Chapter 4: Life in Ponyville
Heart ran through the orphanage with tears streaming down her face, 'Stupid?! I'm...stupid?!' she exclaimed in her mind. Her legs felt tired from all the running but she couldn't stop. She ran all the way to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed weeping, she looked at herself in the long mirror in the room and saw her eyes sparkle like they always did when she felt some kind of strong emotion. What if Zura saw that and called her something else? Something worse?
She wept more at the thought of it, the thought of the names 'weird' and 'freak' tagged onto her were too much for her to bear. Sometime during the crying, she cried herself to sleep; she was awakened by the sound of knocking on her door. She looked up to see Sugar Song with Lil Mac and Lil Angel in the doorway, Sugar crossed over to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder, Heart looked up, her face still stained with the tears she cried earlier. Sugar was sympathetic immediately, "I'm sorry that happened, especially to you."
"Ya see, the thing ya gotta know about Zura is that he speaks his mind without thinking of how it affects anypony else and he loves bein in the center of attention," Lil Mac stated
Heart's sat up a little, she sniffed and asked, "Why would he say something like that for attention?"
"That's just Zura, he thinks he's so smart and yet, he always sleeps durin our history class!" Lil Angel answered with an amused tone. She was amused of the fact that Zura thought he was so great and smart, yet he slacked off."
Heart smiled at the thought, it did manage to lift her up a little, but then the thought of having to go back troubled her. Which led to her smile slowly turning into a frown, "But...what am I going to do about going back? All they're gonna do is make fun of me."
Sugar, Lil Angel and Lil Mac were then in deep thought, then Mac came up with an idea, "Maybe Ah can tutor you!"
Heart looked at him confused, "What's a...tutor?"
"You don't know what a tutor is?" Sugar asked surprised.
Heart shook her head, Sugar then realized how uneducated she really was.
"A tutor is somepony who can work with you by yerself with schoolwork," Lil Angel explained.
Heart then understood, Lil Mac wanted to help her with schoolwork. She smiled as Sugar hugged Heart tightly, "We're gonna make you the smartest filly in the class!" Sugar declared.
Heart felt a sense of comfort as she and her newfound friends formed a group hug.
Heart's new life in Ponyville was turning around over the next couple of weeks, Lil Mac met with her at his home at Sweet Apple Acres and was very patient with her. Heart's most difficult subjects were math, spelling and reading but showed a strong determination to learn it; in school though, Zura found ways to get at her and prank her from time to time. He would call her airhead, stupid, dunce and other names. Heart tried to not let it bother her, but when it got to the point where she was crying, her friends readily stood up for her. Heart loved her new life in Ponyville, it was better than moving around from town to town on a weekly basis. Even though Heart missed her mother dearly, she didn't think about her much, there was always a lesson to be done, tutoring to go to and friends to hang out with. It wasn't that Heart was trying to forget her mother, she was following Sugar's advice; she was trying to move on.
Everyday after Heart's tutoring at Lil Mac's home at Sweet Apple Acres, Lil Mac's Aunt Applejack would give them each a slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. One day, after receiving their pie, Heart asked Lil Mac where his parents were and why she hadn't met them yet.
"Mah Dad is a bit...sad to be honest, Auntie AJ says he hasn't been the same since Momma died. She says that he was so in love with her that it broke him when she left."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Ah know, but Daddy's been seein' somepony fer help and he's been keepin' a journal ta help him."
"Has it been helping?"
"Yeah, it's been helpin' a lot! He's been lettin' us come into the orchard with him after school while he works and even his Ponytones concerts."
"Ponytones?"
"Yeah, it's a singin' group he's a part of, they're performin' at the dance this week. Speakin' of which, are ya goin'?
"I'm not sure yet, I don't have anypony to go with..."
"Would ya like ta...maybe go with...me?"
Heart blinked a couple of times, "Sure! I mean, yeah, but I don't have anything to wear..."
"Mah Aunt Rarity can fix that no problem."
"But what about-"
"Money?" Applejack cut in, "That won't even be a problem, we'll take care of ya sugar cube."
Heart couldn't help but smile with a glimmer of hope, she was going to feel like a princess for a night, not only that, but she felt like she actually had friends surrounding her who almost felt like family, a family she'd wanted since her mother left her life.
