My eyes opened to the sound a of a rooster crowing in the distance. The sun shone through the windows, and a few birds were chirping away nearby. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I tried to sit up. Something was holding me down and I turned my head to my left and found myself staring right into Pinkie's sleeping face. I was shocked and tried to pull myself away from her. She was much too close. But Pinkie had one hoof over my chest, and another over my... middle? Suffice to say, when I pulled away, all it succeeded to do was pull Pinkie along with me. So, now I was on the edge of the bed with Pinkie clinging onto me like a baby monkey clings to its mother. I tried to get out of her grip but she held on tight. I tried a little harder, she resisted more. Using a significant amount of strength, I then tried to get her to let go of me. She wouldn't! And I had thought that Rainbow was strong when I tried to stop her yesterday...
Suddenly I didn't feel like getting out of bed. When I thought of Rainbow, I kept seeing her face looking at me while I talked with the doctor in that trailer. It horrified me. As I closed my eyes, I saw Rainbow with that deep, deep sadness, those tears she fought from forming. It was haunting. The minor heart attack that Brian suffered from yesterday bothered me. I did not need to be a medic to see that there was something serious underlying his condition. One does not simply cough out that much blood, not unless there was something serious. The memory was too vivid, and I opened my eyes again shaking my head trying to get rid of the burnt into my brain.
"Mmmm," Pinkie moaned when I shook my head, "Frrr..."
My heart stopped. Was she dreaming about me? Was she having visions of me? Was I in her dreams? And exactly why do I care?
"... osting..." She mumbled, "Frosting..."
Rolling my eyes, a shaking my head, I couldn't help but laugh silently, "Frosting, huh?" I asked looking at her sleeping face.
When I said those words, Pinkie smiled and curled up. As she did, she pulled me closer towards her.
My eyes opened wide. Was she trying to... was she going to... is she...
I turned my face away. I could feel the heat in my face, the blood filling my cheeks as Pinkie drew me closer towards her. My eyes grew wider and wider as her lips parted ways.
Then she bit my cheek. Hard.
"Nummy," She mumbled as she started chewing.
"Ow! Pinkie! You're hurting me!" I said loudly, "Pinkie!"
Whether or not she heard me, Pinkie did loosen her grip enough for me to pull my face away from her.
"Yukky," She mumbled in her sleep, making a face.
I rubbed my cheek where she had bit it. Since I couldn't get out of her grip, and since talking apparently turned her cannibalistic, I remained laying down staring up at the ceiling wondering what Rarity had in mind letting Pinkie stay the night with me. Not that I felt any sort of attraction to Pinkie, or any of the ponies, but even someone as socially retarded as I knew that you did not let a friend sleep with a stranger whom you've never met, know nothing about, and could be a serial killer. Either she was joking, and Pinkie didn't understand the joke, or Rarity actually thought I was a good person - pony! Got do stop doing that. But Tutela did say that the horrors of my world did not necessarily apply here. The Ponies were protected by their Princesses, who watched over them to ensure their safety. But could they watch every pony?
"God-like," Was what Tutela had said to me when describing the princesses. For some reason it was a good enough answer.
With nothing to do, I let my eyes wander around my new home, or rather my new room. I inspected each of the new pieces of furniture I had bought. The dresser took up the entire wall in front of me and was completely empty. Why had I bought it? I didn't need it considering that I had nothing to put in there except my bag and my laptop, which was safely 'hidden' away in the last shelf, along with the bag that I had borrowed from the Apples to carry the linen in last night. To my right was Pinkie's contribution: The Table of Emasculation. How had she convinced me to get it? The hearts on it seemed to scream 'girly-man' in my face, and each one looked like glowing red coals of estrogen in the light of the sun that bounced off of them through the window. Was I being mocked by a table?
The sound of the leaves of the tree where the Clubhouse was built rustled. There was some clattering on the roof, evidence that some small animals was scurrying over it, or perhaps a bird. It made me smile.
"Forest..." Pinkie suddenly whispered.
"Yes, Pinkie?"
"... muffins..." She mumbled a moment later.
"Muffins?"
This time she pulled me in such a way that my face was smooshed against her torso, and she bit my ear.
