//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: A New World, A Fresh Start // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 30 “…you can send and receive messages from Princess Celestia, but can you send them to anybody else?” Rick asked Spike as they walked through the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres. “No, there is a spell that allows the messages to be sent, but it only seems to work between me and her. Twilight uses the spell to send her letters.” “I still can’t believe Twilight needed to come here just to learn about friendship when she and all her friends are the best friends I ever had.” “It’s true. Twilight was always so concerned about studying that she couldn’t even see the point of making friends. The only benefit was that she is amazing when it comes to magic, she’s the best. She even fixed the window with her magic.” Spike explained. “I’m actually feeling guilty about that. Plus I feel like I’m freeloading off them. I really need to find work and earn my own bits.” Rick would have hung his head if he wasn’t already burying his chin into his chest in order to talk to Spike, a knee high dragon is not the easiest of conversational partners. “I understand, but you know Twilight and the others don’t feel that way.” “Don’t feel that way ‘bout whut?” AJ asked as she appeared from the apple trees. “Oh hey, AJ. Rick here was just saying he felt he was freeloading.” Spike informed. “While that may be true, Spike, you have got to learn about discretion. Not every conversation is meant to be shared.” Rick dramatically rolled his eyes and grinned. “Rick is right, Spike, but ya know Spike’s right too. Rick, ya know none of us feel like you’re freeloading. Ya didn’t exactly come here with much and yet ya’ve gone out of your way for us. Ah’d just chalk it up ta ‘that’s what friends are for’ and furget about it.” “Thank you, Applejack. I am very lucky to have met ponies like you. You all are amazing. I was even saying to Spike how I couldn’t believe Twilight needed to learn how to be a good friend when she is obviously so good at it.” “Well it’s true. When Princess Celestia first sent her here, she was purely goal oriented and saw no point in friendship. She even spent the whole night alone in her room during the party Pinkie threw for her.” “Seriously, what changed her?” Rick asked as the group headed toward the barn. “Nightmare Moon.” Applejack said plainly. “What’s Nightmare Moon?” “Not ‘what,’ ‘who.’ Nightmare Moon wus tha mare in the moon. She tried ta keep Equestria trapped in an eternal night, but Twilight, me and the others used the Elements of Harmony and stopped her. You saw tha window in the palace, that was us.” “And what happened to this Nightmare Moon?” Rick was very curious now. AJ was enjoying the suspense, “you mean you don’t know? I wud ah thought you’d ah figured it out.” “No, what, did she get sent back? Was she imprisoned? Was she killed?” Applejack was a little shocked by the suggestion. “Shoot no! Princess Luna’s just fine.” “Wait, Luna? Luna was Nightmare Moon?” Now it was Rick’s turn to be shocked. “Yeah, and it was thanks to Twilight that everypony was able to accept her again,” Spike offered. “She showed up during Nightmare Night and scared everypony stiff until Twilight was able to help her make friends.” “Nightmare Night, what’s that?” Rick asked. “It’s a festival where everypony dresses up in costumes and goes door to door asking for treats and there’s games and hay rides and all kinds of great food.” Spike started rubbing his tummy as he reminisced. “Hmmm, sounds like Halloween. On Earth we do pretty much the same thing. The door to door trick or treating, costume parties, pumpkin pies… I guess that’s one more thing I won’t have to miss.” Rick smiled as he closed that distance to the barn. “Hoowee, who’da thought there’d be something so similar between our worlds.” AJ observed. “I bet Twilight wud love ta hear about that.” “I’ll be sure to let her know. Now, the reason I came here. I need to fix that fence and Spike came along to help. All I need is the lumber and some tools. You are welcome to join us of course.” “Thanks but Ah got a lot of buckin’ to do today. Big Macintosh might be free, I’ll git him to join ya.” “Sounds good, Applejack.” Rick smiled as AJ walked toward into the barn. Rick and Spike followed suit. They were shown where the lumber, paint and tools were kept. They got to work measuring and cutting, soon after, Big Macintosh walked in. “Hey, Big Macintosh, come along to lend a han… er, hoof?” Rick greeted. “Eeyup.” The large pony nodded in agreement. Rick couldn’t help but grin. “I see you’re a pony of few words, I like it. We’re about finished up here, we just gotta loud up the truck and head out to the work site. Wanna ride with us?” “Eeyup.” Rick laughed and waved the pony and dragon out the door. “Alright, Big Macintosh, you’re a little big to ride in the cab, but the bed is plenty roomy,” Rick lowered the tailgate. “Spike, you have options. Do you want to ride in the back with Big Mac or in the cab with me?” “I think I wanna ride up front.” The little dragon bounced up and down trying to climb up into the cab, Rick reached down and picked him up, setting him down in the front seat. “Alright then, let’s head out. I want to get this finished before it gets too hot.” With that, he started the engine. After he calmed Spike down, they headed down the road. Chapter 31 “Hey, Rick! Hey, Spike! Watcha doin’ Big Macintosh?” The three looked to see Applebloom come bounding down the road. “Hey there yourself, Applebloom. We were just fixing the fence I wrecked when I first got here. Your brother and Spike were kind enough to help me. In fact, we were just finishing up. What are you up to?” Rick was loading up the broken pieces of fencing. All in all, it didn’t take too long. “Me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were gonna meet up at the clubhouse and figure out what to do next to earn our cutie marks.” The little filly beamed with pride at the mention of her club. “Well, that sounds like fun. Do you mind if I stop by later?” He reached down and rubbed her head causing her to giggle. “Of course ya can. Do ya know where the clubhouse