From Under The Cork Tree

by Muscle_Car_Brony

"Bab's Uvula Who?"

As Gale sat talking with both Dash and Thunderlane they occasionally stopped and listened to the various artists that came up. Thunderlane, it would seem, was quickly becoming a fan of Boston while Rainbow Dash had, unsurprisingly, taken a liking to Rise Against. Some time after that, Thunderlane realized just how long they’d been there.

Wow, we’ve been here for, like, two hours. Shortly after that, he and Rainbow Dash said their goodbyes and headed off back into town. Leaving Gale to wonder about where he could get the tools he needed. That thought led him back to the fact that he didn’t have a job here, and his money was essentially worthless.

That made him remember that he should probably look back into the hardware store. He figured, if nothing else, he could make some money over the winter, and maybe afford to buy some things for his car. Seeing as he didn’t have much he could do, Gale decided to head back to the farmhouse and see if any of the Apple family needed help with anything. No use taking a head off if I can’t really do any sort of inspection right now.

As it turns out, Twilight had invited Applejack to the library for some sort of ‘girls day out’, so Gale arrived to find Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Applebloom all sitting in their main room. Big Macintosh sitting by the fireplace, occasionally stoking the flames or adding another log. Granny was in her rocking chair, taking a midday nap. Applebloom, however, was attempting to finish a piece of homework for school the next day, as today had been cancelled.

“So, ‘Big’ Macintosh, huh?” Gale asked as he took a seat near the fireplace. “Is that actually part of your name?” he asked, careful not to finish the statement since Applebloom was still in the room.

“Actually, I’m trying to get ponies to drop the ‘Big’ from my name. Some of the mares in town are trying to start some, rather indecent, rumors about me using that as a base.”

“Hmm, I can’t say I’ve had that problem. Will ‘Mac’ work?”

The stallion nodded consent. “Eeyup, that sounds good.”

“Well then, Mac, how’ve you been today?”

“Fine enough, I suppose. Aj’s out with her friends for awhile so I figured I’d stick around here and keep a fire going.” Not that I need to, I know little ‘Bloom can manage. Plus, Granny’s not as bad as ponies think she is. He thought as he stirred the coals in the fireplace.

The room went quiet for the next few minutes. Not a silence with any meaning, there was just nothing to say.

“If I may, Gale,” ‘Mac asked him, after some time had gone by.. “Can I ask ya a question?”

“Uh, sure.” he replied, already thinking of a few places this might go. Hey, keep calm man. He ain’t done anything.

“That machine out in our barn, why are you so attached to it?” The stallion wondered, idly adding another log to the fire.

“That, . . . is a long story.“ Turning to the window, he sighed and started. “Throughout sophomore year of high school, I had a Duster of the same year. Duster being the model name for that car. Well, right after sophomore year let out, and I turned 19, my dad rented a car trailer. Nothing fancy, just an enclosed car hauler to put behind his truck.” he paused for a second, remembering the flimsy excuse his dad had given him. Chuckling, he went on. “He originally told me it was for his Chevy, but I didn’t believe him. I know the car ran well, always had.”

Mac nodded in half-understanding.

“Well, a few weeks later, early one Saturday morning, he practically dragged me outside. I’m not too happy with getting woken up early at this point, but then I saw it.”

Once again, Gale briefly paused, as much as he didn’t like talking about the last few months of his life, the year prior he remembered fondly. “Sitting there in the driveway, the paint had faded, there were a bunch of dents and scratches all around, the top had started to peel back, and it sat way too high up in the front because there wasn’t an engine in it at the time.”

As Gale paused once more, Mac ventured a question. “So, this was something between you and your dad, then?”

“It was, yeah.” Gale sniffed, before continuing. “The intention was for us to finish it together, then I would take ownership.” Gale briefly paused, looking back out the window. “That’s not how it happened, but I don’t want to talk about that right now.” As he’d said it, he subtly motioned to Applebloom, who was sitting at the other end of the room.

From where he was sitting, Mac glanced over to Applebloom, who took the hint and quietly left. Granny stayed behind, but nodded in understanding.

After another moment, he put a hoof on Gale’s shoulder. “I figure by now you’ve noticed it’s just us an’ granny.” Now it was Mac’s turn to pause, this wasn’t an easy subject for him either but he knew the kind of pain Gale must be going through. “My sisters and I, our parents died in a train wreck a little over ten years ago. Aj was maybe ten and ‘Bloom was only two.”

