//------------------------------// // "J.A.R." // Story: From Under The Cork Tree // by Muscle_Car_Brony //------------------------------// Over the course of the next week, Gale opened up a bit to Twilight and Spike, gradually getting less abrupt in his responses to anything they ask. Just as well, Gale began to figure out how the two he was staying with would normally act, which he thought was quite like a brother and sister would. On Friday, Gale went to go find Twilight, looking to ask her if they had a shower that he could comfortably fit in. When he got to her room, he happened to overhear Twilight as she read through an older looking scroll. “. . . And it is believed that the spell must be cast under the same circumstances in order to . . . ” The hell is she talking about? Eh, screw it, I can set something up in the, wait . . . does this place have a basement? He figured it best not to bother her, and went back to the main room, intending to play his guitar for a few hours, he hadn’t practiced in a long time and was still rather rusty. Twilight came out of her room about an hour later, saddlebags strapped to her sides and a list levitating in front of her. Stopping at the door, she turned and called out “Hey, Gale, I’m headed into town to get some groceries, you want to come with?” “Uh, sure, I guess.” he said, setting his guitar in it’s case. “Just give me a second.” he moved the case out of the way before getting up to join her. “So, how does this work? Is it an open air market or is there a building somewhere?” “Open air. Most ponies already have their own stores, for the winter months, but prefer outdoor stalls.” “Hmm, okay then.” he said, keeping pace with Twilight as they approached Ponyville's market. I wonder what ponies would actually sell in a market. . . I guess I’m about to find out. As they walked in the market, Gale found himself once again looking about the town. Though he’d only been there a week, his willingness to help anypony who went into the library had already started to change the townsponies’ collective view of him. Though it was subtle, he’d already picked up on it. Hardly a week and it seems that these ponies have started to realize that I’m not just another animal. I was not expecting that. Twilight interrupted his train of thought when she asked “So, what do you want me to get?” “Hmm?” “Well, I figure I should probably get you something to eat as well. I mean, I doubt you’d enjoy constant salads.” “Well, I bet most of my favorite foods wouldn’t be for sale here,” Hell, they’re probably illegal. Sapient animals and shit . . . “Do ponies eat fish?” “Well, it’s only guard ponies that really eat any meats, and even then it’s mostly just the long patrol. I do know somepony we can get some from though, after we’re done here.” They walked up to a stall before Gale could reply, so he stood back and watched. Twilight spent a few minutes talking with the owner, a mare named Carrot Top, before she turned to Gale and they left for the next stall. Gale spent the majority of their market excursion as he did at the first stall, merely standing back to let Twilight do all her bargaining and chatting in general. As they continued, Gale found himself carrying a few boxes since Twilight either didn’t have the room left in her saddlebags, or whatever she bought simply wouldn’t have fit to begin with. Well, it’s not the worst I’ve had to endure, and I get free food. “Are we dropping this off back at the library before we go talk to this friend of yours? I wasn’t entirely expecting to be carrying nearly seventy pounds of varying foods.” “I never said we were going to see a friend, but yes, This will be the last stall.” she said, trotting over to see the Apple family stand. Hmm, figures. Gale followed suit, setting the box he’d been carrying down when he got there. “Christ, that’s heavy.” he said, waiting for a break in the conversation. “Twilight, you know you don’t need to come out here to order anythin’, right? Just drop by the farm.” Applejack said, nudging her brother “Eeyup.” “Yeah, I know, I just wanted to say hi before Gale and I take my groceries back to the library. Say, do you now if Fluttershy is home today?” “I don’t know, actually, why?” “Ehem, if I may, Twilight?” Gale interrupted. At her nod of approval, he went on. “Applejack, humans are omnivores, we typically eat more meat than plants though, but that’s not always true. Anyways, I asked, Twilight if she thought your friend could get some fish for me, so I could have something other than a salad.” Applejack took a moment to mull over what he’ said, before nodding her head and saying “Yeah, that makes a lot a sense. I know she buys ‘em, but you might even be able to catch a few upstream from her place.” “Hmm, I always did enjoy fishing . . . “ Gale said, picking the box back up. “Thanks for letting us know, Applejack.” “Sugarcube, just call me Aj.All my friends do.” Okay then . . . ”Okay then. Twilight, sorry to interrupt you two’s conversation but we should probably get some of this to the library.” he said, shaking the box he was carrying for emphasis Twilight said goodbye and she, along with Gale, set off for the library. When the pair returned to the library, Spike was waiting for Twilight with a scroll from the princess. “She sent that, then one telling me not to read it. Is everything alright?” Snatching the scroll with her magic, Twilight started for the kitchen. “Yes, Spike. It’s just a personal discussion between the two of us.” Gale followed her to put away their freshly bought food, still amazed by the fact that Twilight knew the princess that well. “Hmm, ‘personal discussion’ with the nation's demi-godess leader? Now I’m wondering what’s up.” “She asked me to look over a few documents for her, that’s all.” she said, beginning to sort her groceries via magic. Gale took a step back to let her finish putting things away. “What, are you her editor or something?” “I guess you could say that, at times.” “What’s next? Are you and her secretly on first name basis outside of the public eye?” Twilight made to scratch her neck with a hoof. “Um, . . . well you see . . .” “Seriously?” Gale deadpanned. “Well, yes to an extent. I don’t in professional correspondences of course, but if it’s just a private letter, then yes.” “Wow . . . I don’t even have a witty response to that.” he said, moving to help her load the last of the groceries, as well as grab something to drink. Though he could see the house in the distance, it wasn’t until they were almost there that Gale realized the sheer number and variety of animals Fluttershy cared for. Not sure how I feel about being dragged out to see someone I don’t even know the name of. Eh, it’s not like this is the first time that’s happened. “So how would humans normally eat fish? Twilight asked, in an attempt to keep the conversation going for the remainder of their walk. Gale counted off the methods he knew on a hand as he replied. “Hmm? Fillet, grilled, fried, seared, whatever the hell sushi is supposed to be, sandwiches, and probably a bit more. It really depends on what kind of fish you’re cooking.” Not quite satisfied with his answer, Twilight specified “How do you normally have it?” Taking a moment to this, he replied “Hmm, I don’t each much fish, but usually fried.” Don’t even think about asking if you can fry a chicken. “So what about you?” he asked, quickly turning the tables on her. “What about me?” Twilight looked up at him, genuine concern in her words. “Well, you said it’s mainly the guard that eat any sort of meat, but surely someone like you would have at least tried it once. For research if nothing else.” With a shake of her head, Twilight said “Me? No, not personally. My brother’s in the royal guard, and I’ve been told that I probably wouldn’t like it.” “Hmm, suit yourself.” he said as they walked up the path to the front door. Just before they reached the door, Twilight stopped him “I should probably warn you now, Fluttershy’s . . . well . . .” “Extremely shy?” With a sigh, Twilight replied “Yes.” “Well, I guess her name was prophetic.” at her look he went on “Sheesh, I’ll turn down the sarcasm then.” Smirking, Twilight knocked on the door. ”Hey Fluttershy, you there?” she called out, hoping to catch her friend’s attention. “It might take a minute, especially if she was making dinner.” After a few minutes of waiting, Twilight knocked again. “Hmm, she may be out back feeding some of her animals. I think they usually eat right about now.” She started walking around to the back of the house, but realized Gale hadn’t moved to follow her. “Well, come on. She’s probably just back here.” Ugh, there’s a reason I never liked zoos . . . “Give me just a second.” he said, walking over to her. “Might I add that I am not at all comfortable with walking into an area filled with animals my kind have had a long standing tradition of hunting?” Twilight told him she understood, but kept going anyways, reminding him that they were not going to hurt him They immediately spotted Fluttershy some distance away, seemingly feeding otters. “Hey Fluttershy, come here. I have someone I want you to meet.” Twilight hollered, getting the mares attention rather quickly. Fluttershy went to walk over to Twilight, but paused when