Secrets of the Everfree

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 46: Compromised Trust

Chapter 46
Compromised Trust

“You’re sure you can handle him yourself?”

“I’m not completely incapable, Blaze. I took an extra dose of tonic this morning, just in case. Say ‘hi’ to Garble for me.” Blaze had scheduled to spend another full day with his brother today, but he still lingered by the door. “Is something wrong?”

“No... I guess not. Bye!”

“Just be back in time to watch him for my teaching shift,” I called after him. A thumbs-up reappeared through the doorway just before the door shut.

“You’ll be good, won’t you?”

“Ba gloo!”

“Right, Char. Be good. Heckley, keep an eye on him.” I was gone for just a moment as I ducked downstairs to grab my school bags. There were a few papers I hadn’t gotten to last night, and it was as good a time as any to finish the work. Charcoal was still alive and well when I returned, which was a plus. I settled myself in a nearby rocking chair and got to filling out the rest of the paperwork. I lost track of time grading papers, but a visitor finally forced me to put the work down.

“Anypony home?” I recognized the thick southern accent.

“In the nursery,” I called to Applejack. The orange mare shortly appeared in the doorway. “Hey, AJ. Say hello to Auntie Applejack, Charcoal.”

“Babbie!”

“Why, hello to you too, youngin’,” she chuckled, dipping her hat in greeting.

“What’s up?”

“Just checkin’ up on ya,” she shrugged.

“We’re doing great,” I reported. “Ever since your Granny introduced me to that tonic, things have been going so much more smoothly!”

“Yeah, she told me about that,” Applejack shuffled uncomfortably, so I took it to mean she wasn’t sure where to go with the conversation. I was more than happy to keep rambling on about how wonderful the product was.

“I went ahead and bought my own supply of the stuff. Torch doesn’t completely approve- he doesn’t believe it works. But I’ve felt so much better since I started taking it.”

“Really?” She seemed genuinely surprised.

“It’s like I finally have enough energy to keep up with this one here,” I gestured to Charcoal, a huge smile on my face.

“Well... it’s good to hear that,” she offered a crooked smile. “It’s been great talkin’ to ya an’ all, but I guess I better get back to the farm.”

“Already? But you just got here.”

“Ya know, chores to do an’ such,” she excused. She was just backing out the door when a burst of blue exploded in the center of the floor. “YAH!”

“Charcoal, what did I tell you?” I kneaded my brow in frustration as the baby clapped his hooves with delight. “Settle down, my little pyro.” I instinctively brought up a white fire to counter his, and the raging bonfire flickered white a couple times, then solidified to a uniform, pale color. My color. I’d won? Just like that?

“Whoa! That tonic really does work miracles! I’d never have been able to put that out on my own a week ago!” I proudly beamed.

“Wa!” Char whined.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You know better. Why don’t you play with Ferret instead?” I tossed him the toy, and he welcomed the plush with open arms.

“Well, I’ll be. Looks like ya really do got a handle on things,” Applejack managed a grin.

“Thanks to that tonic of yours.” I winked.

“Right.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” I waved as she departed. She left, perhaps a little glumly. But I was too caught up in relishing my own success to really notice.

I finished the paperwork shortly, and with little other work to do, I was even able to spare a few minutes and really play with the baby. I felt so childish, making faces and blowing bubbles, playing peek-a-boo and patty cake. I was acting like Pinkie, to be honest. But it felt so good. Ever since having the baby, I’d had to be the serious, disciplined adult 24/7. To finally unwind was just what the doctor ordered, and I finally had the energy to do it.

The day passed without incident. I tended to the few customers we did get swiftly and efficiently, washed the dishes from last night, cycled the flowers on the drying rack, prepared a new batch of paint, fixed a light lunch, fed Charcoal, played some more, and even had time to do a bit of tidying up. By the time I’d finished cleaning, however, it was about time to head to class, and Blaze still hadn’t showed.

“Well... I can’t exactly leave you by yourself,” I mused, considering what to do with the baby. I still didn’t completely trust him not to play with the fire a random surge might create, so I really didn’t want to leave him with just any of my friends. Both my and Torchwood’s parents had finished moving into their new homes in the White Tail Woods, so they were unavailable. And Wild Flower would also take far too long to arrive. I was very limited on what I could do. “Blaze comes with me most of the time... I don’t suppose Cheerilee would mind me bringing you...” Bringing Blaze to participate in class was one thing, but bringing my son to babysit was another. I didn’t want to come off as unprofessional, but what choice did I have? And it was just this once, right?

