He had no idea where he was, no idea how he got here, no idea why he looks the way he does, and no idea what he should do next. Well, the only thing left to do now was move forward and hope for the best.
After getting over his shock, he took in the interior once more. It was barren, but cozy at the same time. The caramel pony trotted over to the mirror to give himself a full look over. He inspected his appearance critically. His sky blue eyes were abnormally large, almost filling up his entire face.
"How'd I turn into Pegasus?" He flared up his wings, finding difficulty properly controlling them, "Is this how I fit into this world? But Donald isn't here, how did I change?" His train of thought was interrupted when he took notice of the crown symbol on his flank, "Aaahhhhh! How'd I get a tattoo on my butt?!" He slumped in exasperation. This was all so strange. He thought back to what he remembered before he ended up in this unfamiliar setting.
"The power of waking isn't for chasing hearts around."
That's right. He wanted to save someone close to him, and he succeeded, but not without a price. He abused his power to accomplish his goal, and he payed for it.
He stiffened when he heard the door creak behind him. He turned around to see little Apple Bloom peeking her head from the opposite side of the door. The little filly's eyes widened when she realized her cover was blown. Sora eyed the opened entryway curiously, "Hello?" Apple Bloom entered the room proper.
"Hi there," Apple Bloom greeted. The pegasus tilted his head at the adorable creature, "I'm Apple Bloom. What's yer name?"
"I'm Sora. Nice to meet you, Apple Bloom," Sora replied with a smile, which the little filly replicated. It was nice to see a friendly face after such a shock, "Hey, do you know where we are?"
"Sure do! You're in Sweet Apple Acres, the best apple farm in all of Equestria!" Apple Bloom proudly stated.
"Equestria?" Sora thought, "What kind of a world did I end up in?"
"Hey, where ya from, Sora?" Asked an eager Apple Bloom, bring Sora away from his thoughts, "Ah'm just a little curious since ya fell from the sky and everything," That statement floored Sora, metaphorically of course.
"I fell from the sky?!" Sora repeated loudly. Apple Bloom reeled backwards in surprise from Sora's outburst.
"Uh, yeah... ya kinda did," The small filly responded with trepidation, "Ya still didn't answer mah question."
Sora pulled himself back to reality, "Oh, I'm from... really far away," He answered.
"How far away?" The small filly prodded, disappointed with his vague response.
"As far away as you can imagine," He did not want to reveal the true nature of where he came from, so he was intentionally vague with the details. Apple Bloom was unsatisfied with Sora's answer, scrunching up her face in disappointment.
"Apple Bloom! There you are!" Came the stern voice of Applejack, who was standing outside the door. Apple Bloom froze in place as her sister stormed into the room, "What do ya think yer doing? Ya'll have chores to do!"
"Applejack, ah was just—uh..." Apple Bloom scratched her head in thought for a good explanation, "Oh, Sora here has amnesia, and ah was helping him remember what he forgot," Sora raised his eyebrow in confusion, that was a clear lie. He never said anything about amnesia.
Unfortunately for Apple Bloom, Applejack wasn't buying it. Not one bit. After shaking her head in disapproval, the orange mare lowered her face to Apple Bloom's eye level, "Apple Bloom, what have ah told ya about lyin'?"
The yellow filly looked down at the ground in defeat, "That it only leads to trouble."
"Exactly. Now stop pesterin' this pony and go do yer chores," The orange mare ordered, then added in a softer tone, "You'll get to talk to him later," Apple Bloom trotted away in irritation, huffing in the process. After the little filly left the room, Applejack addressed Sora proper, "Sorry 'bout that, Sora was it?"
"Yeah, and you're Applejack, right?" Apple Bloom? Applejack? These sure were some strange names.
"That's right," She responded with a tip of her hat, "Pleasure to meet ya. Sorry 'bout Apple Bloom," Applejack sighed with a shake of her head, "Ah swear, it's impossible to get that filly to listen sometimes."
"She wasn't bothering me that much," Sora defended.
"Aww hooey," Applejack said, "Y'all should be resting after that crash of yer's."
"I feel just fine," Sora replied, stretching and moving about his legs to emphasize his point. The farm mare scrunched her face in uncertainty. Sora did seem to be fit as a fiddle, but...
"Ah ain't takin' that chance," Applejack poked Sora's chest, "Ya'll get some rest, ya hear. I'll be back later to introduce ya to the rest of the family," She left the room, closing the door behind her. Now Sora was left alone on his own to ponder his next course of action.
