A New Crusader
Chapter 2:Fitting In
“I still can’t believe Celestia sent me all the way here, I’m sending you to meet a very special pony who knows a lot about friendship. I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll help you make friends ugh she acts like a mother…” Speedy spoke aloud while feeling irrigated, irritated that Celestia sent him to a new town, a new home and it just makes him angry.
“Why can’t she just get that I can’t make friends? I tried like she wanted and my leg still hurts…” Speedy paused his ranting to wiggle his front leg, remembering the accident as the other foals had told the caretakers. “We been trying since I was five, and still no luck but she keeps insisting...why can’t she accept I prefer to be alone anyways?”
With a sigh he kicks a rock aside hitting a tree, realizing he had walked into a forest he stared around but saw no sign of a trail. He hadn’t realized how far he had went and was surprised he didn’t realized he entered a forest. Whenever he goes deep into his thoughts this usually happens, he aimed to climb a tree to get a bird’s eye view but suddenly his belly began growling, rubbing it he looked around for something to eat when he notices the trees were full of apples. Mouth watering at the sight he approaches the nearest tree and with a buck a single apple fell, picking it up he started walking again as he begins eating it.
“Juicy!” He comments biting deeper into the apple letting the juice enter his mouth, the next few minutes of walking he paid much more attention to his surroundings.
If there’s one thing that can cheer him up, it’s exploring new areas he never saw before and this was his first time in a forest. If this was even a forest for all he knew it was an orchard which meant he was trespassing, and stealing. If it was an orchard then surely the owner wouldn’t miss a single apple, after taking the last bite out of the apple he tossed it to the ground, rubbing his mouth clean he suddenly saw something a few feet in front of him.
“A picnic table….all the way out here?” Walking closer and placing a hoof on it he saw it was in perfect condition.
This confirmed ponies lived close by as why else would they mend and keep a picnic table so neat? Normally he would just leave it be but he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to play, climbing on top of the table he once again inspected it making sure it was steady and could hold his weight. Feeling confident it would he smiled and began to daydream, he imagined his surroundings transforming into a dangerous and wild forest, with the table turning into a bridge high above a rapid river.
“OK Ahuizotl,” He spoke imagining Ahuizotl before him, “your days of evil doing are over! I Speedy, Daring Do’s assistant, will stop you once and for all!” Speedy rushed the other end and acted like he missed a tackle.
Backing up and imagining he nearly ran off the bridge he turned and spoke “Speed is my ally Ahuizotl, you can’t outrun me!!!” before he started acting out a fight and taunting his nonexistent opponent.
Whenever he nearly fell off the table he treated it like he almost fell over a bridge, his sigh of relief was real though as he knew it would hurt if he really did fall. But he was good at staying balanced even when he imagined the bridge tipping and shaking, smiling widely he edged up against one of the table’s ends while imagining Ahuizotl on the other. “Well my non friend, let’s see how you like my Speed Tackle!”
Getting a running start he goes to jump while shouting. “Take thi--”
“What are y’all doing?” A voice broke out startlingly him, with a stumble and a trip he falls straight off the table neck first against the ground.
Quickly he open his eyes and turned to where the voice came from and saw a pony staring at him, before she could speak he panics and rushes under the table trying to hide. “You don’t see me you don’t see me you don’t see--”
“Are you alright?”
“Curses!” Speedy bites his lip not sure what to do, the pony asked if he was alright again and this time Speedy peeks out to see her.
To his relief it was just a filly with a pink bow, her orange eyes stared at him and he wasn’t sure if she was concern or mad at him. Peeking his head out he says “S-Sorry I didn’t mean to transpass, I just came upon this table and I…um.”
“You're not hurt are ya? That fall looked painful..”
Her question caught Speedy off guard, he was sure she’d be mad but her voice didn’t hold any sign of anger, just concern. Rubbing his neck he replied “I’m fine, thanks...” his neck did feel a little sore but he felt worst pain after his skateboard mishap last year, since then he always wore padding.
“Why don’t y’all come on out?” She asked normally, Speedy wasn’t sure and he looked around trying to think.
Finally he decided to leave his terribly awful hiding spot, but from the other end, sitting on the table’s seat he stared at the filly not sure what to say.
