Jake and the kid

by peter

Ch15 Down on the Farm [edited]

It was breakfast time at the Apple home and all the ponies therein were gathered around the table enjoying the bounty of the farm, including one over-sized black Alicorn guest who was sitting directly on the floor, with one side of the table all to himself, and his head level with the next largest pony at the table who was sitting opposite him.

Jake held his plate firmly in place with a hoof on each side while carefully, and methodically, licking it to glistening whiteness. Using due diligence he made sure he removed every minuscule trace of maple syrup and flapjacks. Only when he was sure there was not a speck of flavor left did he lift his head with a sigh of regret.

There was a scraping sound, and Big Mac shoved another plate in front of him, loaded with a dozen flapjacks, this pile buried under a heaping helping of apple compote. “Pony’s got to have a good breakfast if he means to do a good day’s work,” Big Mac said, bending over and snagging a mouthful from his own large bowl of oats and apples.

For a moment Jake stared wide-eyed at the bounty in front of him, and then dove in while thinking to himself that Big Mac was the best stallion ever!

Maybe he should have declined that last plate of flapjacks, and the extra serving of preserved apples, and the bowl of cinnamon and apple oatmeal, and those freshly peeled carrots, Jake thought as his stomach rumbled.

The young Percheron lowered his head and peeked between his forelegs at the long porcelain trough he was currently straddling. His forehead creased with uncertainty. He had thought it a very cool idea when Big Mac had demonstrated how it worked last night. Now, faced with the reality of actually doing his business inside a small clean room which was smaller than his stall back home, he was having serious doubts. He lifted his tail and tried to relax. “You can do this, Jake,” he muttered to himself. “Big Mac does it. You can do it.”

A sudden knock on the door caused him to start nervously, but not to the extent of solving his problem, rather the reverse in fact, as everything he had been trying so hard to loosen tightened up past any hope of letting loose.

“Everything okay, Jake?” Applejack asked from the other side of the door.

“Fine, fine,” Jake squeaked out, though from him it was the sort of squeak a poorly played bass cello might make.

“Well, hurry on down when you all are finished. Big Mac is getting ready to leave.”

“Coming now,” Jake said hastily, lifting a hind leg and depressing the broad pedal at the side of the toilet. There was a sudden loud whoosh of water sluicing through the trough between his legs. He waited a few minutes for the water to stop flowing, and then taking a deep breath, he lipped the handle on the door and let himself out of the small bathroom. He would just have to wait for an opportunity to take care of things the proper way, behind a tall bush, later.

A half-hour later Jake knelt in the farmyard as Granny Smith secured fat saddlebags, heavily loaded with lunch, over his back. She chattered away as she worked, but Jake only listened with one ear to her words, which for the most part were on topics that left him a bit befuddled if not out and out in the dark. He was busy staring across the yard at where Applejack and Big Mac were having a conversation while Applejack helped her big brother get ready in much the same way Granny Smith was helping Jake, only Big Mac didn’t have to kneel on the ground like Jake was doing, though Applejack was using a bale of hay to boost herself slightly.

Jake was half-afraid that if he looked away, the red stallion would leave without him. The big black colt was quivering in anticipation of another day learning all sorts of neat stuff from his new mentor and wasn’t willing to take the least chance of missing out on it.

Granny Smith was oblivious to Jake’s lack of attention. It was clear from her conversation that overnight she’d either forgotten or was ignoring the fact, that Jake was just a colt in a stallion’s body.

“That Applejack sure is a fine mare. Isn’t she?” Granny Smith cackled, taking in the direction of Jake’s gaze and mistaking the focus of his attention. “I don’t have to tell you what a good a cook she is. You saw that your own self this morning at breakfast. The girl can work all day and party all night if you get what I mean. Mare has hindquarters you could bounce a bit off of too.”

“I like parties, and Applejack’s flapjacks,” Jake said, swiveling his ears a bit in Granny Smith’s direction while keeping his eyes on every move Big Mac made.

“Course you do. A fine big stallion like you. I tell you what, those ain’t the only reasons why Applejack is the mare for you,” Granny said, growing enthused, and more than a little indiscreet in her choice of topics. If Jake had been a few years older he likely would have been burning up in embarrassment, but as it was just about everything Granny said from that point on was so far over his head that only low flying birds were blushing.

Across the yard, Applejack was helping Big Mac hang various tools from his work harness while discussing their royal charge. “I really appreciate you taking Jake in hoof, Big Mac. I know it’s making a lot of work you’re going to have to do after he’s gone to Canterlot. Cleaning up all those kicked over trees.”

“Not that much,” Big Mac drawled while giving himself a shake to make sure everything was well attached and that no sharp edges threatened his hide. “Clearing an old orchard is messy work. Wouldn’t be much different if he’d been a full grown earth pony. Colt needed experience. Doesn’t know hardly nothin’. He’s powerful strong. But, a good pony. Not a mean bone.”

Applejack felt pleased with getting such a glowing testament from her brother. Of course, she’d known that Jake was a good pony, but hearing it from Big Mac was reassuring. She knew mares but had to confess, at least to herself, that more often than not the way a colt or stallion’s mind worked was beyond her.

There was still one thing that was bothering Applejack. “Do you think we’re taking advantage of him? Having him work so hard for we’uns? Colt his age. Shouldn’t he be out playing with friends?”

