He ain't right in the head
Pinkie Pie walked around Sugarcube Corner grabbing ingredients and getting ready to open the store as usual.
"I wonder what's taking Mr. and Mrs. Cake so long, they've usually got all this set up by now. Maybe I better go check on them."
Pinkie put down the cake tins and trotted upstairs."
"Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Ca-"
*ZOOM*
She was interrupted as Mrs. Cake zoomed past her, frantically looking for something, soon accompanied by a familiar sounding whoosh as her husband ran around in a similar matter.
"Binkies! Where are the binkies?!"
"I found em sweet pea!"
"Diapers?"
"Check!"
"Extra diapers?"
"Uh..."
"Go get the extra diapers!"
"R-right." Mr. Cake said rushing off once more.
Pinkie Pie looked on in surprise, it wasn't often the Cakes panicked like this. The last time they were so worried about something, it was because Princess Celestia was eating at their bakery.
"Hey. Whatcha doing?
"Pinkie? Hi dear, I can't talk right now. We REALLY need to be somewhere with the kids right now. The bakery's gonna be closed today."
"What?! Closed? But what about all those customers?"
"Sweetie, I do feel awfully bad about them but, well...family comes first."
Pinkie Pie thought for a moment.
"I could watch the shop while you are gone."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake immediately froze in their tracks.
"W-well you see..." Began Mrs. Cake, trying to find a way to put her words delicately, she nudged her husband.
"Oh, uh. Well you see Pinkie, you're a good worker."
"Thanks." Pinkie said smiling brightly.
"But the thing is, watching the shop on your own requires...MORE than just a good worker."
"Oh." she said lowering her head. She then perked back up.
"What if I get some friends to help me watch the shop? That would be okay right?"
Mr. Cake turned to his wife.
"That would be okay, right?"
"Well..." she said cautiously. Mrs. Cake did want to trust Pinkie Pie with this. It couldn't possibly be so bad with friends helping her out...right? "Well, alright. If you find some friends to help you watch the shop BEFORE we leave, you can keep it open today."
"I'm on it!" Pinkie said rushing out the door.
"Now let's see, who can I ask? Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, Fluttershy!" exclaimed Pinkie seeing Fluttershy buying produce in town. Pinkie rushed over to the yellow pegasus.
"Hey Fluttershy."
"Oh, hi Pinkie."
"Are you busy right now?"
"Not really, just buying some food for the animals living with me. We go through it pretty quickly."
"Can you help me watch Sugarcube corner today?"
"Oh I don't know...I don't have much experience running a shop."
"Come on, it's super easy! Pleeeease. Please, please, please please, pleeeeeeeeaaaase?"
Fluttershy gave a small smile.
"I could never turn down so many pleases. Alright, I'll give it a try."
"Yes!"
Pinkie thrust her hoof into the air.
"Okay, come by the shop when you're ready. I gotta go find somepony else to help me."
Pinkie continued her mad dash through Ponyville asking others for help. Unfortunately they all had something they had to be doing. They would be able to help later but Pinkie Pie needed their help right now.
"Isn't there ANYPONY who can help me?!"
Pinkie Pie sighed in defeat and sat down on a park bench only to notice a familiar tan pony sleeping on the bench next to her. She turned her head in surprise, this was an odd place to sleep. Of course, he was forced to sleep there since he was technically homeless at the moment.
"Ethan? Okay, last chance I'll ask him. But wait! What if he's having a really good dream right now, maybe I shouldn't wake him. Yeah that's it, I'll wait for a little bit."
Pinkie sat there on the bench hoping Ethan would immediately wake up. She started to sweat, knowing the Cakes could be leaving the store any minute now.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon..."
Pinkie Pie looked at her watch to see that only a few seconds had passed since she started waiting.
"Ohhhhhhh." she said nervously. "I've waited long enough...WAKE UP!"
"WHA?!" Ethan awoke with a jolt.
"I NEED YOUR HELP!"
Ethan looked at her with confusion."What?"
"Would you be able to help me run the Sugarcube Corner? I need somepony to help me so it doesn't close today!"
He groaned. "Look I'd like to repay the favor but I can't work...ugh, like this." he said with his stomach growling. Ethan hadn't been able to find anything to eat since the party yesterday.
"You're hungry? I run a sweets shop! The Cakes don't mind if I help myself every now and again."
"R-really?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, I'm in."
"Come on!" she said grabbing him. "We can't let them leave first."
"Wait, slow DOOOOOOOOOOOWN!"
Pinkie dragged him to Sugarcube Corner where they Cakes were packed and just about ready to go.
"I-I got em." Pinkie Pie said panting. "I got two friends to help, so now it can stay open right?"