She began to half eat, half slobber on it.
It felt... strange. It tickled and was not necessarily unpleasant, but it did feel wrong. However, because of my position now, her grip was loose! I pulled my head downwards and away.
I was free! But Pinkie would not be denied! She reached again for me.
Had to think fast, and I grabbed my pillow and placed it in front of her. She instantly wrapped her hooves around it and squeezed, like a python gripping its prey. She drew the poor pillow into her clutches before she started chewing on it. Although I was not completely free yet for her legs were still tightly wrapped around my body, I was still making progress. So I tried to pry myself loose, but the stubborn Mare refused to budge. The harder I tried, the more she resisted.
"Pinkie! Let me go!" I pleaded, shaking her.
She made a sound. I think it was a 'no', but her mouth was full of pillow, and I couldn't quite make it out.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" I pulled the blanket off of her.
She shuddered then opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and then looked up at me, "Good morning."
"Good morning! Glad you're awake. Can you let me go now?"
She looked at her legs twisted around me, blushed a bit, and let me go. She yawned and stretched her body out, "What time is it?"
"No idea."
Finally free of Pinkie's clutches, I got out of bed and walked over to the door and opened it. The crisp morning air seemed to invade the Clubhouse filling it with a fresh cool breeze. It seemed to push the sleep out of the house, and I strangely felt revitalized. The Clubhouse had a small porch, or patio in front of the door that had a railing. It was nothing big. If I stood sideways, my neck would have been over the rail, but it was actually really nice to be able to walk outside and take a few deep breaths of the fresh morning air. I walked back indoors after a moment, and saw Pinkie huddled up in mine and her blanket on the bed.
"Get out of bed, you lazy Pony!" I said leaning against my dresser.
Pinkie pulled the blankets over her head, "Too early..."
Laughing, I pulled both the sheets off of Pinkie.
She narrowed her eyes, and grinned before grabbing a pillow and throwing it right at me. It hit my square in the face. In response to this wanton act of violence, I took the same pillow with my mouth and threw it right back at her. She grinned at that, and took both pillows in both her hooves, and attacked me swatting me from left and right. Somehow I managed to wrest control of one of her 'deadly' weapons from her, and we proceeded to have a 'sword-pillow' fight. Pinky bounced around on the bed, while I tried to hold my ground. Then we 'locked' our sword-pillows and glared at each other, as if we were two rivals in a duel. She pushed against me, and I refused to give back. Alas, Pinkie had the higher ground, and use her weight against me. Taking a step back, I slipped on one of the blankets that was laying on the floor. As I was falling backwards, I grabbed Pinkie's hoof out of reflex, but I was too heavy for her. So, I fell on my back and she fell right on top of me.
Applejack walked in, "What in tarnation are you doin', Fores... Pinkie?" Applejack asked in surprise seeing Pinkie.
Imagine hearing the sounds of a fight, then rushing over to see your tenant lying on the ground, the bed a mess, blankets on the floor, and your best friend on top of him. Yeah. That's what Applejack walked in on.
"It... it's not what it looks like," I said stupidly, understanding that she was shocked.
Applejack looked at me, "What do ya mean it's not what it looks like? It looks like two adult Ponies rough-housin'. Pink, you stayed here at the Clubhouse all night long?" She gave me a keen look, "Am I missin' somethin'?"
"We were just horsing around..." Wait, can I say that? "And I fell. Pinkie tried to catch me..."
Pinkie picked herself up from off of me, "Mornin' AJ!" She said, oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation.
"Hello, Pinkie," Applejack replied. She sounded angry, and gave me a look.
"She... she asked if she could spend the night. I said it was okay. It..." I stuttered, trying to explain. Applejack's expression spoke volumes, "Nothing happened!"
"Then what is she doin' here?"
"Rarity said that Forest would show me something special if I spent the night, but he just fell asleep," Pinkie replied, now sitting on the bed.
Applejack blushed, "Rarity said that, did she?"
"As you can see, she's... not... ready?" I put it in the form of a question, because I was not sure how to say it.
"That's mighty fine of you, Forest, not takin' advantage of Pinkie like that. Very... honorable of you."
