//------------------------------// // "Shambala." // Story: From Under The Cork Tree // by Muscle_Car_Brony //------------------------------// Don’t know why the hell I needed to read that in private. Nothing in it seemed that important. Gale wondered, coming down off the step and back into the main library. “Hey, Twilight? You got a stove, some eggs, and a skillet? I kinda wanted to make breakfast.” Twilight turned from the bookshelf she’d been looking through to answer. “Yeah. I bet Spike would cook them if you asked." “No, I’m good to do it myself, I just need to know where everything’s at.” he said, walking over to her. As soon as he said that, Twilight started looking for Spike. After looking for a second, she called out. “Spike, can you show Gale how to use the stove?” Looking down at her, Gale deadpanned. “I’d like to think I know how to cook, Twilight." “That’s not what I meant!” she stammered. “I just wanted to make sure you were shown how our stoves work. In case they were heavily different from yours in some way.” Sure, that’s what you say . . . “Whatever.” Having Spike show him the ins and outs of an Equestrian stove got Gale reminiscing about the times he’d cook for his parents on their respective birthdays. Once he’d been told how to use it, Spike left him to his own devices because he wanted to ‘Go help Twilight.’ Gale might’ve believed him if he hadn’t seen him pull a book off a shelf and start flipping through it as he sat down. Yep, he’s definitely a kid. Going back to the task at hand, Gale cracked a few eggs into a large glass bowl, added in some milk and mixed it all together before pouring it into a hot skillet. Having made breakfast for his family for a few years, and then for himself later, he slipped into a sort of autopilot as he cooked. The kitchen was silent save for the eggs cooking and his singing. “Does she walk, does she talk, does she come complete?” he began, stirring his food and tapping a foot to the rhythm of an old favorite of his late father’s. He spent the next few minutes cooking, then did his best to find all the silverware. Once the table was set, he called for the other two/ “Hey Twilight, Spike, I made eggs for you guys, if you want ‘em.” He went ahead and started putting some on a plate for himself as they walked into the kitchen. After a minute of eating, Twilight turned to Gale. “Hey, Gale, do you normally sing while cooking?” Looking up from his eggs, he asked. “Hmm? I was singing?” “Yes. Something about a ‘centerfold’, whatever that is.” She laughed at a stripping joke the other day, but has no idea what a centerfold is? . . . Wow. “It’s not too important, just a bit of human slang.“ Going back his eggs, he mentally added. Slang I am not explaining around Spike, even if it isn’t applicable here. The group sat in near silence for a few more minutes as they all finished up their breakfast. Once they were done, Spike volunteered to do the dishes, citing it as being therapeutic. That struck Gale as odd, but he decided not to question it. He did, however, question that. How is it that I’m finding that odd but getting more used to this whole whateverthefuckitis that got me here? The three stood around the kitchen, idly chatting until Rainbow Dash showed up. “Oh, hey, Rainbow. What brings you here today?” Spike asked when he spotted her walking in. Rainbow scratched her neck before replying. “I, uh, I wanted to get a book for Thunderlane.” “Oh?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “What for?” “Well, he fractured his wing a week ago and he’s been grounded since. . . “ She said, mentally going back to the training accident that caused it. Sighing, she continued. “He pulled a favor I owe him and I’m supposed to get him something about drumming.” Percussion with hooves? Gale wondered. How the hell does that work, and what kind of crazy shit could you manage to pull? “Well, that’s a little unusual, but they’re over there.” she said, motioning over to the music section. “Look for subsection D-18." Rainbow looked at her for a second before asking. “Twilight, what the hay is up with this ‘system’ of yours?” Shooting her friend a questioning look, Twilight said. “What do you mean?” “How do you expect anypony to find anything!?” Rainbow Dash burst. Watching the conversation from a few feet away, Gale spoke up. “It makes a fair amount of sense to me.” he said as he walked up to the two. “Theme, section by alphabet, sub-sectioned by the second letter of each title.” he said, counting off on his fingers as a visual aid. “Music has a shelf. That is shelf organized into alphabetical sections. Each section has a subsection, which in turn is organized by the letter’s place in the alphabet., so 18 is ‘R’.” Nodding her approval, Twilight said. “Exactly! See, Rainbow? Somepony gets it.” “He’s not a pony.” she said a fraction of a second before Gale. “Not a po-” Stopping, he looked down at her, eyes narrowed. “I