The admission shocked Gale briefly, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything as Mac continued. “You’re upset, and I understand that. I've always felt a little bad for my sisters. Especially little ‘Bloom. She didn't get to grow up with our folks like I, and to a lesser extent Aj, did. . . . Do you think talking about it might help?"

Gale sat, with Mac’s hoof on his shoulder, and silently cried for another minute before quietly saying. “Lung cancer.” turning back to the two ponies present, he added. “He passed of lung cancer exactly six months after we finished the car.” And there’s not a doubt in my mind it wasn’t entirely ‘natural causes’ either. He thought while allowing a very brief flash of anger to show. “It was hard on me and mom for awhile. I had to drop my plans for college and go full time at my job.”

Gale was very thankful that Mac didn’t push the questioning any further, especially surrounding his dad’s cause of death. “Thank you for not asking about it. I hate talking about him ‘cause I don’t think I can do his memory justice.”

After a few minutes of silence, Applebloom made her way back into the room and continued on her homework. Gale initially started to offer help but, as she pointed out, it was an Equestrian history quiz.

They all sat around for some time before Applejack came in the front door. “Hey y’all, how’s it going?” The other Apple family siblings were a bit more enthusiastic about their greeting, but that was understandable. “Oh, Gale, before I do anythin’ else, Twilight said she wanted to talk to you ‘bout something. Didn’t say what though.”

Gale got up from the couch and turned towards the door. “Well, I guess I should probably go see what she wants then.” Pausing briefly, he looked back to Mac and mouthed the words “If you think she needs to know, that’s fine. You know who not to tell.” With that out of the way, he walked to and, went out of, the door.

Applejack went into the kitchen to get a drink before she sat down, though she didn’t get the chance as Mac had followed her. “Hey Aj, can I talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure, just let me grab a drink real quick.” she said while grabbing a glass out of a cabinet.

“Alone.” he added, stopping her with a hoof. “It’s about Gale,” he started, going on to tell her a slightly shortened version of the conversation that took place before she arrived home.

“You told him what?” she asked, almost dropping her glass.

“I told him something he needed to hear right then.” his stern tone surprised her further. “Aj, you and ‘Bloom aren’t the only ponies who’ve grown up without parents.” he paused for a moment and let that sink in, sighing before continuing. “I’ve always felt bad for you and ‘Bloom when it comes to our folks, you know that. Neither of you got to know them as well as I did. At the same time, I almost envy you both for that. You were young enough that you didn’t really know what was going on at the time, and ‘Bloom was far too young to remember.”

Applejack didn’t really have a response for that so she didn’t say anything. Instead she just hugged Mac and they stood there for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Mac. Sometimes I forget just how far the age gap between all of us really is.”

---

As he reached the farm’s main gate, the wind started to pick up, throwing snow in his face and reminding him of just how cold it was. I must’ve left my jacket in the barn. I don’t remember bringing it inside. With that in mind, he turned back and headed deeper into the farm.

Gale saw the note from a distance as he walked up to the barn, once he reach the building, he quickly found that it had been stuck to the door with a nail. Weird, is tape not a thing here or wh- he all but froze solid as he read the words.

“Do you know how easy it is to fake a suicide by hanging?”

Gale involuntarily shook as he recalled another time, and a similar message. How the hell did they . . . no, it can’t be and you know it. . . . so then what the fuck is this!?

Carefully opening the door, Gale saw that there was no one inside. Not wanting to test fate, he quickly grabbed the jacket he left there and started back to the library. Walking at a faster pace than normal. I think I’m done coming out here alone for now.

The sun finally slipped beneath the horizon as Gale got about halfway back to the library. Realizing what time it must’ve been, he picked up the pace once more and was practically running by the time he reached the door.

Tell Twilight in the morning, maybe this was Dash’s idea of a prank. The door closed with a click as he entered the building. He quickly found that, it seemed neither Twilight nor Spike were home right then. Okay, going upstairs, closing the goddamn door and deadbolting it if I can..

Gale did just that before falling into an uneasy sleep. About two hours later, a loud ‘click’ could be heard. While it was most likely Twilight closing a door, to Gale, who had been extremely on edge after reading the note he found earlier, it sounded like a gun being cocked. His eyes shot wide as he threw back the covers and hopped off the bed, frantically searching for anything to use in self defense before he heard Twilight apologize for waking him.

