The Gang's Back Together
With Pinkie Pie's party over, the town slowly started to return to its normal routine. Ponies were on their way to shop for their groceries, dine at the cafes, or simply relax in the afternoon sun. The town was abound in gossip after what had happened, and one couldn’t walk a few feet without overhearing a story about Pinkie’s party. If they weren’t talking about its unusual guest of honor, they were sharing how Pinkie Pie got pinned, or how the star resident of Ponyville had been buried underneath a huge cake.
Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the town square, catching mist from the fountain to stay cool. Spike rested on top of her, quill and parchment ready in his hands. Everypony else had been sent out to search around Ponyville for Mort. When they couldn’t find a trace of him after he fled, splitting up was the only thing to do. They mostly targeted some businesses that had to stay open, and Pinkie Pie was tasked to find anyone that didn’t make it to the party, like some cows and Cranky Doodle. They were all supposed to meet back here within half-an-hour, or sooner if they found him.
The entire time, Twilight had been dealing with ponies left and right. They either wanted to know what happened to Mort, or if she was upset about what happened. Every time, she explained that everything was fine between them, no harm was done, and that they should all mind their own business and butt out.
She never quite worded it that way, but she had been sorely tempted to do so.
It didn’t help matters that it was a kinda-sorta fib: she didn’t know if things were fine with Mort. He had already told her about how he felt responsible for things not working out thus far. She was now afraid this may have been the final straw, and he was already on his way back to... wherever it was he came from.
She wiped away a few stray beads of sweat, making sure she didn’t accidentally fling them onto Spike. It wasn’t enough that they had lost Mort, but they had also lost him on what was beginning to feel like one of the hottest days of the season so far. Running around only made it feel worse. More than once she had just wanted to scream.
She wasn’t quite ready to break just yet, though.
When she found four of her friends converging on the fountain, she felt a flutter of hope, but it was quickly grounded when she saw their dissapointed expressions, and how none of them were being followed by a cloaked pony.
“Did you girls find out anything?” There was no point in asking them if they had found Mort. She could already guess they hadn’t. “Rarity, did anypony at Quills & Sofas see him?”
Rarity shook her head. “Sorry, dear, the store owner hasn't seen anypony like him all day.”
“Cross it off, Spike.” Spike nodded, scratching the parchment with his quill. Twilight next turned to Pinkie Pie, finding it hard to ignore the small bandage on her right flank. “Did any of the cows seem him, Pinkie? Or Cranky and Matilda?”
Pinkie was smiling, but Twilight knew her long enough to know when it was lacking her usual pep or not. Right now, it was. “Nope, the cows said they’ve been gossiping all day, and haven’t seen anypony. Cranky and Matilda said they've been napping the entire time, too.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Or at least I think that's what Cranky said. It was a little hard to make out through all the shouting.”
“Did you remember to knock on their front door before going inside this time?” Spike asked flatly.
Pinkie Pie looked at him blankly, then lightly bopped her head. “Oh, I knew I forgot something! I should really write that down for next time.”
Twilight’s eyes twitched, not from Pinkie’s actions, but from the lack of anything informative so far. She had only two ponies left to ask. Three, when Rainbow Dash got back. The fact she wasn’t did imply anything good. “Applejack, did any of the market ponies see anything?”
“'Fraid not, sug,” the farm pony said, shrugging sadly. “They hadn't seen anypony since the party. Though Ah did get an earful about how they want some forewarnin’ about Pinkie's parties next time, on account of how it ain’t no fun standin' in this heat when no pony's goin' to do business.”
“Hey, it was an emergency! I did the best I could on short notice,” Pinkie Pie said, sounding hurt.
“Focus, girls,” Twilight stressed. “What about you, Fluttershy? Please tell me you got something?”
Fluttershy scratched her foreleg, attempting to hide behind her mane. “I'm sorry, Twilight. Nurse Redheart hasn't seen him at the clinic, and he hasn’t shown up at the hospital, either.”
Twilight groaned, stomping her hoof in frustration. “I can’t believe this!”
“I take it you didn’t have much better luck at Hortense, then?” Rarity asked sympathetically.
Twilight sighed. “No. None of the patrons had seen him at all, and neither did the waiters. That means we’ve pretty much asked everypony that wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner!” Twilight rubbed her forehead, moaning wearily. “Oh, this is awful...”
“Oh, surely he couldn't have gone too far, dear,” Rarity suggested. “Why don't we just wait for Rainbow Dash and see if she found anything?”
“And speak of the Mare...” Applejack pointed up at something behind Twilight, and when she turned, she saw a familiar pegasus flying towards them, a short rainbow trailing behind her. Twilight braced herself, half-expecting another round of bad news.
“Yo, Twi'!” Rainbow Dash swooped around and slow, hovering just a few feet above them. She was catching her breath, her disheveled mane slick with sweat.
“You have good news for us, RD?” Applejack asked hopefully.
“You bet,” she said, dropping to the ground. Everypony gasped in delight, and leaned in eagerly. Twilight once again felt her hopes rising again, empowered by the confidence in Rainbow Dash’s voice and smirk.
Slicking her mane back, Rainbow Dash announced, “I couldn't find any sign of him outside of Ponyville!”
Everypony gaped at her. Twilight nearly fell forward out of shock and despair. Her hopes hadn’t just grounded, they’d been pummeled ruthlessly. “Rainbow, how in Equestria is that good news?!”
Rainbow Dash didn’t seem the least bit worried. “Think about it! A guy like that is going to stick out like a broken hoof, right? If he were out there, there’s no way I'd miss him!”
