"So do you remember?" Apple Bloom asked anxiously, "How did you know who to pick for each element?"
"I have an hour like this," I said brushing my beard with a hoof, "don't rush me." I hadn't even realized I was still in my Wonderbolt's jacket. Aside from being a little warm inside it turned out to actually be a comfortable fit in pony form, even if it was a little too big. I was surprised the arms weren't too long.
"Sorry," she said, "this is just soooo cool! You're a pony, because you drank a potion that I made, and you did it just to answer a question for me."
"It's the least I could do after all the help," I said, "and everything you've been thorough since I got here. I guess I should just start from the start."
"That's usually a good place," Apple Bloom laughed.
"Well, I met Feather when she was the only Wonderbolt's doctor," I said, "she wasn't a Wonderbolt herself though."
"Really?" Apple Bloom asked, "why not?"
"The commander at the time hated potions," I said, "so she forbid us from making them, but they needed at least one doctor. That's where Feather came in."
"So when did you meet her?" she asked, "did you have to bring a friend to see her?"
"Not exactly," I said, "On my first day I broke my leg. I had run into her before and she recognized me. That's when we hit it off."
"Oh yea," she gave me an 'I'm old enough to know exactly what you did' look, "that's Scootaloo's Grandma."
"Yea," I said, "but that's just a footnote in this story."
"Aw, come on," she said, "ah wanted the romantic details. We're talking about a love story featuring an element of loyalty for crying out loud."
"Yea," I laughed, "and she was the element of laughter. or Protector of Humor."
"Really?" she said, "You fell for a Pinkie Pie?"
"I did," I laughed, "Is it really any crazier than her with Sawdust?"
"Ah guess not," she laughed.
"Well, anyway," I said, "since the Wonderbolt's only had one doctor, I was stepping in and helping my fallen friends. Commander Firestorm did not approve when she found out. She tried to have me dishonorably discharged." I decided not to mention that she wanted to kill me.
"So what happened?" she asked.
"My friend Easy Glider got ahold of Celestia and she came to the rescue," I said, "She kicked Firestorm out, put Easy Glider in her place, and put me in charge of teaching a class of potion students. That's where I met the Protector of Chivalry, Sculptured Stone. I first noticed when he was tutoring the other students. He was so respectful about it. He didn't want anypony to feel dumb just because they didn't understand something."
"So where did you meet Apple Seed?" she was obviously waiting for her own ancestor.
"He was outside a clinic in the center of what's now Manehatten," I said, "I had to patch him up along with a friend of his. I didn't know he was the one I wanted for Truth until a couple of years later though. It all became clear when Kizzy graduated my class."
"Kizzy?" she asked, "That's a weird name."
"You're not wrong," I said, "she came all the way to Equestria and traveled with me and my friends, and her name was a Zebra word meaning, to stay put. She was Protector of the Arcane. The Twilight of our group. It had more to do with the way she brought out the best in ponies than her potions, but she could conjure up magic I could only dream about."
"So that just leaves generosity," Apple Bloom said.
"Oh, yea," I said, "We can't forget Drum Beat. She had taken Kizzy in when nopony else would give her the time of day, and the two of them were running the clinic where I found Apple Seed from what was once Drum Beat's house. Like I said, it wasn't until a couple years later that we all got together as one group."
"So what brought it all about?" she asked.
"Well," I said, "I sent Sculptured Stone to help at the clinic as a final exam. He decided to stick around when he graduated and that's what lead to him still being there for Kizzy's final exam. The four of them became close friends despite their different backgrounds. I, of course, was making regular stops to check on them with Feather coming along to help keep spirits up. We never wanted to leave when it was time to get home. We even started bringing Sweet Dreams along so we didn't have to find a babysitter that didn't mind staying late. That's when I knew I had gotten the right group together."
"So you just stopped by the clinic and handed out the elements?" she asked.
"Not exactly," I said, "It was shortly after Kizzy Graduated. She was the first one I asked other than Feather because for all I knew she planned to go home right away. It turns out she was going to ask if I thought there was a place for her in Equestria. So it was a win-win."
"So is that why Zecora lives in Equestria?" Apple Bloom asked.
"No, but maybe yes," I said, "The Zecora I knew back then, Kizzy's daughter, actually moved far away to be closer to the zebra homeland so she could find a special somebody. I can't say I know why this Zecora moved back."
"That's kinda cool," she said, "so what about the good part? what happened when you used the elements?"
"Ponies forgot," I said as I remembered this detail myself.
"Yea," she said, "ponies forgot the whole thing. That's why I'm asking you."
"No," I said, "when we used the elements, ponies around us forgot everything but their core identity, and even that was tainted as they forgot what they stood for. It was a necessary evil. So many ponies stood for killing each other we didn't know what else to do."
"Wow," she said, "how did it happen the first time?"
