Chapter 7: Patch
"Applebloom come on, it's time ta get up."
"Uh just five more minutes..."
"Nuh uh, Ah've already let yuh sleep in for more than an hour. Now come on, Big Mac's already gone out and you and Ah need ta get on too."
Applebloom shifted under the covers and turned to face the apple mare, "D...do Ah still have ta go out with yuh?"
Applejack sighed and responded, "Fraid so sugar cube. Breakfast's on the table, hurry up before it gets cold." She than turned and left to allow her sister some privacy.
Letting out a yawn, the filly decided to do as her older sister had said to avoid invoking her ire. Hopping down onto the floor she made her way to the bathroom to begin her morning routine. After she was finished, she stopped and stared at the door across from the bathroom. Ah wonder if Bryce is up yet?
Raising a hoof she motioned to knock but stopped, Ah should probably just check, Ah don't wanna wake him up if he's asleep. Applebloom opened the door a crack, just enough so she could peek in. She could make out his large form buried under the blanket. Pushing the door open to allow herself access she whispered, "Hey....Hey Bryce, are yuh still asleep?"
"Ugh, calm down Morgan Freeman. Nelson Mandela will still be there to take your place...I mean who is it?"
Applebloom raised an eyebrow, "Uh...it's me, Applebloom."
Bryce turned around to face her, "Oh hey Sprout. What's going on?"
Applebloom moved the rest of the way into the room, "Nothing. Ah...Ah was trying ta see if you were up, but Ah guess Ah woke yuh instead."
Bryce pushed himself and let out a wide mouthed yawn, "Don't...*yawn*...don't worry about it, I was already awake. I was just resting my eyes."
"Oh...OK then."
"Yeah, well I really can't sleep past a certain time. I don't know what it is. Must be my internal alarm or something."
"That's good...Ah guess."
"Well maybe to some, but to me it suuuuuucks."
An awkward pause followed.
This time Bryce was the one to break the silence, "So what are you gonna be doing today Sprout?"
"Ah wanted ta stay here, but Applejack won't let me."
"Really, why not?"
Applebloom looked away, "Ah...Ah don't know if Ah should say."
"Is it because of me?"
Applebloom shyly nodded.
If Bryce was upset he wasn't showing it, "Well, after what happened yesterday I...I can't fully blame her."
"Are...aren't yuh upset?"
"Well I am, but she's probably just worried..."
"Worried? Worried bout what?"
Bryce turned away, "That...that I might harm you."
Hearing this disheartened Applebloom, "She...she keeps on tellin me that. But you wouldn't do that. Would...would yuh?"
Bryce couldn't bring himself to look at the filly, "I wouldn't, not without reason. But there's just some things where you need to earn their trust before they even consider letting you do something like that."
"Ah...Ah trust yuh."
"Yeah, but you're just a child, you can easily trust anyone. For someone my or your sister's age they need to get to know them for a while." Bryce let out a sigh, "And after everything that's happened since I got here I doubt that'll happen anytime soon, if ever."
Bryce didn't say anything after that.
"Hey...hey Bryce, are you alright?"
Bryce remained silent.
Applebloom made her way up over to the human, "B...Bryce?"
Bryce gave no recognition that the yellow filly existed.
"B...Bryce?," Applebloom touched his shoulder.
Bryce shifted away, "Don't touch me."
"Ah...Ah'm sorry. Ah forgot."
Bryce said nothing, hurting the young fille's feelings.
"Well...Ah'm...Ah'm gonna go before Applejack gets upset." Applebloom jumped down and made her way for the door, "Ah...Ah guess Ah'll see yuh later...Bryce?"
Bryce gave no answer.
"Um...bye." Applebloom left, closing the door behind her.
When she got to the stairs the filly found Applejack standing on the bottom step, "There yuh are, what took yuh so long?"
Walking down the stairs, Applebloom replied, "No..nothing, Ah needed ta use the bathroom more than Ah thought."
Applejack wanted to press Applebloom for an answer, but they were both already pressed for time as it was, "Well alright. You're breakfast's already gone cold. Hurry up and eat." The apple mare walked into the kitchen with Applebloom following slowly behind.
