Moving On

by Manitive

Chapter Twenty-Two - Meeting a God

"Aaaand it is done!" Rarity declared, giving my pants a final tug before stepping back. She looked me up and down, inspecting her work while nodding in approval. "What do you think?" She asked, levitating a mirror in front of me.

I looked in the mirror for the first time since she started making these clothes for me, which she insisted she would do right away so that I didn't have to walk around all smelly n' stuff - and she was damn fast at that, I may add. She finished the set I was wearing at that moment in record time.

Of course the set she made me wasn't anything overly special. A plain white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, but, hey, you have to keep in consideration that I'm not her everyday customer - A fact that she made quite obvious when she was taking measurements. I knew that I had to take off my clothes beforehand, but I didn't think that I had to take off all of them.

Sure, she tried to be professional about my... unique body form, as she put it, but that didn't help to stop the awkwardness.

"Thank you so much, Rarity!" I said, giving the white unicorn behind me a grateful and sincere smile through the mirror. "They're perfect!"

"It is nothing, dear." She said with a hint of red on her cheeks, waving a hoof in a dismissive manner. "It was a pleasure, really."

There was a small 'pop' sound, and, in the blink of an eye, the mirror that was in front of me just moments ago was gone, teleported away to where she probably grabbed it from. Even though the concept of magic wasn't something entirely new to me, it managed to surprise me how easy those ponies could let things vanish and appear in just the blink of an eye.

Makes one wonder if they could do the same to actual lifeforms.

"So, the other two sets and the jacket should be done in a week or so." Rarity said, the blush from before gone, replaced by a friendly smile. "Also, before I forget it, I'll bring those-" She pointed a hoof at my dirty, old set of clothes that she stuffed, for reasons that I completely understood, into a big, see-through bag. "-to the laundry shop for you. You can pick them up next time you're here."

"So they have something like that here? That's good." I muttered to myself, surprised that there was indeed a way for me to clean my clothes, though I still had doubts about them having washing machines. "Thanks Rarity." I thanked her again, smiling warmly.

"Anytime, darling."

"Yeah, well, anyways, I think I better go now. You probably have some important things to do." I said awkwardly, somehow feeling like I was holding up Rarity enough already. She was a busy mare, after all.

I looked around in an attempt to spot a certain orange filly that should've been there the whole time - but she wasn't there. "Uh, where's Scoots?"

"She went upstairs with Sweetie Belle some time ago." Rarity explained, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't you noticed?"

"No, not really." I lifted a hand to idly scratch at my chin, once again noticing how I was really in need of a shave, but quickly dismissing the thought of shaving because I was going to forget it anyways.

"I could get her if you wish." Rarity offered, already turning her body to the staircase that led upstairs.

"Nah, you don't need to." I said, stopping her mid-walk. "Just tell her that she needs to be home before evening. I want to see her before she has to go back... to the orphanage."

"I can certainly do that." She said with a hint of sympathy, nodding her head in understanding.

The subject of adoption somehow came up while Rarity was taking her important measurements, probably in a two-sided attempt to distract the both of us from the awkwardness and give us something to talk about, but all it did was (logically) lead me to explain her about the whole fiasco concerning me adopting Scootaloo.

It was kinda hard for me to talk about it, something Rarity must've noticed because she changed the subject quickly after I've told her the story.

"Well, I better go now." I said, heading for the door, opening it with one of my hands as I reached it. The fresh air that hit my nose made me aware of just how much I missed it; the perfume-air in Rarity's boutique was just a bit too much for my taste. I turned around, smiling down at the white unicorn for one last time, offering her a handshake, which she happily accepted. "Thanks again, Rarity. See you around."

I spun around and walked out of the door, down to the street that led back into Ponyville.

"Ta-ta." I heard her call back, probably waving me a goodbye, before the door slammed shut.

The instant my shoe-covered feet touched the cobble street, everyone was, once again, staring at me - but this time it somehow...bothered me more. It was like that, now that I was alone, no one even tried to hide it. No one even tried to hide how they thought of me, how disgusted they thought I was or how frightened they were by my appearance.

