A Cartoonist in Equestria

by Autismo555

Chapter 5: Act of Kindness (Re-Re-Edited)

Harold had never been inside of a cottage before; not the ones he usually heard in bedtime stories with Lana, anyway. Usually, where there were cottages, there were sometimes wooden structures holding up a rocky interior with a grassy roof hanging over their heads, just like the roof to Fluttershy's cottage. In this case, however, Fluttershy's cottage was more modernized and really beautiful, more than the Seven Dwarves' cottage in "Snow White."

When Harold first walked inside, he was met with the foyer of the cottage, a staircase on the leftmost wall leading upstairs into the upper floor and an unlit stone fireplace with a chimney on the right. Next to the chimney was a little pet bed sitting near a birdcage with tiny wooden stairs extending down to the floor. As he looked up, Harold could see a little passageway run through the rafters of the ceiling and out the hole leading back outside. A green cabinet on his left had another set of tiny staircases next to it leading into the next room, a bag of bird food lying at the foot of those steps. Looking back to the chimney, there was also another set of tiny stairs, wrapping around the chimney. It was clear to Harold with the tiny stairs, the beds and the birdcages that Fluttershy kept a variety of pets in her home, all of them of small stature.

Harold felt his arm wrapped in a gentle hold by a pair of friendly hooves, leading him into the open room just ahead of him. Fluttershy cautiously walked the human into the living room, careful not to worsen Harold's migraine with a slight increase in pace. She had many an experience with treating animals with head pains, and if there was one thing she learned it was to be careful with how to fast she carried them to give them their treatment.

The living room had a cozier feeling on the inside as well as the foyer. A couch and an armchair sat near the living room wall, both upholstered in green padded fabric, a little round table sitting between the two green furniture. A lamp stood behind the couch and near the window to give Fluttershy some light while she was read a book she took off from the bookshelves built into the walls. On the floor was a round rug with a design of a flower in the center, the outlines and the outer circle colored teal and the inner circle turquoise. Finally, a few animal beds, a small number of birdhouses and a single mouse hole decorated the room for a comfortable living space for the animals.

Harold was colored impressed. So far, this place was considerable for being added into Harold's little gallery of artworks saved in his black sketchbook.

Fluttershy gently led Harold to the couch near the window in the rear section of the room. She gingerly turned Harold around and firmly seated him on the soft green cushions. "There you go, Mr. Harold," said Fluttershy. "Now you just sit here and relax while I get you a special homemade headache remedy from the kitchen. I'll even bring some bandages for that welt on your forehead."

"Really? I've got a welt on my head?" Harold looked up to his forehead, not seeing the aforementioned crimson bump forming in the area where he hit his head on the doorframe. Harold brought his fingers up to the bump and lightly tapped it, then winced to the stinging sensation that followed. It felt like someone gave him a quick touch with a red-hot fork, only with lesser degree burns.

"Oh my! Don't touch that, Mr. Harold!" Fluttershy gasped. "Touching your injury like that will only make it worse! You just sit tight while I go get the bandages for that swelling!" With a quick thrust of her wings, Fluttershy flew upstairs to her room to retrieve her first-aid kit tucked safely under her bed.

While Fluttershy was occupied with finding her medical kit, Harold kept his seat on the couch just like she ordered him to. The stinging sensation depleted in only a few seconds. Harold was tempted to rub the area around the welt, but he quickly shook that urge off and kept his arm down so he wouldn't let it touch it. When his urge had settled down, he took this time to look around the room and up at the ceiling where birdcages and birdhouses hung from the leafy vines wrapped around the rafters.

Looking closely, Harold saw what he though to be a few birds duck their heads away into the birdhouses as soon as they saw him glance their way. From the corner of his eye, Harold saw a couple of mice, one big and one small retreat into the sanctity of the hole in the wall and disappeared. Harold heaved a saddened sigh; he wasn't surprised that the mice and the birds would hide from him. They were afraid of Harold, and he silently agreed. They were afraid of going anywhere near the unknown bipedal giant carrying a big bag on his back. Every animal probably thought he was going to snatch them away, cook them and eat them for lunch.

