//------------------------------// // Say Again? // Story: Jumper: A New World // by PTTN //------------------------------// Say Again? 12 Princess Celestia stared down at Jay, her face expressionless as her mind tried to piece together what she had been told. It was another one of those awkward situations that Jay just had to sit through. It also didn’t help that the cake she had been staring at was now slowly being munched upon as she contemplated. ‘She’s been staring at me and chewing for like, 5 freakin’ minutes. What the hell?’ Jay thought. He did everything he could to avoid meeting the Princess’ gaze, firmly believing that it would only be way more awkward if he did. He shuffled his forehoof on the ground and looked around, trying his best to give himself something to do. ‘Faust, look at those windows, magnificent- and that bedspread, don’t even get me started!’ ‘I spy with my little eye, somethinnnng... grey!’ ‘Is it the stone floor?’ ‘No!’ ‘The stone walls?’ ‘Nope!’ ‘The stone ceiling?’ ‘No, you got it right the first time: the floors.’ ‘What the hell, bro?!’ ‘Don’t take that tone of voice with me, me!’ ‘I’ll do what I want motherbu-’ “Ahem...” Jay snapped out of his mental arguments as soon as Celestia cleared her throat. Her brow was scrunched in a mixture of confusion and worry. He realized he had visibly been arguing to himself in his mind. He wouldn’t be surprised if Princess Celestia admitted him to a mental hospital within the next 10 minutes. “Well, Jay, I’m having a little trouble understanding what you said. Would you mind repeating yourself?” “Sure!” Jay cleared his throat, took a large breath, and began again. “So there’s these evil people who call themselves the Templars- weird right?- and they hunt people like me because they’re angry at life, or something like that, and they stop at nothing to get people like me-” Jay paused to inhale another deep breath. “-cause they might be secretly crazy and when I say stop at nothing, I mean, STOP AT NOTHING and I think they have figured out a way to get here and if they do-” Another breath. “-all hell will break loose and we’ll be doomed and I’ll be even more doomed and surely you must have been feeling their attempts to enter the universe and now I don’t know what to do!” Jay lowered his head a bit, panting and wondering why he couldn’t breathe the air faster. “And when you say, ‘people like you’, what do you mean?” Princess Celestia asked. Jay didn’t even need to answer. He pictured the far right side of the window and jumped, appearing right where he pictured. If Celestia had blinked, he would have to demonstrate again. “I see.” She set her frosting covered tray aside- ‘When did she even EAT all that? I’ve been here the whole time!’- and rose from her bed. “Up until now, I have never heard of such a thing happening,” Princess Celestia began. “The very fact that you are here is a mystery to me, and it’s because of that ‘unknown’ factor, that there is nothing I can do to stop these, Templars, from gaining access here in Equestria.” ‘Well that’s not good.’ Jay thought. “So there’s absolutely nothing you can do?” “At the moment, no, there is nothing I can do.” Jay stared blankly at the princess for a moment. ‘Nothing she can do! What a load! She’s supposed to be some sort of god pony I thought!’ Princess Celestia smiled. “I am some sort of god pony. These... templars are currently in a realm out of my capabilities. If the problem persists, however, and say, moves to Equestria, I may be able to help. Until then, I would suggest forgetting about them. They pose no problem right now.” Jay turned in a huff and headed straight for the door. He came out just as the guards he had tricked earlier returned to their posts. “Hey!” Shouted one of the guard ponies as he walked by. Jay turned to the challenging guard pony, met his eyes, and jumped. He was in no mood to deal with them and jumping provided an easy escape. He appeared in Twilight’s guest room, angry thoughts swirling in his head. ‘Divine ruler my new pony ass,’ he thought to himself as he stomped around the room. ‘Why can’t those lunatics just leave me alone? It’s not like I insulted their sister or anything!’ Jay felt so helpless. The princess had been correct about one thing; there was nothing he could do right now. He needed to go somewhere, anywhere, to vent some anger. But what could he do? As far as he knew, Ponyville was a fairly violence free town. ‘Wait a second. That farmer pony.... I heard at that party she kicks trees! I wonder...’ With that thought, he jumped, a picture of the apple tree he so fondly licked in his mind. After that, it wasn’t too hard to find what he was looking for. A red barn sat next to a cozy looking home at the edge of the orchard. He spotted Applejack working outside, moving barrels of what he could only imagine contained apples. Beside her, stood a massive, red pony attached to a cart filled with even more apples. ‘He’s going to make this difficult,’ Jay thought solemnly. “Well, here goes nothing.” As he left the cover of the orchard, he immediately caught the attention of Applejack. The big red one also spared him a glance as he lazily turned his head towards Jay’s direction. “What do you want, tree licker?” Applejack asked with narrowed eyes. “Ok, I admit, that was a weird situation to be caught in, but that’s not the point! I was wondering, if I could go out and kick a few trees or something.” Applejack looked him over suspiciously, giving a few seconds to respond. “Why?” “‘Cause that one tree looked at me the wrong way- does it matter?” “Hmph. I s’pose not, it would save some time gatherin’ todays harvest.” Applejack replied, keeping an eye on Jay. “Can ya finish with the rest of these barrels, Big Mac?” “Eeyup.” Jay instantly knew the big one was quite the talker. Applejack turned to enter the barn, leaving Jay alone with the one called Big Mac. “So, uh, have you seen that window?” Jay asked, referring to the window in Princess Celestia’s room, in a failed attempt to make small talk. “Nnope.” ‘Guess he doesn’t like windows.’ Jay thought with a shrug. Applejack broke the silence a minute later as she came out of the barn, a large bucket strapped to her back. “Alright, tree licker, let’s see what ya got. Come with me.” “I do have a name, you know.” Jay mumbled as he followed Applejack’s lead. ********** “Now, ya gotta wind up like this, and plant a solid buck near the base.” With that, Applejack turned and planted a solid kick to the nearest tree, causing every red apple to fall into the bucket she had placed just underneath. They had walked for what felt like forever into the mass of apple trees, only stopping when Applejack had found a suitable location to start harvesting. Jay nodded, and turned to his tree. He planted his forehooves firmly into the ground, and wound up his rear legs, preparing for the kick. ‘Oh man, this kick is going to shatter that tree!’ Jay released his kick and bucked the tree in the spot Applejack had indicated, shaking it ever so slightly. A small, green leaf floated slowly down to the ground, landing softly next to where Jay stood. “Pffft BAHAHAHA-!” was all Applejack could manage, before she started gasping for air as she rolled on the ground, laughing. “And here *gasp* I was thinking you were *gasp* a strong lookin’ pony!” Applejack said in between breaths. Jay’s ears perked at that. “Say what now?” Applejack immediately stopped laughing, a more serious look dawning on her face. “Er, well, ‘cause my sis’ can buck a tree harder than you can, and she’s half your age.” Applejack quickly said, turning away from Jay. ‘What was that all about?’ Jay thought, shaking his head in confusion. Applejack turned back to him, “Never mind that, tree licker,” she said, a hint of anger returning to her voice, “Let’s just get back work.” ********** Jay slowly crawled out of the orchard, unable to feel his hind legs. The sun had began its descent into the horizon and Applejack had finally called it a day. His anger had been sated only to be replaced with pain. So much pain. All he could think about was the pain of a hard days work. ‘This was a stupid idea.’ He inched his way into the shade of the barn deciding to just lay on his stomach on the ground instead of leaning against the wooden wall. He knew he wouldn’t make it as far as the wall anyway. Through all of his pain, he was able to make out the sound of approaching hoof steps. “Here ya go, tree licker, have some cider.” Jay rolled onto his back and took the glass from Applejack, wolfing it down without even bothering to taste the sweet apple drink. “It might be too late to ask if that was poisoned or not, but at this point, I don’t think I would care.” A smirk crossed Applejack’s face as she sat down next to him. “Ya know Ah don’t hate ya-” she began, looking out into the orchard. “Coulda fooled me.” Jay mumbled. “Ah just don’t trust ya. What with all the secrets ya been keeping.” “I’ve got my reasons, Applejack, and trust me, it’s for the best.” “Ah just don’t understand why ya wouldn’t want to trust us, Jay.” Jay paused for a second, her last sentence registering in his brain. ‘Jay... that’s my name, right?’ “Hold on a moment, you just called me Jay and not tree licker. Are you feeling ok? I hear heat exhaustion does some pretty funky things to your head...” “Er, well, don’t get used to it.” She snapped, reaching for something behind her. “Here.” Applejack said, tossing a pouch onto Jay’s stomach. “What’s this?” “It’s your pay for the day. Ah couldn’t let a pony work hard and not get paid for it.” “I can’t take this-” Jay began, being stopped by Applejack’s hoof. “Take it ‘fore Ah have to make you take it.” “Can’t argue with that logic, I guess.” Jay said with a shrug. With a sigh, Applejack stood and walked away, only stopping to smile at Jay as she left. ‘Is everyon- er, pony, this crazy around here?’ He decided to rest in the shade a bit longer before jumping back to Twilight’s library, instantly crashing onto the couch in the main room. “Hey, Jay!” “Oh hey Spike, didn’t see ya there.” Jay turned his head in the direction of Spike’s voice, his whole body screaming in protest. He noticed the little purple dragon dutifully organizing the books on the shelves of the library. “Where’s Twilight at?” “She had to go help Fluttershy with something. Girl stuff, ya know?” Spike said, scratching his head. “No, no I don’t know, Spike. Girls are like that.” Spike shrugged and turned his focus back towards the books. “Oh yeah!” Spike exclaimed suddenly, causing Jay to turn in surprise before remembering, too late, that his muscles didn’t work properly. “Rainbow Dash came by looking for you! We didn’t know where you were and she looked kinda bummed that you weren’t here. What’s that about?” “That, would be adult stuff, my good dragon.” Jay replied smugly. That seemed to hit a nerve with the small dragon. “I’m not that young!” Spike paused a moment, collecting himself. “Can you, uh, tell me what adult stuff is?” Jay quickly got off the couch and headed for the stairs managing to stammer out a, “No can do.” Jay had heard about how parents give their children ‘The Talk’ and had always felt bad for both parties, and he was definitely not prepared to give such a speech, especially to a baby dragon. Jay shuddered at the thought. ‘What would I even say to him if I had to say something? I’d have to make things up about dragons, that’d be weird as hell. How would I even explain interspecies things? Like huge dragons and small little ponies.... Oh Celestia.’ He had to force those thoughts out of his head, fast. “Hey Spike, if Rainbow Dash comes by, I’ll be in bed. Don’t grow up, little man!” Jay heard an angry “Hey!” come from the main floor as his head hit the pillow. It was just too easy to mess with that dragon. Jay figured he had to take advantage of it while he was still bigger than Spike.