Mrs. Cake smiled. "That was fast, well a deal's a deal. You be careful now sweetie."
"I will." Pinkie said waiving as the family left.
With the Cakes gone, Pinkie and the others continued to set up the shop.
"Okay everyone, they're trusting me to do well despite not being here. So we gotta do a super good job so they know I can handle this."
"Oh dear." said Fluttershy. "A SUPER good job? That sounds pretty hard."
"Nah, it'll be easy. Right Ethan?"
"Huh?"
Ethan looked up with his mouth full. He'd been stuffing himself while they were talking and didn't hear much.
"Ethan, aw, you ate all the snicker-doodles."
"Er, sorry. You said I could help myself, and they're shockingly good."
"I know right? When I first tried then I almost couldn't stop myself. Anyway, the shelves were looking a little low on pastries anyway so it looks like we'll be making more." She turned to Fluttershy. "Do you know how to bake pastries?"
"No, but I can make a good salad. Well, at least Angel thinks it's good. Oh. Sorry, you didn't ask about that."
"That's okay I'm sure you'll do fine. Ethan, can you do it?"
"Well, I've helped out in baking before I guess."
"Sweet! Let's get busy making more of those yummy snicker-doodles."
"Hold on." he said nervously. Ethan hadn't quite gotten used to using his hooves, but it would definitely sound weird if he said he wasn't used to his body. "Maybe I shouldn't be working in the kitchen. I can be a bit...clumsy."
"Aw, I'm sure it'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?"
"Alright then..." Ethan turned to the yellow pegasus. "I remember you, you're uh, let's see...Flutter...something."
She smiled. "Shy."
"That's it, Fluttershy."
"That's great." said Pinkie "You guys are friends too?"
"Sure are." said Fluttershy
"Not really." Ethan said, the same time as her.
They both turned and looked at each other, surprised by the other person's answer.
"Oh...I'm sorry..." he said with surprise. "I mean, I didn't know that-"
"N-no!" Fluttershy said quickly "It was probably rude of me to assume without asking..."
Both of them were quiet and looked away, unsure of what to say.
"Awkwaaaaard..." Pinkie said out loud. Ethan gave her an irritated look. "What? It is right? Okay, new plan. Ethan you're with me in the kitchen."
Pinkie turned to Fluttershy.
"Okay, this is easy, just stay here and take their order. The prices are on that big ol' menu, see?"
"Alright, I promise I'll try my best." she said giving a small smile.
Pinkie left to join Ethan in the kitchen. She put on a chef's hat and tied a pink apron around herself that said 'Feed the cook'
"Okay." she said grabbing the book and turning to the page. "We'll start off with 1 teaspoon of salt."
"Teaspoon of salt..."
He carefully grabbed the salt in both hooves and gingerly turned it on it's side into the bowl. Slowly shaking it so he didn't drop it, he took about three times longer than it would normally take someone to do it but Pinkie didn't seem to mind.
"Next, two cups of flour."
"Right..."
Ethan walked over to the big bag of flour. This would be a lot harder to lift then the salt. He grabbed the bag in his mouth and started pulling, the flour started to slide off of the shelf when.
"Wait! Don't pull on it with your teeth!"
*KSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH*
The bag ripped, pouring it's contents on Ethan as well as filling the entire kitchen with a white cloud.
*Cough cough* Pinkie coughed, fanning the air in front of her and then widened her eyes in shock upon seeing the state of the kitchen.
Ah, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! Okay, Pinkie don't panic, don't panic."
"Pinkie, I am SO...sorry."
The pink mare looked at him and snickered. Ethan was covered head to toe with flour and was completely white.
"Ha ha ha ha." she rolled around on the floor, getting some flour on herself as well. "That's alright, you did say you were clumsy. Okay, I can still fix this, clean up the kitchen and I'll go get some more flour. Might as well get some other ingredients while I'm out."
She went to the door to leave and then turned around.
"Ah right." Pinkie added. "Don't try and cook anything else, just...go help Fluttershy when you're done."
"Got it."
Navi waited until Pinkie had left the room before speaking.
"Looks like you're having a rough transition."
"And how..." Ethan muttered. "Seriously, this is gonna take some practice."
He went to grab the broom, then hesitated. He couldn't use it with one hoof, and wasn't very skilled using his mouth.
"Maybe I could try this..."
Ethan shakily stood on two legs, wobbling, he put his top hooves on the counter to steady himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Improvising, if I can't work as a pony, maybe I can work as a human." He let go of the counter, and although he shook a bit, he didn't fall. "Okay, steady..." Ethan took a step keeping his arms out for balance.
"Ethan I thought you didn't want to stand out, you're gonna cause a scene."
