars, conflicts, and uprisings that were sprinkled in between each of those wars America was involved in. Take all of it into account, and you’re looking at a major battle or fight that ended with lots of dead men every six months or so.
Of course, I didn’t mention that to Twilight, but when she told me at the end of the day, right as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, that she wanted to explain the military history of Equestria, I thought I was going to pull an all-nighter with the mare and told her that Fluttershy was probably going to be worried about me disappearing for the day.
She waved it off and told me it was only going to take about an hour to get through all of the military history, and she regaled me with a few tales and stories of battle that weren’t major in the founding or settlement of Equestria.
Most of them weren’t very substantial, because either the history of it has been mostly hidden by the ruling powers of the land to not paint them as warmongers, or that there just wasn’t much to record after the battles from what I was being told as these battles were more like skirmishes that lasted thirty or forty-five minutes.
I leaned more into the first option, because as peaceful as this land is from what I’ve seen and been told, suddenly finding out that the nation that these ponies lived in your entire life was built upon the blood of its enemies and paved with their bones would honestly not be surprising.
All nations that have ever formed in human history has been forged in the fires of war and tested time and time again against the steel of other nations. Some faded from existence, some rose to become powerful enough to rule half of the planet by itself, but it was through conquest and war that they were ever at that point.
Of course, if I told these ponies that I had uncovered a book about their history that wasn’t censored, and that it was filled with a lot of bloody conflicts that ended in the deaths of thousands of ponies, most of them probably wouldn’t believe a word of it, since most of them are probably pacifists and wouldn’t believe that their precious leaders were so capable of something.
I think that line of thinking may be considered treasonous in this country. I’d very much like to keep my head attached to my shoulders if possible, so I'm not going to say a damn word if I ever did find something of that nature.
So, after spending about ten or twelve hours just sitting there with Twilight, learning about Equestria on a very basic level, I decided that it was time for me to go. Twilight tried getting me to stay so that she could teach me more, but I told her that Fluttershy was going to be worried, and that she needed to wake up early in the morning. Don’t know why I was using Fluttershy as an excuse, but I’m trying to not make her so stressed and aggravated with me that she tosses my ass to the curb.
And no, that’s not just idle paranoia. I’ve known a few people back home that had exactly that happen to them, even while they're still living with their parents, and they gotta go buddy up to one of their friends and try to bunk with them for a few days.
She had me promise that I would come back tomorrow before she let me leave, so that meant that I was going to be with Twilight for the near unforeseeable future.
I made my way back to Fluttershy’s cabin, and managed to get back with the moon peaking over the trees of the nearby forest. I could see lights on inside, so I’m assuming that Fluttershy is waiting for me. I sighed, knowing that I was going to be getting an earful.
I walked up to the door and knocked on it three times, before I tried the door. It was unlocked, so I swung it open. Fluttershy was sitting on the couch, a worried look on her face as she was watching the door. I could see the relief wash over her face as she stood up.
“Where have you been?! I’ve been worried sick about you ever since I came home!” She admonished, but I held my hands up to try and placate the mare.
“I was with Twilight the entire day. I asked her if she needed an assistant at the library, I ended up meeting her assistant, and then she started teaching me about Equestria.” I explained to her calmly, and expected her to get even more riled up, but all of her previous energy disappeared and she gave a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her chest as she sighed.
“O-oh… I thought y-you had been doing something… b-bad...”
I frowned at that. What gave her the idea that I was going to do something bad? The worst thing that I’ve ever done was… well, actually, I killed another person, but he was working for an organization of people that was trying to kill me, so I’d say it was more or less self defense.
I mean, I’ve heard stories of people getting PTSD from that sort of stuff, but I feel fine, for the most part.
Christ, I just realized that I go off on a lot of tangents in this journal of mine. If anyone reads this thing, they’d probably think that I’m scatterbrained or something.
And if someone is reading this, fucking kill yourself.
The worst thing that I’ve ever done that wasn’t unwarranted in my eyes was that I stole a pack of gum from the store because my mother told me she wasn’t going to buy it for me. I ended up chewing that entire pack of gum, but I felt bad for having stole it, so I never really enjoyed it in the first place.
“What gives you that idea?” I asked her, genuinely curious, and she squeaked softly.
“U-um… n-no reason… I-it was something that I h-had been thinking about ever since I-I had come home and saw that you were still o-out… I-I know I shouldn’t have! I-it’s just…”
I shook my head and chuckled softly. “I understand. I thought you were going to say that because of who I was associated with back home...” I trailed off at that, before it really hit me what I had said and I stood there, wincing slightly at the implications that it would have if someone from here would assume that I was just a criminal before they even knew me.
That led to an awkward silence between the two of us, and a tense air surrounding it, wrapped up in a morbid feeling of negativity and anxiety, so I decided that I was just going to go to bed without opening my fat fucking mouth again. I knew I was hungry from earlier, but that entire sequence sort of killed my appetite. Fluttershy didn’t try to stop me as I went upstairs, but I could feel her eyes on my back the entire time. Without much ceremony, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed, closing my eyes.
The next day, I was awake at five AM. I guess that’s what happens when I go to sleep early, but something about that little bump with Fluttershy put me in a bad mood. I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable with her, and dragging it on would’ve definitely done a lot more than that.
So, I climbed out of bed and got ready. I took my shower, put on the last clean set of clothes that I had, which was another vest combo. This time, the pants were a solid navy blue with lighter blue stripes downing vertically across the body, the vest being the same color and design so it all matched together. I pulled my shoes on as if I was going to go somewhere, then decided that I should at least eat something before heading back to town.
I didn’t want to spend the entire day talking with Twilight again, so I was going to hit a few places to see if they’re willing to hire someone before I have my lessons for the day. I wasn’t trying to get out of the lessons per se, especially since I would need to learn them eventually, but spending the next few weeks or even months just learning while Fluttershy struggles to support my ass as well as all of the animals she takes care of ain’t my way of saying thanks to someone.