But there was one thing they hadn't figured out: Harold was a vegetarian. Because of a personal and traumatizing moment, Harold could never eat meat, not from how his mother's pet boa demonstrated right before his very eyes. He cursed his mother, Deveraux and her snake, Delilah for scarring him for life. If it weren't for the both of them, Harold would never have earned a lit cigarette butt on his left side.

The sound of multiple gusts of air turned Harold's attention to the staircase, where Fluttershy returned with a green first-aid kit carried by the handle in her mouth. She set the kit down gently and opened it up, rummaging through the contents before she took out two different rolls out of the box, one a roll of tape, the other a roll of plaster bandages.

Without a second missed, Fluttershy ripped a good piece of the bandage with her mouth and placed it over the welt on Harold's forehead, even allowing him to hold the bandage in place while she stuck four tiny pieces of tape over the edges. Harold couldn't deny that placing the bandage on the welt made him wince from the stinging at first. After a moment of enduring the stinging sensation, Harold felt the pain deteriorate and he smiled, though touching the welt only brought back the pain for a brief time.

"Hey, it doesn't hurt anymore," Harold simply said, looking cross-eyed up to his forehead. "Thanks a lot, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy smiled lightly to Harold's compliments. "You're quite welcome, Mr. Harold. Now, if you could sit still for just a little longer, I'll be back in a minute with my special homemade headache remedy and a pot of chamomile tea brewed especially just for you."

Before Harold could reply with a confirmation, Fluttershy fluttered her wings and flew into the room to his left, presumably the kitchen. There, Harold heard the clinking and clanging of pots and pans ring from the kitchen, followed with the sound of water running into a metallic dome. It didn't take someone above Harold's intellect to know that Fluttershy was filling up a tea pot full of water. In a few minutes, when the water would boil and the teapot whistled, Fluttershy was going to come out with a cup of chamomile and some of that remedy she spoke of.

While Harold didn't mind being treated for his newly chronic migraine, he wasn't a big fan of tea. He could never stand the taste of the herbs, even if it was sweetened with lemon, milk or honey. Still, Harold couldn't deny Fluttershy's grateful hospitality. He hadn't received this much medical attention since the last time Reginald treated his flu symptoms with his medical expertise.

Now that Harold thought about it, Fluttershy seemed to possess that similar expertise, only applying that to any animal in need of health and care. Did that make him as much of an animal to Fluttershy as she was to him?

Harold shook his head and clasped it with his hands. "Get a grip, Harold! You're letting this get to your head!" he thought to himself. "Surviving a gigantic tornado like the one last night is unlikely, but waking up in some strange place with a talking mythological pony!? Come on, Harold, pull yourself together! There's no way that all of this is real! This must be a part of the severe brain injury caused by the tornado! You can't be seriously believe that everything around you, including that pegasus is real, do you!?"

To be honest, Harold didn't know what to think. Not only had the migraine affected his logical reasoning, it also hurt to try and counteract that reason. Every time Harold thought of all the vivd and surprisingly real sensations when he arrived in this unknown place, it caused a growing pain somewhere in the very center of his brain. It was as if something was throbbing painfully inside of his head, making perfect synchronization with his heartbeat.

Harold was brought out from his thinking by a series of repeating thumping noises. Harold looked to the couch and saw a snow-white rabbit standing on the cushion next to his, his arms crossed and a scowl written on his face. Harold didn't know what the rabbit was glaring at him for, most likely because he was a strange creature in Fluttershy's household that did not belong here.

With a gentle smile, Harold slowly reached his hand out to pet the rabbit. "Hey there, little guy," he said with a gentle voice. "Aren't you just the cutest little rabbit I've ever seen?"

As Harold's hands inched closer to the rabbit's head, said bunny slapped it away from him and resumed his arm-crossing. "Well that was just rude," Harold said, flabbergasted. "I was just gonna pet your head. Is that how you treat every guest who's suffering from a really bad headache?"

As if on cue, the little rabbit hopped over to Harold and began landing his attacks on the human being. The rabbit rapidly kicked his thigh then proceeded to punch his sides with his little paws, unaware that the attacks were having no effect whatsoever. Harold cocked his head curiously as the kicking and the punching were reduced to nothing but little thumps, barely even making his nerves react with soreness.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

A teapot's whistle drew Harold's attention to the doorway, which died down as Fluttershy presumably took it off the stove. A minute later, Fluttershy trotted out of the kitchen carrying a wooden tray on her back, consisting of a porcelain teapot, two teacups on a saucer, a glass jar on honey with a wand inside and a small porcelain jar sitting next to the teapot.

