Baseballs and Bows

It had just been an ordinary day of practice for First Base at the field that day.

He stood there, a baseball bat in his front left hoof, a baseball in his right hoof, and a Red Hoofs baseball hat on his head. He steadied the bat in his hoof, then readied his arm for throwing up the baseball. Then, when ready, the baseball was thrown up, and with careful observation, First Base hit the ball straight on, leaving it streaming straight to the other end of Ponyville Field. He then picked up another baseball from the basket of them next to him, and the cycle repeated in a never-ending practice routine that went the whole day.

And normally, the hits would just hit the other side, as already pointed out. Every now and then, though, there would be a hit where First had hit it so hard, it flew over the wall and landed just outside of the field, where he would pick it up and put it back in the basket later.

So, yes, it started out like that. Today would be different, though, for our sports-loving hero.

First had been hitting the balls now for what seemed to be a solid hour. So far, not a single miss in hits or direction. Like usual, First Base thought. Yawn. He would have been excited years ago, when he first started this fantastic game, but now, it just seemed repetitive and dull and, dare he say it, boring.

To spice it up, First thought he could try and hit it out of the park, more than usual. So far, no luck there. Figures. However, being determined  as he was to bring some life to his life (not to mention a bit stubborn), First kept going, hoping to get it over that wall.

After another hour of frustration and a thousand bangs of the wall, he was close. First Base could feel it. He just needed to keep going.

Then, it happened. A thousand unlucky ones, and then the jackpot. First Base  watched it as it sailed up. This time, it didn't just skim the wall; it soared above it. First smiled with pride, watching his work fly down to the ground.

This moment was cut short, however, when the ball hit and a shriek was heard instead of the usual thump of the ground.

It sounded hurt, as if something had just seriously smashed it in the head. First Base's smile faded quickly and turned to worry and fear. Throwing off his baseball stuff, he ran like Robinson to the other side of the wall to see. What he saw immediately gave him churns in his stomach.

A yellow pony with red hair was lying on the ground, a foal, the ball lying nearby the head. The head was red not just from the hair, but sadly from blood as well. Its eyes were shut, probably unconscious

First gasped and ran over. He quickly tried to figure out what to do. Then, timidly, he tried shaking the pony to see if it would wake up. After a few tries, the foal began to stir.

"Hello? Can you speak?" First said. He tapped the foal again. "Can you hear me?"

The foal sat silent for a moment, then began to stand. As it stood, First began to make out the features of a filly on the foal's figure, most notably the large, stained, messy red bow in her hair. Oh, great, not only did I bash someone's head, I bashed a girl's head, First thought.

Then, the filly began to speak. She mumbled , though, and First could only make out, "A-applejack..." before falling back down.

First was filled with panic. He put it aside, though, enough to think. He then figured it out. There was an apple farm just outside of Ponyville, run by a cowgirl pony named Applejack.

He grabbed the filly as gently as he could and heaved her onto his back. Then, he ran as fast as he could to the apple farm and the one person who might help.

"Hmm.." the doctor said, writing something on his clipboard with his magically floating pencil. "A big cut on the head and a twisted ankle. That seems to be all that's happened to this poor mare."

First Base felt kind of relieved. Applejack, the orange pony next to him, was the exact opposite.

"Will she be okay, Doc?" she asked, sweating and shaking.

"Oh, definitely. She just needs bandages and a cast. No permanent damage or anything like that."

Well, that was good, First thought. At least he hadn't killed someone. He still felt bad, though. He wanted something exciting today to happen, but he never expected this, nor did he want it. But he guessed life was weird that way.

After the doctor left, Applejack walked over to First. "Thanks a bunch for bringin' Apple Bloom here, First," she said, a small smile on her face, "I'm glad to see someone like you was around to keep her from gettin' even more hurt than she already was."

First did a double take, then slumped. "Uh,yeah. Heh."

"Is everything ok there, sugarcube?"

"Oh, yeah. It's just..."

"What?"

"...um, nothing." First couldn't say what happened. Seeing Applejack all worried for her sister already gave him enough guilt and fear. Having her be angry at him would just make it worse.

"Ok, then," Applejack said, prancing out. "Ah'm off to go get some more work done. Can you watch over her fer me?"

"Uh, sure."

"Thanks." With that, she turned back around and went out.

First looked at the filly, and decided to sit down, trying to figure out how to tell Applejack exactly what occurred on the field that day.