A Clean Slate

We awoke to Rarity opening the door.

"Is this how I am to expect to find you every morning Sweetie Belle?" Rarity said with a warm smile.

"She was just scared last night and came in here to ask if she could sleep with me because she would feel safe." I told her.

"It's quite alright, darling. I was just having some fun." She giggled. "Now Sweetie, it's time for school come on now."

"Can Mike walk us there? In case there are anymore Diamond Dogs, he can defend us." Sweetie asked.

"If it is no trouble to Michael, I don't see why not." Rarity said as she turned to me. "Is that alright with you?"

"Of course. Just let me change and we'll be on our way." I replied.

We went outside and found that Apple Bloom was waiting for us. We started to talk an walk our way to Scootaloo's house. When we arrived she came out the door before we got in front of her door. We continued on our way to the school house. As we were walking I noticed Scootaloo was limping a little bit. So I decided to ask her about it because it looked a little suspicious.

"Oh that? I -uh, I slept wrong and my leg is a little stiff. It'll wear off in a little while." She stated.

I didn't want to press the matter more while her friends were around. We came up to a large school house where there were a couple dozen fillies and colts running around playing before school started. Then Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"Aww, you guys. I forgot today was show and tell and I didn't bring anything." Sweetie said with a frown.

The other two said that they had forgotten too and that they were sure to get bad marks for today.

"Hey, what if I was your show and tell project?" I asked.

"Are ya sure?" Asked Apple Bloom.

"Yeah, we don't wanna be a bother to you." Scootaloo said.

"It's alright. This could be fun." I said as I started walking up to the school.

The yard had cleared as during out talk they had all went inside. We made our way inside and the girls told me to wait outside until it was their turn. I agreed and sat on a bench listening to each child present there project. A moment later Sweetie Belle opened the door and motioned for me to come in. I entered and stood at the front. All the foals faces were plastered with and 'O' look as they were amazed with what they were seeing.

"Hi everypony! This is Mike, he's a human from Earth and he's nice and funny and he's even stronger than a Diamond Dog!" Sweetie Belle started. "He saved us from one yesterday when he was trying to help us get our cutie marks."

They continued to show me off and tell them about things from Earth that were different. This went on until Ms. Cheerilee announced recess. AS the students made their way outside and Cheerilee asked me to stay and talk. I nodded and took a seat on top of a desk and we began.

"I just want to make one thing perfectly clear to you. If you hurt any of these kids I will make sure it is the last thing you will ever do." She said with a very serious and threatening look on her face.

"Believe me, I'm not that kind of person. I have no reason to hurt anyone without reason. Everypony I've met so far has been more welcoming of a newcomer than anyone would be from my world. What I told the kids is just some of the good things we have, but the truth is that there a serious amounts of violent, disgusting, and hurtful people from my world. There are people in a continent called Africa that kidnap people to be their slaves and kill the ones that don't comply." I explained.

I went on to explain more of the horrors in my world, and also of some of the great things it has to offer.

"Oh my, you're not from this Africa place are you? It sounds terrible. Why would anyone do that to another person?" Cheerilee said as she raised a hoof to her mouth.

"Oh no, I'm from North America. There are some mean people there, but most people are just lazy and fat and pay others to do their work." I said.

"Well that's a relief," She said, "Thank you for talking with me and clarifying things for me. You are free to go out now."

I thanked her and went outside only to bombarded by an army of screaming foals. All their words ran together. I couldn't think and it was a little frustrating. Luckily the girls came to my rescue and settle them all down. I spent the next 20 minutes talking more about my world and playing with the class. Like giving them piggyback rides and tossing them in the air and catching them. At one point they wanted to test how strong I was so as many as possible jumped on me and I stomped around the playground acting like a monster with nearly the entire class holding on to me. Cheerilee came out and called everypony back inside to finish the day.

We returned to the class and sat down for the rest of the class. Being that it was a couple more hours my body took it upon itself to take a nap. I awoke with three small hooves prodding my leg. That class had ended and it was time to leave. The girls packed up and we waved goodbye to Ms. Cheerilee. We then went on to drop all the girls off at their homes. Apple Bloom was dropped off first and then we dropped of Sweetie Belle. Finally now that the other girls were gone I could ask Scootaloo about her limp and swollen left rear leg.

"Scootaloo? I have a question. Why are you still limping? I thought you said you slept on your leg wrong and that it would war off. Is there anything you want to say to me about your uncle?" I asked with concern in my voice.