“Don’t talk much do ya?” She giggled wondering if Speedy was a shy pony, walking up and sitting on the opposite side she introduces herself. “I’m Applebloom, sorry if ah scared ya.” She giggled again before awaiting the new pony to introduce himself.
Eyes panning back and forth Speedy was trying to think on what to say, he felt a bit comfortable that she was an Earth Pony too and less likely to poke fun at him. Then again he couldn’t really trust a stranger, but once he noticed she was looking at him oddly he figured he was acting weird in front of her by not talking.
Building up courage he mutters “I-I’m S-Speedy…please don’t tell anypony what you saw me doing.” which made Applebloom laugh some more.
“Ah promise, so what are you doing out here all by yourself?”
“Well I was just walking and thin-WAIT A MINUTE! What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Applebloom once again giggled leading Speedy to think she laughs at everything.
“Ah’m not by myself, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are with me.” She answered him, Speedy hearing she was with others scanned the area around again but saw no pony else was there.
“Who now?” He asked wondering if they were behind her somewhere and she just went too far ahead, or if she had imaginary friends or something.
“Their my best friends, Ah think they should be at the clubhouse.”
“And you came here why?”
“Ah thought ah heard some commotion and wandered off to investigate, ah reckon that commotion was you?”
Speedy blushed rubbing the back of his head, he wasn’t aware he was being so loud that somepony heard him from a distance. Applebloom giggled again seeing his cheeks turning bright red.
“You sure do laugh a lot don’t ya?” Speedy asked feeling embarrassed now, he was never good at talking with others.
“Nah ah just fine ya cute, first time being caught daydreaming?” She asked with him turning redder and finding himself wanting to leave. “Don’t worry ah won’t tell anypony, so why were you out here by yourself?”
“I was just exploring, I saw this table and figured it would make a good bridge--”
“Exploring huh?” Applebloom asked intrigued, “And you were fighting who?” Speedy blushed not really wanting to explain but did anyways to be polite.
“....Ahuizotl…”
“Ahui-whosa what?”
“Ahuizotl, don’t you read Daring Do?” Speedy asked surprised she didn’t recognize the name.
“Ah know of Daring Do, but never really read her books.” Speedy was awestruck, he asked how could you have not read at least one book!? and she simply replies “Ah don’t know, just haven’t had the time ah guess.” which amazes him.
He always has time to read, but then again if she had friends that could explain why she didn’t. She most likely spent time with them hanging out all day, suddenly realizing she might ask him to meet her friends he jumped up walking away while saying. “Well I gotta go, sure Twilight might be wondering where I’m--”
“You know Twilight?”
“Are you kidding me?” Speedy sighs regretting mentioning her name.
He turns to say some sort of excuse to leave quickly but when he saw the look on her face he froze up, “Why is she looking at me like that..?” he thought and panned his eyes to where her’s were staring at, which was his flank.
“Your a blank flank!!!” Applebloom shouts with joy and amazement, Speedy wasn’t so sure what was so special about that.
“Y-Yeah...I see you are too but why--”
“Now you GOTTA meet my gals.” Applebloom shouts interrupting him.
“Well that didn’t ans-WAIT WHAT!?” He shouts back in shock and started walking away, but she was following him.
“Their blank flanks too, oh won’t they be excited to meet you!” She smiles wide hoping Speedy wouldn’t mind.
She met other blank flanks at school but they weren’t interested in joining their club, so she hoped Speedy would at least see their clubhouse and was too excited to see he wasn’t.
“Oh nonononono I couldn’t...I can’t-hey let go!!!” With a tug Applebloom takes one of his hooves and begins dragging him along with her, for a filly she’s unusually strong and he couldn’t break free of her grip.
He tried speaking but before he knew it they were at the bottom of some stairs that were painted green and led up to a tree house, once she started walking up she finally let go of him.
It was too late for him to run off as she said “Come on, oh ah can’t wait to introduce you to them!” and seemed far too happy for him to just run off, that wouldn’t be polite instead it would be extremely rude.
Sighing he followed her, each step he took brought thoughts like Their gonna make fun of me, tease me and make me hate coming here more I just know it into his mind and by the time he reached the top he had shut his eyes tightly and only halted when Applebloom held a hoof out.
“Hey girls, lookie who I ran int-hey why are your eyes shut?” Is what he heard not a moment later, gulping he slowly opens them and what greeted him was a room that made his eyes widen.