"I'm sorry for the wait, Mr. Harold. It took me a bit of time to find the remedies and make the chamomile tea, but once you've taken them, your headache will--." Fluttershy was cut off by a gasped when she saw her pet rabbit give Harold a beating on his thigh. Her big, soulful eyes were narrowed down to a cute, but strict scowl.

"Angel Bunny! For shame, you know better than to fight with our guests!" Fluttershy scolded her pet.

The rabbit known as Angel Bunny ceased his fighting and turned to Fluttershy. Angel pointed to Harold a couple of times and waved his arms sideways, a "no-no" gesture telling his master that Harold was no good for the household. Fluttershy became less amused as she knew what Angel told her through his actions. Her tone dropped to that of a calm and direct disciplinarian.

"Now, Angel, you must treat Mr. Harold like a guest. Just because you do not like him for being another species doesn't mean you should be mean to him," Fluttershy explained, pointing to the young human. "Now, I want you to apologize to Mr. Harold for hitting him. Do you understand?"

Angel Bunny replied with a shake of his head.

Fluttershy's eyes only narrowed further by Angel's rude behavior. "Angel Bunny, I don't want this to become an issue, especially in front of our guest. You have to say you're sorry to Mr. Harold this very instant, young bunny or you won't earn any of that special salad for dinner tonight."

Again, Angel Bunny shook his head.

"Angel, please. All I want for you is to..." Fluttershy was cut off when Angel Bunny hopped over to Harold and gave him another beating, having heard enough from his master. Angel Bunny kept punching, kicking and occasionally biting Harold on the pant leg, all of which proved to be ineffective against the human. Fluttershy stammered with her words as she tried to reason with Angel, all control slipping away from her.

“Angel, don’t you dare... now Angel, be nice to... Angel... I... Angel!”

Fluttershy's yelping voice was the last straw. She lost her patience with Angel Bunny and now it was time for his behavior to be changed. She snapped her head towards Angel Bunny and did something she was reluctant to use on even the most misbehaving creatures; she widened her eyes, let her blue irises expand and narrowed her small eyebrows. Such a gaze from Fluttershy released a wave of intimidation towards Angel Bunny, causing him to freeze with fright and shiver under the cold eyes of the Stare.

Harold looked to Angel Bunny as he shrunk back under the Stare's frightful hypnosis. To his curiosity, Harold looked at Fluttershy then felt a chill run up his spine. As he looked into the eyes of the pegasus, Harold felt himself glued to his seat as if someone stuck a frozen knife in his nerves. He saw something cold and dark in Fluttershy's Stare... the very essence of fear.

Angel Bunny continued to cower under Fluttershy's Stare, feeling compelled to do what she first asked him to do. Hastily, Angel pulled a sign from behind his back with the words "I'm Sorry" written in big black words. When the sign was shown to the human, Angel Bunny quickly hopped off of the couch and into the kitchen to hide from Fluttershy and her accursed Stare.

Fluttershy switched her Stare off with a blink of her eyes before she turned to happily look at Harold. "I'm very sorry about Angel Bunny's behavior, Mr. Harold. He's usually like this whenever we have a guest at our house and... um, Mr. Harold? Are you feeling okay... if you don't mind me asking?"

Harold was still overwhelmed by Fluttershy's fearful Stare, the effects keeping him frozen as a montage of images flickered through his head like a Stanley Kubrick movie. He saw the dark, nightmarish image of Fluttershy looking angrily into his soul, the glimmer in her blue irises reflecting his abundant fears right back at him. The pictures all appeared in brief flickers before they reverted back into the dark eyes of Fluttershy's Stare.

A picture of poisonous asps and vipers, slithering over, under and through their fellow serpents. Their forked tongues flapped in the air, a hissing noise resonating throughout the entire snake pit.

Fluttershy's Stare.

A close-up of a box scorpion thrusting its deadly tail into the foot of its unfortunate victim, leaving her wriggling on the ground until she stopped moving completely.

Fluttershy's Stare.

A first-person view of standing on the very top of the Empire State Building, then falling down 103 stories to the concrete sidewalk.

