//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22 
// Story: My Little Pony: Morphing is Magic 
// by Tricondon 
//------------------------------//

Author's Note: Written by Samaru163 and Tricondon.

Chapter 22


	Jake

The mark stood out brightly against my lavender coat. I craned my neck around to get a better look at it.

“You keep staring at it. Is everything alright, Prince Jake?” Twilight asked. I looked up from the bizarre colouring and looked at her sheepishly. Behind her I saw both Marco and Rachel flashing me subtle winks.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I remember how excited I was when I got my Cutie Mark.” She blushed at the memory, and I was taken aback slightly to see a colourful pony blush like that.

“Twilight, you said that these things represent your special talents, right?” Cassie asked.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“So what do you think Jake’s represents?”

Twilight tilted her head and closed her eyes, deep in thought. “I’m not entirely certain. Cutie Marks usually appear when somepony finds their special talent, but all Prince Jake was doing was talking. Maybe he’s a motivational speaker?”

I found myself letting out a small chuckle at the image of me standing in front of crowded gymnasiums and small group get togethers. Who knows, maybe they would benefit from one of my ‘before inane missions that would most likely get us all killed’ speeches. 

Marco let out a loud laugh, which was funny in and of itself, hearing Marco’s familiar laugh come out of Rarity’s voice. Rachel must have thought so as well, since she practically killed herself then and there from laughter. Even Ax ended up joining her, which now didn’t strike me as oddly as it had originally.

“Oh my, Jake giving speeches to bored highschoolers and irate office workers,” Marco said between gasps of air. “Just sign me up now please.”

“What’s everypony hollerin’ about?” The barn door then opened wide and Applejack came walking in.

“Oh, Applejack! Prince Jake finally got his Cutie Mark!” Twilight said, turning around to greet her friend.

“Really? Well, congratulations yer Majesty!” she said happily. “Truth be told Ah was sorta wonderin’ if ya were ever goin’ t’ get one, what with ya being from outer space and all.” Applejack leaned over, peering at my mark. “Hmm, Ah ain’t never seen a Cutie Mark like that before. What’s it mean?”

“We can wonder about that later,” Cassie said in a low voice. “But right now I need to tell you something.” She walked over to Applejack’s side and lead her to the opposite side of the barn. She then began speaking to her softly so the others couldn’t hear, though I could probably guess what she was talking about.

<Prince Jake, I am curious about the sigil that has appeared on your flank. Does it grant you any further powers like your telekinesis?> Ax asked curiously.

“No, I don’t think so. Really I don’t feel that much different than before,” I explained. Just then I saw Applejack move away from Cassie, shaking her head furiously.

“No, no. It ain’t true! Ah know Applebloom. She’s mah sister! I’d know if she were being controlled!” Applejack stomped the ground in frustration. “Ah can’t believe it! Twilight, how can you trust these horrible liars?” she yelled, turning to Twilight in anger.

“Applejack, please,” Cassie said. “I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Applejack turned to Cassie and was about to speak, but the words seemed to lose themselves in her throat. Instead she just stood there and looked at the ground with a horrible combination of anger and sadness in her eyes.

“That’s what Yeerks do,” I said, walking towards Applejack. “They imitate people, er, ponies perfectly. Their memories, their mannerisms, voice inflection. It’s flawless. Your friend, a coworker, even a sibling. They could be a controller and you’d never know, until they trick you into becoming one of them.”

Applejack looked up at me with tears streaming down her face. I moved closer to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“I know how you feel,” I said to her. “That helpless feeling. The horrid knowledge that you were powerless to protect them. And that there is nothing you can do to get them out of this nightmare, no matter how hard you fight.” I fell silent and closed my eyes, feeling a lump growing in my throat.

“Prince Jake? Are you alright?” Twilight asked, her voice heavy with concern.

“...my brother.” I finally said after a long while. “The Yeerks have my brother.”


	
The minutes that followed were filled with a long and somber silence. Applejack had left us all again to be alone for a bit. I didn’t blame her; I knew all too well the pain she must have been going through.

Me and Marco had both demorphed back to human, and I was glad to see that the mark I had received hadn’t followed me. That would have been difficult to explain when we got back home, although I was curious as to where it would have shown up. Ax was also interested by this, the whole mark being linked to our special talent thing seemed to really fascinate him.

<Surely there must have been some occurrence where an equine’s personal sigil did not correspond to any unique ability they possess.>

“Nope, the Cutie Mark will only appear when a pony realizes their talent. So they’re always right,” Twilight said, in a similar manner to a teacher educating a student.

<I cannot fathom an entire society which functions in such a manner. It is inconceivable that you could be self-sustaining for so long.>

“And why is it such a difficult thing to understand?”

<It is both highly improbable, and highly unlikely that the individual members of your species would remain in the same profession their entire lives. Most citizens of other species go through at least one change in career or profession in their lives.> Ax thought for a moment. <Can a pony’s mark change at all during their life?>

“No”

<Then I stand by my previous statement.>

“Well, we’re a functioning society. If that’s so impossible, then explain us.” Twilight’s tone had gotten a tad more defensive.

Ax went silent for a moment, all four of his eyes seemed deep in thought. During this time Twilight did not take her eyes off of Ax. Finally he spoke again. <Your species is an anomaly that I cannot begin to try and explain.>

“Face it Ax-man, I think you’ve lost this one,” Marco said jokingly. Ax swiveled both of his eyestalks towards Marco, blinking rapidly.

<But it cannot function...> Ax said lamely. I could tell he was irritated.