So if I end up working, say, from seven in the morning to about three or four in the afternoon, that’d give me… I’d say four hours for those lessons. It takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to walk from Fluttershy’s cottage, so at the latest, I’d be getting back about eight or nine at night. That gives me plenty of time for dinner, shower, and finally to sleep enough to get back up in time for work…
Actually, I haven’t thought about how my clothes were going to be washed.
Maybe I’ll see how Fluttershy does it before I ask any questions. Or I’ll just ask Twilight for that info.
And speaking of Twilight, that’s not to mention the time I’ll have after I get done with those lessons with Twilight.
Hurray, more tangents...
Anyway, I cooked breakfast for myself and Fluttershy, seeing as she did it the day before, I washed all of the dishes and cleaned up my mess that I had made, whistling and moving to a little jaunty tune that was stuck in my head, before I collected all of my stuff that I usually grab before going out of the house.
Before I left though, I decided to do a little exploring, since I still didn’t know where all of the rooms to this house went to since Fluttershy still didn’t give me that tour she wanted. There was still two doors that I don’t know where they go or what they contain.
I opened the first one to see that it was a set of stairs that went down into the basement. The second was just a storage closet full of cleaning stuff, like disinfectants and a few odds and ends like extra jackets, pillows, or blankets.
With that, I decided that I should hit the town and see what I could get into before any sort of morning rush hit.
The sun had peaked over the horizon just as I hit the edge of town, and I could see the early morning risers moving about in the streets. Some of them were walking with coffee mugs held in their hands (I refuse to call them hooves even though the ponies still call their hands ‘hooves’) or a few ponies that were out for that early morning run. A few streets down, and I found myself amidst many of the businesses that made up Ponyville, a few of them starting to open.
With a smile, I stepped forward, determined to accomplish… something.
Absolutely nothing. All of the places that I walked into just sent me along the way without even a second thought when I told them I was looking for work. I told them who I was, what my previous job experiences were, and answered a few questions, and most of them just said that I wasn’t what they were looking for.
The only one that was nice enough to give me a chance was the first one that I walked into, which was Bonbon at her candy making shop. I felt like I was doing pretty good as she was giving me instructions on how to make things, and I was following them to a T. I was making a second batch of chocolate Bonbons and had popped them into the freezer she has when Bonbon came back with this younger looking pony.
I’m assuming that the greasy looking teen was a cousin or something, since she was in the middle of admonishing the guy about how his mother was the only reason he had gotten this job. I was telling her about how I had just finished up the second batch of bonbons she had asked me to make, and was ready to move on to the next batch of treats when she told me that she’d contact me in a few days time after she gave the teen an apron and told him to go wash his hands to get ready for the day.
So with that, I cleaned up and she walked me out of the shop, her head held low and an apologetic look on her face. She was a sweet mare, told me that she didn’t expect the boy to last a week in her shop, since he was clumsy and tended to make much larger messes than she was willing to clean up whenever they saw each other for holidays.
The only reason she was giving him this job for now was simply because her sister, a mare by the name of Lemon Drops, had practically begged her to give him the position. She was looking forward to working with me when he inevitably quits or does something that she could justify firing him, since I gave her a good first impression, which made my fucking day at that point.
That made me feel good about it all, but the rest of the day simply dragged on forever, with me being basically kicked out of every restaurant, shop, and establishment that I looked for a job.
It was about midday when I decided to give up, and with a dark cloud hanging over my head, I went off to Twilight’s library to get through the days lessons. She was practically bouncing as she answered the door when I knocked on it, but that smile fell rather quickly when she saw my dark look. She actually flinched when my eyes snapped to her, and I knew that I was going to have to take a step back and calm down a bit, before I ended up biting her head off for something she had no part in doing.
“What seems to be the issue Daniel? I don’t think I’ve seen you this way before!” She asked, sitting down at a random table before looking back up at me as I walked in.
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed softly. “Nothing, just… I had a bad day. Been trying to get a job so I’m not leeching off of Fluttershy, but just about every place that I went into practically pushed me out the door as soon as I walked into the door and asked them about working there.” Not to mention that the stallion from the last shop quite literally pushed me out of his shop. I added silently, taking another deep breath and releasing it in a huff.
“That’s nice of you… I certainly hope to see you get one soon. I’d hate to see you so down after what’s happened today.” She offered me a small smile, and I took another deep breath before I returned hers, albeit not with as much fervor she had.
“It wasn’t so bad. The last guy was a complete jackass, so that got under my skin a bit.” I noticed her blank stare that was turning sour and disgusted, so I waved it off. “Eh, nevermind. Just a few idioms from my world that probably wouldn’t mean anything here...”
She shook her head and gave a sheepish smile. “You’ll have to explain those on a later date. The second part of that was rather… grim.” She rubbed a hand over her arm awkwardly.
“It was just that the guy pushed me out of his shop after his interview, and with the rest of the day practically going the same way, I got a little hot headed.” She brought her hand up to her mouth.
“That’s no way to treat anypony, especially somepony like you Daniel!” She shouted, sounding ashamed for such a thing to have happened.
I gave her a cocked eyebrow and a small smirk, trying to forget my anger that had been smoldering behind that facade. “Don’t you mean, anyone and someone? I’m not exactly a pony here Twilight, and neither is Spike...”
She looked at me oddly, but shook her head with a snort and a giggle. We fell into a bit of a silence for about a minute while she seemed to think about it, before I snapped my fingers at the mare and she looked up at me from her daze.
“Earth to Sparkle, we’ve ran into a communications problem with ground teams. Do we have clearance to activate the main engine burnoff system?”
Yeah, I know that was a bit nerdier than what you'd normally see from that saying, but I feel like she’d appreciate it. That is, if she understood half of the shit that I said. Sue me, I liked watching rocket launches with the NASA livestreams that came out every so often.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about how I could help you out with this. Have you talked with Applejack about working on the farm?” I shook my head, mulling it over in my head.