I blushed a little, "Thanks,"
"Taking advantage of me?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head to one side.
"Never you mind," Applejack replied on my behalf.
"Why would Rarity do that?" I asked.
"Rarity means well, but sometimes she doesn't think, and does things for her friends that she thinks we'd like," Applejack replied, "But I think that Rarity was just teasing Pinkie. I doubt she thought that she'd actually listen and actually stay the night... no offense."
"None taken," Okay, so I was just a teeny-bit offended.
"What am I not ready for?" Pinkie asked again, obviously confused.
Applejack rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, "Well, Pinkie Pie, if you really want to know then I think that's somethin' you ought to ask Twilight."
"Okeedokee," Pinkie replied. She then picked up the blankets from off the floor, neatly folded them and straightened the bed sheet.
She put the pillows and blankets on the bed and I folded it in half, then pushed it back so that it returned to being a sofa. The blankets and sheets all tucked away nicely within the fold. It really was well designed sofa-bed
"What time is it?" Pinkie asked Applejack.
"Around eight, I reckon. Maybe a bit later."
"Excuse me, I need to use the toilet," I said, and took my towel, "And shower."
Walking to the barn, I spotted Big Mac loading a cart with wood. He spotted me and gave me a wave. I nodded as I walked up to him, "Good morning."
"Mornin'."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Loadin' wood for the fire stove. Zap Apple seasons comin', and we need the wood to make jam."
My eyes opened wide. This was the most he's ever said to me since I've met him. I didn't think he could handle more than one syllable. Big Mac interpreted my expression as someone who was excited about the prospect of a Zap Apple harvest.
"So, when is it?"
"Should be soon. The Timberwolves should be howlin' any day now," Big Mac said looking towards the direction of the Everfree Forest.
I gulped, "Timberwolves?"
"Eeyup."
"Hi, Forest," Applebloom said coming out of the barn with a small stack of wood on her back, "You really are a sleepy-head, ain'tcha?"
"Good morning to you too, Applebloom. Your brother was just telling me that Zap Apple season was coming."
"Uh-huh! I can hardly wait!" She gave me that outrageously cute smile. It should have been illegal being that cute!
I ruffled her mane, "I'll come help in a moment. I need to use the facilities."
"Toilet's over there, shower's opposite," Applebloom said, pointing to the rear of the barn.
After my business, I did indeed help load the cart, and Big Mac lugged it away. However, during the process, I had taken a fairly small piece of wood and a bunch of nails as well as a hammer. Carrying the objects, Applebloom and I returned to the Clubhouse. Applejack and Pinkie were still there sitting on the sofa.
"Hi, Pinkie. When did you arrive?" Applebloom asked.
"I stayed the night!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Applebloom looked over to me.
"Not what you think," I said without emotion. I was going to get this a lot today, wasn't I?
"So, what's your plan for today?" Applejack asked me.
"Get curtains. That's about it."
"Aren't you going to train?"
"Train?"
"For the tryouts! It's tomorrow!" Applebloom replied on her sister's behalf.
I smacked my head, "Oh! I'm such an idiot! I completely forgot!"
"How could you forget?"
"Well, to be honest, I didn't sign up. I was being sarcastic and Rarity just put my name down. Also, after the Brian incident..."
At that, the three girls nodded in silence.
"Have you heard anything?" I asked.
Applejack shook her head, "I haven't been back to the hospital yet. Rainbow is there, and I think Twilight as well. Right now I think Rarity is with Fluttershy..."
"Poor Fluttershy. Poor Dashie. Poor Angel. Poor Brian," Pinkie said. Did her hair just deflate?
"I'm sure that Brian will be alright. The doctor said that all he needed was rest and he'd be up and about," I said smiling. It was true, that was what he had said but I've seen enough television back on Earth to know that whatever Brian had, it wasn't something temporary.
But Pinkie did perk up a bit. Did her hair just inflate? "I'm going to go and make cakes and balloons and everything for Brian! Plus I've got to tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I'm okay!"
Inflating and deflating hair. Pinkie just put the term 'air-head' on a whole new level for me.
"Isn't Brian in the hospital?" I asked.
Pinkie looked at us, "I should get back. I need to tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I'm okay! I did say that I wasn't coming home."