Big Mac shifted the straw in his mouth from side to side as he gave his sister’s questions serious consideration, then let a low chuckle. “Kicking over trees, pulling up stumps. He is playing. Most important type of play. Colt needs to learn how strong he is,” he said with a smile. “Having a lot of fun learning new things. Not really work for him right now. I’ll watch carefully. Colt does need time to just play, be with other ponies his own age. Apple Bloom coming home tomorrow?” he finished with what seemed an off-topic question.

“Yeah. I’m still thinking on what to tell her.”

“Truth,” Big Mac said.

“Goes without saying,” Applejack said while frowning at him. “I’m just thinking on how to make her understand how important it is that nopony finds out about him till Princess Celestia and her sister are ready for the news to come out. You know I’m not one for hiding things, but I got to admit the Princess is right. I can imagine how the mares in town would react to him, and I don’t imagine that big city mares would be a whole lot different in that there regard. Young Colt doesn’t need that sort of attention. Not at his age. No matter if he looks full grown, and then some.”

Big Mac gave a nod and then twisted his head around till he was looking toward Jake. The big colt pricked up his ears, and when Big Mac gave him a come-on gesture with a toss of his head, Jake lurched to his feet, being careful of Granny Smith, and trotted after his mentor, who headed out for the backfield without looking behind to see if the other pony was following. Jake hurried up till he was marching alongside his elder, shortening his stride till his steps matched those of Big Mac.

The big red stallion watched Jake out of the corner of his eyes, smiling gently as he saw the colt matching his pace exactly. He could remember back when he’d trot alongside his father, trying to do the exact same thing. Of course back then he’d had to take three strides for every one of his father’s.

This was nice, Big Mac though. He had never been jealous of the special bond between Applejack and Apple Bloom, but there were times when he had wished there was someone he could pass some male wisdom onto. It was too bad Jake was only here for a short time, but that just meant he had to make the most of this chance while it was here. Now, what should he pass onto Jake today? He’d made a good start on teaching him apple bucking, and the colt was a natural when it came to brute force pulling, but Jake was severely deficient in skills that most ponies, earth ponies especially, picked up before they were a year old. He still had a hard time with finer manipulations for one thing, and on focusing his earth pony magic to balance loads and stresses.

“Big Mac, does Applejack’s plot really taste that good?” Jake asked out of the blue. Big Mac stumbled and almost face planted in the road.

“Are you alright?” Jake cried out, moving to help the nearly fallen pony regain his hooves. He lowered his head till he could stick his muzzle under Big Mac’s chest and lifted, carefully.

“Fine, fine,” Big Mac reassured Jake while trying to regain his equilibrium. Where the heck had that question come from? A moments thought answered his unvoiced question. Had to be Granny, but in what context. Carefully wording his question, he asked, “Where did you hear about,” Big Mac flushed, causing his natural red coloration to darken, “Applejack’s plot?”

Jake shuffled his feet. He wasn’t exactly sure what was the matter, but the atmosphere had turned rather awkward. He was afraid he’d done something wrong but had no idea what, and it worried him. Jake lowered his head, so his eyes were below Big Mac’s while doodling in the dust with the tip of one dinner-plate sized hoof. “Granny Smith was talking about how wonderful Applejack was. How you could bounce a bit off her hindquarters, and what a great cook she was, and how she has the sweetest plot of any mare in Ponyville.”

Deduction confirmed, Big Mac rolled his eyes in the general direction of Canterlot and sent a silent prayer winging that way to preserve him from elderly mares with zero concern for the normal social niceties. This was not the sort of Stallion/Colt interaction he had wanted to indulge in. Not for a few years anyway. Unlike Granny, Mac had not forgotten that Jake was mentally prepubescent. How was he going to defuse this time-bomb Granny has stuck him with? The last thing Big Mac needed was for Jake to ask this sort of question of Princess Celestia. He hated to do it, but it looked like he was going to have to fib a bit.

Big Mac gave a laugh. “Pot, not plot, Jake. Granny must have said Applejack has the sweetest pots in all of Ponyville. It’s true. Applejack can cook anything you can think of. She’s got a pot for every recipe, big or small.”

Jake nodded, happy to see Big Mac laughing when he had been looking so strange just a moment before. “Applejack sure is a good cook. Especially her apple pie. I want to eat her pie every day,” Jake said with enthusiasm.

Big Mac almost stumbled again and told himself firmly to get his mind out of the pig trough. Taking in Jake’s totally innocent expression helped. Big Mac gave a sigh of relief over defusing the situation, and started down the road again, Jake keeping pace by his side. As they walked, the big red stallion explained to Jake that like the word ‘buck’ which the colt had shouted out the day before when he’d gotten frustrated, there were some words that stallions did not say in front of mares, plot was one of those.

Jake’s expression clearly showed that he really didn’t understand, but the older stallion knew that Jake would do his best to follow his instructions, and for now, that was good enough.

The two large stallions trotted down the road in happy harmony.

It was a few hours later, and Jake was starting to seriously regret not having ponied up and used the facilities back at the house. He’d been working side by side with Big Mac, and it had been great, but more and more the pressure in his belly was becoming harder and harder to ignore. He desperately wanted to find some nice thick bushes to do his business behind, without letting his mentor know he had ignored his instructions to go before they left. It wasn’t that he didn’t think that Big Mac would refuse to let him go, rather he was embarrassed to admit the need.

In the end, his own discomfort offered salvation. Big Mac had shown him how to extend his awareness of his load down the rope he was using to haul the fallen trees. The older pony made it look easy as could be, but Jake needed to focus as hard as he possibly could on the rope between his teeth and across his shoulders. A sudden near cramp in his bowels caused his focus to waver just as he dug his hooves into the soft loam and pushed hard. The rope between him and the tree snapped and whipped forward to deliver a stinging lash across his withers. Jake gave a startled whinny of distress and jolted slightly. He did not bolt or rear. As big as he was, he had learned early on to be cautious in his motion, and his normal reaction to a sudden shock was to freeze in place till he could work out what the problem and solution were.