Since I already knew her, hopefully she wouldn’t just send me off as soon as she saw me. But, seeing as I had no experience on a farm, I… might be shit outta luck on that end. I don’t want to have to rely on the hopes that I get a call back from Bonbon, so I was doing my best to have multiple options ready for me.
Whatever I liked the most, I would’ve went with. I liked Bonbon, so she’d be my first pick out of everyone in the next few days, but I might just find something that I like more than working at the candy shop.
“I’ll go talk to her after these lessons. No reason to put that off.” I answered, and with that, we continued the lessons from yesterday.
Twilight released me a few hours earlier than she did yesterday, gave me directions out to the orchard which wasn’t hard since it practically covered the entirety of the north side of the town, and wished me luck on finding a job.
It took me about an hour to get to the orchard and find the pony I was looking for, since the farm seemed to be split into two separate sets of trees. Each set was split down the middle with a dirt path that seemed to lead to a farmhouse in the distance.
After a bit of searching, I managed to find Applejack in the midst of bending down to pick up a bushel of apples, hauling them over to a cart. She looked over to me and offered a smile as she set the bushel down on the cart, and dusted her hands off.
“Well howdy Daniel! What brings y’all ‘round these parts?” She asked.
“I’ve been looking for some work so that I’m not hurting Fluttershy’s purse. Came here to see if I could give it a shot.”
She cocked an eyebrow at that. “I don’t mean t’gripe on ya, but ya didn’t really come here lookin’ like yer ready to step on a farm.” She teased as she started walking back over to a tree.
“Well, I did go through a lot of businesses in town to see if I could get something that might be a bit more in tune with my current set of skill, but no luck on those parts.”
She gave a small hurt expression. “So Sweet Apple Acres is a last resort to ya?” She asked, her voice dropping slightly as she appeared angry at that. I could tell it was a mocking anger, and that she really didn't mind the fact that I was coming to her last.
I just gave her a grin. “You’ve gotta save the best for last, after all.”
She clapped a hand on my shoulders. “Good save there pardner. Tell ya what, help me load up this here cart and I’ll see ya tomorrow mornin’, bright‘n early. Ya can show me what ya’ve got then.”
I gave her a nod as I crouched down to pick up the barrel of apples. I practically sprang back up and was wobbling slightly when I held the barrel in my hands, and I looked down at the large barrel of apples in surprise. Huh, I thought these would’ve weighed more than they did. I thought as I steadied myself and brought it over to the cart.
“Definitely nice t’have someone helpin’ out ‘round here. Big Mac hurt himself yesterday, so I’ve been doing all of the work today.”
I nodded lethargically, still sort of bummed about how the first part of the day went. “Sounds like a tough gig.” I was a bit skeptical about her saying that only her and one other person runs this entire, massive ass farm, but with magic, I don’t doubt anything is possible.
“Ya got that right...” She grunted as she placed another bushel on the cart and went back to the next set.
“So you don’t have anyone else running these farms besides you and your...” I trailed off because I didn’t know the relationship she had with this Big Mac character and didn’t want to assume.
“Brother.” She filled in, giving me an odd look. Well, with the stereotypes back home, that relationship could've been a lot different...
“I didn't want to assume. So nobody else besides you and your brother to this big farm?”
She nodded in acknowledgment. “We have li’l Applebloom, but she’s too young t’be workin’ on the farm yet. She’s still in school after all. Granny Smith, bless her heart, used t’be the one that kept us in line. She passed on a few years ago. Lived to the ripe ol’ age of a hundred and seventy-three years...”
I was flabbergasted by that. I guess ponies live much, much longer than a regular human does. I thought, before realizing that I’d probably be the first one to go out of the group of mares that had saved me. I decided to swerve around that line of thinking before I got into anymore depressed thinking about everything that’s happened and what if's of the far future, and grabbed another bushel of apples to load into the back of the cart.
“Sorry to hear that.” I offered, but she just waved it off as she picked up her next batch.
“T’ain’t nothin’ I haven’t heard already, so save yer breath.” She grumbled harshly, and I decided to drop the topic.
“Alright, I’m sorry for bringing it up.” I stated, but she shook her head.
“You weren’t the one t’bring it up. Just reminiscin' on good times, I reckon.” She mumbled, becoming somber, with good reason of course.
We worked in silence for a good portion of the rest of the day, which was only an hour and a half, and I was pulling the last cart that she and I had loaded up when she pulled me to the side.
“Look, I didn’t mean for that t’get as sad as it did back there. It’s still a sore subject for me.” She clapped me on the shoulder. “Ya did good Daniel. Ya show up at the crack of dawn, and I’ll get ya situated right quick in how we do things Ponyville style.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and dusted my hands off. “That’s fine by me. That’s how they did it back home, good to see that it’s universal to rise before the sun does.” I answered, giving her an appreciative smile for at least giving me a chance, unlike the other ponies.
Besides Bonbon, she can rock with the best of us.
With that, I started off back to Fluttershy’s cottage, wiping the dust off of my clothes absentmindedly. Sure, I didn’t mind getting dirty when I worked, but these were nice clothes, definitely not something you’d work in on the farm, and they were gifts from Rarity that weren’t intended for laborious work.
Maybe when I get some money together, I’ll see what I can do about getting some casual work clothes.
For now… I’ll have to think about my clothes washed and ready for the next day. I made my way back to Fluttershy’s cabin, and saw that she was in the midst of feeding her animals for the night and wandered over. She could hear me coming over and turned around.
“O-oh, h-hi Daniel...” She mumbled, hiding behind her hair.
“How’s it going Fluttershy? Did you enjoy breakfast?” I asked as I pulled the bag from her arms and she squeaked softly.
“I-it was very good… T-thank you Daniel...” She mumbled, before she noticed my dirty clothes and gasped softly.
“Did you get hurt today?” She asked in a panicked way, and I shook my head in response.
“Nah, I was looking for a job today. After a little bit of time with Twilight, I went over to Applejack’s farm and helped her out. She said she’d be willing to give me a shot tomorrow.”