"What did you tell them?"
"I told them I was staying over at Applejack's. Rarity said not to tell them I was going to stay with you," Pinkie replied. Her honesty was refreshing, but she just did not understand. Was it possible for even Ponies to be that naive?
"Pinkie, you can't tell just anypony about staying the night with Forest!" Applebloom exclaimed. Even she, who was much younger than Pinkie, understood.
"Why not?"
"They'll get the wrong idea!"
"What idea?" Pinkie tilted her head to one side, like a curious puppy.
Applebloom blushed. Applejack blushed. I smacked my head.
"Are you guys okay?" Pinkie asked us, looking at us as if we were the weird ones.
"Just don't tell anyone, okay?" I pleaded, "Not a soul!" I'll never hear the end of it!
She thought about it, "Not even Rarity?"
"Especially not Rarity!" Applejack cut in, making me jump.
"Okeedokee," And with that, Pinkie hopped away.
"Must be nice, being able to live life like that," I said watching her go, "She seems so... free."
"Yeah. Well, Pinkie's a Pony unto her own. She's the perfect Pony to go see the Dash's," Applejack said watching Pinkie hopping back towards Ponyville, "Why don't we go over to the track and you can run a few laps?"
"Sure," I replied.
"Do you want to have breakfast?" Applebloom asked.
"No thank you. If I'm going to be running, I don't think I should eat. I just need to do one thing, and I'll be right over, okay?"
"Okay, we'll see you in a bit."
I watched the two sisters go, and waited until they were a good distance away before returning to the Clubhouse. Closing the door and finding my bag, I opened the laptop.
"If only you could've seen your face last night!" Tutela was laughing so hard, tears were dripping from her eyes, "Your face was so red, I'm surprised it didn't glow! You could have fooled Pinkie into thinking it was her reflection!"
I made a face, "She caught me off guard."
"Did she? I didn't notice apart from the excessive blushing that lame pretending to be asleep act. You really are a glutton for embarrassment!" Tutela roared in laughter, "Now this is entertainment."
"I'm glad you find me so amusing," I scowled.
I got out the hideous frame that Pinkie had bought me. Then I pushed my laptop screen as far back as it could go and overlaid the laptop's monitor with it. The huge frame was big enough to cover the keyboard, and the picture area was the right size for the screen. Now, all I had to do was somehow fix the two together.
Taking the small piece of wood from helping Big Mac and Applebloom earlier, along with the nails. Taking the hammer in my hoof, I took the largest nail I had and hammered it into the back of the door. Then taking the shorter nails, I nailed the piece wood to the very bottom of the frame. Taking the rope that I had used for tying the furniture to the cart - Big Mac had left it outside on the porch, I cut a length and untwisted a part of it. Using that, I wove a small holder at the back and tightened. The rope - now a string - pulled the monitor against the front of the frame.
As I did so, Tutela nodded with an impressed expression on her face, "Very clever."
The majority of the weight of the laptop was now on the small wood block at the base, the ropes held the monitor close to the screen, and I could 'hide' it in plain site. Taking it, I hung it behind the door on the long nail.
Tutela looked at me, and I looked at her, "Think it'll work?"
"Sure. As long as no-one takes it off and peeks at the bottom half."
"How is Brian?" I asked.
"Not good, I'm afraid. He's still not awake, and Pinkie is baking a huge pile of cakes, while at the same time inflating as many balloons as possible."
"Where does she get all that energy?" I muttered, "Do you know what he's got?"
"No."
"Can you find out?" I asked.
"How would I do that? I'm not a doctor," Tutela asked, furrowing her bow.
"I don't know! Peek at people in the hospital over there, or look it up on the Internet?"
"I'll see what I can do, in the meantime, you should be concentrating on yourself and not on other Ponies or people. Remember, you're only there to earn your freedom. ," And with that, Tutela cut off. The picture of the Everfree Forest was now prominently displayed on the screen.
Walking towards the Apple's house, my mind again was filled with all sorts of thoughts. I kept going over the events. The blue Pony with the whip, the laughter - what went wrong after that? Did she use her magic on him? I didn't see anything glowing, so I doubted that was it. Definitely the blue Pony was as shocked as I was to see Brian launch into that coughing fit as I was. And then when I burst into the room, she was terrified.
Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh were all on their porch as I walked up to the house.
"Ready to go, Forest?" Applejack asked.
"Ready!" I replied.
The girls, save for Granny, then led me towards Ponyville, while Big Mac stayed behind with his grandmother.
As we entered Ponyville, we ran into Twilight Sparkle and her Dragon. Spike was carrying a basket in his hands full of freshly picked flowers.
"Howdy, Twilight. Where're you off to?" Applejack asked, although we all knew where she was going.
"We're going to visit Brian at the hospital. What about you?"
"I'm takin' Forest here to the track for practice. You wanna walk together?"
"Sure!"
So, the five of us headed towards the hospital. In the back of my mind I was getting worried. Why was I going to the hospital? I didn't want to see Brian. Brian didn't even like me! In fact, I would say that he disliked me. A lot. The last Pony he'd want to see in the hospital would have been me.
As we approached the familiar looking building, I started to walk slower, trying to think of a way out.
"Forest?"
The sound of me new name jolted me, "Ye-yes?"
"How do you make girls like you?" It was Spike who had spoken.
"Come again?"
"How can you make girls like you?" He repeated.
"Well, it depends on the girl, I suppose. So did you have in mind? A hot dragon?" I asked.
He mumbled something.
"What?"
He mumbled something again, this time a tiny bit louder.
"Sorry, you're going to have to speak louder..."
He grabbed me by my shoulders, and held me so that I looked right into his face.
"Rarity!" He exclaimed in a loud whisper.
"Rarity?" I repeated also in a whisper, "But... she's a Pony. You're a Dragon..."
"Does that really matter?" Spike asked.
Why are you dumping this on me now? Don't you think I already have an assload of shit of my plate as it is? I said in my mind, "No. I suppose not."
"I like Rarity," He said and let me go.
"Well, what do you see in her?" I asked.
"She's beautiful, kind, gentle, generous," He went on and on and on. He really had it bad.
"Have you ever told her how you feel?"
"No! No, no, no, no, no! No way! Uh-uh. There is no way. Nope."
"Well, why not tell her how you feel?"
"It's not that simple!" Spike replied, angry.
"I see you've heard this one before."
"You think? Everypony says the same thing, 'tell her how you feel', 'tell her how you feel'," He repeated in a mocking voice - mocking all those Ponies who dared give him this lame piece of advice.
"Well, if everypony suggests it, then wouldn't it be the right thing?" Logic - best argument ender, ever.
"And what if she says no? Then what?"
"Then you move on. Find someone else," Doh! I meant to say somepony!
"There is no-one else," Spike then went on a monologue about how Rarity was 'the one', and that he was 'incomplete' without her. I have-listened to him, not because I wasn't interested, but because there were other things on my mind.
When we arrived at the hospital entrance, I stopped.
"Well, we'll see you guys later?" Twilight asked.
"I'll come with you, Twi. Forest, you go with Spike and Applebloom to the field," And Applejack pointed with her hoof.
The field in question was right behind the hospital. Well, not right behind, but close. Relief.
The three of us walked towards the field. Once there, I jogged around the track a few times while Spike and Applebloom watched. After my seventh lap, Applebloom shouted, "Faster!"
"Seriously?" I muttered, as I past her on another lap.
Still, I did as she asked. I ran. At first it felt strange. But then I started to get used to it. The more I ran, the faster I wanted to go. The faster I wanted to go, the more I pushed myself. The more I pushed myself, the more I felt like I was flying. The feeling of the wind in my face, the sound of the wind passing my ears, and the speed! The speed! Speed! I put my face down and dug my hooves into the ground. I watched the road rush past, the blur of the surroundings push past me. More, and more, I pulled my body forwards, willing myself to go faster and faster. It was amazing. I felt so light. So fast. Free.
It's too bad that I couldn't hold on to the ground.
"Forest!" Applebloom screamed, "Watch out for that..."
It was not that I didn't see it, but I couldn't stop. The momentum of my body propelled my forwards and I crashed into something solid.
"... tree."
"Ow."
