Above the Fire Sky

by TheTimeSword

Chapter 5: Lovely Sight

“GOOD MORNIIIIING!”

The loud greeting awoke Twilight suddenly. “Huh, wha?!” She pulled her head back out of a book that she had fallen asleep on. The nerdy pony had fallen asleep with her nose in the books the night before, not an unusual feat for her. Spike and Kai decided it best not to wake her, unfortunately Pinkie did not seem to mind.

“You shouldn’t sleep in a book Twilight, that’s unhealthy. Although I suppose any sleep is good for you. But maybe that’s because you lay in a comfortable position when you sleep. I can’t imagine face first in a book is comfortable. Although I can sleep anywhere. Of course now it’s morning and you shouldn’t be sleepin-“ The pink pony stopped her rambling once Twilight pushed her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth.

“Good morning Pinkie. Please don’t be so rambunctious this early.” Twilight said, releasing her hoof.

“Actually it’s almost noon, but you wouldn’t know that yet. But I did bring you some BREAKFAST!” Pinkie was unable to control her excitement for the meal she had prepared.

Twilight looked at the muffins and milk that sat next to Pinkie. “Oh, well, thank you. Is it already that late in the day? Where’s Spike? And Kai?”

Pinkie pushed the tray of food to be in front of Twilight. “Actually Kai and I spent the morning making muffins for you! He’s such a good helper! Although, his teeth don’t make things very sanitary.”

She had already taken a bite of a muffin as Pinkie talked. A sensation of disgust over came here, and showed visibly on her face.

“Oh, oh! Don’t worry. I didn’t let him touch the ingredients once I realized he couldn’t really use his paws. Come on, Twilight. I’m a baker!” Pinkie giggled.

“Where is Kai now?” Twilight asked as she continued eating.

Pinkie Pie got up and headed for the door. “He’s actually managing the store while I’m not there! Had to have someone do it since the Cakes are out of town! I better get back and relieve him so he can head off to Applejacks! Byyyyye Twilight!” She yelled as she closed the library door.

Twilight swallowed her mouthful. “Well, I suppose I better get back to it.” She picked up the book from the night before and continued eating at the same time.

---

“I’m sure baking is pretty interestin’ compared to what I do for ah livin’. I’m also not too keen on you helping out since, well, you’re practically fire itself.” Applejack said.

‘It’s understandable. I am probably not strong enough to buck trees anyways.’

“If you want to try I’ll let ya. Just don’t go settin’ the orchard on fire. This here farm is actually my family’s home and business. It’s the entire apple way of life!”

‘Your kind has such interesting lives. The fact that your… What was it called?’

“Cutie mark!” Applejack answered.

Kai nodded. ‘Cutie mark. That it tells you your destiny, must be wonderful.’

They continued to walk among the trees of the orchard and talk until they finally hit an area that had trees lined to the brim with apples.

Applejack turned her back to a tree and bucked, causing the apples to fall into the buckets.

“You guys don’t have magical talents, do you? Is there any form of structure? Like, Granny runs the business and me and Big Mac buck the trees.” She asked.

He watched as the apples fell from the trees she bucked. ‘Well, once a Firefox is old enough, some are tasked with helping gather debris for our home. So, whenever we see a rock that was just floating out all by itself, we would soar over and push it onto ours.’

“Did that happen often?” She asked as she wiped her brow of sweat.

Kai shook his head. ‘No, but I was the BEST at it. We would make a game out of it whenever we saw a cluster of stones. My friends and I would see who could get one that was the largest and who could bring one back fast enough. Mother and father were always proud of me. My brother was never very good at it however. Only now do I wonder if he resented me for it.’

Applejack just laughed and said, “Family always likes to compete. Me and Big Mac always try to see who can get the most apples before the season ends. He use to always win because he would go slow and steady, while I was fast. By the time I’d get thirty trees done, he’d only have ten. But by the thirtieth tree I would have run out of steam!”

‘Well, how did you manage to beat him?’

“I started taking breaks. Every tenth tree, he’d only have three or four done. I would then take a break and start bucking again once he got to is seventh or eighth. Hasn’t managed to beat me in a few season now.”

Kai looked at an unbucked tree. ‘Would you mind if I tried?’

“Go ahead.” Applejack said.

The alien fox turned his butt around towards the tree and kicked with all of his might. A single apple fell to the ground.