Big Mac was there in an instant, running a gentle hoof over the welt. “All right?” he asked in a calm voice.

“Okay,” Jake said in a voice that was slightly hoarse from suppressing the tears that were tickling the back of his throat. It really hurt, but he wasn’t about to admit that. “Big Mac?”

“Yes,”

“Is it okay to say that word, when there are only Stallions?” Jake asked, his voice quivering slightly.

“Go right ahead,”

“Oh, Buck, buckkety buck, buck, oh buck, that bucking stung,” Jake said with great feeling, and found that yelling out like that made the tears retreat from his eyes and even seemed to ease the sting a bit.

“Feel better?” Big Mac asked once Jake ran down.

“A bit,” Jake said, heaving a huge sigh.

“Good boy. Wait here. I’ll go get some liniment and a new rope,” the big red stallion said.

As Big Mac trotted away, Jake wasn’t slow in realizing this was his chance.

The small valley that Jake and Big Mac were clearing was a smooth bowl, but thanks to the clearing of the trees and dragging the stumps up out of the ground, there were now lots places offering concealment, if you didn’t mind getting your knees dirty. As soon as Big Mac was some distance away, Jake ducked down so he’d be out of sight behind the mounds of earth that had shaken free of the tree roots. Walking on his knees he crept as best he could toward the side of the former orchard, where there were low bushes that would give him a little privacy.

If the sting across his backside had not been a constant reminder of his carelessness, Jake would have found the whole creeping around thing rather fun. The pressure in his bladder wasn’t exactly doing much for his sense of play, either.

The big pony might have been out of sight of Big Mac, but four other sets of eyes were watching him suspiciously from the other side of the devastated landscape.

Applejack, who had been mending a broken fence beside the farm’s vegetable garden, looked out at the road where a ball of dust was headed her way.

She carefully spit out the mouthful of nails she was holding in her mouth into a can on the ground before trotting toward the farm gate, a look of concern on her face. With the exception of Rainbow Dash, none of her friends traveled at that pace unless there was trouble in the air. Of course, it might not be one of her friends, but even then she didn’t think it was some town pony with a sudden urgent need for some apple products.

As the dust cloud got closer Applejack could make out the shape of a Pegasus pony flying with all her might, her hooves mere inches off the ground. Even without having a clear view, Applejack started to get a bad feeling about who the pony was. A feeling that was confirmed a few seconds later when Fluttershy came to a stop directly in front of her and grasped her around the shoulders.

“Curry is gone,” she gasped into Applejack’s face.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had arrived at the old apple orchard, full of plans for how they were going to catch a human and get her to grant them their fondest wish, cutie marks all around. Their cheerful and optimistic chatter had cut off abruptly when they crested the ridge and looked out over a scene of total destruction. There was nothing left of the old orchard but a pile of fallen trees and pulled out stumps piled up on the high ground around the small valley.

“What! The! Hay?” Scootaloo said in awed amazement as she gazed out over a scene that even the CMC had never come close to equaling. Her small wings stood out rigid from her back, quivering slightly, as her eyes took in all the gorgeous earth mounds and slopped tree trunks. It was like a dream come true. The stunts she could pull in a venue like this would be awesome!!

“I don’t understand.” Apple Bloom said. “Applejack didn’t say anything about clearing the old orchard. And how the heck did they do so much, so quick.”

“Maybe Twilight Sparkle helped?” Sweetie Belle suggested in a questioning tone. “She’s strong enough to pull up trees like that.”

“Ith that Big Mac?” Twist asked, a hint of excitement in her voice, pointing with a forehoof at the other side of the valley. While Twist had been delighted at the invitation to spend a couple of days with her friends camping out at their clubhouse, it would be lying to suggest that at least part of her glee was not due to the thought of encountering Apple Bloom’s hunky big brother, just by accident.

“I think you’re right, Twist,” Sweetie Belle said, shading her eyes with one forehoof as she looked out across the valley. “He’s looking at something on the ground. I’ll give him a call,” she offered, drawing a deep breath.

“Stop,” Apple Bloom hissed, clamping a hoof over Sweetie Belle’s mouth. She’d been examining the fallen trees nearby and had just spotted something very suspicious. “Take a gander over there, Scoot,” she ordered her Pegasus friend, who had the best eyesight of any of them. “Right by that fallen tree that looks like Mayor Mare’s hairdo.”

“Where?” Scootaloo asked, shading her eyes just as Sweetie Belle had. “Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. Looks like a black Pegasus is back there behind the trees. Maybe that’s why Big Mac was able to get so much done. He had help.”

“If that varmint is helping Big Mac, why is she going to so much trouble to avoid getting spotted?” Apple Bloom asked.

‘Yeah, she does seem to be acting pretty sneaky. Like she doesn’t want to be seen,” Scootaloo mused, squinting her eyes in an effort to make out more of the vague shape.

Sweetie Belle knocked Apple Bloom’s hoof away from her mouth and spit theatrically before glaring at her friend. “Why did you do that?” she demanded.

“Because that pony is making a lot of effort to not be seen by Big Mac. If we start yelling at my brother it will warn her and she’ll get away. I bet she’s part of a gang of apple tree thieves and Big Mac stumbled on the crime before they could make off with the loot. I bet that pony is trying to sneak far enough away that she can fly off and not be seen. We’ve got to stop her from escaping.”

