//------------------------------// // Ch12 Learning Curve [edited] // Story: Jake and the kid // by peter //------------------------------// Jake and the Kid Chapter 12 Learning Curve *** Morning in Ponyville, shimmers, Morning in Ponyville shines. Twilight Sparkle hummed as she levitated the contents of an over-sized picnic basket onto a checkered blanket that was spread out over the soft grass that covered the hillside. There were sandwiches, drinks, cupcakes, assorted salads, all the essentials. ‟What a wonderful morning,” she said, throwing back her head and basking in the sunlight. ‟You’re welcome,” Rainbow Dash snarked as she darted in and snatched a large daisy sandwich from the neat pile Twilight had arranged so carefully on a plate. ‟Rainbow Dash! Wait till everyone is here.” ‟You snooze, you lose,” Rainbow said with a laugh. She tossed the sandwich in the air and opened her mouth wide to receive it. ‟Exactly,” Twilight said smugly as she used her magic to snatch the snack and returned it to the plate. ‟Hey, no fair,” Rainbow protested. ‟I’ll have you know I burned off a lot of calories clearing the sky so we’d have a perfect day for our special picnic.” ‟And it sure is appreciated by all of us here,” Applejack drawled as she cantered up with Apple Bloom right behind her big sister. ‟Indeed. It is a perfectly gorgeous day,” Rarity chimed in as she trotted up the other side of the hill. The fashion-conscious unicorn was wearing a wide-brimmed sunhat on her head that was matched with an over-sized sheer shawl draped over her neck and shoulders. A jumbo-sized pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes topped off the look. Sweetie Bell laboriously trailed behind her older sister, a huge pile of assorted picnic gear piled on the cart the little filly was pulling. ‟Thank you ever so much, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said graciously, as she levitated a large beach umbrella and a lounge chair from the pile her little sister was hauling. ‟For someone out for a day in the sun, you’re not spending much time in it,” Twilight observed with a small smile. ‟Twilight, my dear, one does not stay as gorgeous as I by running around in the burning sun all day long.” Rarity pulled her sunglasses a little way down her nose and directed a teasing look toward Applejack. ‟But the sun really is very nice today,” Fluttershy said softly as she trotted up, Curry mounted on her back. ‟Yeah, it looks like a scrumptious lemon tart. Yummy,” Pinkie Pie enthused as she bounced up to the picnic. ‟And that leaves just one more,” Twilight said. ‟Leave it to me, Sugarcube. Jake! Soups on!” Applejack yodeled at the top of her lungs, loud enough to cause several small leaves to fall from a nearby tree. Jake looked over at the group from where he was playing ball with a friend. He let the ten-ton boulder drop to the ground with a thud and waved goodbye to the Ursa Minor before trotting up the hill to join the rest of the picnic goers. Mass quantities of food and beverages were consumed and soon everyone was spread out around the remains of the picnic, stomachs comfortably distended, while the sun’s rays warmed their stretched bellies. ‟Man, I just can’t get enough of this sun,” Rainbow enthused, spreading out her wings along the ground to catch every possible golden ray. ‟Oh, oh, I can get us more,” Jake cried out enthusiastically. His horn started to glow brightly, a huge nimbus of energy building up around the core of his unicorn spike. For a few moments Twilight could not figure out what he was directing his efforts at, and then she realized she was getting warmer, a lot warmer. In sudden realization, she stared up at the sky and saw that the sun was getting noticeably bigger. ‟Jake. Wait. Stop,” Twilight cried out, her own horn glowing with magic as she tried to disrupt Jake’s magic. To no avail. ‟I can’t stop it, Aunty Twilight,” Jake cried out, his eyes going fearfully. All the ponies were soon huddled under Rarity’s over-sized beach umbrella like baby toads under a toadstool. Slowly the fabric charred as the grass and plants around them withered away. In a moment their fragile protection would burst into flames and there would be nothing between them and the glowing ball of raging fire in the sky. **** ‟Noooooooo!” Twilight cried out, jolting upward from her position laying across her desk drooling on the blotter. Twilight gasped for breath, her body drenched in sweat. She squinted her eyes against the baking heat of the early morning sun as it slanted in through her window to fall directly on her body. Scattered all around her, on the desk, the floor, and assorted other makeshift bookshelves were numerous volumes of arcane lore. Twilight’s panicked breathing slowed as she realized it had only been a dream, and she heaved a sigh of relief. Her relief was only temporary. A gear clicked in her mind, and she suddenly knew why her mind had tossed out that particular nightmare, besides the sun baking her head. ‟How could I have been so foolish?” she castigated herself. ‟Jake’s mental development might only be that of a foal, but his body is fully mature. This is not good. Not good at all. There will be time for research later. I have got to get out to Applejack’s and help keep an eye on him. How could I have left him all alone with nothing but earth ponies to look after him? They’ll have no idea of what to do if he loses control of his magic.” Several strands of hair spronged out of her already disheveled mane, one dropping down over her right eye. That warning sign caused Twilight to pause and take stock as she recognized one of her personal symptoms of an upcoming panic attack. She took a few deep centering breaths as the book recommended. ‟Control, Twilight. Don’t go off half-cocked. Applejack is a smart mare. She might not know magic, but she knows foals. She’ll likely keep him so busy he won’t even have time to think about magic." *** ‟Ooops,” Jake said. The over-sized colt hung his head to avoid the look he was sure Big Mac was giving him. He needn’t have worried. Big Mac was too busy staring at the spot where a sixty-year-old apple tree had once stood, up till three seconds ago. All that was left of the large tree was a four-foot stump, the top half of which was a splintered mass. Behind the stump, a V-shaped debris field extended out fifty feet, with a few scattered shards of applewood twice that distance away. In the middle of the remains was the crown of the former tree, several branches shattered from the impact of falling from thirty feet up. Big Mac shifted the strand of straw he was chewing from one side of his mouth to the other.