Chapter 12: You've Got a Friend
After Applebloom unhooked herself from around Bryce, the human set out to the back of the house and to continue his labor from yesterday. Applebloom and Winona followed him out, leaving Granny Smith alone to clean up the kitchen and hopefully catch up on some much needed sleep.
When Bryce got to the back he found the axe resting against the side of the tree stump. After donning his gloves and bandana Bryce picked up the axe. Turning back he almost jumped when he caught sight of Applebloom and Winona standing less than a foot away from him, Uhm...do they want something? "Can Uh...can Uh elp zu Spout?"
Applebloom was slow to answer, "Ah...Ah just wanted ta know i...if yuh'd play with me and Winona?"
"Fraid Uh can't Spout, Uh gotta dake care uf this vood first. Und it'z Zinona und Uh."
"O...oh." Applebloom started running her hoof through the dirt.
"Ugh, look Spout, it'z nut that Uh don't. Uh just need da get this zun."
Applebloom looked up with a confused look on her face, "What about the sun?"
Bryce smacked himself on the side of the head, Damn it I hate this! "No nut da zun, Uh need da get this vinished."
"Oh...Do yuh think your tongue will get better soon?"
"Uh vreally don't know Spout, Uh just hope it'z zoon because Uh zzh...Uh zzhhhhh...zhhhhh...Uh don't vike it."
Hearing this made Applebloom continue running her hoof through the dirt.
"Vut's da matter?'
"Ah...Ah'm..." Bryce leaned on the axe with the head resting on the chopping block. In an almost inaudible voice the filly said, "Ah'm worried about yuh is all."
Bryce cocked an eyebrow, "Vhy?"
"Ah don't know Ah just am."
Bryce looked down at the axe head, "Don't vorry about me kid, there are more important things to vorry about." Letting out a heavy sigh he added, "Now move out uf da vay before Uh make an offring to Mehrunes Dagon outta zu.
Applebloom looked up in shock.
"...That vas uh joke."
"O...oh..."
"But in seriousness zu need da get black." Applebloom did as Bryce said and moved a considerable distance back. Winona continued to sit on her haunches look up at the human, "Zu too, move black." Winona whined and plopped herself down next to Applebloom. OK then, let's get this over with. With both filly and dog safely away Bryce set to his task.
A few minutes later Applebloom spoke up, "Bryce, what happened yesterday with those stallions?"
Without looking her way Bryce responded, "Vhut do zu mean?"
"Wh...why did yuh beat'em up?"
"Vell, let's just say they vere bad beeple."
"H...how were they bad ponies?"
"They...just vere."
"But Ah still don't understand how they were bad."
Bryce stopped swinging the axe, shouldered it, and finally looked at the puzzled yellow filly, "Look, Spout...just know that nut all beeple are good, there are just zum beeple that vant da get ahead. Zum vant da do it da right way through hard vork or butt kissin. Others, vell, do anyzang da get ahead. Even if it means hurtin others."
"So those stallions were here ta hurt us."
"Vell, in uh vay they vere. They were goin da z...z...zzz...steal from zur grandmother."
Applebloom looked at Bryce with a face of horror, :"Th...they were?" Bryce couldn't find the words to answer back. She walked over to Bryce, "Ar...are you a good pony Bryce?"
"Yeah, as far as you know," he said the last part under his breath. This reassured Applebloom as she looped her forelegs around Bryce's legs and held tightly, "Hey, hey, ehi get black. Don't touch me zlike that."
Releasing his leg she stammered, "Ah, Ah'm sorry. Ah just wanted ta..."
Bryce held up a hand to stop her, "It'z OK, it'z OK just get black now." Applebloom stepped back. Bryce continued where he had left off.
After a while of watching Bryce chop log after log Applebloom piped up again, "How come yuh don't smile?"
"Uh just don't."
"But why not?"
"Uh fail da see da point uf it."
"But your name's Bryce Smiles."
