Chapter 10: My Primary Playmates
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. AJ’s gonna kill me.” I said to myself as I neared the farm.
Pictures of ponies and scenery soared by my eyes, not even stopping to say hello. The only thing I was focused on at the time was reaching the farm and hoping to Celestia that AJ wouldn’t be too mad. It could’ve been months, years, ages before I got to that farm. The trek from one end of Ponyville to the other wasn’t exactly a two minute jog after all.
All hope was not lost though, as I began to see more and more trees encapsulate me as I ran. They were apple trees. I finally made it to the farm, still sprinting at full speed. Now if I could only make it to the --- my thoughts were dashed by the sudden appearance of one orange earth pony in my path.
Unable to slow down, I simply stuck my hooves into the ground hard. In a swift shift of dirt, I found myself toppling over my front end. My prior sped flew me even further as I flipped about, causing me to slide and roll forward until I finally crashed at the hooves of Applejack.
Staring up in embarrassment, I said “Well howdy partner,” I coughed slightly “Did I miss anything?”
AJ’s eyes bore down on me like the world on Atlas’ shoulders. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t that hard, but it was pretty close. Her steely gaze made me feel even more uncomfortable than before, especially since I was lying on the ground.
“Now that ya mention it Slick, ya did miss a few things.” She scoffed sarcastically, evident anger in her tone.
“Well, you see, I can explain” I tried to say, but the furious mare cut me off before I could finish.
“No, no. Ah don’t need none a your fancy-shmancy explanations. Ah know darn well enough what happened last night.”
Surprised, I asked her, “You, you do?”
“Course Ah do!” she spat back. “Pinkie Pie came by here round noon. Poor filly was drunker ‘an Big Mac on The Summer Sun Celebration. Well, she was drunk Ah should say. Had one mighty nasty hangover when she got ‘ere.”
Pinkie Pie had stopped by the farm? Why on earth would she be here? Maybe she wanted to thank Applejack for the cider? Maybe, but if that was true then why would she leave while she was still hung over? Applejack’s remaining words cured my aching brain with ease.
“Pinkie told me that y’all had mentioned having to git back here t’ me in the morning and apologized for ya. She told me everythin’ ya did for the band and saving her party. Seemed real sorry that you had too dang much t’ drink though.”
My fears were only slightly relieved though, as that still left one question open. If Pinkie even came to apologize, then why was Applejack still angry at me? As always, my unfortunate soul found the need to blurt my question out.
“So if Pinkie came by, then why are you still mad?”
That came out wrong.
“Well consarnit! Ah didn’t think y’alld be expectin’ me to just accept your little excursion. A’sides, that aint why Ah’m mad!” she retorted, heated passion in her words.
“Then why?” I asked, calmly and softly, trying to ease the tension.
“Pinkie also told me who y’all left with.”
“Fluttershy?” I said, a slight raise in my voice as I spoke her name, wondering if she was who AJ was talking about. “Well yeah, but she was just ---” cut off once again.
“Y’all pulled your smooth moves and sweet talkin’ on that poor susceptible filly. Ah know ya did!” she accused me, pointing her hoof at my chest. A chest that was currently still facing up as I had not moved from my lowly spot on the ground.
Standing up, I brushed off the dust from my coat. Lowering her hoof with my own I explained, “Actually, she was just helping me recuperate. I guess Pinkie didn’t explain it the best, but I was pretty gone. Fluttershy and I had been enjoying the night together, and she felt responsible for me; she took me to her house and let me sleep there for the night. She only meant well, and I really didn’t know what was going on. I really am sorry Applejack, I didn’t mean to get drunk or be late for work, especially after I promised to help. I guess I just let the party get the best of me.”
My apology was true and heartfelt. I meant every word I said and was sure Applejack knew that as well. My eyes drooped down, looking only at the ground as I awaited AJ’s response. I didn’t know why, but I felt absolutely awful that I had abandoned her.
“So the two a you didn’t do nothin’?” she asked.
My ears perked and my eyes shot open in surprise, “Do something, as in ‘DO something’? What, no. No, no, no, no. We did not ‘DO’ anything, I swear.”
She raised one eyebrow as she speculated about my response. Seemingly satisfied she nodded and began rummaging through the bag on her back. I hadn’t even noticed that bag before, I must’ve really been scared about this confrontation. Almost funny now that it was nearing a close.
“Ah believe ya, Slick. And ‘ere, Pinkie told me t’ give these to ya.”
Holding out her hoof, the apple themed earth pony presented me with a slightly banged up pair of drumsticks. Taking them in my own grasp, I found them to be the same one’s I used in the concert last night. Pinkie had saved my drumsticks; what a wonderful mare.