Applejack cocked her eyebrow, confused. “What’s yer point, sugarcube?”
Twilight struggled briefly in trying to understand what Rainbow Dash meant, or why it was worth getting excited over. After a few moments, she then discovered what—or at least, what she hoped—was Rainbow Dash’s point. “So what you're saying is if you couldn't find him outside Ponyville...”
Fluttershy gasped. “Then he'd have to still be somewhere inside Ponyville!”
“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash said, with a cocky grin.
“Well, that certainly sounds reasonable,” Rarity said, scratching her chin. “You're absolutely certain he couldn't have gotten too far?”
“No way, he'd have to be way faster than me for that to happen,” Rainbow Dash said, sitting back and spreading her forelegs and wings for emphasis. “I’ll admit, for a guy wrapped up in blankets, he’s pretty quick, but he’d have to be literally flying to get so far out so soon.”
“Well, he sure ain't in the town proper,” Applejack said. “Otherwise somepony would've seen him already. That probably means he has to be in the woods.”
A startled look appeared on Fluttershy. “Y-you don't think he's in the Everfree Forest?”
Twilight bit her lip, feeling a brief moment of terror at such a prospect. The Everfree was filled with voracious monsters, dangerous plantlife, and had a freak weather system that could change from sunny to stormy in an instant. If Mort could barely get by in Ponyville—a town synonymous with safety—there was no way he’d last an hour in the Everfree Forest. They’d be lucky to find his cloak.
“I don't know, Fluttershy,” Spike said doubtfully, leaning back on Twilight. “After what happened with your animals, I don't think he'd want to be anywhere near a bush, much less the Everfree Forest.”
Fluttershy looked down at her hooves guiltily, avoiding perplexed looks from Rarity and Applejack.
“Pardon me, are we missing something?” Rarity asked.
Twilight sighed, and briefly explained to them what had happened at the park, a task made harder by how Fluttershy would sink closer and closer to the ground in shame. When Twilight was done, Rarity and Applejack were left gawking in disbelief.
“They attacked him?” Applejack asked. “Just out of the blue?”
“I know Angel can be a bit rambunctious,” Rarity added, shooting a brief glance at Fluttershy, “but all of them?”
“I-I don't really know, either,” Fluttershy said meekly, her voice almost impossible to hear. “I think Angel was really scared of him, but I'm not sure why...”
“All Mort really did was watch them,” Twilight explained. “No sudden movements, or sounds... he even liked the performance.”
“It’s so weird!” Pinkie Pie said, unable to contain herself. ”Lots of animals are just really grumpy when he's around. Even Gummy was pretty rude today!”
Twilight thought of the torpid baby alligator, who always had a thousand-yard stare, and seemed barely aware of his surroundings at best. “Really? You could tell that?”
Pinkie Pie gasped at her. “You couldn't? I never heard Gummy use that kind of language! He never got it from me, that's for sure!” She hmphed, crossing her forelegs over her chest. “I bet it was Tracy. I keep telling her we have foals in the bakery, but she never—”
Pinkie’s tangent was suddenly interrupted by a loud gurgling noise that filled the air. The ponies looked around in confusion for the source, and all at once looked at Rainbow Dash.
The cyan pegasus quickly became annoyed from the sudden attention. “H-hey, don't look at me like that! I haven't eaten anything since we left the library...”
A moment later, there was a quieter grumble, and this time it was Applejack who was rubbing her own stomach. “All this runnin' around has given me quite the appetite, Twi'. Maybe we should get a bite somewhere right quick?”
“She's right, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, emphasizing her point with a quick jab of her elbow into Twilight's side. “Us pegasi gotta keep our energy up, especially when they're as athletic and energetic as me.”
“It won't do Mort any good if we can't stay on our hooves looking for him,” Rarity said. Her stomach gurgled, causing her to gasp and blush all at once. “Oh, excuse me...”
The five of them look at her expectantly. Twilight’s immediate reaction was to grumble. It irritated her that they wanted to stop looking, as every moment spent sitting around meant that Mort could get farther and farther away from them. This was one of her most important assignments of all time, for goodness’ sake!
Then, though, she realized that they had all been doing so much for her already. She hadn’t even asked them to help her last night, but they were still more than eager to help her today, even at their own inconvenience. To tell them no now, after asking so much of them so far, just seemed wrong.
Ultimately, Mort was her responsibility. Not theirs.
“Okay,” she said, smiling to let them know there were no hard feelings. “You’re right. All of you should rest as much as you want. I’ll keep trying to track him down, and if you still want to help—”
“Nuh huh,” Rainbow Dash said, with a serious expression. “You’re not looking for him yourself, Twilight. We’re your friends, and we’re gonna stick by you as long as it takes, dawn to dusk.”
Twilight felt Spike poking the back of her neck. “Come on, Twilight. You’ve been running around all day. You’re going to need more than a few cupcakes to keep you going.”
“Spike’s right!” Pinkie Pie interjected. “Even I gotta eat my grains and veggies to keep going like I do!”
Rarity came to her side, putting a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Twilight, we all know you must feel awful about what’s happened, but you have to help yourself if you want to help Mort.”
“Everything will work out,” Fluttershy told her, smiling reassuringly.
Twilight sniffed, feeling the beginning of tears. She quickly wiped them away. “T-thank you, girls...”
Applejack adjusted her Stetson. “Well, now that we got that out of the way, how ‘bout we head up to the farm? It's about lunch time anyway, and Ah’d hate to put all that food to waste. We could get ourselves a quick bite, and then plan on what to do next. An’ you never know, we might even spot Mort on the way there!”