Fluttershy gave a small smile as she calmed down. “T-that’s good...” She mumbled, before she went back to feeding her animals.
“So, not to seem… rude, or anything, but how do you wash clothes here? Do you use washboards or something like that?” I asked. She looked up at me curiously, before shaking her head slowly as she bent back down to give a ferret a piece of a pellet she had pulled from the bag.
“N-no, I actually h-have these really n-nice machines that do it for me. T-they’re a bit loud, but you don’t h-have to put any effort into washing your clothes anymore...”
So they have washing and drying machines here. Sometimes the technology of this world is so weird and backwards that I can’t help but scratch my head sometimes at how it’s mixed around… I thought as I nodded in acknowledgment to her statement, and she went back to feeding her animals. The rest of it passed on in a comfortable silence.
We finished up rather quickly and went inside. “So, where’s your washer and dryer?” I asked, and she pointed a finger over towards the door leading down into the basement. I nodded my head in corroboration.
“I’m going to need them after today. Thanks.” I went upstairs and started peeling off the clothes. I wasn’t exactly soaked in sweat by the end of the two hours that I had worked, but while those bushels of apples weren’t as heavy as I thought they were, I easily counted two dozen, maybe more, of them and Applejack only loaded up the first four when I showed up.
The next day, I was awake around the same time with my alarm going off on my iPod. I had stayed up a little later so that I could get my clothes cleaned and prepped for today, and set my alarm so that I woke up at a good time to prepare and get to the farm. I still felt bad that I was going to be dirtying Rarity’s gifts for me, especially since they’re very comfortable and well made.
Sadly, I can’t work without clothes, and I wasn’t wearing anything casual when I left, so I was pretty much stuck until the next week, if and when I get paid. I went without one of the vests over my clothes, preferring to just wear the white shirt and gray dress pants that I chose for the day. No reason to get the vests dirty, and if the shirts remain stained after work, I’ll just have to remember to keep them as work shirts.
No reason to waste perfectly good clothes just because of some dirt stains on them.
Anyway, I made breakfast for myself and Fluttershy once again, cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes, and set off for the farm. I could see the sun peaking over the horizon as I hit the edge of the orchard, and I could hear the faint sound of clopping hooves against wood. Making my way over towards the sound, I found Applejack standing next to a tree, raising one of her legs up to kick at the tree.
The way the kick shot out just made me wince slightly at the thought of that kick being against someone.
With the shorts she wore, you could see all of the muscles beneath her fur coil and twist as the leg shot forward, and connected against the tree. A dozen or so apples fell from the tree, and Applejack took a step back and adjusted her cowboy hat before she noticed me walking towards her.
“Well howdy Daniel! Ya arrived here a li’l earlier than I would’ve thought. It’s still just about...” She looked up to the sun in the sky, and I peeked at my device for the time.
“Just about six in the morning.” I answered her, and she looked over at me as I stuffed the iPod back into my pocket.
“That one of yer fancy human devices?” She asked, and I nodded.
“It does a lot of things for me. One of them is to tell the time accurately. Down to the next second and even further beyond if you wanted.”
She cocked an eyebrow and nodded appreciatively. “That’s definitely handy there. Ya think ya could get another one of those things here?”
I contemplated the question for a couple of seconds as she raised her leg up once again and kicked, knocking loose another dozen or so apples.
“That depends on whether or not I go back home. This is an older variant that goes by the same name, but it has upgraded features and improvements across the board for it. There’s also other devices that does different things better than others.” I rubbed a hand across my chin as I stared at the thing in my hand, spinning it around as I stared at the black screen, as if staring into its void would give me the answers I desired.
“Do you guys have phones here?” She looked at me blankly for a second before she shook her head. “So you guys have a lot of things here that are similar to human technology, but lack in certain areas across the board. It’s very odd how all of that is.”
Maybe because most of the inventions we created were made because of war, and these ponies haven’t had a war in over a thousand years? I thought silently as Applejack kicked the tree once again, and a few more apples came from the tree, and she nodded before she picked up one of the barrels. I pocketed the iPod and grabbed the other one she had, and set it down where she pointed it to me.
“From what we all saw from yer world, y’all have a lot of things on us that we haven’t ever thought of creatin’.” She responded, and I turned to her as she kicked the tree once again.
“Did you all stay over on Earth after you saved me?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“Twilight went back on over to yer world after we brought ya here and studied from afar, takin’ pictures and notes about what she saw in that little town next t’the forest we found ya in.” Applejack explained, and I glanced over at her as she got into a small stance before she lashed out with another kick.
“I’ll have to ask her about that later. I suppose she’s dying to know everything she can from me and has been patient so far.” I mumbled to myself, but she heard it all the same.
“Ya want t’head over there instead of workin’?”
I shook my head. “Nah, just thinking out loud. She’s definitely curious and asks a lot of questions that I try to answer, but she hasn’t explicitly asked about Earth or anything about it. I’m sure it’s probably chewing her up since she has someone like me here.”
She glanced over at me with a knowing grin. “Well, not like that. Not trying to seem narcissistic or anything...” I gave a small chuckle as I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “She and I just seem to have a lot of interests in common with one another. While I wasn’t the personal student to royalty, I was a part of a group of kids that were kind of an elite class that was being pushed to learn more than the rest of the students at our school.”
I was about to go on and explain further about a few other things that I picked up from her, but decided that I should probably get to work instead of standing there, yapping Applejack’s ear off about something she couldn't care less for instead of doing what I came here to do.
“Anyway, that’s for another time and place. Where’d you need me to work at?”
She looked around for a few moments before she pointed off towards the southeast. “I’ll have ya workin’ in the fields over yonder once I teach ya how t’buck a tree.”
I held up my hands before she continued. “Hold on now, I don’t think I could buck a tree like you could. I’d probably break my legs trying to do that.” I answered, and she looked over me.
“Then how’d ya get all of the apples outta the trees?” She asked, looking me over. I looked over the tree she had been bucking and grabbed onto a low hanging branch, before I pulled myself up into the midst of the leaves with a bit of practiced ease.
