• Published 22nd Dec 2013
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Extremely Loud, Intensely Bright, Drastically Tense, Exceedingly Tight - h4ns



When Bryce Smales goes to the park with his dog the last he expects is to be sent to Equestria. To some it would be a godsend. But for Bryce it is a chromatic and shrill hell. But with the help of the locals he may just discover a better life.

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Free Fallin' - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Chapter 77: Free Fallin' - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

It was Thanksgiving morning, and Bryce did his best to stay out of everypony's way.

After breakfast his offers to help with the Thanksgiving luncheon were put down. Both Applejack and Amethyst—whose family decided to come together with their friends for the holiday—shooed him away, stating they could handle the work better with fewer ponies in the cramped kitchen space. With both Granny Smith and Ditzy also there to help their excuse held weight, but Bryce could not help but feel they meant more than they dared to say. It did not help, either, when both girls kept an ever-alert eye on him.

A second option was to go and play with Dinky and Apple Bloom, but this ran the chance of causing problems with their sisters. Yet again each mare’s ever-alert eye took away any joy he could muster with the fillies.

The same grief befell his whittling, as well. In his few tries in the past month his only success lie in shaving out fine pieces of firewood. And for this reason he kept them; winter was around the literal corner. If the weather team’s report were true it would be a winter to remember.

The only other option left was to help Big Macintosh and Bait set the house for lunch. This seemed a good idea, if Bryce did not hold a grudge over the latter pony.

Until lunchtime, Bryce was more than content to sit in his little hideaway and lose himself in his thoughts. His presence around anypony on the farm would only serve to cause problems. So long as they left him alone, and they him, he could stand it. He did this, but the situation as a whole filled him with anger.

Bryce remained with his gaze cast into a point far off in the distance, then he felt something crawl up his arm. In a flash, he brought the arm to eye level. He relaxed once he found the culprit: It was Jack. "Hey, kiddo. You need something?" He asked the scarlet kingsnake.

She stuck out her forked tongue, as if to say, “Sorry, but I’m chilly.”

"Well, it's getting cold out," Bryce replied. "The rest of your kind have already gone to hibernate for the season."

Jack flicked her tongue out a few more times, responding with, “I know, but sleep is so boring. I like it here with your kind.”

"Well, Big Mac promised me the use of a wood stove. When winter hits I promise I'll try and keep the fire going. If there’s something I have plenty of it’s firewood."

To any onlooker, the conversation seemed insane. The human spoke, and after a few seconds he spoke as if the snake’s darting tongue held any meaning. This is what Dinky and Apple Bloom thought as they walked around to the back of the barn.

There was another pause before Bryce replied to Jack's tongue flicking with, "Well, I wouldn't suggest you do that. Ever since the accident Corn hasn't been friendly, and Winona... I don't know what's her problem but stay away from them."

"Apple Bloom," Dinky said, grabbing her friend's attention, "is he really talking with that snake?"

"Ah don't know, but Ah've seen'm do it before with Winona and Corn. So... maybe...?"

This went on a few more minutes before Dinky built up the nerve to ask, "Bryce, what's he saying?"

Bryce went tense, squeezing Jack, whose tongue slid in and out at a heightened rate. The massage was clear to Bryce and his pair of onlookers. “Loosen your grip, I can’t breathe.”

"Sorry, Jack," Bryce whispered as he loosened his grip. "We were talking about the cold coming up," Bryce said to the fillies. "She’s cold-blooded, and since she doesn’t want to hibernate it’s up to me the keep her warm."

"You mean that big long sleep like bears do?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

"What about food?" Dinky asked. “Are you gonna feed her too?”

Bryce looked to Jack. “Well, that’ll be tough. Her food will be asleep for the next few months. But she’ll make it through; she can go months between meals."

“Uh… What do ya mean by ‘her food’s sleepin’?” Apple Bloom asked, unsure if she wanted to know.

“Well, Sprout, snakes like Jack eat small critters. You know, squirrels, rats… Other snakes…” Bryce let drop the matter. He did not want to frighten the girls any further.

After a few moments, Dinky could not bear to leave the question most on her adolescent mind go unanswered. "Bryce, are you all right?"