she saw Gale standing next to her. Oh my, who is that? She did her best to remember that Twilight wouldn’t be talking to them if they were dangerous. I don’t think I’ve seen anypony like them before . . She paused a few feet away from the two to ask. “Um, who, who’s this, Twilight?” She asked, quickly adding “I don’t mean to offend but I’ve jus-” Gale held up a hand to stop her for a second. “Never seen anyone like me? Yeah . . . I’ve been getting that a lot lately.” Motioning for her to come over to them, he added “So, you must be Fluttershy?” Twilight raised an eyebrow to the fact that he hadn’t laughed as he said it. Hmm, he’s getting better. After a brief discussion, Fluttershy went to finish feeding her animals before she, Twilight, and Gale went inside to continue their conversation. Once inside, Twilight gave them a proper introduction. Beginning with Gale. “Fluttershy, this is Gale. He’s been staying at the library for the past week or so, ad will probably be for awhile.” She winced as she realized what she’d said, and how she’d said it. Thankfully for her, Gale brushed it off for the moment, opting instead to nod his head and say. “Nice to meet you.” Thankful that he didn’t say anything, Twilight went ahead and introduced Fluttershy. “Gale, this is my good friend, Fluttershy. Ponyville’s resident veterinarian.” “Oh, I’m not that good twilight. I just watch my animals to make sure they don’t get hurt.” Twilight offered a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Fluttershy, you’re an absolutely amazing vet. Don’t let anypony tell you otherwise.” “Well, I, um, i-if you say so . . .” Gale stood silent, deciding to let them have their moment. Damn, and I thought Ritchie shy when I met him . . . “I’d think you must know what you’re doing if you’ve got all these guys as well taken care of as they seem to be.” he said, as he walked to a nearby couch. “Do you mind if I take a seat? It’s a bit of a hike out here if you’re not prepared for it.” Carrying 70-ish pounds of food around for over an hour just before definitely doesn’t help . . . “No, go ahead. Twilight, can I ask you something though? If it’s no trouble?” Though she’d asked nicely, there was a certain urgency in her tone that caught Twilight’s attention. “Yeah, Fluttershy. What is it?” she asked, following her across the room. “Um, how do I ask this, . . . um, what is your friend? I, I don’t want to be mean” she hastily added, afraid that Twilight would be mad at her for asking. “ . . . It’s just that I’ve really never even heard of anypony like him before.” “Well, as he’s said to me several times now, he’s ‘not a pony’. As to exactly what he is? He says he’s called a human. I’m not entirely sure what that means myself, but who am I to judge?” As Twilight gave Fluttershy a brief description of Gale, he sat on a couch at the far end of the room. Looking down at the table in front of him, Gale wondered about this friend of Twilight’s. I’ve known some shy people in my life, but I think she takes the cake at this point. Still, she seems like a nice person. While both Twilight and Fluttershy were occupied, Fluttershy’s pet rabbit, Angel, snuck up to Gale. Angel had seen Fluttershy’s initial reaction to Gale and had taken a dislike to him. Once sure that the two weren’t looking, Angel bit Gale’s right leg. “Ow!” Looking down at his leg, Gale saw that Fluttershy’s pet rabbit had bitten him. The hell was that for? “Okay there, buddy, let go.” he chuckled as he lightly shook the rabbit off himself. Sheesh, should I call him Bugs or Roger? Does it really matter if no one but me knows who they are? Fluttershy, who’d only seen Gale shake Angel off his leg, walked with Twilight back to the couch to get to know Gale better. Though, she’s already taken a bit of a dislike to him for being mean to her rabbit. The better part of the next hour was spent with the three discussing Gale’s dietary habits. “So, yes. I am an omnivore. I do tend to eat different meat-based foods, though I can get by without much of them.” “Well, I guess that’s good to know. I was a little worried about some of my friends here.” she said, quickly adding “Not, not that I think you would’ve but” Once again, he held up a hand to stop her. “I know, you’re worried about your pets. Trust me, if anyone would have hurt my old dog, they would have made a very poor life decision.” Chuckling, he added “There was a guy down the street from my who came after Rusty with a knife. He ended up in the hospital with a concussion, and I ended up with a chip in my old mahogany baseball bat.” Probably would’ve gotten an assault charge had a responding officer not seen the guy chuck his knife into a bush. “Why would somepony attack your dog with a knife!?” Fluttershy gasped. “Hell if I know. The guy was a druggie anyways . . . “ he said, bringing the conversation to a complete halt. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight spoke up. “Uh, could we maybe, change the subject?” When she saw that neither of them were “Well, as we’ve said, Gale is an omnivore. It’s not really easy to get any sort of meat based foods here, so he,” “Ehem?” Gale looked down at her, raising an eyebrow for emphasis. Don’t pin this whole thing on me. With a roll of her eyes, Twilight went on. “We, were wondering if he could try fishing from the river out back?” “Um, I don’t see why not. Just, please be careful.” That was almost too easy . . . “Will do. Now I just need to get a fishing rod . . . “ The group spent the next few minutes discussing the different types of fishing rods, as well as their uses. Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel, took this as an opportunity to sneak up on Gale once more. Taking his time, the rabbit carefully moved up to his leg before he bit down. Hard enough to draw blood this time. “Hey!” Gale yelled, jerking his leg up into the table. Both Twilight and fluttershy jumped at his outburst, as he glared daggers down at Angel. What the fuck, man?! “Okay, what the hell is your problem, rabbit?” Twilight looked at her friend, confused as to what he was talking about. “Gale, what are you-” she trailed off, having caught sight of Angel, who was still holding onto his leg. Forcefully shaking Angel off his leg, Gale answered. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Looking back at Angel, he quietly growled. “Do that again, rabbit, see what happens.” As he turned back to the mares, he found himself nearly face-to-face with, a rather angry, Fluttershy. “Please tell me, Gale, what would happen to my bunny?” she asked, not even acknowledging his, now bleeding, leg. You know, she’s actually a little intimidating. Matching her stare, he coldly replied. “For everyone’s sake, let’s not have to find out.” Though she’d wavered, Gale could easily see that she wasn’t going to back down until she got an answer. Okay then, Butterball, try me. He hardened his stare slightly. Just enough for her to start backing off. “And, I don’t know if you noticed, Ms, but your rabbit,” he practically spat the word in disgust “has bitten my leg twice now, and it’s kind of hard to get blood out of socks.” Motioning down to his leg, he stopped talking and let her take in what he’d said. One more time and I’m fucking drop-kicking the little shit into a lake. Fluttershy finally broke her stare and looked at his leg to realize that yes, Angel really had bitten him, and yes, it drew blood. “Oh, oh my . . . Gale I’m . . .” “It’s fine,” he hissed. Having taken a deep breath to calm himself, he added. “Like I said, I’ve had worse. Just, please, don’t let him do it again.” Motherfucking rabbit . . . Fluttershy then turned to scold her pet. “Angel Bunny! You should know better than that!” Twilight decided it was best to leave before anything else happened. So, she said goodbye to Fluttershy before she, and Gale, left. Once they were a good distance from Fluttershy’s cabin, Twilight rounded on Gale. “What happened to being nice?” He shrugged, and looked down at her and asked. “I thought I was?” “You threatened Angel Bunny.” she shot back. Oh great, so this is happening . . . he thought, rolling his eyes. ”No, I warned him. I could have said that I’d drop kick him into a fucking lake. Hell, I wanted to say that.” he deadpanned, looking right at Twilight and showing no remorse. His comment flabbergasted her. “What the hay is wrong with you?” And there it is. In an almost eerily calm tone, he asked.“Twilight, do I look like a pony?” His sudden tone shift surprised her. “What does that have to do with this?” she exclaimed. “Just answer me, would you?” he went on, still unnervingly calm as he, unbeknownst to Twilight, was doing his best not to cause a scene. “Do I look like a pony?” finally showing a sign of emotion as he asked the question yet again. “Well, no . . . but I-” she started before he went on. “Then why do you assume I must think like one?” That caught Twilight off guard, leaving her with only one reply. “What?” “Look,” He sighed. “I wasn’t going to actually do anything to him. And, I admit, I probably shouldn’t have said that right in front of Fluttershy, but again, I was never going to actually do anything to her rabbit.” he said, refusing to dignify Angel by saying his name. “Then why would you-” “I wanted to scare the little shit so he wouldn’t do that a third time. His teeth are fucking sharp.” he said, looking at her coldly, His last comment ended the conversation and they walked the rest of the way back to the library in silence. Once they returned, Gale went up to his room and Twilight went back to her studying. Spike manned the library until closing before they all went to sleep that night. Gale took a seat high up in the grandstands to watch the second half of the homecoming game. Though he was never a sports person, he felt it right to at least go to his senior year homecoming game. Especially since he wasn’t going to the dance. Why’d you sit this far up again?’ Jessica called out as she walked over, holding both plates of nachos in one hand and two bottles of soda in another. ‘Sorry I took so long, the line was awful.’ Looking at his girlfriend all Gale could do was smile and ask. ‘Have I ever told you you’d be great as a waitress?’ Setting the food down, she lightly punched his arm before shooting back ‘You do realize I have a part time job as one, right?’ Leaning in, she looked him in the eyes with a smug expression. I don’t know whether to love or hate that look on her face . . . ‘Well, yes . . ‘ he stammered. ‘ . . . Oh you know what I meant.’ ‘Yeah, yeah. How’s the game going anyways?’ she asked as the buzzer went off, indicating someone scored a touchdown. Both of them looked over to see that it had been their team. ‘Would you look at that?” he said ’Ritchie’s finally got his ass in gear this game.’ They watched as the teams lined up once again. Both wondering if their friend could rally a comeback for the rest of the team. A few minutes after the game ended, the air waited to greet their mutual friend and congratulate him on a job well done. After that, they made their way back to Jessica’s car. They couldn’t use Gale’s since the engine was being rebuilt. Walking up to the car, Gale could tell something was wrong before Jessica did. ‘What the? Who hit my door!?’ Jessica shouted as she saw the large dent in her Malibu. ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ a woman in a dark jacket called over her shoulder as she walked away. ‘I figured you wouldn’t care for that pile.’ ‘Come back here you bi-’ she started before Gale held her back. ‘Jess, calm down. It’s not worth it.’ he said, slowly releasing her once he was sure she was calm enough. ‘Besides, you can clearly see her plates and there’s a camera over there.’ he said, pointing to the building not 20ft behind them. ‘I’m sure they caught that on tape.’ Heaving a sigh, she turned and hugged him. ‘Alright, to the office then.’ ‘Yeah, let’s go. . . . ‘ he said, turning to follow her. Walking towards the door, Jessica muttered ‘What a bitch . . . ‘ Completely failing to notice Gale’s shock. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her swear at anything. . . Then again, I’d be just as pissed f that was my car and not hers. Waking up the next morning, Gale reflected back on the memory he’d dreamt the night before. Man, I still can’t believe Jess was about to punch that bitch. When did I start being the overreacting one? Still thinking about days past, Gale got dressed and headed downstairs. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Gale noticed that Twilight was hurriedly reading through a scroll on the far side of the room. Curiosity getting the better of him, he called out. “Hey, Twilight, what’re you reading over there?” She looked up from the scroll for only a moment and replied. “Some legal documents. I'll be done here in a minute, then I want to talk to you.” Oh boy, I have a feeling I know where this is going . . . he thought, walking over to, and taking a seat on, one of the two couches.It took Twilight a few minutes before she put the scroll away and walked over. “So, about yesterday . . . I’ve been thinking about what you said and you’re right. As much as I try to, I have a hard time remembering that you are completely different from us in several ways.” She took a seat on the couch opposite him and continued. “I’m still a little upset at you for scaring Fluttershy like that, but,” she paused, searching for the words she wanted. “I realized yesterday that I have no right to try to make you change.” she hung her head and started tearing up as she went on. “After all, it’s kind of my fault you’re here in the first place . . .” I stand corrected, that is nowhere near where I thought this was going . . . wow. Gale thought, holding a rather emotionless stare at the floor.”Yeah, it kinda is, but hey, there’s no use crying over it now is there?” he asked, the silence set in once more