"In front of WHO?" he said gesturing to empty kitchen. "I've been walking on two legs my entire life, even in this horse body I should be able to manage...maybe." Ethan took a few more practice steps before grabbing the broom. "Okay, I think I can do this if I use two hooves on the broom instead of one..."
"So, what are you gonna do about the calamity?"
"The what?"
"The calamity, you know, the entire reason I brought you here in the first place."
"Ah that..." Ethan paused for a moment. "What's this big bad event that's gonna happen anyway?"
"I'll tell you if you promise not to run away."
"What?! No! Don't be stingy Navi, just tell me what it is."
"Not until you promise."
Ethan groaned and smacked his head. This clearly wasn't going anywhere.
Well before I do anything else, I need to learn more about Equestria. Seeing as I'm clearly not going anywhere any time soon..."
"Yes! That is a good idea!" Navi said chiming in enthusiastically. "Go learn about Equestria! That's a good place to start."
"Right..."
Ethan kept sweeping the floor while walking around on his hind legs. He fell in to the flour a few times, but sweeping was far easier like this.
"Alright. I think I'm starting to get a hang of this whole 'being a horse' thing. I should go help out Fluttershy."
"Ethan, you're still walking on your hind legs."
"Oh yeah."
He got down and pushed open the door with his face. Ethan expected to see several customers waiting on him since there was a delay, but to his surprise the store was completely empty. Save for the yellow pegasus standing by the counter.
"I don't suppose you need a hand do you?"
"Oh no, thank you though, that's sweet. Not a single customer has come yet. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Ethan, am I standing at the counter right?"
"Ha ha ha, yes Fluttershy, I think you're standing perfectly fine."
"Oh...that's good."
Ethan stood next to Fluttershy behind the counter. Pinkie had asked him to help her out when he was done, but there really wasn't anything to do. He didn't really mind though. Having a job where his work was nothing at all was a good day for him. Fluttershy on the other hand was a different story, aside from worrying about the lack of customers, she was also kinda uncomfortable around Ethan, remembering what happened before he went into the kitchen.
'He hasn't said a word.' she thought 'I need to break this uncomfortable silence, there aren't even any customers to keep us busy. I need to say something, anything...'
"U-um."
"Hmm? What's up?"
'Ah, I didn't think anything to talk about first. Okay uh let's see.' She quickly looked Ethan over for anything of interest to talk about. Her eyes stopped when she noticed his hip.
"So, um, you're still looking for your cutie mark?"
"Again? You're like the tenth person to bring this up."
"I-I'm sorry, is this a sensitive subject?"
"Nah, just a little surprised. Yes, I'm still looking for my mark, and I'm not really sure where to start looking." He hesitated for a bit. "Fluttershy, how did you get your mark?"
Fluttershy's eyes widened, this was a good chance to strike up a good conversation and get over what had happened earlier.
"Well you see, it all started a while ago, back when I was younger. Back then, I wasn't a very good flier, I could barely fly at all and got made fun of because of it. Then one day somepony stood up for me and challenged those bullies to a race. When I signaled for the race to start, they all three shot off at the same time causing me to spin out of control and fall right out of the sky."
"That must've been terrifying."
"Oh it WAS, I was so scared I didn't know what to do. I just kept falling for what seemed like forever, and just when I was going to hit the ground it happened. I was caught by a big group of butterflies."
"You were caught by...butterflies..."
"Oh yes, and it was amazing. I had never seen such beautiful creatures before. You see I had never left Cloudsdale before. I was filled with amazement and wonder at these butterflies, they were filled with all sorts of different colors. And it wasn't just butterflies, there were so many other creatures so new to me too. As I went out to meet them a sonic rainboom roared out in the sky making the animals run and hide in fear. I went to go comfort the animals and tell them it would be okay. I got them and showed them they were going to be safe, and it just felt so right. I found myself wanting to keep doing this, to help the animals and guide them. That's when I got my cutie mark."
Fluttershy proudly turned, showing three pink butterflies on her side.
"I see." Ethan said, gaining some small understanding. "So those butterflies are there because you saw them first, they represent your own personal experience."
"Yup."
"But, how did you know that's what you wanted to do from now on?"
"I just KNEW."
Ethan frowned. Ponies seemed rather different than people. Humans were often pretty frivolous, unsure of what they really wanted. Even when they got it, a lot of the time they wanted more or simply weren't satisfied. The idea that Fluttershy could be satisfied doing the same thing for the rest of her life was a complete mystery to him.
"Did that help?"
"A little..." he replied uncertainly. It was clear there was still a lot he had to learn.
"I'm glad I could help." Fluttershy said giving him a warm smile. Ethan couldn't help grinning too, he felt oddly peaceful around Fluttershy.
"Listen, Fluttershy, about before..."