Twilight nodded, and followed her friends as they started towards the apple farm. The thought of food had made her realize how hungry she felt, and Rarity was right: it wouldn’t do them any good if she collapsed today.
For now, she could only wonder where Mort was, and what he going through.
Apple Bloom sat in front of the rattling wagon, the wind rolling over her as Scootaloo drove them all along the dirt path, the bumps sometimes tilting her towards Sweetie Belle or back towards Mort. She had been smiling from ear to ear ever since they had left the tree house. It wasn't every day you saw a new pony in town, and an especially odd one at that!
True, most wouldn't consider being “odd” as a compliment, but sometimes Apple Bloom and her friends saw themselves that way. They were still some of the only foals in school to not have a cutie mark yet. Making matters harder to accept was that they had seen a number of even younger foals get their own cutie marks, often at things they had already tried and failed at, which only added to their frustration. Sometimes it made them feel isolated from everypony.
Unfortunately, they had already tried being “loners” to no avail. Seeing Rarity's reaction to their haircuts had made it all worth it, though.
In Mort, she saw a kindred spirit. While they agonized over not having a cutie mark as foals, here was a pony who hadn't had a cutie mark all his life! Whether it was because of “jinetics” or what not, she wouldn't be surprised if it had lead to him being teased or looked down on. Apple Bloom still remembered how humiliated she felt at Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera when she didn’t have her cutie mark. She was so ashamed she had to wear a table cloth just to hide it. Look at Mort, though! He was wrapped head to toe in a hot looking cloak so no pony could see he was a blank flank!
It just wasn't right! A pony like that needed something more than just a cutie mark. He needed friends. And from the way he talked about coming to Ponyville, he sounded in desperate need of them. Maybe he could even join the Cutie Mark Crusaders!
Then again, he was kinda old. For some reason, she got the impression he was really old, maybe even older than her brother. On the other hoof, they never set an age limit for their group. And even though he said it wasn't possible to get his cutie mark, maybe he just really hadn’t found it yet. They could swap notes on the farm! Surely there had to be a couple things even he hadn't tried.
She looked back at the passenger in question. He sat on his haunches, leaning against the back of the wagon. He was looking ahead with his small, pinkish eyes, smiling from ear to ear. The sunlight glittered off the fancy medal he wore around his neck, studded with a pretty gemstone. It looked pretty expensive. Maybe it was one of those “priceless” things he found?
“Are you enjoyin' the ride?” she asked.
The thin and pale-faced pony slowly nodded his head, humming his approval. She hadn't really noticed it before, but he seemed awfully thin. A few minutes with Granny Smith's cooking should change that, though.
“The path we're taking now goes straight from the clubhouse to the apple farm,” Sweetie Belle explained. The path in question was surrounded by trees on both sides, and some of their roots could be seen cresting the ground. It made the rides bumpy, but still very bearable. “We should be there in a few minutes at this rate!”
“Yep,” Apple Bloom said, nodding. “So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the—”
The sudden stop jolted her from her speech, and she nearly went tumbling out the front of the wagon. She pushed herself back into a sitting position, tilting the helmet back so she could see again. The scooter and wagon had skid sideways, pointing them towards the woods.
“What's the big idea, Scootaloo?” She didn't mean to sound angry, but she figured the filly would be a bit more careful the rest of the day, all things considered.
“Sorry, AB,” Scootaloo said, “but we kinda have a problem.”
The pegasus leaned back on her steering rod, and pointed down the path. The way they had taken to the farm dozens of times had a new addition to it: a fallen tree that now blocked their path.
“When the hay did that get there?” Apple Bloom demanded of nopony in particular. She didn't remember seeing it today, and she couldn’t have missed it: it was thicker than she and her fellow crusaders were tall. Ignoring the fact it was broken at its base, it seemed quite healthy, too. She couldn't imagine how or why it would've fallen over so recently.
Scootaloo gave an exasperated sigh. “Well, get out everypony. Guess we gotta move everything over it.”
“Hold on,” Sweetie Belle said. “We can't just leave this!”
Scootaloo rested her forelegs and head on top of the steering rod. “Why not?”
“We use this path everyday!” she protested. “If we just leave it here, we're going to have to climb over it all the time! It'll be such a pain!”
“So what, we move it?”
“Well why not?” Sweetie Belle pouted, crossing her forelegs.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “How about the fact it's, like, a hundred times our size! And where would we move it to, anyway?”
“I hate to say it, but Scoot's right,” Apple Bloom said, examining the sides of the path. “We've got trees going up and down both directions. Even if we could lift it, we wouldn't be able to fit it anywhere!”
Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin, not willing to give up just yet. “What if we chop it up?”
“That'll just take even longer! And what do we even chop it with?” Scootaloo groaned impatiently. “Look, let's just tell AB's family and her friends at the farm. They'd have no problem getting rid of it. Twilight could probably… I don't know, change it into a bunch of pine cones or something.”
“She has a point, Sweetie. It'd probably be a lot faster if we had their help, anyway.” She turned to look at their passenger. “Sorry, Mort, but could you get out for...”
It took a moment to register that her cloaked companion wasn't there anymore. She and Sweetie Belle shared a perplexed look.
“Oh, he's over there,” Scootaloo said, pointing behind her. “I saw him get out while we were talking.”
Apple Bloom looked beyond her friend, and found Mort standing in front of the fallen tree. He was pacing up and down the length of it, his horn glowing faintly. He was talking under his breath, but she couldn't hear what he was saying.
“What'cha doin', Mort?” she asked.
“Checking for bugs,” he replied distractedly.
“Bugs?” Sweetie Belle scrunched her nose in disgust. “Why?”