"No, my name is Bryce Smiles..." He smacked himself on the side of the head again. Trying his best he finally got out, "Smales. Zu know, like...small but vith un 's'." He slowly cupped his hands together to emphasize what he was saying.
Applebloom went silent. Visibly get bored Applebloom asked, "Is this gonna take much longer?"
Pointing to the rows of logs with the axe he asked, "Zu see all uf those zogs?" Applebloom nodded. "Vell, it'z goin da dake that much zonger."
Applebloom kicked her hoof through the dirt, "Ahh come on, Ah wanna go play."
"Vell Uh need da get this done."
Applebloom huffed and crossed her forelegs. Feeling he had gotten the point across Bryce once again set himself to his work. After a minute he looked back over to the filly. What the H is she doing now?
She was making puppy dog eyes at Bryce.
"Vut are zu doin?"
Applebloom continued to stare.
"That's cute, now zop it."
Tears began to form at the edges of her large orange eyes.
"Uh zid no..."
Now she was really crying.
"Ugh, Spout Uh zid no. That'z nut goin da work on me."
Applebloom huffed a second time. Ah just wanted somepony ta play with.
"Uh vanna play too, Uh do, but Uh need da do this. Uh'm zorry."
Applebloom lied down in the dirt, not believing a word.
"Spout, come on now. Zu're only gettin zurself dirty. Look Uh know zu're uh kid and..."
"Ah'm not uh goat."
"Uh know, Uh don't mean...Fine vutever zu call uh vittle horse thing. But uh need da get this done."
Applebloom refused to look up at Bryce.
"Spout...Uh'll make a zeal...deal with zu."
"What kinda deal?"
"If zu let work on this fur the next dou hours then Uh'll play vith zu fur da rest uf da day."
Applebloom finally pushed herself up, "D...do yuh promise?"
"Zur, Uh promise. Now vhy don't zu go play vith Vinona or..."
Applebloom began to dance on her hooves and squealed in delight, all the while grinning as physically possible. Bryce covered his ears to drown out the shrill screech. "What are we gonna do first, huh huh?"
"Now Spo..."
"Can we play horseshoes?"
"Sp..."
"How about tag, do yuh like tag?"
"No, Spo..."
"But Ah like hide and seek even better because..."
"SPOUT!" That quieted the filly to allow Bryce to get a word in, "Uh zid we could later. In du hours zu come get me and then ve'll play zumthin. OK?"
Applebloom calmed herself down a little, "Your...you're right. Ah'm sorry."
"It'z OK. Now go find zumthin da keep zurself occupied."
"Well, what can Ah do?"
"Vell Uh don't know. Go find uh dick...stick and play fetch vith da dog."
"Ugh, OK."
"Good, now Uh'll see zu venever." And I finally get to be alone. Looking down at the amount still remaining to be split he thought, Damn I wish my smartphone was still working so I could listen to my music. This is gonna go on forever. Bryce went back to chopping logs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the morning's events behind her ,quite literally for the time being, Applejack was now drawing the wagon through the apple orchard to find a spot in need of some applebucking. She made sure, however, to find a spot close to the hill from the past two days so she could retrieve Bryce's 'zues', whatever the hay those were. Walking in the vicinity of the hill Applejack caught sight of a fallen tree trunk, That has ta be the one he was talkin about, it's the only one around these parts.
Trotting over to said tree, Applejack unhooked herself from the front of the wagon. She didn't have to look long for Bryce's 'zues' since they were laying in plain sight on one end on the log.
They looked like a pair of boots, although the parts the legs were supposed to go in were not as high, were much longer than necessary to accommodate a hoof, and had some kind of yarn crisscrossing the fronts that ended in a frizzle of interlaying threads. Packed in each one was a bundled up cotton ball. Inching closer to get a closer look Applejack saw they were made of a thick fabric and that this fabric was worn and tearing in places. Inching closer her nostrils were filled with a disgusting odor that made her gag. Ah don't know what these things are but they're like nothing Ah've ever seen. And they reek worse than when Big Mac uses the bathroom.