"Y-yes!?"
"When I said you and I weren't really friends. It wasn't that I disliked the idea or anything, I just didn't expect you to actually say yes. Where I'm from, people usually don't ask so directly."
"They don't? Then how would you normally become friends with someone?"
"Well...let's see." he said thinking. "I suppose if I met someone interesting, we might talk for a little. If we got along then, we might start talking more. Eventually, we might start hanging out and doing stuff, and then we'd be friends, I guess."
"Wouldn't that take a while? Why don't you just ask?"
"I don't know...I just...don't."
Fluttershy giggled a bit. "That seems a little roundabout."
"It kinda is." he admitted. "But if it's like this, then I don't have to worry being rejected. We'd just...stop talking."
Just stop talking? Fluttershy couldn't believe such a thing, to so easily cut off a potential friendship? She wouldn't allow it.
"Ethan." she said completely turning to face him.
"Yeah?"
"I know this isn't how you do things but...I could never imagine using such a way to become friends. I know you said no before but I'll ask again. Do you...do you want to be friends with me?"
Ethan looked at her and chuckled, putting his hoof on his face. Twilight was right, everyone here really was nice and welcoming. It was different but, a nice kind of different.
"Yes." he said smiling. "I would love to."
"R-really? A-are you sure?"
Ethan cackled with laughter. "Are you trying to convince me to say no?"
"Ah! You're right..."
He held out his hoof. "Ethan, Ethan Marshall." Fluttershy happily took his hoof in hers.
"Fluttershy...just Fluttershy."
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"A customer!"
Fluttershy eagerly ran to the door and opened it. "Hello, and welcome to..." she stopped when all she could see was a big pile of cooking supplies. "There's no one here..."
"A little help?" said a familiar voice.
"Pinkie?" Fluttershy looked again and saw Pinkie struggling to carry all those items that she gotten. "Oh! Ethan, come here for a second." Everyone helped Pinkie bring the items she bought inside and Pinkie sat at one of the chairs and let out a relieved sigh.
"I everything looked so good, I ended up buying a bit more than I expected, I could barely even see with all those items in the way." Pinkie said with a smile.
"Goodness, you carried all that here by yourself?"
"Yup, being an earth pony has it's perks from time to time." Pinkie Pie leaned backwards stretching and her back made a large cracking sound. "Ah, much better." She turned to the other two. "So. how's business been going?"
"Well." said Ethan. "Considering we haven't had a single customer come by since you left, I'd say not very good."
"What?! Ethan, did you clean the kitchen?"
"Yeah."
Pinkie turned to the pegasus. "Fluttershy have you been standing at the counter in EXACTLY the right way?"
"E-Ethan told me that I was." she stammered.
"Show me."
Fluttershy anxiously walked over to the counter and stood behind it, giving Pinkie a nervous smile. Pinkie's eyes narrowed, Fluttershy gulped as Pinkie carefully looked at the her.
"He was right." Pinkie said with surprise. "That's the best counter standing I've ever seen. But if you guys are doing things right...then that would make this...my fault, right?"
"Pinkie, come on it's not your fault cheer up." said Ethan. "Businesses sometimes have slow days. I mean it's not like there's going to be a flood of customers all the time right? I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Yeah...yeah I guess you're right." Pinkie said breathing out in relief. "Come on Ethan, let's get baking."
"You still trust me not to make a mess?" he chuckled.
"Yeah, but this time YOU'LL read the recipe, and I'LL make it."
"Deal."
The two worked on making sweets, while Fluttershy watched the counter. Ethan felt a little guilty because he wasn't really able to do much. Pinkie literally could have called in anyone else to help and they'd probably do better. He held out his hooves and looked at them. 'I swear I will master you...' Ethan thought.
"Aaaaand...done. Hmm, something on your mind Ethan?"
"Ah, nothing serious. Hey, Pinkie, how'd you get your cutie mark?"
Pinkie's eyes lit up.
"I love telling this story."
She held up a flashlight to her face and spoke in a spooky voice. "It all started a long time ago...on a bright and sunny day...JUST LIKE this one..." Ethan smiled and rolled his eyes. "When I was younger, me and my family worked on a rock farm."
"A ROCK farm? Don't tell me you actually grew rocks there."
"No silly, we BROKE rocks there. Anyway, it was hard work, day in and day out. There was no fun, and no smiles...only rocks. But then one day something amazing happened! There was this big explosion in the sky, and when I looked, there was this beautiful rainbow. I had never been so happy before, I wanted to keep smiling forever. But more than that, I wanted my family to see this and be just as happy as I was! Unfortunately, the rainbow didn't last very long, so I had to improvise."
"An explosion and a rainbow, that sounds like Fluttershy's cutie mark story too."