“I can grab them from up here and drop them down then hop to the next tree.” I called down to the mare, and she just shook her head, laughing softly.
“I always thought ya were weird, but I ain’t ever seen somepony climb a tree like that before!”
I shrugged. “Used to do it all of the time when I was younger. We used to live near this big forest where all of the trees were clumped together and I’d go hopping from tree to tree. It was something fun to do when I got kicked out of the house.” I answered.
The truth was that it was actually my grandparents that I used to go to all of the time to climb trees since my mother and father actually lived inside the city and they were gone for a lot of the time, but that’d take a lot of awkward explaining that I’d rather not have to go over. I settled myself on a thick branch as I grabbed a couple of apples in each hand before dropping them down into the barrels she had set up.
Within about thirty seconds, I was able to count and pull all twenty-eight apples out of the tree, and she shook her head as she chuckled some more, watching me swing and jump between each branch as I clutched two or three apples in my arms before dropping them from the tree.
“Ya keep up that pace, ya’d be able to keep up with me buckin’ apples!” She said, and I jumped down from the tree, landing next to her.
“Sounds good. So, the fields over there?” I asked, pointing towards the direction she had pointed.
She nodded. “There’s already a cart and enough barrels t’last ya ‘till lunch.” I raised my hand as if I was going to grab the brim of a hat that I would usually wear, but settled on a two finger salute so I didn’t look too dumb after I realized I didn’t have anything on my head.
She cocked an eyebrow as I started walking towards the direction to she pointed me towards. It didn’t take long for me to find the cart and barrels that were stacked neatly in the middle of the trail between two fields. I grabbed a stack of barrels and placed them throughout the orchard that I was going to be working in, and hopped up to get started.
About five hours passed and the sun was high in the sky as I had finished loading up the cart with all of the apples that I had harvested, with the exception of one barrel that was still half empty. I had my iPod playing some music as I hopped to and fro trees, picking apples, feeling like one of those feral children from books or TV. Sort of like Tarzan or Mowgli.
I could hear Applejack talking with a younger girl, their voices carrying rather easily in the orchard. “AJ, are ya ever gonna tell me who this guest’a yers is? And what’s makin’ all of that noise?” The younger girl’s voice asked, and I looked up to see them crossing over the trail next to the cart that I had been loading up, and finished with the tree, dropping more apples from my hands and hopping out of it, before moving it to the next tree and crawling my way up.
“I already told ya that his name’s Daniel, and he’s been helpin’ out around the orchard while Big Mac’s been hurtin’. With how much he’s been doin’, I’m thinkin’ about hirin’ him on full time. That noise is coming from some special device he has.” I saw them right below me just as I dropped a few apples, and Applejack looked up.
“Daniel, y’all mind comin’ down here?” She asked, and I dropped the two apples that I had already grabbed from the tree before I jumped down, landing next to the two ponies.
“What’s up?” I asked with a bit of humor in my voice, and Applejack seemed to have recovered from the heart attack that I gave her after a few seconds.
“Don’t scare me like that!” She exclaimed as she punched me in the arm as her other arm clutched at her bosom. I just gave her a grin.
“This is the pony?” The young girl asked in disbelief, looking me over. I glanced at her noncommittally.
She was younger than I was, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. She was wearing some torn jeans and a yellow shirt that blended well with her fur. She had rose red colored hair, with a large bow that was a light crimson color. She was giving me a skeptical look that was practically screaming that she didn’t believe what she was being told.
Applejack cuffed her on the back of the head. “I know I raised y’all better than that Applebloom!” Applejack snapped, giving her a stern glare at the girl.
She rubbed the back of her head and looked up at me apologetically. “I’m sorry...” She mumbled, and I just gave her a small grin as I pulled out my iPod to turn off the music.
“Nothing to be sorry for, Squirt.”
She gave me a one over. “So, why don’t ya look like a pony?”
Applejack looked down at Applebloom with another glare, but I beat her to the answer. “Because I’m not a pony.” Her eyes widened, and she darted to hide behind Applejack as I wiped a bead of sweat on the sleeve of my shirt.
A little xenophobic there, ain’t ya? I thought as Applejack was looking down at Applebloom, admonishing her for the comment.
“Ya should know better than t’act like that around the other races Applebloom! He ain’t a pony, but he won’t hurt a fly!”
Applebloom had the sense to look embarrassed at that. “I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry Daniel...” She mumbled, looking like she was about to cry, but I waved it off.
“Water under the bridge. Won’t be the first time that I had that sort of reaction.” I answered, trying to not let it look like it was affecting me.
Truth was, I was a bit pissed off about how xenophobic these ponies were. I feel like those ponies that were looking to hire weren’t expecting anything but a pony to walk through their doors, and to suddenly have something else do so? Probably had them pissing their pants before they shoved me out and went to the next pony.
At least Bonbon wasn’t a bitch...
I should hang out with her sometime, show my appreciation for her being awesome. I wonder if anyone I know is friends with her. Maybe I can get her a present for her birthday or something?
I snapped out of my reverie as Applebloom was asking me about something called a ‘cutie mark.’ I gave her a cocked eyebrow in response. “What’s a cutie mark?”
Applebloom looked like I had just dropped a bomb on her head. “Y’all don’t know what a cutie mark is?!” She squeaked, and I just shook my head as I looked over at Applejack.
She was rolling up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a trio of apples on both of her arms. “A cutie mark is what represents a pony’s talent and what they tend to do for the rest of their lives.” She answered as she rolled her sleeves down once again.
“Huh. So it’s like a tattoo.” I commented, and the two of them stared at me questioningly. “So, a tattoo is sort of like these marks you guys get, but most humans tend to not get one. Most of the time, people get tattoos to represent something they like, or their occupation, or maybe the name of a loved one.” I explained, and Applejack tilted her head to the side.
“How do y’all get those tattoos then?”