"How am I supposed to get back? Wait, of course!" Sora trotted over to the saddlebags and tried to open them with his hooves; this proved largely unsuccessful as he only managed to paw away at the flaps, "Ughhh, I wish I had fingers," he eventually was successful in opening the flap, then he went to work searching what he was looking for among the myriad of other miscellaneous objects.
"There you are!" Sora declared, pulling our a rectangular red device with a black screen and a single black button in the shape of a mouse head, "Alright! I'll be back in no time," he pushed the single button and—nothing, nothing happened, "What?" He panicked, pressing the button over and over again; he even began shaking the device in an attempt to force some kind of reaction, but to no avail, "No! Nononono! Don't be broken!" Sora's plea was met with dead silence. He slumped heavily and sighed in defeat and frustration, "How am I supposed to let the others know I'm okay?"
A sudden and despairing revelation dawned on him, "I'm stranded here," There was no hope of him returning home. Sora shook his head, he didn't want to think like that, it wouldn't help, "I have to believe that my friends will find me," He said with conviction. If he was stuck in this world, he would make the best of it.
—
After Applejack left, Sora went to work figuring out how to put his clothes on. It was a long and arduous process, considering that he had to get his wings fitted through his shirt and jack. Thankfully, there were two slits on the back of each garment for his wings. There was also the issue of how to put on the saddlebags. Trying to strap in the belt with hooves proved difficult, but Sora found that using his teeth of all things was more effective at grasping the belt. After about an hour of getting used to taking off and taking on his clothes, Sora was greeted by Applejack once again. She informed him that the rest of the family was downstairs and ready to meet him proper, so Sora followed Applejack through the hallway and downstairs into the living room where the Apple family was gathered.
Among Apple Bloom and Big Mac, who was now wearing a thick wooden harness around his neck, was an elderly lime green mare with amber eyes and a grayed mane and tail held in a bun. On her flanks was an image of a homemade pie, apple flavor most likely.
"Right then. You've met Apple Bloom," Applejack motioned towards the little filly, who waved at Sora enthusiastically, "This here is Bic Macintosh and Granny Smith." Bic Macintosh gave a curt nod of greeting to Sora while Granny Smith trotted towards Sora to get a better look at him.
"So," Granny Smith acknowledged Sora, "Yer what all the fuss is about?"
"Yeah, that's me. Sorry," Sora seemed to be genuinely sorry that he might have caused some sort trouble.
"Psshhh, ya'll got nothin' ta be sorry fer," Applejack reassured, "We were more than happy to give ya shelter fer the night."
"Eyup," Bic Macintosh agreed with a nod. The Apple siblings reassurance brought a smile to Sora's face.
"So how was it ya crashed on our front lawn?" Granny Smith asked.
Sora brought a hoof to his chin in thought. Nothing was coming to him, other than that strange Station of Awakening, "I honestly don't know."
"Ya hafta remember somthin'," Applejack said, unconvinced that Sora had no memory prior of his crash. The other family members were on the same boat.
"Sorry, I got nothing," Sora shrugged. Well, that question led nowhere.
"Ya might'a hit yer noggin a bit too hard there, sonny," Granny Smith commented.
"Yeah, I guess," Sora responded with a rub of his neck.
"So, ah take it you'll be heading off soon," Granny Smith said. Sora didn't think that was a good idea. He knew nothing about his whereabouts, so going off on his own was out of the question.
"I really don't have anyplace to stay at the moment," Sora admitted. He spoke this statement plainly, almost as though he'd been in this scenario before, "I was hoping I could say here for a while."
"Aww shucks, that's a real shame to hear," Applejack gave her sympathies, "I'd be fine to let ya stay so long as the others are okay with it."
"Sure, why not?" Apple Bloom affirmed.
"Eeyup," Bic Mac repeated the sentiment.
"Aww shoot, what the hay?" Granny Smith went along with the idea gladly.
Sora was not expecting such sublime hospitality, "Really, you'll let me stay here?"
"Sure as apple pie," The elderly mare stated, "We could use an extra set of hooves around here."
"Exactly," Applejack spoke once again, this time in a more serious tone, "If yer gonna be staying at this here farm, yer gonna hafta pull yer weight. An' that means helping us on the farm. No lollygagin'."
Sora didn't want to feel like he was free loading, so he was more than fine with having to work for the Apples, "Okay, that sounds fair. So when do we start?"