When Applebloom got to a kitchen she found Granny clearing the table, save for the place that had been set for her. Winona was lying down in a corner, acting as if the day before never happened. Taking a seat, Applebloom began to nibble at the lukewarm meal, her mind too aloof to even care. What could uh happened with Bryce, he was fine a second ago. Was...was it something Ah said?
"OK Applebloom, you eat up. Ah'm gonna go get the wagon ready and get yuh when it's ready." Applejack left, Winona running at her heels.
After a minute an aged voice broke the silence, "Well now, what's the matter?"
Applebloom looked up to find Granny Smith sitting next to her, "No...nothing. Ah didn't get much sleep last night." Applebloom forced a smile.
"Ahh horse apples, Ah can tell when something's on yuh mind. Now come on and tell me before your sister gets back."
Applebloom looked away, "Ah...Ah can't."
"Come now, you can trust old Granny Smith now can't yuh?"
"Ah...Ah want to, but...do you promise ta keep it a secret?"
"Oh you don't need ta worry bout me tellin anypony anything. Now go on and spill it."
Applebloom took in a deep breath, "Well...last night Ah went inta the guest room and talked with Bryce and we talked for Ah don't know how long but eventually he made me go ta bed, and it ended great, but this morning Ah went in there again ta see if he was awake and we were talking but then he stopped talking and wouldn't look at me and Ah tried to get him ta talk, but he wouldn't, and now Ah'm worried that I did something he didn't like and now he doesn't want ta talk ta me ever again." She started breathing heavily following her rant.
Granny Smith tried to make sense of the little filly's spiel, "Wait, who's Bryce?"
"He's...*pant*...He's the...*pant*...He's the creature me and Apple...*pant*...Applejack found out in the orchard yesterday."
"Oh...did he seem OK last night?"
Applebloom nodded.
"Well what'd yuh say to him this morning?"
"All Ah said was that Ah had ta go out with Applejack and he asked if Ah had ta go because of him."
"OK, what else?"
"After that he said it was because Applejack thought he would hurt me and Ah said Ah knew he wouldn't, but then he said that he wouldn't but that Applejack didn't trust him. Ah said Ah trusted him but he said it didn't matter because Applejack wouldn't ever trust him after what happened yesterday. After that he wouldn't say anything." Applebloom looked at what remained of her breakfast, "Did...did Ah do something wrong granny?"
"Ah'm not sure Applebloom, Ah can't really say."
Applebloom just hung her head down.
Granny put a hoof around her youngest grandchild, "All we can do is hope he'll get better. Tell yuh what Ah'll try talking to'em..."
"N...no don't do that."
Granny Smith was taken aback, "Why not?"
"He...he told me last night that he doesn't get along well with ponies he doesn't like."
"Well Ah'm still gonna try. Now go on and finish up your breakfast, your sister will be back in any minute."
"OK."
"And Applebloom..."
"Yes Granny?"
"Try not ta worry yourself too much about him, Ah'm sure he just needs ta get used to everything. Once he does he'll probably be fine."
"Ah...Ah hope so." Applebloom finished the rest of her breakfast in silence, praying Granny was right about the puzzling human.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Um...bye." Applebloom left, closing the door behind her.
Bryce could only stare down at the floor, feeling like complete and total garbage on the inside. Why...why the fuck did you have to go on and do that. That horse thing was the closest thing you had to a friend in whatever circle of Hell this is and I might as well have just told her to go fuck herself. He started pounding down on his thighs as hard as he possibly could, wanting more than anything for this nightmare to be over. After a while the pain became too much. Left with nothing else to do he just sat there and cried.
A few minutes later Bryce heard the door click open. Shit! I don't want to be seen right now. Not like this. He hid himself in his arms.
When the door swung open Bryce heard the clopping of hooves sound out in the small room once again. They stopped right in front of him.
"Hey there sonny, is everything OK?"