(*) The big red stallion made a mental note to, in the future, avoid such phrases as ‟Give it all you got, Hoss,” when instructing Jake. He looked over at where the colt was trying to appear as small as possible with his shoulders hunched and his head lowered. ‟Darn good first try,” he said in a tone of voice that seemed to say he saw apple trees explode every day and it wasn't no big thing. ‟Let’s yank the stump, and then you can have another go.” Jake perked up instantly, his eyes brightening as he turned around so his hindquarters were to the stump and waited for Big Mac to instruct him in pulling. Hopefully, it would go better than his first attempt in actively using Earth Pony magic. *** Sneak Peek had been pulled out of his bed much too early, in his mind, by the enticing scent of fried eggs and haycon. ‟What sort of pony gets up at this unholy hour on a regular basis?” the tabloid pony mused grumpily. He squinted his eyes against the early morning sun with next to none of his usual discomfort. Contrarian to the last, he even viewed the lack of a hangover as another mark against Ponyville, which had a severe lack of late-night watering holes in his opinion. Berry Punch’s place was pretty much it, and at the moment he was avoiding it while he tried to get his head straight about how he felt about the bar’s owner and Cloud Kicker. The truth was, and he was devoted to the truth no matter how painful it might be, he didn’t deserve even one mare as fine as those two, let alone both of them. What they saw in him, or why they’d be willing to share, was beyond him. They weren’t in love with each other, merely friends. As far as he knew neither one of them bucked that way. The only reason they were willing to set up housekeeping together as a family was to share him. That was a lot for a confirmed bachelor like him to wrap his mind around. Just at that moment, Sneaky spotted a familiar pink party pony bouncing out of Sugarcube Corner. Shrugging his shoulders, he trailed off in her wake. There was still the mystery of what had happened last night in the Everfree forest. A good night sleep had half-convinced him that it had likely been nothing. He didn’t trust such feelings. It smacked of rationalization in order to excuse himself missing whatever the scoop had been. Besides, maybe he’d get some candid shots of Pinkie Pie horribly embarrassing some well known Canterlot pony in town for a visit. One who had come with the intent of sniffing around the Elements of Harmony.(1) *** Pinkie Pie bounced along happily as she approached the library. She had saddlebags full of teaching aids for Jake. Lots of gooey squishy muffins for him to practice his magic on. She was on her way to meet with Twilight as they had agreed on the night before. They both would then head out to check on their world wanderers. ‟World wanderers, world wanderers, world wanderers,” Pinkie chanted out as quick as she could. ‟Yeah, those stretching exercises are working out perfectly,” she enthused as she stuck her tongue out as far as it would go and tried to lick her own forehead. Twilight came rushing out of the library, her head craned around to the rear as she tried to make sure she had packed, Alicorns, Fact, and Fantasy, in her saddlebags. She’d memorized it years before but Applejack would likely find it helpful. Pinkie Pie was staring cross-eyed at the tip of her own tongue when her friend came rushing out of the door. Pinkie had just enough time to think, oh, that’s what a tingling at the base of my tail means. before the collision. The purple pony plowed into the plush pink pony before Twilight even knew Pinkie Pie was there. The two mares went pin-wheeling across the street and ended up tangled in a ball at the hooves of Derpy, who looked down at them in her normal, walleyed manner. ‟Well, this is different,” the mail mare remarked in surprise. ‟Oohh, muffins,” she enthused as she spotted the contents of Pinkie’s saddlebags, which had spilled out across Twilight’s flanks. ‟Help yourself. They’re yummy,” Pinkie offered, leading by example. She stretched out her neck and licked the splattered remains of a lemon-cream muffin off of Twilight’s cutie mark. This action drew a startled gasp from the purple unicorn as well as a great deal of thrashing as Twilight fought to her feet, stepping on the few remaining intact muffins as she did. Derpy looked longingly at the poor trampled muffins, their chocolaty goodness now irretrievably mixed with the earth from which their ingredients had been grown. Snuffed out without a chance to fulfill their destiny, unable to release thunderbolts of pleasure into pony minds, their deaths were a tragedy beyond pony comprehension. With a heart-rending moan, Derpy wrenched her eyes away from their poor uneaten goodness. ‟I’ll pass. Thanks for the offer, Pinkie. Mail, Twilight,” she said, handing Twilight a package, a clipboard and a pen, one after the other. Twilight signed for her parcel in a distracted way, while trying to suppress the blush coloring her cheeks. ‟Oh. A Brief History of Time,” she cried out as she unwrapped a book that was at least three inches thick. ‟I’ve wanted to read this for so long,” Twilight enthused, flipping open the hefty volume and perusing the forward. ‟Weren’t you going somewhere? In a rush?” Pinkie asked, looking over Twilight’s shoulder at the dense text in curiosity. She got distracted by a lump of muffin that was sticking to the tip of Twilight’s ear. ‟Ahhhhhh! Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?” Twilight cried out, her head twisting to the side in reaction to her friend suddenly sucking on her ear. ‟What? Tastes good,” Pinkie Pie protested with her mouth full. She hastily released Twilight’s now damp ear, swallowed, and repeated her question. ‟Aren’t we suppose to be heading out to Applejack’s to check on Jake the hunk?” *** Down the street, an amused Sneak Peek lowered his camera without taking a shot. During his first week in Ponyville, he would have been all over that scene and prepared to spin a whole series of stories centered on just what good ‘friends’ the Elements of Harmony were. But, after all this time he was far more blase. It was just Pinkie being Pinkie. Besides, after all, he had suffered and put up with since coming to this hick town, he wasn’t about to waste it all on a two-bit fluff piece that would blow his cover. He was far more interested in who this ‘Jake’ might be. It wasn’t any sort of Pony name he had ever heard. That had his reporter sense tingling.(2) *** Twilight, still blushing from Pinkie using her body as a buffet table, hastily stuffed the new book in her saddlebag. Not even bothering to chide Pinkie on how inappropriate it was to refer to a five-year-old as a hunk. Or to suck a friend’s ear in the middle of a public street, for that matter. ‟I did it again,” Twilight moaned as she started trotting down the street. Pinkie Pie bounced alongside her, sneakily checking her friend’s flanks. Just in case there might be a few more muffin chunks. ‟What is wrong with me? First I totally miss the potential disaster Jake represents, and then I let myself get distracted by a book. Okay, it is a really good book, but still.” ‟Jake isn’t a potential disaster, silly. He’s a stallion. Well, sometimes that can be the same thing. I remember these two mares. The silly things just refused to share. Hey, that rhymes. I’m a poet and didn’t know it.” ‟That is not what I meant, Pinkie. Jake is an Alicorn. A physically mature Alicorn. With the mind of a foal. He is at least twice as powerful as I am, and has the self-restraint of Sweety Belle and her friends! Worst case scenario, it gets chilly and he decides to bring the sun closer to warm everypony up.” ‟Wow, we’d need sunglasses and sunscreen for sure.” ‟Try welding helmets and SPF5000.” ‟Oh, Jake wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well, maybe if it bit him on the butt.” ‟He wouldn’t do it on purpose, Pinkie! He just wouldn’t know any better. That’s why I have to get out there and keep an eye on him, to make sure his enthusiasm doesn’t outrun his control. At least until Princess Celestia can arrange proper training and supervision for him. I just hope I’m not too late. Applejack just rebuilt the barn, again.” ‟Wow, so who’s going to look after Curry? I mean, she’s a human, and everypony knows they have mysterious powers.” Pinkie reared back on her hind legs and lifted her forelegs up over her head in a menacing posture while making a scary face.” ‟Don’t be silly, Pinkie. She’s tiny and much more mature than Jake. Fluttershy should be able to keep her entertained. What possible trouble could she cause?” *** Curry narrowed her eyes as she glared at the chickens sitting on their nests. They glared right back. The small girl removed her pecked finger from her mouth, where she’d been trying to relieve the sting. ‟Ok, ladies. This here is the deal. Fluttershy needs eggs to make the breakfast flapjacks. I sure am looking forward to those. If I can’t have any flapjacks, I might just decide to settle for some yummy, crispy, fried chicken. The way I look at it, it all comes down to you. So what’s it going to be?” The dozen or so chickens in the coop exchanged looks, and ever so slowly backed up and off their nests, leaving the freshly laid eggs exposed. ‟Thank you, ladies. So good doing business with you,” Curry smirked as she gathered up all the eggs and placed them in the basket that was slung over her arm. Life was so much easier when the critters understood what you were saying. Curry trotted across the chicken run, looking like a sport's mascot who’d suffered severe weight loss in her brand new multiple-hued outfit. Out of habit, her eyes picked out chores that needed to be done, like the tumbled wood pile that needed to be straightened out. Old Ben had been scathing on the topic of ‘certain small people,’ who had to be told to do everything, even when tripping over something that needed to be picked up. Curry was pretty sure Fluttershy would not mind if she slacked off, as she was a guest and all. Which was sort of the problem? The small girl didn’t want to be a guest, she wanted to be a resident. She was bound and determined to prove herself useful. The more she could lighten Fluttershy’s workload, instead of adding to it, the more likely the yellow pegasus would be receptive to the idea of officially adopting Jake and her, once Curry figured out the best way to bring up the subject. Of course, there was no need to work herself to death. She just needed to show she could pull her weight. There were other important issues she had to address as well. While making her bed this morning she had considered certain facts about this world, reinforced by the particular fact that several woodland critters had helped with the chore. This was a magic land. Jake had grown a horn and wings and done a little magic, not very well, but still, it had been magic. It still rankled Curry that all that had happened to her was a case of severe hair growth that had left her with something between a human head of hair and a horse’s mane. All the ponies seemed to have a magic of some sort or another, with Twilight and Rarity being the most obvious about it. The critters could understand Curry perfectly well, and some of them she could understand almost as well as she had Jake before coming here. It seemed impossible that she shouldn’t have a little magic of her own. That was why Curry intended