---

Twilight arrived home a few hours later than she had originally planned, with Gale already having fallen asleep. Since the lights were already off, Twilight made the, correct, assumption that Gale must’ve already gone to bed. That in mind, she tried to make as little noise as possible while walking up to her room, across the hall from his. The only sound made was that of her shutting the door to her room, she did so magically and it made a louder ‘click’ than she had hoped it would.

A mere fraction of a second after she closed the door, Gale had practically jumped out of his bed. Being as tired as she was, Twilight refrained from actually getting out of bed to tell him what that was and instead, opted to yell it to him. “Sorry about that, didn’t think it was gonna be that loud.”

Even from across the hall, Twilight could hear Gale muttering. “God dammit, Jess was right. I’m getting way too jumpy.” After a few more minutes had passed and he hadn’t said anything else, Twilight went to sleep. Meanwhile, over in his room, Gale stayed up for another half hour or so, trying to calm himself down a bit so he could go back to sleep.

He found that incredibly difficult, however, as the message from earlier kept coming back.

“Do you know how easy it is to fake a suicide by hanging?”

“To fake a suicide by hanging?”

“By hanging?”

The last part of the statement in particular had really gotten under Gale’s skin. Getting frustrated, he grabbed the nearest object, a pillow in this case, and chucked it at the wall opposite himself. Dammit! What the fuck is going on here!?

Eventually, with only a few hours until dawn, Gale was able to fall asleep once more. Though, it was certainly not a comfortable one.

---

The next morning, Gale arrived downstairs to find Spike making breakfast. In addition to that, there was a very concerned, and somewhat angry Twilight. “Gale, would you please explain this paper?” She asked, magically shoving the note into his hands. He didn’t need to ask what she was talking about the moment he read it.

Doing his best to conceal that he’d already seen the note, he scratched the back of his neck and replied. “Well, it just seems like a question. A rather dark one, too.”

Magically taking the paper back from him, Twilight, herself, walked up to him. “Well, why was it sitting outside your room?”

“Hmm? This was?” Genuine shock evident. I thought I bought that inside with me, great. “That seems really odd.” Attempting to end the conversation before it went any further, Gale moved to, and picked up a box of unsorted books. He was hoping Twilight would just forget about it while he went to work on something.

Twilight did not, in fact, drop the subject. She opted to follow him across the room and say. “Gale, I know that you know well enough to take this at least a little seriously. What if that’s a death threat?” Stamping a hoof, she glowered up at him.

“It wouldn’t be the first death threat I’ve ever gotten.” he muttered while attempting to calmly put books on shelves. So many damn books in this place . . .

Lunadammit, Gale. Twilight was really starting to get annoyed about his reaction by now, “Gale, will you just tell me what you’re talking about already?” her tone actually got him to pause, just for a second.

“No.” he replied, almost automatically, sighing as he already started regretting having brought it up. Dammit, why didn’t you just say you got one once in highschool or something?

His behavior causing Twilight a great deal of concern, she asked “Why?” Taking a step forward, she added. “Why won’t you?”

Gale picked up another book and put it on a shelf, rather forcefully, as he started “Because I don-”

Having already expected this response, Twilight interjected. “You don’t want to, yes. You have said that. I just want to know what happened before you came here. It’s clearly been bothering you so why not tell somepony to get it off your chest.”

Oddly human expression . . . “Twilight, there are some things I’d rather not talk about. I was going to meet someone, and then I crashed. End. Of. Story.”

“Except it isn’t and you know it.” Twilight didn’t get mad too often, so Spike knew something was up. He stopped himself just before walking out of the kitchen and decided to let them finish their conversation first.

“You know it much better than any of us..” she said “Gale I remember that outburst from the other day, whatever happened to you clearly wasn’t ‘just an accident’.”

Now it was Gale’s turn to start getting angry. “Like I said. I crashed. End. Of. Story.”

Switching tactics, Twilight asked him. “Okay, if that’s all then why not talk about what you were doing before you crashed?”

Gale wasn’t affected by the sudden topic shift. “Because my personal life is just that, personal.” Deciding he was done with that shelf, and partially just to get Twilight to leave him alone, Gale picked up the box and moved to another section.

“Gale I’m just trying to help!” Following him, Twilight went on “Whatever ‘it’ is, it’s clearly bothering you. I really think tha-”

“I don’t care what you think, Twilight.” he snapped. “I said what I said and that’s that.” Even Spike, who was still in the kitchen, flinched from that.

“Okay, so you won’t talk about what you were doing.” Twilight stated, not even bothering to make it a question.