"What? N-no, I'm fine. I guess it was just a bad position and I'll need to sleep in a different position tonight to help it." She sputtered.

I knew she was lying and that there was something going on a home and i was going to figure it out one way or another.

"Scootaloo. I want you to know that if your uncle ever hurts you or touches you in a way you don't like you can come right to me or any other adult for help." I said as I knelt down and rubbed her back.

"... Okay..." She said as she rose her head. "Thank you, but my uncle doesn't beat me or touch me and if he did I would tell you."

I hugged her as we reached her home. I told her goodbye and made my way to Twilight's to see about getting a job as a repair man or anything similar. I knocked on the door and was greeted by Spike who led me to where Twilight was studying. Twilight noticed us and motioned for Spike to leave.

"Hello Michael, it's nice to see you. Is there something you needed?" She asked as she magically closed her book and walked up to me.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could bring me to meet Brick Walle to see about a job." I said.

"Oh course. Spike! I'm taking Michael to go meet with Brick Walle to see if he can get a job!" She shouted to the kitchen.

"Okay Twilight. I'm going to go see Rarity." He shouted back.

We made our way throughout the town and I was greeted repeatedly by everypony. We stopped in front of a large store and walked inside. A large stallion, with a brown coat and brick red mane was being a counter. I guessed that this was Brick Walle.

"Hello Mr. Walle, I was wondering if you had a moment to speak with my friend here?" Twilight asked as she walked up to the counter.

"Well, of course Miss Twilight. What did you need?" Brick replied in a gruff, seasoned voice.

"I wanted to ask if there was a way you could give Michael a job. He did the same thing back where he was from and I think this would be perfect for him." Twilight said.

"Hmm, I don't know. I would have to see in in action. There just so happens to be a job I was about to go do. I was asked to repair Miss Fluttershy's roof. If he can come with me I'll watch him work and we'll go from there." Brick said as he scratched his five 'o clock shadow.

"Uh, about that. It was me that did that to Fluttershy's roof. I fell through it when I landed here." I said with a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of my head. "So it's the least I could do for her after she saved me."

"So that was you huh? Well then I think we best be on our way to repay her." Brick said.

We said goodbye to Twilight and made our way to Fluttershy's cottage. We arrived and were greeted by her and her animals. We told her what we were going to and I too this time to apologize for what happened. She told me not to worry about it and that she was at least happy I landed in her house instead of in a remote location where I might not have made it.

Brick and I began work on her room. With his direction and my precision he had replaced to entire room in about six hours. Fluttershy offered us a nice meal and some water. She thanked us and complemented our work. Brick and I made our made our way back to his shop. He agreed that I was great and I got the job. He payed me a total of 240 bits and told me how he goes about paying.

"Now, you get 20 bits and hour for working here and you get 60% of half of each job. This job was 400 bits so half of it is 200 and 60% is 120. How does that sound?" He asked after explaining.

"That sounds a hell of a lot better than where I'm from. Not even my boss would get a deal like that. If bits work similarly to dollars then what I used to make was equal to about 10 bits an hour with no bonus. And if I worked overtime we didn't get paid well. I would work 60 hours a week and would only end up with between 550 to 600 bits."

"Well that sounds like a huge load of horse shit! I would never treat my workers like that, especially as one as good as you. This sounds like it'll be a change of pace for you." Brick said.

I thanked him again and made my way back to Rarity's. As walked up I saw Spike coming out. I told him the good news, he congratulated me and went on he way. I walked inside and said hello to Rarity I told her I got a job and that within a few days should be able to move out to a small house but still be close by. It was then that Sweetie Belle piped up.

"What?! You're leaving?! That means we wont be able to play or go on adventures anymore!" She cried.

"Don't worry I'll be a short walk away and if Rarity says it's okay, you can come over anytime." I said as knelt down and patted her head.

She jumped up into my arms and hugged me tight. She made me promise her I would still see her. I did and asked her if I was allowed to breathe. She let go, blushed, and apologized. We all sat down and ate dinner. i wasn't too hungry so I just had a snack. We all sat down a watched a little bit of television then we all went to bed. Tomorrow would mark my first real day of work.

A/N: This was a great chapter for me. I think this may be it for the rapid release of chapters, as I had the story mostly outlined up until this part. So maybe every day or two I'll put up another chapter. Thanks for the support. I never expected this ind of reaction this fast.