Applejack and Warpath
As the Apple Blooms
Respite 3; Applejack and Warpath
Canterlot Mall Food Court…
The sound of people chatting rang all around Applejack as she sat at a table, focused entirely on the notebook laid open before her. It was a bright and cheerful Saturday, and she and her friends had decided to enjoy a nice day out. After all, they all needed it. However, Applejack couldn’t relax, for she was too focused on…..
“Hey Applejack!” Pinkie Pie practically screamed from behind her. The farm girl jumped from her seat and, managing to regain some of her composure, asked, “What in tarnation do ya want Pinkie?”
The pink teen, not even noticing her friend’s mild displeasure, cheerily replied, “I just wanted you to know your food is getting cold.” To their side, Rarity approached and added, “Yes dear, you’re not exactly one to waste anything, let alone food.”
Sighing, Applejack answered, “Sorry girls, Ah’ve just had a lot on mah mind.” Rarity made her way to her friend and asked, “Is everything alright?” The pale fashionista then rested a hand on Applejack’s, an action that made the latter blush.
“Ah don’t know.” Applejack replied. “Ah’ve been busy with this project Granny Smith gave Big Mac and Ah. We have to find out everythin’ we can about our Uncle Ironhide.” This revelation certainly surprised everyone, including Rainbow Dash, who until now was barely paying attention to the conversation. Turning to face her friends, the rainbow haired athlete, “Wait, isn’t he the guy you dumped Apple Bloom on?”
Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a furious glare as she answered, “Yeah, him. Ah have to find out everythin’ Ah can before she comes back.” She then sighed as she added, “But Ah can’t ask him or Apple Bloom, and Ah got a feelin’ Ah can’t ask his buddies, two fellas by the names of Wheeljack and Ratchet.”
Rarity then asked, “Well, what have you discovered so far?” Applejack managed to relax a bit before she answered, “For starters, there’s what Granny Smith told us, which is that he was an old friend of dad, that he was a decent blacksmith, that he got drafted, and somethin’ happened while he was in the army that ruffled dad’s feathers.” She then turned to another page in the notebook as she continued, “Then Big Mac found out that he got in a fight to stop some jerk by the name of Canned Pear to save mom, and that after the war, he, his buddies, and Aunt Chromia pooled their money to buy that junkyard they live in.”
Rainbow Dash then asked, “Anything else?” Shaking her head, Applejack replied, “Not really. Goldie Delicious didn’t know anything Granny Smith didn’t already know, and other than a rumor that he adopted some girl, Ah haven’t been able to find anythin’.” She then sighed before remarking, “Maybe this whole thing is just Granny punishin’ us for somethin’.”
It was at this moment that Fluttershy asked, “Hey, how is Apple Bloom anyway?” The moment she heard this seemingly innocent question, Applejack sighed and growled, “Oh, she’s doin’ just fine. Turns out she actually has a BOYFRIEND!”
As her friends took in what she’d just revealed, Pinkie Pie said, “That’s good. I think.” Applejack simply slumped back into her chair as she complained, “Sorry for the outburst, Ah’m just angry with her, that’s all.”
Of course she was still angry with Apple Bloom. Even with her gone, things had barely changed a bit. Sure, Anon-A-Miss was now dead and gone, but rumors and spilled secrets kept popping up not only around school, as well as throughout all of Canterlot City. And that didn’t even include Sunset Shimmer.
Once Sunset Shimmer was proven innocent of being Anon-A-Miss, she made no secret of how disappointed she was in her now former friends. While she could be sociable with some of them, primarily Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, she had proven to be far less friendly with Applejack. Maybe it was because Apple Bloom was the ringleader, or maybe it was the fact that she was last to be convinced, but either way, Applejack was the only one Sunset actively avoided or ignored.
And it was all Apple Bloom’s fault.
