Being Brave Part I

"CORY!" shouted Applebloom as she walked upstairs. "Hope ya don't mind but Rarity left this bundle of clothing last night at our doorstep. She said it was for her new driver n all so I'm assumin it was you. Anyway, I'm gonna leave these up at the edge of yer door n...gasp"

Her mouth gaped open at the most elaborate sculpture she'd seen. It was an 8-10 foot masterpiece of wood, metal, nuts, bolts, paint and other assorted building material. The pieces came together to form a colossal structure of what appeared to be a large, surreal tree. Surrounding it we're large roots where one of them took on the shape of Granny Smith. the trunk like Big Mac, and the leaves and apples in the shape of Applebloom herself. To top it all off, a life size figurine of Applejack was seen about to kick the trunk with her back legs. Every bit was intricately and painstakingly detailed, with every bark, every socket, every plank of wood carved and fit to proportion. And there, on the left side of the statue, laid the artist himself, asleep in a spiral of exhaustion.

"APPLEJACK!!" Shouted Applebloom. "APPLEJACK!! you really gotta see this! Bring everypony else too!"

"What in tarnation are you talking about?" asked Applejack as she, Granny Smith and Big Mac followed her upstairs.

"If this is about whether we should move that dresser or not, forget it. I aint putting up no more o that gasp"

Applejack and the rest of the family stood with their eyes wide open and jaws dropped as they stared at Cory's masterpiece. He woke up to the sight of them with his back leaning against the trunk.

"Cory." Said Applejack. "Did you make this?"

"I'm so sorry." Pleaded Cory as he went to his knees. "I didn't mean to use your stuff. Please don't hurt me. I..."

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." She responded. "I didn't know you we're so talented."

"Sure captures that Apple Family spirit don't it?" Said Granny Smith.

"Eeyup." replied Big Mac.

Cory looked up with a surprised look as the Apple Family took a closer look at it. With the exception of his friends, he had never received a compliment for his work before. He usually had to take down his works the moment he completed them, otherwise the principal would find out and raise holy hell on him.

"Cory?" asked Applebloom, "Mind if we use this next time we sell our produce?"

He thought for a moment as he got to his feet. Not only we're they admiring his work, but also asking to use it for something, as if it had a purpose. After a few seconds of thought processing, he shook his head with approval.

"Big Mac?" Said Applejack, "Move this piece of art downstairs."

"Eeyup." replied Big Mac and proceeded to drag the artwork through the basement door and out into the front yard.

"Now you should be gettin dressed for your welcome party today." Said Granny Smith as she walked towards the stairs.

"But I don't have a lot of clothes." Cory replied

"Well ya do now." replied Applejack as she pointed her hoof towards the bundle of clothing.

While everypony else trotted back downstairs, Cory opened up the packaging. Inside we're about 2-3 dozen shirts, pairs of pants, socks, underwear a pair of polished shoes and other apparel. On top of the pile lied a note. He picked it up and opened it. It read: To my very special client, Hugs and Kisses, Rarity. After a quick wash, bite, and slip on of clothing, he was ready to go.

The Ponyville Park was laid out with ribbons, tables, balloons and the occasional assortment of baked goods. In addition, it seemed as though ponies from Manehattan to Las Pegasus was present at the time. Apparently this was a very big deal. Not only was a new species about reside in Equestria, but a species from a different world.

The Apple Family approached the park with Cory walking behind them. A few banners read: Welcome Cory and Glad to have you here in big shiny letters. No one had ever given him a party before. Usually, whenever his parents did a party related occasion for him, they would just slap a crusty pop tart on a dirty old plate and walk away. Now he was going to be greeted by almost every resident in Equestria. This was definitely a giant change in his life.

"SURPRISE!!" shouted Everypony. This clearly startled him as his heart went into his throat. Cory was now front and center of all the attention as practically all of Ponyville surrounded him once more with curiosity. In front of him was Pinkie Pie presenting what looked like an old jukebox covered in pink paint. She turned it on and began to sing a small friendly jingle.

And out of the oven popped a finely crafted cupcake right into Cory's hands. Moments later, a large array of confetti and spewed out into the air and gently, yet erratically, fluttered to the ground. Cory was so awestruck and touched at such a warm welcome, he felt like his heart was about to burst, although he didn't show it.

"Well come on silly." Said Pinkie Pie. "Leeeets Party!!" and that's exactly what they did. The activities consisted of ring toss, water guns, photo booths (although he didn't really make any faces), pin the tail on the pony, a few pranks etc.

As the party continued on into the day, Cory passed the time picking up random pieces of confetti and streamers from the ground and carefully putting them in a pile on a nearby table. As soon as he collected them all, he started to sort them according to their hue and shading. Then he grabbed some sap from a nearby pine tree and started spreading it onto the table. From there, he started placing pieces of confetti based on their color and once again creating different shapes or forms based on what he saw, only this time, he was painting a landscape. First he gathered all the white streamers and shaped them into clouds. Then he took the blue confetti and turned it into what was clearly the sky. Next he added green and brown pieces for the landscape, a touch of yellow for a sun. and a hint of lime green and hazel for the twigs at the edge of the canvas. Just as he was about to add red for a bird...