He scanned everything in it from the ceiling to the floor, seeing all there was in it, normally it wouldn’t really impress anypony as it looked like any ordinary clubhouse. But he found himself liking it and amazed to see it had a upper level, it wasn’t until he saw two other fillies that he snapped back to his previous state and with a gulp he started rethinking what he had on the way up.
Sitting at a table with a coloring book and what looked like cupcakes where two fillies staring back at him, one of them had white fur with the other having orange and they kept staring at him making him feel extremely nervous. The entire room almost felt like it shrunk and he could hardly breathe, he couldn’t even answer when Applebloom spoke to him.
Finally she just turns to the others and said “This is Speedy, ah found her around the picnic table.” but Speedy just kept staring off unable to move.
“Their gonna do it at any moment...you don’t expect it but that’s when their the most dang…”
“Um hi there.” Spoke the orange filly whose name was Scootaloo, finally making Speedy change his scared impression to one of confusion.
“Um Applebloom, you do know this is our special hangout right?” Asked Sweetie Belle who found it odd Applebloom brought a stranger here.
Applebloom got a wide smile as she replied “Ah know, but look at this!” then she spun Speedy around to where his flank was in view.
When they saw it Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gasped before looking at each other with the same expression Applebloom had gotten, Speedy still felt uncomfortable at those big wide eyes.
The two fillies jumped up walking closer with Sweetie Belle speaking. “She’s a Blank Flank!”
Scootaloo followed her with “Does she want to join our club?” and Speedy blinked.
Instead of asking what club only one word spoke in Speedy’s mind, “She? They think I’m a filly don’t they…” Speedy cursed his feminine looks, his muzzle wasn’t like that of other colts and his eyelashes didn’t help.
It was common for ponies to mistake him for a filly and he would’ve pointed it out when Applebloom called him a she, but he wasn’t paying attention then. He would’ve corrected them now but before he could Applebloom spoke.
“That’s why ah brought her, so we can tell her about the club!”
“What club??” Speedy finally asked.
As Applebloom walked to stand by the others Sweetie Belle answered him. “It’s called the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Cutie what now? Crusaders?” Speedy asked being confused more but also wanted to know more at the same time.
“It’s a club devoted to help ponies find their Cutie Marks.” After Scootaloo said this all three showed they were blank flanks and Speedy was following a lot better, thinking fast he figured since he’s a blank flank they wanted to ask him to join.
Maybe to help him get a Cutie Mark or just wanted a new member, by their reactions alone he assumed they were the only members and been in this club for a while. He realized they likely wouldn’t bully him but he still had no interest in joining, “I don’t think you want me in your club.” he tells him making them look at each other with confusion.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Applebloom asked, Speedy not wanting to lie just told them the truth.
“It’s because I don’t care about Cutie Marks.” All three could swore their mouths hit through the ground faster than they could’ve reacted.
“What did she just say!?” Scootaloo asked rubbing her ears making sure they weren’t clogged up.
Ignoring he was called a she again Speedy repeated himself with Applebloom asking “How can you not care?” and couldn’t believe a pony wouldn’t care about something so important.
Sweetie Belle followed Applebloom’s question with “Everypony should care about their Cutie Marks, I don’t recall anypony who doesn’t.” and now Speedy had to tell them why he didn’t care, which made him sigh again.
“Well I’m the first then, I just don’t see the point. Everypony has them, why should I want something that sees so…”
“But don’t ya have any talents?” Scootaloo asked interrupting him, to his slight annoyance.
“I know I love running and to explore, I don’t need a Cutie Mark to know I love doing something.” When Speedy said this the three fillies were awestruck, they couldn’t help but look at each other in confusion.
“You love to do two things yet neither are your special talent?” Asked Sweetie Belle getting more confused.
“Is it possible a pony can prevent getting a Cutie Mark..?” Scootaloo asked herself. “No we tried many things and no Cutie Marks, she must just not be doing the right thing.”
“Right thing or not, I just don’t bother.” Speedy spoke causing Scootaloo and the others to wonder.
Wonder how a pony could not want a Cutie Mark, it really was unusual for them and they tried talking among themselves to try and figure out what to do. As Speedy said “Um I’ll just be leaving then..” Applebloom who didn’t want him to leave just yet steps forward.
“Wait don’t go just yet!” With Speedy trying to shake her off.