“Dear, you alright?” Rarity asked, snapping Applejack out of her funk. Managing to snap out of her internal tangent, the orange girl replied, “Yeah, Ah think.”
Pinkie Pie then spoke up. “Yeah, you just froze up and we tried to get your attention and you just kept staring through us like we were invisible or something.” Fluttershy then asked, “You sure you’re alright?”
“Ah’m fine.” Applejack replied, not exactly telling the truth but not exactly lying either. “Ah just can’t handle everythin’ Ah’ve got on mah mind right now and…” Her frustration finally reaching a breaking point, she angrily called out, “Why can’t Ah find anythin’ about Uncle Ironhide?!”
From across the food court, the five girls heard a man’s voice loudly call out, “KABLAM!” Turing to see who has spoken up, they found a large man approach them. He had red skin and blue eyes, wore a crimson and gray outfit, and had a general disposition that screamed “I break things.” All in all, this man seemed like he wasn’t the kind of person one wouldn’t want to meet in an alley.
As the man walked up to the group, Applejack asked him, “Uh, can Ah help you mister?” The large man cheerily answered, “Sorry to bother you kids, but I couldn’t BANG notice but over hear you kids talking about ZOWEE Ironhide!” Confused, Applejack nervously replied, “Yeah? You know him?”
The large red man happily replied, “Oh you bet kids! He’s one of the best BANG POW fellas I’ve ever met!” He then extended his hand and introduced himself, “Oh, where are my BLAM manners? The name’s Warpath.”
Nervously extending her own hand and shaking the odd stranger’s own hand, Applejack said, “Uh, Ah’m Applejack. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Warpath.” Once the handshake was done, she asked, “So, how do you know Ironhide anyway?”
Warpath pulled a chair up from a nearby unoccupied table as he explained, “What’s it to you kids anyway? You family of his?”
Pinkie Pie popped up in front of him (much to the larger man’s surprise) and replied, “Ironhide is her uncle, or rather he’s her honorary uncle, and she dropped her sister off with him to teach her a lesson because she’s a naughty little girl and…..” She was interrupted when Rarity managed to pull her away, chastising her with a stern, “Now now Pinkie. Remember what we said about divulging personal information?”
As Pinkie’s hair deflated, Applejack rolled her eyes as she turned to Warpath and apologized, “Sorry about her. Pinkie here is just a little bundle of energy.” She then extended her notebook as she explained, “But yeah, mah sister Apple Bloom did somethin’ unforgiveable, so Ah had to call in an old favor. Ironhide’s lookin’ after her until school starts again.”
Warpath took everything he heard in and, after a few moments, remarked, “I see. Not exactly heartwarming, but I suppose there are worse people to dump someone on that Ironhide.” He then stretched his arms before continuing, “Either BA-BAM way, what do you want to know about him anyway?”
Before Applejack could reply, Rainbow Dash asked, “What’s up with your voice? You keep saying things like “kablam” and “bang.” You feeling alright?” As the rest of her friends gave her the stink eye, Warpath let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, “It’s alright kid. Nothing more than a harmless ZOWEE verbal tick. You think its bad now, you should have heard me from when I got back from the mid-east.”
As the five teenage girls gave him confused looks, Warpath explained, “Actually, it’s how I met Ironhide in the first place. You see, I served in the army during the first invasion, specifically as gunner on a tank. Turns out the stress that comes from combat aggravated my already existing KAPOW speech problem.” Once everyone was gathered around him, the older man resumed, “Well, I didn’t have much to my name when I got home, so I found myself drifting from town to town…..”
Outskirts of Allspark Wells, Several Years Earlier…
As he walked down the road, taking in the simple beauty of nature that surrounded him, All Warpath could say to himself was, “Primus I’m hungry.” Indeed, it had been several days since he’d had anything close to a square meal, and he’d mostly been subsisting on snacks he’d buy from rest stops and berries along the road. All in all, it was a pretty bleak existence for a man who, not much earlier, manned massive weapons of war.
