Amigo

by ROBCakeran53

Spare Table

It turned out that Earl’s buggy was a lot heavier than Twilight first thought.

The idea they’d originally had was to carry both Earl and his buggy in the cart, but they quickly discovered that both would not fit in it side by side, or front to back.

Next they loaded the buggy, which took a large amount of Twilight’s magic, and had Earl ride his buggy in the cart. That ended with Earl nearly being thrown out once Big Macintosh started to pull forward.

Finally, they settled on having Earl ride in the cart, pulled by Applejack, while Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash did their best to push his buggy. The struggle was the wheels did not want to rotate without any power driving them.

“Watch those holes, girlie!” Earl called from the wagon, Applejack just out of reach of his flailing cane.

“I’m tryin’, Earl,” Applejack grunted.

“Didn’t you have any sorta forethought to bring a cushion too?”

“I was in a hurry, ‘nd it slipped my mind.”

“Well if I slip a disk, you’ll wish I was only this cranky.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and with a pop of magic, a purple pillow appeared. “Here, Earl. Try this.”

Earl took the pillow, completely ignoring the fact it was floating in front of his face, and lifted himself just enough to slid it under.

“That’s much better, thanks kid.”

WIth Earl’s needs satisfied, Twilight returned her focus to Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh, aiding them in the movement of the buggy. The idea of teleporting it was brought up, but with the limited knowledge of Earl and his home, she ventured it was probably safest to hold off on magically interacting with too much of his stuff. The paper money hadn’t done anything crazy, but it was just paper.

The very idea that Earl’s buggy ran on a single battery, and was still that small was a marvel. By Equestrian standards, they’d needed either one massive, multiple cell battery, or several smaller ones tied in series, to generate enough voltage and current to complete such a task.

“And if I can convince him to stick around,” Twilight continued on, just quiet enough to keep Earl from hearing, “then I could do all kinds of research on this buggy, maybe reverse engineer it! It could change so much!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay Egghead, whatever. Let's just get this thing to the farm. It’s frickin’ heavy!”

“Gettin’ tired, Miss Dash?”

Rainbow glared at the stallion, who in turn showed a cocky grin.

“I know you’re going for a rise out of me. You’re just lucky that it works.” Rainbow began pushing harder, forcing Macintosh to compensate in order to keep up.

----------

As Sweet Apple Acres came into view, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that all her other friends were waiting for them on the front porch.

Upon being spotted, they all rushed to help. Rarity and Fluttershy assisted Applejack with parking the cart near the porch, and then helped unload Earl. Pinkie Pie moved the buggy, although not without a quick ride which ended when Twilight magik’d the mare back to the ground.

“Oh great, more of you are here. Just when I thought two of you was enough,” Earl stood still, using his cane for support.

Applejack returned the cart to the barn, while Twilight, Rainbow, and Macintosh pushed Earl’s buggy near the porch.

“Don’t worry about your buggy, Earl. I’ll take it back into town tomorrow and see what I can do for charging it,” Twilight grabbed the suitcase out of the basket, bringing it to the man.

“I’d prefer if it was tonight… but, well, I guess you’ve been helping me out a lot today, kid, so sure.”

As they made their way up the porch, Applebloom shot out the door.

“Oh, what a good dog.” Earl patted Applebloom on the head, then continued up the porch.

The little filly stood there, confused. “Did he just call me a dog?”

Applejack shrugged at her little sister, rushing by to get inside before Earl.

“Now Earl, I’m not sure if Twilight told ya, but I live here with my little sister Applebloom, who you done just petted.”

Earl raised an eyebrow, but allowed the mare to continue.

“You’ve also met my big brother, Big Mac. We also live with our grandma, Granny Smith.”

“Like the apple?” Earl asked.

Everypony facehoofed.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so…” Applejack rubbed her front legs together, fighting the urge to join her friends. “We’re all named for apples. . . .” she whispered.

“Well hopefully she’s got a bit more sense than the lot of you.”

“Oh, well I’d imagine so,” came a elderly voice.

Earl, as well as the other ponies, looked to the entryway. Granny Smith stood there, smiling, using her walker for support.

Earl removed his hat in a flash and bowed a little.

“Well good evening, young lady. Your fine grandchildren offered me a room, so I hope I’m not intruding.”

Twilight’s jaw nearly hit the deck, while everypony else stood wide-eyed.

Granny Smith waved a hoof. “Oh pshaw, that ain’t no problem, young man.”

