Last night was truly amazing. I woke up in my cot thinking about the dream I had of Twilight Sparkle. That feeling that I had in the simulator... I've never had such an urge to protect someone or something like that. Then again, I've never really cared for people or items like I do now. I looked over onto the desk next to my cot, there was a cell phone with a note near it.
Ian,
Get in contact with some of your friends! Call them up and invite them to the lab. The order of simulators arrived last night and we need more people join you in ponyville, I wouldn't want you to be all alone in that mansion! The phone has some of your old registered contacts, incase you forgot anyone's number. Get to it and meet me in the lab after you've eaten breakfast!
Julie.
I took the phone and looked through the contact list, recognizing certain names as I scrolled through the list. I found the people I wanted to contact and informed all of them as to what was happening. Almost all of them were able to pick up their phones and all were able to join me on my adventures, we just had to wait for any paperwork to be signed and the jet to bring them to the lab. Of course the jet was a company owned jet, it was about twice as fast as commercial transportation and would have them all here by today. I hopped out of bed ready to begin my day with a good breakfast. I waltzed down to the cafeteria to receive my special breakfast made by the large, jolly chef with a glamorous, black mustache. His Italian accent always put a smile on my face and I wondered where the company found such a man. After I got my tray of goodies I went back to my usual spot, a corner table with exceptionally comfortable seats and plenty of room for a group to enjoy themselves, but there was only me, and Julie was sitting there again. She was probably waiting for me to brief me on any news she had from last night or this morning.
"Ah, there you are!" She had a bright smile on her face. "Did you contact your friends? How many will be here by tonight?"
"I've contacted the best of the best, and they should all be here in time to warp into Ponyville with enough daylight to find them in."
I took a large bite of toast and eggs, washed down by orange juice. "We'll have three new members of the crew by tonight."
"Wonderful news! They're each sending me a detail description of how they're going to be animated, right?" She looked at me sternly.
"Of course, in fact, I've given them guidelines on what roles I need played by different ponies, and with your help, we'll be able to make the perfect crew for Ponyville." I looked up at her.
"Oh my, your eyes are a vibrant green color! I'd be able to see them from down the hall!" She was surprised, but not upset. "I'll be keeping a record on physical records from now on."
I looked into the reflection of my spoon, and saw the emerald green glow of my eyes. I also noticed that my hair was becoming sandy light brown. Both of these were improvements to my appearance and looked good on me.
"Alright, meet me in the lab when you're ready." Julie got up and walked out of the cafeteria.
I finished my breakfast and stood up. After clearing my tray and returning it to the line, I walked down the hall slowly, thinking about what I was going to do today. I needed a form of work, something to do while waiting for my friends to arrive. Maybe Applejack would let me assist her in some apple bucking. That sounded like a good plan, I'll go talk to her first. I guess after that I'll see whose in town and hopefully the guys will have arrived at the lab by then. I flashed my card in front of the camera and entered the lab room. The simulator was still in its usual place, but there were 4 extra pods in the room, everything was ready. I walked up to my usual pod while Julie was preparing the systems and checking over everything once again, just to be safe. I sat down in the pod as the helmet lowered onto my head once again. My vision went black and everything went quiet. The image of my glowing green eyes materialized into my dark world, and faded away as I was transported into Ponyville. There was the bright vivid colors and the loud, confusing sounds, but it lasted only a fraction of the time it did when I first entered the dimension of Equestria.
I woke up in my bed just as I had fallen asleep, as if I slept so soundly through the night that nothing moved out of place. I got out of bed and went down stairs into the kitchen, the cabinets had been stocked with basic supplies I would need for casual living. I grabbed a mouthful of oats just to keep me running for the day, but I'm pretty sure Applejack would have something at sweet apple acres, in case this wasn't enough. As I opened the door, I noticed that the sun was still low in the sky and the air was cool and damp, it was still early morning here in Ponyville, a glorious summer day was scheduled for today. I walked down the cobblestone road and into the streets of town, following the sign that pointed to sweet apple acres. I broke into a gallop and felt the wind through my mane and in my face, the air rolled easily through my tail, as it was shorter than most ponies tails and had a rough, natural look to it. As I was galloping, I saw Apple Bloom walking down the road from sweet apple acres. I had a big, welcoming smile on my face at the sight of the little filly.