Bryce looked off into the distance. He did not want to meet the purple-grey filly's gaze. "Jack, we'll talk later," he said before he placed his arm on the ground and allowed Jack to slither back inside the barn. As she left, Bryce said to Dinky, "It's something you wouldn't understand."

The gruff face the fillies grew to expect from Bryce returned. "What 'cha mad about, Bryce?" Apple Bloom asked. "Maybe we can help ya."

Bryce said nothing for a moment. "It's not something you can fix, Sprout. It's...grown-up stuff."

"Is this the kind where you don't want us around or you don't want us to know?" Dinky asked.

There was a thinker. Bryce found it amazing the little filly knew the difference, but this did not make him hesitate. Even if he wanted to include the girls—and he did—the condemning looks their sisters would no doubt send his way made the experience not worth the effort.

He looked to the ground at Dinky's hooves. "Dink, it's not that I don't want you around. You and Sprout mean a lot to mean, but I think you'd be better if..." Before he resolved to break the little fillies' hearts he looked to the distance once more. He could tell the girls were sad; his extra-perceptive mind allowed him to read their inner emotions without much effort. He could not remember the last time he saw either one of them this upset.

Dinky was on the verge of tears. She wanted to cry because she was afraid. Not of Bryce—she would never be afraid of him—but of what Amethyst and Apple Bloom's sister might do if she saw them alone with their human friend.

Dinky knew well enough who the ‘blockhead’ was Amethyst and Apple Bloom took to ranting about. If they were here now Dinky feared the mares might send Bryce to ‘the place where unsafe ponies like him belong.’

She made a sour face, but then drew it back into one of determination. Dinky did not care what they might do. If Amethyst and Applejack sent Bryce away, Dinky would pack a bag and trot off with him, but not before she somehow convinced Momma to give her ‘okay.’

But before it came to that Dinky would make Bryce feel better. Her and Apple Bloom’s sister acted like a couple of foalish worrywarts. Bryce was a good pony. He was the one who helped her family and came to her birthday party and made her the bestest birthday gift she ever received. Bryce would never hurt her… At least never on purpose.

If they did not know this by now, then they were blockheads. She wanted to help Bryce, and there was only one thing she could think to do.

Before Bryce could say anything Dinky jumped forward, and with her forelegs she wrapped Bryce in as tight a bear hug as she could muster.

"Dinky, stop, please. I like what you're doing, but you have to stop."

After seeing Dinky tackle the big lug, Apple Bloom managed to find the gumption to do the same. She did not care how her big sister might react, she wanted Bryce to be happy.

At about the same time Bryce moved to pry Dinky from around his neck Apple Bloom sprang forward and wrapped her forelegs around the human's rotund waist.

"Apple Bloom...!" Bryce shouted in alarm. "You're going to get yourselves in trouble. Now go on and play."

"Not unless you play with us," Dinky stated.

"Girls, I want to, but I don't want you both in trouble."

"Come on, Bryce, we miss playin' with ya," Apple Bloom whined. "Bait's no fun, and he never wants ta do the kinda stuff you wanna do."

"Is he really that bad?"

"Yes!" The fillies cried in unison.

"He only plays for a few minutes before he complains how dirty he is."

"Yeah, and whenever we play he doesn't let us win sometimes like you do."

Cripes, they noticed that? "Well, your sisters... They won't like it."

"They don't like anything but work," Apple Bloom said.

"And their coltfriends," Dinky added.

Both fillies retched at the mention of boys.

"Come on, you don't think all boys are bad. I'm a boy."

"Except you, Bryce. You ain't like them."

"They're icky and like to smell of their body funk."

Both fillies retched again.

Well, you never seemed to mind mine. "Well... Do you really want me that bad?" They both nodded. "Well, what if your sisters catch us?"

"We'll say we made you," Dinky suggested, to which Apple Bloom nodded in agreement.

"Girls... I don't want you in trouble... But if they find us like this they'll mount us all on the wall.” Bryce thought for a minute. "Well, if it'll make you feel better I'll play with you." Before the girls became too excited, he said, "But only for a few minutes. If we do too much..." He stopped, unsure of how to continue. He looked to the girls as they looked up to him. He could feel the sadness fade from their tender minds. He reached forward and wrapped them both in a giant hug. In their ears, he whispered, "I love you, girls."

They all stood up and made their way to the yard. Once there, Bryce asked, "Well, what do y'all wanna do?"