Instead of answering, he said, “Could you girls back up a few feet?”
“What for?” Scootaloo asked.
“Safety precaution.”
The three of them looked at each other in confusion. Reluctantly, Scootaloo flapped her wings and drove them in the opposite direction.
“Farther, farther, farther... okay, that's good,” he said, never taking his eyes off the tree.
Scootaloo did a U-turn, then stopped. They were now about ten yards away from the cloaked pony now. Scootaloo rested her chin on her steering rod, looking annoyed.
“Is this going to take long, Mort?” Apple Bloom called out. “We need to hurry!”
“Don't worry, this shouldn't take any time at all.” Mort took a few steps back, and lifted his head. Apple Bloom watched as his horn began to glow brighter, casting a green glow on the bark in front of him.
All three of them gasped when something formed in the air above him, humming softly. It was incredibly thin, and almost hurt to look at. Leaning over to one side, she could barely make out its shape. It almost looked like the scythe used to cut crops on the farm.
The magical blade, tethered to Mort's horn with a string of magic, floated over to one side of the tree, and like a knife to a carrot, started to chop it up. She didn't hear any cutting noises as Mort went about his business, seemingly meeting zero resistance with every slice. She wasn't even convinced that he was cutting the tree until she saw the logs rolling slightly one way or another.
As soon as it had reached the other end, the blade disappeared. His horn glowed again, and the logs were gathered up, then neatly stacked on one side of the road, from largest to smallest. He spent more time getting the logs just right than he did making them in the first place.
Nodding in satisfaction, he waved towards them. After a moments hesitation, Scootaloo drove the three of them forward, and stopped to let him back on.
“There we go,” Mort said satisfactorily, stepping into the back. “If your family ever needs firewood, Apple Bloom, now you know where to look!”
“Um, thanks,” she said, her thoughts still on the display she'd seen. “Mort, what was that just now?”
“Oh, uh, it was nothing special,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Just a bit of magic, that’s all.”
“Hold on,” Scootaloo said, making a “time out” motion with her forelegs, “you're telling me unicorns can actually magic up swords and stuff?”
“Uh, sure,” he said, his eyes darting left and right. “They do it all the time...”
Sweetie Belle looked doubtful. “I’ve never seen Rarity do it. She’s always using scissors.”
“An’ Ah’ve never seen Twilight or any other unicorn do it, either,” Apple Bloom added. “They’re always using regular knives an’ stuff.”
Scootaloo looked suspiciously at the cloaked pony. “Can other unicorns really do that?”
Mort became deathly quiet. The silence slowly grew, going from short, to long, and eventually reaching “awkward” status. To Apple Bloom, it felt like the times when she had told her sister a little too much about her CMC activities, particularly the ones involving rock climbing or bungee-jumping.
They were now at the part where Apple Bloom (played by Mort) would sit in silence, hoping there would be no more questions, only for her sister (played by Scootaloo) to ask the one question that Apple Bloom had no acceptable answer to.
Apple Bloom involuntarily braced herself, feeling that she was on the cusp of learning some sort of dark secret. Mort did seem the type, what with the black cloak and everything. It could be something big. Something that could change the way they looked at him forever.
“Mort,” Scootaloo said, in a hushed tone, “you’re not actually... a ninja, are you?”
All three of them looked at her in bewilderment. Apple Bloom was dumbstruck. Something was supposed to happen here, but now the moment was gone, and Apple Bloom felt empty. It was just like that school play where the heroic colts and fillies were ready to seize Celestia’s Grail from the dragon’s castle... only for their parents to march them off the stage before the end. One does not take one’s parent’s expensive drapes and turns them into costumes.
Mort facehooved, slowly shaking his head, and almost looking pained. “You sound like Rainbow Dash,” he groaned.
“I sound like Rainbow Dash?!” The little pegasus jumped up in excitement, her eyes practically sparkling. Her helmet lifted off her head and came back down, obscuring one of her eyes. “That’s so awesome! Do you think she’ll notice?”
Mort stared, at a loss for words. It was the kind of reaction a lot of ponies had when Scootaloo talked about Rainbow Dash, and they couldn’t formulate a response that sounded right. So instead of actually answering her, Mort asked, “Shouldn’t we get going?”
“Hey, he’s right!” Sweetie Belle leaned forward, pointing down the now clear road. “We need to get there before everything gets cold!”
“Fine, fine...” Scootaloo straightened her helmet and spun herself around on the scooter, facing forward. “Hang on, everypony! I can get us there before they even take the pies out!”
They braced themselves as Scootaloo rushed off, dust kicking up around them. The pegasus was going even faster than before, trying to make up for lost time.
Apple Bloom briefly looked back at Mort. The pale pony met her eyes, smiling at her nervously. Or at least she thought it was nervous.
A thought struck her. Mort had been smiling an awful lot since they met him. In fact, she couldn’t recall him doing anything else. Whether he was relieved, happy, scared, sad, or nervous, that smile of his was always present. Unchanging. It was so odd...
But that thought vanished just as quickly as it came. Not so much stolen as it was hidden, akin to hiding a tree in a forest. It was still there, but virtually unnoticeable.
Apple Bloom didn’t notice this happening. For the most part, she merely felt as if she had forgotten something.
And soon, she forgot even that.
When Twilight Sparkle’s friends had been forced out of the library the previous night, the five of them knew that she was teetering on the edge of another manic episode, where common sense was all but forgotten in favor of being “ready”. When it came to preparing for anything, one couldn’t find a better organizer than Twilight... so long as it wasn’t at the last, possible moment.