don’t know if I should be happy, or offended by that.” he said, walking over to the shelf marked ‘Music’. “Give me a minute here,” he went on, looking through the subsections. “Found something.” he proclaimed, holding out a book on basic drumming technique. Both Rainbow and Twilight stood slack-jawed at how quick he’d done that. Rainbow in particular was extremely surprised. How the hay did he do that so fast? “I was going to point out that books labeled as ‘basic drumming techniques’ are harder to find because they’re going to be in ‘B’ and not ‘D’, but I see you’ve solved for that.” he said, nodding towards the subsection labeled ‘basics and instructions’. “Good call, by the way.” Getting over her shock, Twilight responded. “Thanks. I was trying to make it as easy to navigate as I could.” “Well, you did great.” Dash rolled her eyes and went on. “It’s really easy. . . “ Not one to let her get away with that, Twilight shot back. “Dash, just go work on whatever cloud project you’ve dreamt up.” Well, alrighty then . . . Gale thought, looking between the two. “Whatever.” she said, taking the book in hoof and making for the exit. She stopped at the door and called over her shoulder. “Oh, don’t forget, Twilight, first snow’s due next week." Having realized she struck a nerve, Twilight called out. “Thanks for the reminder, Dash. I don’t think I have anything outside, but I’ll look later.” Despite the fact that Dash was almost completely out the door, Gale yelled to her. “Hey wait, you said ‘first snow’? How much snow are we talkin’ about here?” “The system’s supposed to drop four or five inches. I don’t remember the exact amount.” Turning back to him, she added. “Why’re you askin’ anyways?” Wincing as she, remembered that his car was still out in a field. The three of them stood there for nearly a minute before Gale turned to Twilight. “Hmm, what do you think the odds are that Applejack would led me push Charlene into a barn?” Almost without hesitation, Twilight replied. “I don’t know why she wouldn’t, there’s not a lot in them this time of year.” Not one to be left out, Rainbow asked.“Mind if I tag along? I don’t have much else to do today.” As a reply, both Twilight and Gale asked in unison,“What about Thunderlane’s book?” “Eh, I’ll give it to him tomorrow.” she shrugged. “Besides, he’s gonna be stuck in bed for another few days. It’s probably not much use to him for now.” Seeing no reason why they needed to stay, Twilight let Spike know they were leaving, and off they went. The walk to the farm was mostly silent, with only small amounts of conversation between the three. Once they reached the gates, they started looking for either Applejack or Big Macintosh, whose name Gale still found amusing. Seriously, that’s something you’d call a freaking male stripper . . . Hovering above the treeline, Rainbow Dash looked around for anyone in the Apple clan. “Ten bits says Big Mac’s still out messing with the fields” She haughtily proclaimed. Gale, who had caught sight of the farm pony right as she’d said it, shot back. “Twenty bucks says you’re wrong.” Twilight looked at him in confusion. “What do deer have to do with this?” . . . That’s gonna keep happening, isn’t it? With a roll of his eyes, Gale replied. “Figure of speech.” Once the reached the farmhouse Gale spotted Applejack and went to go talk with her, leaving Rainbow Dash and Twilight by the fence. “Hey, Dash,” Twilight began. “What happened to Thunderlane’s wing? You said there was an accident?” Rainbow offered a nervous laugh before replying. “He asked me to help him with endurance training but he couldn’t keep up.” Even as she said it, Rainbow knew that Twilight wouldn’t buy it, and she started sweating. Thankfully for her, Gale and Applejack walked back over. “So, you guys are just okay with me parking my car in a barn until I can get ‘er running again?" “I don’t see why not pardner, there ain’t anything needin’ to be there for now.” Applejack replied. That might be one of the most Southern sentences I’ve heard in years. He thought, walking down to the fields. After a couple of seconds, he called out over his shoulder. “Well, I think we’d best go see what can be done with the old girl before it gets too dark, eh?” With that said, the group set off once more for the crash site with Applejack diverting to go get Big Macintosh for help with the task at hand. Once they had all gathered at the wreckage, Applejack began “So, how hard do you two think it’d be to get the left front here off the rocks?” Looking to her brother as she ended her sentence. “Shouldn’t be too hard, just need ta get something to keep it in the air.” Big Macintosh said, pointing at the fender. “You got a wheelbarrow?” Gale asked. “You might be able to get the tire in one and use that to pull it.” Tapping her chin, Rainbow Dash commented. “That could work, but I think it will do more harm than good. I mean, that must weigh a ton” “3,650Lbs, actually.” he said with a sheepish grin. Scratching her neck as she floated, Rainbow Dash asked. “Um, how do you know that?” “This’ll be the third time I’ve rebuilt a Challenger. I know a lot about them.” he replied, in what seemed like too calm of a voice to Rainbow Dash. Taking a step away, Twilight took another look at the situation before stating. “I agree, I think that’s just going break the wheelbarrow and make the situation worse.” After a moment of thought Big Macintosh snorted. “How ‘bout I go get my plow and set it on that? It should hold and if we’re all pushin’ we could move it.” Taking another good look at the car, Gale replied.  “Sounds good to me. You go get that and we can get started here.” As the apple siblings left to locate Big Macintosh’s plow, Gale turned to Twilight and Rainbow. “Thanks for letting me know about the incoming snow, Ms. D-” He got halfway through his thanks you before Rainbow Dash cut him off.“Please, dude, just call me Dash.” Okay then. That’s what I get for trying to be nice, I suppose. “. . . Thanks for letting me know about the snow Dash. I really didn’t want to leave the old girl out in the elements.” “No problem. It’s what I do.” she said, hiding her confusion at why he kept referring to a ‘her’. Once the Apple siblings returned, Big Mac donned his plow and the group lifted Charlene up and attached the car to the plow. “Well, I suppose it’s time we did this.” Gale said before the group fell silent as they struggled to move the car into her new home. As they pushed the car into it’s new home, Gale called Twilight over. “Twilight, come here.” Once she moved over, he went on. “Do you see anything on the ground?” She took a good look around before answering “No, why?” “I don’t either, and I didn’t see any where she landed. I don’t know about gas, it would have evaporated by now, but there was no oil. To me that means the oil pan has to still be intact.” Twilight figured he was talking about the car, but that didn’t stop her from asking “I’m sorry, what?” “Hang on.” Gale said, walking to the driver’s door. “I don’t care if I put a hole in it, I need this hood open. Aj, think you can help with that?” he asked, pulling the release for the hood latch. “Sure thing. Gale” she said, preparing up to buck the hood up. Together, they forced the hood open, the hinges were in good enough shape to hold it up. Now able to take his first good look at the engine bay, Gale commented ”All the hoses are here, there’s no oil on the ground, hell the fuel lines are still intact.” He then began digging out any and all debris from the crash. “Fan’s not even bent. How the hell?” Once he was sure everything was clear, Gale walked back to the, open, driver’s door and sat down. “A hundred bucks says she still turns over.” “Once again, not sure what deer have to do with this.” Twilight said. “Again, figure of speech, Twilight. Anyways, here goes nothing.” Now sitting fully in the driver’s seat, Gale put his car in neutral, kept one foot on the brake, the other on the clutch, and turned the key. Almost five seconds after he turned the key, the engine turned over. It didn’t start, but it did crank. “Come on ol’ girl, I know you’re tougher than that.” he muttered before trying a second time. This one worked. All the ponies present jumped back as the car’s 340Ci Chrysler V8 started. You wouldn't have needed to hear a new one to tell that it wasn’t running right, but Gale didn’t care. “Oh, hell yes!” he shouted over the exhaust, before gunning the engine for a few seconds and then shutting it back off. “I knew this ol’ gal was tougher than that!” As he climbed out of the car, he saw Applejack’s questioning expression. “Aj, according to, Rainbow Dash here, I dropped from maybe forty feet in the air. At over sixty-five miles an hour. I don’t know how, but this ol’ gal’s still alive and kicking.” He said, fondly patting the roof for emphasis. Taking a step forward, Twilight proclaimed. “This seems highly improbable.” “Twilight, you are a unicorn. You can literally teleport across town at will. To me, that is highly improbable. In fact, if I hadn’t already seen you do so, I’d say it was impossible outright.” “Point taken. So, what are you going to do now?” “Tear the ol’ girl completely apart, I suppose.” Wistfully looking back over the roof. “Huh? You said it runs though.” “Yes, she does. Very poorly. I wouldn’t expect you to know with no frame of reference, but that engine” he said, pointing to the still open hood. “Needs some serious work before I’d let it run for more than two minutes.” That got Applejack curious. “Is the rest of ‘er that bad, Sugarcube?” Hmm, someone gets it. ”I’m not sure to be honest. The fact that we could get her rolling in here, even if the left side had to be picked up, is good news to me. Don’t get me wrong, the entire suspension is shot. But if at least one side is good enough to have someone recreate the design, than