Slowly extending a hoof Applejack tapped one of the 'zues' causing it to tip over. Half expecting it to come alive and drag her down to Tartarus, Applejack flinched and distanced herself from the objects. When the thing just laid there, unmoving, she decided it was lifeless. This did, however, give a good view of its underside. On the bottom of the object was a series of grooves running the entirety of the length. The very front was worn down and had a small hole in the middle.
Speaking to nopony in particular she said, "Welp these must be what Ah'm after, but if these are here then..." Applejack facehoofed, Ah ran past the varmint and Ah didn't even know it. Darn it Applejack.
Picking the Bryce's 'zues' up by the cords she slung them over her back and into the wagon. Nit wanting to go any further out, and not wanting to take the extra time to strap herself in, Applejack set up shop at this location. She put more vigor into her work than usual so she could get home as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryce was close to finished with his chore, the entirety of the work taking a lot less time than he had anticipated. Cautiously stepping over the already cut logs he brought the last of the logs over to the block. Placing one these logs onto the block he hefted the axe back. As he did he heard the sound of thunder and shouldered the axe. Listening for a few seconds he heard not one, but two, coming from two different directions. What the H is that? "Uh'll probably never know." Bryce dropped the axe back, prepared to split the log down the middle.
As he was bringing the axe down a yellow shape jumped in front of him, "Bryce, Bryce it's been..."
It took all his focus to divert the blade just inches away from Applebloom's leg. Both of them could only stare in horror at the blade. After a full minute Bryce turned towards the young filly. She looked back, more frightened by the expression plastered onto his face. "What. The. Hell?"
"B...Bryce Ah..."
Bryce took out his smartphone and smacked her hard on the head with its edge. "Do you feel that?" She could only look with tears in her eyes. "Now what do you think would have happened if it had been that axe?"
"Ah...Ah just wanted..."
"I don't care what you just wanted to do, if this had been that axe you'd be dead. Are you dim, what the hell were you thinking?"
"Ah..."
"You what!?"
Tears began to stream out of her eyes, "Ah just wanted ta tell yuh it's been two hours."
Bryce was beyond disbelief, "What?"
"It's been...it's been two hours."
He pulled out his watch, "What are you talking about, it's only been a few..." Sure enough his watch had the time at two hours since he'd last seen it. He brought it up to his ear to make sure it was still running. The rhythmic tick-tock confirmed it was. Shit, damn it Bryce, you've really fucked up this time now haven't you? He smacked himself in the head with his smartphone. He looked down at Applebloom. He took a step forward, "Look Sprout..."
Applebloom scooted away.
"Sprout please listen to me."
She pushed her back into the tree stump, trying her best not to break down and bawl. "Yo...you said that you were good pony."
Bryce bent down and placed his hand on her right leg, "Sprout I..." Applebloom recoiled back, yelping out in pain. "Wha...what's wrong?"
"My leg's hurt."
"Di...di...Ahh damn it Bryce." He began to tug at his hair as he covered his eyes.
"Yo...you didn't do it."
"What do you mean I didn't?"
"You didn't do it, Ah did it when Ah was trying ta buck the day you showed up."
"R...really, are, are you sure?"
"Yeah, Ah was there when it happened."
After a short pause Bryce began to laugh. Seconds later Applebloom joined in when she realized what she had said. A minute later they both stopped and starred down at the ground.
"Sprout I..."
Applebloom interrupted, "Bryce Ah..."
There was another pause. Bryce spoke, "Sprou...Applebloom I'm sorry about what I did. It's just when I get into my work I lose focus of the world and don't take in what's going on around me. I'm more upset that I almost whacked your head off then I am about what you did. Though you shouldn't ever do something like that, EVER AGAIN, what I did after the fact was worse. Nothing I say can make up for what I did, but I am...sorry."
