Friendship isn't just Magic, it can heal hearts too

by Raumo

Friends? Forgiveness? (Alex POV) (EDITED)

"A little help would've been nice!" Twilight snapped at me.

"Yeah, well, I am not the person to be asking for assistance with making Applejack use help. I like to do things on my own as well."

"It's fine to do that sometimes, but when it is hurting herself and others, how about then?"

I saw her point. I did do things on my own, but I trained to do so and I made sure I never tired myself to the point I made mistakes. Applejack though, was clearly making mistakes. "At that point, it would be good to stop or ask for help."

"Exactly! So will you please talk to her? She won't listen to me, but maybe she'll listen to you."

"No."

"Oh, come on. Will you please do something? If nothing works, you can walk away." I opened my mouth to say no again when she looked up at me, fully and silently.

"What are you doing?" She said nothing, and just kept looking at me with her big purple eyes, a wide, pleading look in them. "That is just...stop looking at me like that!" She just kept silent. "Ah, come on! This is worse than puppy dog eyes! Fine, I'll do something about your friend."

"You will?"

"Stop acting so surprised. You knew I'd do it eventually with that look in your arsenal." She just giggled as I turned and began to jog after Applejack.

I found her running after bunnies with quite a scary look on her face. Scary for the bunnies, that is. As Fluttershy called out to stop, I knew this wasn't going to end well. Also, Fluttershy looked quite distressed. Darn it. It just had to be Fluttershy that Applejack was helping. Well, Twilight asked me to do something. Pretty sure what I plan to do wasn't quite what she had in mind.

I quickly sprinted to Applejack's position where she about had the terrified bunnies cornered. I quickly whipped out a small vile of liquid that contained some herbs for sleep. If I can just force her mouth open... As I slid in beside her, she looked at me in surprise, mouth slightly open. Perfect. I quickly stuck the vile in her mouth and poured the contents. She tried to spit out the liquid, but I held her mouth closed. She was so tired the herbs worked quickly and she collapsed, asleep.

The dog was growling at me. "Oh hush. She needed to sleep and you know it. If you're so worried check on her. You'll find she is perfectly fine." The dog walked over to Applejack and sniffed her. She relaxed somewhat, but still stared at me warily. I turned to the bunnies, they still looked terrified. Fluttershy seemed to be frozen from shock, so I was going to have to calm them down before they did a cute, yet a bit terrifying stampede. That many bunnies running at you? *shiver*

"So, uh, little bunnies. I know this one scared and cornered you, but I was, uh, hoping you could, you know, not run in terror or something." I can't believe I'm doing this. Talking to a bunch of bunnies. Why Fluttershy? Why did you have to be so...whatever, when I first met you. "Also, Fluttershy seems to really care for you so if could...I don't know, maybe behave, she can do whatever and you could go back to...well, whatever."

They actually were calming down. As Fluttershy, glided over they huddled around her. "Thank you Alex. What did you do to Applejack, though?"

"Just gave her some sleeping herbs in liquid form. She was so tired already, they didn't have to do much."

"Oh. If I'd known she was so tired, I wouldn't have asked for her help." She had a guilty look on her face.

"Not your fault." She started to protest. I quickly spoke again, "It really isn't. She was being far too stubborn and not asking for help on her farm. Admirable how dedicated she is, but she is making too many mistakes due to overworking herself. Maybe some of her common sense will return when she wakes up." I looked at Applejack snoring away. Oh great. I can't leave her here. Who knows how long she'll sleep. "Well, I better carry her back to the farm. See ya Miss Fluttershy."

I picked up Applejack and started to walk to Sweet Apple Acres. Shoot, she is small but heavy. I quickly walked using less traveled paths. I didn't want to embarrass Applejack, just have her stop making slightly harmful mistakes.

I made it to her house and knocked on the door. As I waited for an answer, Twilight ran up. "I talked to Fluttershy. Knocking her out wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"You asked me to do something. Talking to her wasn't an option at the time. Stampeding bunnies aren't necessarily dangerous, but they can be a nuisance." She sighed. "Talk to her when she wakes up. She may listen better after some sleep." The door opened and Big Mac appeared. "Hello Mr. Mac. Your sister collapsed from exhaustion." Twilight looked at me sharply. I ignored her. "I carried her here so she could sleep in her bed. Because of your ribs, I'll just head up and set her on her bed, then be on my way. Twilight would like to stay till she wakes up. She wants to talk to her later." I quickly moved up the stairs and to her room, setting her under the covers.