to find herself a private spot once her self-imposed chores were done, and find out what her special talent was. *** ‟I’m telling you Pinkie Pie. Curry is the very least of our worries.” *** Despite his curiosity, Sneak Peek had hung back far enough to avoid notice, at least from normal ponies. He just hoped Pinkie Pie didn’t invite him to join them. She’d done it on other occasions. As a result, he could barely make out one word in ten of their conversation. But what he was picking up was intriguing. For one thing, he was positive he’d heard Alicorn. *** ‟That reprehensible, selfish, little monster,” a voice growled out from nearby. The familiar tones of Rarity in a snit caused both Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie to direct their gaze forward as their friend came walking around the corner. Twilight was shocked at the unicorn’s appearance. Even Pinkie looked surprised, and not in her usual, what a wonderful surprise, way. Rarity was as far from her usual fashionable self as it was possible to get short of a dose of poison joke. The normally elegant white unicorn was a mess. Her dark blue mane was in disarray with random strands sticking out in all directions. Her tail was positively frizzy, and the bags under her eyes had bags of their own. *** Behind his telephoto lens, Sneaky’s eyes widened. If ever a Mare had looked like she been rode hard it was Rarity. The one he had labeled as most likely to when he had first come to town before he realized she was just as innocent in some ways as her friends. The fact that the hard-used unicorn was coming into town, early in the morning, was intriguing. Just who had she been visiting with all night? Sneaky made a fervent prayer to the goddess of yellow journalism that it wasn’t some mundane tryst with a local swain like the big red stallion out at the apple farm. ‟Please, please, let this be connected to whatever they were up to last night,” he prayed under his breath. *** Twilight took in the wreck of her friend with dismay. Combined with Rarity’s rant, she jumped to conclusions. ‟Curry did this to you?” she asked in disbelief. She could have sworn the small filly was harmless. Rarity was startled to see her friends and mortified to be seen in this condition before the spa had a chance to put her to rights, but her embarrassment was derailed by Twilight’s silly question. ‟Curry?” Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight! Aside from her dismaying lack of any sort of fashion sense, hardly rare around here, she was a delight. Not the least bit of trouble.” ‟Besides not liking the clothing you made for her?” Twilight asked dryly. Rarity had been stifling a yawn, and asked around it, ‟Why, whatever make’s you say that, Twilight? I’ll inform you that Curry just loved the outfit I tossed together for her.” ‟But you said her fashion sense was terrible?” Twilight said in a puzzled tone. Normally she would not allow herself to be drawn into a discussion about fashion with Rarity.(3) The little filly, Curry, was still a huge mystery, however, and Twilight felt any datum about her could turn out to be significant. Rarity stilled, suddenly looking slightly panicked. ‟I did, didn’t I?” she asked. Her eyes darted right and left as if seeking an escape. An expression of despair washed over the white unicorn’s features and Rarity let out a loud cry as she wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s neck and cried into her shoulder. ‟It! Was! Hideous!” She pushed herself backward so she was staring into Twilight’s eyes from inches away, her hooves holding the purple unicorn’s face in place. ‟Promise me, Twilight! Promise me that you will not turn your back on me when you see it! That you won’t toss me aside for inflicting such an abomination on the world!” **** Sneaky’s eyes widened. Rarity’s voice carried quite well. She was certainly making no effort to keep her tone down. What shameful thing had she done? Something so bad she feared her friends would abandon her? What did she mean about inflicting an abomination on the world? *** ‟Oh, come on, Rarity.” An embarrassed Twilight protested, finding her personal boundaries once again violated within only a few minutes of Pinkie using her for a dinner plate in public. ‟It can’t be that bad. Not compared to how badly we messed up your gala designs after you went to all the trouble of making such lovely dresses for us.” Rarity pushed herself even closer to Twilight, till their muzzles touched. ‟It! Is! The. Worst! Thing! Ever!” she declaimed dramatically. She reared back on her back legs and wavered in place as she first darted a glance behind her, and then directed a pointed look at Pinkie Pie, who picked up her cue and dashed around so as to be in place when her friend toppled over backward in a suitably dramatic faint. Twilight rolled her eyes, ‟Well, if that is all, I do have to be heading over to check on Jake. To make sure he has not blown the place up,” she added under her voice. ‟What was that, dear?” Rarity said, pushing herself up out of Pinkie Pie’s legs and getting to her hooves. ‟Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Everything is just fine,” Twilight hastily assured her drama queen friend. The last thing she wanted to leave Rarity with was the idea that Jake was a potential explosion waiting to happen, not when she wasn’t going to be around to sit on her. Seeking for a distraction, she grasped at something sure to sideline Rarity, a question about her appearance. ‟So why do you look so, so, like that?” Twilight asked, fumbling for a word that would not be grossly insulting while gesturing at Rarity’s body in general.” Rarity let out a loud sob for effect before explaining, ‟It was that little monster of Fluttershy’s. He simply could not countenance me taking his spot in her bed and kicked up such a fuss that between him and Fluttershy I got no sleep at all last night.” From somewhere Pinkie Pie produced a pair of glasses with a weird nose and mustache attached. A large fake cigar held from one hoof, she