“Oh you’re too kind, ma’am.”

Big Macintosh gagged, nearly choking on his wheat stick.

“Oh he he he! You can just call me Smith.”

“Then you can just call me Earl.”

As Earl went to step forward, Twilight was quick to join his side; however the man ignored her, and at Granny Smith’s insistence instead joined her into the livingroom to sit on the couch.

Six mares, one filly, and one stallion all stood on the front porch, unwilling to move.

“Huh, so that’s Earl? He’s real funny lookin’.” Applebloom finally headed inside.

“What… just happened?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I think Earl and Granny Smith just hit it off really well,”

“Well, uh, I reckon we should all head on in. Me ‘nd Mac gotta go dig up the spare table and chairs.”

“E-eyup.” Macintosh joined his sister, and the two went inside next.

The rest of the mares quickly followed.

----------

Twilight levitated the last of the chairs up from the basement, while Applejack messed with inserting the mostly pristine center leaf in their worn, but lovingly used dining room table. While she and Mac had assured them that they shouldn’t need the extra leaf, it wasn’t a bad idea to put it in anyway.

“As it is, the leafs and extra table ‘nd chairs only come out when family’s over.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed with his sister.

“And honestly, ya’ll are family.”

“Eeyup!”

“Thank you, Applejack. It’s nice to hear that. Same with you Big Mac,” Twilight helped in righting the newly extended table onto its legs.

Rainbow Dash made her entrance from the living room, a grin on her face.

“What’s got you all smiles, RD?” Applejack asked.

“Oh man, Granny Smith’s got some of the old photo albums out, showing Earl. I gotta say, Mac, you were a real small colt.”

Big Macintosh couldn’t help but blush.

“So yeah, then Earl started talking about his family. Did you know he had a kid? Crazy stuff.”

Twilight frowned, but nodded all the same. “What are they doing now?”

Rainbow shrugged with her wings. “Oh, just reminiscing about the good old days or whatever.”

Suddenly, a commotion came from the living room. The four ponies stood in the archway, watching as Earl and Granny Smith, both sharing the couch, had begun to sing, little Applebloom between the two, half dancing, half bouncing along, a big grin on her face.

Earl had a genuine smile on his face as he sang, “Oh don’t sit under the apple tree, with anyone else but me, till I come marching home!”

It was Granny’s turn, and she let the room have it with her voice. “Don’t skip out on those lips of yours, to anyone else but me. Anyone else but me, anyone else but me oh no no, watch the girls on the foreign shores, you’ll have to report to me, when you come marching home.”

Rarity and Fluttershy sat in two arm chairs near the fireplace, enjoying themselves as they watched the two elders sing back and forth. Rarity was sitting at the edge of her seat, sipping daintily at a cup of tea with wide eyes. Fluttershy’s wings were part way open, which for the shy pegasus was the most excited her friends could see her.

Pinkie… was who knew where, although from the sounds coming from behind them Twilight ventured to guess she was already beginning on the cooking.

Once the two had finished the song, everypony clopped their hooves on the ground in applause.

“Oh my, it’s been a long time.” Granny slapped Earl’s knee. “You got some good vocals on you, young man.”

“I’d say the same for you, little lady. Used to be a quartet of us, during the war. When we went on leave, we were the terror of Tokyo.”

“Oh, you should hear my grandson sing. He’s in a quartet with Rarity and a couple others, you know. Erm… I forget their names now.”

“Really now?” Earl looked towards Big Mac. “Is that so, boy? Come here, I wanna hear how you sing.”

Before Big Mac had a chance to protest, Applejack pushed the stallion into the living room. “Now go on, ya big lug. I think Pinkie, Twilight ‘nd I can handle the kitchen prep.”

Twilight raised a brow. “Me?”

“Yeah, ya can set the table while me ‘nd Pinks cook.”

“Oh.”

Rainbow walked over and took Rarity’s spot, joining Granny and Earl at the couch.

Earl cleared his throat. “Alright, now what kind of music do you two know? I know she at least has good taste in music,” Earl pointed his thumb at Rarity. “What about you, boy?”

“Well-” Mac started, but was cut off by a laugh.

Rainbow stood from the chair, and walked over to Mac and slapped the stallion’s back with a wing. “This guy can out-sing most any other stallion I know. He’s a baritone after all.”

Rarity held back a snicker, looking at the two with a bemused look: Mac couldn’t help but blush at the wing contact.