Most ponies in that situation would try to compromise in some areas, and try to focus on the more important aspects. “Compromise” did not exist for Twilight when it came to preparing. She went all-in, and for Twilight that only meant stress, stress, and more stress.
Applejack did not want to see that happening again. The moment they were out the door, she knew they had to pitch in and avoid another “Mr. Smarty Pants” incident. She was the one to propose they all do something for her, and had helped prepare them for today.
But no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and evidently, no welcoming committee can prepare for Mort. Applejack was quite used to things not going as planned, but not even she had expected things to spiral so out of control as they had. Bad luck just seemed to follow Mort wherever he went.
All they could do now was hope that their misfortunes had peaked, and that from here on out, it’d be smooth sailing. Finding Mort again would be a great start, but to do that, they’d need to get some food in them first. Applejack couldn’t help but feel a little guilty: she’d told Granny Smith and Big McIntosh all about today, and they were more than happy to help by setting up a huge lunch. Now it looked like they wouldn’t be able to stick around long enough to fully enjoy it.
By Applejack’s reckoning, Granny was probably just about done with getting the food cooked, at least. When she sniffed the air, she caught the warm scent of roasted apple and baked crust. It was nearly enough to make her drool like Winona. “Mmm! I can smell Granny's pies already!”
Rarity sniffed the air as well, giggling in delight. “Oh, that smells simply delightful! Don't you think so, dear?”
She had directed the question at Twilight, who was in step beside her. She had her head bowed down, paying no attention at all to anything other than where her hooves were.
“Sugarcube?”
Twilight suddenly lifted her head. “Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah, it smells good, Applejack,” she said distractedly.
Applejack frowned, concerned but not surprised. Five of them were on the road, and only a few minutes from the farm. Rainbow Dash flew above them, occasionally urging them all to hurry up. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were in the middle of a conversation, from which Applejack could only hear bits and pieces. It sounded like Pinkie wanted Fluttershy to help her with improving Gummy's manners.
Twilight, however, hadn't said a word since they took off. Applejack sometimes heard her talking under her breath, but she couldn't catch what she was saying. Knowing her friend, and what had been happening recently, Applejack could only assume she was thinking of what to write to Princess Luna if things turned out for the worst. It hadn't helped that, contrary to what Applejack hoped, they hadn't seen hoof or horn of Mort at all on the way to the farm.
She stepped closer to Twilight, giving her a little nudge. “You feelin’ alright, girl?”
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, hesitated, then shook her head. “No, I’m really not, I guess. What if we can’t find him, Applejack? What am I going to tell the princess? We might even need a search party!”
“Now don’t get yourself all twisted in knots, sugar,” she replied with a soothing voice. “Ah know things ain’t lookin’ up right now, but I’m sure it’ll all work itself out. We’ll get a quick bite and start searchin’ for him again, lickety split.”
Twilight smiled weakly at her. “You’re right, I’ll try to keep my chin up.” She slowed to a stop, bringing everypony else to a halt. Applejack watched as Twilight raised her forehoof to her chest, taking a deep breath, and then exhaling, while slowly swinging her hoof forward in time with it.
“What was that just now, dear?” Rarity asked, as they started to walk again.
“Breathing exercise,” Twilight explained. “After the wedding, I kept thinking that if I had kept my head when confronting Chrysalis the first time, I wouldn’t have looked so...”
“Crazy?” Twilight flinched, and Applejack immediately glared at Rainbow Dash, who bit her lip. “I-I mean, uh, unhinged?” Realizing immediately this was the wrong thing to say, she facehooved so hard she might as well have punched herself.
“Smooth,” Spike drawled sarcastically.
Twilight sighed. “No, she’s right. I let my emotions get the better of me. If I had reined them in, I might have been able to step back and realize how I would’ve looked doing all that. Maybe I could’ve found some other way of exposing Chrysalis for what she was that was more convincing.”
“And what you did helps you?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, Princess Cadance showed it to me after the wedding. She says that whenever she’s feeling overwhelmed with something, it helped calm her down so she could handle it better. Honestly, though,” she said, her tone hardening, “I’m just getting sick of turning into a nervous wreck every time things don’t work out. I stayed up almost all last night trying to memorize all the different cultures in Equestria, because I was so worried that this was a special test. And look where that got me!
“So, starting right now, I’m going to do everything I can to be Calm, Composed Twilight, and not Crazy, Capricious Twilight,” she said, spinning her eyes as she finished. “How’s that sound?”
Applejack grinned, glad to see Twilight getting back into the saddle, as it were. “Sounds good to me, sugarcube.”
“Yes, it’s very important to keep a cool head,” Rarity said, and added with embarrassment, “though we do sometimes have to remind ourselves of that.”
“I like it too!” Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing at the same time. “Oh, but do you think I could be ‘Candy and Cake’ Pinkie Pie? Or maybe it should be ‘Cooking and Confectionery’ Pinkie Pie? What do you think?”
Twilight stifled a giggle. “They both sound great on you, Pinkie Pie. By the way, are you feeling better now?”
“Absolutely not!” she said. “Me and Fluttershy are still trying to figure out how we can teach Gummy better manners! No friend of mine is turning into a sourpuss!”
Twilight looked at Applejack, who could only shrug in response. Applejack had seen pet rocks that were more emotive than Gummy. “No, I mean is your... uh, injury, feeling better?”
Pinkie gave her a blank stare, before her eyes widened in recognition. “Oooh, you’re talking about my butt!” she exclaimed cheerfully. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“I can’t imagine why,” Rarity muttered under her breath.
“Sure, it’s all better!” She wiggled her rear, nearly knocking Fluttershy over. “It’s going to take more than a pin to pop these balloons!”