Fluttershy's Stare.

The picture of the inside of a slaughterhouse, processing meat from the bodies of the slaughtered animals. Their bodies dangled on the meat hooks on the conveyor belt while the meaty, bloody remains were stacked on the wooden tables.

Fluttershy's Stare.

The first-person view of an entire classroom, the students pointing, laughing and jeering at the viewer while the schoolteacher watched on in a stoic, uncaring manner.

Fluttershy's Stare.

Another first-person view walking down a crowded street. The people all gave the viewer a suspicious glance while some of them cleared a path for him walk through, their eyes burning bright with a deep fiery hatred.

Finally, Fluttershy's Stare.

Harold was lost in a mashup of psychological horror, all thanks to the effects of the Stare. Fluttershy did her best to grab his atgtention. She waved her hoof in front of his face, called out his name, anything that would bring him back to reality. After half a minute of waiting for a response, Fluttershy regrettably knocked Harold on the head with her hoof, which brought his mind back to the real world. The regrettable part was she knocked Harold on the head, the first place where his migraine acted up.

"AAH!"

Harold responded to sudden surge of pain with a painful yelp that nearly made Fluttershy jump out of her coat. He clasped his head and bent over, hissing through his teeth while he struggled to cope with the pain. "Oww! Fluttershy, what'd you go and do that for, anyway!?"

Harold immediately regretted snapping at Fluttershy when he saw her shrinking back from him, the look of terror tearing up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harold," Fluttershy squeaked, nearly sobbing. "I thought the migraine was acting up again and you weren't responding to me calling out to you. I only gave you a slight tap to your forehead and I..."

Harold's regret grew into his chest like a pulsing wound as Fluttershy began to sob, covering her eyes with her hooves. "I... I... I never knew how sensitive you are to getting tapped on the head," Fluttershy cried before shrouding her face completely in her hooves.

A new wave of panic coursed through Harold's nerves. Looking around the room, Harold looked up in the rafters and in every corner to see Fluttershy's faithful animals, revealing themselves from their hiding places while they gave him an angry look. Harold swallowed nervously as the small woodland animals began to slowly but menacingly swarm into the room. He realized too late what the consequences were for making Fluttershy cry, whether it was intentional or unintentional. Quickly thinking, Harold turned to the weeping pegasus.

"Hey, look, I didn't mean to make you cry..." Harold shot his head around the room, his fear rising as the mob of mad animals advanced towards him with blood red glowing in their eyes. "Look, Fluttershy... I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

Fluttershy sniffled and wiped her eyes, then moved them to meet with Harold. "It's okay, Harold. I know you didn't mean to yell at me like that," she said, sniffling. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. After all, I did tap you in the place where your head was hurting the most. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I guess we're both sorry now, aren't we?"

Fluttershy sniffled once more, then giggled. "I guess we are."

Harold gently smiled. He took a sideways glance to the animals in the foyer, all of them sitting up on their rumps before they retreated back to their original hiding places. It was like they were broken from a spell that influenced them to become angry animals if someone happened to make Fluttershy cry. Heaving a relieved sigh, Harold looked back to Fluttershy.

"So, Fluttershy... about those remedies..." Harold reminded.

Fluttershy suddenly perked up, her ears reaching maximum height. "Oh yes, the remedies," she said, setting the tray down on the table between the chair and the sofa. "First things first, you have to apply this remedy to your forehead and the pain will clear up in no time at all."

Fluttershy took the porcelain jar and gently held out to Harold, who gingerly took it from her cupping hooves. Harold removed the lid of the jar and peered inside. The jar was filled with a nearly transparent yellow liquid, sloshing around its fragile white walls as he gently moved it. Harold felt a strong scent burn in his nostrils. He smelled a distinct smell of peppermint, most likely wafting off from the yellow liquid.

"Is this... peppermint?" Harold asked.

"Why, yes, Mr. Harold. That's exactly what it is," Fluttershy said. "It's peppermint oil. I use it whenever a patient of mine is coming down with a headache. I thought it would be useful for your headache as well."

"Maybe it's also useful as a substitution to smelling salts," Harold thought with a giggle. "The smell is powerful enough to wake up a sleeping elephant." Harold reached his hand into the jar and swished his fingers around in the oil, pulling out two oil soaked fingers with a strong smell of peppermint. He gently rubbed the oil on his forehead around the bandaged area, a cold sensation cooling his skin.

