Up, on the Hill

by SilverEyedWolf

Something Talks

Author's Note:

Whew, long chapter. The last half is technical stuff, but I always love getting to see Twilight in her lab doing research

Also, I wrote like, two lines about the eucharist as I feel Jake would understand it. I'm not catholic though, so be ready to be offended I guess? Then again, all of the catholics I've met are perpetually offended by my breathing, so you're probably good to go

Love and hugs

Twilight sighed as she relaxed onto one of her table's benches, letting her top half rest on the wood before her. "Whew. I'm glad I'm not a surgeon; that school of magic sure is taxing."

"It looked cool, though," Pinkie said, leaning over the plate in front of her towards a bowl of leafy salad greens. "I mean, did you see the way the bone just grew into a net, then filled in the holes over his brain!? Suuuuuuper cool."

Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I saw it. And felt it."

AJ made a face and rubbed her forehead absently. "Ah thought this was lunchtime, not talkin'-about-brains time. Had enough of that back in biology class, much less this mornin', thank you."

Applejack grabbed a plateful of the salad after Pinkie passed it to her, reaching for the croutons and scooping a hoofful onto her plate. She groaned under her breath and slapped a hoof over her eyes when Pinkie stage-whispered to Twilight, "You think that hole in his brain is going to be a problem?"

Twilight looked at AJ, who shrugged and took an angry bite of her salad before she sighed. "Well, it's hard to say. Back in pre-unification times, ponies didn't really know a lot about how their bodies worked, which led to a lot of questionable medical practices.

"One was called trepanning, and it was the process of using a drill to create a hole in the skull to relieve pressure. Sometimes accidents happened where the drill went deeper into the brain, but depending on where the hole was being drilled, the pony could survive and even benefit from the process.

"Then there's the fact that some accidents have occurred where something like a pickax or a railroad spike has become embedded in a pony's skull and brain, and doctors are not only able to remove the foreign material and repair the skin, but it many cases the pony could return to work the next day as though nothing had happened."

"Ah don' think ah'd go back the day after catchin' a pick 'tween the ears," AJ muttered, grabbing another forkful of food and crunching on the croutons.

"Oh, me either," Twilight chuckled, before lifting her head off of her plate and replacing it with a helping of the salad, along with a half of a cucumber sandwich. "But some of them did, and they didn't really have any problems with it."

"Ah can say the same thing about my side," a masculine voice murmured from the doorway, making two of the mares jump in place as their gaze whipped towards the entry.

Jake stood slouched against the doorway, arms crossed in front of his chest. His hair had been carefully combed back and pulled into a ponytail by ribbon again, though it was shining in the light now instead of gleaming under a layer of grease. His facial hair was completely gone now, leaving a sharp jaw and slightly rounded chin displaying several small scars under his brown eyes.

His white button-up was replaced by a faded blue one, and the canvas trousers he had one were nearly a carbon copy of the pair he'd had on. The only reason Twilight knew they were different was that they weren't covered in mud.

He'd also seemingly left his boots behind as well and was padding around on bare feet, although his large belt with its metal bits was still buckled around his hips.

"Hi Jake," Twilight said, wiping the surprise from her muzzle. "I thought I was going to come to get you when you were done?"

"Ah, it's easy enough to track you ladies around," he said with a shrug before unfolding one of his hands and gesturing at one of the several empty places around the table. "Would ya mind if I...?"

"Oh, no, please!" she said with a wave of her hoof. "Feel free. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Ah don' know what that means," he chuckled as he strode over to the table on his long legs, sitting down a chair away from Pinkie and on the opposite side of Twilight.

"You ever get really sick or itchy after eating something, like strawberries or kiwis?" Pinkie asked, cocking her head over the empty seat at him.

"Not that ah kin remember," he said, looking over the salad and toppings along the table. "What'sa kiwi?"

Pinkie's eyes widened, and she grinned happily at the human as he took the greens bowl in one hand and used the spoon to scoop it onto the plate.

"You are gonna be so much fun," she said, making him blink before he narrowed his eyes to gaze at her out of the side of his eyes.

"...That's a little terrifyin'," he said before scooping a couple of croutons onto the plate.

"She's harmless," AJ promised with a faint smile at the earth pony. "Excitable, but harmless."

Jake murmured, "Take yer word on it," before lifting a bottle of dressing and sniffing it before daintily dressing the plate and putting it back.

They watched him pick up a fork, begin shoveling a massive amount of leaves onto it before he paused and slowly glanced around the table. Letting out a small breath, he let most of the salad fall off the fork before taking a small bite and wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

Twilight gave him an awkward smile, but AJ snorted and just shook her head.

"Just eat Jake, Twi's been known to inhale entire meals in moments, and Pinkie's eaten an entire cake in one bite. Ah sure don' care."

Blushing, Twilight nodded at Jake. "It's alright, Jake, eat as you'd like."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but when she just smiled back, he shrugged and began shoveling the food into his mouth as quickly as he could. In a few moments, he'd cleared his plate and was once again reaching for the bowl.

