Change is Constant, Growth is Optional

by Nova Force

Manny Problems

“Is that all you need done for the day, Granny?” said Braeburn.

“Yes, child. That should be everything.” Granny Smith said sitting in her favorite living room chair.

“Alrighty, so while Applejack and Apple Bloom are at the market selling our crops, you need me to till the new garden, clean out the barn, and sweep the porch deck?”

Granny nodded. “You got it. And I’ll tend to Big McIntosh for the day.”

Braeburn tucked his hat forward. “I’ll have it all done in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!”

With the girls gone for the day and Big Mac out of commission, today’s farm chores rested solely on Braeburn. As lopsided as this seemed, however, he welcomed the opportunity. Living in Appleloosa teaches a pony a thing or two about independence.

For the first order of business, he chose cleaning the barn, given the scope of the job. Barn maintenance could be deceptively easy. Most non-farming ponies saw the barn as a place to dump equipment. While that may be true, without proper care, the barn could turn into a dump itself.

The sun shone brightly on this day. The Appleloosan colt held his head high and he soaked in the sunrays. He stared at the sky and basked in its infinite spotlessness. What a gorgeous day to be alive! At one point when he stepped forward, however, the dirt ground became uneven, causing him to misstep.

He looked down at his front hoof and stepped back. Surrounding his lonely hoofprint was something of a small crater. Once Braeburn got a full view of the ground, he saw that he stepped in a larger imprint of a paw. For a few moments Braeburn studied it trying to think of a creature that could have made such an impression, but he drew a blank. I’ll have to ask Granny ‘bout this when I’m done.

When Braeburn arrived at the barn, he noticed its front door was unlocked. That’s odd. Normally somepony locks up before calling it a day. As soon as Braeburn pushed open the doors, he did a double-take. Never in his life had he seen a barn look like an absolute junkyard. Shovels and rakes sprawled all over the floor covered in a blanket of hay strands. Ladders that once stood proudly awaiting their next call of duty were helplessly flat on the floor. Braeburn could hardly believe that Applejack or Big McIntosh would allow the barn to deteriorate like this.

As he moved deeper inside, his senses screamed at him that this mess was anything but natural. This kind of disarray could not have been from dereliction. Braeburn then recoiled when he saw one of the walls. At first glance it resembled hundreds of failed attempts of tic-tac-toe carved into the wall, but soon he realized it was just a senseless array of deep slash marks. The image of the large pawprint he stepped in flashed across his mind. After putting two and two together, Braeburn came to one conclusion.

By golly, there’s a monster loose in Sweet Apple Acres.

Most Ponyville residents would have trembled at the thought of dealing with a monster. Appleloosan ponies, however, are a different bread altogether. Growing up in the wild west of Equestria bestows upon a pony a rugged, bigger-than-life mystique. After years of wrangling with creatures of all shapes and sizes, Braeburn welcomed the challenge of taming a monster.

He didn’t need to look far, either. Once he trotted out of the barn, an enormous creature immediately caught his attention. “What in the name of Celestia…?”

Across the field was a dirty-yellow creature with its back toward him. Braeburn failed to recognize what it was, but he didn’t have to after seeing what it was doing – stamping Granny’s new garden!

Braeburn ran back into the barn and grabbed one of the shovels. He galloped outside and kept his distance from his target. He twirled in place and heaved the shovel as has hard as he could muster. It torpedoed through the air, eventually colliding with the creature’s head. There was a solid thwack noise.

He pumped a hoof in the air. Bull’s-eye!

His celebratory feelings were short lived. The creature spun around with anger in its movement. It revealed itself to be bipedal by rearing onto its hind legs. As it stood straight up, Braeburn got a clear view of the beast.

Everything about its appearance was made from a nightmare. With the body of a lion, the ears and wings of a bat, and a wicked scorpion’s tail, the creature glared so hard at Braeburn that blood was about to shoot out of its eyes.

The Appleloosan colt showed no fear. “Hey you! You can’t just go around shredding ponies’ barns and stomping on their gardens like that!”

The beast showed no interest in engaging in a dialogue. With a huff, the creature charged toward him, stamping out the last of Granny’s recognizable plants.

