Life Lessons
Chapter 6: A Party Mare and A Farm Pony
I woke up, letting out a yawn as I stretched. The morning sunlight shining through my window. I got out of bed and looked at my options for clothes. I decided to go with yellow shirt that had three thin black stripes going diagonally from my left shoulder to my right side. I also grabbed a pair of jeans along with boxers and socks. I was about to put on my shirt when a horrible smell caught my nose, quickly realizing that it was coming from me. It was then that I remembered that I had not showered the whole time I had been here, I must have been too distracted to notice before. Not wanting to dirty my new clothes, I put on the ones from yesterday. I left my room and walked downstairs, finding Twilight in the kitchen starting to make breakfast. Wanting to make sure it was ok, I asked her if I could use her shower.
"Of course you can Chris, it's right upstairs and to the left." She answered with a smile but didn't look at me, still focused on getting breakfast ready.
I thanked her and headed back upstairs, going back into my room to get the clothes I had set out. I walked across the second floor and made my way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind me I turned to see a bathtub with a shower head sticking out of the wall above it. There was a shower curtain on the outside that looked like the night sky, all the constellations mapped out on it. I turned the water on and removed my clothes. After a few seconds, I tested the water to make sure it was the right temperature before I stepped in. The warm water hit my body, immediately causing me to relax as I let out a sigh. I looked at the different soaps that Twilight had and selected one that I liked. I washed myself off feeling the filth leave my body. I turned the shower off and got out, drying myself off with a nearby towel. I put on my fresh clothes, finding a brush in front of the mirror on the wall I brushed my hair back to its normal form. I stepped out of the bathroom feeling amazing, smelling a lot better too.
I threw my dirty clothes in my room and went downstairs. I walked into the kitchen right as Twilight placed our plates on the table, Spike was already seated.
"Just in time for breakfast Chris." She smiled and looked me over, "you look great today."
I sat down at the table, "thanks Twilight, that shower was really needed." We all started eating our food, Twilight had made eggs and some toast.
As I finished the delicious meal, Twilight started up some conversation. "What do you have planned for today Chris?" She got up to wash her plate.
I followed her to the sink and washed my plate, "I'm not sure, I think I want to hang out with the others girls today so I can get to know them more."
I finished cleaning my plate as Twilight spoke, "well you could go to Sugarcube Corner and talk to Pinkie Pie. Sugarcube Corner is the local bakery ran by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they let Pinkie live in the upstairs part of the building with them. It's really close too, closer than where anypony else lives. That's why I figured that you might start there and then you could head to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's farm. You'll have to ask Applejack where Fluttershy's cottage is, it's pretty hard to find and would be easier for her to point you in the right direction. Next would probably Rarity at the Carousel Boutique which is almost on the other side of Ponyville from here. The hardest to find will be Rainbow Dash, she lives in a house on a cloud and since you can't fly there you'll just have to look around for her." (Rainbow lives on a cloud? I probably shouldn't be that surprised considering all the other weird things I learned while coming here.)
"Ok Twilight that sounds like a great idea. Do you think you could point me in the direction of Sugarcube Corner?" I said still not quite clear where to go.
She nodded and we walked to the library's front door and stepped outside. We turned right and Twilight stopped, pointing her hoof, "just head straight that way and it will be on the left, you can't miss it." I thanked her and waved goodbye as I walked on into Ponyville.
It didn't take very long to find what I was looking for. Right in front of me was a building, but what was odd was that it looked like a gingerbread house. The body of the building looked the same as the other houses in Ponyville, but had a pink door and pink windows. A sign with a picture of a cupcake on it hanging from the right corner of the building. The roof looked completely edible, the shingles being made from some sort of gingerbread and white icing swirled along the outer edge. In the middle of the roof was a small tower, its base looking like a cake with pink frosting and a sitting on top with candles poking out. The whole thing looked delicious but I decide that it must not actually be edible and just looks like it is. (This has to be the place.) I thought as I made my way to the entrance.