"Yup! Me and my friends are all connected by that very same rainboom. It's the reason we all got our cutie mark! Isn't that amazing?"
"That is pretty crazy..."
"Anyway, I gathered everything I could find around our farm to try and find a way to get my family to feel that same goodness that I felt. It was the first party I ever made, and they LOVED it. We all laughed and danced and ate, I was so happy that THEY were happy. So I started thinking, that I'd try and help EVERYONE feel such happiness, it's what I wanted more than anything else. That's when I got my cutie mark."
"Wow...I mean that's...wow..."
"Did you like my story?"
"I did, I really did. Hey, Pinkie."
"Yeah?"
"Don't. EVER. Change. Seriously, this world could use more Pinkies."
"I don't think so." Pinkie said shaking her head. "Last time there was more than one Pinkie, things got really out of hand."
"What?"
"Now help me carry these to the front, and don't drop them, kay?"
"Oh, sure."
He watched Pinkie grab a few trays and tried to copy the way she did it. There were a few close calls but he managed not to drop it.
"Nice hot pastries fresh from the oven for the many cust..." she stopped as Sugarcube Corner was still empty.
"I'm sorry Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy said sadly. "I've been standing at this counter as hard as I can, but no one's shown up yet."
"This is worse than I thought. The customers have gotten tired of eating the same thing every day. They want something new, something different and WOW! It't time that Sugarcube Corner came out with different recipes."
"Hmm, that's actually a pretty good-"
"TO THE KITCHEN!" Pinkie interrupted, dragging him back there. "Okay! We're going to be making a bunch of things never tried before. Luckily I just bought a whole mess of ingredients so we're ready for it."
"Any specific ideas? Nope, I"m just gonna try everything."
'I feel bad for the sucker that's gotta try those things.' Ethan thought with a smile
"And you'll be the taste tester. Aren't you lucky, you get to try these new treats as soon as they come out."
"Oh boy..."
Pinkie Pie got backing mixing various ingredients, some of which clearly did not go with each other.
"This is so exciting, I've never tried making these before, who knows how it's gonna taste."
She stacked the cupcakes next to each other, about 18 of them in total. Some of them looked normal while a few of them looked like something that had come out of a horror film.
"Down the hatch." Pinkie said handing him one.
"Right...so, how'd you make this one?"
"I used soda instead of milk."
"..."
"Ugh..."
Ethan groaned and held his stomach as he put down the last of them. Around him were many cupcakes with a single bite taken out of them. A few of them were alright, but as expected, when you mix random ingredients, the flavor is not gonna be pleasant.
"Can't I just trade jobs with Fluttershy?"
"No way! Do you see how good she is at standing at the counter? We can't risk losing that. Now, 1 through 10 tell me about the cupcakes. How was the Peanut Butter and Jelly one?"
"Well, it was alright, abou guess, better than I thought it would be anyway."
"What about the one made with soda?"
"Ugh...that was a 3..."
"Really? I thought that one was gonna be a winner for sure!"
"You're more than welcome to try." Ethan said smiling evilly and holding the cupcake out to her.
"That's okay, I believe you."
"Oh...thanks..." he said, a little disappointed.
"Was there any good ones?"
"Well, the s'mores one was about a 7, and the lemon blackberry was a good 8."
"We're gonna need more! Get ready to try some new flavors."
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Ethan shouted, waiving his hooves. "Let ME make a few suggestions."
"You?"
'I didn't know why I didn't think of this before.' he thought. 'Right now I'm in a different world. That means that some things I know from my world might not yet exist in this one.'
"I've got a few ideas to try."
Ethan worked with Pinkie telling her about several ideas for sweets and Pinkie was absolutely blown away. She'd never even HEARD of these before. Even more surprising was they were all good.
"You're a genius!" Pinkie squealed happily. "Now let's see, this one is called chocolate turtle cupcake right?"
"Yep."
"But it's not made with real turtles?" she said taking a bite
"Heh, no, don't worry."
"Alright, this is perfect, now, go out there and let everyone know." she said putting a sign around his neck. "Oh, and don't forget my new slogan."
Ethan walked outside ringing a bell and shouting.
"Sugarcube Corner! Come try our delicious, delectable, delightful decadent delicacies!"
A few ponies stopped and looked at him in surprise.
A purple one came over to him.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"Just a bit of advertising."
"You do know Sugarcube Corner is closed...right?"
"No, we decided to keep it open today."
"Then why does that sign say closed?"
"Sign?"
Ethan turned back towards the shop's entrance. Sure enough on the door a small sign hung that read closed. The Cakes must've forgotten to change it. Pinkie probably missed it because she could barely see while carrying so much.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me..." He walked over and turned the sign around to open. "SUGARCUBE IS OPEN! AND WE HAVE NEW TREATS! COME BE THE FIRST TO TRY THEM!"