as he sang under his breath. “Well, yeah, they say life goes on, long after the thrill of livin’ is gone.” Twilight looked up as he said that, confused as to how he wasn’t yelling at her right now. She would be yelling at her if their positions were switched. I don’t . . . I thought he’d at least have raised his voice. Aiming to hide her confusion, Twilight looked out the window as she thought of a response. Something happened to him before coming here, that’s obvious. I guess the question is, what happened? What caused him to act like that? They sat in silence for another minute before Gale spoke up. “That wasn’t all you wanted to talk to me about, was it?” he asked, not in anger but genuine curiosity. He looked up at almost the same time as Twilight looked back, and they stared at each other for a moment before she answered. “No, it wasn’t. I, uh, I got a scroll from Princess Celestia early this morning, I think you might want to read it.” She said, getting up off the couch and motioning for him to follow her. “It’s just over here.” You could’ve just teleported it to us, but whatever. Walking never killed anyone. Getting up to follow her, Gale wondered aloud. “So, what could possibly be in a letter from your princess that I need to read?” “See for yourself.” Twilight said, floating him the scroll. With scroll in hand, Gale read aloud. 'Twilight, I’m happy to tell you that as of now, Gale is a legal citizen of Equestria. My sister and I were able to expedite the legal process necessary so he didn’t get caught in legal limbo. Please, do give this to Gale to read. There is also a message I would like to give him privately. If you could have Spike send me a message once he’s awake I would greatly appreciate it.' “Wow, that was much quicker than I was expecting.” he said, eyes wide. “I mean, I was figuring it would take at least three months . . . “ He started to say something else but was cut off when Twilight called out. “Hey Spike? Can you come here for a minute?” He rushed into the main room, skidding to a stop before asking. “What is it Twilight?” “I need you to send a quick message to Princess Celestia for me.” “Okay, what is it?” he said, as she floated him a quill and paper. Wow, able to move objects with her mind and still has someone else write for her . . . Gale thought, amused with the situation in front of him. “I just need you to tell her that Gale’s awake and she can send the message she wants to give him.” she said, slowly so that Spike could write it down. Once he did, Spike sent the letter off with a puff of fire and they waited for a reply. Their wait was short as Spike coughed out a scroll. Upon its materialization, Gale quickly grabbed it and started walking away. Starting after him, Twilight asked “Where are you going?” “Well, she said ‘in private’.” Gale called back. “I might as well go over here and read it.” With that said, he walked over to the stairs and sat on one of the lower steps. “Okay then, what do we have here?” 'Hello, Gale. As you have probably been told, you are from here on out to be considered a legal citizen of Equestria. That said, I’d like to warn you that your current status does not allow you any sort of legal immunity. Not that I think you would do anything, but I figured it best to tell you. Now, if this is being read in private, look over your shoulder.' Looking over his shoulder, Gale saw that Twilight had been standing a few feet away the entire time. Damn, she’s good. He thought, before getting up and heading for his room. “I’ll be back down in a minute, I want to read this in an actually private location.” Walking into his room, he shut the door before sitting down to read. 'If Twilight is no longer watching you, and I figure she would have tried, then I feel it safe to say that you will need to be cautious with your dealings for now as few ponies will know about your status as a citizen. I believe you’ve already heard of one who will try to give you a hard time. Unfortunately, there is a clause in Ponyville’s town charter that prevents me or my sister from actively intervening in the political system if no laws have been broken. As much as the town’s mayor has tried to do, she hasn’t technically broken any laws. One more thing, I cannot express how sorry I am that you’ve found yourself in this situation. I am already working with Twilight on finding a way to send you back, until then you are a welcome citizen. - Princess Celestia.' “Well, that happened.” he said, standing back up and walking back into the hall. I don’t see why that needed to be read in private, but whatever. He thought, making his way back downstairs.