When I went down the stairs to leave, I hit a lavender roadblock. "You are staying here, with me, to talk to her. If you try to leave, then I'll use my magic on you."

"Yeah," I stated slowly. "Magic doesn't work on me. Slides right off."

"Impossible." She then tried to cast whatever on me. I could feel something slide over and around me, but never actually connect. "How is that possible?"

"Maybe because I come from a place with no magic."

"What if I needed to cast a spell on you to help you, what then?"

I thought for a moment. There is one possibility, but is it something only her mentor can do? I thought back to my modified guns. Instead of bullets, they now held a crystal that holds magic that fires off a beam, much like a laser. I could set it to stun or to kill. It was very sci-fi, but it actually worked. The shots weren't limitless, but I had more than the original eight. Her mentor put magic in the crystal. Is Twilight far enough along in her studies to do so with a different spell? Perhaps if it was in a bracelet I was wearing, I could somehow activate the spell. If it was me, in a way, casting it, perhaps it wouldn't dissipate.

"Have Spike write in a letter to your mentor about putting spells in crystals or gemstones. Tell her you think spells could work on me if I was wearing the spell-infused stone. If she gives you the go ahead to try, we can do some experiments."

She looked so excited. "That sounds wonderful. I can help you and learn new ways to improve my magic."

"If she says yes that is." If this works, I hate to let Celestia have another tool to use against me, but I don't want to hurt Twilight if this backfires or if she wasn't supposed to learn this yet. "Now how about you go sit by your friend till she wakes up. I'll go work a bit on the farm. If she protests later, I claim it as an apology for knocking her out. In my defense though, she was going to collapse eventually, I just sped it up a bit." Twilight nodded and walked up to Applejack's room.

A couple hours later, I was taking a break. I noticed a streak of angry orange heading up to me and a worried lavender one not too far behind. "What in tarnation do ya think you're doing? Ah don't need your help, so stop hauling apples. Ah was almost done. Ah just needed to do you a few more trees before you knocked me out. Then Ah would have done the applebuck harvest all by myself."

I looked at Twilight. "Sorry, but she blazed out here, before I could explain why you were working." I nodded in understanding, then turned to Applejack

"One, I'm hauling apples as in a somewhat apology for knocking you out. Two, you have a strange definition of a few more trees."

"What do ya mean?"

"Look." I pointed behind her. She had done a major amount, but there were still hundreds of apples still left. "Once again, I admire your dedication and endurance, but you need help. And that's alright, Applejack. We all need help sometimes. You are always helping your friends. Question is, will you let them help you?

She looked to me, then Twilight, then the orchard. She swayed a bit as she looked at the orchard. "Okay Rider, Twilight. Ah could really use your help. And if the others want to help, that's okay."

Twilight sighed in relief. "I'll go round up the others." As she left, Applejack turned to me.

"Do ya really admire my dedication and endurance?"

I looked at her for a long moment. "Yes. Many wouldn't have lasted as long as you did." I paused. "I also admire that you had the courage to ask for help. I hate to admit it, but I don't think I would have." Though I would never let myself get to the point where I needed help, I silently added.

She looked at me in gratitude. "Thank ya for your kind words. You are a real pal." Then others arrived and went to work.

I did as well, but my mind was running elsewhere. Pal? Isn't that another word for friend? No, no, no. she is just grateful for the nice words I said to her.

The object of my thoughts called out for a break and apple juice. I half listened to what she was saying. However, my head snapped up when she said the real reward was having the six of us as her friends. "Yes, Ah consider you my friend Rider. Ah hope one day you can consider me one as well."

"Perhaps." I said quietly. Inside though, I was in turmoil. One side of me was screaming run. You can't have friends. The other side of me, the one I had long suppressed, rose up and pleaded for me to give it a chance.

Later in bed, I was still thinking of her words. Just a month here, and already I'm softening. I've tried to harden myself, but there is something about this group that makes it difficult. I claimed to help as an apology, but truth is I wanted to help her. Seeing her struggle so much, it just didn't sit right with me. Also, to see Twilight so eager to help her made me long for someone like that for myself. I sighed. Someday, she said. I don't have to choose today. I'll just think of this another day. I pushed the thoughts away and forced myself to sleep.

The thing is, by choosing not choose, he had made a choice. He was not completely denying friends anymore. Unknown to him, hope had grown in his heart, as well as Twilight's. For she had noticed that he had said, "Perhaps". To the others, this was insignificant. To her, it was a major change from a month ago .