tossed her leg over Rarity’s shoulders and waggled her fake eyebrows lecherously while saying, ‟So, Rarity, tell us all about this kinky threesome that left you looking like something the cat dragged out.” ‟What was wrong with Fluttershy? Twilight asked in concern, ignoring Pinkie Pie’s incomprehensible behavior out of long practice. ‟Oh, no need for concern, darling. She simply insisted on slipping out of bed every hour or so to check on Curry. I have no idea where that pony gets her energy. Despite hardly any sleep at all, she was up at the most unholy of hours this morning preparing breakfast for her critters.” ‟Ah, so Curry was having trouble getting settled in a new place?” Twilight deduced. ‟Slept like a log, the dear. Which is more than I can say for some,” Rarity said, stifling a yawn behind a ladylike hoof. ‟Well, you can head home and get a nap now.” Twilight sympathized. ‟Don’t be ridiculous, darling. Looking like this? I’m heading right to the spa for the works.” ‟Well, don’t fall asleep in the mud bath, again,” Twilight said with a laugh. ‟I’ll be out at Sweet Apple Acres for the next few days if you need me for anything. Spike is looking after the library. Look in on him, if you would. Make sure he found the note I left him. He’s was still sleeping when I left.” Twilight felt her conscious easing a bit. She’d been feeling a bit guilty about running off and leaving Spike behind. Sending over Rarity would make a fine peace offering. ‟Whatever, darling,” Rarity said with the weary sigh of a desert traveler who knows the oasis is just around the corner and their long terrible journey is almost over. Twilight and Pinkie Pie left their friend behind and trotted off. ‟I’m glad everything went well with Fluttershy,” Twilight said. ‟I just hope it went as smoothly at Applejack’s” *** Sneaky hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow Twilight and Pinkie. Rarity was clearly coming from wherever the action was. Much as he would have loved to have witnessed her encounter, that ship had sailed. On the other hand, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were heading straight into what could turn out to be the story of the millennium. *** Several minutes later Twilight and Pinkie Pie came into view of Sweet Apple Acres, and the purple unicorn let out the breath she had been holding for the last few seconds out of dread of what she might discover. ‟Well, at least the barn is still standing,” she said, only half-joking. As they strolled through the gate her expression grew worried, again, as she heard hammering coming from inside Applejack’s disaster-prone outbuilding. ‟Or is it?” she questioned as she broke into a gallop and dashed inside the barn. Her eyes widened as she spotted Applejack teetering on a ladder as she hammered planks into place on the floor of the hayloft at the back of the building. ‟Applejack? What happened? It wasn’t Jake, was it?” Twilight’s sudden appearance, and called out questions, startled the precariously perched palomino and she started to topple off the ladder, only to be enveloped in the glow of Twilight’s magic as the purple unicorn steadied her friend in place. ‟I got you,” she said, reassuringly ‟Thankee kindly, Twilight,” Applejack said, after spitting out the mouthful of nails she’d been holding between her lips. ‟Ain’t no reason to fret, the colt just overestimated the clearance and got his horn caught in a crack.” Twilight reached to the side with her magic and without looking snatched away the gag glasses Pinkie was just about to slap on her face. ‟Aww, you’re no fun,” Pinkie Pie protested jokingly. ‟Jake did this with his horn? No magic?” Twilight asked in an interrogatory manner. ‟Sure did. You should have seen the look on Big Mac’s face when he did.” Applejack let out a loud laugh. ‟That idiot had got it in his head that Jake was some sort of con-pony using a fake horn to pass his own self off as an Alicorn.” ‟Now don’t go fretting,” Applejack hastily assured Twilight when she saw the worried expression that comment had caused. ‟I explained everything to Big Mac and Granny Smith. It took a while, but once they got it they took to Jake like black on a skillet.” ‟What about, Apple Bloom? You did tell her that she had to keep him a secret?” ‟No need to fret, sugarplum. Apple Bloom and her friends are having a sleepover at the tree-house this weekend. She hasn’t even met him yet, and won’t for at least another day or two.” ‟I’m glad everything is well-in-hoof. Can I see, Jake? Is he in the house?” Applejack let out a laugh. ‟You city girls. Not all us folk can laze around in bed till all hours. That there Jake is a real farm pony. He and Big Mac headed out to the back forty soon as the sun peeked up over the horizon. I was going to run some lunch out to them in a bit if you want to tag along?” ‟Jake is all alone with Big Mac. Are you sure that’s safe?” Twilight asked, and then hurriedly added when Applejack started to frown. ‟I just meant that Jake is still so new to having magic. Will Big Mac know what to keep an eye out for?” ‟Never you fret, Twilight,” Applejack said with a slight tightness to her voice. ‟Those two ponies have a heap of work to do. Jake ain’t going to have time to think about anything but getting the job done. You should have seen him this morning. He pretty much begged Big Mac to take him along so he could show my big brother how well he can pull. That there colt has taken a mighty big shine to Big Mac. Don’t think he ever had a stallion to look up to.” Applejack let out a chuckle, ‟Course, being as big as he is, don’t reckon he’s ever had any pony he could look up to. Nope, the only magic he’s going to be using is plain boring old, safe, earth pony magic,” There was more than a touch of sarcasm in Applejack’s words, but her tone of voice flew right over Twilight’s head as the unicorn had barely been listening to her friend. Twilight told herself it was pointless to assume the worst with no basis for worry. While it was true that Jake was potentially dangerous, that was a