It was the aged voice he had heard last night while he was under a blanket. Is this the one Sprout called Granny Smith? Parting his arms a crack he caught sight of a mound of white hair styled up in a bun. Yep definitely the one. Bryce closed the gap in his arms.
"Ahh come now, yuh have ta worry about little old me. Ah'm nothing but a rickety old mare yuh don't anything ta be scared of. Why Ah could fall over right now and couldn't even get myself up even if Ah wanted to." She laughed.
Bryce snickered a little, OK...that one was kinda funny, but I'm still not coming out.
"Oh yuh think that's funny do yuh sonny, well you know what's even funnier. You just sit there while Ah..." Bryce heard a loud *thump*, "OH OH, I've fallen and Ah can't get up."
Nice try I'm not falling for it.
"Oh if only there were some big, strong stallion here ta help me up."
Nope, no horse things here. Just you and a human.
"Oh Ah'm startin ta black out, wont somepony help this old mare?"
She...she is faking it...right?
"Oh no here it comes, Ah;'m coming ta meet yuh son."
RIGHT?!?!?!
"Goodbye world."
Bryce stood up and unhooked his arms from his face, "WAIT I'M HERE, DON'T YOU DIE ON..."
Bryce was met with a green, wrinkly, horse's ass. Standing there straight in front of him. On her own four legs. Son of a bitch! Bryce wasn't completely sure how to feel. He felt mixed emotions of anger and surprise.
The old mare laughed, "See now wasn't that even funnier." She laughed again.
But Bryce had to admit, it was beyond funny. It. Was. Hilarious. He began to laugh slowly at first, then it grew. He couldn't control himself. He laughed. He laughed until his sides hurt and he fell down on the floor, making him laugh even harder. After almost five minutes of rolling on the floor, laughing, Bryce finally got control of himself. Wiping tears out of his eyes he, he lay his back on the side of the bed.
"So sonny, ready ta tell old Granny Smith how you're feeling?"
Wiping the few remain tears out of his eyes Bryce responded, "I'm not gonna lie to yuh...better than I did when you first came in." Bryce began to laugh again.
"That's good. So yuh tell me what's got yuh down in the dumps?"
Getting control of himself again Bryce brought a hand to his forehead, "Well I...I guess I could, if...if you'll listen."
"Good, but first you must be hungry. How about we go downstairs and get yuh something ta eat?"
"O...OK...if...if...if you want to."
"Well let me just get this tray and we'll..."
Bryce interjected, "N...no I'll take it."
"Oh, well thank you sonny. Here let me show you the way."
Letting the aged mare guide him, Bryce followed down to the kitchen, ducking down under the archway to avoid banging his head. When they arrived Bryce dropped the tray down on the first available counter space.
"Now that that's out of the way is there anything Ah can make yuh?"
"Well uh...you...you don't h...happen to have any gri...gri..grits do you?"
Granny Smith looked confused, "What's a 'grit'?"
"No, grits....Have you not heard of it?"
"Ah can't say Ah have dear."
"O...oh. Well d...do you have any...any eggs then?"
"Now that we have plenty of." She made her way towards the stove, "How do you like yours cooked?"
"I like...I like mine fried with salt and pepper, if...if you could?"
"OK dear. Just go on and have a seat and I'll have those done in a jiffy. Now do yuh want just the eggs or do yuh want'em in a sandwich?"
"In...in a sandwich, if...if you could?"
"All right just sit tight, Ah'll be done with it in just a minute."
Bryce made his way over to the table. Taking one look at the table he could tell there would be no easy way for him to 'sit tight' at the small, horse thing sized table. OK Bryce you can figure this one...just like you figured out the blender...after for attempts...and 27 stitches...in the head. Bending down slowly he allowed the tiny chair to take his weight. OK...so far so... Bryce heard the chair creak from under him. ...Shit! The chair gave out as he finished that thought. Bryce fell down on his back and hit his head. All he could do was lie there for a moment before letting out a single cry of pain, "...Ow."
"Oh my are you alright there sonny?"
Bryce opened his eyes to find the craggy face of the aged green mare floating over him, "Ugh, I've been through worse. Ow."
