//------------------------------// // Chapter VI: Love In Another World // Story: A Guitar In A Thunderstorm // by Maerx //------------------------------// Chapter VI: Love In Another World I woke with the sound of my alarm clock at 7:00AM sharp. Half awake, I practically fell off the couch trying to find it, eventually falling into my bedroom and shutting the damn thing up. I stretched my body which was accompanied with a long yawn, eventually making my way towards the shower. After the events of the last couple days, anyone would need a long shower. As I stepped into the steaming bathroom, I removed my clothes and let the water run over my body. Just feeling the warm liquid against me was a relief. My mind continued to wander as I cleaned myself off, how I would continue to live my life after this news; how it would affect my friends and myself. I let my eyes fall shut as my body further relaxed inside the soothing shower. I chuckled as I tilted my head towards the shower head, letting the water cascade over my face. It was peaceful to say the least. The only two releases that I had in my new life were my guitar and the shower. Although I liked to take walks at night and dusk, I found more solace in my guitar, as it was a comfort item from home. I do miss my Earth life, however Equestria offered me certain pleasantries that Earth failed to: such as medical care that was far beyond home's, a community rarely targeted by evil, and friends that were plentiful. Stirring from my daydream, I glanced at the clock that hung in my bathroom and jumping sharply. 7:33AM. I was due at the farm at 8, and I still had to eat breakfast, not to mention walk there. Turning the shower heads to off, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel. I had lost a considerable amount of weight since I had arrived here, resembling myself as I did when I was in high school, some 5 years ago. Smiling to myself, I pulled on my work shorts and made for the kitchen, serving myself a bowl of cereal while I drew open the curtains, allowing Celestia's warm light to come through. My mind still continued its aimless coarse around the cosmos, pondering my current life problems. I finished my breakfast and finished getting dressed, and as I made for the door, I spotted a note sitting on the couch. Hey Jackson, Sorry I left early last night but I have work tomorrow. I really enjoyed last night by the way... We should do that more often. Best, Minuette I chuckled and placed the note on my counter and made for the front door. Turning around after locking the tumblers in place, I saw Ponyville sprawled before me. Not many ponies were out and about at this time of day, and school didn't start for another hour or so. I began my morning route towards Sweet Apple Acres in a slightly quickened pace, though usually it would take me roughly 20 minutes to get there, I felt that today was an exception. My gaze scanned the ponies that walked and flew around me, paying me no mind except for the casual wave. I have to admit, ponies here are much nicer than humans back home. "Good morning," a sweet female voice rang out over the grey skies. Turning my head to the left to the origin of the sound, stood Roseluck, that mare I had seen a couple of other times around town. She was walking the opposite way as me without giving any indication of stopping. "Morning," I replied simply, tipping my hat forward slightly and continuing on my way. I had yet to be late for a day of work. More buildings of grey and black colors passed shapelessly by me as I walked towards the farm, Ponyville's downtown behind me now. I shoved my hands in my pockets, the damp morning air biting at my exposed skin. Although it was September and still moderately warm, the mornings could be very chilly, so jackets were necessary. My arrival to Sweet Apple Acres was signaled by the white picket fence that ran the length of the long dirt road that lead towards the farm. As I arrived at the farm I could see its large green meadows still wet from the dew, Celestia's morning sun starting to rise in the sky. Applejack and Big Mac were already out and about working the north field when I arrived at 7:55AM according to my watch. Giving a nod to Applejack, who acknowledged my presence with the same response, I continued walking to the south field, my work place. I still had half the field to plow and crop, and it was going to be a long day. Working on the farm for as long as I had, I had lost a lot of excess weight and gained it back in muscle, giving my toned, sleek look that I had back in high school. I had never considered myself an attractive person, but seeing what working on the farm has done to me in past years, it certainly boosted my self confidence. Positioning the plow in front of me, I leaned forward and pushed hard, using my entire body weight to push the heavy metal object forward, at a surprisingly fast rate. Keeping in mind that my doctor had given me specific orders not to overwork myself, I felt as though I was still able to work at the farm, but limit myself greatly. Normally, I would have an entire field plowed in a day; but with this setting me back, I would have to cut that down. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Lunch came faster than I had planned it to. Taking a glance at the sky, I assumed it to be around 11:30 or noon. With my schedule worked out, I was able to take lunch now and still have about an hour and a half left of work. Making sure the farming plow wasn't going anywhere, I jogged up to the farmhouse and my backpack, where upon opening it, sat my lunch. I trotted back down to the south field and sat underneath a giant tree, resting my back against the thick trunk. The sandwich was made of my favorite wheat bread and hayseeds. I had grown accustomed to Equestria's foods in the first couple months of my living here. Through the first year, I had 30 pounds from my original Earth weight. I looked up at the beautiful blue sky, only interrupted by a couple puffy clouds here and there. Sighing, I took another bite of my sandwich and let my mind wander, which kept coming coming back to last night. I deeply enjoyed last night, having Colgate snuggling next to me. It almost felt right in a way. I suppose I had a lot of thought to put into it. Colgate was, truthfully, absolutely beautiful in terms of mares around Ponyville. Don't get me wrong; Rainbow and her friends were equally as attractive, but there was something special about Minuette. And I was racking my mind trying to find that hidden reason. Glancing at my watch, I noticed that lunch was over. I took one last look at the golden sun shining in the sky, then trotted back up the farmhouse. ______________________________________________________________________________________ The hours past like flies as I continued to work the south field, making sure to moderate myself as well. Every 30 minutes or so, I would take a 10 minute break, regain my strength and my breath. It was helpful to know that if anything went wrong, Applejack was within eyesight of me. Judging from the sun in the sky, I assumed it to be around 2pm. Wow, I thought to myself as I brushed a running bead of sweat out of my face. Time does fly. Scanning the field behind me, I saw that I had completed roughly half to three quarters of it. Doing as Applejack instructed, I unattached myself from the plow and made my way up the dirt road towards the farm house. I was scheduled from 7-2 today, which is a 7 hour day, minus lunch. It was nice to know that I had a steady job to support myself in this new world. As I was nearing the farmhouse, Applejack was trotting up to it as well, dripping with sweat and dirt. Her mane was tangled mess, slightly gleaming from all the hard work of that day. She had probably started earlier than I had, but ended her shift at roughly the same time. I had to keep in mind the fact that the Harvest started this Wednesday, meaning that a lot of farmers and merchants were on their way to Ponyville to see what we had to offer, in terms of product. "Ya feelin' all right there, bud?" Applejack called out as I gathered up my stuff and finished writing down my punch out. "Yeah, I guess," I replied. This caused Applejack to stop and give me a weird look. "Somethin' wrong?" she asked. Shaking my head once or twice, I chuckled. "Not really. Just a lot on my mind." "Ah feel ya, partner," she said as she wiped herself down with a towel, taking care of any extra dirt that was left behind. "This here Harvest is gonn' be one to remember!" Laughing at what the orange earth pony said, I placed a towel over my forehead and sat down against the red barn. The landscape of the Apple family farm was truly beautiful; they had even offered to give me a place to stay. Respectively however, I told them that I had gotten my own place and was grateful for the suggestion. "So lookee here. Ah've heard tell round town that you and Colgate are together. Care to comment?" My eyes went wide as I felt a red blush come over my visage. "Uh-hh why would you say that? We're just friends!" I replied with a high pitched joking tone. The orange mare replied with a fit of laughter and trotting over and sitting next to me. "Ah've said this once, ah'll say it again. Ya'll humans are dense," she said. Somehow, I came to same conclusion that she did, and shared in her tired laughter. We relaxed against the big red wooden building for 5 minutes more or so, before she broke the silence again. "Ya'll might wanna get some advice or somethin', cuz round this town, this doesn't happen too often." "Hmmm? What do you mean, A.J.?" "What ah mean is a mare selecting her special somepony. 