Apple In The Rough

I don’t get out much. I have no reason to. No friends, no family worth talking to, no one. My life consisted of school, work, sleep, repeat. There were no crazy nights out at the club. There were no outings with siblings. I don’t even have any stories about bad dates because I’ve never dated anyone. My life is just me waiting for the day to end and the next one to start.

I live in a very small two bedroom apartment in the dumpy part of the city. It’s not the bad part, but no where you would want to live either. This part of town is filled with people like me. People just living their lives one day at a time with no real direction. The streets are filled with garbage and the homeless who ask for money from people who are almost on the streets themselves.

I worked at a fast food restaurant, McDonald, paying off my rent and tuition and loans. I’m going to be a surgeon one day, at least I hope I will be. I need to see if I can pay off all these blasted bills before that. I doubt I can working a minimum wage job.

I just wish I had something to look forward to when I go home.

“Hey. Miranda, shift’s over.” my manager Bob said in his monotone voice, pulling me away from my journal the I was currently writing in. I had just bought it a couple days ago and was no getting around to writing in it.

“Yeah, see you later Bob.” I said and punched out for the night. Walking down the street was more unsettling that it normally was tonight. Living in a big city isn’t exactly the most care free of livings, especially when you are a bone thin twig like I am. There was something in the air tonight though, something ominous. Like something was going to happen. I pulled my threadbare jacket against my body and looked around for potential threats. I wished my job was closer to home.

There is a certain alleyway on the way to my apartment complex that people avoid. Not just because it’s eerie but because several murders, rapes, and muggings have happened in that alleyway. The alley is on the street name Corner 13, fitting isn’t it? Every time I pass this alley I can’t help but stare at it, waiting for something to run out after me. I’d go around it, but that’s a good ten more blocks to get mugged on.

It was as I was passing this alleyway that I heard a loud bang echo off the walls of the alley which was accompanied by a bright flash. I stopped dead and stared into the alleyway. I was frozen in fear, ready to bolt if some creep came after me.

After a few minutes I realized that I had forgotten to breath and took a deep breath. I waited a little while longer, not wanting to turn my back on the infamous alley. My heart began to slow down as my mind rationalized that it was probably a firecracker or something like that. Without turning my back to the alleyway, I began inching away to get home.

“Help... please...” A male voice came from the forbidding darkness. I froze in place again. Someone was in there and they sounded very hurt. I should go help them, it was the right thing to do. What if it was some crazy guy pretending to be hurt to lure me in there? Should I take the chance and get mugged or worse, or leave someone to die alone and cold? Logic and morality debated in my head.

“Is... is anypony there? Please... Help...” The voice sounded weaker than before. What, did he say “anypony”? That’s not- FOCUS MIRANDA! I looked deeper into the alley and gulped. Here goes nothing.

I took a hesitant step into the alleyway and paused. Nothing had come after me yet. I took another step and another, straining to see into the darkness of the alley. Despite my best efforts to see into the darkness, I tripped over a solid mass and landed face first into the dirt pavement with a yelp. A moan told me that I had tripped over the person I was trying to help. There were worse ways to make a first impression I told myself as I got on my knees.

“Sorry sir, are you alright?” I asked and stuck my hand out to find him again. My fingers hit fur. Did this guy have a dog with him or something? It was too dark to tell. I grabbed around him to find his arm and only finding a furry and well muscled thing. Finally I found something of an arm and tried to help this big guy up. He seemed to be somewhat conscious, for he did his best to help me get him up.

Boy was he tall and muscled! He was crouched down something awful with his arm slung over me. I felt like I was going to break with him putting all his weight on me like that. I managed to pull us out of the alleyway and to the other side of the street somehow though. I let him fall to a heap and bent over to try and catch my breath under a street lamp. I needed to try to get some more meat on my bones.

“Hey man, are you-” my voice caught in my throat when I looked at him. It was all I could do not to scream. He was some red horse, person thingy! What did they call them, furries? Dear God I just pulled a furry out of the Corner 13 Alleyway! I fell on my ass and scrambled away from him as best I could, never taking my eyes off of him. What do I do? What was he? Is he some escaped government experiment? Should I call for help? I just stared at him and he laid there, barely able to move.

I almost got up and ran away till I suddenly felt sorry for him. This poor guy was naked in the middle of the city and he looked pretty beat up too. Horse thing or not, he needed help. I looked up to the sky, as if asking the stars if what I was about to do was a good idea. They twinkled the same as they always did, not a care in the world. Thank God that very few cars passed by this part of town.

I cautiously walked back over to him, ready to make a run for it encase he turned hostile. His eyes weakly and just barely opened, green irises begging for help. I bit my lip.

“Alright big guy, I’m going to need you help me as best as you can.” I said with a slight shake in my voice. “You’re a lot bigger than me. I don't want us both getting hurt.” He blinked and grunted weakly. I’ll take that as a yes I guess. I grabbed his... arm and helped him up, us both struggling to get him upright to that I could carry him to my apartment. I know I should be taking him to a hospital or vet or something, but honestly what am I suppose to tell them? Here’s this horse guy that I found in an alleyway. See if you can patch him up and not kill him in fright? Somehow I didn’t think that would go over well.

The apartment building was only a few blocks away, but that is a long way considering I had a horse on my shoulders. At a speed that would make a snail dizzy, we made it to the front door with no trouble. Being in the rough part of town made it easy to smuggle in a pony person when everyone is avoiding seeing a crime or something. I propped him against the door frame and hastily opened the door, not wanting to wait for our luck to take a turn and get discovered with a naked furry. The door creaked open louder than I had hoped it would. Why is that when you are trying to be quiet every sound seems to be one thousand times louder than it really is? I pulled Pony Boy into the building and then immediately regretted having an apartment on the top floor of a five story building. I looked at the elevator and sure enough the damned thing was still broken from last summer. Damned cheap place...