Everypony let out a chorus of laughter as Twilight and Applejack retreated back into the kitchen to help Pinkie with the food.

Quickly, Twilight had all the plates, dated as they were, laid out along with silverware and napkins. Butter, salt, and pepper were placed, one on each table center, along with some candles on stands to brighten up the room. The added leaf, table, and chairs made working the kitchen tighter with three ponies, but they managed.

It wasn’t twenty minutes when singing started up again, this time with the addition of Rarity and Big Macintosh.

It wasn’t a song that Twilight recognized off the top of her head, although if she was honest with herself she’d been stuck with mostly the classics such as Beethooven and Bark. However, the lyrics struck a chord in her heart, and she could see its effects on both earth ponies. Applejack slowed down, and for a moment stopped, lost, staring out the kitchen window at nothing, while Pinkie swayed in place, humming along with the singing.

Earl had been the lead singer, and Twilight could tell he knew the song, and with the raw emotion he sang it it had a deep meaning.

As the singing came to an end, the three kitchen workers stomped their hooves once more.

Rainbow’s voice finally sounded after the several long seconds of silence. “Hey, you okay old man?”

Twilight’s ears perked up at the comment, and turned to face the archway.

“Yeah, just lost my breath for a moment there. Haven’t sang like that in decades.”

“Well you sang marvously, darling.”

Earl just laughed. “Well, you weren’t so bad yourself. Say, not to be rude, but uh, I’d like to rest a spell. Any chance someone could guide me to the room I’ll be stayin’ in?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight could hear they were walking away, and then Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all stepped into the kitchen.

“What a lovely performance,” Fluttershy said with a kind smile.

“Yes, and what a lovely sad song,” Rarity said. “Earl has wonderful taste in music.”

Applejack and Pinkie were beginning to wrap up some of the many dishes being served, and so everypony stepped in to help place trivets, and the still hot food onto the table. Before long, Big Macintosh arrived, along with Granny Smith.

Twilight stepped up to the red stallion. “Hey Mac, was Earl okay?”

He nodded his head. “Eeyup. Jus’ a bit winded, but seemed okay.”

“He was sweating quite a bit.”

Twilight and Mac turned to Rainbow.

“What? He was. He carries that handkerchief around with him, and he was constantly wiping his face.”

“Oh, don’t you youngin’s fret none. When you get to be our age, you’ll have all sorts of weird problems too.” Granny took her seat at the head of the table. “Hey Jackie, how’s the bread coming along?”

“Just fine, Granny.”

“You made sure ta-”

“Yes, Granny, not too much salt on the butter dressing mix.”

“Good lass. At least some of my teachings made it into that thick skull of yers.”

Some of the ponies around laughed at their friend’s expense. Everyone began taking their seats, leaving Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie to place the last of the prepared food out.

“Wow, this looks real good!” Applebloom said, leaning on the table so she could see over the mass of dishes.

“Applebloom! Hooves off the table, missy!”

“Yes Granny. Sorry Granny.”

Twilight looked at the archway, ears low.

“Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Earl. I should go check on him.”

The apple mare nodded. “Yeah, let him know soup’s on, too.”

Twilight nodded, and made her way to the guest bedroom.

The door looked just like any of the other doors in the house: solid wood, stained brown. The only real difference was this one was open just a tad, a small trace of light visible through the crack.

She went to knock, but the well-oiled door simply pushed open, revealing Earl sitting on the bed edge, facing away. His suitcase sat beside him, open, and a few objects had been removed.

Twilight licked her dry lips, her voice gone. Earl’s posture was slouched, and he didn’t move other than his breathing.

Finally, the she coughed and cleared her throat.

Earl didn’t even flinch.

“Earl?”

The man lifted his head, and turned slightly to look back. “Oh, hey kid. I can smell the food’s ready; I’ll be just a moment.”

Silence took over the conversation, and Earl turned more to look at Twilight.

“What?”

“I just…”.

“Use that thick head of yours, kid. Spit it out.”

Twilight huffed. “You just seem… down. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m as fine as a grouchy old bastard can be, kid.”

“Well, your singing earlier was very good. Everypony enjoyed it.”

“What’s with you kids and that word? Every phoney.”

“No, not phoney. Pony. That’s what we are, Earl.”

“Yeah, and I’m the captain of the Lollipop Guild.”

Twilight let out a sigh. She was about to turn around to leave, but noticed something in Earl’s hands.

“Is that a picture?”