“I don’t see how we could get along, you three have a club about getting a Cutie Mark and I jus-WHOA!!!!” Speedy had backed up to far and lost his footing, he thought he was backing up on the staircase but he ended up missing it by turning at an odd angle.
Applebloom rushes forward to catch him and succeed in grabbing his hoof, but all it did was cause her to fall with him as he was already falling when she grabbed it, and it didn’t help that she tripped over a banner they were working on.
“APPLEBLOOM!!!” Cried the two other fillies as they saw them fall over the edge, after hearing them crush below they ran outside looking over it.
To their relief both Applebloom and Speedy had fallen into a big bush underneath, Speedy landed on his back while Applebloom landed head first into it. Pulling her head free she coughed leafs out of her mouth, Speedy went to laugh but tried holding it in, but after she stared up at him he couldn’t help but blurting it out in the biggest laughter he ever had.
Applebloom at first looked insulted but soon joined in with his laughter, “Are you OK?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo ran all the way down.
“Ah’m fine…” Applebloom spoke in between her laughter, she turns to Speedy who was still laughing and asked if he was alright.
Being unable to speak through his laughing he simply nodded, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other not sure what they were laughing at.
When questioned about it Applebloom answered, although in between her laughter again.“Ah don’t know ah’m just laughing because she is.”
When he was questioned about it he just said “I don’t know, but that was just fun!” and his chest started to hurt by the amount of laughing he was doing.
Holding a hoof out Sweetie Belle helped Applebloom out of the bush, once she was out she turned to Speedy who laughed a few moments longer before finally stopping.
“Sorry if I caused you to get hurt, I just lost my footing.” Speedy apologized to her, Applebloom was going to say she’s fine but when she saw he was smiling she remained silent, realizing this was the first time she saw him with a smile she couldn’t help but smile back.
Speedy tilted his head wondering what she was smiling at, then noticed he was smiling too. He became nervous again and stared away with her just giggling in response. After Scootaloo helped him out of the bush he tried thinking of an excuse he could say but found none, “W-What are you looking at???” he asked feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Applebloom just giggled and Speedy just wasn’t sure what to do, “Lucky this bush was here wasn’t it?” he ended up saying with her nodding.
“Yeah, it sure was. We could’ve been hurt worse than my sis after a rodeo accident.”
“Rodeo huh? I saw one at Canterlot once.” Speedy could remember that rodeo like it was yesterday, he remembers hiding under a stand and watching the ponies from afar because he didn’t have the bits to buy a ticket.
He couldn’t save up enough with how slow it was a few days before, so he had to sneak in to see it, being six that wasn’t so hard. He used to be a master at being unseen but that changed when Celestia started to teach him how to act proper and polite, she was the first to really befriend him so maybe that was one reason he actually tried those lessons, despite him being very reluctant to do so.
“Yeah my sis is the best rodeo pony there is, she won a blue ribbon for every…”
“You came from Canterlot?” Sweetie Belle asked interrupting Applebloom, after nodding the fillies shared the same expression of being in aw.
“So you must be really rich then? OH do you own the new scooter model they released last year?” Asked Scootaloo.
“Um no I don’t, I’m not really ric…”
“How big is your house? I bet it’s fabulous!” Sweetie Belle interrupted and couldn’t help but imagine what her home at Canterlot would look like.
“House? If you call one roo…”
“Ah never met an Canterlot pony besides Twilight before, ah figured you be all fancy lookin.” Applebloom interrupted.
“Pft please I’m not into fancy pon…”
“Are you here on a family trip? Maybe his parents are at Sweet Apple Acres, that could explain why she’s here.” After Sweetie Belle spoke this Speedy suddenly went silent.
The three fillies went on but Speedy didn’t hear anything else they said, “Family..?” he thought suddenly looking away and feeling down all of a sudden, the fillies didn’t notice this right off but caught on quickly and wondered if they said something they shouldn’t have.
“Are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked starting to feel down herself, whenever she sees another pony being sad she can’t help but feel sad herself and does what she can to help them cheer up.
Speedy didn’t answer right away instead he just stared off, when he was asked for a third he mutters “I don’t...I don’t really have any family...here t-that is..” biting his lip worried on what they’ll say.
“What do you mean?” Asked Sweetie Belle.
“You gotta be here with somepony right?” Followed Scootaloo making Speedy really surprised.