When I opened the door I was met with a giant crowd of ponies. (They must be busy.) I pushed through the masses and made it to the back of the shop. I soon saw Pinkie zipping in and out of what looked to be the kitchen, carrying freshly baked goods on her head every time she left the kitchen.
She noticed me approaching her, "hey Chris, how's it going?" She was on her way to the kitchen when she stopped.
"Pretty good, I came by to see if you would like to spend some time with me so that we could get to know each other better, but I can see that you're really busy." I replied feeling a bit sad that I wouldn't get to spend time with her.
"Yeah things are really busy now, like, really really busy. I've never seen so many ponies here before. It's almost like everypony got a major sweet tooth all at the same time! I don't know if I can handle all this by myself." She let out a big gasp, her eyes widening as an idea came to her head, "I know! Chris do you know how to bake?"
I took a second to recall my very basic knowledge of baking, "sure a little bit, why?"
Pinkie instantly grabbed my wrist in her mouth and pulled me behind the front counter where two ponies were hard at work selling customers the baked goods. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, can my friend Chris help me with the baking in the kitchen?"
I looked at the two ponies, one was a blue mare with a pink mane that almost looked like a swirl of frosting on her head. There were earrings in her ears and she wore a yellow apron with purple on the edges. Her cutie mark was three cupcakes with pink icing and a red candy on top. The other was a dark yellow stallion, who had a messy orange mane. He had on a red and white round flat topped hat. He wore a white apron and on his neck was a bowtie that had an alternating red and white line pattern. There were also some freckles on the front of his face right below his eyes. His cutie mark was three square pieces of carrot cake.
They both looked our way, a look of shock on their faces as they saw me. I gave a shy wave not sure what else to do. "Do you know how to bake?" The Yellow stallion who I presume is Mr. Cake spoke.
"Yeah I know the basics, my mother used to bake a lot so I picked up a few things from her." I replied remembering the many times I helped her bake as a kid.
"Well I don't see why not, we could really use the help. Pinkie will show you what you need to do." Mr. Cake said as he returned to the waiting customers.
Pinkie grabbed my wrist again and led me into the kitchen. Inside was everything we could possibly need, an oven for baking, counter tops and mixers to prepare the various sweets, and cabinets that I assume were full of all the ingredients we would need. Pinkie let go of my arm and walked over to a cabinet, she quickly grabbed multiple ingredients along with a cupcake tray.
"First we need to make two batches of cupcakes." She said as she placed all the supplies on the countertop. We got to work making the cake mix and put the cupcakes in the oven. While waiting for them to bake we made icing. I let Pinkie do most of the work trying to make sure I understood how everything worked.
We worked for a few hours, me taking on my own orders after I got the hang of it. We made a variety of different treats: cupcakes, different types of cake, muffins. Pinkie made sure to 'taste test' about a third of what we made. (She really loves her sweets.) We talked almost the whole time, telling stories, jokes, and just getting to know each other better. Apparently Pinkie's full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie and she grew up on a rock farm. (Who knew!)
Eventually the crowd died down and I finished up my last batch of muffins when Mr. and Mrs. Cake walked in the kitchen. I placed the muffins on the stovetop to cool and turned to greet them. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Cake, are all the orders done?"
They both smiled as Mrs. Cake replied, "Yes, thank you for your help Chris. You definitely made things easier." As she said that Mr. Cake pulled out a small stack of bits and motioned for me to take them.
"There's really no need for that, I'm just glad I could help out and have some time the to get to know Pinkie Pie. That was the whole reason I came here in the first place." I just didn't feel right accepting their money, I helped because I wanted to and so I could spend time with my friend.
They both were shocked, "really are you sure?" They said in unison. I simply nodded in reply.
"Well at least take those muffins you made, we have extra." Mrs. Cake said
I looked back to the tray of freshly baked muffins, only to notice they were all missing. "Pinkie!"
Hearing her name, she poked her head out from behind the counter. Her cheeks were puffed out as she tried to talk with a full mouth, "whuut?" She then took a giant gulp, swallowing all the muffins that were in her mouth. (H-how did she do that?)