"What?"
"New treats?"
Immediately a large group of ponies made their way to the entrance and began crowding the shop. Ethan had to push his way in through the entrance. Pinkie Pie ran up to him with her eyes shining.
"We did it!" She shouted, wrapping him in a tight hug. "WE DID IT! This is all thanks to our hard work!"
"Actually, it was because of the closed si..."
Ethan stopped. Why ruin such a nice moment? Right now Pinkie was absolutely thrilled. "Yeah." he said accepting the hug. "It's all thanks to our hard work."
It took a long time for all the customers to finally disappear. Everyone was really eager to try the new flavors, and the three found themselves up to their elbows in work, much to Ethan's displeasure. But at last, Pinkie handed the last customer his cupcake and the store was finally quiet again until Cakes returned.
"Hello Pinkie dear, how was running the shop?"
"It was amazing! We came up with several new recipes, had fun, and were absolutely flooded with customers. You should've seen it."
"All that happened while we were gone?" Mrs. Cake asked in surprise.
"Yup, but I couldn't have done it without my friends.
Mrs. Cake turned to the two others. "Thank you for helping out with the shop. It looks like there wasn't a need after all. If I ever need any extra help I hope I can count on you two."
"Well...why not." said Ethan with a grin. "I can still help myself every now and again right?"
"Of course, with these new treats we're gonna have extra business for a while."
"Well, Pinkie, Fluttershy, I'm gonna go now. Thanks for everything today. I gotta head over to Sweet Apple Acres now."
"No problem, this was really fun. Come by again sometime so we can make more new things. But leave the cooking to me okay?"
"Heh, deal."
Applejack and Big Mac walked while carrying baskets of apples. As expected of summer, the sun was really beating down on them and making them sweat. Still, it was something that they were used to, so they both moved through it and set the baskets down.
"Who-wee! Sure is hot out here. Thanks for helping me with these baskets." Applejack stopped and counted their baskets. "Wait a minute...3...4...weren't there 6 of them?"
Big Mac lowered his ears and looked a away with guilt on his face.
"No way...you didn't let Granny Smith try and carry those baskets did you."
"Ee...yup..."
"Why didn't you just tell her no?"
"You know how stubborn she is, Granny won't accept that when there's so much work we gotta do."
"Oh boy...what if she overdoes it? Maybe we better head back."
"Now let's see, Sweet Apple Acres...this place is huge, but, where's the house?"
Ethan walked while wiping some sweat of his brow. He'd been walking for a while but was a little lost due to the size of this place. He might walk for another hour and still not be able to find it at this rate. "Hmm." Ethan stopped walking as he spotted an old pony struggling to pull two baskets.
"Whoa there!" He said running over to her. "What say I give you a hand?"
"A hand? I ain't in need of yer help. I can do this all by m'self!" the old pony said.
"Oh, yes of course you can. It's just, if I spotted a young lady like yourself working on something and I didn't offer a hand, then what kind of gentleman would I be?"
Granny Smith chuckled at his words.
"Young lady huh? You little flatterer you. Alright...if ya insist on pullin' with me then I guess I ain't gonna stop ya."
Ethan took one of the baskets and walked along side of her.
"Say." he said speaking up. "You work here right?"
"Sure do, though my gran' kids are tryin' their darnedest to stop me. But I keep tellin' em, as long as we need extra hooves to work, then I'm gonna be offerin' them."
Granny Smith and him kept walking until Applejack and Big Mac appeared in front of them.
"Wait, Ethan?" Applejack tilted her head. Then she saw he was carrying one of the baskets and sighed in relief, walking them back to the barn. "Alright granny, good work. Big Mac, why don't ya go get some lemon aid with granny." Applejack watch as the two walked off, making sure granny went with him to take it easy for a little. Then turned back to Ethan.
"Phew, thanks for helping out Granny Smith."
"No problem, I saw her working and to be honest I was kinda worried she'd keel over or something. You should really do something about that."
Applejack sighed.
"Me and Big Mac keep tellin' her to stop but she won't listen. Worried about all this work we gotta do. Plowing the fields, bucking the trees, gathering the apples, feeding the animals, preparing the cider...the list goes on...Unfortunately granny ain't gonna accept 'you're too old to work' as a reason to stop. I'm just worried she ain't got an entire summer of work in her this time 'round."
"Sorry to hear that."
"What're ya doing here anyway. It's a mite too early to buy some apples just yet."
"I'm looking for Apple Bloom, she told me to come by today."
"She did? Well alright then, it's just down that way." Applejack said pointing.