He thought for sure they were going to say something else but sighed with relief that he could talk around what he just told them, “Celestia sent me to stay with Twilight, to learn about friendship like I haven’t tried it or anything for a few years….” he told them starting to find himself irrigated again.
“Celestia sent you...to learn about friendship?” Scootaloo asked wondering if she understood that correctly.
With a slight nod Applebloom spoke. “Well shucks, we can help you with that!”
“Oh no…” Speedy spoke aloud and regretted telling them.
Applebloom seemed confused by his reaction, “Aw come on it ain’t gonna that bad.” she told him but he just shook his head.
“I’m sure it would be, always is.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Sweetie Belle as she started to feel concerned.
“You wouldn’t understand...no pony there did why should you..” Speedy sighs turning away from them.
“Try us?” Scootaloo urged him, with another sigh Speedy decides to tell them, although a bit more openly than he should have.
Scootaloo would come to regret saying that, for when Speedy lets out, it pours like a rapid waterfall destroying a village. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to speak but were drowned out with him talking, it seemed like he never done this before so he didn’t know when to quite. Being more open than he had in a long time he told him everything, well almost everything. He told them how one time at recess some of the foals had put his Daring Do lunchbox atop a tree, and teased how he couldn’t fly nor use magic to get it down.
He also told them it was a daily thing to hear poor little Speedy, not a Pegasus nor a Unicorn, he just doesn’t fit in, how poor he is, for not the princess he would surely still be---” he stopped half way through and just kicked dirt up instead. He went on and on about how terrible the bullies were, when one caused him to fall off a skateboard which in turn broke his leg, they lied saying he did a very dangerous trick when all he was doing was skating along the grass. He even told them the worse thing they did, tricking him into thinking a filly liked him when she in fact had a coatfriend.
He would’ve went on even longer, if not for one of the fillies closing his mouth shut while saying “do you ever breath?!” which made him realized how long he went on for. He felt embarrassed and badly wanted to go off and cry in private, but Scootaloo had a different idea. In fact she has just the idea to cheer him up, which was to simply race him. He felt so conflicted, he wanted to go off and be alone, yet he wanted to know exactly what she was doing. It seemed to simple to just race after what he just blurted out, even Applebloom and Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure what she was doing. All she told them was “trust me, I got this” which didn’t help, at all.
Scootaloo led them to a part of the orchard that best held a dirt path fitting of a race, after sitting up a start and finish point she and Speedy were getting ready to start.
“How did you get me to agree to this…” He asked regretting this more and more.
Scootaloo just offered a chuckle as she replies “You got lots of stuff pent up, and if there’s one way I know how to let it all out, it’s being as active as you can get!” which only served to worsen his nerves.
“How is racing going to he--”
“You like to run, don’t ya?”
“Well yeah, but---”
“Then what ya got to lose?”
In truth Speedy didn’t have anything to lose, he loved running more than anything and was pretty confident he would win. He did win the school race once, which was the first and only time he had something over the bullies. Looking over at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who were going to serve as the judges as Scootaloo told him, he wondered if they’ll offer to join their club again. Whether they did or didn’t, him not caring about Cutie Marks would surely make friendship with them hard.
Applebloom walked in front of Speedy and Scootaloo, holding a flag they had made a couple months ago, and was looking back at Sweetie Belle who by facial expressions said I don’t know, just count and hope she’s right before doing just that. It happen faster than either Applebloom or Sweetie Belle could react too, as soon as the flag fell Speedy had took off as fast as a lightning bolt. Scootaloo took off whether fast as well, but found herself in aw at how fast he bolted. Knowing a good race was ahead of her she galloped faster and caught up to him fairly quickly.
“Heh, guess you weren’t lying about liking to run.” She spoke while trying to keep a steady breathing.
“If it’s one thing I’m not, it’s a lyer.” Speedy said in response, like her he was trying to keep a steady breathing.
They didn’t speak much after that, trying to to conserve their energy for their legs. Around the halfway point however, Speedy took a chance and spoke “I’m surprised you're so fast, back at my old school nopony was able to keep up. Well besides---” but was cut off as he tripped over a tree root that seemed to had grew wild.