I sat there with my mouth wide open as Mrs. Cake tried to get my attention, "don't worry Chris, we have more that you can take with you."
They handed me a bag of treats, "thank you Mr. and Mrs. Cake but I better get going, I want to go to Sweet Apple Acres to see Applejack next." I was about to leave when I remembered something. "Do any of you know how to get there?"
Pinkie pointed me in the right direction and headed to my next destination, waving goodbye to Pinkie and the Cake couple. I opened the bag that they gave me, checking its contents. There were two muffins, two cupcakes, and a slice of chocolate cake.
After a couple minutes, I soon came to a road that had a small wooden archway over top. On each side of the road, there were large fields of apple trees. I followed the road for quite some time until a large barn came into view. It looked like your average barn but had a small extension on the left side. There were multiple windows on the side of the building as well as the roof. A very small tower was above the barn doors and had a roof that was shaped like a pyramid. I continued along the road until I was standing before the barn doors.
A Large red stallion came out of the barn. His orange mane and tail were cropped short. His coat did not cover his hooves, exposing their pale yellow color. He had freckles under his emerald colored eyes. Around his neck was a harness that I assume would be used to pull a plow. His cutie mark was a large green apple. He was quick to notice me as I made my way to him.
"Hi, I'm Chris. I was wondering if you might know where Applejack is?" I said hoping he could help me find her.
"Name's Big Macintosh." He replied in a very relaxed tone, his southern accent just as strong as Applejack's.
"So, do you know where Applejack is?" I asked again hoping that he would give me an answer.
"Eeyup." His very simple response not helping me at all.
"Could you show me?" I asked again trying to rephrase the question.
He pointed to the big field of apple trees, "she's out harvest'n, if yah head that way you'll run right into her." His voice was very deep compared to all the other stallions I have met so far. His whole appearance was a bit intimidating.
"Thanks for the help there Big Macintosh!" I said while turning to head in the direction of Applejack.
He replied with a another, "eeyup" as he went off to do whatever he had been planning to do.
I walked through the trees, keeping my eyes peeled to try and locate my orange friend. After walking for what must have been a half a mile, I began to lose my sense of direction. All the trees looked the same and they seemed to continue forever on all sides. The feeling of getting lost was slowly creeping over me and I was about to panic when I heard a loud 'CRACK' come from my left. I followed the sound, walking slowly to listen for another sound. After about a minute, yet another loud 'CRACK' could be heard, the source much more closer than the first time. I looked around a large tree in front of me, Spotting her right away.
She was standing by a basket that was full of apples. A small cart was parked about ten feet from her and was almost full. There had to be at least twenty bushels full of apples stacked inside.
I approached her, she noticed me and a smile spread across her face. "Well howdy Chris! What brings ya ta Sweet Apple Acres?"
"I decided to spend some time with my friends so I can get to know you all better. I just came from hanging with Pinkie Pie, and Twilight said I should come here next."
"So how'd ya'll know I was in the fields harvest'n?" She had a confused look, curious on how I knew her location.
"I met someone named Big Macintosh and he told me where I could find you." I said remembering the red stallion of few words.
She gave me a nod in understanding, "Big Mac's my big brother an' the strongest, most hard working pony I know. Though ya may have noticed he ain't much for talk'n."
I chuckled a bit, "yeah it was a bit difficult to get him to talk, but would it be ok if we spent some time together?" I wanted to make sure she wasn't too busy.
"Ah reckon it would be ok, but Ah have ta harvest a few more trees before Ah can be done fer today." She pointed to the surrounding trees that still had apples on them.
"If you don't mind, I would love to help you get it done." I said in a very sincere tone. I really do want to help, but I also wanted to see how she actually goes about picking the apple as well.
Her face lit up a bit at my offer, "if yer will'n ta, Ah'd love the help. It's always nice hav'n an extra set of hooves..er I mean..hands."