far cry from assuming that disaster was assured because of it. It was only prudent to keep an eye on him, but it was unfair to treat him like some monster who could suddenly start rampaging through Ponyville. ‟Applejack, would you mind terribly if I stayed over at your place? Just till Princess Celestia makes arrangements for Jake. There is so much we don’t know about him, or about what he might be capable of. I’d just feel better if I was here in case something went wrong.” Applejack was starting to get more than a little irritated. She loved Twilight like a sister, but sometimes the mare got right up her muzzle. You’d think nopony but a Unicorn could watch over a pony with strong magic. Lot’s of unicorns had been born to Earth Ponies. Just look at the Cakes. No one suggested they couldn’t cope with raising a Unicorn foal. Despite her annoyance, Applejack knew that Twilight was honestly concerned, so she had no trouble opening her home to her friend. ‟You’re welcome for as long as you want to stay, Twilight. No need to ask. You should know that. Course, I don’t think there is any need for you to fret, but if it makes you feel better, come stay on over.” *** Sneaky kept well back from the property line to Sweet Apple Acres, relying on his telephoto lens to spy on what was happening. When Twilight and Pinkie Pie made a mad dash for the barn and vanished inside, he grew worried that the story might be taking place inside, out of his view. He was contemplating the advisability of trying to get closer when the two mares, along with Applejack, emerged from the barn and headed over to the farmhouse. A little while later they exited the house and now Applejack was sporting bulging saddlebags, while Twilight was missing hers. Applejack trotted out onto the road in front of the farm and began to follow it toward the Everfree Forest with her friends right behind her. For a moment Sneak Peek was afraid she was going to lead them into the forest. There were parts of Canterlot that even the Royal Guard didn’t go unless they were in a group. Not if they wanted to get out without cherry pie stains on their nice clean uniforms.(4) Sneaky practically lived in those places. But no payday, no matter how large, was worth going into that weird forest. It was just so freaking unnatural, the way everything did for itself with no help from any pony. Fortunately, Applejack followed the border, which also marked the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, rather than actually entering the forest. The three ponies cantered along the fringe of the forest like it was nothing to worry about. Sneaky wasn’t so sanguine. He hopped over the fence that bordered the road and followed them from the inside. He just hoped none of the cows or sheep who lived on the farm, and paid their rent in trade, spotted him. Applejack trotted along for about a mile, and then made a turn to the left, following the road as it diverged away from the forest. She was taking a long way around to the back of the farm Sneaky realized. The distance might have been longer, but this way they did not have to weave through the orchards and planted fields, resulting in a quicker trip. Sneak Peek heaved a sigh of relief as they left the Everfree behind them. He jumped back over the fence and crossed to the other side of the road, which was growing as wild as anything ever did in Equestria. There was lots of cover, and no risk of attracting unwanted attention. Sneaky felt smug satisfaction. He was really starting to get the hang of this country stuff. *** Pinkie was impressed. Private Eye was getting really good at hide-and-seek. Much better than when he first came to Ponyville and his wheezing for breath and hacking cough always gave him away. Even Applejack hadn’t spotted him, and she was almost as good at hide and seek as Pinkie. Unlike Twilight, who was really bad at noticing things that were not in a book, or otherwise right in front of her nose. It never occurred to Pinkie to inform her friends they were being followed. That would be cheating. Besides, from the sounds of things, something really interesting was happening just over the rise they were currently trotting up. Twilight soon heard the same noise that Pinkie had, and a look of worry crossed her face. She sped up, drawing ahead of Applejack, who was maintaining a calm trot. If she had looked backward she would have seen a small self-satisfied smile on the farm filly’s face. Applejack was feeling pretty pleased with herself. While she had on occasion tried to pull a prank on one of her friends, it had always failed due to her inability to tell a believable lie, a strong necessity for would be pranksters setting up a pony. This time, however, all she’d had to do was keep a few facts away from Twilight, who was about to get the shock of her life. Twilight reached the crest of the hill and came to a sudden stop, her expression aghast. Ahead of her was a scene of total chaos and destruction. Everywhere she looked were uprooted apple trees. They lay scattered across the ground like so many jackstraws. Their roots yanked free of the ground with only small clumps of dirt left clinging to them. The worst was the tree nearest her that was broken in half, its trunk ending in a mass of twisted splinters. Looking over the small valley, she could make out two figures on the other side of the destruction. Both Big McIntosh and Jake were easy to recognize because of their distinct color and size. Twilight didn’t bother trying to make her way through the tangled mass of wood in front of her. She had a line of sight and she used, it teleporting directly to both stallions, just in time to prevent Jake from bucking yet another helpless apple tree. She wrapped him in magic and sent him stumbling to the side just as he reared up on his front legs and prepared to kick back at the tree. Applejack reached the crest of the hill just as Twilight teleported. The small smile on her face vanished as she stared in shock at the scene in front of her. She felt a sinking