Then, as soon as the peppermint oil was settled on his forehead, Harold immediately felt something in his head. He felt the painful effects of his migraine drain away from his head, as if someone pulled the plug and let the bad stuff pour out. The pain slowly but gradually diminished from his system with every breath Harold exhaled. The migraine became numb and number until finally, Harold felt nothing.

"Hey! My head doesn't hurt anymore!" Harold exclaimed awestruck.

Fluttershy smiled, a small satisfied hum escaping her throat. "See? It's like I said, Mr. Harold; when you applied that oil to your forehead, your migraine cleared up in no time at all." Fluttershy took the teapot and poured the hot water into the cup. She dipped the chamomile teabag into the steaming clear water several times until the water turned into a golden herbal drink.

The scent of the water transformed into a peaceful aroma of chamomile herbs, something that Fluttershy found solace in smelling before she added in the honey dripping from the honey wand. Mixing up the flavors of chamomile and honey with a stir of a spoon, Fluttershy gently handed over the teacup and saucer to Harold. "Here. Now drink this up and it'll clear up whatever's left of that migraine."

Harold reluctantly took the teacup from Fluttershy's hold. He smelled the aroma of flower herbs mixed in with honey and slightly grimaced. He could taste it already, and it didn't settle to well with his taste buds either. Harold took the teacup and sipped it, letting the flavors of the tea flow over his tongue which nearly made him choke before he forcefully swallowed it. The honey didn't do much to sweeten it up. He wasn't a fan of consuming honey directly unless it was mixed in with cereal.

Fluttershy cocked her to her right, looking curiously at Harold as he cleared his throat and pounded his chest. "Well? Did you like the tea?" she asked.

Harold shuddered from the taste of the tea, feeling its bitter taste of flowers and honey flow down his throat. Twitching from the flavor, Harold shakily lifted his arm up, pointed his thumb to the ceiling and forced a weak smile. "It's... good," he fibbed. "Yeah, it has this exquisite flowery, sweet mix to it. In fact, I can feel my headache getting better already. Thank you for the tea, Fluttershy."

"Your welcome, Mr. Harold. I'm glad the tea is helping with your headache," said Fluttershy as she beamed with a smile. "Oh, you know what? That reminds me, I have to feed everyone their lunch." Fluttershy got off the couch, hovered in the air and turned to face Harold. "I hate to leave you like this again, Mr. Harold but I have take care of my animals, first. If there's anything you need from me, please don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind."

Fluttershy beamed with a smile and gently flew away back into the kitchen. When Fluttershy was well out of sight, Harold did a double-take around the room, making sure no one saw him do what he did next. Using his hand, Harold reached back and opened the window by a crack and tossed the chamomile tea from the mug. He never looked back after throwing the tea back out the window, a tactic used in shows to make themselves look casual.

After he set his mug down on the table, Harold leaned back and slowly moved his hands up his face, breathing deeply though his nose. Now that his migraine was gone, it was time that Harold focused on the matter at hand. He needed to figure out a way out of this "Equestria" place. Since Fluttershy had no existing knowledge about the human race, let alone where the main highway was, Harold had to find a way back to Earth. It was the only way for him to fulfill Lana's promise. If he needed to get out of "Equestria," he needed an insider look about where he was and hopefully find a way back.

Harold was compelled to go up and call in Fluttershy's favor, but for some reason, he couldn't. He felt himself held back to the couch by doubt and worry. What if Fluttershy didn't know how to find a way back to Earth? What would happen to Harold if he got stuck in Equestria, possibly forever? How was he supposed to fulfill his promise if he couldn't get back to Earth?

Suddenly, Harold felt his hand slap him on the face by an invisible force.

"Perfect. You really are such a little pain in the ass, aren't you?" the Conflicting Voice said. "All you do is worry too much and you let yourself get held back! That's why you've failed to make friends, you little twit! Because you're so scared about what would happen that you'd have to turn tail and run! You make me sick to my stomach! That is, if I had a stomach to throw up from."