"Hello Apple Bloom! Where are you off to on such a nice day?" I asked contently.
"Ah was just on mah way to the market, ah'm runnin' errands for Granny Smith!" She said.
"It's better to get there early to pick out all the good stuff first." She had a pack on her back with a list hanging from one of the pockets.
"That's true, I was wondering if your sister, Applejack, was apple bucking this morning? I would enjoy assisting her on the job." I asked.
"Of course! Her and Big Mac are in the kitchen right now, they're eatin' a good breakfast before a hard day of work!" She smiled. "You're welcome to help buck the orchard!"
"Alright, I'll go speak with her and Big Mac. Maybe I could join them in breakfast, since I haven't had the time to eat a real breakfast."
I started galloping off towards the main house of sweet apple acres. I came up to the front door and gave a good knock. I heard Applejack saying something, it sounded like I was invited in. I went to go open the door when it was opened by Big Mac, just before my hoof reached the door.
"Big Mac! I came by to see if I could help out with the apple bucking." I had a big grin on my face.
"Eeyup, come on in." He said with his famous phrase and smile.
"Alright! I hope it isn't troubling anyone, but I didn't have a proper apple bucking breakfast, I rushed out the door and didn't think about it." I frowned.
"That's alright sugar cube, Granny Smith made her usual workin' day meal, there's plenty to go around." Applejack said from the kitchen.
"That's great, I'm pretty hungry after yesterday." I smirked and thought back to yesterday's events.
Applejack didn't lie when she said there was plenty to go around, there were apple goodies set all along the table in the kitchen. I went right over and joined Big Mac and Applejack in a glorious meal. I really couldn't believe myself, I was eating breakfast with Applejack and Big Macintosh! I was going to be bucking apples in a short while, I always thought this was just going to be a fantasy until now. I know I signed up for a job, hard work, but this was going to be too much fun to seem like work.
"You alright there, sugar?" Applejack looked at me funny.
"Yeah, I'm just really happy to be here." My eyes were glowing with excitement.
"Eeyup, ah know the look when ah see it." I felt like Big Mac was sharing my excitement, even though he didn't show the look.
"Well then, ah guess we can get out there and start right away!" Applejack said.
She lead us out the door, down a path going back into the orchard. We walked silently for a few minutes, my eyes just lit up from my surroundings. The apple orchard was such a magnificent sanctuary. Animals thrived all around and had the apples as a plentiful food supply. We kept walking and finally came to an area with baskets under the trees and big, red apples hanging from the trees, ready to fall. Applejack ran up and gave a tree a buck, apples falling right into the baskets beneath them. She ran to another and did the same thing, apples falling into the baskets. Big Mac handled some of the larger trees, giving them a big buck, clearing each of them from the big, lustrous fruits dangling so tantalizingly. Applejack came up to me, sweat on her forehead.
"Alright, it's your turn, sugar cube." Applejack looked over to a tree ripe with apples.
"Now, don't feel bad if ya don't clear the whole tree, its not easy apple buckin' and all." She gave a smile.
"Oh, it must take a lot of muscle to clear off an entire tree, am I right?" I asked with a smirk on my face.
"Eeyup." Big Mac grunted as he cleared another massive apple tree with one buck.
"Alrighty, let's see how much pony power ya really got with them guns of yours!" Applejack looked at my hind legs, surprisingly nimble, but well-toned.
"I've kinda got an idea on how much power I've got here, but lets get to it!"
I started off in a charge towards the tree of interest. I reached the tree and used the speed I picked up to swing around and get my hind legs in the air. I gave a smirk and locked my jaw, getting ready for a big kick, I wanted to impress for a first try. And so I impressed, very much. My eyes gave a green glimmer off of the rising sun as my hooves made contact with the trunk. The whole tree shuddered, apples fell all over, but they weren't the only things to fall. The tree bent back, came forward, and bent back once more before the roots started to unearth and give way. The sound of my back hooves hitting the bark echoed through the orchard a good distance, and the tree came crashing down. They both stared at me, Applejack and Big Mac. Applejack had her jaw dropped at the sight. She hadn't seen anything like this since Rainbow Dash cleared a section of the orchard flat with a sonic rainboom. Big Mac just stood there with his usual calm mannered look and nodded his head.