Twist’s expression betrayed serious uncertainty, even as Scootaloo and even Sweetie Belle quickly endorsed Apple Bloom’s idea. “Are you thure?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of thomthing like that.”

“That’s cause they are so sneaky they never got caught,” Scootaloo said. Look at how she fades into the shadow. I bet she’s a ninja pony.”

“A ninja apple tree thief?” Twist asked. Even her normally placid and easy going nature was being strained from the effort of not bopping her friends on the head and asking if they were idiots.

Despite her best efforts to be the rational one, Twist soon found herself being sucked into her friend’s scheme, overwhelmed with their enthusiasm and general refusal to let little things like reality stand in the way of a good adventure.

Feeling a hundred pounds lighter, Jake eased his way through a tight space between some of the piled up apple trees, keeping to his sneaky behavior just for the fun of it now. Back home he had mostly been a supporting character in Curry’s private games. A noble steed, a faithful companion. A dim-witted guard to pounce on. His most challenging effort was in not getting so distracted he missed his cue. He well remembered when he had received the silent treatment from Curry for an entire half-hour after he had gotten distracted by a cluster of succulent dead fall apples, and had failed to notice that she had sprung a death-from-above ambush from the old apple tree, till she’d been sitting on his back for a good five minutes trying to get his attention.

Curry had always gotten to be the sneaky ninja, it was his turn now. With a little concentration, Jake found he could fold his new wings in such a way that they mimicked a dark cloak, one edge held just below his eyes, lending him what he thought was an effective spooky and mysterious aura.

Jake was fully into his role of mysterious stalking pony of mystery when multiple cries of, “Get her!!” came from all around him. There was a thrashing among the branches of the fallen apple trees and four brightly colored forms lunged forward and wrapped all four of their limbs around each of his legs. The same chorus of voices now started crying, “Help, Big Mac. Come a running. Thief, thief, tree stealer.”

True to his nature and life experience, Jake froze in place, half in fear for himself, half in fear of doing harm to whatever, or whoever, had grabbed hold of him. The fact that they were talking in a way he understood only strengthened his inclination to do no harm. He looked down and blinked in surprise to see two small fillies perched on his hooves, their eyes tightly shut as they held on with all their might while hollering their lungs out. One of them was a yellow earth pony with a pinkish red mane, while the other was cream colored with a vibrant red mane and a pair of over-sized purple eyeglasses. As Jake lowered his head to get a better look, a wonderful scent of peppermint floated up from the pony wearing the glasses. He gave a snort of pleased surprised and lowered his head further while raising the hoof she was sitting on, so he could nuzzle her curly mane and see if maybe, like Pinkie, she was in the habit of concealing tasty treats in those wild tresses.

Twist was still not sure just how her three friends had convinced her to take part in this crazy stunt. She had sort of blanked out after the decision that they would all scream for Big Mac as soon as they had immobilized the tree-wrecking pony. From that point she had been sort of on autopilot, the only thing she could really visualize was the image in her imagination of Big Mac praising her for her bravery, and asking if she’d like to go with the weekly town-hall dance with him as a reward.

Before she’d known it, she’d been crouched in the tangled limbs of an uprooted apple tree alongside Apple Bloom waiting for the order to jump and grab. She had almost thrown up when she’d heard the heavy footsteps of the approaching Pegasus, remarkably loud for a species of pony known for their light steps in fact. Twist had only been able to see a vague outline of the other pony’s legs as she walked into Twist’s field of view. Then Apple Bloom had slapped her flank, and Twist had lunged out of her cover and latched onto the nearest leg to her. From that point Twist simply yelled as loud as she could for Big Mac and help until she felt a tugging at her mane.

Twist opened her eyes and gazed upward, into the eyes of a pony who was huge beyond all reason. Only then did she take into account just how large the leg she was clutching was, and how big the hoof she was sitting on spread. Her eyes widened as she took in the large unicorn horn jutting from his forehead.

“Do you taste good?” the monster pony asked in a voice with such a low register that Twist swore her bones were vibrating.

She fainted.

Jake snorted in concern when the nice smelling filly rolled backward off his hoof, he just barely managed to lower his foot so she wouldn’t have far to fall. Before he could do anything, the pony who was still perched on his other hoof said in an accusing tone. “You’re not a Pegasus. Where at’s your partner? Come on, speak up, and I won’t have to get rough.”

Jake’s eyes widened in surprise and pleasure. He knew this game. Now, what should he say in return? Before he could think up a good response, another pony was heard from.

“What are you talking about, Apple Bloom?” A musical voice asked from his left rear leg. “He’s for sure the ninja tree thief Pegasus we spotted from the hill.”

“Yeah, and she’s for sure a stallion,” another voice added sarcastically. A second later it added in a much more awed tone. “And a real big ‘un too.”

Both the small filly on his hoof and Jake leaned their heads around and looked toward Jake’s left leg where a small white Unicorn was perched. The unicorn’s eyes widened in shock as she took in the horn sprouting from Jake’s forehead. The same happened to the yellow earth pony on his front leg as she got a good look at his wings.

“No way. You’re an Alicorn.” This time the words came from the little Pegasus pony on his other rear hoof. The one who had remarked on his masculinity earlier. Jake lowered his head enough that they could look at each other from under the big horse’s belly. “That is so cool!”

Jake wasn’t paying the Pegasus very much attention. Instead, he directed a pleased look at the little unicorn. “Do I really look like a ninja?” he asked enthusiastically in his deep rumble of a voice.