“I still can’t believe that happened!” Rainbow Dash turned herself upside down and flew lower, until she was directly over Twilight’s head. “Is it really true that the whole place got wrecked?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe!” Spike exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “The tables got flipped, the punch was spilled everywhere, Gummy got stuck on somepony’s face...”
Applejack blinked in surprise, looking between Twilight and Spike. “Wait, all that actually happened?”
“Yep!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping over. “Twilight caught me with the banner too! That part was actually kinda fun!”
“You weren’t able to catch that cake, though,” Rarity said sympathetically. “Oh, it’s just the worst feeling, isn’t it? I still shudder just thinking about how it happened to me! You feel all sticky, the icing gets in the grooves of your horn, and you smell like a bakery. And what it does to your mane!” She held a hoof to her head, looking half-ready to faint. “Oh, it was days before I felt clean again!”
Pinkie Pie licked her lips, obviously finding no issue with the experience described.
“Well, I thought Mort had it under control,” Twilight said. “He caught the cake with everything else, after all.”
Rainbow Dash scrunched her nose, confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just like she said! All the food, gifts, furniture, and even all the ponies... he was levitating everything!” Spike suddenly scratched at his skin, shuddering. “It felt really creepy, too! My scales crawl just thinking about it.”
“Uh, doesn’t Twilight carry you like that all the time?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, sure, but her magic at least feels normal,” Spike said. “Most of the time it’s just a little tingly, but when Mort did it... ugh, I felt clammy all over!”
“It did feel a little off,” Twilight admitted quietly, “but everypony’s magic is a little different, and Mort’s quite... well, different, from what I can tell.”
“Well, the important thing is he tried,” Rarity lectured. “And aside from that little accident at the end, he seemed to have done a remarkable job putting everything else away. If nopony had told me, I wouldn’t have guessed that the entire room was a wreck mere moments before.”
“It practically looked the same way it did before we even got there,” Twilight added. “Honestly, I thought it was actually pretty impressive. Besides lifting so much weight, he was able to move everything around and do a lot of multitasking, even when he wasn’t looking. There aren’t a lot of unicorns who can do that.”
“But he still dropped the cake,” Rainbow Dash pointed pit.
She sighed. “Yeah, somehow he still managed to do that. It’s just so bizarre to see somepony so clumsy pull off something so complex.” Twilight suddenly blushed. “Uh, please don’t let him know I think he’s clumsy, though.”
“Sure,” Rainbow Dash said, “but seriously, it wouldn’t be nearly that bad if he just didn’t wear that cloak all the time.”
“Speakin’ of which,” Applejack said, “do we know anythin’ new about the feller? Like, where he’s from an’ all that?” She’d been with Rarity when everything else had happened, and wanted to make sure she wouldn’t say or do anything that could offend him. That and she was still pretty curious herself.
“He’s got lots of stories!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Really fun ones!”
“Not all of them,” Spike moaned, hugging himself.
Applejack shot a questioning look at Twilight. “Well,” the unicorn said, “it turns out Mort can’t have children due to an incident with a bull—”
“An’ that’s all Ah I want to hear ‘bout that,” Applejack said, the disturbing imagery already forming in her mind, causing her hair to stand on end. Rarity and Fluttershy looked ill as well, and even Rainbow Dash looked uncomfortable. She mentally noted to tread cautiously on any talk about future foals. “Anythin’ else?”
“Not really,” Twilight said, sounding disappointed. “He’s been to a lot of places, but that goes with the territory. He hasn’t said anything about his family or personal life. Although...”
Twilight sounded as if something was bothering her. “Somethin’ else, sugar?”
“Well, maybe I’m looking too much into it,” she said hesitantly, “but I keeping thinking about this story he told...”
“Save it for later, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly hooking a foreleg around the unicorn’s shoulders. “Because we’re here!”
“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” Pinkie Pie suddenly dashed ahead, nearly knocking Applejack and Twilight down. Rainbow Dash zoomed overhead, and both Fluttershy and Rarity hurried after them. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think otherwise and just rolled her eyes.
After adjusting her Stetson, Applejack grinned brightly at the sight of the Apple Farm archway, wrapped in vines and decorated with fake, red apples. The smell of baked food was stronger than ever, and she licked her lips in anticipation.
A moment later, Applejack could hear the telltale sounds of a little wagon speeding towards them, intermixed with giggling foals. It sounded like her sister and friends were coming back from yet another “crusade”. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to scrape off any tree sap this time.
When she turned to greet them, she immediately noticed the taller, cloaked figure sitting behind them. Her initial confusion was soon wiped away by the delight she felt when she recognized the third passenger.
Twilight, from the sounds of it, hadn’t paid them any mind yet. “Okay, we’ll need to rest, but not too long in case Mort’s getting farther away. Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes tops. We’ll eat and drink what we can, and maybe pack a little bit to bring with us for snacks. As for where to go after that...”
“Hey, Twilight!” Apple Bloom shouted, waving at the pair of them. “Look who we found!”
“That’s very nice, Apple Bloom,” Twilight said without looking. Applejack suppressed a snicker as her friend continued: “I’ll probably need to take a look at a Ponyville map, then I can calculate the most efficient way we can search the town. That way we won’t miss a thing.”
By now, Spike had seen who was with the CMC, and poked Twilight’s shoulder. “Uh, maybe you should see what the girls found?”
“It can wait, Spike. I got a good train of thought going, and I have to stay focused. Now, Rarity will probably be better suited for the town—”
By now the wagon had caught up to them. Applejack courtised, aiming it at the cloaked stallion that was riding with the young fillies.