Falling into a roll until coming to a stop against another tree, the last thing Speedy expected was to see Scootaloo offering to help him up. He was taken aback at this, never before had a pony offered to help him, well a pony his own age that was. At first he wasn’t sure if he could trust her, but seeing the smile she had made him feel as if he could. Slowly at first, he accepted the offer but took back his hoof, then tried again and succeed in taking her hoof. After being pulled up he thanked her, she simply replied with “don’t mention it” and began running again with Speedy, after a small smirk, giving chase.
Having stopped and galloping again so soon made keeping a steady breathing harder, so they were stuck at just pacing themselves until they regain enough energy. While now trotting Speedy took a few moments to look at his surroundings, most of the trees here were without apples and seemed very empty. He looked around more and noticed a few birds and bunnies, they almost seemed to be gathering around to watch the race. Turning his attention to Scootaloo, he wondered what to say after the race was over.
Would he say thanks for a fun race and just leave? Or would he hang with th-what was he thinking? He had never hanged with anypony before, and had no intentions to start, even if she did helped him back up instead of getting good distance. Looking around again he quickly took notice of a whether long tree branch, one that seemed could hold his weight. Smirking he turns and climbs the tree, it only took Scootaloo a moment or two before she noticed and took even less time to realize what he was doing.
Searching and finding a similar tree branch she climbed and placed herself in the right position, as Speedy started to force the branch back he noticed Scootaloo was doing the same thing. Mouth fell open and wanting to say something, but the look she gave him made feel something he never felt before. A competitive type urge, one that made him want to see who really can go faster. Smiling back at her he turned his attention back to forcing the branch as far back as he could muster, both started to count down from three and when they hit zero, ZOOM!
They were swung forward as if shot out of a catapult, flying through the air with the breeze in his face, Speedy never felt so alive. He knew he was going faster than Scootaloo was, the finish line was in sight and he could taste victory just in his gr---CRASH!
Both foals had rammed right into a pony who had just jumped on the dirt path, seemingly chasing bunnies who were carrying away apples. The crash was so sudden and so painful, Speedy thought he had just hit a brick wall which had won the crash.
“APPLEJACK!?” He heard through his dazed vision, shaking his head until it was straight he saw the pony he and Scootaloo had rammed into.
It was a mare with orange fur, and the hat she was wearing now sat atop Scootaloo’s flank. Scootaloo herself was just recovering from the sudden crash around the same time the mare did, both seemed no worse for wear but the mare seemed to have some pain in her ribs.
“S-Sorry Ms…” Speedy spoke softly as he handed her the hat, “We didn’t see you a-and---”
“It’s al’right, but what were you two fillies doing?” Applejacked asked as she had no idea what was going on.
“We were racing..” Scootaloo answered feeling a little scared that they were in trouble.
“Racing?” Through the air!?”
“We just saw some branches and thought---”
“Now Scootaloo ah know Rainbow Dash went on about how cool that trick was, but ya can’t---”
“Are you al’right Applejack?” Came Applebloom’s voice again, she and Sweetie Belle had just arrived and she ran right up to her big sister.
“Ah’m fine, but you two.” She turned to Speedy and Scootaloo, “Y’all should’ve known shooting through the air like that is very danger--hang on, who are you?” she stared at Speedy as if trying to remember if she saw him before.
Speedy gulped, Celestia was the only adult that didn’t immediately punished him or treated him badly, so he was very nervous and scared. “Speedy, I’m really so---”
“So YOUR Speedy, Twilight’s been looking for you for the last half hour.” Interrupted Applejack, making Speedy gulp again.
“She’s, looking for me?”
“Well of course she is! This is your first visit and after being out for about two hours, she worried you were---”
“Two hours?” Speedy was surprised, he felt as if he left her house no more than ten minutes ago. Funny how time just flies when you're deep in thinking.
“Well yeah, told her ah would look for you. Glad y’all al’right, seemed you met my sister and her friends.”
Speedy looked and just noticed Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were standing behind him, “Yeah, we just met.” he replied without much thought.
Applejack took getting rammed into whether well, she wasn’t mad but did scolled them a little bit. When she was taking them out of the orchard Speedy suddenly erupted with laughter. The others thought he had lost it, he just laughed and laughed until he fell over uncontrollability. When asked if he was alright he said in between laughs “It’s--just--I--never--felt--so--thrilled!” which made them confused.
“Thrilled?” They asked him.
It took a bit to answer but he just said “I never been so scared in my whole life! And that speed, WOW! I felt as if I was on air! Real sorry we crashed into and hurt you, Ms Applejack, “Speedy titled his head a bit which stuck the three fillies as very odd. “but wow that was so much fun!”
