The things I put up with...

Chapter 2
Memory Lane

"So What can I do ya fer?" asked the orangish pony. She wore a stetson on her head while her mane was tied back into a long bundle. She had three apples as her cutie mark which were all red. She was selling all kinds of apples even a wierd looking one that was stripped like a rainbow. They all looked delicious to you, having not eaten since breakfast. Skipping lunch was never a hassle but your stomach still protested for food.

"Uhm... just a regular red gala please." You say very politely and grabbing a few bits. "Is this enough?" You say handing her 20 bits. She looks at you funny. You reach back to grab some more. "Im sorry did I not give you enough?" The orange pony laughed and shook her head with a smile. "Whats so funny?" You ask.

"Well I can tell your not from these parts." She said handing the bits back. You look at them and frown 'No food for me...' you turn around and begin walking away. "Ahh, don't you want your apple?" she yelled to you as you slunk away.

"But I thought I didn't give you enough?" The mare bust out laughing now. "I still don't see whats so funny..."

"You see, we sell 'um cheap here for everypony. But since you're new to town how 'bout I give you this one for free?" She turned around and picked an apple from the back. It looked better than the ones on the cart. You look at her questioningly.

"Free?" You ask very queitly.

"Yes siree. All yours. I was going to eat it for lunch but I see you need it more than I do." Just then your stomach growled in complaint of you not eating the wonderful apple in your hoof.

"Thank you... Uhm..."

"Applejack. Call me Applejack. So where are you from?"

"A farm." 'Mother had said don't give any details until we knew it was safe.' She smiles at you. She lift her hoof and motions for you to take a bite. You lift the morsal to your muzzle giving it a quick sniff. She nods as you open you mouth. Your teeth bite deep into the apple and the flavor explodes into your mouth. You had never tasted an apple so good. Most of the apples in Buckingham were terrible and tasted worse than dirt did. Not that you knew what dirt tastes like. "It's... It's... Amazing!" You say as you close your eyes enjoying the moment that you hoped wouldn't pass.

"AppleJack!" yelled a pony off to your right. The orange pony looked off in that direction.

"...Ok?" You heard a familiar voice ask as you open your eyes again. "Are you ok?" She asked helping you up. The memory was so vivid! Yet passed in a second!

"Yes I'm fine... I just have a headache. Thats all." You rub your head and the throbbing numbs to a dull ache. It was worse than last time but at least it wasn't as bad as some nights when your father got drunk and beat you. You look to see if you had any bruises on you body. 'Just my imagination.' You thought with a sigh. You roll out of the bed to leave the yellow pony by herself. She leaned her head on a hoof as she watched you stretch. You notice she was looking at you and gave a little pose. She giggled and stared at you. You suddenly remember the clock bashed into a thousand peices. You take a quick glance back at the she-pony. 'Good she hasn't seen it yet!'

"I've never seen such a unique cutie mark!" She asked pointing to your flank. It was a bear paw print that was pure black but seemed to glow in diffrent colors when the light hit it right. You look back to examine it again. Probably the 700th time since you got it. You look to your back. you had a set of three small stripes along your body. Behind the knees on the arch of your back and on your neck. "So? How did you get it? If its ok to ask..." She said a little softer. You think back to that fateful night.

"Well..." Thinking of words to explain the memory. You drift off in tought. "When I was just a colt I had to pick the carrots one evening..."

There were tracks leading away from the patch. Hoping father wouldn't knock you into next week, you run off to follow them. Stopping every now and then to look back to see if the coast was clear. You couldn't return home without a bushel of carrots. Cringing in fear you turn back to the path, the tracks were very unfamiliar with this set, but you knew it would be hard to take on whatever made them if it came to blows with the creature. Bring a colt made you think you were tough, dad still wouldn't accept you. After a few minutes tracking the set you heard a noise in the brush to your left. Not loud but still enough to make you jump. You glance over the next bush to see a rather large creature sleeping soundly. There was a few carrots here and there but what annoyed you was that there was another pile of potatoes laying next to the carrots.

You approached with confidence, underneath you were nerve stricken. You were never a tough pony, the thought of voilence never had crossed your mind. You were a little mad at the giant creature. You prodded the creature's side hoping it would wake and not be angry. It awoke with a yawn and a strech. You glared at the fuzzball as it ambled over to the pile of food and picked up a carrot. With a quick chomp on it the large mouth opens in another yawn. You notice the razor sharp teeth lining the inside of the mouth.

"You see those? Don't take them! They are not yours!" You yell at the large animal. It only rubs its eyes and pushes you aside. "Why you little piece of SHIT!" A spark ignited in you forcing you to run up and deliver a hard uppercut to the jaw. It's head came slowly back down to stare you in the eyes. It growled as it showed you its claws. You take a gulp but quickly shake off the scene. Even if you get hurt you would be even more broken and shattered if father found out about the patch. "Bring it you fluffy pushover." You stand on you rear hooves and bring your forehooves up mimicing a couple of ponies you saw in Buckingham do before a fight. A huge paw swiped at you. Ducking with ease you swing nailing a blow on the bears cheek. You looked at your hooves and smiled. 'This feels good!' Getting up on back legs, there was a very loud roar. Dropping back on all fours the bear charged toward you with a speed that would make a falcon blush. Each step brought a blow from the beast. You move around dodging each blow by manouvering with your small stature.