“Howdy, partner.”
“Hi, Applejack. Is Rarity okay?”
“Why, yes, she’s doin’ quite alright,” Applejack said appreciatively. “Thanks fer askin’, Mort.” Now it was only a matter of waiting to see if Twilight would notice.
“—Rainbow Dash should have no trouble spotting him out in the open, so we could probably focus on the forests and...”
Twilight trailed off. After a few moments of just standing there, she spun to her left. Applejack grinned and stepped off to the side, presenting the beaming faces of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.
Sitting behind Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in their wagon was Mort, who waved weakly at her.
“Mort!” Twilight was by his side in an instant, forcing Spike to grab ahold of her mane just to keep himself from falling off. Applejack had to take another step back to avoid getting knocked over. “Where in Equestria have you been?”
“He was at our clubhouse!” Sweetie Belle said, making room so that the cloaked pony could climb down. “We were helping him with his—”
“Tour of the town!” Apple Bloom quickly exclaimed, shooting an unusually hostile look at her friend. “Yep, we thought we’d show him the famous... uh, trees of Ponyville!”
Scootaloo facehooved. “Yeah. Trees.”
It was quite an odd scene, even for the Crusaders, but Applejack couldn’t pay it much mind. By then the rest of their friends had rushed out, skidding to a halt around them.
“Mort!” Rarity said. “Gracious, dear! You gave us quite a fright!”
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Fluttershy whispered.
“No kidding,” Rainbow Dash added, landing next to Applejack in a huff. “You had me darting all over the sky, you know! I don’t even fly this much on cloud duty!”
Mort rubbed his foreleg, looking away shyly. Apple Bloom nudged him from behind, and motioned at Applejack and her friends.
Mort took a deep breath. “Alright, uh, I have a few things I really need to say.”
“We’re all ears, Morty!” Pinkie Pie said, directing one ear towards him. The others nodded along.
“Okay. Well, first of all...” Mort trudged over to Rarity first, bowing his head. “Rarity, I’m really sorry about what happened to the suit, and also knocking that screen on top of you. I know you must’ve worked really hard on it, and I’d do anything to make it up to you.” His head bent lower until his horn was just a couple inches from touching the ground.
A light flush grew on Rarity’s cheeks. She reached down, raising his chin with her hoof. Applejack glanced over at Spike, and saw he was quietly sulking. It wasn’t nearly as bad as when Mort first got here, though.
“Oh, Mort,” the fashionista said, “everything’s alright. It really was just an accident, and I shouldn’t have intruded as I did. How about we just bygones be bygones and forget about it?”
“Are you sure?” Mort asked. “Isn’t there anything I can do? Maybe I could get some money and pay for it. I don’t have any on me right now, but...”
“Tut, tut! I’m not going to charge you a single bit, darling. However,” she said, putting a comforting hoof on his shoulder, “if it really means that much to you, perhaps you could just swing by later today and offer me a little input on some other designs. They’re the sort where a stallion’s view could really help.”
“Oh, sure! I’d love to!” Mort nodded eagerly, and moving with a bit more energy, stepped over to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I know you were doing your best to keep things under control.”
“It’s okay. I’m so sorry my animals acted the way they did,” she said, bowing her own head. “They’re really not like that at all, honest! I just don’t know what got into them...”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I know you didn’t mean for it to happen. They didn’t really hurt me all that much, anyway. It was just a little surprising, more than anything.”
“Um, a-are you going to report it?” she asked, barely able to conceal the fear in her voice. “I-I wouldn’t blame you if you did, of course...”
“Nah,” he said, waving his hoof dismissively. “Everything’s okay. I’m sure they’re really nice. I’m just not an animal… pony.”
A look of relief washed over Fluttershy’s face, and she suddenly pulled Mort into a hug. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise something like that will never happen again! To you or anypony!”
Mort giggled, patting Fluttershy on the back of her neck. She soon released him, giving Mort a chance to talk to the next two ponies in line. “Twilight, Spike, I’m so sorry I dropped a cake on you.”
Twilight smiled comfortingly at him. “It’s okay. I appreciate that you made an effort to stop it in the first place. Besides, of all the things dropped on me, the cake’s easily the least awful of them.” She glanced up at Spike, who was still pouting from earlier. She gently poked him with a hoof, causing him to sigh.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s not that big a deal,” Spike said, shrugging. “And I guess it tasted pretty good, too.”
“And Pinkie Pie,” Mort said, looking at the earth pony, “I’m really, really, really sorry that I...” He gulped, shuddering a little. “Hurt you.”
“Aw, it wasn’t that bad, Morty! See?” She reached back, peeling the bandage off her flank. Mort had to lean back as Pinkie shook her rear at him, causing the others to facehoof—or in Spike’s case, facepalm—in embarrassment. “Already better!”
“Y-yes, I can see that,” Mort said, averting his eyes.
“It’ll make for a really funny story next time, too! Ooh! Maybe I could dress up as a pinned pony on Nightmare Night! There’d be a poster board all around me, and I could pass out tails with suctions cups! Pin the tail and trick-or-treating! Two great things all at once!”
Finally, Mort walked over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The pair shared a confused look as he stopped in front of them, his head still bowed in penitence.
“Rainbow Dash, Applejack, I’m sorry I… uh...” He trailed off, scratched the top of his head, then seemed to count off on his hooves. He did this a couple times before asking, “Um… did I actually do anything to you two?”
“Nope,” Applejack answered, shaking her head.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Not yet, anyway.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good,” he said curtly. “So… can I give a preemptive apology in case anything should go wrong later?”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah, sure. We’ll use it in case of an emergency!”