Harold sighed and combed his fingers through his greasy hair. What was he going to say to her? Was he going to go up to her and say something like, "Hey, Fluttershy, I was brought here by a tornado so I was wondering if you knew a way for me to get out of Equestria and back home?" No, Harold wasn't like that. He wasn't the guy who would go up to people and ask them for anything that he desired, like for help for an upcoming quiz or if they wanted him to be part of a game they played.

All of that resulted in a little part of hell on Earth for him. Harold never received the attention, and even if he did, they would snidely remark how dumb he was for not taking notes in class or they would take that tetherball and see if the ball would hit him on the face and knock him to the ground. He was afraid to ask for help, except for whenever Lana or Reginald were around. They helped him out with what he needed and tried to give him a little supporting push.

Harold supposed he could ask Fluttershy. After all, he compared her with Lana in terms of kindness just a few minutes ago, so it would make sense for him to go up and ask her for help.

"Was that part not obvious enough, you dumb clod?" the Conflicting Voice remarked. "It make perfect sense for you to ask that pegasus! What doesn't make sense is why you're growing a pair and not going up to ask her right now! Get on your feet! Go to the kitchen where she's at! Talk to her! Do something useful for once in your miserable life!"

Harold ultimately complied with the Conflicting Voice. Desperate for the Voice to stop screaming out of intimidation, Harold slowly rose to his feet and stretched himself out. He walked to the kitchen doorway, where Fluttershy served Angel Bunny with a wood bowlful of salad, consisting mainly of lettuce, cucumbers and carrots. Fluttershy gently nudged the bowl to Angel Bunny while the latter rabbit turned away from the meal with disdain.

"Come now, Angel Bunny. This is the same salad you tried and liked very much remember?" Fluttershy asked, only to get Angel Bunny's shaking head with reply. "Why don't you try a bite? I heard salad is very good for you. Don't you want to grow up and become a strong, healthy little bunny?"

The salad bowl suddenly flew past Fluttershy's face. Angel Bunny punted his meal across the room with his foot and crashed it on the wall, leaving a mess of lettuce, carrots and cucumbers sliding down the wall while the bowl fell face-down on the floor.

Before Fluttershy could say anything, the rebellious bunny hopped towards the back door and jumped to the knob, twisting it to open the wooden portal. As the door opened to a crack, Angel Bunny hopped out into the outside world, leaving Fluttershy alone to clean up his mess... again. "Angel Bunny, sometimes I wonder why you have such an awful attitude."

Harold curled up his hand into a fist and knocked on the doorway three times.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"EEP!" Suddenly, Fluttershy dove behind her magic-powered refrigerator, instinctively out of shock. She poked her head around the corner and sighed a breath of relief as she saw who it was. "Oh, it's you, Mr. Harold. Sorry, you just frightened me is all."

Harold smiled, stifling a giggle. "Sorry about that, Fluttershy. Didn't know you were that jumpy."

"I am. I'm ashamed to say that being jumpy is one of my traits," Fluttershy lamented, her yellow cheeks turning a shade of vermillion as she looked away to the floor. "I can't help it, really I can't. Sometimes, whenever there's something so close makes such a sudden movement or a sound, I just get so scared that I freeze up on the spot."

"Can't help who you are, huh?" Harold asked. "I've known that feeling for a long time myself."

Fluttershy looked back to Harold, her eyes casting her timid glance towards him. "You have?"

"Yeah. I... have a hard time fitting in with my own people and I feel cast out myself. It's something you have to live with, you know?"

"I guess that's true." Fluttershy finally turned her head to Harold, all levels of timidity depleted from her. She sat on her haunches and looked at him curiously. "Is there something that I can do for you?"

Harold leaned on the doorframe, his left hand shyly rubbing the back of his head. "I think so. You would do something for me if I asked you, right?" Fluttershy nodded her head. "Well, I'm not sure how to say this because I haven't asked many of my people for favors. I guess it's hard for me to ask you for favors too, but maybe if I explained something to you, you might get a better understanding first."

"Umm... okay."

Harold breathed through his nose and sighed, looking up into space as he explained what he could recall happened to him. "Four, or maybe five days ago, I left my home to fulfill a promise to someone, someone very special to me. I was traveling down the main highway out from my hometown for four days when I stopped one night to eat and rest.