I kept justifying my actions until I’d managed to talk myself into it. I gathered up the lesson plans, graded papers and supplies for today’s lecture along with Ferret, Charcoal’s favorite blanket and the baby carrier. I slid the saddlebags over my head, and gripped the baby basket between my teeth before setting off.

---

“You’re sure it’s alright? It’d just be for today.”

“So long as he isn’t disruptive, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Cheerilee assured.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for the other day. Time just got away from me.”

“Don’t apologize to me- apologize to the kids! They’re the ones that missed you. I had them finish up any unfinished projects, but I think it’s safe to say we were all flustered when the students came to me for help.”

“Art requires a whole different method of teaching,” I agreed, setting Charcoal’s basket down on a stool in the corner. Cheerilee settled at her desk to get some work done, and I had the floor. My materials were quickly set up on the demonstration table as the students filed back in from recess. “Alright, class, how are we doing today? Did you miss me?”

“Yeah,” a few half-heartedly answered.

“You’re all very enthusiastic. Either you’re lying, or you had too much to eat for lunch. Come on, which is it? Tell the truth.”

“Lunch,” they all chimed, a little perkier this time.

“You always know what to say, don’t you?” I disbelievingly smirked. “Anyway, I wasn’t here yesterday, so we have a bit of work to catch up on. I promised you that all those value scales would finally amount to something, wouldn’t I?” They perked up, relieved to hear we would finally get to the real work. “Well, today’s lesson is all about light and shadow.”

“Aww,” they all groaned. We’d already discussed it many times before. I suppose I’d gotten their hopes up.

“Let me finish before you start bellyaching! We’re also going to be discussing three-dimensional shapes.”

“Mrs. Acrylic, does that mean we’re finally going to get to perspective?” the overly-sweet voice of Diamond Tiara piped up. As soon as I began teaching here, I realized what Apple Bloom, Sweetie and Scoot meant when they called her ‘stuck up’. She was always trying to show off just how much more she knew than everyone else. Of course, I had to be patient with her, and allowed her to believe I thought of her as nothing more than an enthusiastic student.

“Yes, Tiara, we will touch on that. However, I’d like you to draw from life some more before we do any of that.”

“But we always do still-lives,” Silver Spoon, her accomplice, complained.

“Because drawing from life will give you a better understanding of how to draw something from your imagination,” I gently explained.

“It really does help,” Apple Bloom interjected.

“Yeah, and we took classes with Mrs. Acrylic before she even started teaching here,” Scoot added.

“Right. They’ve done a lot of this stuff already. So I don’t want to hear any more complaints. Capish?”

“Capish! Ha ha! That’s a funny word!” Snips cackled from the back.

“Yeah!” Snails agreed.

“Settle down,” I rolled my eyes. “Now, most of you haven’t met my son, Charcoal Stormwood,” I gestured to the buggy in the corner of the room. Seats shifted as they all turned to look at the special guest.

“Aww!” the chorus sang again, this time in admiration rather than disappointment.

“He’s going to be helping me out today. Won’t you, Char?”

“Ga!”

“Acrylic,” I jumped when I realized Cheerilee had crept over to my side. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Believe me, it’s better to give him a fire to play with rather than wait for one of his surges. And this way, he’s helping out.”

“Well... I guess you know him best.” She doubtfully returned to her desk, keeping an eye on us the whole time.

“Here’s what I want you to do. You’re going to draw your absolute favorite styrofoam shapes from the display, here- WAIT!” I interrupted them as a few began getting up from their seats for supplies. “I’m not finished. You’re going to draw a few of these shapes- you don’t have to do all of them, but at least three. We’re going to shut out the lights, and Charcoal is going to give us one light to work with. I want you to really see how the light is bending around the object. As usual, we’ll be doing this in graphite. Or, if you think you can handle it, I’ll even let you do it in monochromatic blue.”

“What’s that?” Pipsqueak inquired.

“Class, what does ‘mono’ mean?” Cheerilee stepped in.