---

I was helping Rarity when her doorbell rang. She answered it, and came back sneezing and giggling. "What is so funny? Also, why are you sneezing? You weren't before."

"Oh Pinkie and Rainbow played that sneezing powder prank on me. A really good one. Pinkie also got it on herself."

"Ah, pranks. I use to play a lot of those with Tom." A genuine smile escaped me as some of the memories played.

"Tom?," she asked hesitantly. I looked up at her. For a moment I hesitated and thought of changing the subject. For once though, I wanted to remember the good times, not the bad ones after becoming a spy.

"Yeah Tom. He was my best friend. We loved to play pranks. I could tell you of some of them if you like?" I was hesitant, but she game me a warm smile.

"I would love to." So we settled down and I told of different pranks and I was able to laugh.

The next day, I was walking in town when I saw something new. Is that a griffon? Why is it here? Oh wait. I remember overhearing Twilight speak of Rainbow's friend Gilda. That must be her. I frowned as I watched her. She seemed very rude. And a thief. I am going to throttle her! There was no reason to scare Fluttershy like that! I then noticed Pinkie Pie who had a frown on her face. She then went on to say she was going to use extreme measure, Pinkie Pie-style. Hmm...I'll wait to throttle her then.

A party? That is how she dealing with her? Am I missing something? Time to wait and see. As the party went on and Gilda kept getting pranked, I relaxed. Even smiled a bit. So I was missing something. Good one, Pinkie Pie. As Gilda lost her cool, and Rainbow revealed that she was the one to set up the pranks, I was very surprised. As Pinkie said she threw this party in hopes it would make Gilda smile, I contemplated. She is very forgiving. After everything Gilda has done, she still tries to make her smile. I can't do that.

I quickly left the party. There are things that I don't think I could ever forgive or forget. Jack's face again passed through my mind. But what about other things? Smaller things, like Gilda scaring Fluttershy for no real reason. Or something else. I realized, that no, I couldn't. The thing was, I no longer knew how. I didn't even know what it meant to forgive.

I was so deep in my thoughts, I actually didn't hear Pinkie Pie walk up. "You left so soon." I snapped my head to her in surprise. "Was the party not good? You were frowning. I like to have all my guests be happy. I couldn't with Gilda, but I can try again someday."

"How do you do that?" She looked at me in confusion. "How do you forgive so easily? She popped your balloons, destroyed your contraption, with you on it, and terrified Fluttershy. Then you throw her a party to try make her smile. How?"

For the first time I saw her truly serious. "I can forgive because I know they're just sad and angry inside. They can't be nice, so they're mean. I try to make them happy, so they start acting nice. I love to try make ponies or people smile. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Point is, I keep trying no matter what happens."

"And if they never change? They stay horrible and mean. Or sad and angry as you put it. How about then? What is forgiveness going to do then?"

"Forgiveness is different for each pony and situation. Sometimes it's saying, 'OK, you're sorry. Let's try to work towards friendship.' Other times it saying, 'You may not be sorry, but I am going to forgive you anyway. I'm going to keep away from you though and move on.' That's what I did with Gilda. She may not be sorry, but I am not going to dwell on it. Also, if she comes back, I'll keep Fluttershy away from her, until she proves she can be nice to her, but I'll give her a chance."

"I don't believe I'll ever be able to forgive like you do, but I'll drop it and leave Gilda alone for scaring Fluttershy. Who knows, maybe you're right and her life is terrible. There are some things that are unforgivable though."

"Perhaps, but bitterness only hurts yourself, not the one your bitter at."

So true. I'm so bitter at Mr. Blunt all these years, yet he is fine. Happy even with his family. I felt bitterness run through me at that thought. I also felt something else follow it. Physical pain. How come I never noticed that before? I knew the answer though. I was so deep into my resentment, I never bothered to notice anything else. I sighed. "Thanks Pinkie Pie. I don't think it's the same as forgiving, but I'll try to let go of my bitterness.

"Great!" Something told me that she knew I was talking about more than just Gilda. "Now turn that frown upside down, and lets go party!" With that she bounced away.

I huffed out a laugh and shook my head. "She is crazy, but she has her moments." I then followed her and did enjoy the party a bit, even if I was a wallflower. It was nice to pony watch. Pony watch. Ha. This world is weird.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Have you decided to use flashbacks/nightmares?

[Raumo]

6977158 I'm still not sure. Every time I try to write one out, it's feels like the wrong timing or I just can't make it flow with the story. I have a plan for Dragonshy, but we'll see.