"Eeyup, you got some good kickers on ya." He came over and took a look at the tree.
"Yeehaw! Ya sure are packin' some power on them hind legs ya got there! The first time ah saw ya i thought you're just built for runnin fast! I sure misjudged ya!" Applejack kicked her front hooves in the air.
"Don't worry, I definitely misjudged my own strength myself." I frowned and looked at the tree.
"It'll live, the tree. Ah just need help proppin' it up again." Big Mac looked at me.
"Alright, I'll give it a big push the other way." I said.
"Sure thing, ah really wanna see a rodeo like that again!" Applejack smiled.
Big Mac propped the tree up a bit, so I could fit myself under and get my hind legs into position. With another good push the tree went back up, slowing down near the top. Applejack got around the base and pushed from her shoulder until the tree was planted down on the ground again. She began to stomp the roots back to where they were and tried to cover them up again.
"Sweet Celestia! Would ya look at that!" Applejack gave a shocked expression.
The tree had been propped up and secured into position, but the place of impact had a splintered hole, about 4 inches deep into the side. It would definitely affect the tree later in life, but it wouldn't kill it. The hole looked like Pinkie had shot a brick out of her party cannon, the bark was scraped clean and there were splinters everywhere. I apologized once again, but Applejack told me not to worry about it. We all kept bucking for about another few hours, judging by the sun's position in the sky. We definitely made progress throughout the orchard, since they had an extra set of legs to work with. After bucking for about a few minutes, I got the feel of how hard of a buck was needed to clear a tree, sometimes I didn't buck hard enough, but anything was better than another casualty in the orchard. We stopped up to a certain point and Applejack turned around.
"We sure did get some buckin' done, with you here and all, Ironclad!" Applejack was running out of breath.
"I'm not the one you need to be crediting, we've all worked hard today, and I'm just happy to be here doing such work with you two." I smiled.
"Only problem is, we all just gotta get these apples back to the barn, we'll need a second wagon for these many apples." Applejack said.
"Eeyup, we got a spare in the old shed somewhere." Big Mac looked at me.
"Alright, I'd be happy to pull a wagon, it shouldn't be too hard." I glanced back at all of the apples we've bucked.
After a long gallop back to the barn, Big Mac and I hitched up the wagons and started off to gather everything we've bucked ourselves into. We followed the trail of baskets we left after all the bucking was done, applejack skillfully kicking the baskets and flipping the apples in the general direction of the cart. This didn't take such strength, but control and aim. Thank Celestia she was there to do the picking up, or this might've taken a lot longer than it could've. As we kept along the trail, applejack kicking apples into each of the carts, we were nearing the end of our work. We came up over the hill we stopped at and I noticed a faint dirt trail leading back to somewhere in the orchard.
"Applejack, where does that trail lead to?" I thought about it for a minute.
"That's the trail leadin' back to the HQ of the one and only!" She winked at me.
"Are the cutie mark crusaders usually back there around this time?" I asked.
"O' course they are, the only time they ain't back there is when they're out adventurin!" She smiled.
"I'll have to go back there after we get back to the barn, I might as well go introduce myself and see if I can partake in any 'adventuring'." I laughed.
"That's a swell idea, y'all could help keep them outta trouble when they go on their more dangerous quests." She gave a troubled look.
"Great! I won't let anything lay their paws on them!" I gave a mean grin and clashed my front hooves together.
"That's a good idea, givin' all of us peace of mind, with all these goblins crawlin' around these days." She looked even more troubled.
"I'm starting to think they might have a camp back in the Everfree somewhere. Since they keep coming from that direction every night." I thought to myself.
"Ah wouldn't doubt that idea, y'all be careful out in them woods, ah don't trust them to this day, but ah do trust you." Applejack smiled.
"Eeyup." Big Mac added in agreement.
"Thanks, you two, I really appreciate everything you've done today, its hard to come across people like this in my home world." I frowned, but thought about my friends.