“One!” they all recited.

“And who can guess what ‘chroma’ means?”

“Color?” Sweetie assumed.

“Correct! So monochromatic means one color. And blue, obviously, means blue. I’ll let you do this project in graphite pencil or one blue colored pencil. But it has to be blue because these are white styrofoam shapes, but Charcoal’s fire is blue. I’ve told you countless times that white is a reflective color. So what’s going to happen when we shine blue light on white shapes?”

“The blue will be reflected off the white,” Tiara smugly answered.

“Exactly. So, I’m going to let everyone get their supplies before we shut out the lights.” Desks scooted out and many hooves scrambled across the floor, headed for the supply station at the back. While they prepared their supplies, I prepared Charcoal.

“Hey, Char, what’s this? You like the fire, don’t you?” A wisp of white flame danced at the tip of my hoof. He giggled as it was transformed into his trademark shade of blue. “No bigger than this, okay? And keep it right here,” I directed, moving the fire onto the wick of a candle I brought. He tested his limits, and boosted it a little larger. “What did I just say? If you don’t listen to Mommy, I won’t let you play with it at all.” I was never sure how much sank in to the mind of a two-month-old, but the flame shrank back down to its original size. My attention was turned back to the rest of the class with a snort of approval.

“Everyone ready?” The students all nodded as I headed for the light switch. “Lights out.”

“Ooh,” they all cooed as the pretty display finally came to life. The blue light was beautiful, I’ll admit, but the flickering flame caused the shadows to dance, which defeated the whole purpose of the exercise.

“Do you think you could hold the flame still for us, Char? Like this?” I did my best to freeze a fire of my own to demonstrate what I wanted, but it proved difficult to hold it still. Charcoal thought I was offering him another toy, and tried to take this one over, too. “No, Char. That one,” I pointed back to the candle. He insistently tried to conquer both. “Oh, nevermind.” I snuffed out mine, and rekindled just enough of my own power in the candle light to try and hold it still while maintaining most of Charcoal’s blue glow. “Is this better?”

“Yep,” a couple answered.

“Alright, I’ll pass back papers while you all work. Holler if you need me.” I returned to my bags to fish out the papers, all the while keeping a gentle hold on the fire in the back of my mind. Charcoal fought against it at first, but had to be content with sharing the flame.

“Mrs. Acrylic?”

“Yes, Snips?”

“This doesn’t really have to do with the project, but... I was just wondering when Blaze was coming back.”

“Yeah, he’s been gone for months,” Snails added.

“We haven’t seen him in ages.” Snips and Snails sometimes hung out with Spike, I knew. Their little group must have also extended to Blaze as well.

“Well, Blaze volunteered to put his classes on hold so he can babysit Charcoal,” I answered. “I guess he’ll be coming back when Charcoal gets ahold of his fire surges.”

“How long will that take?”

“It depends. It can take anywhere between a month to a year for thestral foals to gain control of their abilities. And Charcoal has special circumstances... It’s really hard to say.”

“A whole year?” Snips pouted.

“That’s worst case scenario,” I assured, returning one of his papers. “Who knows? It could be next week.”

“Or right now,” Snails waved at the figure peeking through the door.

“Blaze!” Snips perked up.

“Psst, Acrylic,” Blaze hissed.

“Excuse me,” I pardoned, sidestepping through the rows of seats to meet him at the front of the room.

“You brought Charcoal here?” He noticed the blue flame by the display, and traced it back to the foal.

“Our parents weren’t available, Wild Flower’s too far away, and I didn’t have time to check with anyone else on such short notice. But it’s okay. He’s helping.”

“That means you get to stay for class, right?” Snips hopefully voiced. Blaze looked to me, and I shrugged.

“Sure, I guess,” he scratched the back of his head before glancing at Silver Spoon’s desk to take inventory of the supplies he’d need. He slid into the spare seat Cheerilee had been keeping for him at the back of the room, scooting between Snips and Snails and listening as they took turns explaining the assignment, though he didn’t seem to be paying too much attention. (Since he wasn’t actually enrolled in the school, he didn’t receive a grade, and typically used these sessions as practice.)

I finished passing out papers, walked around the classroom a bit, and generally waited to be called upon for help. It was a very uneventful class.