Continuing to walk down the lonely road, his back starting to ache from holding the weight of his backpack, Warpath noticed a sign in the distance. Now excited, Warpath said to himself, “Alright. Let’s ZOWEE see where we BANGING are!” straightening his backpack, he ran up to the large sign, hoping it would reveal where he was.
Indeed, before Warpath was an orange sign with a white stylized face and words that read, “Welcome to Allspark Wells. The place where futures are forged.” Smiling to himself, the large man said to himself, “Never been here before. But a town is a KABLAM town, which means that they KASPLAT should have a diner or something like BABAM that.” He then sighed to himself as he remarked, “Shame I don’t have enough cash for this damn KABAM….. thing.”
Of course his speech problem was getting worse. Ever since he was a teen, Warpath had struggled to deal with his verbal tic, forcing him to practically shout onomatopoeic phrases like “kablam” and “zowee.” For a while it was something he could keep under control, even playing it up so most people thought he was just a loud and boisterous man, the kind of person people didn’t think twice about. Of course, since he came home from the invasion of Carbombya, as well as that time he was right next to a tank turret when it fired, costing him some of his hearing, it had been getting worse.
Still, Warpath’s stomach was rumbling, and as he checked his pocket, he found he still had enough cash in his pocket to at least afford a sandwich. With that, the crimson man continued to walk down the road, hoping he could find something edible.
Allspark Wells…
“And don’t let me catch your spastic face around here again!” The restaurant host shouted as he shoved Warpath out of the building, forcing the red man to tumble into the ground. Managing to force himself back up to his face, all he could do was turn to the door he’d been so rudely shoved through, raised his fist as he slapped his arm, and called out, “Lousy good for nothing peacenik!” He then turned to walk away, his stomach still empty.
It had been the fifth restaurant Warpath had been thrown out of due to his speech impediment. “Ugh, what’s wrong with my BLAM KAPOW voice?!” The man shouted as he began to release his frustration. After all, that’s how life had treated him ever since he came home, if it could be called home at all.
From behind him, Warpath heard a man call out, “Hey buddy! You there!” Groaning to himself, the large man turned as he replied, “Look, I don’t want any trouble, alright?”
Instead, he was greeted by a man with gray skin, a red shirt and dark gray overalls. This new man continued to approach him, asking, “You alright there buddy? I tried calling for you like three times already.” The man then extended his hand as he continued, “Sorry about that asshole back there. I don’t know what side of whose bed he woke up on.”
Warpath couldn’t help but chuckle as he shook this other man’s hand and replied, “The name’s KAPOW Warpath. Thanks for that Mr….. Uh….”
“Ironhide.” The other man interrupted. “I’m Ironhide.” He then noticed Warpath’s backpack and asked, “Drifter I take it?” As the large man sighed, Ironhide added, “Nothing wrong with that. You know I could have been a drifter.”
Letting out another brief chuckle, Warpath explained, “Thanks man. Let’s just ZOWEE say I didn’t have much of a BLAM home after I got back from the army.”
Upon hearing this, Ironhide replied, “Really? Well that makes two of us.” Surprised, Warpath asked, “Whoa, you were in the KABLAM army?” Ironhide nodded and answered, “84th Infantry.” That answer certainly intrigued Warpath. Sure he was in the armored cavalry, but he’d heard a rumor that the term “84th Infantry” had been retired before he enlisted. Apparently it was a sign of respect for the last team to use the number, the wreck…..
“Hold on a “KABLAM minute?” Warpath asked as he put the puzzle pieces together. “You were a Wrecker?” Nodding, Ironhide replied, “Yup. I was in the first class.” Warpath began to say something else, but before he could, he found himself feeling light headed and, without warning, collapsing to the ground.