sensation in her belly as she realized her little joke was not so little anymore. Worse, it looked like Twilight hadn’t been totally out of line in regards to her worry about Jake. She made haste to follow after the distraught purple unicorn. ‟Jake! What are you doing?” Twilight cried out as she faced the large colt. ‟How could you do this? How could you let him do this?” the last was directed at Big Mac, who was looking at her in a perplexed manner, and with more than a touch of nervousness given the massive ball of magic that was coalescing around the unicorn’s horn. ‟Aww, I almost had it, Miss Twilight,” Jake protested. ‟Why’d you stop me?” ‟Almost had it! Almost had it!” Twilight repeated, becoming more and more shrill with each repetition. ‟Almost had what?” she finished, her eyes wide and her mane starting to stand up on end. Applejack and Pinkie Pie came rushing up, the two earth ponies easily using the fallen trees as springboards to rapidly cross the same distance Twilight had teleported across, and almost as quickly. The palomino farm pony skidded to a stop between Jake and Twilight and yelled at the top of her lungs. "I’m sorry, Twilight!” The sheer volume and surprise at the apology snapped the magic user out of her panic attack. ‟Why are you sorry?” Twilight asked, her voice still more than a touch shrill. ‟Look what Jake has done! He’s ruined your orchard!” Applejack, judging that it was safe to touch her friend, moved forward and gave her a hug. ‟Just take it, easy sweet-pea. I’m right sorry I let myself get annoyed with you and played such a nasty trick on you. It was just plain wrong of me, and I’m purely sorry for it.” ‟I don’t understand,” Twilight said, looking around at the devastation. Her rear legs gave out and she sat down on the ground. ‟This is all some sort of trick?” ‟Not the way you’re thinking, Twilight. Jake and Big McIntosh didn’t do this to fool you. But me not telling you what was going on. That was mean of me.” ‟What is going on?” A befuddled Twilight asked, as Pinkie Pie bounced over and gave a very worried looking Jake a hug, or at least as much of a hug as she could given his size. She had to stand up as high as possible on the tips of her rear hooves, and even then would not have managed it if he had not lowered his head to nuzzle her back. ‟Look around you, Sugarcube. There ain’t hardly a bushel of apples on all of these trees. Truth is, they’re well over fifty years old and haven’t produced much in the last two years. Most of them were dying. We already have more apples growing than we can harvest, so we haven’t fretted too much about this grove. But it was getting past time for them to be replaced so the new trees would be bearing when the next oldest grove starts to lose production. With Jake here, seemed a good time to take care of two things at the same time.” Twilight took a deep breath, calming her rapidly beating heart. ‟Okay, I understand. Jake and Big Mac were just clearing the orchard. So you could plant new trees?” she questioned. ‟Sure enough, Twilight. But the trees are not gone, not really. We’uns took cuttings from these trees some time back and sent them to other Apple Family members. They sent us some cuttings from their old trees in return and we grafted those onto some good rootstock. Those there trees are big enough to be planted in the holes that Jake and Big Mac just made dragging the original trees out of the ground. Before you all know it, this grove will be as productive as ever it was, with the self-same apples that always have grown here.” ‟Twilight closed her eyes and flushed slightly. ‟I feel so foolish.” ‟You got nothing to feel foolish about, sugarcube. No way you could have known. Like I said, was a right dirty trick, and I’m plum sorry for it.” ‟What was the other thing?” Twilight asked. ‟What? Oh, right. Well, that was sort of what I was all annoyed at you about. You talking about how Jake needed a unicorn to watch out so he didn’t cause a big fuss. Big Mac and I talked all about that last night, already. Only you never thought to ask if we’d thunk about it. Usually, Y'all start teaching a filly, or a colt, how to buck trees when they’s way too young to do much harm. Pretty clear from the get-go that wasn’t going to be easy with Jake. So we figured to let him practice somewhere the mistakes wouldn’t matter hardly at all.” ‟That’s actually. . . a pretty good idea,” Twilight admitted, feeling embarrassed at her unwarranted assumption that Applejack and her family would be helpless in dealing with a magic using pony. ‟And it plum worked too. Likely you didn’t notice, but the last half dozen trees hardly have a hoof mark on them,” Applejack said, gesturing at the fallen trees nearest them. ‟So, Jake, you ready to give it another go?” Applejack asked the tall colt. ‟Is it ok, Miss Twilight?” he asked Twilight, looking at her with huge limpid, dark-brown eyes. ‟No need to ask me,” Twilight said with a rueful laugh. ‟Big Mac is your teacher. He’s the one you should be asking.” ‟Eyup. Give her a go,” Big McIntosh said, gesturing at one of only a half dozen remaining trees. It had all of five runty apples hanging from its ancient branches. Jake all but strutted as he trotted over to the tree. He took a look to make sure everyone was watching him, and then stuck his tongue in his cheek as he concentrated with all his might. He lifted a rear hoof and measured the distance between his backside and the tree. Setting his hoof down, he twisted his front hooves to grind them into the ground and give himself good traction. He took a few deep breaths, looked over once again to make sure everyone was paying attention, and then reared up on his forelegs and kicked out at the trunk. Twilight, remembering her first sight of the shattered apple tree, winced out of reflex, but the other ponies simply watched in anticipation. Jake’s rear hooves thunked solidly against the tree, a small strip of bark was broken free from the trunk, revealing the pale wood underneath. Up above, first one, and then all