---

“Did you give Charcoal some of that tonic?”

“Goodness, no! The last thing he needs is more energy. Why do you ask?” Blaze had been distracted the entire class period, and even now as we walked home, he was sidetracked.

“I’m just trying to figure out why he’s been behaving so well,” Blaze scratched his chin.

“Has he been better? I thought I was just doing a better job of keeping up,” I mused, picking up the newspaper on the way in.

“Well yeah, that too,” he quickly added, holding the door open. “I don’t know what’s in that tonic, but-”

“I think I do.”

“Huh?” I’d just flopped the newspaper on the table for Torchwood when the bold headline caught my eye. ‘Ponyville Swim Meet Goes Sour.’ Recalling that Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were competing, I’d skimmed the article out of concern, and noticed the Flim Flam Miracle Tonic mentioned several times. According to the paper, Applejack had finally come out and exposed the tonic as a fraud.

“Apple juice and beet leaves. That’s what’s in the tonic,” I dumbly informed, numb with shock. Applejack had lied? And I’d fallen for the ploy. Even worse, I’d never hear the last of it from Torchwood.

“Seriously? That’s what’s in it?” Blaze picked up the paper and read over the information himself. “So what’s so special about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Then how come you were feeling better after you started taking it?”

“Sugar pill effect.” It wasn’t my voice that had spoken, but Applejack took the words right out of my mouth. The earth pony was sheepishly standing in the doorway. “At least, that’s what Twilight’s callin’ it. When ya convince somepony that somethin’ as worthless as that tonic actually works, sometimes it really tricks your body into thinkin’ ya feel better.”

“A placebo,” I quietly spoke. Applejack nodded.

“I think that’s the word Twi used.”

“So you knew? All that time?”

“Yeah.”

“You even came to check up on us this morning!”

“To make sure ya weren’t really overworkin’ yourself,” she assured.

“You know I took Charcoal to class with me today? What if he’d acted up? What if he had a fire surge in the middle of class? What if I couldn’t actually put it out? It’s a school, AJ. Kids could have been hurt.” I felt like screaming, but I was still too dazed to manage anything above a whisper. That seemed to strike her even more harshly than shouting would have.

“I-I’m sorry. I had no idea, honest. But... for what it’s worth, ya seemed to have a good hold on puttin’ his fires out this mornin’.”

“That wasn’t really me!”

“It was you! The tonic doesn’t really work- ya did that all on your own.” I had no comeback. “I think ya had it in ya all along. Ya just needed somethin’ to make ya believe in yourself.”

“Because Charcoal had a few good days I should restore faith in my own ability?” I snorted.

“I think I finally figured it out!” Blaze snapped his claws. “I’ve been trying to work out why Char’s been acting so good lately. After all, you didn’t give him tonic, so even if it did work, it couldn’t have affected him. It’s because you switched tactics!”

“I... did?”

“Remember when you were having problems and wouldn’t let him play with any fire, and he was getting out of control? Well, when I came back last night, he was being good. I think it’s because you let him have a little fire. Instead of taking it away, you gave him what he wanted... restricted, sure, but it was a little taste of what he wanted all along.” I considered the dragon’s logic in amazement. Could it really be that simple?

“See? It was all you. You’re a great parent, Acrylic. Ya don’t need no tonic to tell ya that.”

“I...”

“Look, Acrylic, I am sorry ‘bout lyin’. It was an awful thing to do, and I feel downright sick over it. Ya think ya can ever forgive me?” She placed her hat over her chest out of respect, but it also doubled as a means for her to hide behind it. I hesitated.

“Eventually,” I decided. Now I was still too sore and insulted to truthfully say yes.

“Well, I guess that’s fair enough,” she offered a sad, understanding smile. “I’ll see ya ‘round, then, I suppose.” I just nodded farewell, and she departed.

“So, what’re you going to do with the rest of that ‘tonic’?” Blaze inquired. Char began straining as he stretched in attempt to grasp Ferret, so Blaze moved to fetch it for him.

“Pitch it, I guess. And before Torch gets home so he can’t rub it in.” I began gathering up the meager supply from the cupboard to toss in the garbage bin.

I heard a loud belch from behind me far too big to have come from Charcoal.

“OH NO!” Blaze screeched.