Ironhide immediately moved to support Warpath. “Primus, look at you.” The gray man remarked. “You feel like you’re half starved.” Helping the younger man back to his feet, he asked, “How about you come home with me? I think you could use a good meal and….” He sniffed the air before replying, “….And a shower.”
Warpath couldn’t help but laugh as he replied, “Sounds like a KABLAM plan.”
The Chop Shop
As Warpath and Ironhide entered the Chop Shop, they were greeted by the sight of another man working the cash register. This man had a darker skin tone, wore a white jump suit with red and green stripes, glasses, and sported a nice set of friendly mutton chops.
“Hey Ironhide.” This odd man asked. “Who’s your friend?” Ironhide walked up to him and said, “Wheeljack, this is Warpath. He’s gonna be staying for the night.”
This remark caught Warpath by surprise. “Wait, really?” He asked. “You mean I get to stay the ZOWEE night?” Nodding, Ironhide replied, “At least for tonight. After that I can…..” He stopped himself before finishing up with, “….We’ll worry about that in the morning.”
Now overcome with joy, Warpath wrapped Ironhide in a massive hug as he exclaimed, “Oh thank you Mr. Ironhide sir!” He continued to hold the man in an impossibly tight embrace until Ironhide managed to wheeze out, “You putting me down?” Warpath immediately released him, allowing the older man to catch his breath.
All three men were distracted when the sound of the door opening rang out from behind them. Warpath turned to see a young girl with light yellow skin, red hair, and a blue shirt and overalls enter the building. She was followed by a woman with light blue skin and an almost identical outfit to the younger girl.
“Daddy!” The girl squealed as she ran up to Ironhide, dropping her backpack on the floor. Picking the girl up, Ironhide let out a hearty laugh as he asked, “Torque Wrench! How was school today?” The young girl, Torque Wrench if Warpath heard correctly, answered, “Yeah! Today we learned about all the different kinds of animals at school!”
Torque Wrench’s eyes drifted to Warpath as she asked, “Hi there. Are you dad’s customer?” The red man began to nervously chuckle as he replied, “Well, kinda. You see I KAPOW…..”
He didn’t get to continue as his sudden outburst scared the young girl. Setting her down, Ironhide reassured her, “It’s alright Torquie. Everything is alright. Mr. Warpath here is a nice man.” He then rested a hand on her shoulder as he continued, “He just has a speech problem. Kinda like a lisp.”
While Ironhide managed to reassure his daughter, the older woman walked up to Warpath and extended her arm. “Hi there.” She said, her voice inviting but still somewhat nervous. “I’m Chromia.”
Shaking her hand, Warpath replied, “You can call me BABAM Warpath.” He immediately added, “Not the “Babam” part, just KAPOW Warpath, I mean ZOWEE, I mean…..”
Chromia rested her hands on his shoulders as she empathetically asked, “You alright?” Sighing, Warpath answered, “Yeah, It’s just a BLAM speech thing I’ve had all my life. It was manageable until I KERSPLAT got home from the mid-east and….”
Ironhide then joined the conversation. “Hey honey, now that you’re home, we need to talk about our friend here.” He then turned to Warpath and asked, “You mind joining us in the family glen?”
The Family Living Room, Thirty Minutes Later…
“So let me get this straight….” Chromia began, skepticism oozing from her voice. She, Ironhide, Warpath, Wheeljack, and a newly arrived Ratchet were seated in the living room (Torque Wrench had been sent to her room to do her homework), and the family patriarch had just explained how he met the large man. “You want to let Warpath here crash on our couch?”
Ironhide raised his hands as he defensively answered, “Just for one night. I saw him getting kicked out a restaurant in town and I figured that he needs a roof over his head.” Everyone else in the room continued to ponder the room as Ironhide asked, “So, is one night really too much?”
After a few moments, Ratchet spoke up, “I don’t think it’s too much.”Wheeljack then added, “Yeah, besides, it might be nice to have a little help around the place.” Chromia herself shrugged as she said, “Alright. He does look like he needs somewhere to get some rest.” She then turned to the red man and added, “As long as he isn’t simply loafing on our couch that is.”