it wouldn’t be too hard to mirror it.” “Why not just fix what’s broken?” Rainbow Dash asked. Big Mac, who had been silent until then, weighed in “I’d wager somethin’ like that needs ta be done in pairs.” “Big Mac’s right, Rainbow. It’s a really bad idea to replace each side of a suspension separately.” He really is a man of few words, isn’t he? Well, I can’t fault him for it . . . He took a few moments to look over the body damage once more, before commenting “Yeah, I’m not as concerned about the body for now. Most of this could be taken out with a sledgehammer and a bit of patience. I might just hope that the trans isn’t broken either because fixing one of those isn’t easy, even with the right tools.” As he continued looking the car over, something caught his attention. Wait a minute . . . The back half of the car was sitting lower than the front. Not by much, but enough to catch his attention. “You know, now that I think about it, I didn’t get a good look at the rear suspension the other day, kinda hard to do with all the rocks n’ shit. Hmm, I wonder if I left a wrench anywhere? There might be something I can start with.” After a quick search, Gale found the wrench he’d stashed under the passenger’s seat. Grabbing it, he walked to the passenger side of his car and, once again, crawled under the back half of it. As he was looking around, he wondered aloud Huh, that’s weird. It’s like all the bolts back here were loose, and there’s even . . . a few . . . missing . . . It took Gale less than ten seconds to see what had caused his crash. What the sole reason he was stuck here was. “That son of a bitch!" The assembled ponies, save for Big Macintosh, all took a step back at his explosion as he pulled himself back out from under his car. “Those motherfuckers loosened everything!“ he shouted, kicking the door. “Gah! Dammit, why didn’t I fucking check before I left!?” Big Macintosh even took a step back at that point. Before any of them could say something, he turned and chucked the wrench out the door while yelling to the sky. “You happy now, ya fucking bastard?!” As the wrench landed, he leaned against the car, sliding down the side and sobbing.. “I should have known. God, I should have fucking known!” Watching as he sat down against his car, Twilight stepped forward “Gale, are you okay?” “I’m fine.” he said, barely controlling his rage. “Really, cause you don’t sou-” Dash started, before Applejack cut her off. “Rainbow, stop.” Flashing Applejack a grateful smile, he said. “Really, I’m fine. Just, . . . just go back to the farm house or something.” “You don’t seem fine to-” Twilight started, moving to help him up. “I said I’m fine, dammit!” he shouted, once again startling all present. “Hey! Don’t take your anger out on me. I just-”. Putting a hand to her muzzle, he said  “Look, Twilight, I get it. You ‘Just want to help’. Unless you can go back in time, and tell me to leave my motherfuckingphone behind, don’t bother . . . “ “What would your phone have to do with anything?” “I would rather not say.” he replied, voice going cold once again. “Gale, I just wanted to know what your phone has to do with anything,” Putting his face in his hands, he said. “It’s not important.” Unknowingly muttering They’d have never found me . . . Twilight caught this and wondered. Found him? . . . And, who are ‘they’? “Wait, somep- someone was looking for you?” “What.” “You just said someone was looking for you.” What part of ‘I don’t want to tell you’ are you not getting?.“It doesn’t even matter anyways, I’m more than likely never going back.” Heaving a sigh, he unthinkingly added.” . . . I just hope she can forgive me.” “Forgive you? Who are you talking about?” ”I don’t want to fucking talk about it!” standing back up, he turned and put his head against the roof before sighing once more. “I, I shouldn't have snapped like that, . . . I . . . I’m sorry.” he heaved a sigh and continued. “It’s, . . . it’s  a long story and I really don’t want to talk about it.” “But I-” she said, still trying to wrap her head around what she’d heard. What the hay is ‘it’ who are ‘they’ and who is ‘she’? Why is he being so defensive about whatever it is!? Meanwhile, Gale was thinking. Dammit, why did I say anything? Fucking ponies don’t need to know about that shit. Applejack saw where this could go, and walked over. “Now Twi it’s clearly somethin’ he don’t want to talk about. It’d probably be for the best ifn ya dropped the subject for now.” “Thank you, Applejack,” Gale sighed. “It really isn’t something I want to bring up for now. It’s . . . difficult to talk about.” he said, stepping back from the car and turning to face them. “Again, I shouldn’t have snapped like that and I apologize for it.” With his anger mostly subsided, Gale finally realized just how hard he’d kicked his car when his leg started to ache. The others realized it when they saw the fresh dent in the door. “Well, . . . shit.”