Sweetie Belle had indulged in the sneaky reading of some of her sister’s more lurid romance novels. Which might explain why she now frantically scrambled away from her seat on the monster’s hoof, her rear digging a furrow in the ground as her hooves tossed up clods of dirt. “Ahhh, it’s the demon alicorn prince. He’s going to carry us off to his dark tower and ravage us!”

Jake frowned while thinking, no fair. He hadn’t even figured out a good response from before, and now they were changing the game on him.

“What’s ravage mean?” Scootaloo asked, leaning over on her perch to direct a questioning look at both Apple Bloom and Jake.

Jake shifted his gaze to the little pony on his right forehoof. He’d wanted to know the answer to that as well. It would help him play his part better.

Looking at her friend and the alicorn’s head in close proximity suddenly made Scootaloo aware of just how big he was. “Whoa, you’re a giant. Are you Bighoof?” she asked as she un-seated herself and bounced around till she was looking straight up at him from below his head.

Jake gave his head a shake. “Nope. Spike asked that too. What’s Bighoof?” He was starting to get dizzy. They kept changing the game before he could even start to play.

“You know Spike?” Apple Bloom asked, becoming the last of the fillies to let go of Jake and stand on her own four hooves. She'd been pretty tense and angry up to that point, but at the mention of Spike, she’d relaxed a bit.

“Are you girls’ crazy? Get away from him. Run. Run!” Sweetie Belle cried out from inside the canopy of a fallen apple tree.

“What happened?” Twist asked as she blinked back to consciousness. This drew Jake’s attention and he swiveled his head back around and moved to nuzzle the fallen pony in a comforting way.

“Ah, the monther is going to eat me!” Twist cried out, duplicating Sweetie Belle’s actions from earlier.

“I am not!” Jake said in an offended tone, before swiveling his head to look at Scootaloo and asking. What’s a monther?”

“She meant, Monster, but don’t worry about her. I bet you can fly awesome with wings that big.”

Jake shook his head, looking a bit shamefaced. “Can’t fly yet. Rainbow said she would teach me.”

“Oh no, darn it,” Apple Bloom cried out, drawing the attention of her three friends and Jake.

“Don’t you see?” she asked of her three friends while gesturing at Jake. “This is the secret she didn’t want us to find out about. That’s why she tried to send us on a wild snipe hunt to the other side of town. There never was a human. There goes another chance to get our Cutie marks, down the drain,” she said, petulantly, kicking a clod of dirt with her hoof.

“But, Curry is a--” Jake rumbled, but before he could finish his sentence a loud voice demanded.

“What in the hay is going on here?” Five sets of eyes looked up at Big Mac where he was outlined against the rising morning sun as he stood on the hillside above them.

Twist’s eyes turned dreamy, the other four sets of eyes developed varying degrees of guilty expressions.

Big Mac frowned at the five ponies sitting in front of him. Four small fillies in a row, and one over-sized colt sitting behind them. He directed the bulk of his frown at one particular pony. "Ah'm disappointed, Apple Bloom. You oughta know better than to bring yer friends into a dangerous area.

Apple Bloom ducked her head, looking ashamed, or at least sorry she had been caught. “Sorry, Big Mac. You all are right, I should have known better,” she said.

“But we thought Ninja ponies were stealing trees,” Scootaloo said with some heat.

Big Mac just looked at her.

“Well, we did,” the small Pegasus said in a slightly more repressed voice.

“Did you really think I was a ninja?” Jake rumbled as he repeated his earlier question, only to trail off as he caught Big Mac frowning at him. “Sorry,” he muttered and drooped his head.

Twist squirmed, ashamed at having acted like such a foal. She was tempted to throw her friends under the cart and tell Big Mac how she had tried to talk them out of it, but that would be wrong, and worse, it would likely make her look bad in the eyes of the handsome red stallion.

Sweetie Belle was hardly paying any attention at all to Big Mac. She kept glancing over her shoulders at the giant Alicorn stallion who looked like he’d stepped right off of the cover of one of her sister’s romance novels. The really steamy ones that she wasn’t even supposed to know Rarity had. He was scary handsome, she had to admit, but there was something about his posture and manner of speaking that just did not line up with the mental picture she had formed of the demon vamponies in those stories. She found her eyes roaming over his toned and muscular body until they fell on one certain spot, and she suddenly realized what had been tickling in the back of her mind all this time.

“He doesn’t have a cutie mark!” she cried out in surprise. “How can he not have a cutie mark?” she asked, and then her face took on a horrified expression. “How can a pony get that old and not have a cutie mark?”

“What? Hey, you’re right!” Scootaloo cried out, fluttering back a bit to get a better look at Jake’s flank. “He doesn’t!”

Apple Bloom jumped to her feet, confirmed what her friends were saying, and directed an accusing look at Big Mac.

Jake was a bit taken aback by the fillies loud cries of dismay over his lack of a mark on his flank. While Applejack and the other mares had mentioned cutie marks, they hadn’t made it sound like it was a big deal that he didn’t have one. Rarity had remarked that he wasn’t to worry about it, that he’d get one when he was older. Her telling him to not worry had worried him, but only for a very little while. There had been so many interesting things happening, and cake, that Jake had quite put it out of his mind, till now.

He craned his head around so he could stare closely at his own flank, just in case there was something obviously wrong with it, but there was nothing he could see. By the time he stopped looking and turned his head back around the fillies had shifted their attention from him toward Big Mac.

