Being Brave Part I

The next two weeks were very productive for Cory Agees. Here, he shifted back and forth between harvesting on the farm with Applejack and running errands with Rarity. What's more, he didn't even mind the daily hectic schedule that was presented to him each day. It was something to keep him occupied from the dark memories of the past. In addition, as his skills as a chauffeur and a stable boy grew, so did his keen eye for creativity. Whenever he found discarded items, an extra pile of leaves, a mound of dirt, or any other material that seemed out of place during one of his outings, he would use the extra time he had to turn that trash into a piece of art. Soon after, he expanded to other forms such as kinetics, sand art, pottery from mud, and even murals from trash heaps. By now, he had filled his new room with a wide assortment of small sculptures, paintings and mosaics, where the material would come from the most unconventional sources.

Eventually, everypony began to request a piece of artwork made solely by Cory. The Commissions ranged from small garden sculptures out of broken tools, to jewelery made out of wire and broken glass doorknobs. Soon after, all the pony folk had at least one item of his in their possession. You might say he had almost turned Ponyville into a widespread art exhibit. Though he was afraid to show it, he had never felt more welcome before in such a long time, at least since his friends were taken away from him.

However, this warm welcome didn't stop the repressed memories from his dark past. Every night, he tossed and turned in his new bed, mumbling in his sleep as the flashbacks took over. From the frequent grueling detentions he got for struggling in basic skills, to the constant beating he received from his peers in the hallways and at P.E., to the seemingly endless, empty existence of the orphanage. The most vivid of his terrible memories was the last day he saw his friends, the day they were expelled. Even though these problems were now physically far away and they would never likely happen again, they seemed more closer than ever in his slumber. Yet he hesitated still to tell his new pony friends what bothered him, for fear that they would see him as being all pitiful and sorry for himself.

One night, another flashback flickered in his head. It was the evening he saw the strange, multicolored light out of his window. He found himself heading back from another grueling day at school, when suddenly, out of the bushes came 4 bullies as they began to corner him. They started pushing him, kicking him in the face and in the stomach, scratching at his skin, and almost ripping his ear off. Then, they threw him to the ground without mercy and started using him like a punching bag as he coughed out blood.

Then, at that moment, a black car with a yellow streak on it's side happened to drive by and pulled over. On its hood was a blue shield with a lightning bolt in the center.

"Hey...HEY!!" yelled the driver as he stepped out of the car and approached the scene. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!"

The driver had almost the same skin, eye and hair color as Cory's, except he looked taller, healthier and had a spikier hair style. His attire looked very formal and fancy as if he was about to head over to a school dance. In his hand he carried an electric guitar that looked new and neatly polished. The bullies completely ignored him as they continued torturing their victim.

"I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" he demanded as he pushed through the bullies.

"Listen up Flash Sentry." Said one of the bullies who grabbed him by the vest. "This is none of your business. So why don't you just head on over to your precious fall formal and let us deal with this little freak."

Flash pushed the bully aside as he walked over to help Cory. "You know I don't like it when kids are called that." said Flash.

One of the bullies ran over to him and reeled his fist in the air. But Flash dodged it just in time and kicked him to the ground. Then he swung his guitar and knocked another bully out who came straight toward him and blocked a punch from a third one, pulling him to the ground in a tight head lock. Without even looking at him, Flash jabbed his guitar right into the fourth bullies mouth, knocking some of his teeth out. Soon, sirens could be heard over in the distance. The bullies fled off in defeat as Flash stopped to catch his breath.

"Listen kid are you o....k?" Said Flash as he reached his hand to the ground. But Cory had already gotten up and dragged his battered up body towards the door to the orphanage.

"You sure you don't want any help?" Asked Flash "You look pretty banged up." Cory shook his head with his back towards him.

"The hospital's on the way to the school, I can just..." He shook his head again, this time violently. Flash backed away as he got backed into his car with a sad, worried look and drove off.

Cory awoke in his new room with tear lines streaming down his eyes. He quickly wiped them away as he got out of his bed and paced around his room/art studio. He examined all the works he did so far: touching them, rubbing them, making sure the ones he was about to sell we're in good shape. Then he crept downstairs, through the hallway, and towards the door to Applejacks room. He quietly knocked on it, causing it to open slightly. He crept in with his head looking at the floor and his hands in his pajama pockets. Applejack woke up to the sound of his entrance with a concerned look.

"Hey sugarcube!" Said Appjeack. "What you doin up?"

Cory just stared at her blankly with sad eyes.

"Did you have a bad dream?" She asked

He nodded his head.

"You wanna sleep with me tonight?"

He nodded his head again.

"Alright. Hop on in." She scooched over to the side as he climbed into her bed.

As he drifted off to sleep, Applejack noticed how he curled up into a fetal position and shivered as he inhaled and exhaled. So, being the pure hearted pony she was, she quickly wrapped her forelegs around his fragile torso, enveloped her tail over his small legs and squeezed him softly like a teddy bear against a child's arms. This quickly eased his tension as he stopped his shivering and began to relax. Her forelegs felt like two elbows messaging against his chest. Her belly was warm against his back as she breathed in and out, and her tail was soft and silky, like a cat resting over his feet. He felt like a baby in a mothers womb as he closed his eyes and drifted to a deep slumber. For the first time in so long, he didn't talk in his sleep, nor did he have any bad memories the remainder of the night.

"Good night Cory." whispered Applejack

"Good night sis...Applejack." whispered Cory.