"How did yuh not notice me? Ah was yellin at yuh for...Ah don't know how long."
"Well like I said, I really get focused on my work."
Applebloom scowled at Bryce, but relaxed soon after, "Bryce...what yuh did really hurt me. Yuh promised you'd never hurt me."
That only made Bryce feel worse, "I know...I was there when it happened." Neither of them laughed that time.
"Right...Bryce Ah'm sorry. Ah knew it was dangerous but Ah really really rrreeealllly wanted ta get your attention."
"Why?"
"Because you're my only fri..." Applebloom cut herself short.
"What, I'm your only wha...? Oh." Bryce let out a sigh, "You don't want me as a friend, I'm not a very good friend...to anyone."
"Yeah yuh are."
"No I'm not. I mean for the first few weeks I seem OK, but when people get to know me I just become an annoyance. Then they try to avoid me as much as they can until I stop showing up. It plays out the same way every single time." Bryce then sat down on the ground, crossed his arms over his knees, and sank his face into his arms.
Applebloom stepped forward, "Bryce come out of there."
"Just go away, leave me alone like everyone else does." There was only silence. "You're still there, aren't you?"
"Yeah..."
"Well...go away."
Applebloom poked Bryce hard in the side.
"Hey what'd I say about that?"
Applebloom did it again with more force.
"I said stop, go pester someone else."
Applebloom then turned on her hooves and got into position. She then tensed up her back legs, placed all her weight onto her forelegs, and bucked Bryce as hard as she could.
That was enough to tip the human over. Bryce pushed himself up and looked at the filly while bring his hand back to smack her. He hesitated when he saw her lying on her back with her right hind leg in her hooves. "Why won't you just leave me alone?"
"Because you're my only friend."
"Why do you keep on saying that?"
"Cause Ah mean it."
"*pfft* Prove it."
"Ah was the only one that wanted ta bring yuh back to the house. Applejack wanted ta leave yuh out in the orchard, but Ah wouldn't go anywhere until she said you'd come with us. Ah even made sure Corn came too." Applebloom stopped to catch her breath.
"You...you really did all that...for me?"
Applebloom sat herself up and nodded.
"Why?"
"Bryyyyce..."
"I really really rrreeealllly want to know."
"Ah don't know yuh just seem so nice and trust...trust..."
"Trustworthy?"
"Yeah trustwordy, and you were so nice ta me after Ah threw that mud in your face, which Ah'm sorry for."
Bryce's face was indifferent, "That's all I've ever wanted to hear, from anyone."
They were both silent, neither of them looking at the other.
"Bryce, Ah'm sorry about jumpin in front of yuh."
Bryce shook his head, "You didn't do anything wrong...well you did...but still what I did was worse."
Applebloom extended her hoof, "Friends?"
Bryce grabbed her hoof, squeezed hard, and shook it violently, "Friends."
After Applebloom could feel her leg again she asked, "Can we go play something now, yuh promised we would."
Bryce got onto his feet, "Yeah, yeah I know. Let me do this last few logs and we'll play whatever you want."
"How come yuh aren't talking all weird anymore?"
"I got better."
"...OK just hurry up. Ah've been waiting since...since two hours ago."
Bryce quickly did his task, not wanting to get off the filly's good side. When he was done he planted the planted the axe into the tree stump and they both headed to the front of the house, "OK now what are we playing?"
"Ah was thinking hide and seek."
"Are you sure I'm very good at that."
"Yeah, I'm gonna go hide first. You count ta ten, and don't peek.": She ran off.
"OK, OK," he laid his head against the side of the house and started counting out loud, "Uno...Due...Tre...Quattro...Cinque...Sei...Sette...Otto...Nove.....Ten. Ready or not here I..." As he turned around something slammed into Bryce and knock him on his side.
From behind him he heard someone, "Just lay down and don't get up you...bald ape!"