The ones that were disgusted didn't faze me in the slightest, no; it were the ones that feared me that made me anxious. As everyone knows, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate to suffering.

Suffering I would've needed to go through.

I felt small and vulnerable all of a sudden. It didn't feel good how everyone was staring at me. It didn't feel good when a small crowd started to form around me, whispering among themselves about the 'weird, scary thing' in front of them. The whispers suddenly grew louder in volume, louder and louder until it felt like they were screaming into my ears. I started shaking, my eyes darting from left to right.

I pushed my way through the crowd and quickened my pace, walking to god-knows-where, my brain telling me to get the fuck out of there soon or I'll get chased out of town by an angry mob with pitchforks and torches.

"Hey Will, stop!" It felt like it wasn't just one person that knew my name was calling me to stop, it felt like it were hundreds, thousands even, their voices bouncing around in my head. I kept on looking forward, up the road, not daring to stop. I even increased my speed, going over into a full jog to escape whoever or whatever was following me.

"Wait!" It called again, this time a lot closer, but as the words hit my ears I finally realized something: the voice sounded familiar, very familiar in fact. That southern drawl I could've realized everywhere.

I smiled in relief, immediately screeching to a halt, feet digging into the dirt path beneath me as I did my best to slow down quickly.

...Wasn't a really good idea if you take into consideration that a sprinting Applejack was right behind me.

Of course she wasn't able to stop in time as I suddenly and without a warning screeched to a halt and spun around, though she probably tried her best to. The moment I felt her collide with my lower legs it felt like a freight train just hit them, sending a sharp jolt of pain right through them. However, even though she was really fast and probably should've knocked me down, or broken some bones, I was somehow able to stay upright and not fall backwards into the dirt.

Or break my legs.

The first thing I did was look down to my legs, relief washing over me as I found out that they were where they belonged and in the right position. I really didn't want to see the white hospital's ceiling again anytime soon.

So, apart from the small twinge of pain I felt, I was okay. Even my clothes were still clean.

Applejack, though, didn't seem to have as much luck as I had - the orange farmer seemed positively dazed by the impact, eyes spinning in her head as she staggered around, doing her best to remain upright. She was staggering around like a person that had just one too many drinks.

I immediately went over to her and helped her in her quest not to fall to the ground, putting both of my hands on her shoulders in order to keep her steady. "Shit." I cursed. "You okay?"

It took her a second or two to stop swaying from left to right, but she did succeed in it eventually. She shook her head, probably to let her think clearly again.

"Woah nelly, everythin' was spinnin' there for a moment." She said funnily in that southern accent, almost making me chuckle if it hadn't been for the situation. She then shot me a sheepish, apolegetic look. "Sorry fer crashin' into ya."

"No, it was my fault. Shouldn't have stopped like that." I said as i looked her over for any bruises or scratches, still a little concerned that I hurt her by being so careless. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"Nah, Ah'm good, just feelin' a lil tipsy is all." She assured me with a small chuckle, smiling up at me. I returned her smile as I lifted my hands away and took a step back to give her some space. "What's gotten inta ya anyways?"

As she said those words the first thing I did was look around, almost panicky, for the angry mob of ponies with the torches that, in my imagination, was chasing me, but, surprise surprise, there was no mob.

Not at that moment, at least.

I sighed heavily, shaking my head slowly. "To be honest, I actually don't know. I think I might be going crazy."

"Huh? Why's that?"

Instead of giving her an answer in the form of words, I pointed a finger over my shoulder towards the slowly dissolving, relatively small crowd that was watching us from afar, giving her the blankest look I could muster.

"Oh, Ah see, that." She said, and, for a moment, it almost sounded like she was angry herself. She sighed sadly, shaking her head a few times before speaking up again, "Ya... Ya need to give 'em time. They'll eventually fin' out that ya aren't somepony ta fear."

"Yeah, and meanwhile I'll just go crazy because I need to fear them chasing me out of town." I shuddered visibly, just the thought of a hundred angry ponies with the ability to fly, perform magic or just simply stomp me into the ground sending shivers down my spine. "Hell, maybe even worse."