“Someone takes a needle that’s been dipped with different colors of ink and will stab it into the skin to get the ink to stain, and does that for a while until it comes out with whatever design you wanted for it.” The two of them looked a bit green at the thought, and I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled awkwardly since I forgot that these ponies weren’t exposed to the same things that humans were. To us, getting a tattoo is something like a sign of maturity, or that they themselves were cool. For them, it’d probably be akin to branding someone, which I'm not even sure they'd do something like that around here.
“That don’t sound too pleasant...” Applejack murmured, and I nodded.
“What do you do for a livin’ if you don’t have a cutie mark to tell you?” Applebloom asked.
I simply shrugged my shoulders, not seeing the underlying tones she was trying to hide. “Some people find out something they love to do while they’re still young and then they find or build a career around it. Some people spend their entire lives trying to find out something and never do.”
Applebloom looked scared at that, but I interjected before she went off on a tangent. “But if ponies get these marks magically, I’m sure all you need to do is find something you like doing and work with it.” She didn’t really seem convinced by that, but I didn’t know what to say to her without really knowing the situation. I’m guessing that she’s a bit older than when ponies tend to get their cutie marks, and she’s afraid to be someone that doesn’t have a purpose in life.
A sort of midlife crisis for a pony that’s not even old enough to drive.
“Alright Applebloom.” Applejack gave her a small stare since she was about to ask another question about cutie marks or something, before she turned to me.
“Ya think yer gonna stay here for lunch?” Applejack asked, and I nodded.
“I don’t know the town very well. I’ll learn about it at my own pace.” That, and I’m broke as fuck. Screw them for not taking my paper money. I thought as I loaded the last barrel into the cart before pulling it to the barn, the scent of food making my stomach rumble. I pulled up to the side of it and Applejack looked it over.
“Ya can just leave it here until afterwards. We’ll unload it and grab another set of barrels for the rest of the day.” I just nodded in acknowledgment as the two girls ran towards the farmhouse nearby, practically battering the door down.
“Leave some for me!” I heard Applebloom shout as the door slammed shut. I just shook my head in amusement as I walked to the door and went through like a normal person.
“Hey Big Mac, we got a guest joinin’ us for lunch!” I heard Applejack shout. My mind went immediately to McDonalds at the name.
Mm… a burger sounds good right about now… I shook the thought out of my head as I walked over to the kitchen.
“Daniel, y’all comin’ or what?” I heard the call, and stepped through the doorway to feel all eyes come over me. Applejack and Applebloom were already seated and were dishing out portions to one another, and a new face met mine. It was a stallion, if not for the fact by he was shirtless with some bandages wrapped around his well muscled torso, then the fact that he gave me a greeting with a deep voice.
“Howdy.” He started, moving the stalk of wheat in his mouth.
“How’s it going?” I asked as I sat down at the table.
“S’alright.”
Rather laconic, aren’t you? I asked silently as I looked over to Applejack as she passed me a plate.
“Thanks for inviting me for lunch.” I said appreciatively as she dolled out a portion of apple based treats and foods to everyone.
“So why do ya wear them glasses all of the time?” Applebloom asked, and I felt all eyes fall onto me as I cringed slightly. “Now Applebloom, ya should know better than to ask questions like that… but I sure am curious myself...” Applejack turned back towards me, curiosity dancing in those green eyes of hers.
“They’re sunglasses. They’re to keep the sun from my eyes.”
I could feel Applejack glare at me, and I sighed, knowing that she’d already caught me in the lie. “Well, that, and I use them to… sort of… hide them from others...”
Applejack’s glare faded, and she gave me a look on concern as I was becoming visibly more nervous. “Why’s that Sugarcube?” She asked, and I sighed softly.
“People don’t like my eye color and I get a lot of flak for it.” I answered, rubbing my arm uncomfortably. I remembered a few times that I had gotten beat up by kids because they didn’t like my eye color and they’d kick dirt onto my face afterwards.
“Well ain’t that just a load of horseapples.” Applejack said sternly, and I looked up to the mare in surprise. “That may have been how things were from where you were before, but that ain’t how things are here. Y’all don’t have to hide anything Sugarcube.” She responded, and I got a nod from Big Mac and a smile from Applebloom.
I was conflicted, but I knew that Applejack and her family wasn’t trying to pressure me into this. If I wasn’t comfortable enough with it, I would’ve told them that I still need to work past some stuff. I had been trying to come up with some excuses as to why I couldn’t take them off, but by the end of it, I just sighed heavily and slid them off, and I could feel all eyes on my face.
I could feel my face flush in embarrassment as I folded the sunglasses and tucked them into my shirt. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with them eyes’a’yers Sugarcube. You’re makin’ a big deal out of nothin’.” Applejack waved a hand at me dismissively before she bit into some apple pie, and I smirked, trying to hide that previous wave of shame that I had before.
“Yeah, I sure am...” I mumbled as I started eating the delicious food, and the siblings were soon laughing and joking with one another.
Lunch was over rather quickly, and Applejack and I went back to work after we cleaned our plates and put away what was left of lunch. We unloaded the two carts full of apples into the barn we had pulled them up to before and loaded them with new, fresh barrels. It didn’t take us long for us to end up back in the orchard, and with that, we went our separate ways. She went to the northwest orchard to finish up her corner, and I went to the southeast to finish my own.
Time seemed to pass rather quickly, and before I knew it, it was sundown and I had filled a second cart. I was hearing the clopping of hooves along with the sound of a cart pulling up closer before it stopped.
“Daniel, time t’pack it up! We’ve made good progress today!” Applejack’s voice called out, and I leaned down. I had been working on a sort of groove that I liked, wrapping my legs around a low branch before leaning up in a sort of sit up to grab more apples, dropping them down to the barrel.
My body was caked in sweat, and I grabbed onto the branch and pulled myself up to grab the last few apples in the tree before I dropped them into the barrel and jumped down, wiping an arm across my forehead to clear it of sweat. I grabbed the barrel and carried it to the cart, which was already full of all of the bushels that I had pulled from the trees, and closed up the back of the cart.