Warpath rose up to his feet and quickly replied, “Don’t worry Ma’am! I’ll be ZOWEE useful.” Ironhide then added, “See? Everything’s working out just fine.” He turned to his wife and asked, “How about I start getting dinner ready?”
Later That Night….
Ironhide awoke to a most peculiar sound; Warpath screaming. As Chromia began to stir, he reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’ll go see what’s going on.” The blue woman simply returned to her slumber as Ironhide rose from the bed and, slipping on a bathrobe, made his way down towards the living room.
Once he’d arrived, Ironhide found Warpath fully awake, his face sweating and betraying the fact that he’d likely had some sort of nightmare. Making his way up to the younger man, Ironhide asked, “You alright there buddy?”
Sighing with relief, Warpath answered, “Yeah, just had a flashback to a…. An attack we had.” He sat down onto his makeshift bed as he asked, “You mind if I ramble on for a KERSPLAT minute?”
Sitting down next to him, Ironhide gently answered, “Go ahead. Let it all out.” Letting out a deep breath, Warpath began to speak. “Well, we were ambushed by an enemy tank unit, and our KAPOW tank had a track thrown. I got out to see if I could KABLAM take a look and ZOWEE see if I could fix it and, well, the others fired a BLAM shell without me, and I happened to be right near the barrel so…”
Ironhide immediately interrupted, “That’s why you didn’t hear me earlier. You lost some of your hearing?” Warpath simply nodded as he replied, “It’s good thing we’ve all been in close proximity to each other. Otherwise I’d BABAM have trouble making anything you said out.”
Placing a hand on Warpath’s shoulder, Ironhide gently reassured him, “Trust me, no one ever makes it out unscathed. Hell, if you count me alone then I’ve seen buddies get hurt or worse, I’ve been hit at least twenty five times, and I’ve seen stuff like the inside of a torture chamber and…..”
“The Hamlet Incident?” Warpath interrupted. The moment he said that simple phrase, Ironhide’s pupils shrank. Seeing that he’d possibly made a mistake, Warpath began to panic. “Hey, sorry I mentioned that. I just heard some BLAM rumors and it totally slipped out and….”
“It’s alright Warpath.” Ironhide gently reassured him. “Trust me, I even had to learn to cope with the Hamlet Incident. Just part of, well, adapting. You don’t just get over it, but you learn to live with it.”
Smiling, Warpath replied, “Thanks Mr. Ironhide.” The older man retorted, “You’re welcome kid. Now get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow.” With that, the younger man lied back down on the couch as Ironhide began the (not entirely) long trek back to his own bedroom, hoping Chromia wasn’t missing him too much.
Canterlot Mall Food Court…
“And?” Applejack asked, totally entranced by the story she was being told. Warpath shrugged as he replied, “Well, I stayed with him for the next month, working in their KABLOEY junkyard. After that I found a job with a demolition company, and the rest is history.”
Pinkie Pie then spoke up, “Hey, I have a question. You said you had suffered hearing loss, but you were able to easily hear Applejack say Ironhide’s name. How is that possible?” Warpath hesitated for a moment before turning his head to the side, pointing to his ear and bluntly answering, “Hearing aid.” The pink haired girl noticed the hearing device in his ear and, after a moment, simply shrugged as she replied, “Good point.”
Warpath’s eyes darted down to his wrist, specifically the watch wrapped around it and noticed the time. “Oh, KABLAM! I gotta get moving!” He blurted out as he rose from the table. Turning to Applejack, he continued, “I hope I was able to answer some of your questions.” The orange girl nodded as she replied, “Ah think this will help. However, is there anythin’ you can say about that “Hamlet Incident” thing?”