"While I was eating my supper that night, there was this great big tornado that touched down one mile behind where I was. It was like..." Harold spread his arms out, his hands clawed and cupped to make a size comparison. "...this big from a distance away and a whole lot bigger up close. I tried to escape it, but I got sucked in and I was getting whipped by it until I blacked out."

Fluttershy covered her mouth, gasping. "Oh my! You didn't get hurt badly now, did you?"

"That's the thing. I was hurt badly and I blacked out because of it," Harold said. "But when I woke up, I found myself in a big field next to the forest, and to top it all off, I wasn't hurt and neither was my stuff. I thought everything was all just a big dream caused by a severe blow to my head that caused me to go in a coma. At first, I thought this place wasn't real and a very vivid figure of my dream... but now? Now, I'm not so sure anymore."

"How did you find out this wasn't a dream?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I tried to wake myself up. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, pinched myself on the arm." Harold showed Fluttershy a red mark on his arm where he pinched himself. Fluttershy gasped mildly at the sight. "In the end, I couldn't wake myself up from this dream so I assumed that this was either real or it was a vivid vision."

"Oh my. You must have had quite a hard time."

"Yeah. But that wasn't the least of my problems," Harold said. "When I was wondering where I was, a newspaper suddenly flew in my face and I got the name of this whole place. When I did..." Harold gently massaged his temples. He could still feel his first experience with that sensation. "...I had this strangest feeling come over me. It's like I somehow knew this place, but at the same time, I didn't. When I tried to dig deeper, it just disappeared. I still can't shake that feeling off."

Fluttershy tilted her head, her eyes wondrous as Harold continued his story. "This is where you come in, Fluttershy. You're a pony and this place is called Equestria, so I assume that this place is populated with ponies and such. I... I was wondering if you could..." Harold swallowed a nervous lump in his throat as he found himself reluctant to speak the words he never thought he would use before.

"I was wondering... if you could... teach me all you about Equestria?"

Harold instinctively winced from the question, a rain of sweat trickling from his pores down his body. He didn't believe what he said, but he actually said it. He actually asked to be taught on an unknown place, despite his hatred of school. Because of the many traumatic moments he had while he was stuck in that prison he called a private school, Harold was reluctant to learn about stuff like science, mathematics and geology.

But this was different for him. Harold was in a place called "Equestria" and Fluttershy was the only pony around who knew more about this place than he ever did. That was reason enough why Fluttershy beamed with a friendly smile. "Well, if it's a lesson you want, Mr. Harold, then I'll be happy to give you a lesson."

Harold perked up, very surprised. "Really?"

"Of course. I'm more than willing to help out any creature in their time of need," Fluttershy said, smiling. "After all, that is what friends are for."

Harold suddenly felt a twinge of surprise jolt in his chest, like a friendly static shock. "Wait. You consider me to be your... friend... even though we've just met?"

Fluttershy fluttered up to Harold to meet him at eye level, the beautiful friendly smile still stretched across her muzzle. "Why, yes, Mr. Harold. I've never seen or taken care of an intelligent otherworldly creature from another planet before! I also see something good within you, Mr. Harold, which is why you are now my newest friend."

Harold felt a little touched squeak escape his throat. There was a word he never thought he heard or used for a long time: "friends." He never really had much friends, nor did he need any use for them. After all, who wanted to be friends with him when he suffered in New York? No one did, and the "friends" of the people who wanted Harold to suffer all ganged up on him like he was a shriveling, cowering kid. If there was one person he relied on the most, it was Lana, and she was now long gone.

But Fluttershy's case was completely different; she wanted to be friends with Harold. He, the only human walking among an intelligent winged pony who was cared for his affliction and was willing to help him in every way she can. Harold couldn't help but smile as Fluttershy led him back to the couch.

"Where would you like to being your learning?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think I might need to start with something basic," Harold requested. "I think we'd better start with the population."

"Alright, then," Fluttershy confirmed, clearing her throat gently. "We'll begin your lesson with the four different types of ponies in Equestria..."

==================================================================

Pinkie Pie trotted carefree into the outskirts of Ponyville, singing her jovial tune. Cupcakes, candies, chimicherries, cherrychangas, chimicherrychangas and meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were among the many jumbled thoughts running through her head as she reached the entrance to Ponyville's premiere apple farm, Sweet Apple Acres. This country-side apple farm was known for harvesting top quality apples and the only location where everypony could get their hooves on their world famous Zap Apple Jam once a year, as well as being the first residential family in Ponyville.

