Years later

"John! Wake up or you'll be late for school!?" I blinked away the spots from my eyes before stretching. "John!?"

"Coming, Ma!" I called down before getting out of bed. I stripped out of my PJs and into some clean clothes before heading down for breakfast. "Morning, Ma, Pa, Granny, Big Mac." I greeted them while sitting at the table.

"Morning, my sweet boy," Ma told me while handing me a plate of eggs, toast, and apple jam.

"Ready for your first day of school, son?" Pa asked me while reading the paper.

"Yeah. But, I'm also a little nervous," I told them before digging in.

"And why's that sweetie?" Granny asked while serving Big Mac his baby food.

"Well...what if nopony likes me?"

“Boy, are you kiddn’?” Pa scoffed. “Why the hell would nopony like you?”

“Hey!” Granny Smith snapped, whacking his nose. “Language!”

“Sweet pea, listen,” Ma said as she knelt down in front of me. “Ya got nothing to worry your precious little head about. All ya gotta remember is always be yourself. Remember, honesty is the best policy.”

"Okay, Ma. I will," I told Ma before having a spoonful of mush splashed on my face. "Mac!"

"Hahaha!" My little brother laughed in his highchair while flinging food everywhere.

"Alright, enough flinging your food, little stallion," Pa said while cleaning my brother's mess. "I swear, you like to wear your food more than you do eating it."

"Reminds me of you at that age," I heard Granny say over to Pa, making me laugh. "Oh, you were no better there, Johnny boy."

"Hehe, sorry, Granny," I told her before finishing up my breakfast and clearing my dishes. I grabbed my coat and lunchbox before walking over to Ma and Pa who were waiting for me at the door.

"There's my little man, on his way to school and make some new friends," Ma said while straightening my jacket.

"I'll miss you while I'm gone, Ma," I said while holding my lunchbox.

"I'll miss you too, but your Pa and I will be here when you get back," Ma kissed my cheek before Pa knelt in front of me.

"Son, I wanna give you some advice my father told me on my first day of school." Pa then looks off into the distance.

'Bright, you're as dumb as a mule and twice as ugly. If a stranger wants to take you home, I say go with them.'

"Lousy traumatic childhood," Pa said under his breath before hugging me. "Just do your best and learn all you can. And don't be afraid to make friends."

"Thanks, Pa." I kissed both my parents' cheeks before running up to my little brother. "I'll be back, Big M." I gave Big Mac a hug before heading out the door.

"Bye-bye Johnny," I heard Mac say before going back to his blocks.

As I kept walking down the dirt path, I kept thinking about what school would be like. But I was most excited about making new friends. And I already had a headstart with my best friend, Filthy. "Johnny!" Speaking of.

I turned around and saw my best friend run up to me. "Howdy, Filthy." We gave each other a hug before walking toward the school. "What do you think school's gonna be like?"

"My dad told me it's like a cool place some days, and Tartarus the other times. The only really good part is that it doesn't last very long, and you can make some very good friends there," Filthy explained as the schoolhouse drew near.

"Well, at least we'll have each other," I told him before we fist-bumped.

"Yeah, that's true." Filthy smiled as we entered the classroom together to see faces both familiar and new. Most of the foals I recognized from around town and as we took our seats at the front of the class our teacher appeared and called us up to introduce ourselves.

"Alright, now let's have... Cheerilee, come up and introduce yourself to the class." I heard the teacher say before I saw a magenta filly walk up to the front of the class, and when I got a good look at her, I couldn't stop looking at her.

When she stood at the front of the class, she waved at the class. "Hi. My name is Cheerilee. I moved from Fillydelphia with my mom and dad, and I like to read adventure stories." She nodded her head before going back to her desk, all the time, I couldn't look away.

"...Mister Apple!" I shook away the cobwebs when the teacher called me. "Please come up and introduce yourself," She said with a bit of an irritated tone.

"Sorry, Miss Ruler." I got up and went to the front of the class. "My name is John Apple. I live at Sweet Apple Acres with my family, and I like to climb trees."