"We start with fattening ya up, boy!" Granny Smith declared, taking Sora by surprise, "Y'all are nothin' but skin an' bones," Sora had to admit he was on the lanky side, but he didn't feel like he needed to be 'fattened up,' "Lucky fer you, we're jus' about to eat lunch."
"Hey, I'm not just skin and..."
"Ya'll are gonna have the meal of yer lifetime, sonny!" The old mare interrupted Sora and began slowly trotting to the adjacent kitchen. The Apple siblings and Sora followed after her. The caramel pegasus wasn't exactly happy with Granny Smith insulting his frame, but at least he got to have a free meal.
—
"So, what exactly do you do here?" Sora asked Applejack. After a long, filling, and unbelievably delicious lunch of apple based dishes, Applejack and Big Macintosh gave Sora a quick tour of their facilities, including where they kept their livestock, their tool shed, and an inside look at their barn. Sora now accompanied Applejack and Big Macintosh to the apple orchard, where wooden buckets were positioned around some of the trees.
"Well, we harvest apples from the trees in the orchard, so's that we can store 'em in the barn to sell later," Applejack gave an abridged explanation of what goes on at the Apple's farm.
"Okay, how do I harvest the apples?" Sora looked up at one of the trees. If it wasn't for how full he was, he would probably be craving one of the ripe apples on the tree's branches.
Applejack trotted up to one of the trees to give a demonstration, "Watch an' learn," She reared up both her hind legs and brought them onto the tree trunk with a hard kick. The tree shook and all of the apples fell into the surrounding buckets, "See, jus' like that."
Sora payed close attention to how Applejack performed this action, "Looks easy enough," He approached one of the trees and positioned himself facing the opposite of the trunk.
"Now don't feel bad if ya don't get it on the first..." Sora reared up his hind legs and kicked the tree trunk hard. The tree shook profusely, loosening the apples so that they fell down into the buckets. Applejack and Bic Mac dropped their jaws, "...try?"
"Like that?" Sora asked.
"Uh, yeah, jus' like that," The farm mare certainly wasn't expecting such a scrawny pony to perform such a perfect apple buck. Sora approached another tree and gave it a swift buck, filling up another set of buckets.
"This is pretty fun," Sora was clearly enjoying himself as he bucked another tree tree of it's apples.
"Sora, are you sure ya haven't done this before?" Applejack inquired incredulously. The way Sora was apple bucking, it seemed he was a trained professional with years of experience, "Ya'll seem like an expert at this sorta thing."
"Not really," Sora answered, "I've done gardening before, but never something like this. Maybe I'm just a fast learner," He shrugged his shoulders, proceeding to apple buck another tree perfectly, "Say, where do we put the apples?"
"Well, we normally store the harvested apples to the barn for storage," Apple answered, bewildered at Sora's efficiency.
"Gotcha," Sora balanced one of the apple buckets on his back and made his way over to the barn. As he made his leave to deposit the apples, Applejack and Big Mac addressed each other.
"Who'da thought that lanky stallion was a natural apple farmer," Applejack expressed her thoughts to her brother.
"Eyup," He didn't say much, but Big Mac reaffirmed his little sister's sentiments.
"Well, might as well get to work," Applejack said, "Wouldn't bee fair if we made Sora do all the work," Big Mac nodded in agreement.
A few hours passed. Sora, Applejack and Big Mac made astounding progress clearing the acres of trees. The barn was practically filled to the brim with apples at this point. Applejack and Big Mac were tired out, but Sora still seemed like he could work for a few more hours.
"Yer somethin' else, Sora," Applejack complimented, impressed with his stamina, "Ah've never seen a pony work that hard without fallin' over."
"Thanks," Sora replied, bucking another tree of it's apples.
"I'll say," Spoke Apple Bloom, who was going around picking up apples that didn't directly fall into the buckets, "With you here, apple buck season'll be a cinch."
"Apple buck season? What's that?" The caramel pony questioned.
"For one week every year, Big Mac an' ah harvest the entire orchard," Applejack answered.
"The entire orchard!" That seemed like a daunting task just for two siblings, "That sounds like alot of work in such a short amount of time."
"It really isn't that big of a deal," The farm mare brushed off.
"Nope," Big Mac shook his head in disagreement, causing Applejack to shift her mood.
"Aww c'mon, Big Mac," She said, "You know ah've done may fair share of apple bucking in mah time."