"Well we went to the Castle of the Two Sisters and got the Elements," I said, "at first we thought Celestia was off her rocker because all we found were five rocks. We were just going to collect them and leave but a mob of ponies blocked our way out. They shouted something about being in league with the Pony of Shadows and his nocturnal henchmen."
"What did you do?" she asked.
"I stood my ground," I said, "Feather held in a laugh, Drum Beat offered them food and medicine, Sculptured Stone and Apple Seed were trying very different reasoning tactics, but Kizzy saved the day."
"What did she do?" Apple Bloom asked looking at me with an awestricken expression.
"She stomped and shouted, 'Silence!'" I said, "and everypony stopped to listen. She stomped her hoof again and said, 'the enemy you fear is not here. It seems as to me though you are afraid of your dreams.' The leader of the mob just stared at her before asking, 'What do you know about dreams?'"
"What did she say to that?" Apple Bloom was starting to lean in on the table.
"Don't lose your balance," I reminded her, "She said, 'In the native land where I am from, dreams are read by everyone. They tell of the hopes and fears we hold deep inside. They often send children to run away and hide. To believe they are true is quite a shame, you have only yourself to blame,' Well the mob wasn't having it, 'Why should we listen to you?' they asked, 'when every last one of us is seeing the same thing every night?'"
"That is a good point," Apple Bloom said.
"No, it's not," I said, "Kizzy came back with, 'You live in a small group, on the edge of a dark woods, and wonder why you all fear those in black hoods. In this place creatures abound, it's not alway's clear what is around. To call you all wrong may appear obscene, but tell me you don't talk about what you think you've seen.'"
"Now that is a good point," Apple Bloom admitted.
"They didn't like it," I said, "They started calling her a liar and we thought we were going to have to defend ourselves against a group of civilians, but that's when it happened."
"What happened," Apple Bloom asked anxiously.
"The element's started glowing," I said, "if your sister told you about them getting the elements, it went pretty much the same. Only when the dust settled rather than Luna and necklaces, we were each holding a gem inlaid piece of medical equipment, and faced with a group of ponies that didn't know anything but their names and relationship to each other."
"What the buck did you do then?" she asked.
"Watch the language young lady," I said, "I can't stand when people go replacing swear words and shit. Saying buck to mean fuck kinda makes your siblings sound bad. Bucking in the field all day. Your whole family is full of apple buckers."
She burst out laughing, "ah guess you have a point. So what the fuck did you do?"
"I addressed the crowd," I said, "I think it helped that I was holding a fancy clipboard because everypony seemed to think I was in charge."
"A fancy clipboard?" She asked.
"That's what the elements picked for me," I said, "a silver clipboard with a blue gemstone embedded in the back of it."
"So what did you say?" she asked.
"I lied," I said, "I pretended we had found them out there. I said, 'That was a close one. Do you guys remember anything? You were almost crushed when that roof caved in. I think it gave you amnesia.' I tapped a hoof on the empty clipboard, 'This is clearly a dangerous place, you shouldn't be living so close to it. Let's get your things and find a safer place for you.'"
"So you just talked all those ponies into moving?" she asked, "Why?"
"Kizzy had a point," I said, "we didn't have Luna then, so we had to make sense of our own dreams. For a group of ponies to live so close to a woods that they didn't understand... It was dangerous. For them and any pony that wandered into the woods."
"That is true," she said, "So where did you move them to?"
"The injured ponies Drum Beat saved had already started rebuilding the village they decided to call Manehatten," I said, "they had a lot of empty houses that only needed a little work done."
"Sounds like it all worked out," she said, "Thank's for telling me the story."
"Any time," I said, "so what now."
"Ah think you should check that book," she said, "It's shakin' the whole table."
I opened Celestia's journal to read;
--
Dear Jerry,
Are you sure you want all of them? You did see the shelves, right?
sincerely,
Princess Celestia
--
I picked up a quill with my hoof and tried to write, but I couldn't line it up with the paper.
"That's why we use our mouth," Apple Bloom pointed out.
I took the quill in my mouth and dragged it along the page managing to make a few likes that resembled the word 'yes' if you squinted. The Princess replied immediately.
--
Are you ok? Should I send help?
--
"Apple Bloom, would you mind?" I held the quill out to her and she took it in her teeth, but not before taking the chance to laugh at me, "I just want to say 'yes' but go ahead and add to stack them on my table in the living room."
She put the quill to the book and in the neatest penmanship, she wrote this note.
--
Dear Princess Celestia,
Everything is fine. Jerry is just that bad at writing with his mouth. It's a long story but he's a pony at the moment.
He was just trying to say 'yes'. He would like them on his living room table.
Your subject,
Apple Bloom.
--
"Now I'm going to need you to write in this one," I set Twilight's book on the kitchen table, "We're going to want help."
"Ok," she said, "this must be a lot of books."
"You can say that again," I said as a perfectly arranged stack of books appeared in the living room.
It was about three feet high and covered the entire surface of the coffee table. I immediately regretted not saying floor when I heard the table leg creek. It seemed to be holding though...