“Who-wee! I say, between the two of us, we’ve got about a quarter of the orchard done!” Applejack clapped me on the back, and I gave her a tired smile.
“Yeah, it’s looking good. We get these back to the barn, unload them, and we’ll start again tomorrow, right?” She nodded her head, and I started pulling the cart back towards the farmhouse. It didn’t take long before we had pulled up to the side, but Applejack went into the house without saying a word.
I shrugged, thinking she needed to use the bathroom or something, so I decided to unload the carts myself and started organizing them in the storage barn. I was halfway done with Applejack’s cart when she came back outside, carrying a rather large bag of bulging… something, clinking together. My guess was coins.
“Sugarcube, ya didn’t have t’unload my cart as well!” I just waved it off as I grabbed the next bushel.
“Figured that I’d get this done and get home to clean up.” I stated as I walked into the quickly darkening barn, placing the barrel next to a bundle of hay, which I thought was weird since the ponies ate hay, so I just assumed it was their way of storing food for the coming winter.
“I got the rest of ‘em Daniel. Ya just make sure ya get home safely, ya hear?” Applejack shoved the bag of coins into my hand, and I looked inside.
“Is this the currency of Equestria?” I asked, pulling out one of the gold coins.
On one side, it had the “1 BIT” in between two quills, with the words, ‘Harmonia Nos Sustinet’ following the edge of the coin, the rest of the coin decorated with a pair of pony heads or laurel branches intertwining between each other. On the other side was two stretched pony figures, both with horns and wings, a sun and crescent moon in between the two ponies that seemed to be chasing one another on the coin, ‘Equestrian Royal Bank’ stretched across the top of the coin.
“That it is Sugarcube.” Applejack answered, and I tossed the coin, watching as it flipped through the air before I caught it in the bag she had given me.
“It sure seems like a lot...” I commented aloud, looking over at the mare.
“I figured that you’d earned about five per bushel of apples ya pulled in, and I counted about forty bushels y’all had bucked from the trees.”
I nodded my head, before I smiled at the mare. “Thanks for giving me a chance Applejack...” I mumbled, but she just waved a hand at me.
“Pshaw! T’ain’t nothin’ Sugarcube! Them other ponies missed out on somepony that’s dedicated and hard workin’!” She said, and I couldn’t help but keep smiling at her encouragement.
“You sure you don’t need help with the last barrels?” I asked, but she pushed me gently away as she grabbed a bushel.
“I can handle it. Ya just make sure ya get home, ya hear?” I just nodded my consent as she turned back towards the barrels, and I started walking.
“Alright, thanks again Applejack!” I called out as I took off for Fluttershy’s cottage.
It didn’t take long to get back home, and Fluttershy seemed to be still feeding her animals. The clinking of coins caught her attention, and the mare looked up to see me arriving.
“How’s it going Fluttershy?” I asked as I set the coin bag down and grabbed the bag that she was trying to drag around.
“I-I’m doing well… How are you Daniel?” She asked, and I simply shrugged.
“Finished working with Applejack for the day. She also paid me.” Still surprised that I got paid the same day for the work… What was that called again? Pay for performance? I shook my thoughts away as Fluttershy moved forward to her next pack of animals awaiting their food.
“T-that’s good… How much was it?” She asked, and I looked back to the bag.
“She said it was… five per bushel, and she counted forty...”
She looked shocked at that. “T-that’s a lot for j-just one day...” She mumbled, staring at the bag that was sitting in the grass.
“I thought so as well, but their farm does very well apparently. They get a lot of money from selling just the apples, and that’s not including everything else.” We fell into a silence as she went to feeding her animals once more. The two of us finished within a few minutes, and I placed the bags of feed back into the shed.
I was still a bit weirded out by that little flash that I had seen, but that feeling was fading slowly the longer I saw that nothing odd was going on in here. I swear the universe was trying to tell me something. Like that Fluttershy was trying to hide some psychopathic tendencies. I’m sure if I pushed a random part of the floor down, she’d have some stairs that’d go down into a dungeon with all of those corpses.
Actually, I don’t know why I’m accusing Fluttershy of something that may not even truly be there. That could’ve just been my own imagination running rampant, and it's trying to get me to do say some fucked up shit about this kind-hearted person pony.
I grabbed the bag of bits and stepped inside to see Fluttershy descending from the stairs. “I’m going to cook dinner, i-if that’s alright with you...” She said meekly, and I paused as I was making my way up.
“Thanks Fluttershy. You’re the best.” She squeaked and started stammering, but I was already on my way up to my room, placing my bag of bits on my bed.
I’ll count that later and write it down on a piece of paper the next chance I get. Keep track of my finances and all of that. I thought as I grabbed clean clothes and went to the bathroom to shower. I was sore, and the warm water was great on the muscles. I finished up the shower a little later than I normally took for one, but that warm water was definitely comforting. I reminded myself that my bed would only be better before I got out and dried off.
I wonder if Applejack will have work after harvesting season. Last thing I need is to get comfortable if I’m not sticking around. I thought, that trickling of doubt worming its way back into my head as I dressed myself and stepped outside, only to just about run over Fluttershy.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry...” She mumbled as she hid behind her hair.
“I didn’t mean to do that Fluttershy.” I said as I had caught her from being pushed back into the wall and was hugging her against me. She practically had her face pushed against my bare chest until I released her, awkwardly looking away.
“I-I came up here t-to tell you t-that dinner was ready...” She stuttered, and I nodded my head.
“Uh, yeah… thanks Fluttershy.” I said awkwardly, and she walked back downstairs. I sort of just awkwardly stood there, staring at the wall as I contemplated my existence at that very moment.
After a minute or two, I just snapped out and walked downstairs to see Fluttershy sitting at her table, looking strangely happy as she munched on her plate, Angel Bunny chomping away at some cucumber slices that had been mixed in with his salad, and another plate of steaming spaghetti with a baked potato on the side.