After a few minutes the creature was looking very annoyed of this little shananigan. You laughed and closed your eyes for a second thinking you were going to win by triering it out. Huge-ass mistake. The bear took a heavy swing nailing you across the muzzle and sending you flying into the nearest bush. Getting up would be hard, your hooves were tangled on the brush and vines. You look up as it closed in and brought its claws to your muzzle. Taunting you was its way to show you were dead and knew it. A growl made it turn to see the source of the noise. Mistake. You kick up with you strong hind legs nailing the the chin with as much force as your little legs could kick with. Bigger mistake. The bear turned back around and dug its claws deep into your stomach.

A sharp inhale was all you could muster, bleeding now from the open wound. The bear seemed to grin, mocking you again. Your vision faded as the blood poured from the hole in your diaphragm. 'This is it.' You thought thinking you last moments of life.

You opened your eyes. Everything was blurry and it seemed like slow motion, with each movement a trail of the prevous movement followed each pony. Ponys in white garments saying things to each other, hooving thing back and forth while reach towards you. You tried to move your head to look at your body. One of the ponys looked down to see you had opened your eyes. The mare said something to another pony you couldn't see. She put your head back aginst the pillow then she leaned down and looked you in the eye saying something you still couldn't hear. She picked up a mask and put it over your face. The fumes smelled like Lilac. As it filled your nostrils your eyes began to droop and slowly you faded off to the bliss of the blackness.

You awoke with a start, being sore all over you didnt even try to move anywhere. You look down at your body. 'Is it still there? Am I alive?' were just a few of the thoughts rushing your brain. A pony in white entered the room and smiled at you.

"Ah! Your awake. I was begining to get worried." You move ever so slightly. A sharp pain runs through your body making you wince. "Woah there! Try not to move." You open your mouth to form the sligthest word. Unforchantly your throat was very sore and you didn't even want to try to talk to the pony standing next to your bed. "Don't worry you are in a very safe place." The mare laid a hoof on your shoulder very gently. You didn't feel to safe, you ached all over. "You are very lucky to be alive." She paused. You blinked your vision may have been blurry but you could see her just barely. A very petite lime green pony. Her mane looked nice being a combination of blue and yellow.

"*HSSSS*" Your throat squeeked as you tried to talk again. The mare laughed a little.

"Try not to talk either. We put a tube down your throat so you could breathe while we fixed you up." You looked at her. Memories of the fight flashed back through your hed as you tried to move again. More pain shot up making you scream in a silent pain. The mare looked at you and frowned. "You aren't very smart. Are you?" she paused. "Well you definitely deserved this." she pointed to your flank. 'Oh Celestia! Please don't be a large scar across my flank!' No, it was a cutie mark! In the shape of a large paw!

"Its a constant reminder that the bastard gave me this!" You said exposing the scar just below you ribs. The mare didn't looked to suprised, but you didn't expect her to, since you had spent the night together.

"It looks terrible..." She said as she got out of the mess of sheets and walked over to you. She reached out a hoof and rubbed it very gently. "Are you sure you're ok?" She asked as she moved her hoof to your head checking for a fever.

"Im fine trust me." You say moving her hoof away and staring into those luminous green eyes of hers. She grew a blush and giggled a little. You leaned forward and took her lips with your own. She pulled away at first but soon pressed back. Feeling them pressed against your own felt wonderful. She broke the kiss a little later with a string of saliva running from your mouths. Again she giggled but moved forward and brushed her head up under yours and left it there. "So why did you bring me home?" The mare's eyes opened and looked at him. 'Ugh every time!' Thinking you killed the moment. But that thought died as a smile widened across her face.

"Well, after the party, Pinkie insisted I take you home, but I didn't know where you were staying so I just brought you here. I left you on the couch for a while but you got up and walked over to me. I knew you were drunk but you really didn't seem like it." She blushed a very deep red. She smiled as she remembered the night.

"So... Did I force you to do anything?" You ask beginning to get worried... You had done some bad things before when you were drunk. This was not something to take lightly.

"No, but you did scare me when you ran a hoof down my flank. I really didn't know how to react. You stopped as almost as sudden as you started, just walked away and sat back on the couch. At first i wondered if you were really as drunk as I thought you were, but you didn't do anything else but lay on the couch. Well after i made some food and fed you, you offered to give me a back rub... I don't know how that started. But after a while, we were... well... we.. kinda." she blushed a very rosy red. "On the couch, and soon moved it up to the bed..." Her Blush grew deeper as she thought about the night before. 'Phew! Thats not as bad as it could be.

There was a knock at the door and the pony exused herself before rushing down stairs to get the door. You looked around the room looking for some sign of struggle. She may have been shy but you knew that couldn't be true. But to your eyes nothing looked out of the oridinary so you just shrugged it off and looked for the bathroom. After finishing your buisness you walk out of the bathroom to find the pony standing in the hall waiting.

"Uhm... you might want to come downstairs." She said. "Somepony is asking for you by name."

'Oh shit!...'