Applebloom and Spike stood there. While Applebloom had the expression of shock, Spike had the expression of pain.
Eventually he rushed over to me, "You okay?"
"Fine," I said, seeing stars. Picking myself up, I checked to see if I had any damage. Nothing.
I looked at the track. Was that... fire? Fire on the tracks?
"What happened?" I asked.
"You happened! As you were running, fire started appearing whenever your hooves touched the ground..."
"What?"
"Really! Look!" Spike pointed at the ground. Two black streaks that led straight into the tree I had smashed into. The grass was black, as if it were set on fire, in fact in some places the fire was still going, "And while you were running, you created a small whirlwind! It was so cool."
"I've never seen anypony run that fast! We're to win the race for sure!" Applebloom exclaimed excitedly.
The commotion was enough that a couple nurses from the hospital had rushed over.
"Are you okay?" One asked.
"Nurse Redheart! Did you see? Did you see?" Applebloom asked excitedly.
"Yes, I saw," The nurse said, and walked over to me, and lifted my chin up with her hoof, "I saw you crash straight into that tree."
"I'm fine..."
"We still need to check..."
"Please, really, I'm fine..."
"And ensure you have no concussions..."
"But..."
"No buts. Come," The Nurse was not going to take 'no' for an answer.
"I'm really okay. Promise," I insisted. It was not that I didn't want medical attention, but the thought of going into the hospital where Brian was just did not sit well with me. As much as I hated to admit it, I was actually scared of the old man. And with last night's events still vivid in my mind...
Just then the doctor from yesterday appeared, "Why, hello there! Glad to see you up and about, Forest."
I nodded, and stood up. I faltered a little, but that was probably because my legs felt so tired.
"Well, relatively speaking. That's some mighty fine running, my good lad," The doctor continued, laughing at my wobbliness.
"Thanks," As I stood up, I looked at the doctor, "Doc, how's Mr. Dash?"
The doctor was taken aback by that question, "I-I'm afraid that I'm not at liberty to discuss the personal details of my patients."
A doctor saying that meant only one thing. Spike helped me on my feet, as Nurse Redheart looked into my eyes. It was not that she was being friendly, she was looking to see if I had any brain damage.
"Really, nurse. I'm fine. Just a little dazed."
She nodded, "You do seem fine, but if you start getting headaches, or anything, you must come. Why you're being stubborn when a simple check-up is..."
"I'll do it, Nurse Redheart," The doctor said, "Please leave him to me."
At this, the nurse seemed appeased, and she left heading back towards the hospital.
The doctor shined his flashlight into my eyes, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary gave me a clean bill of health - relatively speaking. All he said was, "You're fine."
In the far distance I saw three familiar Ponies standing near the hospital. One pink, one orange, and the last purple. They were looking our way. They weren't the only ones. Several dozen other heads were looking in our direction from the hospital windows. The sight of it was fairly intimidating. A few were laughing their heads off, I could tell.
"Why are they looking this way?" I asked.
Spike shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it's because you set fire to the track, and ran straight into a tree?"
Applebloom, upon seeing her sister, ran towards her. The three of us stayed behind and watched her go. The silence was overbearing. Where moments before there was the sound of trees, the wind, life, now there was just silence. It was as if everything had stopped, but in reality it was only the mood that had changed. It was the way that the three Ponies stood on the rise where the hospital overlooked the field. None of us said a thing as we watched Applebloom run up the incline to her sister, who was instantly seized in a tight embrace.
"Forest?"
"Yes, Spike?"
"Is Brian going to die?"
The question hit me harder than a punch to the face. The doctor looked at me, then away.
"I don't know, Spike," I lied.
Together the three of us headed towards the others. As we reached the top of the rise, the doctor excused himself and returned to the hospital. Spike and I stood there looking at the three friends. After a moment, Pinkie burst into tears and hugged Applejack who was still clutching Applebloom tightly. Twilight looked at me and then shook her head. She already knew the question I wanted to ask, but I had already known the answer.
"How is Rainbow taking it?" I asked.
"Do I really need to answer that?" Twilight replied, "She's losing her father. How would you take it?"
I would've celebrated if it were my father. I said to myself, "Is there anything we can do?"