"Sweetie Belle, you're late."
"I'm sorry. Rarity had me stay behind a bit longer so she could try some of her new hats on me."
"Well that's fine, but now we gotta think of a way to really wow this pony. I mean, he could become one of our newest members."
"Uh guys." Said Scootaloo. "He's coming right now!"
"What?!"
"What do we do?!"
"Uh...um..." Apple Bloom's eyes darted around the room. "Here!" she said giving something to the other two. "Start tearing up this construction paper, I've got an idea."
Ethan walked up the ramp to the tree house and was about to knock on the door when Apple Bloom opened the door and stepped out closing it.
"Ah, there you are."
"Ethan, funny meetin' you here."
"It is? Didn't you tell me to come by?"
"Uh, right."
The two stood there with Apple Bloom giving him a big fake smile.
"So...can I go in now?"
"Oh right, well...it's such a nice day outside isn't it? I mean, shouldn't we take the time to enjoy it?"
"Not really, it's actually pretty hot."
"W-well, I just meant that-" Apple Bloom was interrupted as a knock came from inside of the door. "Alright!" she said immediately brightening up. "Let's go in now, after you."
He walked inside and was greeted with a bunch of colorful torn paper falling around him. "WELCOME TO THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"
Ethan chuckled. "I thought Apple Bloom was acting weird, so this is why."
"Did ya like it? We were kinda on short notice."
"It was great, now about about this cutie mark thing."
"Hold on, why don't we give you the grand tour of the Crusader's tree house?"
"Okay."
"Alright then!" Apple Bloom rushed over to a table in the room, this is where we eat our meals." Scootaloo sat there smiling with an apple on the plate. "This is where we think of new ideas to try out for our marks, she said running over to a light bulb that hung in the air. Sweetie Belle sat under the lightbulb and Apple Bloom pulled the string.
*Click*
But the light didn't turn on. She smiled nervously and kept pulling.
*Click*
*Click*
*Click*
"Uh..."
Scootaloo gave the light bulb a whack and it flickered a bit before turning on..
"But most importantly, is this." She said leading him over to a piece of paper taped to the wall. The paper had a bunch of pictures drawn on it, and each one of them were crossed off with an X.
"What is this?"
"This here's a chart of everything that we've tried to get our mark for. Ya see? Here we tried book keeping, bowling, scuba diving. Each one of our attempts has it's own picture to tell us so we don't do it again."
"I see, so your way is to try everything."
"Yup!"
The three gathered around the paper.
"We may not have found our mark doing all of this, but we sure had fun didn't we?"
"Sure did..."
The crusaders were quiet for a while and looked over their events with a smile.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ethan said breaking the silence. " You three are all different, how many species of pony are there?"
The three turned and gave him a weird look.
"...What? How many species of...seriously, you don't know?"
"I bet even Snips and Snails would be able to answer that."
The crusaders huddled up.
"He ain't got his cutie mark like the rest of those his age, and now he doesn't even know THIS?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"I don't know, but we can ask that later, right now he needs our help and we'll help anyone remember?"
"You're right!"
"Come on, we'll just answer any question he has."
The crusaders stopped their huddle and turned back to Ethan.
"Okay ready Ethan?"
"Sure."
"We'll start with the pegasi." said Scootaloo. "They have wings and can fly, Rainbow Dash can fly super fast, she's awesome! Pegasi can also walk on clouds and make rain and thunderstorms by tampering with the clouds.
"Seriously? They can do all that?"
"Yup, next is the unicorns. They can use magic to do all sorts of things. Levitate items, create stuff, all sorts of things, you should see my sister."
"I've also seen Twilight teleport from time to time."
"Oh yeah, I remember that."
Ethan was putting all of this together.
"Okay so, you're a pegasus, you're a unicorn..." he turned to Applebloom. "Then you and I are just regular horses?"
"Earth ponies."
"Okay, so what can they do?"
"Earth ponies are able to grow things. They can nurture life in the soil while the others can't."
"That's it? I mean, you have pegasi and unicorns who have like superhero abilities. Flying, teleportation, controlling the weather, telekinesis. And then here I am able to plant crops.
"W-well, they're also physically strong." Apple Bloom continued. "Why just the other day my brother Big Mac lifted up and entire iron stove with just a single hoof."
"Hmm, that's pretty cool too I guess...come to think of it, Pinkie also showed some unusual strength earlier."
"Lastly, there are the alicorns with wings AND a horn. They can do everything the other three can do."
"Hmm..."
So he was an earth pony...and there were three other types. More importantly though, Ethan began to wonder if each pony's cutie mark depended on what species they were. Apple Bloom's family ALL were earth ponies who were ALL farmers. Oddly enough, their marks were all apples too. (With the exception of Apple Bloom since she didn't have her mark.) Would his mark involve growing apples too?