We both laughed and walked over to the next tree. "So how do you harvest apples?" Ponies are not tall enough to reach up and pick them, plus I don't think they could pick them with hooves anyway.
"We buck 'em, like this." She said while placing some empty bushels under the tree. She then stood at the trunk of the tree, bringing her back legs forward as she stood on her fronts. Swinging her back legs towards the tree in a powerful kick, the shock waves shot through the tree causing it to vibrate rapidly. One after another, all the apples came falling out of the tree and landed in the empty bushels below.
My jaw dropped, the sight that I witnessed too much for my brain to grasp. As I have learned since coming to Equestria though, if something doesn't make sense, don't try to understand it. I pushed the thought out of my mind and watched as she lifted a bushel onto her back and walked over to the cart. It was then an idea came to mind. Since I highly doubt I could buck the trees, I will do the lifting. "Hey Applejack, why don't you do the bucking and I can carry the full bushels to the cart. That should speed things up."
She pondered the thought for a bit before speaking, "That's a pretty good idea there Chris! If ya got these, then Ah guess Ah'll just get started on the next tree." With that, she went off to another tree. I lifted the remaining bushels on by one and place them in the cart, I could only carry one at a time due to how heavy they were.
We repeated this process for about an hour, Applejack bucking trees and me putting the full bushels in the cart. After our eighteenth tree however, the cart was completely full to the point of almost overflowing. "Ah think that'll be enough fer today. The carts full so we'll need to bring it back to the barn anyway." Applejack said as she hooked herself to the cart and began to pull it.
I still didn't remember where I came from, completely lost in the forest of apple trees. I stuck close to Applejack following her as she seemed to know the way. We had some small conversation, walking for about ten minutes. The barn revealing itself as we walked to the edge of the field, I didn't see it before due to how dense the canopy was. We made it to the big barn doors and she parked the cart just inside. I helped her unhook from it and she smiled when she was free.
"Thanks fer all yer help Chris, that idea of yers definitely made things easier!" She said.
"You're very welcome Applejack, but I'm just glad I was able to spend some time with you."
As we continued our conversation, we heard some the voices and laughter of children from close by. I looked outside and noticed three young fillies approaching the barn. They were each a different type of pony, a unicorn, a pegasi, and an earth pony.
The unicorn had a white coat that reminded me of Rarity's similar, but more pure white color. The fillies mane and tail were decent in length, the ends curling a bit. The left side of it was pink and the right a more light purple.
The pegasi was orange and had a short, wild red-violet mane and tail. Her wings were very small, but I guess they were just proportionate to her body size.
The last one was a pale yellow earth pony with red mane and tail. She also wore a large reddish pink bow at the top of her head. The three cute fillies were lost in conversation as they entered the barn.
"Hey there Cutie Mark Crusader! Have ya'll met Chris yet?" Applejack said obviously talking to the fillies. (Cutie Mark Crusaders? What are they?)
The three looked in my direction, their jaws dropping, probably because they've never seen a human before. They were all at a loss for words so they just responded by shaking their heads.
Applejack noticing they were speechless, gave the introductions. "Chris these are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they go around town trying everything they can in hopes of finding their special talent and gaining their cutie marks" She pointed her hoof to the white unicorn, "that there is Sweetiebelle, Rarity's younger sister." (Wow, now that I look at her I do see a small resemblance to Rarity.) "that's Scootaloo, Rainbow's number one fan," she moved her glance to the final member, "and this here is mah very own sister Apple Bloom." Her tone a bit more proud at the mention of the last filly.
"Hi, I'm Chris. It great to meet you three." I said with a wave.
Apple Bloom was the first to regain her composure, "It's great ta meet you to Mr. Chris, but if you don't mind me ask'n, what exactly are ya?" Her young voice and southern accent made an adorable combination.
"Please just call me Chris, but to answer your question, I am a human and from what I can gather my kind has never existed in Equestria before."