Braeburn’s senses heightened. Instead of running away, he framed his body into a crouch position anticipating the monster’s impact. Show me whatcha got big fella.

When the creature was in striking distance, it took a mighty swipe with its massive, pony-sized paw. Braeburn dodged by leaping into the air. He somersaulted over the monster’s body, landing on the back part of its head. From there he slid down its neck and back all the way to the ground.

In a move that was an Apple family member trademark, Braeburn kicked with his hind legs with all of his might squarely at one the monster’s knee joints. The impact of the kick caused the monster to fall sideways and land with a thud.

While this maneuver worked countless times on buffalo, buffalo aren’t equipped with a gigantic scorpion’s tail. Even though the monster fell flat on the ground, its tail flailed in every direction. Such aggression got the better or Braeburn’s nimbleness, and it struck him hard on the side. The poisonous stinger missed him but only by a hair. The force of impact knocked him off his hooves causing him to sail through the air and loose hit hat in the process.

Braeburn hit the ground hard and tumbled until he hit one of the Sweet Apple Acre’s trees. When he came to, the monster thundered toward him again. This time, however, Braeburn had nowhere to run and was cornered by the tree.

I can’t repeat the same move. He’ll be expecting that.

With so little time to think, Braeburn raced through his options. He looked up and saw that this tree had pretty thick branches. The monster’s roar grew loader with every step it took. Thousands of thoughts flew past Braeburn’s mind, but only one proved to be the most viable.

In a split-second, he jumped straight up into the air. His decision could not have been made a moment too soon. The monster’s face crashed into the tree’s trunk barely missing him as he escaped upward. A second later and Braeburn would have been flattened like a pancake.

While the monster collided with the tree, the colt climbed up the tree and grabbed onto the highest branch he could find.

No way can this guy get me up here. Now there was only one problem; he was stuck.

The monster made a surprising recovery getting back onto its feet. Picking up Braeburn’s scent, it looked up and saw him clinging to the highest branch. It made a gnarly smile as it flexed its wings to him. Oh. I forgot he had those. I’m toast.

The monster then began roaring uncontrollably. As if it were explaining in its native-tongue all the horrible things it had planned for Braeburn. Knowing that he lost, Braeburn closed his eyes to accept his fate. He once witnessed sheriff Silverstar do the same thing in the final conflict with Chief Thunderhooves before they made peace.

Gradually the snarls and howls died away. When everything was silent, Braeburn popped open one eye. Why am I still alive? He glanced down to see where the monster went.

At first he rejoiced to see the monster retreating, but then in a moment of horrifying realization he could see it advancing toward a certain pony. Fluttershy!

The Pegasus showed no sign of alarm. “What’s going on here?” she said arriving onto the scene, wearing Braeburn’s hat.

Braeburn screamed from the top of the tree. “Fluttershy, no! Get back! It’s not safe!”

His state of alarm baffled her. She looked up at the monster, but then she looked past it, as it if weren’t there. She spun around until she circled all the way back toward him. “What are you talking about?” she said.

Has this girl lost her marbles? Braeburn pointed his hoof directly at the monster. “I’m talking about that beast! Run for your life!”

Fluttershy tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “You mean Manny? Manny Roar?”

There was silence. Just moments ago Braeburn and the creature were engaged in mortal combat. Now everything was oddly calm. He couldn’t explain why, but Braeburn started to feel like a fool with each passing moment.

Fluttershy waved for him to get out of the tree. “Come down here, silly.”

At first Brarburn did nothing. He watched as Manny sat himself near Fluttershy and cooed at her. She giggled in return. Not taking his eyes off the creature, Braeburn shuffled and slithered his way down. When he hit the dirt, he carefully inched forward. “You know this thing?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Sure I do. This thing is Manny. He’s a manticore. We go way back.”

Manny lifted Fluttershy off the ground and, like a puppy happy to see its owner return home from work, proceeded to lick her affectionately. Fluttershy couldn’t help but laugh at the tickling.

The more Braeburn watched, the more uncomfortable he became. “Um, darlin’, can you ask him why he trashed Granny’s garden and the barn?”