"Hey, don'tcha forget that ya have me an' ma friends, the princesses', an' three fillies on ya side." She threw in, smiling up at me in a manner that said 'We'll be there for you.'

I chuckled. "Yeah, especially with the CMC on my side I'll be safe. They can come up with some really scary things."

She shuddered and nodded. "Totally agree with ya there."

I think the both of us had some serious PTSD from the CMC's terrifying ideas.

"So whatcha want?" I inquired, taking an almost apprehensive look back over my shoulder just to see if we were still being watched by that crowd, or if they finally went their way, but, to my pleasant surprise, not a single pony was watching us. There was no one near us and I finally felt like I could breathe again.

She beamed up at me, giving me that charming smile of hers. "Well, since ya didn't have any job, Ah though why not offer ya one? Ah thou-"

I interrupted her rudely right there, before she could go any further, as I was slightly confused about what she exactly meant by that. "Sorry that I interrupt, but did you just say that you want to offer me a job?"

She looked at me like I just told her the earth was flat, or that magic doesn't exist. "Well, 'f course. Ya mah friend, ain'tcha?"

I nodded.

"An' ya need a job?"

I nodded again.

"So Ah'm offerin' ya a job 'cause friends help each other out, right?" She continued.

"I...guess so, yeah."

"Simple math, really."

"That has nothing to do with math."

"Doesn't matter!" She exclaimed exhaustedly, throwing her forehooves up in an overly dramatic (and unrealistic) way. "What Ah'm tryin' to say is, Ah want tah help ya out 'cause ya my friend, so I'm asking ya if ya want to work at mah families' farm and earn some bits."

"God, first Rarity and now her too?" I muttered under my breath, apparently just loud enough for her to not hear it, even though I saw her ears perking up for a moment.

"Well, Applejack, I really, really appreciate the offer, but I honestly don't think that manual labor really suits me, nor am I fit enough for it." I answered honestly, emphasizing my point by pointing down my body; I had been in a much better shape, to be perfectly honest, but ever since I stopped working out, I started putting on some weight, which is... pretty self-explanatory.

Even though I tried my best to politely decline her offer, I knew that it was a fruitless effort from the beginning on. Once Applejack made up her mind, there was no way to change it. She was like that from the day on I met her.

She put on a serious face, a facial expression that almost, just almost made me realease a groan. "William, Ah didn't want to bring it up, but Ah don' really think that anypony's willin' to offer yer a job besides me, an' the last thing Ah want is that ya end up on tha' street."

I was about to form a retort, but gave up on that as soon as I realized one thing: she was right. She was telling the truth, as hard as it was. No one, definitely no one was willing to offer me a job besides her and maybe, just maybe Rarity, though I don't think that her customers would really appreciate me being in her shop when they come to buy some of her creations. I probably would've scared them out of her boutique.

I sighed, admitting defeat as I realized that she couldn't have been more right about my situation. "Okay, fine, but don't expect me to do amazing. I can't even remember when I worked out the last time."

A smile found itself onto her face immediately as the words left my mouth, a smile so big that it made me smile myself.

"Follow ma lead!" She said happily, trotting away into the opposite direction from where we originally came.

I chuckled, not loud enough for her to actually hear it. These ponies were just too damn adorable when they got excited - not that I'd say that to Applejack face-to-face, lest I get a hoof to my shin.

****

Ten uneventful minutes later and we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's quite charming home. The sun was at it's highest point as we walked through the gate, and the sky was free of any clouds that could've blocked the sun's rather bright, almost blinding, light.

The weather was quite unusual for the end of fall, at least by Earth standards.

However, that didn't mean that it wasn't to my liking - quite the opposite, really. It was a welcome change to have warmer falls, especially since that didn't mean that I had to wear a jacket all the time, which was really convenient if you keep in mind that I was about to work outside that whole day.

It was weird, really. Going from a software engineer, someone who has to sit inside most of the time, to a farmer, or whatever Applejack considered herself, someone who has to work outside exclusively.

It was weird, yet another welcome change. It meant that I finally accomplished something since I arrived in Equestria, even though it was pretty much handed me on a silver platter.