He paused when AJ chuckled. "Ah'll need ta get you next time the whole Apple Family gets together. Even with all of us comin' together, there's still usually some food that goes ta waste."

Jake started to reply before putting the back of his hand to his mouth and swallowing the food he'd just scooped in.

"I'd appreciate it, Miss Applejack," he said with a small smile. "Ah had the opportunity to eat from your trees, which ah'd like to pay you back for, and if your cookin' comes from them, ah'm sure every bite is better than the last."

AJ's face twisted between flattered and irritated before settling on bemused. "How many apples did'ja take?"

Screwing up his face, Jake thought for a moment before shrugging. "Aroun' five or six?"

"Oh," she said, her face relaxing. "That's alright, Jake, ah can lose five bits on an orchardful. Call it a free breakfast, if ya like."

It was Jake's turn to look uncomfortable, but he just nodded and took another bite of the salad in front of him. "If you're sure. Uhm, Miss Twilight, not to be ungrateful, but is there anything a bit more fillin' comin'?"

Looking surprised, she scratched an ear as she said, "Oh, uh, I was just thinking a light lunch, but if you like, I can get you a sandwich or something?"

He made a strained face. "Please. Somethin' about that magic and that bath has left me just abou' starvin'."

Twilight nodded and used her magic to summon a loaf of bread and a couple of spreads from her icebox, along with some fresh tomatoes and some full-leaf lettuce.

He nodded gratefully at her as she handed him a large serrated knife, and he began tearing into the food before him.

The mares watched in silent awe for a while before they shook themselves and looked at each other.

"So, uhm, I think my day's pretty full now," Twilight joked, smiling. "What about you girls? Did you want to stay around and learn from Jake as well?"

"Oh, my lunch break is probably over by now," Pinkie said, looking at a clock on the wall.

"Ah cleared my day to handle this," AJ said with a nod at Jake, "but ah'm not sure ah've got anythin' to talk with him about. Ah could prob'ly get on with mah usual chores now."

"Oh, alright," Twilight said, slumping slightly. "Well, if anything changes, I'll be here."

Pinkie gave her a quick, squishing hug before waving at Jake and disappearing out the door. AJ tipped her hat to Jake, who mimed back the action, before giving Twilight a squeeze of her own and sauntering out the door.

Twilight watched Jake tear through a thick tomato sandwich as she drank the last of the tea in the pot on the table before refilling it as he cut a chunk off of the loaf and began just eating it just as it was. Looking around himself, he reached over to Pinkie's spot and snagged her teacup. Twilight raised a hoof to stop him, but he downed the remains before she could say a single thing.

As soon as the syrup touched his tongue, Jake shuddered as his eyes screwed tight, his torso shivering as he instinctively swallowed.

"Holy hell," he rasped, shaking his head and shoving the cup away.

"Yeah, she usually adds enough sugar to make her drinks, uhm, edible," Twilight chuckled, refilling AJ's cup and offering it out to him. "Applejack likes hers plain, though."

Sipping carefully, Jake nodded at Twilight before blowing across the top of the tea and drinking half of the cup.

"So, you have questions fer me?" he asked, carefully placing his plate to the side.

Twilight's smile widened as she summoned two blank scrolls and a reservoir of ink. "I do if you feel up to answering them?"

"Well," he said slowly, drawing out the 'll', "you did just heal me, bathe me, and feed me. I owe you deeply for all'a those, so feel free to ask what you will."

Twilight's smile fell away into a shallow frown, and she slowly placed the scroll to the side to face him more fully. "Jake, I don't want to pressure you into talking with me just for doing something anypony else would have if they could." She shook her head. "I'm a scholar Jake, not an inquisitor. Don't—"

She paused as Jake slowly lifted a hand, tilted in between them with his palm down.

"Twilight, it's alright," he said with a tiny smile settling into the corners of his mouth. "Ah wasn' tryin' to say I feel like you're forcing me, I was tryin' to say ah'm grateful, an' I don't mind talkin' in exchange for what you've done for me."

Twilight's frown relaxed back into a shallow smile, and she nodded. "Okay, Jake, as long as you know you don't have to answer anything you don't want to. Or anything at all."

He nodded, leaning back on the bench and flinching as he over-leaned into a back that wasn't there.

Laughing softly, Twilight got up and waved her hoof for him to follow her. "There's a more comfortable place to have this conversation. Come on," she said, lifting the tea set with her magic and having it trail along behind her as she led him through the halls.

"Here we go," she said, opening a door with her magical field.

Jake looked in and whistled lightly as he saw the entry to shelves and shelves of books. More books in one place than he'd ever seen. He took a couple of careful steps in and gently ran a finger along a shelf's worth of literature. Pausing, he traced over a series of golden runes embossed on a blue jacket, delighting in the feel and shape of the letters.

Twilight jerked him out of his thoughts with a gentle, "Jake?" He shook his head and walked over to the table she was sitting at, taking his own high-backed chair.