They sat amazed at the one of a kind creature in front of them. Apple Blooms eyes shot open as she must have remembered something, "oh yeah Ah almost fergot! Applejack, would it be ok if the girls and Ah had a sleepover tonight?" She said as she looked to her older sister.
Applejack put her hoof to her chin in thought, "I guess so, but don't go stay'n up to late. It is a school night after all." (They have a school here? I guess I'll have to check that out.)
They all burst with excitement as they cheered. "Thanks Applejack!" they all said in unison as the ran back outside. As I watched them leave I looked at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get pretty late.
I turned to look at Applejack before speaking, "well it looks like it's getting late, I should probably head home now."
"Ah guess yer right, well thanks again for help'n me out today. Ah had fun spend'n time with ya." She relied, a big smile on her face.
"Yeah I did too! Well I think I'll get going now, bye Applejack." I said while giving her a wave as I walked out of the barn.
"See ya later Chris, feel free to stop by any time ya hear?" She called, returning my wave.
I walked back down the road leading into Ponyville, I made my way to the Library as I watched the sun start to set. I took me a good twenty minutes to make it back to Twilight's, the sun now disappearing behind the horizon. Opening the door I stepped in, still having to duck so I won't hit my head. (I should probably get used to that, considering most of the doors in Equestria are too short for me.)
Looking around I noticed Twilight laying on the ground reading, a large stack of books by her side. "Hey Twilight, I'm back!" I said, getting her attention.
"Welcome back Chris, how was your day?" She said as she tilted her head a little in curiosity.
"It was great, First I visited Sugarcube Corner like you suggested and they were super busy. I managed to find Pinkie and she had me help her with the baking as we got to spend some time together. I also got this from Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" I said as I held up the bag of treats they gave me. "After that I went over to Sweet Apple Acres and met up with Applejack. I help her harvest a few apple trees and also got to meet Big Macintosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
At the mention of the CMC Twilight giggled, "those three are definitely an interesting bunch. The best part is that their talents are so blatantly obvious, but for some reason they can't seem to figure that out. We just don't tell them because we all agreed that it would be better if they figured it out on their own." We both laughed a bit at the thought and Twilight soon followed with a question, "you were gone all day so you must be hungry, would you like some dinner?"
I then occurred to me that I had not eaten since breakfast, I didn't have anything at Sugarcube Corner because the stuff we made was for paying customers. "That sounds wonderful Twilight." I replied, both of us heading to the kitchen.
I sat by the table and waited while Twilight started cooking. I told her a few more things that about my day that I had left out before. Pretty soon a large plate of pasta was levitated in front of me, Twilight set her plate down and sat across from me. "Where's Spike?" I asked noticing the purple baby dragon missing from the table.
Twilight swallowed the bite in her mouth before answering, "he finished his chores for the day and decided to turn in early."
I gave a nod in understanding as we continued to eat the delicious meal. We ate in relative silence, just eating and enjoying each others company. After I finished my food I got up and washed my plate. I looked out the window and noticed that it had gotten dark, Luna's beautiful night sky lighting up the outside. I Turned back to Twilight, "I think I going to go to bed too." I said before letting out a yawn.
She gave me a nod as she washed off her plate, "ok I'll see you in the morning then, goodnight Chris."
I gave her a smile before Leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs. I walked to my room and closed my door, getting undressed slowly made my way to my bed. I got in, pulling the blanket over me as felt the comfort of the bed. I sat there just looking at the ceiling, letting my thoughts run wild as I slowly fell asleep. (I am really here in Equestria, but how? Will I ever know the answer? Do I really need to know the answer? Even from the few days I've been here, I've found this place to be a paradise compared to my old world. Everyone is so nice and things are so peaceful. I don't know how I got here, but I'm really glad I did.)
Authors Note
Sorry for the wait, this chapter took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker, but I don't want to rush either.
Also, Thank you so much for the 1,000 views! In all honesty I never expected to ever get that many. Major love to all, you guys are awesome! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did, don't forget to fav/follow, and review. Your feedback helps me out tremendously! - (Big word, I know!) Anyway, thanks again for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!