The rest of the way back Speedy seemed more happy than he was prior to the race, none of the others seemed to mentioned anything as they had no words to express it. Once at Twilight’s house Applejack stopped and spoke.
“Sure y’all alright?”
Which Speedy simply nodded, he opened the door and as soon as he walked in---SURPRISE!!!! Ponies jumped out and nearly scared him to death, but instead he simply froze up. The others soon walked in and the fillies had such happy expresses on their faces, Speedy couldn’t remember ever seeing happier faces.
“Surprise!!!” Came a voice, Speedy turned and had a party hat immediately placed on his head by Pinkie Pie, who simply hopped away afterwards without a word.
“W-What…?” He muttered looking up at the hat, then at the ponies who were all staring at him.
“Don’t you remember Pinkie said she would throw you a welcome party?” Came another voice, it was Rainbow Dash who blew a party horn immediately after she spoke.
Speedy almost facehooved, he totally forgot, although he wasn’t very excited about it to begin with. Watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders putting on party hats and blowing their own party horns, and then looking at Applejack who gave a smile before walking over to her friends, Speedy was left in thinking yet again. He was unsure how much time had passed when he noticed Twilight Sparkle walking up to him.
Before she could even speak he spoke “..I’m sorry I was rude earlier.” which made her stop in her tracks.
“What do you mean?” She asked in response.
He simply answers “I was upset, upset Celestia sent me here as a last resort type of thing. I was getting fed up with it, and guess I took it out on you and your friends. I’m sorry.” and titled his head again while not paying attention to the others’ muttering.
Twilight stared for a moment before giggling, at first Speedy thought she was laughing at him, but she then said “Oh it’s quite alright. To tell you the truth, I was the same way when she sent me here.” which made him awestruck.
“Y-You were..?”
“Of course, back then I didn’t really care about friends. But after spending time with them,” he turns to her friends who were huddled together by the punch bowl. “they became my best friends.”
Speedy looked and saw the five ponies she was looking at, then he looked over at the Cutie Mark Crusaders who waved at him. Speedy wasn’t sure how to feel, but was understanding what she meant. Turning back he said “Well, I’m not sure how to tell if somepony is a friend or not, Celestia wants you to help me understand that, right?” and hoped he was on the right track.
Twilight who offered another smile followed by a giggle, said “I’m not really sure what she intends for me to do, but she wouldn’t have sent you here if she didn’t trust in me.” which made Speedy wonder whether or not she could. “But if you ask me,” She started as she turns to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “that you already started making friends on your own.”
Speedy turned and saw the three fillies waving yet again at him, he just couldn’t be sure if he could be friends with them. He open his mouth to speak but before he could even get a sound out, Pinkie Pie had remembered.
“Now their club has four fillies! Two more and you’ll be copying u---”
“I’m--not--a filly!” Speedy finally blurted out.
Everypony stopped and stared, some were muttering while others just stared seemingly looking him over. “Whad'ya mean?” Asked Applebloom.
“Your muzzle, and eyelashes?” Started Sweetie Belle.
“Even your voice sou---”
“It’s not my fault I resemble a filly so much,” Speedy interrupted Scootaloo, “I get mistaken for one all the time and would’ve corrected you sooner but…” biting his lip he just stares down at the ground.
A few silent moments went by and it seemed like the party was spoiled, but then Twilight said “I knew you were a colt.” which made everypony turn to her.
“Twilight,” Started Rarity. “How could you? You only saw he-him, once this morning?”
Twilight simply responds with “Celestia made sure to mention it in her letter, I already told Rainbow Dash who was suppose to tell you guys.” which made Rainbow Dash blush as she had forgotten.
“You’re really a colt?” Asked Sweetie Belle who really couldn’t see it.
“Yeah,” Speedy said in a puffed voice. “Are you gonna poke fu--”
“Well, ah don’t mind if ya have fermine looks.” Said Applebloom, who didn’t really care if he looked like a girl or a goat for that matter.
Speedy who was taken off guard by her reply, looked at her as if she had defended him greatly, yet was very taken aback and had no words to say. After a bit of silence the other two spoke and, Speedy was even more taken aback.
“Yeah, who cares if you look like a filly?” Spoke Scootaloo.