five, apples bounced, and broke free of their stems to fall to the ground. ‟Yes, yes, yes,” Jake enthused capering around the five small discolored fruit. The ground shook under his weight and a few dead twigs broke off the tree and fell across his back. He ignored the debris. Jake looked over at his audience, his eyes gleaming. ‟I did it! I did it!” he enthused. ‟Sure did, Sugarcube. You did real good,” Applejack complimented him. The small bit of damage he had done to the bark was what she’d expect any foal to do. He would learn, just like she had when she was his age. ‟Eyup,” Big Mac affirmed, once again a stallion of few words now that he was surrounded by mares. ‟Yeah, yeah,” Pinkie Pie cheered, having produced pom poms from her bottomless saddlebags. She joined Jake, and the two of them bounced around each other like foals. Jake came to a stop and gave his big head a shake. He was fairly trembling with excitement. He carefully walked over to the fallen fruit, making sure not to step on them and leaned down and carefully picked up one of the apples between his teeth. He trotted over to a half-full bushel basket and dropped his offering in it. He repeated the action with the other four apples. ‟I’ll haul those off to Fluttershy, along with the others they collected. Her critters won’t mind they’re not perfect,” Applejack said in an aside to Twilight. Twilight hadn’t been paying attention to things as mundane as baskets of apples, but she now saw that there were some scattered all around the fallen trees, most of them only half full. ‟I guess there isn’t any need for me to stay, after all,” Twilight said in a low voice to Applejack. ‟You and Big Mac have things well in hand.” She dropped her head and shuffled her front right hoof in the dirt, doodling. ‟I’m sorry I didn’t think you could handle looking after Jake.” ‟Are you nuts, Sweetpea?” Applejack interjected in a loud voice, and then lowered it quickly as she continued. ‟Did you see what Jake did to that first tree?” There was more than a touch of concern in her voice. You can move the whole library to Sweet Apple Acres if that’s what it takes, but I want you around.” ‟Really?” Twilight said, her expression growing much brighter. ‟I did pack a book for you. We can go over it tonight together.” ‟Ahh, sounds like a plan,” Applejack said in a less enthusiastic tone of voice. ‟Eyup,” came the surprising inclusion from Big Mac. ‟Would be pleased, if I could join, Y'all,” he said to Twilight. ‟Got lots to teach the colt. Would be nice to have a bit of warning next time.” Twilight and Applejack’s laughter joined that of Pinkie Pie and Jake. ‟Now, who’s for lunch?” Applejack asked, nudging open the flap of her saddlebag. ‟I brought plenty for everyone.” ‟And I brought a cake to celebrate Jake’s first day of Applebucking and tree smashing,” Pinkie said. ‟There’s cake?” Jake asked, his entire huge body pointed at Pinkie Pie's saddlebags like Wynona seeing a rabbit. “Yep, apple upside down cake,” Pinkie confirmed. “A cake. With apples!” Jake said in an awed voice, taking a step toward Pinkie Pie, and what to him was the holy grail. ‟After lunch,” Applejack said firmly as she snapped open a picnic blanket with her mouth. *** ‟So, this is what a heart attack feels like,” Sneak Peek mused softly as he lay flat on his back, his legs in the air. He was about two miles away from the scene of utter destruction he had left behind. He felt no guilt at running like a scared colt on Nightmare Night. Maybe the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony could be casual about consorting with monsters, he was not nearly so uncaring about keeping his hide in one piece. ‟An Alicorn! A fully grown, and then some, male Alicorn!” he whispered intently. Where had he come from? Did it matter? Hell yes. His mind went over the facts as he knew them. Given his coloration, the Everfree Forest connection, his maturity. There was really only one conclusion to be drawn. When Nightmare Moon returned, she hadn’t come alone. She’d brought her son along with her! You only had to look at the destroyed apple orchard to see why they'd kept him a secret. Clearly, he was a danger to the general public. It was a pretty good guess that Celestia was not going to write off her nephew, not when she had just reconciled with her sister. Blasting Luna’s son out of existence might just sour that reconciliation. Clearly, she had assigned the Elements the task of civilizing the monster. And equally clearly, Rarity had let herself get too close, and had suffered severe guilt over it afterward if that little scene in town was anything to go by. This was going to be the biggest story of his career. Heck, it was going to be the biggest story ever. Strangely, the thought that popped into Sneak Peek’s head with that thought was that while a washed-up has-been might not be worthy of the love of good mares, the most famous journalist in the history of Equestria was another matter entirely. *********************** (*)A comparison of relative degrees of shock can be calculated by noting that unlike the day before when Big McIntosh had walked in on his little sister giving a bath to a strange stallion, he had not let his ever-present strand of straw drop. (1)Sneaky was pretty sure by this time that all six mares were totally oblivious to the fact that there was a steady stream of would-be suitors, of the shady variety, visiting the town. It was one of his few true pleasures to document their encounters with Pinkie Pie and to make sure that they knew he had the pictures and wasn’t afraid to use them. Their sort was even less fond of the sun than he was, and unlike him, had a strong aversion to the truth, especially in how it pertained to them. (2)He might not have been bitten by a radioactive reporter, but he had the tooth and hoof marks from more than a few of his fellows as they crowded around the latest scandal de jour. (3)Mainly because it would be less a discussion and more a listen. (4)You know it’s a rough neighborhood when they leave the pits in.