What Was Meant To Be: New Love

I walked down the street of Ponyville, staring in wonder at the bustling crowds. Everypony was so busy, it seemed as though they belonged here and I was a complete outsider. Which, after taking my current situation into account, was not entirely a lie. You see, I am a native of Foal’s Haven, a Native Equestrian seaside settlement. I have no idea of the cultures of these ponies. I was snapped out of my reverie by a high-pitched voice.

“Hey, what’s your name?” I looked around quickly and saw a pink pony bouncing around in front of me. “I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be new here! I’ve never seen you before! Ooh! I know! Let’s celebrate your coming to Ponyville!” She spoke so rapidly that I could barely make it all out. I hastily shook my head in an attempt to make sense of what she was saying. As soon as I realized her intent, I shook my head vigorously to show her that I didn’t want a celebration for something besides a great accomplishment.

I ran as fast as I could towards the outskirts of town. I saw, rising like a green wave from the horizon, endless rows of apple trees. As I watched, some of them shook violently before dropping almost all their apples. I was amazed by this fact. ‘How can trees rid themselves of their apples? I thought they had to be picked by hoof?’ I thought to myself. I hurried in the direction of the orchard’s entrance.

When I got to the orchard’s entrance, I saw that the trees weren’t knocking the apples down on their own. Two ponies, about the same age as me, were running around bucking the trees and knocking the apples of the trees into huge buckets. Two older ponies were watching from underneath one of the already-cleared trees. I approached cautiously. I winced as I stepped on a twig and it broke with a crisp snap. Immediately, the two older ponies whipped around to face me. I didn’t hesitate, I turned and ran right out of the orchard and into town. I heard them giving chase.

“Wait! Who are you?” One of them, the cyan-blue one, called out as she took off into the air.

“Yea, who are y’all?” The other one, this one a cheerful shade of orange, echoed the first one. ‘This is it! Now or never!’ I thought as I spread my wings and prepared to take off. I leaped into the air and, with surprising agility, started weaving back and forth, ever so often doing a barrel roll or a backflip. What I lacked in speed I definitely more than made up for in agility. “This one’s all yours, Rainbow!” The orange one called.

“You got it, AJ!” Rainbow replied. ‘Rainbow? AJ? I’ve heard those names before!’ I dropped a little and stopped dead in my tracks, watching as Rainbow hurtled passed me. I flew away as fast as I could towards the Everfree Forest. I once glimpsed behind me as I reached the edge of town and saw that I had effectively shaken off my pursuers.

As I landed in my clearing, I realized the throbbing pain in my wings. ‘I must have flown too fast.’ I flexed my wings slowly, wincing as the pain of the cramp left all at once in a sudden burst. ‘Nope. Just a cramp.’ I walked into my hut and prepared a quick herbal bath to cleanse myself of any possible misdeeds I may have committed.

I almost fell asleep after sinking into the warm, soothing water. The events of that day replayed themselves in my head. ‘I wandered into the Everfree Forest, found this clearing, built this small hut, found a stream with perfectly clear water running through it,  dug out a water system to take water to my hut, investigated more of the Forest, wandered into Ponyville, encountered three famous ponies, and got a cramp in my wing. All in all, it has been a pretty good day.’

I got out of the bathwater and dried myself off. I walked out into the main room and laid down on my bed. It wasn’t dark out yet, but I was going to sleep anyway. I was completely worn out by my day. The last thought that passed through my mind before I fell asleep was this: ‘Who were the other two ponies at the orchard?’

•               •               •

When I woke up the next morning, I decided to go back into Ponyville. Or, more specifically, the orchard. I stepped outside my hut and looked up at the sky. There were to be clear skies again today, by the looks of it. I launched myself into the sky and headed towards the endless greenery in the distance.

By the time I got to the orchard, I saw more trees shaking like they were yesterday. I flew into one of the empty trees and surveyed the area below. Once again, Rainbow and AJ were sitting together on the fringe of the orchard while the two younger ponies bucked the apple trees. I picked up a rock I had picked up and brought with me. I threw it as hard as I could towards the opposite side of the orchard. AJ and Rainbow immediately went to investigate the noise.

I saw my chance and flew into the branches of a tree that had just been emptied by one of the younger ponies. I jumped down behind them and landed with a quiet thud. I could tell now that one of the young ponies was a mare and the other was a stallion. They both turned to face me, obviously startled.

“It’s okay. I don’t want to hurt you.” I said. Well, I tried to say it. All I could manage was opening my mouth to attempt to speak, although nothing came out. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. ‘Yes. That’s perfect.’ I thought as I broke a stick off of a nearby apple tree. I jabbed it into the ground and started writing something.

“HI. I AM EAGLE EYE. I DO NOT WANT TO HURT YOU. I NEED TO DO THIS BECAUSE I AM A MUTE. I WANT TO BE FRIENDS. WILL YOU BE MY FRIENDS?” I wrote. I could tell that the stallion was giving it some thought. The mare on the other hoof looked like she was fumbling for the right words to say. ‘Boy, this a great start.’ I thought sarcastically to myself.

As if she could read my thoughts, the mare suddenly looked really enthusiastic. “Of, course we can all be friends! Right, Adrian?” She said, looking pointedly at me and then Adrian.

“What makes you think he can be trusted, Ariana? He did sneak up on us after all. What if he’s a spy?” He replied harshly. My face immediately contorted into a look of shock.

“I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED BY YOUR THOUGHTS.” Was all I wrote in response.

“Adrian! Be nice! Why would anyone want a mute to spy for them?” She asked before adding as an after thought, “No offense, Eagle Eye.”

“NONE TAKEN.” I wrote in response. I was still uncertain if showing myself was the best idea ever or not.

“Hey, why don’t I hear bucking going on over there? Is there a problem?” Rainbow’s voice rang out clearly through the orchard. Both Adrian and Ariana looked at me. I shook my head and made a sideways motion across my neck with my hoof. They both nodded in response. I quickly erased all of what I had written and flew up into the tree again.

“Sorry, Mom!” Ariana called out. “I got some bark stuck in my hoof and Adrian is helping me get it out! We’ll be getting back to work soon!” As Ariana replied to Rainbow, Adrian pulled a small sliver of bark off of the tree and dropped it on the ground behind Ariana.

“There! Got it!” He called out. I was grateful to find out that Adrian and Ariana were the kind of ponies who would help anyone, even someone they just met.

“Thanks, Adrian. Let’s get back to bucking.” As Ariana finished talking, she looked  up at me and waved goodbye. I waved back and took off, flying out of the tree and heading back towards my hut. ‘What a great day.’ I thought as I flew away from Ponyville.