“Sorry kid.” Warpath said as he shook his head. “You want to know anything about that, you’ll have to ZOWEE ask Ironhide or find out yourself.” With that, he began to depart the food court, calling out, “Nice talkin’ with you kids! Stay KABLAM safe out there!” All Applejack could do was wave to the odd man as she called back, “You too mister.”
Once Warpath was gone, Applejack sat back down as she said, “That was a little awkward, but at least Ah got some more info on Uncle Ironhide.” Rarity added, “Oh yes. He certainly seems like a fair and welcoming man.”
Before either girl could continue, Rainbow Dash interrupted with, “Hey, I just got a text from Scootaloo’s aunts, and they said I need to pick up her prescription.” Pinkie Pie then asked, “How is Scootaloo anyway? I haven’t seen or heard from her since she and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle got kicked out of school for the Anon-A-Miss thing. How is she doing anyway?”
As Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder in shame, Applejack rested a hand on Pinkie Pie’s shoulder and said, “Right now it’s better you don’t know. It ain’t pretty.” Sighing, the pink girl replied, “Alright. If you say so.”
Rising from her seat, Rainbow Dash said, “Thanks girls. I’ll make this up to you.” As she left, Rarity added, “Take care dear.” Once the rainbow haired girl was gone, the fashionista sighed with disappointment as she added, “At least she can still see Scootaloo. I haven’t been able to speak to Sweetie Belle since she left for Wales.”
Applejack herself shrugged as she added, “Considerin’ what Ah’ve heard from Apple Bloom, Ah bet she’s doin’ just fine.” Rarity sighed again as she replied, “Thanks Applejack. I’m just worried for my little sister.”
Applejack wanted to agree with that sentiment, that she did worry about Apple Bloom, but she just couldn’t. After everything she’d done, the blonde cowgirl felt great that her sister wasn’t there, and she was perfectly happy with that.
Still, she had to put up a good front for her friends, and Applejack managed to smile as she replied, “Ah understand. Ya know, Ah bet Apple Bloom is doin’ just fine on her own.”
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Damn, Applejack is being harsh. Anyway nice chapter, nice to peak a bit more into Ironhide's totally not shady past.
On another note, something tells me Applebloom is the only one of the three to strike gold with her punishment. You mentioned someone else was writing Scootaloo's perspective, is that still true?
Also, take as much time as you need.
10656791
Thanks. I do have the scootaloo idea basically worked out. All I can say is....
1: we’ll see part of it here (eventually) before I consider giving it more attention.
2: it will involve Cheetor (ultra gear big bot!)
10656791
Yeah, TO the point that she SERIOUSLY needs some common sense knocked back into her at this point.
She's NORMALLY my No. 1 fave among either of their respective groups, but DAMN! can she be STUBBORN sometimes!
And that letter that she sent Bloomie last chapter (I think it was?) sure as hell didn't help matters.
It'd serve her... AND Mac... damn well right if Bloomie decided "Hey, guess what, folks? I've decided to STAY here with Uncle Ironhide and Aunt Chromia for good! THIS is my home now! Buh-bye, and good riddance to YOU, Applejack!"
I know that won't happen, but it'd be fitting if she did.
10656816
Can't wait to see what you got in store.
Yeah, that’s probably why, Applejack. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re doing to your little sister what you did Sunset.
10675537
I actually feel embarrassed because I found a grammatical mistake in that.
I should probably do more proofreading
I love your work on this
I've seen this story pop up a few times, I have been hesitant to read it though. Based on the comments I suspected my suspension of disbelieve would be stretched beyond the breaking point with AJ. I caved and started reading today. And yeah, this is not AJ. I know worse things are coming from the comments and suspension of disbelief is already broken.
I've been enjoying the story otherwise though. In this case I think I'm glad with some spoilers. Things won't be too much of a surprise. I will just ignore everything with AJ and focus on the rest of the story.
So will we see 2 more Fics showing Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo? No spoilers if they show up in this Fic.