"Well can yuh get up?"
Bryce slowly pushed himself up, "Yeah" He crossed his legs and sat with his back bent.
"Well that's good, do yuh need an ice pack or anythin?"
"Nah I'll be fine."
"If you say so. Now then Ah hope yuh still have an appetite because your food's ready."
Bryce looked at the table to find two fried egg sandwiches laying on a plate, waiting to be consumed, "Looks great, thanks a lot." He resolved to just sit there to avoid obliterating another chair. Bryce began to pull off the crusts.
"What's the matter, do you not like crusts on your bread?"
"No, I do. I just like to pull them off so they don't take away from the taste of the sandwich. I still eat the crusts though."
"Oh...OK then. Do you want anything ta drink?"
"Well milk, if you could?"
"Sure Ah can, coming right up."
When Granny Smith returned with a glass of milk Bryce had already finished his first sandwich and was in the process of removing the crusts off the second.
"Whoa there sonny, Ah know mah cooking can be good but yuh don't need ta choke yourself."
"Uh...OK." Bryce quickly finished the second sandwich and washed it down with the glass of milk. "Ahh, that was good. Thanks for that."
"Well your welcome dear. Now why don't you go sit down in the living room while Ah clean this up."
Bryce stood up, "Are you sure. Is there anything I can do?"
"Oh now don't worry yourself. You just go have uh seat and Ah'll be with yuh in uh minute."
"Well i...if you say so." Bryce made his way into the living room, ducking again under the archway.
Now that he was in the living room Bryce was having a difficult time deciding if he should actually 'have a seat' on one of the chairs or the couch. Not wanting a repeat of earlier, and not wanting to bang his head again for the whateverith time in three days, he resolved to just sit down on the floor.
Within a minute Granny Smith came in and took her place in a rocking chair next to Bryce. When she finally took her seat she began to gently rocking back and forth.
Bryce continued to sit there on the floor, listening to the rhythmic creak of the rocking chair. So...what are we waiting for? Am I...am I supposed to say something or is she going to? Bryce kept to himself, not entirely sure what, if anything, they were waiting for. After a minute Bryce thought he heard an entirely different sound. Closing his eyes he listened closely. Is that...is that thunder? It can't be it's all blue skies and white fluffy clouds, what the H is that?
"Hey now you're not going ta sleep on me now are yuh?"
Bryce was caught off guard, his concentration on the distant thundering instantly broken, "Huh...what?"
"You looked like you were dozing off there Ah was just making sure."
"No...no it's just...do you hear thunder?"
"Uh...thunder?"
"Yeah thunder, I can hear it out there."
"What do you mean there's not a single storm cloud in the sky."
"I...I know, but...it's nothing what are we in here for anyway?"
"Oh nothing really Ah was just hoping ta have somepony ta talk to is all."
"Oh...well what d...d...do you want to t...talk about?"
"Well for starters how come your so nervous?"
"I'm always nervous."
"Ahh don't be now, you don't have anything ta worry about here."
"Well let's see you say that with the orange one in the room."
"Who, yuh mean Applejack?''
"Yeah."
This made Granny Smith laugh, "Is that what's got you all in a knot? I'm sure she's fine she's just worried is all."
"Yeah I know. She's worried I'm going to hurt the little one."
"Is that really what yuh think?"
"How can I not. I mean I haven't even been here for three days and I've already made a complete and total ass of myself. I mean I injured my own dog, my only real friend, got the orange one pissed off for missing around with her sister, ran off, made her chase after me, swatted at her when she touched me, and, to top it all off, I might as well have ripped the heart out of the closest thing I even had to a friend in this pastel colored world this morning...And that's not even mentioning the chair I broke at breakfast."
Granny Smith was lost for words. She couldn't think of anything to refute him.
Bryce covered his eyes with his hands, "I don't know what I was thinking. I was...I was hoping this world would be different."
The aged mare leaned forward in her chair, "What do you mean dear?"