"The doctors are looking into that right now," Twilight looked at me, "We don't know much about humans and their physiology, especially when it comes to medicine. Brian is the only human in all of Equestria. It's a miracle our doctors have been able to treat him so far."
I looked down at my hooves, "Maybe... maybe we can get help? From his world?"
At that suggestion the Ponies looked at one another, "We can't, Forest. Princess Celestia closed whatever it was that connected our world to his. There is nothing that can reopen it."
Bullshit! I screamed in my mind, I come from his world! "I see."
"Brian wasn't supposed to come here in the first place!" Applejack put in, "His appearance here in Equestria caused quite a ruckus. Those were happy times."
"So, what now?" I asked.
"Well, I don't rightly know. Our friend Fluttershy is also havin' a bad time, though Rarity's been kind enough to stay with her."
"Her pet rabbit?" Not that I should judge, but wouldn't someone's father be more important that a pet?
"Angel is more than just a pet to Fluttershy," Twilight said, her voice cold as ice.
She saw through me completely on that one, "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize."
"It's okay. It's strange, you know. You've only been here for such a short time, yet you've somehow become... involved with us," Twilight gave me a look. Not a particularly kind one, but neither was it mean.
"I think that's got to do with me having amnesia, and you guys being really open and friendly. Perhaps I ought to distance myself a little?"
"I think that would be best. Especially now. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that you helped our friends especially Rainbow by saving her father, but we need time to ourselves without having to take of you. No offense," Twilight replied and then looked down at the ground. I could tell she was not happy about what she had said, but it was the right thing to say. I knew that, and even though it hurt - strange that it would affect me in that way - I completely agreed.
Both Applejack and Pinkie looked at Twilight as if she were a crazy person - Pony! Crazy Pony.
"Twi, you can't just..."
"She's right, you know," I said.
The others looked at me.
"You've all been very kind. But your friend needs you and I don't want to be in the way. I'll be fine on my own. And it's not like I'm going to vanish. You'll see me everyday, Applejack, and you're all welcome to my humble abode if you ever want to come visit," My nose started to feel funny, and my eyes began to hurt. What the fuck was wrong with me? Was I actually... was I... no. I refused to allow it. Taking a deep breath I forced myself to keep a straight face.
"Take care of yourself, Forest. And again, thank you for understanding," Twilight said and turned and headed back towards the hospital.
"You'll be alright?" Applejack asked.
"Of course! I'll see you back home, if anything," I gave her my best smile.
That seemed to be the right thing to say to Applejack, and she nodded, "See you at home, then."
Applebloom stayed with me and Spike as Applejack followed after Twilight. Pinkie remained behind looking at me.
"I'll see you around too, Pinkie. I'm not going anywhere. I've got tryouts tomorrow."
"Forest, you look sad."
"I am sad, Pinkie. For Rainbow and her dad. But right now, I think that they need you more than I do."
Pinkie thought about it for a moment, "You're right! I need to be there for my very best friend!"
With that, Pinkie followed her two friends and all three entered the hospital.
"Aren't you guys going?" I asked, looking at Spike and Applebloom.
"The question is; why aren't you going?" Spike asked.
"Me?"
"Well, you did save his life."
"How do you know that?"
"It's the talk of the town!" Spike said rolling his eyes, "How you found him in the Everfree Forest, how you broke down the door, and how you saved him."
"Where did you get all that?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"I heard it from Twilight. She was here at the hospital with Rainbow all night and part of this morning. She only left because Pinkie arrived with her cakes and balloons," Spike said, stroking his chin, "We went home to get some books and we ran into you on our . When we heading back to the hospital."
"Cakes and balloons? In a hospital?" Why was I surprised? It was Pinkie after all.
"Well, are you going to visit the Dashes?" Spike asked again.
No! No way! I wanted to shout, "Not today, Spike. I think the Dashes will want to be alone with their friends, and not acquaintances."
Just then there was a commotion near the entrance to the hospital. A lot of Ponies were gathering there, and out of curiosity, I wondered what was going on. At once I recognized the costume, not that I'd seen it before but Rainbow had described the thing in explicit detail just the day before. Probably one of Rainbow's team-mate's.