"Will, ya okay, pardner?"

I shook my head, smiling at the pony in front of me that was giving me a look of slight confusion. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Enough thinkin', have ya had lunch yet?"

I rubbed the back of my head nervously, instantly knowing where this was going. "I actually didn't even have anything for breakfast, but that's okay, I can work like that."

She gasped.

"Nonsense, ya need to have at least somethin' in ya stomach!" She explained with a frown, beckoning me to follow her with one of her hooves as she walked into the opposite direction to where we were supposed to go - to the orchard. "C'mon, ya can eat with 's, Ah'm sure lunch's ready by now."

I smiled sheepishly, still rubbing the back of my head. "No, it's okay, really."

She stopped and smirked at me from over her shoulder. "Don' make me drag ya to the table, sugarcube." She said curtly with a smug grin, knowing exactly that there was no way I was going to win this argument, before resuming to walk into the direction of a big and red, familiar looking farmhouse in front of her.

I let my hand fall back down to my sides, giving her retreating form a slightly annoyed look. "God fucking damn it." I muttered before I slowly started walking to the farmhouse, Applejack already patiently waiting for me as she held the door open.

I knew that the next minutes were going to be awkward. Except for Apple Bloom, I didn't know anyone from her family. Sure, she has told me about them back on Earth, and a lot too, but that didn't mean that they knew me.

I stepped inside the humble looking home as I reached the doorstep, Applejack entering herself and then closing the behind her with a loud slam that seemed to echo in the house. At first glance, everything looked really homey and rustic, unsurprisingly, with most furniture made out of wood and a small fireplace to my right.

Then I smelled something familiar smelling, something that I could only describe as downright delicious. It smelled just like when Applejack prepared breakfast back on earth, just a thousand times stronger and more... apple-y. I felt my mouth watering in anticipation of all the delicious meals that were sure to come.

"Sister, ya home?" A sweet, childish voice called from another room to my left.

"Yep." She shortly answered back, beckoning me to follow her with one hoof as she walked to the room where the young voice originated from. "And we have a guest."

I followed Applejack into what had to be the kitchen, the sweet smell intensifying as I got closer. It soon turned out that it was indeed the kitchen, and there was one thing, one thing that probably was the most glorious thing I had seen all day.

Food.

My mouth hung open at the great variety of food that was neatly placed on a big, rustic table in the center of the room. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, pancakes, cupcakes - you name it, they (probably) had it.

"This looks delicious." I said, licking my lips and rubbing my hands together in anticipation of what presented in front of me, just a few meters away from me.

All I had to do was take a couple of steps and reach out...

I didn't notice that I was indeed trying to grab some food from the table until I took a hoof to my knee. "EY! No eatin' 'til everpony's at tha table!" Said that sweet childish voice from before, appearing out of nowhere, but at least this time I knew who exactly it was. "That also goes fer ya, Will!"

I immediately took a step back as the hoof hit my knee, mainly out of shock but also because of the pain Apple Bloom inflicted. A short gasp of pain managed to slip past my lips, but I quickly coughed into my hand in an attempt to hide it.

"H-hehe, sorry Apple Bloom." I said, chuckling nervously as I tried not to show how much that hit hurt me; that small orange filly really packed a punch.

"Apple Bloom, what's all this turmoil 'bout?" A new and foreign voice asked from somewhere above me, but this one sounded like nothing I've heard before; it honestly sounded old, like the elderly kind of old.

Apple Bloom sighed. "Granny, we have a guest!" She said aloud, completely ignoring the question her grandmother (?) asked her.

Suddenly the floor above me started creaking, which was followed by constant muffled swearing and muttering. It had to be their grandmother, which surprised me quite a lot. Some of the words were not so nice, and definitely not fit for Apple Bloom's ears, but that didn't seem to stop the elderly pony from swearing.

I raised an eyebrow as the swearing grew more distant, but then quickly came back louder as the pony walked the staircase to my right down.

As I guessed earlier, she was indeed an elderly pony if the creases on her face and the silver hair was anything to go by. Her coat was a light green and her butt tattoo was some kind of pie, which probably meant that she was a professional at baking...uh, pies.