"Ah'm jus' sain' that apple buck season is no laughing matter," Big Mac explained. Sora almost did a double take. That was the first time he heard the red stallion speak any more than a single word, "It ain't somethin' ya just bush over by yerself," He added matter of factly, but Applejack looked miffed at his words.
"What'chu sayin'? You sayin' ah can't do it on mah own?" She accused, thinking he was insulting her.
"Ah'm saying ya shouldn't bite off more than ya can chew, especially when ya got others to help you," Big Mac elaborated, but Applejack was still angered.
"He's not wrong," Sora pitched in.
"Ya'll think so too, Sora?" Applejack was getting heated at this apparent insult to her abilities as a farmer.
"I'm just saying that you shouldn't try to take on such a big task on your own," Sora reasoned.
"Aww hooey," The farm mare stubbornly brushed off, "Ah know apple buckin' like the back of mah hoof. Ah can take care of apple buck season easy."
"Well, if you say so," Big Mac stated, picking up a bucket of apples to store. Applejack grumbled under her breath in frustration after he left.
Apple Bloom, munching on an apple while her siblings and new friend had their brief argument, casted a glance at the silver crown symbol upon Sora's flank, "Hey, Sora, what's yer cutie mark mean?" Apple Bloom prodded enthusiastically, bringing herself close to Sora's flank. The pegasus noticed Apple Bloom snooping her nose near his rear end and he flinched back in embarrassment.
"Hey, personal space!" Sora scolded, blushing at Apple Bloom's action.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack further scolded the little filly, grabbing hold of her ear, which brought protests from Apple Bloom, "That was mighty rude of you!"
"C'mon, Applejack, ah was just curious," Apple Bloom defended herself, cringing at the pain coming from her ear.
"That don't mean ya can go butting into another pony's business," Applejack retorted, releasing her hold on her little sister's ear, "Are ya still bellyaching over yer cutie mark?"
Apple Bloom folded her ears and looked to the ground dejectedly, "Everypony in mah class has their cutie marks but me. You got yer cutie mark before you were mah age."
"Cutie Mark?" Sora glanced at the crown emblazoned on his flank, "Is that what they're called?" Whatever the case, their name made the caramel pegasus feel like he was steadily losing his masculinity. Thinking back, Sora noticed something strange. All of the Apple family had a cutie mark on their flanks, even Sora had the crown symbol, but Apple Bloom mysteriously had a blank flank.
"We've been over this before, sugar cube," Applejack addressed Apple Bloom in a more motherly fashion, "You'll get yer cutie mark soon as you discover yer special talent."
"But ah feel like ah'll never get mah cutie mark," Apple Bloom lamented.
"Don' be like that, Apple Bloom," The orange mare soothingly stroked the little one's head, "You'll find yer special talent someday, ya just gotta be patient."
"Ah don't wanna be patient!" Apple Bloom broke away from Applejack, "Ah want it now!"
"Apple Bloom," The eldest sister shook her head, "Ah don't know what else to tell ya," The yellow filly puffed her cheeks in disappointment and trotted off. Sora could only serve as a spectator, not understanding the context of the situation.
"Why is she so obsessed over her—cutie mark," Even the act of saying the phrase made Sora feel silly.
"Not really sure," Applejack admitted, "She's only been bellyaching over it recently. Ah wish ah could stop her from worrying about it," Sora began wondering if maybe he could make Apple Bloom feel better, "Well, ah think that's enough work for the day," Applejack changed the subject, "So, Sora, What'll ya do now?"
"I don't know," Sora responded, crossing his fore-hooves over his chest, "I don't really have anywhere to be right now."
"Well, maybe ya can mosey on over to Ponyville just down the road," Applejack suggested, "Get yerself aquatinted with the locals."
"There's a town near here?" Sora said.
"Yeah, where do ya think we sell our apples?" Applejack replied playfully. Sora had to rub his head in embarrassment at that remark, "Like ah said, since you'll be stayin' here awhile, ya might as well get yerself familiar with the town."
Applejack's idea made sense. Being confined to the farm didn't seem like a productive use of time and energy, "That's not a bad idea, Applejack. So, which way to Ponyville?"
"Just follow the path past the picket fence. Ya can't miss it."
"Right, thanks," Sora trotted off to find this town.
"By the way," Applejack called out, "If ya see a pony named Rainbow Dash, tell her she still owes me a new pig pen."
"Sure will do!" Sora affirmed, continuing his trek to the town of Ponyville.