//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 A Burden // Story: Friendship Has Many Names // by Mikey_030 //------------------------------// ...I woke up, lying in my bed to find a yellow pony with wings staring down at me with tears in her eyes. As soon as she saw I was awake she latched on to me crying and thanking me at the same time. Everything hurt and I was completely disoriented trying to collect my self. "Wha- what happened?" Twilight spoke up from behind, "Well apparently you jumped off the balcony to save angel from that hawk." "Who?" "My bunny!" The yellow pony spoke up, "Thank you so much for saving him, he's my favorite pet, he's almost my own child." "It was nothing really, I just saw that you needed help and were chasing after that hawk, I wasn't entirely sure why but I guess I decided to nab him for you." "Whats your name anyhow?" "Oh, um, I'm Fluttershy." "Well its nice to meet you Flutter shy." "Oh and don't worry about introducing yourself, Twilight already told me what happened." "Oh that’s a relief." "How are you feeling?" Fluttershy looked concerned. "Oh just a few bumps and bruises but I think I can manage." Twilight interjected, "I think you should stay in bed a little longer, you did just fall off a house and all." "Yeah I think your ri-" Intense pain clenched my insides, I sprang up and bolted passed Twilight and Fluttershy into the bathroom as fast as I could. I Threw up... "Hey you alright in there?" Twilight leaning up to the door to listen. I stumble out Looking like I went through a tornado, "Twilight... their was a little bit of blood in there..." "Oh goodness!" Fluttershy gasped, "How much?" I was swaying left and right trying to hang on to consciousness, "Ohhh, I'd say about enough." "Enough for what?" Twilight asked, right then I plunged to the ground like a rock. ___________________________________________________________________________ I woke up in a hospital bed, "Twilight and Fluttershy must have rushed me here while I was unconscious." As I looked about the room a white pony with a pink mane and a red + on her flank walked in. "Hello I'm nurse Red Heart, It seems you've come from quite a doosey." "I'll say" "Well we checked you out and it seems that you had some internal bleeding" "What!?" "Don't worry we fixed you up good as new, your friend is waiting for you at the front desk, your free to go whenever you'd like." "Oh well thanks.. how am I being covered?" "Oh your friend Twilight signed up for you, she'll be covering the costs." "That’s exactly what I was afraid of." I said under my breath As I walked up to the waiting room, I find Twilight, she seemed happy to see me in better condition. "Hey, what happened to Fluttershy?" "Oh she had to go feed the other animals she told me to make sure you get better though." "Oh, well thanks for rushing me here." "It was no problem, I'm just happy to see you doing better." "Thanks Twilight.. so you paid for it all?" "Yeah, It was a small price to pay for your health though, no big deal." She looked at me with a smile. "Twilight.... I think I want a job." "Oh well I'm sure we can find one for you somewhere in pony-ville, but if its because I've been using my money to take care of you recently, I don't mind at all." "Well, I just think its about time I start pulling my weight around here." "Are you sure you don't want to take it easy for a few days, you just got out of the hospital." "No, I want to help and stop freeloading off of you like some parasite." "If its what you really want.. I think I know the perfect place for ya!" ____________________________________________________________________________ After a long walk we end up at a giant apple orchard with a house and a barn. "Sweet Apple Acres... a farm?" "Yeah and you get to meet another friend, HEY APPLEJACK!" After a bit of searching we found an orange earth pony. Her blonde hair bound together by red rubber bands on the end, her mane hidden under a giant cowboy hat." "Why hey there twilight.. whose your friend?" "I'M GLA-" "NOT NOW!!" ok so maybe Twilight has had enough of my catch phrase. "I'll explain him later, do you think you could give him a job here at the farm?" "Well I don't quite know, I'll have to ask Bigmac if its okay." After a few minutes of searching we run into a muscular red pony, with an orange mane. "Hey big brother, Somepony's lookin' for a job." Bigmac approached us, "Hmm, well apple buckin' is kind of a family thing round here, It takes a lot of hard work and determination, I hope you do realize that you can't be usin' your fancy unicorn magic to do it." "Well.." I looked at