A quick and low giggle came from the country pony as Kai looked to see what had fallen.

‘Well, I may have to find a different style.’ He communicated, a slight sense of embarrassment in his words.

“Aww, shucks. I’m sure if you used your head you could come up with somethin’. Don’t sweat it little guy.” Applejack tried to comfort him.

Kai looked at the tree. ‘Wonderful idea, Applejack!’ He then slammed his head into the tree with all of his force. Apples rained down into the buckets that surround the tree. Applejack threw her head back in shock, causing her hat to fall off.

“Kai, are you okay!? What were you thinkin’?” She asked as she rushed over to him to make sure he was alright.

He sat there holding his head in pain, making shallow yipping sounds the entire time.

‘In space, we can use our head to move the rocks! I don’t understand why it hurt so much here!’

Applejack grabbed her hat and placed it on her head, then she grabbed Kai and placed him on her back. “Don’t worry. We’ll head back to the barn and cool off a little. I think that’s enough bucking for you for a day and a half.”

They traveled back to the barn where Apple Bloom waited for Applejack and Kai to return. After placing an ice pack affixed to his head, Applejack left him in the company of Apple Bloom.

“So you don’t like water? What about the ice pack, does it hurt?” Apple Bloom asked, one of the many she had been asking.

He shook his head. ‘No, only water seems to be painful.’

Apple Bloom scratched her head. “But ice is just water I thought?”

Kai didn’t really have an answer as he didn’t know much about what the substance was. Ice was a common thing in space. He had no idea that it was a different form when heated.

A knock came to the barn door.

“Come in!” Apple Bloom yelled.

The door opened to Fluttershy standing there.

‘Hello Fluttershy.’ Kai greeted her with a wagging tail.

“Miss Fluttershy! Are you here to see mah sister?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Good afternoon Kai, Apple Bloom.” She greeted them warmly. “I’m, well, I’m actually here to pick you up Kai. We’re going to visit some of my lovely animals and I’ll take a look at the bump on your noggin, if that’s okay with you.”

‘That would be fine with me.’ He responded with a smile.

Apple Blooms smile turned to a frown. “Aww. Well, I’ll see ya later then Kai.” She gave him a big hug before the two left.

“Um, did you have a good time today?” Fluttershy asked.

‘Seeing your culture, and how you ponies interact has been a wonderful thing to behold. I can’t wait to see how you manage your animals.’

Fluttershy smiled at him. “Well, I try my best.”

They reached her cabin in a short amount of time. The animals greeted them warmly, well, all of them except for Angel Bunny of course.

“Here we are. If you wouldn’t mind, could you sit on the chair please? I’d like to take off the ice pack for you.” Fluttershy said as she placed her bags down next to the front door. Birds floated away from the seat as Kai got up into it.

Angel Bunny sat below, giving a very dirty look to Kai while crossing his bunny arms.

‘I am not sure your animals enjoy me being here.’

“Oh don’t worry, it’ll just take time to get to know you. I’m sure it’s just the shock of how you look.” Fluttershy answered him. She picked up Angel Bunny and placed him down on the sofa next to the chair Kai sat upon.

Kai looked around the room, noticing that many of the animals steered clear of him. ‘I’m sure it doesn’t help that they can hear me inside their head. I can’t imagine it’s a common occurrence.’

Fluttershy went up to Kai and removed the ice pack atop his head. She checked for any major cuts or bruises. “Well, even if the animals take time to get to know you, your head has healed up very quickly.” She placed her hooves on his shoulders.

‘Thank you for the clean bill of health. You are an excellent doct-‘ He was cut off mid-sentence by Fluttershy kissing the top of his head.

She stepped back off the chair and smiled at him before walking into her kitchen.

Kai could not stop blushing. He looked at the animals who had gotten closer to him, they were seemingly more comfortable to be around his presence. All except for Angel.

Angel stuck out his tongue and pulled down the skin under his left eye. Kai did not understand the physical remark and remained in shock of what has just happened.

“Oh, now that you are good to go, you should head to Twilight’s. She had a breakthrough and I’m sure she’d love to share it with you.” Fluttershy said as she came out of the kitchen.

He smiled at her. ‘Thank you, Fluttershy.’

Comments

[My name is R]

I wonder if Fluttershy thinks of him as a child due to his small stature. It would explain the kiss. That could be awkward.