Mort seemed happy to hear this, if his smile was anything to go by. Applejack looked behind him, seeing a chain of relieved looks passing between her friends. Off to the side, she saw Apple Bloom and her friends giving each other a high-hoof. Applejack was more than eager to put all of this morning’s drama behind them.
“Well, now that we got all of that out of the way...” Applejack trotted up to the front of her home, and held the door open. “Let’s say we finally get some grub in our bellies?”
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Do my eyes deceive me?
Rambling italiacs after Scoot's question.
Umm, is the last part supposed to be in italics?
Great chapter!
2481310
I'm gonna guess not. I've had problems with importing my stories from gDocs before where if a paragraph is ended with a special format (italics, underline, whatever), FimFiction coding applies it to the rest of the document.
2481326
Oh, that's why. Thanks for the explanation.
Now I promised my self I wouldn't say this but damnit I going to anyway.
Frickin finally! Yes! It bloody updated!
I was starting to lose hope for a while there, keep up the good work.
Looks like you forgot to close the italics... Whoops!
Also YAY IT'S BACK!!! OHPLEASEOHPLEASEBEBACKFORGOODTHISTIME!
Ahem... Yes well... Glad you found some insperation and all but do tell what the estimate for the next chapter release will be... Please...
Finally!!!
2481271 When did Device become a verb?
]UPDATTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry, I know this is going to get flagged, but I have been waiting for this for god knows how long. and it's TWO!!!! TWO chapters
jvdhuofvgfdshvfguodhgfhv;ofs
edit: removed the size 72 text.
2481374 I think they meant "deceive"?
Yes, Yes! It finally updated!
...Oh, and it seems you may have a wee problem with extra italics....
who let the italics out
What's with the slanted words?
Mort has returned to the Mane Six.
Today is a glorious day. 
Great!!
Its 4:30am and you just updated.
Twice.
i.imgur.com/btPI2zz.png
Booty booty booty booty rockin everywhere.
I think you mean "didn't"
Should be "turn"
I, uh... I'm pretty sure you mean "curtsied", considering what you have there isn't a word
Great chapter going on the next now.
I wonder if the CMC will talk about Mort's magical weapon feat. I think Twilight will likely have a notable reaction to that. Since she studied magic and likely it's history she would likely know about time periods when Unicorns knew how to bend their magics into magical weapons for various purposes. Likely no pony has used that Magical art in a very very long time.
Twilight may actually say vocally that she doesn't even know a Unicorn that actually knows or has even used that old art mostly because it's not used much and it takes a great amount of work to make it work. (were likely talking something that takes the skill of like a martial arts in human terms especially since you also need to know how to effectively use the magical weapon at the same time as conjuring it. I would say that with what the CMC will likely describe his use Mort's likely a high level practitioner of the art which would make him a very rare master of the old magical art.) Twilight may actually show some reverence which would reflect that Mort's...ummm...a ...I forgot the right word when it's someone who's better and more skilled that you at the job you specialize in.
I can picture Twilight trying to get Mort to teach her some ancient magic's if she learns that he's skilled in them. Since their are likely few teachers for that and having Mort there it's a very rare opportunity.
ok on to the next chapter.
(Sorry I just couldn't stop myself from commenting it's such a good story I can't help it)
Hmmmm....are mortals even allowed to see the reaper's scythe? I guess so....I think. Anyway, I laughed with the CMC, and you did a very good job with keeping everyone true to who they are, you diod very well, I'll be honest and say it's still odd seing Death be so....cheerful but I guess everyone has their own view on how he is to be, and plus, doing eons of such work must get very tire some, you did very well and can't wait for more. Though now I have an urge to see Fluttershy get reported for her animals attacking somepony
2481271 device? I hope you mean deceive.
Pinkie Pie
Why must you stick Clop into this story?
This should be 'curtsied'.
omg this story is great!
Yes! I so needed this today!!! You have no idea
Too long a wait. Sorry, but I'm backing out.
> “I bet it was Tracy. I keep telling her we have foals in the bakery, but she never—”
I see what you did there. Anonymously.
You've redeemed the story with the "turn your head and cough" joke in the previous chapter and pinkie talking about her rear end and flaunting it in morts face in this chapter. Both instances made me laugh and have renewed faith in the story. Let us continue on this journey. Please let the next chapter be the one where mort finally reveals himself to the ponies, however if my suspicions are correct it will wait until the second to last chapter so there's time to wrap the story up without dragging it on.
Looks like auto correct made a mistake.
Doth mine eyes deceive me? The pink one hat shown us her ways of obliviousness upon her fellow beings, such as the unending confusion she brings upon thine houses and homes.
Did anyone see the reference to Past Sins with the magical swords? I don't know if its actually a reference, but it made me think of Past Sins.
Pff, amateur erors. I mean, seriously, how could you even make such basiv mistkaes? Waht are you, fivu?
Lern propre englsi h u big babby!
4871156 Not sure if mocking
Or being a hypocrite.
Thank you HornyUnicorn for your great comment
3970073 I thought it was just a phrase I had never heard before.
Funny thing is; auto correct keeps trying to turn 'one' into 'on Earth' for some reason.
5342968 I think he was probably trying to help by showing the mistakes, but tried to add humor so as not to seem rude. I mean, maybe not, but maybe so. It's always good to look at the positive side.
You and I define that term very differently.
7653882 Safety? Ponyville? Uuuuuuuuuuuum........ No.
BOO! Crazy Twilight is funny Twilight... Unless I'm strapped to a medical table.