90% of the time round here it's always the colts." I put a hand to my chin, deep in thought. I suppose that she was right, after all back on Earth, guys did most of the work anyway. Still, all the times that Colgate and I had hung out together, I always labeled those instances as friends. Perhaps there was another meaning to it. "Now go on, get. Have yerself a good time and ah'll see ya Wednesday." "All right then A.J. See ya round," I replied as I got up to my feet and began walking back to Ponyville. The crisp autumn air bit at my skin, causing me to shiver and bring my coat in tighter around me. It was nearing October, which meant that Nightmare Night was just around the corner and I was excited for it. Not only that, but the Harvest was also in October; the first week of the month if I remember correctly. I thought back to the list of activities I had promised myself that I needed to get complete today. With visiting Twilight & Rainbow later in the day, I had nothing planned really. Casting any other thoughts aside, I decided to make the former thought my primary target and began my stroll towards the giant tree. _____________________________________________________________________________________ “Oh, hello Jackson! I wasn’t expecting you until later today,” the purple alicorn chirped as I knocked at her door. Casually glancing around, I noticed that Spike was not home, tidy as clean as usual. Rainbow Dash was hovering around the Daring Doo books, choosing which one to read. For somepony who was so aggressive and outgoing, she was the last type of pony I would expect to show her sensitive side. The only other time I could think of seeing it. Her right ear twitched as I entered the hollowed out tree, acknowledging my presence with a sly grin and a twitch of her wing. “What’s up lover boy,” she taunted with a bat at my right shoulder. Her grin got even bigger when I felt a slight blush come over my face. “Oh come on Twi, I’m just playin’,” Rainbow responded to Twilight’s jab in her stomach. She floated over to the stack of books, placing the Daring Doo book back, and turning her full attention to me. “We hear you have somepony of interest, Jackson. Is this true?” Twilight asked, with a hint of curiosity in her voice. The monochrome mare next to her nodded her head in agreement, tilting her head to one side, magenta eyes still glued to me, awaiting my response. Blushing, I fidgeted in my chair. “I guess you could say that,” I replied. I scratched my right arm out of embarrassment, feeling my blush intensify. I heard a snicker arise from the two mares as they giggled on the couch like two schoolyard fillies. Both of them gave me a smile of sympathy as Twilight began to poke. “Sooo, do you have any questions bud? From the looks of it, you’ve got a few.” Rainbow was right. I did have a lot of questions, but I didn’t want to bombard them. “Yeah I do,” I replied. “I guess…how does it work?” Both mares laughed, both out of laughter but at the same time, out of sympathy. Even though I had been in Equestria for nearly two years, I hadn’t really settled down and found anypony special. Knowing that Equestrian culture and customs were different from Earth’s, and I didn’t have a full grasp on it. I had hoped that Twilight or somepony I knew could help me understand a little bit more. Twilight gave me a warm smile and stretched her wings. “From what you’ve told me, it’s a bit different from your world. In Equestria, mares do most of the work. They are the ones who, in a sense, select who they want to be their “special somepony”. Mares often are also responsible for making “the moves” I guess is one way to call it.” She paused and looked at me again, an eyebrow raised. “Got questions?” “Yeah,” I replied. “Does sleeping over and “snuggling” on couch trigger as “just friends” or am I missing something?” Twilight raised her eyebrows while Rainbow let out a little smirk. The two mares gave me a look like I was the stupidest creature in Equestria. Rainbow could hold her laughter in no longer as she burst out laughing on the couch. Immediately receiving a slap from the purple mare, she chucked a bit herself then calmed herself as she looked me in the eyes. “Aside from a straight up kiss, that’s pretty glaringly obvious, Jackson.” In that moment, I felt very, very stupid. However, Colgate had told me that it was simply a friendly gesture. But, according to Twilight, I was very wrong. “Yeah dude. And I’ll tell yah. As a friend? You got yourself a keeper.” I raised an eyebrow, quizzically. Rainbow chuckled. “Aside from Applejack, Colgate, from what I hear, is one of the most honest, caring mares around here. She’s very picky in her….boyfriends?” I nodded in response to her half question. Rainbow was never much of a talker, more of a listener per say. How am I going to take this forward, I thought to myself as Rainbow continued to snicker. I thanked Twilight and Rainbow for their advice and headed for the door. The heavy, wooden entrance slid closed behind me, the still crisp autumn wind meeting me. I wrapped my coat tight around my body, catching Rainbow flying out of the tree out of the corner of my eyes. Where she was headed I didn’t know. However, I had more important things on my mind. I sharply nodded to myself as I strode towards Colgate’s place of work: the town dentistry.