The girls did not know how to respond. They did not expect to rill the human out. Now he was here, and they could not think of any quick games.

Then Dinky thought of something. "Bryce, could you move something with your magic?"

"My magic?"

"Yeah, like you did on Nightmare Night. Except not so...big..." Dinky lost the small amount of hope she had when Bryce's face broke into a sneer. She frowned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

Bryce looked to the filly, feeling bad to see her mood shrink once more. He looked up to a nearby apple tree, then his face contorted into a smirk. "Well, are you hungry. Just a little bit?"

Dinky looked back up. "Yeah, but Momma says lunch won't be ready for another hour."

"Well," he began as his telekinesis pulled a shiny red delicious from the tree. "I don't think one apple will spoil your appetite." He lowered the apple down to where it floated in front of Dinky.

"Whoa, cool!" Each filly said in their own way.

"It doesn't have that magic field or whatever around it, even," Apple Bloom thought aloud.

Dinky took the apple, then her face sank once again. "What's the matter, Dink?"

"Bryce, could you get me one of the yellow ones? I like those better because they’re sour."

"You mean more tart," he said as he spotted an apple tree filled with the yellow-skinned fruit. "I get ya." He did the same as before and presented Dinky with her order.

"Thanks, Bryce," she said before she sank her teeth into the tart apple.

As Dinky munched away, Apple Bloom asked, "Bryce, would you get me a Granny Smith?"

Bryce returned the question with a smirk. “Sure, I’ll pick up your grandmother.”

"What? No, Ah meant-" She stopped and chuckled when she saw Bryce pull a hard, green apple from a tree and float it down towards her.

When both fillies finished their apple, Dinky asked, "Can you pick up anything else? What about that rock?"

Bryce looked to where Dinky indicated. He found a Big Macintosh-sized rock buried halfway in the earth. "Well, I can try. Just stand back." When the girls were a safe distance away, Bryce fired up his telekinesis, and with a little strain he uprooted the Big Mac-sized boulder to the cheers of his audience.

"That's so cool!" Dinky exclaimed. "Oh, what about-?"

"Hey, Ah wanna pick somethin', too," Apple Bloom interjected.

Dinky returned a sour look, to which Bryce said, "Dink, that's fair. Let Apple Bloom have a turn."

"Okay, how about a tree?"

Bryce shook his head. "Sprout, if your sister wouldn't skin alive me, I would."

"No, I mean that dead one over yonder," she indicated with her foreleg. "AJ's been sayin' how long it'll take her and Big Mac ta get it outta the ground."

Bryce looked to the old, rotting tree and smirked. "Okay, watch this."

As this went on, the elders of the Apple family, Ditzy, her step-daughter and Bait were in the farmhouse finishing with the Thanksgiving lunch. As Amethyst mixed up a batch of potato salad she happened to look out the window. What she saw almost made her drop the bowl. "That son of a..." She said as she glared.

"Amethyst, is something wrong?" Ditzy asked as she stirred a pot of veggie stew at the stove.

The magenta mare placed the bowl of potato salad on the counter. "That blockhead's moving stuff."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Without touching anything."

Ditzy stirred the pot. "That's nice. How are the girls?"

Amethyst stared at her stepmother with a look somewhere between disbelief and ‘why bother’. "Mom... They're fine, for now anyway." She made to leave. "I'm gonna stop him before he does something."

She made for the living room, passing by Applejack and Granny Smith. "Eh, what do you think you're doin', little missy?" The eldest Apple questioned. "You can't go play with'em until ya finish that tater salad."

"Sorry, Granny Smith, but I gotta stop that blockhead."

"Why, what's he done now?" Applejack asked.

"Nothing, yet," Amethyst stressed the second word. "I'm gonna stop him before he does, though."

By then Ditzy caught up with her step daughter. "Amethyst, don't go and ruin their fun. He's not hurting anypony."

"I just saw him lift a rock the size of Big Mac, without touching it. You can't tell me that's not dangerous."

"What's that about a me sized rock?" Big Macintosh asked as he and Bait entered the living room from upstairs.

"Big brother, that boy's missin' 'round with those magic powers of his, and the girls are out there with him," Applejack explained.

"Well they ain't been hurt, have they?"

