Two Brothers

Broken Shard flicked his ears and shifted. He felt a presence above him, but hadn't bothered to open his weary eyes. He moved his head to the side and heard the presence move. He was warm and felt cushioning bellow him. Where was he again? He didn't care. There was a sound of movement followed by voices. Broken  Shard was too tired to recognize them. He felt himself drift off.

Broken woke up again. He gave off a soft exhale and finally decided to open his eyes oh so slowly. His vision was very blurry so he waited for it to adjust and clear up. He saw brown. The ceiling was brown and covered with gray cobwebs. He looked around and saw yellow. Yellow hay littered the ground. He looked down and saw navy blue. A blue blanket covered his body up to his shoulders. He lifted his head and suddenly felt light headed and drained of energy despite his long rest. He let his head fall back down. Where was he? Where was Light Speed? What happened last night? He couldn't remember anything after falling into the pool.

Eventually he had gained enough consciousness to realize that he was in a barn and resting opon layers of blankets on top   of hay. He tried to stand, and after stabling himself, looked around. He saw another nest of hay and blankets that lay empty next to his own. He assumed it belonged to Light Speed. Where was that air head? Broken Shard approached the barn door and slowly cracked it open. Instantly, the bright light of the sun blinded him, causing his dizziness to return for a moment.

Taking a second to recover, Broken opened the door fully and cautiously stepped outside. His eyes drifted along the landscape in awe. Everywhere he looked, there were beautiful and strong trees that stood out as shining trophies of the rolling hills before him. Broken pryed his eyes from the orchard and found a home to glance upon. It was a large house, capable of holding a decent sized family. He took a few steps forward and tried to find a sign of intelligent life. He had questions that needed answering by somepony.

Broken took his time as he looked upon the beauty of nature and inspected his surroundings. It wasn't long before he finally decided to walk up to the house and knock on the door. He neared the door and took a few hesitant moments before finally banging his hoof on the wood gently and stepping back. A while passed before he heard the faint tap of hoofsteps inside. The door handle twisted and opened.

There standing before him was a large stallion with an emotionless expression.

Broken Shard suddenly had no idea what to say. How was he supposed to talk about how he slept in the residents' barn and wanted to know why? So instead of having a normal interaction with somepony, he simply stared at the large stallion awkwardly while he stared back. It felt as if an eternity had passed before the stallion had turned around and shut the door.

Broken Shard was left there speechless and confused.  After a bit more pondering, he finally pushed himself to try again, this time with a plan of what he would say. However, before he could knock again, the door opened.

This time he was greeted by an orange mare with a light brown hat.

"Howdy there sleepy head! Mah brother told me you were out here so Ah'd like to welcome you to Sweet Apple Acres! Ah know you must have questions, but why don't you come on inside and everything will be explained. Your brother has already made himself at home." The mare spoke up.

Broken Shard felt a bit nervous but nodded his head anyways.

"Oh where are mah manners? Mah name's Applejack." She extended her hoof to him.

"Broken Shard." He shook her hoof and smiled.

Broken Shard followed Applejack into a large room inside the house that consisted of a few chairs and a table. Sitting around the table, Broken saw Light Speed and a filly playing cards. He also saw various pieces of candy in the middle that acted like poker chips.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Broken muttered under his breath.

"Oh hey there Broken Shard! I was beginning to wonder when you'd finally wake up." Light Speed waved at him.

Broken Shard walked around the table until he found a seat next to his brother.

"You're just in time to watch me beat this filly and win all the candy in this nasty game of Go Fish!" Light boasted.

"Uh uh! I'll be the one that wins." The filly argued.

"We shall see." Light squinted his eyes.

"Ahem. So now that Broken Shard here is awake, we can properly discuss a few things." Applejack said as she sat down. "Firstly, Broken Shard, this is mah sister Applebloom."

"Nice to meet'cha!" The filly waved.

Broken nodded at Applebloom before he looked at his brother, "Care to fill me in on what happened?"

"Weeelllll since you asked." Light Speed began. "After we fell into the pool, I had to rescue you from drowning like some awesome super hero. You breathed in lots of water from being so panicked, so I had to preform CPR. Which is actually something I'm certified in. That didn't really work, so I just jumped up and elbowed you in the gut. After your agonized wail of pain, you sprayed out a stream of water. And just like that, you fell unconscious again. Not a few moments later, a pony named Pinkie Pie came over to us. She said she could help and considering we didn't really have anywhere else to go, I hauled you onto my back and followed her. She took us to a different area of the party where we met Applejack and a few more of her friends. They all gave the two of us very strange looks. Which was understandable considering the way I was carrying you. Then Applejack took us here to let us sleep in her barn. And now here we are! So sorry for that bruise." Light smiled as he poked at the large purple spot on Broken Shard's flank.

Broken cringed and pushed Light's hoof away. He then glared at him.

"So first you drop me from the sky, drown me, and then pulverize my stomach. All in good fun, right Light Speed?" Broken asked angrily.

"Exactly! Well... Up until that pulverize part. That was when I saved your life." Light replied.

Broken Shard would've hit his brother if there weren't other ponies watching.

"Yeah..." Applejack added. "So after careful discussion with mah family, we've decided to help y'all build a house." She finished.

Broken Shard forgot his anger and blinked at the mare. Did he hear correctly?

"Light told you about our... Situation?" Broken felt as if he was about to melt away in embarrassment.

"Yeah, he did. Ah understand that might make you uncomfortable based on your reaction, but Ah'd like to help you if you'll let me." She replied.

Broken Shard silently cursed Light's loud mouth before letting out a sigh.

"It's... Really okay with you to do this? You don't even know us." Broken asked.

"Why not? We've got all the materials here on the farm, and it'd probably be easier then for y'all to save up bits." Applejack smiled.

"Th-that's quite kind of you." Broken Shard smiled.

"Got any threes?" Light asked.

"Go fish."

"Aw shucks, it's just the honest truth." Applejack scratched the back of her head.

"Do you have any sevens?"

"...Yeah..."

"So when do we start?" Broken Shard asked shyly.

"Any twos?"

"Go fish."

"I was thinking that today we could go out and visit your property. I can get all the measurements and we could start tomorrow." Applejack nodded.

"Got any... Fives?"

"Darnit!"

"That's what I'm talking about! The candy is mine!" Applebloom cheered.

Light Speed shrunk into his chair and crossed his hooves as he pouted.

It was evening when the three ponies returned to Sweet Apple Acres and the only thing that Broken Shard wanted to do was sleep. It seemed like a reasonable request considering he almost drowned the day before. Broken and Light headed to the barn after saying there goodnight wishes to Applejack.

"Light Speed?" Broken asked after a few moments.

"Yeah?"

"How do you think we'll be able to build this house?" Broken asked in uncertainty.

"That's easy! We use faith, trust, and saw dust!"

"That's not what I-" Broken sighed. "Never mind."

"Oh c'mon Broken. Have you forgotten that you're basically a master at building things? It's woven into your destiny for crying out loud."

"Yeah... But I've never taken on a challenge this big before. I don't know how it'll turn out." He sighed.

"We do have Applejack. She seemed pretty good at these things." Light remarked.

Broken Shard didn't answer.

"Don't... Don't you trust her?" Light questioned.

Broken Shard sighed. "It's hard for me to trust anypony Light. You know that." Broken opened the door to the barn.

Light Speed frowned and followed Broken into the barn.

The two of them settled into their makeshift beds and closed there eyes. Moments passed.

"Hey Broken?"

"Hm?"

"Are you still mad at me for all those things I put you through yesterday?"

"Yes."

"You know you love me."