Fluttershy pushed herself away from Manny’s grip. She wore a stern face. “Is this true?”

Manny lowered his head in shame. He then gurgled out some explanation in his native-tongue. Braeburn could not have interpreted the language even if his life depended on it, yet Fluttershy periodically nodded understanding every “word” that Manny spoke.

When he finished his explanation, Fluttershy said, “Oh, I see. That’s still no excuse to take it out on poor Granny Smith’s garden. You better apologize to her for what you did. After that, you’re going to replant the garden and repair the barn.”

Manny’s nostrils flared. His wings violently flapped as he writhed at the thought of cleaning up his own mess. Before he became too unruly, Fluttershy hit him with her trump card: The Stare.

Being on the receiving end of The Stare was like having your soul harpooned. As Fluttershy worked her magic, the mighty manticore cowered in obedience. Braeburn’s jaw hung open in disbelief. He had seen some wild things in his day, but Fluttershy making nice with and domesticating a manticore topped the list.

The manticore then proceeded to Granny’s house to make his apology, leaving Fluttershy and Braeburn alone. He looked at her in wonderment. “Girl, you are a piece of work.”

Just play it cool, Fluttershy. “All you have to do is show a little kindness. That’s all it takes when you want to make a new friend.” She then lowered her head to allow him to reclaim his hat. “I believe this is yours. I was walking a trail until this breezed past me. I knew it was yours, so I thought you might have lost it. I didn’t know you were fighting for your life.”

A sheepish expression washed across Braeburn’s face as he regained his hat. “Well, I guess I, uh, sort of started the whole thing when I chucked a shovel at his head.”

Fluttershy snapped her head back. “You did what? That’s certainly not a good way to make a friend.”

“You’re right, but I was just so mad that that varmint was ruining Granny’s garden and made a mess in the barn. Bad behavior like that can’t go unpunished.”

“True, but there’s no need to escalate the conflict with violence.”

Her words were so simple, yet they contained so much truth. It was this moment when Braeburn recognized the maturity Fluttershy possessed. She may have been shy and introverted, but he could tell there was wisdom within her. Braeburn could not imagine anything more attractive.

“You’re right, girl. Thanks again for returning my hat. I thought I’d have to wait for when I got back home to get another one of these. I swear, I feel naked without it.”

Fluttershy flushed a deep red at Braeburn’s words. She tried to keep her cool, but such a comment at point blank range caught her off guard. After some soft chuckling, Braeburn’s tone went serious.

“Say, Fluttershy, I was wondering something.” He said looking at the ground in front of him.

“Yes?” In her mind she knew he was about to say something significant.

“Tomorrow’s my last day before I go back to Appleloosa, and Granny and the others are gonna have a little campfire party for me. It’ll be their way of saying ‘thanks’ for all I’ve done this week.” The colt paused as he stared straight into her eyes. “I was thinking maybe you’d like to come too?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Me?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you’re not too busy.”

Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes! “Um, ok. That sounds nice.”

His expression lit up. “Fantastic! They plan on getting started at sundown, so head on over whenever you can!”

In the heat of the moment, Braeburn pulled Fluttershy in for a hug. All at once she was enveloped in his grasp. Instantly her body went limp. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent as deeply as she could. When Braeburn didn’t let go right away, her brain sent powerful signals to her muscles to return the hug. She threw her hooves around him, yet there was no way for her to match the strength of his squeeze.

She did notice, however, that once she complied with the hug, Braeburn leaned his head toward her. Oh my goodness! She leaned hers right back.

It was the moment no pony with a crush ever wanted to end. The type of moment a pony clings to in the days that follow.

When they pulled away from each other, they were already staring into each other’s eyes. Fluttershy knew she was blushing, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of red in Braeburn’s cheeks.

She spoke with a hopeful smile, “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Without missing a beat, Braeburn simply said, “Catch you.”

Comments

[Scootaflew]

Hooray for the new chapter!

[JoeChacho]

i really like this so far i cant wait to read the next chapter

[The-voice-of-the-dragon]

I thought timberwolf