We returned to the estate and unloaded the apples into storage, as they would be used for many things in the near future. We entered the house through the back door, and Granny Smith was in the kitchen with Apple Bloom, ready for our return with refreshments. We enjoyed the apple snack prepared by Granny Smith, in appreciation of our hard work. Apple Bloom had made some fresh apple juice from last trip's remaining apples. We all sat down and Applejack told the story of this morning's events while relaxing. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom didn't react to the idea of me bucking a tree over as I expected, they were much more calm about it, probably because Granny Smith had seen something like it before in her days, and apple bloom witnessed my strength only days ago.
Everyone finished off the last of the refreshments, it was high noon. Apple Bloom was heading off to the treehouse out in the orchard. I asked if I could come along for a short while, and she was particularly happy I asked, I could understand why. We were walking through the orchard and down the path, all along the way she was asking questions about things like the human world and how I was fitting into the new one. She brought up questions about my cutie mark and I told her I'll explain it to her when the cutie mark crusaders have gathered. We arrived at the treehouse and Apple Bloom gave a shout out to the other excited fillies in the tree house.
"Sweetie Bell! Scootaloo! Ah have somepony for y'all to meet!" Apple Bloom yelled.
"No way! How did you get such a pony to come out here? I would've thought that you were WAY too busy to bother with us!" Scootaloo looked down with a large grin.
"Oh wow! So you're really from another world? And you're really strong too, so I've heard." Sweetie Bell joined scootaloo in peering out the window.
"Of course, I'm dragon blooded, I didn't have to work for this power like some ponies do. And I couldn't wait to meet the cutie mark crusaders!" I had an equally large grin on my face.
We were soon all in the tree house, the cutie mark crusaders asking plenty of questions for me to answer. Apple bloom and I told them about some of my recent adventures, and I explained the encounter I had with a goblin the other night, leaving out the part with Twilight, for good reason. These stories only made the crusaders more pumped for an adventure, as I promised them a trek through the Everfree forest, or anywhere else my companions may spawn, as I know they won't be in the easiest locations to locate. But then the real question appeared, one I was anxiously awaiting from the crusaders themselves.
"So, what exactly does your cutie mark mean?" Sweetie Bell asked, admiring the gleaming fist upon my flank.
"Well of course, it represents my name, Ironclad, but also is a metaphor for what I stand for in life." I explained, "the fist of Ironclad stands for my iron grip on what I love and protect, I'll hold onto friends with my life, and won't let the things I love slip away so easily!"
"That's so cool!" Scootaloo said. "It's so amazing to think that you got a cutie mark for something so..."
"Abstract?" Sweetie bell suggested.
"Yes, that makes perfect sense!" I said.
"That's not what I was meaning, but ok." Scootaloo said.
"Ah wish ah could get a cutie mark for somethin' so amazin'." Apple Bloom sighed.
"That's another thing I should mention to you fillies." I explained, "instead of trying something new every single day, you should focus on something you really shine with."
"That's an idea that could work! But what are our true talents? What are each of us good at?" Sweetie Bell thought.
"I don't know, but one thing for a long time sounds boring, I'd rather stick to adventuring to find what we're good at." Scootaloo was not amused by my idea.
"Yeah, besides, we're gonna go adventurin' later today, when Ironclad calls us up." Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"That's right crusaders!" I started, "I'm going to have 3 ponies generated into the world from my original universe, but they won't just appear right in front of me when I want!"
"We're gonna have to hunt em down when we hear the signal!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"What's the signal? What are we looking for?" Scootaloo questioned.
"Do any of you remember the sonic boom from 2 days ago?" I asked.
"Oh yeah! I remember hearing that while I was in Rarity's boutique, eating breakfast!" Sweetie Bell remembered.
"Well that's going to be the signal. That's when we meet up at the edge of the Everfree, near Fluttershy's house! We'll go from there to where the sound was coming from." I explained.
"And don't worry, I'll have a guideline if we get lost." I smirked and thought of Julie as her laughter traveled though my head.
Just as the laughter died down, a ringing boom shook the treehouse and echoed through the mountains. The cutie mark crusaders jumped to their feet and were ready for a hunt.
"You could've warned me at least..." I thought to Julie.