“No.”

“Can you at least answer one thing?”

“That is heavily dependent on what that ‘thing’ is.” The tone of his voice managed to put both the pony and dragon on edge. They’d not heard him get this upset about something.

“Who is ‘Jess’?” An innocent enough question, but given the context that was about the last thing she should’ve asked.

Gale looked at Twilight over his shoulder, his gaze cold enough to freeze water instantly. “None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business.”

“Gale, I just want to know who she is! Why is that-”

“It. Doesn’t. Matter!” he yelled, cutting her off. Almost as soon as he said it, that anger left him. “Like you said,” he sighed, continuing to replace books. “I’m not going back . . . so why bother?”

That doesn’t even make any sense . . . “But what if I said you could?” Twilight asked, finally getting to the second thing she wanted to talk to him about.

He turned to face her faster than she’d thought physically possible. Pointing at her with as much anger as possible he said. “Woman, don’t you dare joke about things like that.”

“I’m not,” she began, some of her courage coming back as she saw his expression change to that of shock. “I’ve spent the last three weeks looking through every sun-damned book and scroll on teleportation I have in this library trying to find something, anything.” her sudden outburst had actually caught Gale off guard enough that he’d taken a step back.

Dammit, man, I should know better than to let myself get that mad. As he stepped back, he went from anger, to shock, to just plain confusion.

Upon realizing this, she calmed down slightly. “I might have found something, but I need to get an original copy of the spellbook it’s in first.”

Gale stood there, silent, unsure how to respond. Okay, when’s the other shoe gonna drop. “Let me guess, it doesn’t exist anymore?” he asked once he’d regained some semblance of composure.

After a moment, Twilight went on “Well . . . no, it doesn’t. But there’s a genuine complete copy in the palace archives.”

And there it-wait, what? “Palace archives . . . you mean it’s essentially in the princesses’ personal library?”

“No, it’s more than likely in the restricted section of the advanced magic department.”

The fact that she knows this . . . A thought occurred to Gale as she said this, however. “Wait, if it’s in a restricted section . . . how do you intend to get it?”

“To be honest, I probably have the ability to without much issue, having been a student of a princess.” she paused for a moment, then added. “If that isn’t enough I could probably ask Princess Celestia herself if she could get it for me.”

“Okay, pause. You seriously believe the princess will just get a book for you, from such a restricted area? I know you said that you’re a student of hers, but that’s a little much.”

“I mean, I did ask her to grant you citizenship so you could live some sort of life, assuming I couldn’t find anything.”

Gale had nothing to say in response to that, and just stood there silently for a moment before heading upstairs.

---

Sitting in his room upstairs, Gale became progressively more upset with himself. Dammit, Dammit. Dammit! Dammit!. I should know better than to let my emotions get a hold of me like that. That’s something my asshole father would’ve done, not me. . . . God, why the hell was that the one thing I got from the bastard?

Getting up off the bed, he slowly circled the room, thinking of how to apologize for losing it earlier, and wondering if she’d kick him out or not. I can’t blame her if she does. It wouldn’t be the first time my anger’s gotten me kicked out of somewhere.

Before he could continue down that mental rabbit hole, there was a knock on the door. Directly after knocking, Twilight called inside to him. “Gale, are you alright?”

Gale didn’t respond at first, instead he looked out the window and, to Twilight’s surprise, seemed actually upset as he replied. “Ye- . . . No, no I’m not.”

Finding that he’d left the door unlocked, Twilight opened it and walked in. “Gale, what’s going on here? I’m not talking about anything from earlier, I mean right now.” stepping up next to him, she too glanced out the window. “I don’t know about your life before you got here, and I’m not going to ask for now, but if whatever it is can cause that level of stress. . . “ she trailed off, not sure what else to say.

It was a full minute before Gale replied, his doing so causing her to jump slightly. "Twilight, I'm sorry for snapping like that. It's . . . it's just, . . . “ The mare jumped back as Gale unexpectedly kicked the wall..”Ugh, dammit!” he sighed.

After another moment, he turned to her. “Look, Twilight, when I got here I had a bottle with 30 something pills in it. I don’t really want to say what they were or how I got them, but they weren’t exactly ‘prescribed’ if you get what I mean. I’ve been taking two a day, every day, and I ran out yesterday.”

He stopped talking to let that sink in, and it was almost two minutes before he turned away and, although she couldn’t see it, Twilight could hear the sadness and anger he’d come to bear. “I kept telling myself I needed to quit that shit, I just never expected it to be completely cold turkey.”

