A Sense of Belonging...
As written by Joseph Raszagal
Because we all want a place to call home
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This is a direct sequel to “A Mad Dash Through Time and Space” and “Unconventional Family Trees”, in that respective order. It occurs some indeterminately short time before the events of both. You don't have to read them to get the context though, so no worries. Hope you enjoy, yo!
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Let's cut to the chase, alright? The last time I visited Ponyville, I was a total mule.
Uh, no offense to the mules out there.
See, I was planning on chilling with my best girl, Rainbow Dash; maybe get all nostalgic about flight camp and the good ol' days back in Cloudsdale. Instead, I just ended up stomping around town, sneering at anypony who so much as looked my way, and generally acting like the single biggest jerk in Equestria... Which I suppose I was.
Dash had this friend, Pinkie Pie, and it was pretty clear from the start that they were tight. So tight, in fact, that they're now an item. Well, they would be, but... well... things got kinda complicated. I heard the story from AJ; something about time travel, black alicorns, and a blue box. I'm not sure I really understand what all went down and I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't a hard pill to swallow, but I've seen the aftermath firsthand. I'm still seeing it, every single day. But whatever, I'll get into that a little further down the line.
Anyway, Pinkie saw right through me from the start. I have to admit, I thought she was an airhead at first, but I've come to realize that despite all the craziness and exaggerated excitement, she's pretty much the sharpest tack in the box. Her friends kept trying to tell her that she was just jealous of me for swooping in and stealing her gal pal for the day, and while I'm pretty sure she really was, she still had me pegged right from the get-go. I was shouting at her friends, stealing fruit from merchant stands, and strutting around the streets like I owned the damn place, and for whatever reason she was the only one who saw it.
Weird, right? I mean, it's not like I was trying to hide how much of a bitch I was or anything.
These days, I'm glad she pointed it out. I was plenty pissed when I left that party feeling like the biggest chump in the world, but I've since come to terms with it. In the end, I needed that. I needed to get my act together. I'd always been a big fan of pranks and I thought my brand of pranking was cool. Heck, I thought I was cool. But now I know what I really was.
I was mean. Really mean.
And... there just isn't any room in friendship for that, is there?
Dash was a lot like me back in flight camp. We pranked, heckled, and tormented the ponies around us until they curled up and cried, and we honestly thought it was hilarious. After I flew away from Ponyville in a huff, I spent the night on a cloud and did some major soul-searching. What I came up with scared me.
I almost ruined her. I almost made my best friend exactly like me. She came pretty close to becoming Gilda 2.0, but as the days went by she made up with one of our biggest pranking targets, Fluttershy, and I'll be damned if that shy little thing didn't work freaking miracles for her. Then again, she's one of my closest friends now too, so I can sorta relate. It's really, really, really hard not to smile when you've got somepony that infuriatingly kind and compassionate hanging around. She'll explode sometimes, just like everypony does when you press their big red buttons enough (especially if something gets in between her and all of those annoying, little critters she's constantly caring for), but when you get right down to it there just isn't a mean bone in her body.
Ugh, sorry, I don't want to get all sappy and mushy or anything, but I just can't stress it enough how glad I am that Dash met her. She needed that kindness and she certainly wasn't going to learn it from a buzzard like me.
Now though, I think I'm doing better. I've got lots of friends here in Ponyville and I guess not all of them are totally lame. If it isn't completely obvious already, I'll go out on a limb and say that I'm still kind of a jerk, but that's to be expected. Learning my lesson and getting my act together isn't exactly the same thing as trying to transform myself into an entirely different griffon. I tried that at first, but it just wasn't possible. Besides, my friends still seem to like me despite the roughness around my edges, so I'd say it's alright. A couple of 'em turned out to be fantastic conversational jerks too. Twilight, in particular, is quite gifted in the fine art of sarcasm. I guess being a egghead with a vocabulary wider than a freaking canyon helps.
Actually, and I'd never admit this to her, but I've even started diving into a thesaurus to try and keep up with her. Heh, you should have seen the look on her face the first time I slung around a bunch of five syllable words in the correct context. If anything, I'd say she looked proud. That hadn't been the reaction I was expecting, so I just blushed and told her to stop gawking at me. She responded by laughing some more, which only made me blush harder. Midway into this I realized it was becoming some kinda perpetual embarrassment machine so I made up some business involving taking care of “the thing at the place” and flew off in a hurry.
I'll get her one of these days, but I think I need to keep brushing up on my words.
Stupid academics. Sometimes I wish I wasn't a dropout.
Eh, whatever.
Eventually, I found myself working on a farm, kicking apples out of trees. It took a while to get into the groove, but I managed it. My boss, Applejack, gave me a bit more leeway than I thought I deserved. At first I was surprised, but after a while I started to get it.
She represented the Element of Honesty.
Without sounding a bit pompous, I think she saw the honestly in my desire to change.
Regardless of why or how, she gave me a shot. She gave me the shot I needed.
So, anyway, a few months passed, and I started to get to know everypony.
The Boss has this little sister, Apple Bloom, and at first I was worried my rudeness might rub off on her. But, as the days became weeks and the weeks became months, I realized just how far I'd come. I became a better bird. AJ'll still give me a glare every now and then when something a little too adult slips out of my beak while the kid is hanging around, but I think everything's gonna be cool. I almost bucked up Dash's head with all of my... how did Pinkie word it... my “mean mean meanieness”, but I'm a far cry from that now, so I think Apple Bloom'll turn out alright despite me stalking around the farm and shouting like a sailor about to ship out to sea.
Besides, if AJ's glare is enough to put me in my place when I slip up, Z's cold stare can be downright terrifying. Dunno how she does it, but I guess it makes a bit of sense. She lived in a hut in the Everfree Forest for a while, and I doubt anypony could do that without becoming a badass somewhere along the way. I'd like to think I'm a tough bird, but damn, I wouldn't fly into that mess of trees and monsters without a good reason and a few of the girls as backup.
Heh, long story short, don't buck with Z. I haven't seen her mess somepony up, but I'm sure she could do it if they pissed her off enough.
Mac, though, he's a totally different story. I've seen him scold the kid for coming home covered from head-to-hoof in tree sap again, but that's about it. He's kinda like Fluttershy, I guess; just too nice for his own good. Still, if he ever did get worked up enough to plant his hoof into somepony's face, they'll have my sympathy in spades. There's a reason he's called Big Mac, after all. Shit, I don't really want to admit this, but I'll bet he could take me in a fight if I had to stay on the ground for whatever reason, and without sounding like I'm stroking my own rather enormous ego, that really is saying something. I'm pretty big myself, but he's in a totally different league.
Crap, I think I just depressed myself there. Maybe I should start lifting weights or something.
Whatever, moving on!
I've come a long way. A lot longer than I ever thought I'd come. I have friends surrounding me from all sides, a warmth in my heart that I can't quite explain, and... I don't know, I feel like after all this time I've found a sense of belonging.
I don't cry often, and I refuse to in front of others, but dammit, maybe it isn't so wrong to cry every once in a while.
I was so wrong.
Friendship really is magic.