"Hi Cory." said a voice that jumped him out of his concentration and onto the ground.

He looked to his right as he got back on his feet and saw what was clearly a purple unicorn with wings sprouting out of her ribs. On her thigh was a tattoo of what looked like a magenta star surrounded by 5 other smaller ones.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I startle you?" She asked.

He shook his head with a "no" gesture.

"Whew, thank goodness. Allow me introduce myself. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I..."

Cory immediately went down to his knees in a bowing position.

"Oh Cory." Chucked Twilight "You don't have to be that formal in front of me. All I need is a friendly hello like everypony else."

He stood up and quickly waved his hand and then sat back down next to the table, placing his concentration back on his work.

"Anyway, as I was saying" continued Twilight, "I once visited your world not to long ago, so your physical appearance is no oddity to me. In fact, I actually took the form of your species during my time there."

"You did?" asked Cory with eyes still fixed on the mosaic.

"Sure thing." she replied. pondered Twilight. "So if you ever need anything or in a predicament where you feel like you don't belong, I'm here to assist and make you feel more..." At that moment, she noticed the finely crafted mosaic he was creating.

"Wow! did you make that?" she asked

He bowed his head down and nodded.

"Is that made out of confetti and streamers?"

He nodded again.

"Wow! That is one of the most beautiful works of art I ever laid eyes on," She commented "and a perfect item for my letter."

"Letter?" he asked meekly.

"Yep! You see," continued Twilight, "our land of Equestria is ruled by two powerful, yet pure of heart sisters: Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, and as a newly appointed princess, I believe it its my duty to let them know about your presence here, not to mention the fact that I encountered your kind before. Does that seem alright to you?"

Cory thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Excellent." she responded. "Spike, take a letter." From out of nowhere appeared what looked like a small purple, bipedal lizard with green scales holding a quill and a scroll in his hands. Cory jumped to his feet and scurried back about two yards at the sight of him.

"Hey easy." Said Spike as he approached him. "I don't bite...much."

"Who is that?" asked Cory with a small voice.

"Oh, Sorry, where are my manners?" replied Twilight. "This is Spike. My trustworthy, right hand baby dragon. And no need to worry. He's harmless. In fact, he's been alongside me in almost every adventure I've taken."

"Yeah, including the one in your world." Acknowledged Spike.

"We're you a human too?" asked Cory

"No, I was a dog." He replied.

"Spike, lets not get sidetracked." reminded Twilight. She cleared her throat and began to recite her letter.

DEAR PRINCESS CELESTIA

The town of Ponyville and I have recently been given the gracious offer of welcoming a new member of our community. The reason I bring this up to you is because he is not of our world. His name is Cory. He is a human, which is a creature from the world I once visited when retrieving my crown. While I can say he may not be the most talkative of his species, I believe it is my duty to continue sending you letters about his progress as well as what he knows about the other world. In addition, he seems to be highly skilled at creating artwork out of random makeshift items. I will be monitoring what he does from time to time and send you pictures of any other work of his.

Your faithful subject and fellow princess ally
Twilight Sparkle

Then she took a picture of him alongside his artwork, rolled it up along with the letter and gave it to Spike, who promptly blew it away with his dragon breath. At that moment Rarity approached him.

"Cory," Said Rarity "I've just noticed how you we're wearing one of my new petite ensembles I made for you."

"You did?" Cory asked.

"Why yes, and I must say, it looks most becoming on you."

"I've noticed the two of you have already become acquainted." Said Twilight.

"Acquainted?" Rarity responded. "He is my new chauffeur, and he has been more helpful than anypony else I've ever worked with."

"Hey!" Responded Spike "Nopony's a better helper for Rarity than me!"

"Now Spike." laughed Rarity as she approached Spike. "Nopony could possibly replace you my little spikey wikey. You're just as helpful as he is." This made Spike's eyes turn into hearts and collapse in his own sea of love. Twilight rolled her eyes, picked him up with magic and trotted away.

"Well Cory, shall we?" asked Rarity

"Shall we what?" Cory asked.

"Be escorted to market of course." She showed him to the carriage from before and quickly slipped on his drivers hat and coat. "I'm going to need a few groceries since my nourishment supply is running thin, and I'm in need of strong gentleman such as yourself to assist me with the bags, that is..." she cleared her throat. "...if it wouldn't be so much trouble."

"Sure." he responded quietly.

"Excellent. Onward." Proclaimed Rarity and off they went to Market.

"Hey Cory!!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "Don't forget your welcome cake!" She tossed a box over to him right onto his lap. Inside it was a finely decorated cake that read: "Welcome home new friend."