Being Brave part II

"Thank you ever so much for helping me prepare these newborn bunnies for the annual census." Said Fluttershy.

"Well I'm happy help." Replied Cory as he bottle fed a baby bunny. "After all it is a good calming mechanism for a day like today."

The progress of Cory's basic skills, both intellectual and physical had increased rapidly in the coming weeks. His friends could see that, as well as himself. He was now getting good grades on his assignments, didn't choke on math problems, and was never hesitant to talk it out whenever he was in a situation.

He was also becoming somewhat of a celebrity around Equestria. His artwork was being commissioned by cities and towns all over. Ponyville itself was decorated with sculptures, paintings and playgrounds that really stood out above the rest, leaving anypony to wonder how one individual could finish something so detailed in such a short amount of time.

But today was a special one for him. It was today he would travel to the Appleoosa state fair where they would erect a special statue made by him to mark the anniversary of the truce between the buffalo and earth ponies. In addition, he was to give his first public speech in front of a crowd of spectators since the incident at town hall. However, he and his friends had found a way to help him conquer his anxiety. After going through and editing his speech, he would divide it into different sections, stating each to a different friend. Then he would combine two of them and speak to two friends. Then, after combining four of them, he would speak to four friends. This process would go on until he eventually found himself talking to sixteen residents, a zebra and a dragon. He was now becoming much less insecure with lecturing to a group of ponies.

Cory had now decided to calm his nerves before he caught the train by tending to newborn baby bunnies with Fluttershy behind her cottage. As he stared at these little balls of fluff, and cradled them in his arms, he knew each one had their whole life ahead of them, pure enough to take on all the necessary challenges that lay ahead. Then as he let each one run over to it's parents, and watched the two embrace in a big hug, he couldn't help but wish he had that kind of security and love when he was young. At that moment, the father rabbit tugged Cory by his pants and gave him a carrot.

"Aww. His dad's trying to say thank you." Said Fluttershy.

Cory promptly took the carrot and stuffed it in his pocket as a tear went down his eye.

"Howdy Cory!" Said Applejack as she and Big Mac entered the scene. "We packed a few necessities for you and yer big day."

Just as she stated, Big Mac was seen carrying a cart of suitcases from the farm.

"Thanks." Said Cory. He was always fascinated with how Big Mac was able to pull three times his body size without breaking a sweat.

"So you ready to hop aboard the train with us?"

Cory nodded, and off they went, with Cory on Applejacks back.

The Ponyville train station was all hustling and bustling with it's daily commutes. One would arrive from Fillydelphia, another to Los Pegasus. Applejack and Cory had just made it on time to meet up with Granny Smith, Applebloom and Twilight, who were waiting to board. To his left he could see his newly made statue being carefully loaded in the back by two husky stallions. It was a large sculpture of a bison in Cherokee attire shaking hands with an earth pony in western garb. To make the two distinct, he made the earth pony out of scrap metal, twisted iron pipes and spray paint, and the bison out of fallen branches, animal bones and rock powder.

"Thanks for helping me pack some stuff for the trip." Said Cory as he hopped off Applejack's back.

"Aint nothin to it." Replied Granny Smith. "We the Apple Family have been takin part of the Appleoosa State Fair ever since that town sprung up over night."

"Plus I'm sure we're gonna win 1st prize in the fair's bakin exhibition." Added Applebloom.

"Now don't get your hopes up sis." Warned Applejack "We're neck and neck with some pretty stiff competition this year."

"Eeyup." Replied Big Mac.

"Also, thanks Twilight for coming over to support me with some last minute rehearsing." Said Cory

"Always glad to help my student right before his big day." Said Twilight.

"ALLLLLL ABOARD!!" cried the conductor.

Everyone promptly hopped on board as the train spewed out its steam. With the click of the wheels and the release of the breaks, they were off. It was then that Cory found himself in first class, where the caterers had set up a special sleeping quarters for him and Twilight. With it's lush color scheme of magenta and purple and every finely crafted piece of furniture neatly put together, it was hard for him to tell he was even on a train. He found Twilight quietly staring out the window on a softly cushioned chair, highlighting a few key points of his speech. Cory cleared his throat as this caught her attention. The two sat down as they reviewed all the parts he needed work on, which included a few vocal exercises, a stretching of the old leg and the usage of small cardboard cutouts of ponies for practice. After an 2-3 hours of preparation, Cory decided it was time for a break.

"Twilight, mind if I check on The Apple Family?" He asked.

"I don't see why not." Replied Twilight.

Cory smiled as he left the room and searched through the passenger seats. It was there he found The Apple Family in a special compartment of the train thus checking the heat temperature on their finely crafted baking produce. Though Big Mac tried to be obedient, he couldn't help but try to taste test a few sample, to which Applejack snapped him out of it.

"So how's the speech comin along Cory?" Asked Applebloom upon noticing him.

"Well, after one more proofread I think I'll be good." He replied.

"That's great news." Said Applejack while trying to restrain Big Mac. "Besides, we need all the support we can get as well. Least there's no issues, like the last entry."

"What do you mean?" Asked Cory.

"Well, couple months before you arrived, there was this uhh...bat problem we had. They were causin a bit of a ruckus gobblin up our orchard and goin after our prized apple. The real trouble was getting Fluttershy to round em up. You know how sensitive she is with animals. Eventually we got her to do the stare, but it backfired and made her into a vampire pony. Finally I decided to sacrifice that big apple to save my friend and decided to follow her proposal of building a bat sanctuary at the edge of the farm. But that's all in the past now and what's more, they've helping us with bigger, faster growing trees, which is where we got most of this pastry produce from."

Cory took a moment to look at their entry. The dozens of edible items, which included apple fritters, apple cobblers, appie pies, and anything else in the apple department, looked and smelled so mouth watering. It's no wonder Big Mac had trouble steering away from it. Everything was so finely crafted, as if it popped out of a baking magazine.

"This is also my first Appleoosa state fair." Added Applebloom. "But it's gonna be much more fun with you tagging along."

She then hugged him by the leg, almost as if he were a big brother.

"Now I think y'all better get some shut eye." Said Granny Smith. "We got a big day ahead of us."

Everyone nodded as they walked to their sleeping quarters. Night blanketed the sky as the train hissed and chugged its way across the tracks. Cory took a moment to look out and see for any signs of coyotes and tumbleweeds. But all he could see were the stars and silhouettes of any passing rock formations.

"Cory." Said Twilight as she tapped him on the back. "It's time for bed."

He nodded as he lay down on the cushioned passenger seats.

"What are you sleeping there for?" Chuckled Twilight. "They already made a room for us."

"For us?" Cory asked as he got up with a puzzled look. "But It'll be kind of weird to have me sleeping with my teacher."

"Oh Cory." Chucked Twilight. "Don't you worry. We might be in the same room, but they made two separate beds for us."

She escorted him to the back end of the car and opened a set of silk robes to reveal a small yet welcoming bedroom with two large beds serving as the centerpiece. Though it seemed strange to sleep next to another pony, it was also reassuring that he was sleeping next to somepony he could trust.

"Remember Cory." said Twilight. "If tomorrow you get stressed in the middle of your speech, just pause for three seconds and imagine you were talking to your friends."

Then she blew out the lantern on the night stand and the two of them turned in for the night.