Apple Bloom had always had a difficult time accepting that cutie marks come when they come, but she had always assumed that while it was way, way, too far in the future to not try and hurry things, she’d have one eventually, no matter what. But to see a mature stallion without a mark! Suddenly, she was faced with the prospect that she might never, ever, never, get a Cutie Mark. It also meant that the reassurances she had received from every adult pony she knew that it would happen, had just been a pile of horse apples.

“Did you know about this? That full growed ponies sometimes don’t get cutie marks?” Apple Bloom demanded of Big Mac, who backed up a step or two in the face of her ire. The big pony did not handle outraged females well, no matter how small, or closely related.

Scootaloo and Sweety Belle joined Apple Bloom, directing their own hurt look at Big Mac. Sweetie Belle looked like she was about to weep. “Does this mean we might never get our cutie marks?” she asked, a hitch in her voice.

“Yeah, what she said!” Scootaloo said in a fierce voice, but to anyone who knew her well there was an obvious quiver in her voice under the bluster.

“Without cutie marks, we won’t ever be able to be anything. We’ll be nothing!” Apple Bloom wailed.

Behind the trio, Twist heard a gulp, and looked up, way up, craning her neck in order to look at Jake’s head, which was almost directly over her own. The big stallion’s lip was quivering, and there was an expression of dismay on his face. If he hadn’t been a full-grown stallion, Twist would have thought he was on the verge of bursting into tears, then the first fat drop slipped out of his eye and rolled down his cheek.

Twist found herself feeling very uncomfortable. If the stallion had been one of her friends at school she’d have had no difficulty in offering a comforting word along with a gentle nuzzle. She had no idea at all about how to deal with a full-grown stallion crying. She looked over at Big Mac, hoping to catch his attention and direct it toward the big Alicorn. The big farm pony was fully occupied with his sister and the other members of the CMC, however. Fortunately, hope came trotting over the lip of the shallow valley in the person of Apple Bloom’s sister, Applejack, accompanied by Fluttershy. The sight of the gentle Pegasus was a balm to Twist’s anxiety. She had full confidence that Fluttershy would be able to handle whatever was going on with the big black stallion. In her mind, the only pony who would have been better was Pinkie Pie.

Applejack slowed from a quick trot to a walk as she saw what was waiting for her at the bottom of the hill. Seeing Apple Bloom and her friends was a bit of a gut kick, especially with Jake sitting behind them. Her first thought was how the heck she was going to keep them from spilling the apple cart. That worry was quickly replaced as she took in Apple Bloom’s high pitched whining, and the despondent expression on Jake’s face, visible even from this distance.

“Fluttershy. Why don’t you go see what’s the matter with Jake? I’ll talk to Big Mac and see if Curry came this way.”

“Oh, but--” Fluttershy started to say, not enthused about getting up close with Jake all by herself. She was sure he was a very nice pony, but he was such a big pony, and so, so, stallioney. She’d managed to set aside her nervousness about him when she’d had Curry as a distraction. She was very unsure about interacting with him without the buffer of her friends, or the little human filly.

“I know you all are anxious about Curry, Fluttershy. But, if she hasn't been here we don’t want to worry Jake. Besides, he looks lower than a pig without a wallow. You can find out what that’s all about,” Applejack said, cutting Fluttershy off, while totally missing the reason behind her hesitation.

Applejack trotted away from the hesitant Fluttershy and toward her brother. “Big Mac, spare a moment?” she called out and had to suppress a chortle at the almost desperate look of relief he sent her way.

“Eyup,” Big Mac answered Applejack, turning away from his baby sister, who had finally fallen silent at the approach of Applejack. He trotted to meet Applejack at the half-way point.

Applejack directed a stern look toward her little sister when it looked like she and her friends might follow right on after Big Mac. “You lot go keep Jake company. I got something to thrash over with Big Mac here,” she said in a firm no-nonsense tone of voice.

“But, Applejack!” Apple Bloom said, only to cut her complaint short when her big sister gave her a stern look while stamping her hoof hard enough against the ground to cause a small tremor.

Having put her hoof down, Applejack turned as Big Mac came even with her and trotted away from the group, Big Mac matching strides with her.

“Remember Jake’s friend I mentioned last night? The one that was staying with Fluttershy?” Applejack asked her brother out of the side of her mouth as they trotted.

“Eyup,” Big Mac acknowledged, and then after a moment's hesitation asked, “His human?” His tone implied that while he didn’t doubt that Applejack thought Jake’s friend was a human, he himself wasn’t sure about the whole concept.

“Well, it seems she’s gone missing,” Applejack said in a serious tone. “Fluttershy thought she might have come to the farm to see Jake. If she did, I haven’t been able to find her. Coming all the way out here was my last hope of settling this quick. I’m going to have to round up the girls and figure out what we’re going to do. Can you keep Jake busy? Apple Bloom and her friends as well? I don’t want him worried, and I don’t want them. . . Um. . . helping."

Big Mac took a few minutes to mull this over and then said. “Eyup.”

While Applejack had been discussing things with her brother, Fluttershy had hesitantly approached Jake. If only he’d been something harmless like a Manticore, or a human for that matter, she told herself. But he was a pony, and they could hurt you worse than almost any critter.

Fluttershy was so busy with her own fears, that she didn’t notice the large tears slowly trickling down Jake’s cheeks till she was quite close. The sight of those caused a phase shift in her attitude as Jake suddenly went from being a huge scary stallion to a sad little foal, who just happened to be three times her size.

“Oh dear. Jake, honey, whatever is the matter?” Fluttershy asked as her creeping approach shifted to a quick walk and she hurried up to the big black colt.