“As long as your friends, who cares what you look like?” Sweetie Belle quickly followed.
Speedy was at a total lost for words, never in his life had anypony his age found out he was a colt, and not poked fun about it. It was one of the things the bullies teased him the most about, even a few adults chuckled or at least thought he was weird. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were the first to ever say such things, and Speedy just didn’t know how to reply to having good comments. For a brief moment the three fillies thought something was wrong, but did he asked them a question.
“So, you won’t make fun of me of my appearance? Or even my---”
“We already told you, we don’t care what ya look like.” Interrupted Applebloom with the other two nodding in agreement.
Speedy looked away from them for only a moment or two, just so he could think and not get mixed up, then he looked back and muttered “T-Thank..thank you.” and smiled back.
The rest of the party went pretty well, at first Speedy was nervous and wasn’t sure what to even do. It took a lot of encouraging from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they got him to try a game out and when he failed so hard, probably enough to be famous for it, it was the biggest laughter any of them ever had. Normally would be upset or feel depressed, at first it seemed like he was going to be, but instead he ended up laughing along side them. The next game, bobbing for apples, Speedy managed to nab a green apple but instead of pulling it out, he was pulled head first into the barrel.
Pinkie Pie had did one of her famous pranks, adding a fake apple with a spring to the barrel and ponies always fell for it. Rainbow Dash remembered the first time she tugged on that apple, she fought hard but in the end the fake apple won and she was left with a sprained neck. Applejack remembered how at the same party she had gotten Gummy as a little surprised and made Rainbow Dash swore to never tell a soul, which she did the very second her back was turned. The last game the foals played was Pin The Tail On The Pony, Speedy was the third to go and felt a little sick as Pinkie spun him around what felt like fifty times.
He stumbled but managed to pin the tail, right on Twilight’s Cutie Mark and the total terrible on his face when he removed the blindfold, was just priceless. He apologized over and over but she said it was fine, “ponies do that all the time” she told him. As the night went on Speedy started to like talking with the three fillies he at first, didn’t really want to hang around with. While still unsure if he could call him his friends, he was sad they had to go so soon.
“Bed time ah’m afraid.” Applejack told them.
As everypony left one by one Speedy watched Twilight send them off, and before the Cutie Mark Crusaders left Speedy wanted to say something to them. “C-C-C-Can I...um visit your clubhouse again?” which they were all the happy to say yes.
“I should make you a cape something though, every member gets one.”Said Sweetie Belle.
“W-Wait! I didn’t mean I would jo-aw forget it..” Speedy sighed as they walked off before he could even finish.
When Twilight finally shut the door, after waving goodbye to her friends, she saw Speedy was starting to get sleepy eyed and said it was time for bed. Speedy hated having to go to bed as he always wanted to do something, but tonight he actually wanted too. Whether due to the race earlier, or having such fun at the party, he wasn’t sure. He just followed her up the sta--
“Hey watch it, you nearly tripped over my tail.”
Speedy had to rub his eyes as they started to go blurry with sleep, on the stairs was somepony who looked almost as sleepy as he did, well pony isn’t the best word. It was a small purple dragon, who he had seen during the party but hadn’t spoken too.
“Sorry,” He said as they walked up the stairs. “since you seemed to be going to bed too, you must be..?”
“Spike, nice to meet you.”
When they finally made it into the bedroom Speedy only saw one large bed, he went to jump in but Twilight directed him to his real bed. He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t playing any tricks, but when he saw Spike climbing into a similar bed he knew they weren’t.
“I hadn’t had time to buy a proper bed, hope you don’t mind?” Twilight said while feeling worried he would.
But Speedy felt so tired he didn’t even bother complain, he climbed into the small dog-like bed and got comfortable. Sighing with relief Twilight climbed into her own and turned blew out the candle she was carrying. Spike snored immediately, Twilight seemed to be a no-snorer and wondered how she could sleep with Spike’s. Covering up and getting warm, Speedy’s mind replayed the day through his mind and felt better than he had earlier. He was starting to think moving here wasn’t going to be as bad as he had feared, but it was too early to be sure.
He had to wait until tomorrow and see how hanging with the Cutie Mark Crusaders would go, would it be as fun as today had turned out? Or would his fear be realized? Only time could tell, but right now only one thing was on his mind. “How can she sleep with that snoring?”