"Not yet, but there's no tellin' what he'll do unless we-" Applejack stopped when Granny Smith managed to step in front of her, blocking her and Amethyst's access to the door.

"Oh no, AJ, there's ain't no reason to cause a ruckus. Besides, somepony needs ta be watchin' them apple pies. If they burn we'll be havin' Thanksgiving in a smoke-filled house."

"Granny, the pies can wait. We gotta-"

"Y'all gotta listen ta me is what y'all gotta do," the well-aged mare said as she took a stance. "There ain't no need to go causin' problems where they ain't none."

"But Granny, they ain't safe with'm doin’..." She made a swooshing noise as she flung her hooves about.

"Ahh, fiddle-faddle. They'll be fine. He ain't gonna hurt them girls."

"Granny, you can't know that."

"Ah don't, but Ah do know you two goin' out there'll only make everypony upset."

"You can't be serious," Amethyst said in disbelief to the well-aged mare.

"Hey, don't you go questioning your elders, young lady," Granny Smith scolded, pointing a weathered hoof in the magenta mare's face. "Ah might not know a lot about that magic mumbo jumbo, but Ah know a good boy when Ah sees one, and Bryce is one of'em."

"I don't see why you're so scared, Amethyst," Ditzy butted in. "I mean, you do magic all the time. You and Applejack are acting like this is the first time you saw him use it. I mean, we've known about it since we met him." Everypony's attention turned on the walleyed mare. "Everypony already knew, right?"

The room remained silent. The only sound came from the boiling pots on the stove.

"You knew?" Amethyst asked.

"I mean, he made a hoofful of letters go into my mail satchel the first time we met. I just assumed everypony knew and didn't make a big...deal..." She trailed off from there.

Everypony exchanged glances.

"So, ya knew all along and...?" Applejack began, but cut herself off.

"Ah knew something wouldn't right with'm, either," Big Mac spoke up after a beat.

"What, you too, big brother?!"

"Well, Ah thought he was a tad strange. Ah mean, he was carryin' on conversations with Winona like he was Miss Fluttershy."

"Yeah, Ah saw that, but Ah just thought he was weird like that. I mean, I talk with Winona too, but I took it for a human thing."

"Well maybe next time you should pay attention," Ditzy stated. "I mean, you should have at least noticed how apples just happened to fall when he was around, right?"

"And there was the time ya lost Daddy's hat," Big Macintosh added.

"... Ah didn't notice, alright. But it helps that ya agree with me, big brother."

"Nah uh, Ah didn't say Ah agreed with ya, AJ."

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. "Beg pardon?"

"All Ah said was he was a tad strange. Ah didn't say we need to go ruinin' their fun."

Applejack's jaw dropped. "Big brother, ya can't be serious."

Big Mac looked away, not wanting to meet his sister's stare. "Ah mean, he can't be a bad fella. He did save ya that one time... Well, two times."

Applejack hoped nopony would bring this up. Sure, he saved her a couple of times but right now her sister, their little sister was in danger. What Big Macintosh said did make her reconsider her reoccurring dream. She felt something was not right, and now she knew what.

"Yeah, Big Mac, but..." She shook her head. "This is Apple Bloom we're talking about. Her and her friend are both out there, right now, probably a hair away from gettin' crushed or mauled or... Or..."

"Colliding with an apple tree?" Bait asked, drawing everypony's attention. “Dinky's flying over the orchard with neither the aid nor the use of wings." He added nothing further as the room fell into silence once more.

The group held the silence until Ditzy asked, "Why, is Rainbow out there?"

Bait shook his head.

"Is, uh, Fluttershy out there then?" Applejack asked, not wanting to ask the obvious.

Bait shook his head a second time.

"Are there any pegasi to speak of in the immediate area?" Amethyst asked, quieting any follow-up questions.

"If you recall, I stated 'with neither the aid nor the use of wings'."

Everypony pondered the response for a full second before Amethyst and Applejack shot past Granny Smith.

"Girls, hold up," Ditzy tried to interject. "If Bryce is doing this you may distra-"

Neither mare waited to hear the rest. They bolted out the door, almost forcing it from its hinges. When they found Dinky as Bait describes, they made a beeline for Bryce, who held his hand out towards the filly.

When they were in earshot of Bryce, Amethyst shouted, "Stop what you're doing right now, you blockhead!"