“Ax, take it from someone who’s lost plenty of battles with girls, just step down.”

Twilight giggled to herself, then stood and headed for the door. “Well, it’s getting late. I’m going to check on Applejack .”

“Twilight, hold up for a second,” Marco said as she neared the door. “It just occurred to me that us sleeping in our natural forms with a controller about seems like a bad idea.”

“Well, why not just sleep in your pony forms, then? Or another of your animal choices?”

<Time limit, remember?> Tobias spoke from the rafters. <Two hours, then you’re stuck.>

“Oh, right. Well, I don’t see the problem. Applebloom won’t come in here. So long as Applejack doesn’t let on that she knows, the Yeerk will have to continue pretending to be the normal Applebloom.” Twilight was silent for a moment. “Wow, that did sound as weird as I thought it would.”

“We could sleep in shifts?” Rachel suggested. “We all sleep in pony form and one person’s awake to make sure we don’t go over the limit.”

“That would work,” I said, “except that Ax is the only one of us with an internal clock.” I jabbed a thumb at Marco. “Besides, he’s likely to fall asleep during his shift anyways.” Marco stuck out his tongue at me in response.

“Um, I have an idea,” Cassie said softly. “Why don’t we move to another house? Twilight, didn’t you say Fluttershy lives nearby?”

“That could work, but I’d better let her know you’re coming, and tell Applejack you’re leaving,” Twilight reasoned, opening the door. “I’ll be back soon enough.” And with that, the unicorn was gone.

“So, Jake. Are you sure you still don’t have that mark on you anywhere?” Marco asked. “Checked everywhere? Not on your back? On your neck? On your leg? Ankle? Toe? Wrist? Butt-” Marco was suddenly silenced by a large bucket smashing into his chest, courtesy of an irate Rachel. He picked it up where it fell and tossed it back at her, but Rachel caught it easily and raised it as if to throw it a second time.

<Guys, you might want to cut that out,> Tobias said with a hint of alarm. <I think someone’s coming.>

The room went silent almost immediately. We all turned our gaze to the large barn door that Twilight had left from.

“She couldn’t have gone to Fluttershy’s and back already,” Cassie whispered.

“Tobias, is it Fluttershy or Twilight?” I asked.

<I can’t see too well in this low light, but whoever it is, they’re too large to be either.>

<Do we have sufficient time to morph?> Ax asked.

<I don’t think so. You’d better hide!>

I looked around the barn fervently, but aside from a few bales of hay and some barrels, neither of which could sufficiently hide us, the barn was empty.

“There isn’t anywhere to hide!” Rachel hissed.

“Get as far against the wall as you can,” I said. “Now!”

We all clambered against the far wall, hoping the shadows would hide us from anyone who poked their nose in. I kept my eyes on the large door, trying to control my breathing. Unfortunately, I failed to notice the much smaller door beside me until it swung open, smashing me in the face.

“Oh come on!” Marco said quietly as a figure entered the barn. Even in the dim light I could make out the pony as it walked in. It was rather stocky when compared to Twilight and her friends, and was covered in bright red fur. The pony walked further in and looked around the barn, his eyes eventually stopping on the bucket.

Without another word the pony picked up the bucket and set it on top of the barrels. He then turned around and froze as he spotted us.

“Um...hi,” Cassie said quietly. The pony just blinked at us.

“Hi,” he finally said. “Not meaning t’ be rude, but what are y’all?”

<Should we trust this one Prince Jake?> Ax asked.

“Well, he hasn’t recognized you, so he’s probably not a controller,” I reasoned.

“But he could be trying to trick us,” Marco countered.

“I don’t know, he looks like he could take us without even trying,” Rachel said.

“Eeyup.”

Silently we all unanimously made our decision and I looked back to the red pony. I began speaking to him, silently hoping we hadn’t made the wrong move.

“We are visitors from far away. We-”

“Take us to your leader!” Marco cut in. The pony eyed him oddly.

“Way to go, Marco,” Rachel muttered.

“Ya’ll want to see Princess Celestia? She’s up in Canterlot,” the pony drawled after a time.

“Yeah, we know,” I said. “Though we have met your other Princess, Luna. We were going to see Celestia, but the city is closed off.”

“Eeyup, I’ve noticed.” He looked at each of us in turn, as if sizing us up. “Why are ya’ll in mah barn?”

“Well, we’re really just staying here until Twilight gets back from Fluttershy’s,” Cassie said with more confidence in her voice than before.

“So ya know Twilight and her friends?” Cassie nodded. “Well, if y’all are friends with Applejack then y’all are on good terms with me.” He drawled again, choosing his words deliberately. “Have ya met Applebloom? Ah could introduce ya.”

“No!” Cassie cried, causing the stallion to look at her confusingly. “I mean, no we haven’t. But I don’t think you should tell her about us.”

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said. “Just know that Applejack would agree with us.”

The pony eyed us all suspiciously.

“Ah know Applebloom can be a hooffull...” Behind me I heard Marco groan, but the stallion continued regardless, “but she’s a sweet filly, really.”

“I’m sure she is, sir, but we can’t see her or let her know we’re here,” I said. “I know this probably makes little sense, and you only just met us, but you have to trust us on this.”

The stallion was quiet for a long while. He seemed to be thinking, but the way he just stared at us blankly made it hard to tell.

“Big Mac,” was all he said.

“Uh, what?”

“Mah name’s Big Mac.” He gave a small smile, and his whole demeanor seemed to flip. I suddenly felt much more comfortable around him.

“Big Mac,” I echoed, “My name is Jake.”