Twilight then back to Bigmac, "I don't really know how to use my magic yet." Bigmac looked at me with disbelief in his eyes. "Well, I don't know. Look its getting pretty late, I'll think it over til' mornin'." "Thanks Bigmac" I still didn't know if he approved but I am glad I was given the chance. ____________________________________________________________________________ Later that night, Twilight, Spike and I went our separate ways, we each climbed in our own bed. I couldn't sleep a wink. I got out and looked at Twilight and spike sleeping soundly, I want to help them and stop being such a burden, I snuck out. After a while of trying to find my way, I eventually made it back to the farm. I headed up to the barn and grabbed a bucket. I went deep into the small forest of trees filled to the top with apples. As sure as I saw that nopony could see me, I began my first apple buckin'... "Although my body was still sore from the accident, I think I can pull it off." "Alright this shouldn't be too bad." I gave a large hard kick to the long wooden tree. An apple fell out, "What just one?" I proceeded to kick again, each kick came with slightly more apples. As I kicked I began to improve, soon I was able to get half of the tree empty in one thrust. Moving on from tree to tree I filled buckets upon buckets with apples. As I worked, I could hear small giggles coming from someplace not far from here. I found this small house in the distance, I became curious and decided to take a peek at what was going on.I leaned my head through an open window in the clubhouse. Three small ponies playing games... In a house.. at the center.. of an apple orchard...in the dead of night... "Huh?" "Alright girls, tomorrow's the day, this time I know we'll get our cutie marks. "Whats that?" The girls looked in shock for where my voice was coming from. "Whose out there?" Said the little yellow one in fear. "This is my families farm and I can get you in serious trouble for trespassing! "Uh no need for that." The orange one perked up, "Who are you?" "Well its gonna sound weird but I don't even know." After much time of explaining.. "So your friends with my big sister Rarity?" "I sure hope so, shes working on some clothes for me." "Yeah I think I heard her talking about somepony that Twilight is taking in." "That'd be me." "And you've met my sister Applejack and my brother Big MacIntosh?" "Yeah, I asked them for a job but, Bigmac said he was going to think about it tonight, I thought I should just try to prove what I can do by buckin' some apples for practice out here, It's going pretty good so far." "Why won't they give you the job, bigmac sure does look like he needed some help around here?" "I think he mentioned somethong about how I was a unicorn and would just use my magic instead of buckin' but I can't really use my magic since I don't know how." "Hey Sweetybelle, looks like you've got somepony on your level." A snickering orange Pegasus pointed toward the white unicorn "Well I sure hope you get the job, you seem pretty eager, I think you'll be fine." "Thanks uh.." "Oh right, I’m Applebloom, This here is Sweetybelle, and this is Scootaloo." "Well it's an honor to meet you, but I still have to ask.. Whats a Cutie Mark?" "It's your special talent." Applebloom bursted out, "It's the symbol you get for when you find what your good at in life, we don't have ours yet like the other fillies but we try everyday to find it." "Oh so you kinds are kind of like a club?" "Yeah, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The three ponies shouted. "Sounds like you ponies have a pretty good thing going for ya, maybe someday I can join." "What do you mean?" Asked a confused Scootaloo. "Well I mean this." I then proceed to show them my empty flank. They gasped in shock. "Of course you can join, we need to help each other find our special talents, no matter who they are." "Thanks girls it means a lot." "Well I'm gonna get back to buckin' Apples, you three have fun okay." "Sure thing, good luck." I exited the clubhouse and began to continue to buck apple's until of course I fell asleep... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING If a stranger walks into your clubhouse and says he is a friend and you should feel comfortable around them, DON'T, ESPECIALLY IF HE PROCEEDS TO SHOW YOU HIS ASS!! ಠ_ಠ This world is a lot different then the world of our pony friends, Please trust me when I say, Don't talk to strangers!! also, don't have a clubhouse in the middle of the woods without any adult supervision first, or at least a way to safely and quickly contact an adult. Thank You