Earl looked to Twilight, then back down to his photo, and nodded. “I haven’t sang like that in years. Darla loved it when we’d go out, and the guys and I would get together and sing. Heh, Jim always had his harmonica on him, and it wouldn’t be long before we’d have a place jumping. Of course, that was before the war, and Jim still had his left arm.”

Twilight cringed at the thought, but still took a couple tentative steps forward, and with a pat on the mattress from Earl, she continued all the way and stepped up onto the bed.

Before she focused on the photo, she couldn’t help but notice some of the random items already on the bed. A trophy of a couple bipeds dancing clad in gold. A simple wind-up alarm clock, which looked like had already been wound and ticking away, although the time wasn’t set. A couple of records in their brown paper sleeves, red labels with gold printing visible. She could make out the Columbia label, but the rest of the writing was to small and too distant for her to read..

Inside the suitcase were a couple sets of clothes; and anything else the case had was hidden under them.

Twilight turned her attention back to Earl and the silver-framed black and white image he held in his hands. The photograph depicted a couple posing with what looked like the trophy, although the stark difference being the two looked younger than Earl did now.

“We won the state championship, back in nineteen fifty eight. We tried a couple more years, but didn’t do as well as that one year.” Earl handed over the photo for Twilight to look at, using her hooves instead of magic to grasp the picture.

“Still got the record that we won with. Harry James was always her favorite.”

Twilight took closer look at the record, unfamiliar with the title or composer.

Hoofing over the photo, Earl took it stood it onto the nightstand’s surface, near the only lit oil lamp.

“Welp, come on kid, let's go eat. See if you young things can actually make edible food on your own.”

Twilight let out a huff, but smiled nonetheless, escorting Earl with his hand on her head back to the kitchen.

Helping him to the seat beside hers, Twilight sat, and waited for Granny to start. Once the matriarch took her first bite and hummed in approval, everypony, and Earl, dove in.

The next hour was full of the sounds of dishes clattering and ponies talking. Rarity and Fluttershy discussed Earl’s hat, and what other styles would suit him. At one point Earl made the comment of Rainbow Dash being sweet on Big Mac, which caused the two to blush and stutter against the notion. That in turn caused everypony else at the table to laugh, and Granny to go on about great grandchildren.

As the meals slowly disappeared, and plates cleared, Twilight would start talk with Earl, but the man seemed to keep going out of focus. She’d ask if he was okay, and he’d brush it off with reassurance that he was just tired.

“Well, gotta hand it to them mares, they can cook. Almost as good as me,” Granny said with a laugh.

“Wow, you hear that Applejack? We’re almost as good as your Granny Smith! What an honor.”

Applejack shook her head. “Sure, Pinkie, take it as a compliment while you can.”

Twilight laughed, and turned to Earl, but paused before she spoke. He was sweating again, profusely, and was dabbing his head with a napkin.

“Hey, old man, you sure you’re okay?” Rainbow voiced for Twilight.

“I… uh, I think I just… need to go lay down.”

“Would you like some help?” Twilight asked.

“No, no, I’ll manage. I’m sorry to be rude and leave the fun, but I think todays excitement got to me.”

Rainbow let out a laugh. “Sorry to be rude? Dude, you’ve been teasing us all day, like we care. Go rest up, old man.”

“Thanks, Squirt, I’ll be sure to give you shit next time you come in for a hot landing near me.”

Earl stood, and walked out of the kitchen at a slow pace, using the walls for support.

“Hey, uh, Twi, I think there’s something wrong with Earl,” Applejack said.

Fluttershy and Rarity nodded, the later speaking after dabbing her lips, “Yes, he seemed quite off during our dinner. As much as I enjoyed his quieter side and lack of expletives, he didn’t seem like himself.”

“Maybe somepony should go-” Fluttershy began, but was cut off by a loud crash, followed by a thud.

Everypony froze, then shot from their seats and headed for the living room.

“Earl? Earl, are you-” Twilight skidded to a stop. Earl was laying on the ground, the end table tipped over beside him..

Twilight rushed over, with Fluttershy by her side. Everypony else stood back.

“Oh my word…” Rarity held a hoof to her mouth in shock.

“Earl? Speak to me, Earl?” Twilight was frantic, but a gentle shove pushed her away from his prone form.

Fluttershy gingerly rolled the man onto his back, and placed her ear to his chest. “Oh no…” she looked to Twilight with horror, and then to Rainbow Dash. “Dash! Get Nurse Redheart and Doctor Stable! I think he’s having a heart attack!”