That family was the Apple Family, and Granny Smith was the last founding mare of Ponyville. If it weren't for her explorations into the Everfree Forest and finding that Zap Apple Jam, Ponyville wouldn't have existed in the first place. Neither would Granny Smith's granddaughter, and Pinkie Pie's truthful friend would have existed to be chosen by the Elements of Harmony as the Element of Honesty. It was that same mare who not only was honest, but also a bit overprotective and sometimes stubborn as a mule.

She got that side from her Pa.

It was on this day that the mare worked in the orchards, harvesting fresh, ripe apples from the trees with only a kick from her hind legs. Pinkie Pie had happily trotted into the orchards and found a couple of fellow Earth ponies harvesting and hauling a load of apples to the barn. The first pony Pinkie Pie saw was a red burly stallion, with an orange mane and a brown yoke worn around the lower part of his neck. He had three freckles on each side of his face and his Cutie Mark was half of a green apple, which showed the exposed core, seeds and all. This was Big Macintosh, Ponyville's quiet but strong stallion who mostly said "Eeyup" and "Eenope."

The second pony Pinkie Pie saw was the exact same mare she was looking for. She was an orange mare, a blonde mane wrapped up in a little red band. She wore a brown Stetson cowboy hat, had three freckles on each side of her face like Big Macintosh and her Cutie Mark were three red apples, all having a single brown stem with a little green leaf on each stem. The cowgirl pony's strength was admirable, having athletic capabilities that rivaled that of Rainbow Dash's. She could kick a football at about one-hundred yards and she barely put her full strength into those kicks. Afterwards, as a sign of pride, she crossed her legs while smiling.

"Applejack! Hey, Applejack!" Pinkie yelped as she trotted up to the mare.

The mare named Applejack turned to Pinkie, a smile cracked across her face. "Well, howdy do there, Pinkie Pie," Applejack greeted in a southern-accent voice. "What brings ya here ta Sweet Apple Acres? Y'all need some apples fer yer apple cinnamon cakes?"

"No," Pinkie said, tilting her head and smiling innocently. "I'm just here to tell you that Twilight needs you and Rarity out in Ponyville Square shortly. She said something about Princess Celestia informing us of another emergency and the fate of Equestria resting in our hooves again."

"What!? Another emergency!?" Applejack gasped, her shock turning into a pout. "Oooohhh... and just when Ah was in the middle of Applebucking Season, there had ta be another danger risin' in Equestria." When Applejack was done muttering, she turned to her hyperactive friend. "So what's the emergency, Pinkie? Did Twilight say?"

"Eenope," Pinkie replied. "But I bet it was super-duper important that Twilight couldn't tell me what the emergency is, or I would go around blabbing it out to everypony and that would make the super-duper secret mission not a super-duper secret mission anymore!"

"Ah guess that explains why Twilight didn't tell ya," Applejack sighed. “Fine, Ah’ll come with, but Ah'll have ta make up fer lost time once Ah get back. Big Macintosh, can ya hold down the fort while Ah'm gone?”

Big Macintosh turned to Applejack with a stoic nod and a simple, "Eeyup."

"Good." Applejack turned to Pinkie and tipped her hat down over her emerald green eyes. Everypony in Ponyville knew that even the slightest forwards tip of her hat meant the country pony was going to get serious. "Alright, Pinkie Pie, let's go an' get Rarity. We've got a meetin' with the Princess ta attend to."

With that said, Applejack turned around and cantered off towards the Ponyville limits. Pinkie Pie squealed happily and reared herself upwards, kicking her hooves up before she took off bounding towards Applejack's direction, gaining enough speed in every bounce until she was close by the country mare and kept an even pace. While Pinkie Pie obviously took this expedition as fun and carefree, the cowpony kept a narrowed iron-hard look on her face, a look of determination to answer the summoning from Princess Celestia herself.

That determination followed the Element of Honesty as she and the Element of Laughter made their way to their destination: The Carousel Boutique, where Rarity, the Element of Generosity resided.

Comments

[Yemynameidubbz]

i love how you wrote ''yapping about chimicherries and cherrychangas once more