“Well Mr. Walker, I gotta tell you,” commented Dr. Stable as he looked at the x-ray, “You are quite a lucky pony, if Pinkie Pie hadn’t pushed you, this could’ve been a broken leg rather than a sprained fetlock.”
“Yeah, lucky…” Dust muttered but his heart sank when the doc continued.
“However, I must advise you take it easy for the next few days,” Dr. Stable said as he levitated up a clipboard and was going over something.
“No strenuous activities or anything that would require heavy-lifting.”
“B-but Doctor!” Dust gaped at him. “I just managed to get myself hired for a construction job, I start tomorrow!”
“Well, I’m sorry, Dust,” Dr. Stable shook his head sternly, “but you need to let your fetlock heal otherwise it could get worse, especially from working construction. I’m afraid, as they say in sports, you’re benched.”
Dust Walker was fuming as he ambled out the hospital and was greeted by Pinkie Pie, Midnight Blaze, Thunderlane, Big Mac, and Blueblood. The party pony bounced up with a cake that read in icing letters ‘get well soon’.
“Are you okay, Dusty? I made you a ‘get well’ cake, hoping it’d make you feel better, whatever it is that’s got ya down! I wasn’t so sure what kind you liked so I took a shot and-”
“Miss Pie, thank you, but I’m not in the mood,” Dust said more sour than he had intended, making Pinkie shrink back, and the look in her eyes instantly made him feel bad.
But before he could say anything, Big Mac said, “Haystack, Ah’m awful sorry, see Ah was jus’ helpin’ mah brother with this doohickey a’ his and…”
“Dust, it’s my fault,” Midnight apologized, “my invention went haywire and… Big Mac was using it at the time!”
“Hey!” Big Mac protested at being sold out.
“Forget it!” Dust griped as he sighed, “I just wanna find an inn and sulk for the next few hours…”
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold on,” Midnight stepped up, “Listen, at the very least let us house you till your leg’s okay again.”
Dust looked at them all and saw sincere guilt and desire to make amends, and sighed, knowing he’d be a jerk to spurn it.
“Fine… But for the next few hours, I wanna be left alone!”
“Sure, Mac, take him home?” Midnight requested.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said curtly, still a tad saddle-sore at him as he led Dust off to the farm.
“Well that could’ve gone a tad more smoothly,” Blueblood commented.
“Maybe my ‘get well’ cake sent the wrong message somehow…” Pinkie sighed, her outrageous hairdo losing a bit of its gusto.
“Just give him a bit to cool off, Pinks,” Thunderlane assured her, “he’ll come around. Hey Blue, why don’t we go see Soarin?”
“Lead the way,” Blueblood agreed and they left, leaving Midnight and Pinkie to wallow.
Midnight felt absolutely awful. His invention had led to all this and while dust was being examined Pinkie told him how Dust was to start a job at the nearby construction yard tomorrow.
“Why is it every time I try something new, something awkward, crazy, bodily-injurious, or the like seems to happen?”
“I dunno, maybe somepony is just making something up on the fly even as we speak to make life more interesting for us,” Pinkie offered, earning a raised eyebrow from the blue unicorn.
“Well, whatever the case we have to make this up to Dust Walker somehow,” Midnight insisted when he was struck with inspiration.
“Pinkie! Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
“I think so, Blaze,” Pinkie scrunched her eyes as she wracked her brain. “But I highly doubt piranhas would voluntarily adopt our vegetarian lifestyle.”
“No, Pinkie…” Midnight facehooved. “Look, just… try and cheer Dust up after he cools off. I have somepony to talk to.”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie saluted before bouncing off.
The next few days were awkward, nutsy, and just plain weird for Dust Walker. Big Mac offered him the guest-room but he insisted on the couch in the living room, reasoning it was near the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, that way he wouldn’t have to go up and downstairs for his daily needs. That, and he also was able to watch their TV, despite it being an out-of-date hunk a’ junk.
Even so, the food was good and the apples they had were the best he’d ever eaten.
The only problem was Pinkie Pie, insisting on coming over and keeping him company. Although he found her annoying, they did share talks about her family back on the rock farm, comparing notes about her parents and sisters and even getting into a few laughs. Only once did he voice his concern about alerting the forestallion at the construction yard that he was out of commission but Pinkie had assured him Midnight had taken care of it. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Midnight much since his injury.
Finally, the fetlock-brace Dr. Stable had given him came off and his fetlock felt good as new. But was bittersweet as he sighed.
“So much for the job…”
He sat at the dining table, wondering what to do next when he heard, “Knock-knock.”
He turned and saw Midnight, looking a little bedraggled as he came in.
“What happened to you?” Dust muttered, not really caring.
“Working your job,”Midnight said as he plopped a bag of bits onto the table and Dust gaped at him.
“Dust, it was my fault you got injured and I felt so lousy that I’d ruined the job you’d just been hired for. So… I did the job for you.”
“Wha- but- When did-” Dust’s gaze was switching between midnight and the bag of bits. “But, I can’t accept this! I didn’t earn it, I didn’t work for it!”
“Dust, if I have to, I will charm this bag to follow you wherever you go,” Midnight threatened with a sneaky look.
“And you won’t be able to get rid of it unless you accept it. So… tough beans.”
Dust Walker was blown, then something dawned on him.
“Pinkie was in on this too, wasn’t she?”
“She was,” Midnight confessed. “I asked her to keep you company and your mind off things so you wouldn’t worry or wallow.”
“Well, she did the job I’ll tell you that,” Dust admitted.
“Also, I have something else for you,” Midnight placed a document on the table for Dust to look at.
Reading it over, he was surprised.
“This is an application for a job in Canterlot!”
“My friend Blueblood owns an airship company, and he said they can always use another pair of strong hooves,” Midnight offered.
“Well, Midnight, I… I don’t know what to say,” Dust was overwhelmed by all this.
“Say you’ll come with me to Sugarcube Corner,” Midnight invited. “I think there’s somepony who’d like to see you.”
Pinkie watched them enter, the door ringing the bell as it opened and in walked Midnight and Dust, the latter looking to Pinkie, expressing a confusion of gratitude, a little guilt, and curiosity.
“Hey, Dusty, feeling better?” Pinkie inquired.
“Yeah, a lot better,” Dust confirmed as he walked up to the counter. “Listen, Pinkie… I wanna say… thanks, y’know for… keeping me company, trying to cheer me up an’ all, and… I’m sorry that I acted like an ass earlier.”
*Hee-haw*
“No offense,” Dust quickly said to a donkey eating an ice-cream sandwich in one of the booths.
“None taken.”
Dust turned to look at Pinkie, stifling a giggle, and said, “Anyway, again I’m sorry for not being so… receptive to the welcome you gave me when I arrived a few days ago.”
“Aw, don’t sweat it, Dusty,” Pinkie waved it off, “although I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“For what?”
“For this!” Pinkie declared as she blew a noise-maker party-favor and from various hiding places did many ponies pop out, yelling, “SURPRISE!”
A banner that read ‘Good luck and glad you’re feeling better’ unfurled, and the Cakes rolled in a large cake frosted with Dust Walker’s face, and he knew he’d been had as he pulled a big smile across his face.