“Hey buddy, you awake?” I asked the big red guy draped over my. He nodded, a good sign that he was gaining more sense about himself. “Alright,” I said, “We’re going to need to go up the stairs. We need to be really quiet.” He nodded again. I looked at the stairs and sighed heavily. This is what you get for getting involved Miranda. Number one rule in the city, don’t get involved. What do you do? You get involved and end up having to carry Pony Boy up a five story apartment building filled with people. Self scolding done, I started the climb up the stairs.

The sound of hooves and labored feet on concrete stairs is a very loud sound. I thought we had been caught a couple of times, but luckily we made it to the top floor where it was just me. The big guy looked like he was about to pass out when I finally got my key out and unlocked the door. Two steps in and we both fell over, too exhausted to go any further. I reached up a leg and kicked the door closed, finally safe in my home. I just laid on the dirty carpet, my whole body aching. Damn my tininess.

“Thank.. thank you...” I heard Pony Boy say.

“No problem. What’s your name?”

“Big... Mac... Big Macintosh...” He said and finally passed out. Odd name. Wasn't Macintosh the name of a computer company? No an apple, I remember that my grandmother had a Macintosh apple tree. I think it was a computer company too. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Sleep weighed heavily on my body despite not being in bed. I soon fell asleep remembering eating tart apples when I was a child.

-_-_-

I awoke to the sound of a scream, a man’s scream to be exact. Now what was a man doing in my- Oh yeah... Pony Boy. I looked up to see Big Macintosh curled in a corner looking like a cornered animal.

“WHERE AM I? WHAT ARE YOU! WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE HANDS!” He yelled, staring at me with big scared eyes like my tiny self was going to eat this giant horse person thing in front of me. My first instinct was to shut him up. I may be the only person on the first floor, but there were other people people below us, specifically a grouchy old man.

“Hey, calm down.” I said calmly and inched forward. “No one’s going to hurt you. You’re fine... I just need you to calm down.” He looked me in the eyes and actually calmed down. He still looked like he was panicking, but at least he wasn’t shouting anymore. “Good, now let’s just- wait... did you ask why you have hands?”

“E-eeyup... I...” He looked down at his hands like they were spiders glued onto his body. Big guy looked like he was about to start screaming again.

“Whoa, hold on there. Let’s not panic, ok?” He looked at me again and nodded. I held out my hand to him, “Let’s go into the kitchen. I’ll make us something to eat and then we can figure this thing out, ok?” I kept eyes contact with him and tried my best not to look threatening. It must have worked because he hesitantly placed his hand in mine and allowed me to help him up. I knew he was tall when I first carried him in, but this was ridiculous! He must have been almost seven feet tall not being hunched over onto my barely five foot tall body! How the hell did I get this big guy here? I’d marvel over that later, right now I had a furry about to go into a mental break down.

I slowly led him toward the small kitchen, Big Macintosh looking like he wasn’t quite sure how it was he was walking. I sat him down in a hair and went to the cabinet beside the refrigerator and pulled out a loaf of bread then got out the tub of butter, honey, cinnamon and sugar. I popped the four slices of bread in the toaster. I sat down next to Big Macintosh as he stared at his hands looking like he was going to cry.

“I don’ get it...” He said, and for the first time I realized he had a southern drawl. “I just don' get it. I was bucking and now I’m here in Celestia knows where...” He muttered then looked up at me. “What in the name of the sun and moon am I?”

“Well... I...” I wasn’t sure what to say to him. “I want to call you a furry, but that’s what you call those fake have human half animal things.” I said and scratched the back of my head. “there’s a technical term for it... Anthro... Anthropomorphic? I think that’s it’s called...” I was met with a blank stare. I sighed, “I don’t know what you are sweetheart, but here you are. I’m guessing you weren’t... this originally.”

“Nnope...”

“So you were an animal before this?” I asked. He looked at me funny, like I had grown a second head.

“Animal? No I wasn’t no animal! I was a farm worker! Buckin’ apples on the family farm!” He said with a little desperation. I didn’t know what to say. An awkward silence fell between us before the toaster popped. I quickly pulled down two plates and made the toast with the butter and other toppings. I set one down in front of me and one in front of him. He stared at it, then me, then finally took a bite out of it. he seemed to like it and quickly ate the rest. I slide my plate over to him and he ate that too.

“Thanks...” he said and looked at the two empty plates. “I guess I’ll be going then...” He said and began to sit up. I placed a hand on him to stop him. He looked at me with confusion.

“I... I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I started. “You... you aren’t exactly something people will be use to...” I said. Big Macintosh gave me a look asking me to continue. I gulped. “Look... Humans are not the nicest of creatures when it comes to the unknown. There is a very good chance you are going to be shot on sight by the first person who sees you.”

“Are you saying they will kill me?” He asked, sounding scared. I nodded. That’s when the big guy lost it. He fell to his knees and just started bawling, calling out for someone called Granny Smith, apologizing to a whole slew of names who seemed to be whimsical combinations of foods and colors and other things. I looked at the clock. I could afford to miss class today and I had a day off of work too. I sled off of my chair and wrapped my arms as best I could around his broad and muscular chest. He pulled my in close as a response and just cried into my shoulders, his horse head oddly fitting perfectly into the crook of my neck. I shushed in his ear and rocked him gently back and forth. It had been years since I had been close to anyone. I felt myself starting to cry.

I didn’t know what Big Macintosh was, where he came from, or who he was. I knew one thing though, I was going to do everything in my power to help him.