“Gale, what are you talking about I’ve never seen you taking anything the entire time you’ve-” as she started talking, he’d moved over to the bedside table and pulled the bottle from a drawer. She stopped when he tossed it to her. “Gale, isn’t this illegal where you lived!?”

Gale looked towards the ground as he walked back over “Yeah, and I’m not happy with myself for it either.” Putting his hands on the window sill, he looked out admitted. “I should know better, my dad was a fucking cop for christ’s sake.”

Twilight stood silent for a moment, intensely debating with herself over what to do with this revelation. Once she’d managed to decide, she glared up at him. “Gale, I am going to take this bottle and burn it. Given the circumstances, I’ll let this slide for now, but if I ever find out you’re taking anything else like this, that wasn’t prescribed, I’ll be forced to turn you into the local guard regiment.” softening her stare, she added. “Please, don’t make me do that to a friend.”

“Thank you, and, I won’t.”

---

Gale intended to spend the rest of the day in his room sulking, but after awhile he decided that sitting and doing nothing simply wasn’t an option. Still not wanting to actually go downstairs, he went and picked up his guitar. As he sat back down on the bed he began to play parts of various songs, eventually landing on C.C.R’s Up Around The Bend.

Despite her feelings about Gale’s addiction, and her own ignorance for not noticing it sooner, she started writing a message to Celestia, asking if she, and by extension Gale, could stay at the castle during a trip to Canterlot. If not, she could always visit her parents. Though, she’d rather not for now.

Back inside his room, Gale was unaware that she’d ever been upstairs after her initial following him. As far as he knew, he wasn’t being watched, and that meant he could sing if he wanted to.

Because of this, Twilight approached the door in time to hear him sing out. “Catch a ride to the end of the highway, and we’ll meet by the big red tree. . . ”

As he kept playing, she slowly opened the door, intending to say something once he was done. Fortunately for her, she had come upstairs towards the end of the song and Gale was done playing shortly thereafter.

Seeing that he was done, and wanting to catch him before he started anything else, Twilight walked in. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

Her sudden entrance made Gale jump clean off the bed. Turning around, he deadpanned. “Must you always do that?”

“Sorry. I just wanted to tell you something before you started playing anything else.” Before he could even ask what, Twilight had summoned a scroll and passed it to him magically. Gale took a moment to read it, the looked at her in confusion. Before he could say anything, she answered. “Yes, I realize a week is a long time right now, but it’s the best opportunity have to look for that book.”

Nodding in understanding, he had one question. “Wait, why am I coming then?” Even as he asked it, he saw Twilight freeze, if only for a second.

She did so, knowing her answer would require possibly putting herself on ice of an unknown thickness, metaphorically speaking. “Gale, I think it might be a bit safer for you if you come with me, instead of staying in town for a week. Alone.” To her surprise, his response wasn’t angry. No, it was far from it.

Don’t even start, ‘cause you know she’s right. “Well, how light should I pack, and is there anything in particular I should bring?” Please, don’t say anything about a gun.

“Well, no. The plan was originally to have you bring one of those two weapons of yours, your guns, but I convinced Celestia otherwise. I told her you weren’t entirely comfortable with bringing something like them into the capitol.”

Thank you, non-existent god . . . also, learn to shut your damn mouth. “Thank you for that. Honestly, I wouldn’t be bothered if I never looked at the damned thing ever again . . . “ Gale didn’t really have anything to add to their discussion, so he asked when they would leave and began packing when Twilight told him they were leaving tomorrow. A little short notice, don’t’cha think?

With a few hours left before she needed to go to sleep, Twilight went back downstairs to send a message to all of her friends. She knew of them all, only Rainbow might have trouble coming along with them for at least a day, preferably more than that. Using her magic to send five copies of her invitation out, she decided to wait another hour for their replies. Within the hour, all but one of her friends had responded. You’ve got to love knowing a spell that lets you send messages to somepony, and have them send a reply right back.

Author's Note:

For future reference: Gale is a bastard.

Make of that what you will.

Comments

[Even Evil Has Standards]

Eh.

[Spc jacko]

You obviously hate guns for some odd reason.

[Muscle_Car_Brony]

8717580
Surprisingly, no . . . I'm actually aiming (pun entirely intended) to collect quite a few historic firearms when I get the money.

Oh, and the main character doesn't hate all guns. Just one particular handgun.