“Thank you Applejack.” I smiled. Trying to further the good mood, I asked her “Is there anything I can do to help now that I’m here?”
My friend let out a long and joyful laughter after hearing my question. It took her quite a bit to settle down, but once she did she nodded her head to the scenery behind her.
“See that Slick? That’s the orchard. We git up early every mornin’ to do all ‘r chores and whatnot. ‘S about 1, maybe 2 o’clock now. We’ve been long done.”
I flashed a sour frown. I really wanted to be able to do something to make up for missing work.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything left for me to do?”
Before she could reply, a speedy yellow and red blur came racing into the two of us. The blur crashed right into Applejack, knocking her on her side with ease. Not too long after, an orange and white blur followed, this time crashing into me, sending me right back down to the wonderfully comfy ground below. Comfy, right.
Heads spinning and bodies wobbling, the once quick blurs slowed themselves to the forms of dizzy fillies. The first of the fillies was the young Apple Bloom, blushing as she climbed off of her disoriented sister. Next was Scootaloo and then Sweetie Belle, respectively standing up and off of me. Despite Sweetie Belle only letting out a small apology before returning to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo looked at me a bit more intently before shakily apologizing for running into me. It almost seemed like she as trying to remember me from somewhere.
“Apple Bloom, what Ah tell y’all about foolin’ around?” Applejack scolded her sister.
“But Applejaaaaaack,” she whined “Ya said ya’d help us with ‘r crusadin’ today!”
Applejack rubbed her head tiredly, “Ah’m sorry Bloom, but Ah’ve had a long work day. Ah don’t think Ah’m up for that kinda adventuring right now.”
A collective groan and subsequent sigh came from the three fillies. They obviously weren’t pleased at their plans being canceled like this. Apple Bloom, realizing her sister’s tiredness, urged the group to leave, noting how futile it would be to bother her stubborn sister. Watching their sad faces walk away made me feel responsible. If I had been there to help Applejack, she wouldn’t have been so tired.
As I berated myself I began to think up a quick solution. I could help out Applejack and the Crusaders, while also paying off my debt.
“Hey wait!” I yelled out to the Crusaders.
One by the one, the fillies turned their heads to tune into my words from afar. Applejack glanced at me suspiciously, trying to figure out what I was up to. Paying no heed to her odd reaction I began a quick trot over to the Crusaders. More curious than I thought, the earth pony followed close behind me.
“What is it Slick?” Apple Bloom asked me inquisitively, using the nickname I received from her older sister.
Even though it wasn’t very far and I had only been going at a light trot, I was still winded from earlier and had to catch my breath. As I was preparing to speak, Applejack reiterated the question.
“Yeah, Slick, what are y’all on about?”
“Whew. See, I figured if Applejack was too tired to look after you guys, I could take her place.”
Apple Bloom’s face erupted into an intense flurry of overjoyed happiness as she bounced around wildly. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at her, bewildered.
“We get t’ go crusadin’ t’day after all girls! And we get Slick too!” she shouted enthusiastically.
Applejack seemed to be just as confused with her reaction as the rest of us were, but decided that if it would make her sister happy, she might as well.
“Well tarnation, I suppose if you’re gonna be all jumpy like that Ah may as well let ya go and crusade with Slick ‘ere then.”
With another bounding jump, Apple Bloom launched herself into her sister, hugging her tight. Both ponies were smiling and laughing as they hugged. The scene was heartwarming, and it made me smile too. It was nice to see two loving sisters, well, love each other sisterly.
Releasing her sister from her firm hug, the red maned filly called out to her friends “Cutie Mark Crusaders, GO!”
On cue, the three of them darted off down the hill. They were headed right for their clubhouse, I was sure. Before I could chase after them though, a familiar orange hoof found its way in front of my face.
“Now listen ‘ere Slick. Ah know ma sister an’ her friends get into plenty a trouble doin’ their crusadin’ and whatnot. Ah just want ya to make sure they don’t get hurt none, ya got that?” her eyes focused sternly on mine, backed by a fury worse than god’s.
With a gulp I answered, “Yes Ma’am.”
“Now go an’ catch up to ‘em ya odder-an’-a-racoon-in-a-square-dance stallion.”
Lightly chuckling, I ran off down the hill to find the Crusaders. I would’ve flown, but the bandages on my left wing reminded me otherwise. Sure I had taken off the right side’s bandages, and I even played the drums well, but the doctors and Twilight all said not to fly for a while. Besides, I was one quick stallion on foot as is..