When I went to take my seat, I heard someone speak up. "What are you?" One of my classmates asked as they all gave me funny looks.

"His mane is too short."

"He's got no tail."

"And look at his nose!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Miss Ruler shouted at the class, making them go quiet. "Thank you, John. You can sit down now."

I nodded at my teacher before going over to take my seat. When a colt was introducing himself as Caramel, a piece of paper landed on my desk. After opening it, I saw that it only had one word on it.

Freak!

Lunch

I sat on one of the outside benches and ate my lunch with Filthy. "Hey, your mom pack you any pie?" Filthy asked through his daisy sandwich.

"Nope. Just a PB and J, an apple, and a couple of fritters," I told him before offering him one of the fritters. "Ma knows you like her baking."

"And how," Filthy said before chomping down on the treat.

"Gross." A voice said when we looked up to see the the colt who probably left me that note standing with two others who were likely his goons. "You're eating with that thing?" He asked Filthy with a look of disgust.

"He's my friend. There's nothing gross about him." Filthy tried to defend me, but one of the goons flicked his ear. "Ow!"

"Shut it, rich boy!" The skinny goon said while the fat one giggled.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked the big jerk

"Cedar Pine," The leader said before placing his hands on the table and leering at us. "Listen jerks! Around here, I'm the boss. If you have a problem with that, then you can answer to my fist," He said while shaking his fist at us.

"Leave them alone!" A voice yelled from behind the three bullies. When we looked to see who it was, I saw that it was Cheerilee standing up to them. "Go on, leave them alone!"

"Ooooh!" Cedar said sarcastically before walking up to her. "And what do you plan to do about it?" He asked before shoving her into a puddle of mud.

When I saw her land in the puddle, I saw that she was about to cry, and that got me really angry. "Hey!" I got up and walked toward Cedar. When he turned around, I punched him right in the muzzle, getting him to fall flat on his back and his nose to bleed. "That'll teach ya ta pick on others." Cedar and his goons scrambled away before I went over to Cheerilee. "Are you alright?"

"Mhmm," She said before I helped her up and led her back to the table Filthy and I sat at. "Thanks for that," She said with a smile.

"You're welcome. That guy's a jerk." I offered her my apple which she took and nodded thanks. "My name is John."

"I know. You said it in front of the class." All three of us laughed before she patted my hand. "It wasn't right for them to call you names and stuff like that."

"Yeah, but what are you gonna do?" I shrugged while eating my sandwich. "Hey. Um, I don't suppose you'd like to be friends?"

"I'd like that," She said while leaning on me. On the other side of the table, Filthy was making gagging noises, making us all laugh.

Back home

I got home after spending time with my new friends, thinking today was a pretty good day until I went into the kitchen and saw both my parents sitting in the kitchen with their arms crossed.

"Sit, son." Pa said sternly as I gulped and sat in front of them.

"We heard from the school that you punched another student. Care to tell us the whole story?" Ma asked as I folded my hands and told them what happened at the playground today.

"I see. While I am proud of you for sticking up for others, you should no better than to lose your temper like that. Understand?" Pa asked me with a raised brow.

"Yes pa..." I told him with my head down.

"Alright then. For now, you're grounded for a week."

I nodded in acknowledgement of my punishment as Ma left to prepare dinner and once she was out of earshot my pa leaned in to whisper. "How does the other guy look?"

"Worse." I said with a smile while pa kept an eye on the kitchen.

"That's my boy now go freshen up." He whispered back while ruffling my hair.

"Okay, Pa," I told him before going to wash up. As I washed my hands and thought about the days events, I reached into my pocket and pulled out Cheerilee's address. As I looked at the piece of paper, I couldn't shake the feeling of being the luckiest boy alive, even if I am grounded for a week.

Author's Note

Once again, I'd like to thank my League members for helping me with this story.

Well, it seems John has started his education and is a big brother. He's made friends and enemies, and who knows what else. But for now, the adventure continues.

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