Bryce breathed deeply before responding, "It's just...when I found the little one under that basket she was...she was just so sad, and it was because of me. I...I was just trying to help her and she just ran off. I mean I knew she must have been scared, but what got me was that she was actually crying. I wasn't trying to scare her any, but when I found her it just...It made me feel that if something this small, this...cute was afraid then maybe, just maybe this world could be more understanding and trusting. Maybe even be forgiving."
Bryce paused for a moment, "But...I was wrong. When that orange one came around I was scared. I could see her eyes, they were filled with such...such hate. And when she actually talked I...I...I just lost it. In my world animals, don't talk. Most especially little horse things. I ran because I didn't want any part of it. People I could tolerate, no matter how judgmental they were, but if an animal could, that's just..." Bryce sighed.
Granny Smith just sat back and listened intently, "It's just what dear?"
Bryce breathed in through his dripping nose, "It's just...I don't know...I guess I was just being foolish. Just...hoping for something...something...different from what I came from." He didn't say anything after that.
All Granny Smith could do was stare down at the trouble boy. She thought she felt the room shaking around her. Finally founding her voice she said, "Don't yuh think you're being too hard on yourself dear?"
Bryce removed his hands from his eyes and cradled them in front of his chest, "Not really."
"Ahh don't be such uh foal now, it could be worse."
"Yeah right, how could this situation be any worse than it already is?"
"Well yuh could be dead."
Bryce was caught off guard, "What do you mean?"
"Oh you know, Dead as a doornail. The last breath. Paying a debt to nature. The big sleep."
Bryce began to laugh to himself, "God's way of saying, 'Slow down!'"
Now Granny Smith was laughing, "Checking out and staying out for good."
Bryce laughed louder, "Shuffling off this mortal coil."
"Blinking for a long time."
Bryce laughed even louder, "Losing a breath holding contest in the worst way."
Now Granny Smith was laughing, "Kicking the bucket."
"Becoming a worm buffet."
"Buying the farm."
"Taking more of uh nap than yuh intended."
"Getting to your expiration date."
"Standing really still to get your picture taken."
Bryce began to laugh uncontrollably, "OK...ha ha...you win...ha ha ha...I can't think of anything worse than that...ha ha ha ha ha..."
"Yuh see, there are worse things out there than what yuh just described. Now don't yuh feel better?"
Bryce put his hand over his mouth to stop laughing. When he could speak again he said, "Yeah, well. I'm still not comfortable being here. Like, at all."
Granny Smith sat back in her rocking chair, a mask of disappointment on her aged face.
"But...in the past hour I've felt better than I have since arriving."
The aged mare's demeanor changed instantly, "Well that's good..."
"I mean, I don't know what it is, but I feel I can trust you. You...You're good people." He touched her on the nose.
"Good. Now then, how's about Ah introduce myself." She extended a hoof. "I'm Granny Smith."
Bryce gently grasped the elder's hoof and shook it, "Bryce Smales."
"Well, Bryce Smiles was it?"
"No, it's Bryce Smales. You know like saying small, but with an 's'."
"Well Bryce Smales how about you help this old mare around the house while all the youngins are out, hmm?"
"Sure, but just one thing..."
"What's that dear?"
"Just call me Bryce, if...if you could?"
"OK then Bryce, but first how's about yuh go upstairs and have a bath,? You must feel filthy after three day."
"Well not really, but if you want me to I will. But only because you asked nicely."
"Good, now you probably know where the bathroom, right across from the guest room. There's clean towels in there already."
"OK Granny Smith."
"Oh you you don't have ta call me that."
"Uh...can I call you Well Aged instead, I like to call others by nicknames."
"Sure, yuh can if yuh want. Sounds better than being called old"
"Great, well see you whenever."
Bryce walked back up the stairs but was stopped by Granny Smith, "Hey Bryce?"
"Yeah?"
"Yuh gonna be alright now son?"
"Well I'll be better than I was."
She took that with a smile, "Good now go on, and be careful bout your burn."
Bryce continued up the stair, "I'll try."
After finally ascending the stairs he entered the bathroom, determined to get the three days worth of mud, blood, and sweat off his body."