Off the rolling hills a ways was the tree house, standing in all of its glory. A fulfilling construct of wood on wood filled with leaves surrounding it. Painted to perfection and polished off with careful hands, eh, hooves. The inside was clearly visible through the open door and window, revealing a rustic vacation home from reality. Being a tree house, it was the perfect escape from everything real into the unreal. Or was it the other way around? Things always seemed different as a kid after all.
Waiting inside were the three energy entitled youngsters, anxiously awaiting my entrance. At least, that’s what I thought would happening. Instead, I was met with an empty room and a quiet breeze. Where did they go?
My answer came in the form of laughter as I heard the distinct noise calling from outside. I went over to the window to see if I could find them from there. The happy crusaders were enjoying a game of what appeared to be soccer in the field below. They had managed to attach their capes to their backs in the time it took me to run down here. Being close to the ground, I could make out not only their own distinctive forms, but also the mark on the flowing pieces of cloth.
A shielded emblem, blue in color, encrusted with the silhouette of a yellow filly, also wearing a cape. The blue was so bright and distinct that it stood out from the rest of the cape. It drew me in like a moth to flame. The color almost spoke to me, telling me that I need to be free. I needed to let go of something holding me back and release all of my worries. The yellow silhouette on the other hand told a different story. Instead of freedom, it told me to smile, to be happy and enjoy where I am now, because there is always something to smile about, wherever you are.
It was then that I began to take in the remainder of the cape. Only after being satisfied with both the blue and yellow emblem did I see that they were sewn ever so neatly onto a flowing red backdrop. The red as it blew in the wind, rushing by the active fillies, stood strong and held onto them as if they were the ledge of a cliff. The red told me something new, different from both blue and yellow. It said protect and persevere. The things that you love, be they freedom, happiness, or anything else, you must hang onto them; never letting go, no matter what forces are against you.
One of the girls must have noticed me in the tree house and roared up to me, “Hey, Slick right? Why don’t you play with us? We need another team.”
Their voice snapped me out of my color trance. I really had to stop doing that. Following the call, I exited the house and ran out to the field. They only had one net set up on one side, practicing their kicking and aim.
“Need a team? I think you meant goalie.” I chuckled.
“Team, goalie, same thing.” Scootaloo scoffed.
“Besides, you did say you’d play with us.” Sweetie Belle added innocently.
“Sure thing.” I smiled back, taking my place in the net.
The girls and I spent hours batting soccer balls back in forth. Well, in Ponyville they called them hoofballs, with the game also being called such. But still, it was really fun. I couldn’t even remember the last time I went out and played with my friends back home. It almost made me feel nostalgic, but something in the yellow tint of the sun told me to simply enjoy the girl’s company now.
As the sun began to dip into the west, the boisterous little kids finally started losing steam. It had been all I could to keep up with the barrage of hoofballs attacking me from every angle. As they began to wind down, I saw them all collapse happily onto the soft grassy field. Eyes glued to the sky, the giggled and joked as I approached.
“Finally getting’ worn down girls?”
“Hehe, yeah.. I’m pretty tired.” laughed Scootaloo.
“Me too.” agreed Sweetie.
“Same here.” Apple Bloom concluded.
Falling jokingly onto the ground besides them, I joined in the relaxation and purity of the moment. As I looked over at them, it was easy to make out the distinctive grins on each of their faces. I’m glad they all had as much fun as I did.
Apple Bloom, shifting from her position, turned her head to look at her flank.
“Aw rats.” She hissed. “No hoofball cutie mark Crusaders.”
The same uniform groan from early emitted from the group. They had been trying to get their cutie marks today? I guess I knew they were doing Crusading, but hoofball hardly seemed like anything they usually did.
“Was that was this whole day was about?” I asked. “Your cutie marks?”
Sweetie Belle responded in a matter of fact tone, “Well obviously. We got find Something that we’re good at.”
The other two nodded in agreement.
“But didn’t you just want to have fun playing soc, er, I mean hoofball?”
“Well sure, but ‘r cutie marks come first.” Apple Bloom replied.
“But you three have your whole lives to find your cutie marks. There’s no need to rush it so much.”
“But we want our cutie marks now!” Sweetie Belle said, the others quickly following.
I sighed a happy sigh. I was the same way as a kid. Always wanted to try new things, find out what I was good at, and find everything else along the way. There had to be something I was good at, that was my mentality; probably theirs too.
“Mind if I tell you guys a short story?”
“Oh I love stories!” Sweetie Belle yelped.
Apple Bloom lightened up to the idea as well, while Scootaloo seemed somewhat disinterested in anything that didn’t involve action.
“You wanna know when I got my cutie mark?”
The mere mention of such a story perked up all of their ears.