“What happened?” I quickly returned to the lobby to see what was wrong. Blaze stood stock still with his arms outstretched, staring at the scroll in his grasp in horror. I instantly identified the problem as ash began trickling from between his claws. I got a pretty good idea of what he’d burned when Charcoal began to wail.

“Ferret?” I barely dared to breath. A single bob of Blaze’s head confirmed my fears. “Shh, shh, baby, he didn’t mean it,” I moved to cradle the distressed foal.

“It was an accident!” Blaze assured. “I couldn’t help it!”

“What does it say, anyway?” I sighed, rocking him a little more vigorously. Blaze quickly opened the scroll, eager to find out who’d made him perform such a terrible deed.

“It’s Torchwood! He says he’s on his way home.”

“Since when does he write to tell us he’s on his way?” I peered at the letter myself to confirm his report.

“Maybe since you guys started fighting about it? Blaze weakly, timidly offered. I realized he was probably right with a start. That meant this was also inadvertantly my fault. I sighed. We couldn’t keep this up. I had to apologize. Heckley finally slithered downstairs to welcome us back and see what the trouble was. I let him take over distracting the baby.

“Alright, well... why don’t you write him back, ask if he’ll stop by Fluttershy’s and see if she has another one?”

“Will do!” Blaze declared, more than willing to try and make atonement for the mistake.

We received no reply to the message, but Torch took much longer than usual to return home. I correctly assumed this to mean he’d gotten the letter. He was probably only half an hour or so behind, but Charcoal bawled the whole time, making the time drag out even more.

“Delivery,” my husband finally announced.

“Thank goodness,” Blaze finally sighed, sliding out of the chair without uncovering his ears.

“Hi,” I nervously greeted, trying to figure out how to approach the topic. Though, the task would be far easier without the baby screaming. Torchwood obviously had the same idea, for he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out an incredibly realistic looking ferret by the scruff, not at all identical to the last one.

“Whoa! Where’d you get that one?” Blaze gasped.

“You think he’ll know the difference?” I fretted, more concerned with my son’s reaction to the toy than its origin.

“Yeah, I think he’ll catch on,” Torch chuckled, setting the toy down a good distance from the foal. I didn’t have time to press further when the toy skittered across the floor.

“YAH!” Heckley shot from the floor and slammed into my neck, coiling around it for safety. “That is not a toy!”

“No,” he agreed. “But I figured Charcoal could use a full-time companion.” The tiny creature propped its paws up on the wailing baby’s forehooves in curiosity, finally gaining Char’s attention. He stopped crying, but sniffled as he considered the rodent. The ferret cocked its head, and they both took a minute just to look each other over.

“I think they’ll get along fine,” Torch beamed.

“Torchwood,” I slowly pronounced, trying not to grind my teeth. Any plan to make amends had slipped from my mind. “You realize you just brought a live ferret into the house?”

“That was the idea.”

“You realize ferrets eat snakes?” Though the ferret was just a baby, it already had Heckley trembling like a leaf around my neck.

“I wouldn’t have brought him home without consulting Fluttershy,” he snorted. “This fellow’s the most timid of the litter. She promised he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“When they get older, natural instincts will kick in.” It took all my willpower to keep from yelling.

“Why can’t you just trust Fluttershy’s judgment?”

“The last time I trusted a friend, I got hurt.” His face turned to an irritated scowl.

“What are you talking about?”

“Applejack admitted the tonic was a fake, alright? You were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“That’s what this is about? You being a sore loser?” he rolled his eyes with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“This is about Heckley,” I snarled. “I want that thing out of my house before it hurts someone.”

“His name is Bandit,” Torchwood corrected. “And we can’t take him away now. They’ve just bonded.” When my gaze returned to the baby, I found him silent at last, no to mention peacefully sleeping, stretched on the floor with Bandit curled up on his chest. “Come on, Acrylic. Every boy needs a pet. Now’s as good a time as ever.”

I looked to Heckley, who vigorously shook his head. Then I looked back to the baby, and released a throaty noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. They looked so cute... blast me for having a soft heart! “The first time he comes anywhere near Heckley, he’s gone.”

“Deal.” Torchwood’s response came across more as a threat than a truce.

No apologies were exchanged that night.

Comments

[ShadowLight96]

Damn. So close!