//------------------------------// // Apple Encounter // Story: The Lost Lesson // by PFT //------------------------------// The hot summer sun beat down as the lone colt trudged along the path from Canterlot. Of course, I HAD to put it off to today. I should've gone yesterday, it was only 95... The thermometer had read 94 as he stepped into the early morning sun. By now, it was about 100, and stood a chance to be 105 easily by the time he reached his destination. The path ran through a forest, which although usually overflowing with little woodland creatures, seemed as still as the winter tundra. Not even a solitary tiny breeze blew through the forest. He would have waited another day, but the Magic Academy was nearly out. So they had sent him urgently to their supplier. They were already nearly overdue on their next shipment, and he was going to have to sweet-talk them into getting them done a little early. Frank hated it. He'd never been good at trying to talk people into doing something. He was either too quiet, or too hyper. Luckily, or maybe unluckily for him, Princess Celestia was going to be working with him and a hooffull of other students on doing so. The school's supplier was the only farm large enough to produce Apples in the quantity needed- within a half day journey for a Unicorn. Had he been able to fly... He'd have been a LOT cooler and faster. But as of yet... he was pulling an old apple-wagon. Rumor had it that it was a usual test to make the ponies do menial tasks to facilitate problem solving at the Academy... many of the tasks could be solved by magic, they said... Frank looked up at his horn. Ever since the incident, it had been hard to do even the smallest magic tasks. Not that he held a grudge against Griffith- he had been suffering from Dementia for a while before, and he hadn't thought straight for a while. His mind had given out shortly after, and he was currently in Canterlot Mental Hospital, where he would most likely spend the rest of his life. The woods suddenly cleared and he saw a sign that read: PONYVILLE 8 (SWEET APPLE ACRES- NEXT RIGHT). "Finally," sighed Frank. "I can get this off my back." The farm was huge- the apple orchards sprawled from the treeline of the forest for about a mile or so until he reached the turn. The farmhouse was just there, where a resting red stallion sat on the porch, gulping down a glass of cold apple cider. Next to him was a small, energetic filly, yellow with red hair and a pink bow. She couldn't have been much over a year old. The small filly noticed him first. "Hey, Mac! There's somepony here!" She already had developed a southern accent. The large red stallion set down his apple cider and came off the porch. "Howdy there. Name's Big Macintosh. Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres." "Hey. Name's Frank Stablehaus. I've come from Canterlot." "Canterlot, eh? Why ya travellin' so far?" "We've run out of apples. Well, nearly. But our shipment's due in 2 days. We were kinda hopin' to get it maybe a bit early?" Big Macintosh looked apprehensive for a minute."We are a little behind on the pickin' of dem apples... We've got about half of them ready to ship. Almost." "Well, I could help you." Wait, did I just volunteer? Shoot. I'm supposed to be back tonight...if I can... "Yah sure? I mean, we wouldn't be able to start until later. It's too hot. Most of our workers were forced to stay home due to the heat. By Granny Smith's orders." Big Macintosh's eyes darted around for a second, then he whispered, "Sometimes I think she wasn't exactly cut out for runnin' a farm. I mean, she's nice an' all, but she's a little soft." "I'm sure. It shouldn't take too long, right?" "Only 3 or 4 days. So, yeah, we might be late." "What are yeh talkin' 'bout?" The little yellow ball of energy showed up, jumping between the 2. "Oh yeah. Frank, this is Applebloom. Newest addition to the Apple clan. Turned 1 'bout 2 months ago." "Hi!" Frank chuckled. "She's a handful, isn't she?" "Absolutely. But worth every minute of it." He said, mussing her hair affectionately. "Applebloom, this is Frank. He's here to get the apple shipment to the Magic School." Applebloom started bouncing up and down."You go there? Does that mean you can do magic? Can you please do some? Please? Please? Please?" Frank shrugged. "Sure." And he started by looking at a tree, then he grimaced as the magic began to flow through his horn. Sparks flew out as it did so, but sure enough, he had plucked every apple off of that tree. He then found an empty bucket, but he physically pulled it over (which puzzled Big Macintosh- Rarity had no trouble doing multiple different-sized objects) before gently setting the apples in the bucket. As he turned back to them, his horn was still sparking. This worried Big Macintosh, but not Applebloom, whose jaw still hung open in amazement. Knowing what Big MacIntosh was going to say, Frank answered. "I had an accident about 2 years ago. It makes it harder for me to do magic now, but it is possible to go around that. Not easily, though." ________________________________________ Naturally, Big Macintosh invited Frank to stay for lunch and use the guest bedroom until they were done. Frank graciously accepted, but quickly flew into town to use the library. Rumor had it that there was a healing potion or spell that could help repair Frank's horn. The library was dark, cold, and messy. Stacks of books littered the floor as Frank meandered through. The floorboards creaked and groaned under his hooves, and Frank was sure that the floor was going to break under him. So he quickly used a spell of his mother's discovery to find what he was looking for, and the book floated down gently to him. Unicorn Horn Medicine. 1938. Trottingham. Perfect. ________________________________________ Frank got back a little late, apologized, put the book in his room, and went out to help in the fields. Author's Note: Please comment on how I can improve or what I'm doing right! 0.5 stars is a little embarrassing, even if it is from only 1 person!