is?” “Umm, no. Tell you what. How about you ride back to the barn with Spike Big Macintosh and me then you can show me where the clubhouse is.” Rick asked as he helped Spike up into the cab. “Ya mean it?! I been wantin’ to ride this thing! Can I really?!” She was bouncing in place with excitement. “As long as Big Mac says you can.” “Please, Big Macintosh, can I?” “Eeyup.” Rick was really liking the simplicity of the conversation. “Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She darted over and gave her brother a big squeeze. “Alright, I want you up front with me and Spike. The back isn’t too unsafe but right now, with all the broken wood in the back and tools, I don’t want you back there.” He smiled as he scooped her and set her in the front next to Spike. Though the ride wasn’t very long, the filly still seemed to enjoy herself hugely. She giggled at every bounce and couldn’t help but run from one window to the other while climbing over the seats trying to decide which one she liked best. Sadly, the time came to put away the vehicle and go back to traveling on foot or hoof. “That wus fun! Can we go again?” Applebloom was bouncing around as Rick lowered the tailgate for Big Macintosh. “Not today, we’ve got a Cutie Mark Crusader meeting to get to.” Rick told her. “You coming, Spike?” “Nah, I’m too tired for that. Think I’ll just head home and take a nap.” Rick nodded as he unloaded the broken lumber, “alright, then I guess I’ll see you later. Now, let’s get going.” “Alright!” Applebloom cheered as she lead the way to the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her cheerfulness reminded Rick of Annie and a single tear welled up in his eye as, smiling, he picked up Applebloom and sat her on his shoulders. He was enjoying himself today and he was determined to make sure it didn’t change. Chapter 32 Rick and Applebloom were laughing at each other as they walked through the old orchard. Soon, an elevated clubhouse came into view. The house was up in a large apple tree. Rick was only slightly surprised to see there was a ramp instead of the standard rope ladder. The door and window shutters were decorated with hearts and there were window boxes with flowers. It must have seemed pretty high up to the fillies but to Rick, he could easily see into the window. “Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse.” She waved a foreleg at the clubhouse. “Uh, I’d invite you in, but…” “I understand, Applebloom,” Rick lifted her onto the wrap around porch, “But I can still see into the windows from here.” Applebloom smiled, “I’ll get the others so you can meet them.” She trotted inside. “What, Rick’s here!” A familiar squeaky voice came from inside. “Wait, who’s Rick?” came an unfamiliar but obviously female voice. Sweetie Belle came bounding out of the door and trotted right up to Rick. She was followed by a small orange pegasus with purple hair styled somewhat similar to Rainbow Dash’s. Applebloom came out the door last. “Who or what is this?” The orange filly stepped back a little. “He’s my friend, Rick. He’s a human.” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “That’s right. He’s the one who saved me from that Timberwolf.” Applebloom beamed. “Okay I get, he’s a good guy, but what’s a human? Where did he come from?” The orange filly asked looking quizzical. “Humans are the dominant species on Earth, where I’m from. I’m not from Equestria.” Rick calmly explained as he held out his hand in greeting to the new filly. “I’m Scootaloo.” She slowly approached and placed a hoof in his hand, they shook. “Nice to meet you, Scootaloo. Now, Applebloom tells me you girls are trying to get your cutie marks, I must admit, I don’t know much about them. How does one get their cutie mark?” “By discovering their special talent.” Sweetie chirped with a little hop. “Yeah, we already tried lots ah things. But no luck so far.” Applebloom and the others were starting to look depressed. “Well I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll certainly try my best.” Rick’s words seemed to cheer the three up instantly. “Ya mean it?!” “Sure, my grandfather taught me all kinds of things that I would be more than happy to share with you three. I mean, what are friends for?” Rick smiled at the Crusaders. “That’s sounds good.” Scootaloo concurred, she still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Rick, but she wasn’t willing to give up any assistance with her cutie mark. “What kind of things can you help us with?” “Well… engine repair was always my favorite, but I don’t think that will help,” the fillies giggled even though they were certain why it was funny. “Fishing is a classic, but my favorite activities have always involved nature.” “We’ve been camping,” Sweetie Belle offered. “Yea, and it wus fun but we didn’t get our cutie marks.” Applebloom was starting to sound like she was losing hope. “Yeah, but Rainbow Dash did offer to act like my big sister, so it wasn’t a loss.” Scootaloo at least sounded hopeful. “Well camping is all well and good, but what about observation. Bird watching, animal tracking, there’s even simple wildlife photography. Just because one attempt was a bust, doesn’t mean everything down that road will be a bust.” Rick was smiling and his optimism was catching. “Your right, we can’t give up.” Applebloom cheered. “What do you want to try, Rick?” Sweetie Belle squeaked even more when she was excited. “Why don’t we just try hiking for now, we can get more specific later, but first, we have other things to worry about.” Rick suggested. “What things are you talking about?” Scootaloo inquired. “You girls need to get permission even company if you want, and I need to see Rarity about a bag.” Rick said goodbye to the Crusaders and started back towards Ponyville. Once again, he was excited. Growing up, Rick’s fondest memories revolved around his grandfather and a campfire. The sights and sounds that can only be seen away from populated areas, birds, deer and the occasional woodchuck if you were lucky and patient. It sure beat the animals that were pinned up on farms, the boring cows, the muddy pigs, the cooped up chickens and the hor… Rick couldn’t help himself and he laughed the rest of the way through the orchard.