Decisions

I got up early, very early; the sun was still only beginning to creep its way over the horizon.  My bed was a better alternative than the floor I was used to, so I slept soundly. I got up and put on my shaggy clothes. Making my way to the kitchen I paid little attention to my surroundings; I didn’t care too much for them, it wasn’t my home anyway. I grabbed a decent breakfast and set out before Twilight woke. I needed to think.

I opened the door and was met with the pleasant surprise of the streets being empty. I picked a random direction and started to mechanically walk again, a sure sign that I was about to do some deep thinking.

“What am I going to do here?” I began. “I’m obviously out of place, and my presence here doesn’t seem to be too accepted, even my “friends” don’t seem to really like me. Should I just pack up and go? There’s a whole world out there, and who knows, I might actually find a place where I belong.”

I sighed as I realized how heavily these thoughts impacted me. I have always wanted to be a part of something for as long as I can remember. I wanted to have a world where I can make a difference in, and now that I have it, it seems that the world doesn’t want me as much as I want it. I started to pay attention to where I was going and realized that I ended up in the same park from yesterday. I climbed the same hill and took a seat.

“What am I going to do with myself?”  I asked again. I had always dreamed of getting to answer these problems, but never expected to actually have to do so; now that I needed to deal with them, I was lost. “What are my options? I could run, like I always have, searching for a paradise that I hope would be given to me on a silver platter, or I could stay and fight for acceptance.” I liked that idea. Paradise was here, right in front of me. I just had to earn it. “Nothing good ever comes easy right? So why should this?” I reasoned.

“I *am** going to fight for this. I’ve ran all of my life and it’s time I fight back. I’m going to fight for my acceptance.” I was motivated now, something that rarely occurred back in my blank hell and I decided that I was going to take full advantage of it. “I will make the townsfolk accept me, I will make my friends respect me, make them actually see me as a friend.*”

I finished my little motivational speech and got up. The sun was now warming the town and I set off to make myself useful. I decided that the best way for me to gain acceptance, was to help around town in hopes of them seeing me as being useful and friendly. I walked into what I assumed was the center of the town and waited, observing. I took painful notice of how some of the residents that moved past me eyed me nervously; most attempted to avoid me completely and walked around me. Eventually I found my first target and maneuvered toward them, parting a wave of citizens that stepped out of my way, mostly out of fear.

Once the large, brown individual with a scruffy beard and a blue cap that covered his dark brown hair noticed that I was walking toward him, his movements became slightly shaky and erratic; his fear became obvious as he started to slightly perspire. He was setting up a stand to sell cherries and without wings or a horn he seemed to be having trouble setting up the tall stand.

“May…may I help you?” he questioned, his deep voice unnaturally shaky.

“No, but I think I may help you.” I replied, ignoring the fact that he was probably utterly terrified.

I gripped one of the poles that was used as a support for the stand’s fabric roof, and using my height advantage lifted it up and held it in place.

“Go ahead and secure it.” I said, voice strained under the resistance that the fabric put up against the pole.

“Uh, thanks.” He replied, securing the pole quickly.

“No problem, happy to help.” I replied, brushing off my hands and setting out to find someone else I could help out.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I walked away. The sheer surprise and confusion on his face was great. Walking through town I took the edges of the streets, hoping that this way I would be less of an issue for the townsfolk to deal with.  While scanning the streets for someone else in need of assistance, I took the time to observe the residents.

Oddly enough I was dead wrong about everyone. They weren’t as hostile as I thought they were, in fact they were quite the opposite. They greeted each other with genuine smiles, some offered minor assistance to others before I could get there, and others happily went about completing their tasks for the day. The town was actually happy, and this motivated me further. I wanted to be a part of it more than ever now.

My quest brought me to a construction site. I overheard what appeared to be the manager say something about a shortage of workers and watched intently as he advised caution to a few men carrying a heavy load. He was a bit freaked out by my presence and looked intently at his clipboard in hopes of not having to interact or acknowledge me. I was lucky. Once he dropped his watchful gaze over the workers, their shared heavy load began to tip dangerously toward one side.

“WATCH OUT!” I yelled as I vaulted the protective barrier and ran toward the line of workers to help.

“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” yelled the manager behind me.

I ignored him and ran toward the line nonetheless. Genuine fear filled the eyes of the workers I ran toward, but they were losing balance quickly and couldn’t react in any way but stare.

“Gotcha!” I exclaimed.

I wasn’t the strongest one there, not by far, but I was definitely fit enough to balance out the long metal support beam they were carrying. If it had fallen its weight might have partially crushed someone.

“Where to fellas?” I asked, hoping that they would be thankful for my help and look past the fact that I was different.

“Thanks for the save mate.” One said.

“Yeah, good catch.” Another replied.

“We owe you one.” The third one replied.

I followed them to their destination and helped place the support beam into place. I had earned their respect. A grateful look, one that saw me as an equal, replaced the fearful stare from before. It was a slow start, but I noticed that my actions didn’t go unnoticed. My sudden outburst and yelling grabbed the attention of a few pedestrians and they had witnessed my actions, most smiled.

“Glad I can help.” I replied, parting with them and shooting the manager a smug grin as I walked by. He pulled his hard hat down slightly, cleared his throat, and mumbled something along the lines of “thanks.”

I was making a difference now, and I even noticed a few townsfolk start talking about me in hushed tones, shooting quick glances at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I spent the majority of the day doing small tasks and helping around town. Little things like helping the elder citizens with heavy bags, fixing a broken toy for kid who seemed near tears, and small bits of manual labor all brought back positive feedback.

Eventually I stumbled upon Rumble and took his earlier offer of a tour. Seeing me follow the energetic, cute, grey kid around brought mixed reactions among the residents, but I still managed to have a good time. He showed me all sorts of places, most consisted of things that someone his age would find interesting, but I was exploring the town nonetheless and improved my overall image, so it didn’t matter.

As they day progressed and shifted to night, I noticed a huge decrease in the amount of residents who tried to avoid me; some even returned my smile. Once it was late, I went …home. Man it was good to say that.

“There you are. What have you been up to all day?” Twilight questioned, she seemed awfully wary of my random disappearance and although she didn’t show it, I knew it was because she still thought I was dangerous.

“I thought I’d make a good impression on the town. Since I’m going to stay here, with your permission that is, I might as well show the townsfolk they have nothing to fear. I went around helping anyone that looked like they needed it, most people actually seemed to like me by the time I came home.”  as I explained I tried to emphasize how tired I looked in hopes that I would be more believable.

To my surprise her attitude toward me changed drastically. Her questioning and tensed face relaxed, a smile crawled its way onto her lips.

“Good to know you’re trying to fit in.” she said.

It was late and Twilight decided to read a book, leaving me to grab a quick lunch and go to bed. As I lay in bed I revisited my thoughts and actions. “I made some important progress today.” I concluded. I also decided that I’d better start getting to know my friends better as well. Taking up Rarity’s offer seemed like a good place to start. With a plan for tomorrow set, I went to sleep content.

I’ve made the right, Decisions.