Rainbow hesitated only a fraction of a second, and shot out the front door leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.

Twilight was frantic. “What? How can you be so sure?”

“He’s not breathing,” Fluttershy placed her hoof in front of his face. “No… no no no.” Fluttershy frantically began massaging his chest, and then pumping her hooves to compress his lungs.

“You know CPR?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy didn’t answer, instead pressing her lips to his mouth, and gave him her breath.

Twilight ran over some spells in her mind. “Fluttershy, what if I try to massage his heart?”

The pegasus paused a moment. “Do you know how?”

Twilight bit her lip.

“Twilight. Do. You. Know. How?”

The mare shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

“Let me try.”

Both mares looked to Rarity, who’s horn began to glow. “I may not be a doctor, nurse, or veterinarian, but I do know a thing or two about delicate magic manipulation.”

The next several minutes were shared in silence. Fluttershy continued CPR, Rarity’s horn was aglow and her face scrunched in concentration. Twilight lay on the floor weeping, her head touching Earl’s.

Big Mac had ushered Applebloom out of the house, while Granny Smith had rushed to the closet to retrieve a quilt to rest Earl’s head on. Pinkie Pie had dashed into the room and pressed herself against Twilight’s side for support.

“I think it’s working!”

Twilight and Fluttershy looked to Rarity. Fluttershy leaned over Earl’s face, and her mane moved from a labored breath.

“W-we did it?” Fluttershy asked, shocked.

There came a crash at the front door, as Rainbow Dash dropped a groggy white mare with pink mane and tail on the floor. She trotted over, quickly checking Earl and asking the three mares question after question. All mundane questions, like his age, gender, species, although Twilight couldn’t be for sure on that one.

A thought clicked in her mind. “Do you think I can try to teleport him?”

Nurse Redheart shook her head. “No, it might cause complications to his heart, if it’s weak. Doctor Stable is preparing a room at the hospital. We need to transport him carefully, but quickly.”

Big Mac nodded, and ran out the door with Rainbow Dash trailing behind him.

“They’re gonna get the wagon,” Applejack said, wiping her face of the dried tears that matted her cheeks.

Suddenly, Earl began to stir, his mouth moving.

“Earl? Can you hear me?” Twilight pleaded.

“Princess Twilight, please stand back, I need to check on him.”

“But-”

“Back, now.”

Twilight’s ears fell as she slowly stepped back to give Nurse Redheart ample room to work. Pinkie nuzzled her friend on her neck, which Twilight returned.

“Earl? Can you hear me? Please nod your head if you can.”

Earl didn’t respond: his lips still moved like he was talking, but no words came out.

“There could be some lingering trauma, possible stroke.” Redheart continued to check him over.

Rainbow rushed back in. “Hey, Mac’s got the wagon and is hitched up and ready to go.”

Redheart nodded. “Okay. We need a mattress or something to line the cart with, the more we can cushion him the better.”

“I’ll grab the couch cushions. Best things to fit in the cart.”

“We also need a bed sheet to transport him.”

“I got it,” Twilight rushed into the guest bedroom, carefully removed Earl’s things from the bed, and pulled off the bed sheet.

With the help of Rarity and Fluttershy, Redheart and Twilight lifted the man onto the sheet, and each took a corner and moved him out.

“Redheart, how did you know-” Twilight began.

Redheart spoke through the sheet corner in her mouth, “Rarity told me she tried to massage his heart. Risky move, but she’d noticed lots of magical resistance, so I just assumed that was why you didn’t try lifting him up.”

Twilight nodded her head. “I noticed earlier some form of magic nullification with him.” And his buggy...

“Very odd, but we can work with it. We’re mostly earth ponies working the hospital, after all. Okay, lets go.”

Rainbow flew ahead to the hospital to let them know they were on their way. Twilight stayed at Earl’s side, walking with the wagon. Nurse Redheart took the other wagon side continuously checking his vitals manually, and everypony else followed with somber expressions.

Author's Note:

I'm surprised no one has questioned the Tragedy tag yet...

Blog post thingie?

Blog post thingie.

Comments

[Georg]

Ok, I'll bite. Ahem. I question the Tragedy tag.

[JohnIsOffline]

Look like we gonna get some drama.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

it was inevitable that an advanced man in a buggy exposed to a world like this would have something like this happen

[Enigmatic Otaku]

I feel like Earl is the kind that has a do not recessitate card in his wallet.