Bryce turned, his full attention now on the two mares. "What did you say?" He waited a full second for an answer before he remembered what he was doing up to now.

Dinky, for half a second more, continued to zoom forward, squealing in delight from the thrill. Her enjoyment lasted until she noticed the ground grow closer and closer with each beat of her little heart. She grabbed for anything she could, but there was only air. "Bryce, help!!!" Dinky cried out, wondering what happened to make the human release his telekinetic grip.

Amethyst and Bryce had the same idea. They each tried to grab the filly with their respective abilities, but the peril of the situation made their attempts futile.

Dinky was a few feet from the ground when a grey streak came and whisked her away. The streak flew up in the air until it came to a halt well above the tree line. Ditzy gasped for air as she looked to the frightened filly in her forelegs. Once she saw her youngest filly was unharmed she pulled her to her chest. "Dinky..."

Within a few seconds, she descended to the ground. Three of her hooves touched the ground. The fourth she used to cradle the purple-grey filly. Amethyst and Applejack ran over. "Is she alright?" Applejack questioned as she panted. In all her life, never ran so fast in as short amount of time.

Ditzy nodded. "She's okay. I think she's just a little shaken up."

"Momma..." Dinky wheezed from her mother's grasp.

Ditzy brought her filly's head out for everypony to see. "What is it, Muffin?"

"Momma, it was...so cool...! Did you see me...? I was...flying..."

Ditzy returned the remark with as big a smile as a mother in her position could muster. "Yeah, I saw. You gave us all a scare."

"Why did Bryce stop...? We were having fun..."

"Amethyst distracted him, that's all. He didn't do it on purpose."

Hearing this made Dinky smile. "I know he wouldn't, Momma."

Amethyst's heart raced until it pounded in her ears. She could not believe what she heard. Bryce lifted Dinky off the ground and her stepmother blamed her for it. She shook with the sudden anger she felt well up inside her body.

The magenta mare looked around until she found the human sulking a short distance away. She trotted over to him, leaving a noticeable imprint in the dirt with each step.

"What... The buck... DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!?" She shouted as she quickened her pace.

Bryce stepped back until his back met a tree.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED DINKY, YOU FUCKHEAD!!!"

Bait came between the two. "Amethyst, calm down, he didn't mean-"

Amethyst fired up her horn and tossed the tan colt to the side. With her path unhindered, she stepped forward, until she felt something tug at her hind leg. She looked back to find Bait holding onto them. "Bait, let go of me!"

The tan colt ignored her and said to Bryce, "Run, I'll hold her back."

Bryce did as Bait commanded, without question.

Amethyst managed to kick her legs out of Bait grip. In one final move to slow her down, the tan colt hopped onto the mare’s back. sending her to the ground. "Bait, I'm warning you let me go or I'll-"

He shoved a hoof over the magenta mare's mouth. "Amethyst, you need to calm yourself. You're scaring everypony, including your sister."

She shook his hoof away. "I don't..." Bait’s last word made her lie still. She looked about until she spotted Dinky hiding behind her mother. "Dinky, are you-?"

These three words were enough to make the filly take a giant step back.

Amethyst gasped for air, not realizing how depleted her lungs were up to this point. She looked back to where she last saw Bryce. She saw him run to the barn and slip inside. She looked to her sister, then her stepmother and Applejack, and then at Bait.

They all stared at her in fear, and the realization put a bad taste in her mouth.

She stood, then dusted herself off. She held a frown through the ordeal. Once satisfied she cleaned enough of the dirt and grass off herself she looked back to Dinky once more. She made to speak but failed to find the words.

After a moment, Ditzy asked, "Bait, AJ, would you take the girls inside and see if they’re okay?" The four ponies left, with Bait left to hold Dinky on his back. Nopony dared to look Amethyst's way.

Once they left, Ditzy said, "Amethyst, I tried to tell you."

The magenta mare's face contorted into a sneer. "You're blaming me for this?!"

"No, Amethyst, I'm not blaming anypony. All I'm saying-"

"So what, Bryce did nothing wrong?"

Ditzy bit her lip. "I'm not saying he wasn't in the wrong. If you just give me a minute I'll-"

"Really, give you a minute? Huh, come to think of it, it was about a minute between when I wanted to stop Bryce and you wouldn't let me. This could have been avoided if you would have let me deal with this in the first place."