She wore some kind of orange scarf dotted with red apples around her neck.

It took her a moment to spot me, even though she was looking right at me, but when she finally did, all she did was roll her eyes and say, "Applejack, Ah already told ya a hundred times, no diamon' dogs in mah house allowed."

I raised another eyebrow. "Diamond what?"

Applejack facehoofed. "Ugh, Granny, this is Will."

Granny Smith shot her a short, helpless look.

"Ya know, the hoo-man-" I cringed inwardly. "-who saved me an' mah friends? Scootaloo's adoptive father?" Applejack continued, trying to help her grandmother's memories along.

Granny Smith took a few step closer to me, too close for my liking as she looked me up and down skeptically. "Ah dunno, he does look more like a diamon' dog tah me."

"Ya haven't seen another hoo-man-" I sighed and shook my head. "-in all ya life, Granny." Applejack stated with a deadpan look on her face.

"Maybe Ah did?"

"Have ya?" Apple Bloom asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in place.

"Nah, I haven' 'lil Bloom."

The orange filly deflated and made an 'oh' sound, sinking down to the floor as all of her hopes were shattered. Which hopes, I had no idea, but knowing her it was probably something about getting her Cutie Mark.

"Granny, where's Big Mac?" Applejack asked.

"He's still at the northern fiel', collecting the last apples." The elderly pony responded, her eyes never leaving me as if she still was still skeptical about me. "He shoul' be there any momen'."

As if on cue I heard the front door opening and then get shut with a loud thump, the sound echoing through the whole house like it was one big hall. A few heavy sounding steps and I was confronted by something with a red coat and an orange mane. My eyes widened slightly at the sight, but not because of the colors or the height of the stallion standing in front of me, but more because of his muscular body.

Sure, Big MacIntosh, Applejack and Apple Bloom's brother, was big, maybe just half-a-head smaller than Celestia, but what he lacked in size (heh) he made more than up with his incredibly toned body. I'm not someone who likes looking at other guy's bodies, nor did I enjoy it that time, but damn, there was literally no way for me not to notice how muscular that guy was.

"Uh, hey." I greeted with a bob of my head, trying to act casual by but failing miserably at that. "You must be Big Mac?"

He raised his eyebrow, an expression on his face as if he was trying to find out what exactly I was. "Eeyy-yyup." He answered slowly, his relatively deep voice sounding calm yet slightly unsure.

I offered him my hand, a gesture he seemed confused about at first but then slowly accepted. "Name's William, maybe you've heard about me from your sisters."

He blinked.

You could almost see the exclamation mark appearing above his head as he accepted the handshake I offered him with a slight smile that appeared out of thin air. And yet, all that left his mouth was a simple, "Eeyup."

He seemed to be the complete opposite of Applejack and Apple Bloom: quiet, calm and collected, at least he made it seem so.

"So, now tha' we're all here, how 'bout we get started?" Applejack asked, to which my body's only response was a loud grumble originating from my stomach.

I blushed slightly as everyone, except for Big Mac of course, chuckled at my expense.

"Ah'll take that as a yes." She said with a chuckle, smiling at me. "Y'all better take a seat before poor Will needs ta starve."

****

Lunch, as they called it (it was more like a big buffet, really), was quite short, but filling nonetheless. I don't think I'd ever eaten as much in one sitting as that day.

After we finished lunch, everyone headed out their respective ways: Granny went upstairs to do whatever she was doing before, Apple Bloom went on her way to the Carousel Boutique after I told her that Scootaloo was there too, and Big Mac walked away without saying anything, probably getting back to work.

That left only Applejack and me, and because I accepted her generous job offer, we only had one thing to do.

Yeah, you guessed it, getting the work done.

Now, the work itself was nothing worth mentioning. It was simple, really: she'd get the apples down from the trees, I'd pick those up that didn't fall into the baskets and then carry those baskets back to the barn.

It was simple, yet incredibly tiring.

But luckily even Applejack needed to take a break every now and then, which meant that I was also allowed to take one.

And it was at that break that I met someone really...unique.