Drawing out a silence for suspense, I told them “Yesterday.”
The stunned looks on their faces told it all. They didn’t believe a word of it. Either that, or they didn’t understand.
“You see, yesterday I was on a little trip to a party. The party had a band playing, but the band was missing a member. Wanting to help out, I volunteered my own services as their drummer. The concert went off without a hitch, and by the end of it I found that my cutie mark had just appeared, out of nowhere.”
It was a simple version of my story, and of course I left out the parts about the cider and all. Scootaloo still didn’t seem to believe me.
“Yeah right, no pony get’s their cutie mark THAT late.”
Not even having to say anything myself, Apple Bloom interjected, “He’s not lyin’. He came o’er t’ help AJ with th’ farm the other day. He din’t have a cutie mark then.”
I stood up, showing them my brown and orange coat. Lifting my rather large wing, I revealed two crossed drumsticks. The fillies all ooed and awed as they came to understand the truth behind my story.
“You, you weren’t kidding.” Sweetie Belle stammered.
“All true.” I shrugged.
Scootaloo seemed to be unable to comprehend my situation and rattled off a few questions, “Why’d it take you so long to find out your talent? What was it like getting your cutie mark? What does your cutie mark mean? Will we have to wait till we’re your age to get our cutie marks?”
I decided that instead of answering all of her question, I would tell them something I thought they needed to hear instead.
“Listen closely, cause I’m only gonna say this once, alright?” They nodded their heads, stepping closer to me as my voice grew quieter. “You three fillies have the greatest opportunity ahead of you. You can do anything you want, go anywhere you want, be anything you want. And as great as all of your crusading is, sometimes It’s best just to let these things come to you. If today is any indication, I can safely say you all have talents that make you shine brighter than any of the other fillies and colts. What you need to do now, is realize what those talents are. I’m not gonna tell you, nopony is. But I will say that you’ll find them.”
“When? When ‘r we gonna find ‘em?” Apple Bloom prodded.
Motioning to my flank I responded, “When the time is right, your talent will come to you. Take it from an old blank flank.”
The three of them smiled at my response. Although it hadn’t been the one they were hoping for, it sure did excite them. Sure, it had all been told to them before, but sometimes it just took a little memory jog to get them thinking about it the right way.
“You promise?” Scootaloo asked, her cute little eyes wide with wonder.
“I promise.” I grinned.
The Crusaders bounced around happily at the renewed faith in their quest. I figured they’d be back to their old crazy escapades in to time, but at least I left them with something to think over. Their jubilant cries rang out through the fields, echoing across the empty space.
Inwardly yelling with them, I looked up at the hills only to see a friendly face heading down from above.
“Applejack, how are ya?” I called out.
Coming to a stop she said, “Ah’m doin’ fine. An’ Ah see the girls had a right good time t’day?”
“Applejack, Drumroll played hoofball with us ALL DAY!” Apple Bloom shouted, running over to greet her sister.
Patting the yellow filly’s head, AJ joked “That so? Well aint’ that a hoot. Can’t say Ah’m surprised that ya held up that long though, considerin’ our little race.”
“They did tire me out quite a bit, don’t you worry about that.” I said as we all laughed together.
Calming everypony down, Applejack told the girls it was time to go home. Bloom and her friends complained but eventually submitted to her sister’s will. As they reached the consensus to head home, I realized that I still needed to make up for the work I missed.
“Oh, AJ.” I spoke up.
“Yeah Slick? What is it?”
“When should I report for work tomorrow? Bright and early as usual?”
The orange earth pony laughed at me, preceding her response, “Y’all did fine today. No need to help anymore ‘an ya already did. Ah thank ya kindly though, especially with transportin’ that cider and playin’ with Bloom all day.”
“No problem.” I said, feeling accomplished and debt free.
Tossing a few golden circles at me, AJ winked, “An’ here’s a little extra compensation, courtesy a’ Mac. E’s real glad y’all helped out. We all hope y’all are plannin’ on stoppin’ by the farm again sometime soon.”
And with that, she and Apple Bloom left to return home at the farm. Sweetie Belle followed all the way up the hill, but then turned to head to her own home with Rarity. I remained behind, completely forgetting that I had no place to stay. Realizing AJ was too far gone at this point, I thought of where I could go to sleep. Maybe Twilight’s? While I pondered, I noticed a certain saddened pegasus walk away slowly in the other direction.
This time, there were no other noises, just the complete silence of the oncoming night, but the voices still managed to sneak their way into my thoughts.
To the left, “Well, are you going to just stand there?”
And to the right, “Yes, please move. We both know standing still for a long time is awful on your legs.”