“I don’t have a cutie mark,” Jake said in a voice that was rough with swallowed tears. “I’m not worth nothing.”

Unnoticed by the two larger ponies, Twist gave a slight jerk and felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she suffered a bout of guilt by association. Apple Bloom’s careless words had clearly injured the huge stallion, and while it wasn’t very adult of him to show his reaction so clearly, there could be no denying that he felt sorrow as a result of her friend’s words. As old as he was, not having a cutie mark must have been a constant source of humiliation. She couldn’t imagine how bad he must feel. She’d only been a blank flank for a few months after the other mares her age started to get their’s, and she could well remember her secret dread that it would never show up. Every morning bringing fresh disappointments as she checked closely to see if it had arrived overnight. What would it be like to suffer that disappointment day after day for years? She shuddered in empathic sympathy.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo came up beside Twist, grumbling about deceitful ponies who led innocent little foals on. Apple Bloom directed a hard look toward the big Alicorn as if somehow this was all his fault. She was just in time to see Fluttershy wipe a tear from Jake’s cheek with a gentle wingtip.

“What the hay. Is he crying?” Apple Bloom asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“Yeth,” Twist said in a firm voice. “Thomone thaid not having a cutie mark meant you were uthleth.”

Apple Bloom was an admirable little filly in many ways, but she had a blind spot that at times could render her as thoughtless as her frequent tormentor, Diamond Tiara. She had locked onto the concept that she would never be a fully realized pony until she gained her Cutie Mark. This had on more than one occasion led her to actions that were in no way proper. One thing she had never done, however, was to make some other pony feel horrible because they didn’t have a cutie mark. Till now.

Unlike Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom was sometimes able to acknowledge her mistakes without the aid of a metaphorical two-by-four upside her head. This was one of those occasions. Steeling herself, she trotted over beside Fluttershy and looked up at the big black Alicorn. “I’m sorry I made you feel bad. I’m sure you’ll get a cutie mark any day now.”

“Well, not for four or five years,” Fluttershy said, as she dabbed at Jake’s other cheek with her wing.

“Four or five years!” the CMC caroled as one.

“But that’s forever!” Jake protested.

Fluttershy had shrunk back from the vehement response her remark had caused, but she soldiered on bravely. “I know, it can seem that way,” she said in a flustered voice. “but most ponies don’t get their cutie marks till they are nine or ten. Some a little more than that.”

“Tell me about it,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Wait a minute,” Sweetie Belle said. She’d been running Fluttershy’s words over in her mind, and something didn’t add up. “He,” she gestured at Jake in a broad motion, going up on her hind legs and waving her forelimbs in a wide arc so she could encompass all of him and make her point, “is full grown already.”

“Well, yes. He does look fully grown,” Fluttershy said. “But he isn’t really. Jake is only five.”

“No way is he five,” Apple Bloom said in disbelief.

“I am too five,” Jake said, his voice booming out and causing the fillies manes to flutter in the breeze. “I had a cake and everything, with a candle and a balloon. I got a ball.” He said the last as if that settled the argument fully.

The four fillies were set back on their haunches by Jake’s remonstration, four little rumps thumping hard enough against the ground to raise a puff of dust, while four small jaws dropped.

“It is true. He really is five,” Fluttershy confirmed. “Twilight thinks that there is some sort of unknown magic involved.”

Fluttershy didn’t like telling fibs, but she shuddered at the sort of reaction the whole truth would cause. Curry was still getting settled. The last thing she needed was to have to deal with the four overexcited little fillies with wild imaginations, and not a whole lot of common sense.

“And you really are only five?” Twist asked, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

Jake bobbed his head up and down vigorously. “Eyup!” he said with feeling if a lot less volume.

“Wow. That is so cool. I bet the grown-ups don’t treat you like a foal,” Scootaloo said. “I bet you could even go into Berry Punch’s place after dark and nopony would even look at you.”

“Well, I think they likely would look.” Sweetie Belle said. “He is an Alicorn, after all.”

“Is Berry Punch’s place a good place to go?” Jake asked curiously.”

“No! I mean, I’m sure it’s very nice,” Fluttershy quickly interjected stumbling a bit with her words as she tried to head off this topic of conversation. “You wouldn’t enjoy it very much.”

“Have you been there?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Rarity goes sometimes. But she won’t talk about what she does.”

“Oh, well, no. Rarity has asked me, but I haven’t been myself.”

“How do you know if Jake wouldn’t enjoy it then?”

“Well, I--”

“Can we go and see?” Jake asked, directing his attention toward the small fillies.

“Nope,” came the firm voice of Big Mac. The farm pony had come up unobserved while they had been talking.

“Oh, okay,” Jake said, accepting Big Mac’s word as law. Mainly because with the big farm pony back, he could have some real fun. “Can we pull some more trees now?” he asked eagerly.

“Hmmm,” Big Mac hummed to himself, running his eyes over the small valley and evaluating the current status of the project. “I think I can handle things for a bit by myself. I got another job I’d like you to do for me.”

Jake all but snapped to attention. “I’ll do it,” he said eagerly.

“I’d like you to escort Apple Bloom and her friends back to their tree house.” Before Jake, or Apple Bloom could respond to this, he turned to his little sister. “I’d like you to show Jake your clubhouse. He could stay with you four this last night of your camp-out.

Apple Bloom measured the colt with her eyes, a doubtful expression on her face. “Big Mac, I don’t rightly figure he’d fit.”