****

I was lying in the shadow of a rather big apple tree, somewhere up in the northern part of the incredibly huge apple orchard, eyes closed as I tried to take a quick nap before Applejack came back. She went to the farmhouse to get some water a few minutes prior and had yet to return, which left me with nothing to do, nor anyone to conversate beside myself.

Contrary to what you may believe, I didn't really like one-sided conversations.

But being alone wasn't completely bad. Sure, I was bored, but after that huge load of apple-filled, unbelievable heavy baskets I carried from the orchard, all the way back to the barn, getting some time alone and in peace was...refreshing.

My muscles were aching, my body hated me for what i did and I was all alone, but at that moment I felt strangely at peace. It may have been because I finally accomplished something, because I finally had a job, or just because my body was getting it's well-deserved rest.

Whatever it may have been, everyone knows that I'm not exactly the luckiest person, so, of course, my time alone was cut short.

With my eyes closed, I didn't even notice that I wasn't alone anymore. Only when I was tapped on the shoulder by something I definitely could tell were no hooves my eyes shot open.

What I was confronted with was scary, and, on a strange note, familiar. Two big orbs of a brilliant yellow with two smaller crimson ones in them, one bigger than the other. It took me a moment to realize that those two orbs were eyes and that they were connected to a head of interesting shape.

It's head looked like the one of a pony, but that's where the similarities ended. It had a deer antler on the right side of its head, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang protruding from its mouth, those freaky different-sized pupils, a snake tongue (as far as I had been able to see), a snow-white goat beard and white bushy eyebrows.

The head was connected to a serpentine, slender body. My eyes traveled the body down, seeing how the colors faded firstly from a yellowish gray into a reddish brown and ended in the darker red of his fish-like tail.

Of course it also had legs and arms, but there were just as unusual as the rest of its body. Its right arm resembled a lion's one, with a paw and fitting claws, while its left arm was that of some kind of bird. Its right leg was that of a lizard and the left leg was, with no doubts, that of a goat.

Surprisingly the creature also came with a pair of wings, but, just like the rest of its body, they weren't the same kind of wing. One was leathery and boney, presumably belonging to a bat, while the other one was feathery and more familiar looking. Could've been that of a pegasus.

As I continued to gawk at the creature in front of me, I started shaking. Not really because of its creepy appearance, or that I could get eaten alive any moment, but more because of how it was looking at me. It was smiling at me, it definitely was, but its smile was nowhere making me feel comfortable or happy.

Its smile, combined with those two freaky eyes, was downright creepy, borderline scary. I felt like a cornered animal that was about to get eaten, with my predator knowing that there was no way for me to escape.

So, imagine my surprise when he opened his mouth, outstretched his freaky lion paw and said, "Good to meet you at last, William."

Author's Note:

Thanks GeorgeFleurParty for proofreading this chapter!

---

Hey!

So, three weeks since the last update... I'm really sorry that it took me so long, guys.
I really wanted to get some more writing done in those past weeks, but, well, life's a bitch, as everyone knows, plus, I've been feeling incredibly down and drained for some unknown reason.

Anyways, whining aside, here it is, the new chapter, and it's slightly over five thousand words long, which sadly means that next chapter's going to be a lot shorter (around 1.5k words). I want to get the next one out asap so that y'all don't have to wait an eternity.

Lastly, before I go over to the special thanks... roughly three weeks 'till holidays!

At least for me.

Eh.

Have a nice day/evening/whatever time of the day it is for you.

---

Special thanks!

GeorgeFleurParty
Thezion1111
Frankie2
OrcaBrony
A random person

Comments

[OrcaBrony]

Welp....... He's fu#ked, but great chapter anyway. Keep up the good work! (I say "keep up the good work" too much...)

[Manitive]

7770083

Thanks!

(I say "keep up the good work" too much...)

Well, it does motivate me to keep trying my best.

[OrcaBrony]

7770115 then I will keep saying it!

[Frankie2]

By the title, I thought Will was going to meet Discord a lot sooner.

[Manitive]

7773018

Yeah, the title may be slightly misleading, but the best one I came up with. Sadly.
I hope you still enjoyed this chapter!