I don’t think I’ve ever had spaghetti with potatoes before. I thought as I spun the fork around in the noodles and brought it up to my mouth. The tomato paste she used was very rich in flavor, with that perfect balance of thickness. The bits of the tomatoes were soft and melded right with the noodles of the pasta.
The only thing that was missing from this becoming my ‘ideal’ spaghetti dish was the lack of hamburger or pork mixed in, but I’ve slowly grown to accept that I’ll no longer be able to eat the succulence that is a good T-bone steak or bacon anymore.
Not completely there, you stupid bastard. I’m still a red blooded American that loves a good slab of meat. I ain’t no pussy ass vegetarian and if I had my way, I wouldn’t ever get that bad.
Personal gripes aside, the meal was great. The potato was cooked well, but I told Fluttershy that I’d teach her later how I liked to bake my potatoes, which was to wrap them in aluminum foil and smother them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and butter. She smiled at that and said that she’d enjoy learning how to do it.
I finished my dinner and stood up, grabbing her plate and Angel’s bowl since the both of them were finished, and I started washing dishes. I heard Fluttershy stand up and walk into the kitchen and I was fully expecting her to go grab something from the fridge or from one of the cabinets, but nope.
She walks up right behind me and starts hugging me. I practically jumped a foot off of the ground at that, and turned to look back at the mare to see her staring up at me with those pretty teal eyes. I looked away after a few seconds, going back to the dishes, scrubbing the residue off of the plates and bowl before letting them soak in the sink before I twisted around to look at Fluttershy again. She had this dopey looking smile on her face. I couldn’t help but blush slightly at that serene look she had.
“Hi?” I asked, turning back to the dishes. I finished them rather quickly and placed them in the drying rack before I dried my hands and turned around. If she was going to make this awkward for me, I’m going to make this awkward for her. I hugged her back, cradling her head against my shoulder and running a hand through her hair. She didn’t seem to mind at all.
In fact, she seemed to push herself into the hand that was going through her hair, as if I was petting her. We sat like that for about a minute before she pushed away from me and started walking off like nothing happened, and I couldn’t help but feel… oddly satisfied. I mean, I’ve only been here for… about a week, and I’ve been practically walking a thin, awkward, delicate line ever since I walked into this house, how this mare seemed to put us into uncomfortable situations before she just pulled… that.
Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming. I remember thinking as I walked into the living room. She was sitting on the couch, curled up with a book in one of her hands as she reclined on her other arm, and looked up at me as I walked past. I went upstairs before heading to my room. I checked my iPod and saw that it was nine at night, so I decided to call it a day there and climb into bed.
Though, that silence didn’t last long as, within about five minutes, the door was pushed open and Fluttershy walked in, grinning like a bandit with an easy catch. I opened my eyes and looked at her, only to find myself in an unfamiliar room. She was wearing a thin shirt that I had never seen before, one that put all of the info out there for everyone to see.
“Hi Daniel~” She said in an uncharacteristically seductive voice that sent tingles all over my body, especially in a certain organ.
“F-Fluttershy?!” I exclaimed, confused as hell and unsure why she was suddenly acting like this.
She blinked, before pouting softly. “You haven’t called me by my full name in… just about a year now, since we started dating!”
If I was drinking water, that would’ve been the time for a spit take. I ended up sputtering like a damn fool, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “D-dating?” I asked in a quiet, shy voice.
Oh dear lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing! I don't even know her really! She's a very shy, very kind woman and she- I was interrupted from my thoughts as she grabbed my arm and hauled me out of bed, giggling softly as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me on the lips.
OOHKAY HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFTOFF! I couldn’t cut back on that excitement that I was feeling, even if it was something rather spontaneous. The kiss lasted only a second, but the way those lips felt on mine was… indescribably pleasurable.
“Danny, are you okay? You’re acting like we used to do the first few weeks we were around one another...” She pursed her lips as I stood there, dumbfounded, before she started dragging me down the hall.
“I-I just… I don’t remember anything right now...” I stated blankly, and the mare turned around, a lascivious smile on her face as she pulled me into the bathroom with her. Without a second thought, she pulled off her shirt, revealing the pink lacy bra she had been wearing, and I’m pretty sure you could’ve cooked an egg on the heat that I was radiating.
She turned around, a grin on her face as she crossed her arms under her chest, pushing her breasts up against her body before she trailed her hands down her body, outlining each curve she had on her. She started unzipping the skirt she was wearing, revealing her panties.
You know those animes where the guy sees something perverted and he gets a nose bleed? I always thought those were fucking stupid, because who gets a nose bleed from seeing a hot girl? Now that I'm seeing a hot girl, practically naked in front of me... Yeah, I’m pretty sure I just had that same sort of reaction. She pulled me into another kiss that left me flabbergasted with how… ready she was taking control of the kiss, before she turned and hopped into the shower. The way the water was cascading down her body and matting her fur to her body, I knew that I was going to probably blow a gasket, and I could practically feel my legs give out under me.
The sound of my alarm was going off, and I shot up, looking around frantically. I was in my bedroom, my bedroom, and Fluttershy wasn’t there in a gimp suit, or wasn’t standing there naked, or wasn’t even in the room. I turned off my alarm and lay down in my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Why did I dream of Fluttershy… like that? Would she even… Would we even be able to date, and for her to turn out the way she was? She seemed like a completely different pony than who she was now! Oh God, am I developing feelings for her? I couldn’t do that to her, she’s too nice of a pony for me to…
I trailed off in my thoughts as I remembered one vital detail that keeps creeping back into my life. Those fuckers can’t get me here. No matter what I do, I won’t have to worry about consequences of someone getting hurt because they were getting close to me, or anything like that… Still, I don’t know if she’d even like me like that… She’d probably go for a stallion like… Big Mac or something. Seeing as he’s on the same page as her, being soft-spoken and of few words. I could definitely see them together. I wonder if they’ve hooked up ever.
I sighed as I got up, grabbing my clothes for the day as I walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, and looked down before I tucked the uncomfortable tent that I was pitching away.
Stupid fucking… dreams and their… stupid sexy ponies…