“Jake’s used to sleeping under the stars, and you have a campfire. You can teach him how to toast marshmallows,” Applejack interjected as she trotted up. “Ain’t that right, Jake.”

“I suppose,” Jake said hesitantly. A slight nudge against his knee caused him to look down at where the little filly with glasses was holding up a short round white cylinder. He leaned down and snuffled it, and then gingerly took the squashy object between his teeth and bit. Sugary goodness blasted his taste buds.

“That’th a marthmallow. They tathte even better toasted.”

“Let’s go,” Jake said eagerly, trotting quickly a few steps, before coming to a stop and looking at the four little fillies. “Which way?” he asked.

Applejack watched her sister and friends till they crested the hill and dipped out of sight. Turning toward Fluttershy, and her brother she said, “Okay, Jake’s settled for the night. Big Mac, can you check on them before you head home?”

“Eyup.”

“That’s fine, then. Fluttershy. Can you think of anything Curry might have said or done that would give us a hint as to where she might have gone?”

Without the distraction of a sad Jake, Fluttershy reverted to the almost frantic state she’d been in ever since she’d learned that Curry was nowhere to be found. She wracked her brains trying to think about the last time she’d talked to the little filly. “Oh! Mrs. Lynx,” she exclaimed in sudden realization. “I told Curry that I’d hoped to escort her to her home on the other side of Ponyville so no pony would get frightened seeing her. Curry offered to escort her in my place, but I told her that it wasn’t necessary.”

“You think she might have gone with her anyway?”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy, her expression becoming slightly less frantic. “Mrs. Lynx wouldn't let anything happen to Curry, and they would have skirted the town instead of walking through it.”

“Okay, then. We’ll round up whoever we can find, and do a sweep around the back of Ponyville, up toward the Rich estate. You can ask any critters we run across if they’ve seen her. They’d be sure to remember someone as funny looking as Curry.”

Plans made, the two mares trotted at a brisk pace toward Ponyville. As she trotted along beside her friend, Applejack had a niggling feeling that she’d forgotten something. For the life of her, she couldn’t quite bring it to mind. She stopped worrying about it. Sooner or later she’d remember.

Jake was a bit disappointed that he wasn’t going to get to spend the rest of the day hauling trees and stumps with Big Mac, but that feeling quickly faded as the four little fillies chattered and darted around him like songbirds around a feeder. It was like being in the middle of a mini-stampede. He made sure he stepped carefully, something he was well practiced at. Curry could get a bit too enthusiastic at times and it had been up to him to make sure that he didn’t walk into, or over her.

The big pony suddenly let out what could only be described as a bass giggle as the small Pegasus, Scootaloo, darted between his legs and under his belly. Her wings brushed across his stomach, causing him to suck it in and stumble slightly. “Don’t!” he protested. “That tickles.”

“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” an unrepentant Scootaloo laughed. “You’re just so awesomely big. I bet you never get adults telling you that you’re too young or too little.”

“Sometimes Curry says I’m too big when she is mad at me.”

“Curry? Who’s Curry,” Apple Bloom asked, just moments ahead of Sweety Belle. Both fillies trotted backward in front of Jake, looking up at him.

“Curry is my big sister,” Jake replied.

Both fillies came to a sudden stop, forcing Jake to halt as well. Twist, along with Scootaloo, moved up alongside their friends. “Your thither is bigger than you?” Twist said in disbelief, earning nods from all her friends.

“Dude, how is that even possible?” Scootaloo asked.

Jake shook his head in denial. “Curry is older, not bigger,” he explained. He lifted a leg so his hoof was about a foot or so above that of the fillies. He stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he squinted, and adjusted his hoof a little bit. “About this tall.”

The four fillies nodded in acknowledgment, picturing a mare about the size of Applejack with a variation of Jake’s coloration.

“Is she an Alicorn too?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Again, Jake shook his head. “Curry hasn’t got wings,” his eyes crossed as he looked at the long black horn jutting out of the middle of his forehead. “Or a horn.”

Again, the fillies nodded, the picture of a powerful earth pony mare forming in their minds.

“Where is she?” Apple Bloom asked.

“She’s staying with Miss Fluttershy,” Jake said, his voice turning a bit sad for a moment. He had been so busy learning all sorts of cool stuff with Big Mac that he hadn’t had time to miss Curry, but now that he had thought of her, he couldn’t help but wonder if she missed him.

“Hey, why don’t we swing by Fluttershy’s place and visit Jake’s sister?” Scootaloo suggested.

Jake’s ears pricked up at the idea, but his training kicked in. Only bad horses wandered when they’d been told to stay put. Big Mac had told him to go to the fillies’ tree house, and that was where he had to go. Besides, he was curious about just what a tree house was. “Nope. Got to go to your tree house,” Jake said.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Apple Bloom said, sharing a look with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Why don’t you lead the way?” she suggested to Jake.

Jake swung his head around, and then back to Apple Bloom. “I don’t know where to go,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” Scootaloo said in a very loud tone, grinning at her friends. “It’s this way,” she added and set off.

“Wait, that’th not, ufff,” Twist started to say, only to find herself gagged by a pair of hooves, courtesy of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle working in tandem.

“Shhhh,” Sweetie Belle whispered into Twist’s ear. “Can’t you see how much poor Jake wants to see his sister?” she asked. “We should take him over to Fluttershy’s home so they can have a reunion. It’s the only proper thing to do.”

Twist let out a moan as she found herself once again being sucked into another of her friends’ crazy schemes. Oh, well, she told herself. At least this time it was something pretty innocent. What could possibly go wrong?