"Hey Ethan." Apple Bloom said getting his attention. "No offense, but how do you not already know this"
"Yeah." chimed in Scootaloo. "This is something that everyone should know by Kindergarten."
"Oh, uh..."
That's right, he had to be careful what he asked if he didn't want to stand out. This was basic knowledge to them, something everyone would've known. "I uh...hit my head...and forgot."
"You hit your head and FORGOT?"
"Yup, now, moving on."
"No no wait! We can't just move on, that TERRIBLE!"
"Yeah!" said Scootaloo. "What if when you hit your head, you forgot a bunch of other super important things. That could explain why you don't have a cutie mark at your age."
"I'm sure that I didn't forget anything else, okay?"
"But if you FORGOT something important, then you wouldn't know you forgot it.
"I..." he stopped. Ethan couldn't think of a response to that.
"Come on! My sister'll take ya to the doctor's."
"I'm fine! Really!"
"Come on now."
"Ugh..." Hit his head and forgot, what a stupid answer. Why didn't he just say he was messing with them?
He and Applejack arrived at the hospital with Ethan still grumbling under his breath. The two were approached by Nurse Redheart.
"Good morning." she said with a smile. "What ails you today?"
"We came to get a check up for our friend here. Is that okay?"
"Certainly, if you two could just fill out the form, then the doctor will be right with you.
She handed Applejack a clipboard with a pencil on it.
"Alrighty then."
Applejack took the pencil in her mouth and began writing on the board while Ethan watched her. So that was how they wrote things...odd.
"Okay, the rest is for you to fill out."
"Got it." He took the clipboard and the pencil. He was about to put the pencil in his mouth when he realized that Applejack had just had the pencil in her mouth not thirty seconds ago. "Oh um...can I get a different pencil?"
"Why?"
"I just...I just want a different one." he walked up to the nurse. "Can I get a different pencil?"
"Is there something wrong with the one you were already given?"
"Well, it's been...'used'."
"Does it still work?"
"Yeah."
"Sir, if the pencil still works then please make due with what you have."
"Okay..."
Ethan sighed and walked back to his seat. Was Applejack really okay with this? He wasn't really keen about it, but he couldn't see any way out. Besides, the other pencils had probably been in random pony's mouths. At least he knew where HIS was last. Ethan took the pencil in his mouth, and felt his face grow warm with embarrassment from the indirect kiss.
"You alright?" asked Applejack. "You're lookin' a little flushed."
"I'm...fine."
Ethan wrote with the pencil in his mouth, trying to forget where the pencil had been about a minute ago. He'd never written with his mouth before, so the form ended up as barely legible chicken scratch.
"Here you go." Ethan said handing the form to Nurse Redheart. The nurse looked over his form with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh huh...well I guess this is good enough. The doctor is just in the door to your left."
She led them to the door and walked off back to her desk.
They went in and Ethan sat down.
"Alright." said the doctor coming in. "Now then, you just came in for a simple check up right? Let's see, Mr...Rethan?" he said squinting at the terrible handwriting.
"It's Ethan."
"Hmm, unusual name."
The doctor began the check up. Putting the stethoscope to his chest, tapping his knee with a hammer and other various things while writing in his clipboard.
"Mr. Ethan, I noticed you didn't write your home address on the form you were given."
"I don't have a home." he muttered.
The doctor raised a brow.
"Then where do you sleep?"
"On the ground."
"That...might explain why your body so tense. You should seriously be careful about this sort of thing."
"So, how is he doc?" Asked Applejack.
"Well other than being a bit stiff, he's a perfectly normal earth pony. I don't see any signs of head trauma or bruising."
Applejack sighed in relief. "That's a good piece of news. Now what's this I hear about you being homeless?"
"I already told you that remember?"
Well yeah, but I didn't think you were serious! It ain't right for ANYPONY to not have a place to stay." She thought for a bit. "You already did a good job at the Sun Celebration and you helped out granny too. If you stayed with us, then we wouldn't be shorthanded and granny wouldn't need to work anymore."
"You're letting me live on the farm with you?"
"IF, you can earn your keep."
"Are you kidding me? Yes!"
This was a lot better than sleeping outside in the cold. He was lucky that it hadn't rained yet, and the idea of sleeping on a park bench wasn't appealing anymore.
"I won't let you down."
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The updates just keep making it better an better ;)
you have an refeshing way to aproach some stuff
8230264
Glad to hear. How so?
8231220
Before I read the next chapters, if the entity (Navi), should be important, I just hope that we still don't see it the whole time, or that there are even chapters without it, I don't really like thos invisible almighty guides.