"Amethyst, I know you meant well, but you act as if Bryce meant to do this. I've no doubt Dinky's the one who convinced him. You know he can't say ‘no’ to her."

Amethyst glared at the walleyed pegasus. "So now you're blaming the victim? You're going to sit there and put this on your own daughter?!"

"Amethyst, you keep twisting my-"

"What the hay kind of mother are you? You not only let some blockhead- No, something worse than that, a... I can't think of a good name for him, but he came this close to pounding Dinky into the ground. And you let him do it."

"I didn't let him-"

"Sure, 'Dinky convinced him'. Well if you would have stopped him before it got out of hoof this never would have happened." Before Ditzy could utter another word her stepdaughter cut her off by saying, "You know what? I've had it. If you won't do anything I will. And I mean it."

Amethyst turned and trotted towards the farmhouse, leaving Ditzy to soak in her threat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, Applejack opened the door to the barn with a tray of food balanced on her back.

The situation cooled down since the incident with Dinky. Everything was fine, up until Granny Smith made Applejack go and bring Bryce something to eat.

As Applejack shut the barn door behind her she looked about. There were items scattered about she knew for certain were in the wrong places. For starters, a few bales of hay from the loft were now scattered across the barn floor. The bed and most of Bryce's wall art along the back wall were in a mess. She stopped before a bunch of twisted balls of iron. It took a second but Applejack realized they used to be horseshoes. The strength it took to bend these—even when heated—took a pony of considerable strength. When she thought on it Bryce did not need physical strength. If his mind could pull a deep-rooted tree from the earth a few curved rods of iron were child's play.

If he could ball up a sturdy set of horseshoes without much effort what more could he do to her?

Applejack gulped as she trotted to the deepest section of the barn. She did not see the human on his bed, and could tell he was not behind it. This meant he must be in the place of his most holy of holies: His workshop.

This was where he worked on his projects, though from the absence of wood shavings he did not use it as much. If Bryce were in there Applejack feared for her life more than she did before. Nopony could go in there; Bryce stated as such. It had something to do with how his work required his eyes—and only his eyes—until he finished everything to the last detail.

Applejack wanted to leave, but she knew Granny would only send her back until she accomplished both tasks. The first was to leave Bryce with something to eat, and let him know it was there.

Drawing in slow, even breaths, Applejack called out, "Bryce, if you're in here Ah brought ya somethin' ta munch on. Ya know...in case you get hungry."

There came no response from behind the curtain.

Applejack stepped over to the bed and deposited the tray of food with care; her shaky hooves making the simple task difficult. Afterwards she turned back to the curtain. "Well, Ah put it on the bed in case you want it. Ah just..." She swallowed as she prepared for her second task. "Ah wanna say Ah'm sorry for causin' a fuss earlier. Ah know ya didn't mean any harm."

The answer to her apology was a resounding silence.

"So... If you get hungry there's food right here. And Ah'll just be...goin'." The orange mare crept her way past the curtain, but before she could tiptoe past she heard Bryce say from within, "Just do it already..."

It was low, but Applejack heard Bryce say these exact words. She called back in a low voice, "Ah'm goin', no need ta-"

Before she finished, Bryce said in the same hushed tone, "Come on, you've done this before."

This did not sound to be directed at her. Applejack turned about, and at the edge of the curtain saw a small opening. She still wanted to leave, if only to protect her own skin, but what Bryce said made her wonder. Maybe Bryce did not answer because he was caught up in his woodwork. If this were so, this one small gap could mean seeing him at work. Applejack wanted to leave, but the thought of doing something Bryce told everypony not to outweighed her sense of danger.

Drawing in a deep breath, Applejack scooted herself over to the crack in the curtain and peered through.

From behind the curtain, Applejack heard Bryce say, “Just one more cut and you’re done.”

What Applejack found the human carve out with his small whittling blade made her cringe. And as a result the anger inside Bryce erupted over the hours to come. From this one lapse in judgment, Applejack almost fell victim to Bryce’s wrath. The instrument of this anger reveals a dark future, one none could foresee until it was too late to warn Ponyville. Despite efforts to dissuade Bryce he manages to provide a simple reason to go into town.

What did Applejack see when she peered into Bryce's workshop? Read the next chapter if you would know.

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