"It's Soarin'," Spike whispered in my ear, "He's a Wonderbolt."
Thank you, Captain Obvious!
"I think he's here to see Rainbow," Applebloom said in a loud whisper.
I watched as he pushed past the crowd and into the hospital. He certainly was popular.
With nothing to do, and not wanting to get in anyone's way, I wandered back to town with Spike. Applebloom had decided to join her sister and the others. The fact that Soarin' was there was completely unrelated, apparently. At least, that what's Applebloom said to us.
With nothing to do, and hungry as hell, I made a beeline to my favorite place in town, Sugarcube Corner. As I was about to enter the bakery for some wheaty goodness, I heard a voice call my name. My blood froze in my veins.
Yes, Satan? I wanted to say, but I knew better, "Yes, Crystal?"
"I heard that you helped Brian yesterday. I wanted to thank you," She replied in that obnoxious nasal voice. Couldn't she blow her nose?
"I did nothing special," I replied.
Cyan Crystal took a good look at me before responding, "You left some books in your room. I saw that they were from the library, so I dropped them off for you."
"That was mighty kind of you," I said, still half-way into Sugarcube Corner, "Now if you excuse me, I need to eat something."
"I'll join you."
What did I do to deserve this? I roared to the heaven's - in my head of course, "Sounds fun."
As we entered, the first thing that happened was the table nearest to us with three young Ponies sort of gasped and yelped at the same time upon seeing Crystal and bolted out the door. I watched them go, wishing that I was a part of their fleeing mob. Crystal, on the other hand, completely ignored them or the fact that she scared them off. She promptly sad at their table.
Sitting opposite the Pony, I had a clear view to the large windows behind her, where I saw Spike standing across the street. He gave me a thumbs up and a wink mouthing the words 'good-luck' before disappearing around the corner.
Traitor!
"So. Forest. I wanted to apologize for the other day," Crystal began.
"There is no need. I think we both were... wrong," Fuck you, I wasn't wrong at all!
She looked at me evenly, "Don't patronize me. You and I both know we don't like one another."
You think? "Then why have lunch together?"
"Because... look, I'm trying to be civil," Crystal began, and leaned back in her chair, "We can make both our stays here unpleasant, or we can try and work past... our misunderstandings."
"Misunderstandings? What misunderstandings? As far as I know you were only hostile against me because I was friends with Pinkie," I said furrowing my brow.
Her expression instantly changed at the mention of Pinkie's name.
"I think we'll postpone lunch for now," She said standing up, "I would advise you to watch yourself, Forest."
"Is that a threat?"
"No. It's not a threat. Just a warning," And with the Crystal walked past me and out the door.
My body shuddered. The way she said it implied something terrible was going to happen.
"What was that about?" Mr. Cake asked, walking over to me.
I shook my head in response, "Not a clue."
"She is a strange one. Pleasant one moment..."
The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with the Cakes, who agreed to give me dinner if I helped around the bakery. This was great, but why was it that all that I am made to do was lift heavy shit? Heavy bags of flour, or other sacks of heavy crap, carrying them from one place to another, stacking them, and basically just being a living, breathing forklift.
I had stayed till it was dark, helping around where I could. Where was Pinkie through all this? Eventually, with all the errands that needed to be done were done, I started heading back home after eating a nice dinner with the Cakes. Mrs. Cake even packed me a little box of goodies to take home and snack on, which was very nice of her to do so. As I approached Sweet Apple Acres, I noticed that the lights were on inside the house, so I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.
Applebloom answer, "Oh, hi, Forest."
"Hi. Just wanted to let you guys know I'm back."
"Okay, Forest."
Something was strange. They all seemed so distant. They were being nice to me, but not the same as before. The last few days they had really enveloped me into their lives, and a part of me perhaps let my guard down as they did. Now it seemed that they were doing the thing that they should have done in the first place - keep me at a distance. Strange that they would do so after letting me get so integrated with their lives. My only guess was that somewhere along the way they must have woken up.
"Well, good night," I turned and walked away.
Walking into the Clubhouse, I struck a match and lit the candle - the only light I had in my home. After that, I pulled the bed from the sofa, and lay down I pulled the blankets over myself.