Jack was using some down time to tune his bike a little more. It already vastly outperformed his old one from home, but it was nowhere near as good as he could get it. However, as he was focusing on the task at hand, he was unprepared to be tackled by a rather distraught looking Apple Bloom. "Hey Bloom, what's the matter?"
Apple Bloom took a deep breath before she started talking at a mile-a-minute "Tiara's cute-ceañera is today and everypony in my class will be there and they’ll all have their cutie marks and I wanna get my cutie mark, but I'm no good at selling apples or hang-gliding or making cupcakes but I wanna go to the party but how can I go to the party if I don't have my cutie mark, which Pinkie Pie says I can't just make appear but I need it to appear... right now!"
Jack chuckled as Apple Bloom just pouted, "Sorry, but why come to me? Humans don't exactly get cutie marks."
"Because you know a whole lot of stuff about that comic energy stuff that can be used for anything, you must know a way to make my cutie mark appear."
"Sorry, can't help ya, although..." Jack tapped his chin as he considered something, "you liked poking around the Powerdizer right?"
"Ya, why?"
"Well, maybe I can help you get a cutie mark in engines or something, it should only take a few days to teach you the basics."
"I don't have a few days, the party's this afternoon. Besides, how hard could it be?" With that, Apple Bloom picked up a hammer and started whacking on a piece that was sticking out. Before Jack could intervene, it exploded, knocking them back a few feet but leaving them otherwise unharmed.
"And that, is why lesson 1, is safety."
"Sorry," Apple Bloom said sheepishly before coughing up a small cloud of smoke.
"No harm done, but lets say we start of with something less likely to blow up when we start your lessons then huh?"
"You mean you're not mad?"
"Please, you should have seen the boom when my brother decided to 'help', at least this time I still have my eyebrows." Apple Bloom giggled as Jack dusted himself off. "Well, you'd better get ready if you're going to this party, it's not like your cutie mark will appear by magic."
Apple Bloom gasped, "Magic! That's it! Thanks Jack, I gotta find Twilight."
Jack just shook his head as Apple Bloom ran off, before sighing as he looked back at his bike, that was gonna take a while to fix.
Jack had just replaced the damaged part when he heard Apple Bloom laughing, it appeared that things had turned out relatively well. As he turned to look, he saw that she was accompanied by 2 other fillies. "Hey Bloom, looks like the party wasn't a total washout huh?"
"Nope, meet my new friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. And together we are..."
"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!" they all shouted, loud enough to knock Jack back.
"Think he's okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"But mom... school's out for summer..." Jack mumbled slightly incoherently, eyes spinning.
"He's fine, he can beat up monsters," Apple Bloom said.
"This guy? He looks like he can't fight his way out of bed," Scootaloo said.
"He can too, he beat up a nasty thing that tried to take our farm and..." Apple Bloom trailed off as she remembered what almost happened to her.
Luckily for her, Jack chose that moment to sit up and shake the buzzing out of his head, "Man, you three have a set of lungs on ya, don't ya?"
The CMC chuckled as Apple Bloom suddenly remembered something, "Oh ya, AJ said that Granny Smith was asking if you could come over for dinner."
"No problem," Jack replied, "now if you don't mind, I need to finish up here." AS the CMC ran off, Jack turned back to his work, although he did wonder why exactly Granny Smith wanted to see him.
That evening, Jack put the Massigler away before he headed to the farmhouse. However, he couldn't help but think that there was more going on than a simple dinner.
As he entered the farmhouse, his suspicions, while not confirmed, at least gained some legs to stand on. Granny Smith was wearing something a bit more formal looking than usual, they all were, Big Mac had even traded his collar for a tie. The food, while excellent, wasn't laid out as fancily as one would expect from a dinner their clothes warranted. They swapped small talk during the meal, mostly asking Jack how life was back on the farm.
After the dinner, and a round of Apple Pie with ice cream, Granny Smith's face turned serious, "Now, I recon that you've figured out that we didn't just ask you here ta feed ya."
"Yes I did, although it was quite excellent."
"Thank ya kindly. Anyhoo, you've done so much for us, you saved the farm, and all 3 of my grandkids. We've talked it over, and would like to make you an honorary member of the Apple Clan."
Jack grinned and bowed his head slightly, "I'd be honored."
"Glad to hear it," Granny Smith said before turning her head towards Big Mac, "bring it out."
Big Mac nodded before opening the cupboard and pulling out some bread and a jar of rainbow colored jam.
"So, this must be the famous Zap Apple Jam I've heard so much about," Jack said as Apple Bloom spread some of it on a slice of bread.
"Darn tootin'" Granny Smith replied, "that stuff helped found Ponyville."
"Well, it must be good considering what Concorde was willing to do to get it," Jack said before taking a bite.
"So, how is it?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Don't talk to me, experiencing flavor Nirvana."
Concorde sat in his cell, waiting for something to happen. Apparently, Princess Luna herself would be interrogating him. While it could be considered an honor to be worthy of the personal attention of a princess, Concorde just sat, cursing the one who ruined everything he worked for.
"Damn that Fourze, if it wasn't for him Sweet Apple Acres would be mine."
"Indeed, he is an interesting one."
Concorde jumped at the voice that came out of nowhere, then grinned when he saw its owner step out of the shadows. "Lady Scorpio, a pleasure, am I right to assume that you are here to grant me a new Switch?"
"No, as far as Zodiarts go, you were rather weak, we have plenty more who are far more useful than you. I'm simply here to tie up a loose end."
Luna approached the door of Concorde's cell, steeling herself. What he had almost done was considered reprehensible even before Unification, and she had to admit that she was looking forward to this. However, when the guard opened the door, Concorde was in no condition to tell anyone anything, as one could clearly tell by the 2" hole in his forehead.
"Seal the castle, nothing gets in or out until we find the one responsible!" Luna bellowed.
As the guards rushed to carry out her orders, no one paid any attention to one of the Guards killing time in the barracks, smiling to herself after a job well done.