"Sorry," he said with a faint smile. "Never seen so many books in one place, s'all."

"It's okay. Maybe later we can peruse them and find something that interests you?" she asked with a shallow smile.

"I can't read these, Twilight," Jake told her with a soft smile.

"Oh, different languages?" she asked, a bit surprised. "Sorry, I assumed that since we were speaking the same language that you could read ours. That's no big deal, though, I just need to see some of your letters, and I can craft a translation spell—"

"Twilight?" Jake said, raising a hand to hover towards her horizontally. "I can't read. Weren't taught to."

Twilight stared at him for a long while, ears and lips twitching before she landed on, "Oh."

Jake tapped the sides of his thumbs together for a moment, waiting out her thought process before he raised his hand in front of her muzzle and waved it. "Twi?"

"Huh?" she said, blinking rapidly before shaking her head. "Oh, sorry. Uhm, if you can't read, then how do you learn new things, Jake, or relax with something like an old favorite book?"

"Well, most 'a my learnin' wasn' done through a book," he said, scratching absently at the new skin on his forehead. "I was tol' what to do and I did it, then practiced until I coul' do it good. And any story I learned was tol' to me first. Relaxin' with a book, well..."

He shrugged. "Only book I've ever had wassa bible, and I buried it with a preacher who'd lost his. Figured he'd use it more than I coul'."

"Bible, from the word biblos, old equish for book," Twilight muttered, her eyebrows coming together above her muzzle. "Usually, a bible is a collection of stories or useful instructions. So," she said with a smile, "what was yours a bible of?"

Jake blinked absently for a moment before smirking. "Ah, it's what we called our holy book, our tales of 'religion'."

"Oh," Twilight said, blinking absently before pressing a hoof to her forehead with a sigh. "Listen, Jake; I really am sorry about what I said earlier. It's just—"

She let Jake cut her off with a waving of a hand. "Really, Twilight, i's alright," he said. "And it's true; there's an awful lot of violence that went around my world because of old books that old men tol' everyone were the words of God and gods, and each one was special an' better than every other old book's.

"But I'm secure in what I believe, and who'm I to go aroun' and tell a man what to believe? Some walking corpse with a hole in his skull," he chuckled. "Maybe I'll grow int'a it though when I turn into an old man an' know better than every old man."

"If you're sure, Jake," she said, a bit stiffly and definitely uncomfortably. When he smiled and nodded, she relaxed a bit and slowly said, "If you don't mind, could you tell me about it? Your religion?"

Jake shrugged, looking at her. "Sure, if you want to talk about it. What'cha want to know?"

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"...And then you eat it?" Twilight asked, scratching furiously on yet another piece of parchment. The desk in front of her was full of loose pieces of scroll, many of them covered in ink, a select few with merely a sentence or two.

"Yup," Jake said, nodding. "An' we drink of the wine as well, representing the blood he shed to forgive us of our sins."

She paused before setting aside the large quill. "So, you eat the bread that represents his body, to show that you remember him, and you drink wine that represents... represents blood he shed to forgive you your sins?"

Jake nodded sagely. "Aye, the blood he shed to wash away the sins of our life."

"Which includes..." Twilight hunted around her notes for a moment before pulling out a scroll that was nearly black with ink. "Which includes being born?" she asked, looking wide-eyed at Jake.

"I think it's more about being conceived," he murmured, scratching his chin.

Twilight looked down at the lists and scrolls on the table before banishing all of them away. "Hey Jake, I think I could use some ice cream. You want some?"

He snapped his fingers, pointing at Twilight excitedly. "I know that one! I had some once, maybe ten years ago, a sweet strawberry kind."

Twilight sighed, smiling absently at his tone. "How about chocolate?"

She almost laughed as Jake's eyes widened, and he pushed out of his chair before frowning. "I ain't got money," he said, flopping back into the chair. "An' I don't feel right just takin' more from you," he said quickly, pointing a finger at Twilight when she opened her muzzle. "Already housin' and feedin' me and all."

She waited for him to finish before she said, "Jake, I've got some in my icebox right now. We don't have to spend anything on it; I already have it."

Jake's finger stayed trained on her, his face shifting a couple of times before his arm when slack, and he blushed a bit. "Ah," he murmured, tapping his fingers on his armrest. "Still, I'd be takin' it from you..."

Twilight let out a breathy laugh and stood up, walking towards the door and gesturing for Jake to follow. "Well, I'm going to have some then, and you can decide when we get to the kitchen."

She stopped at the doors to watch Jake look at her before sighing and standing to follow her. "So, what exactly is going to change my mind there?"

"The container," Twilight said smugly. "Spike buys the economy size."

Jake's face stayed blank. "Uh, who buys what?"

"Spike, my assistant?" Twilight said gently. "I mentioned him to you in the orchard; he's a dragon? You should meet him soon; he's out playing with the Cutie Mark Crusaders right now, but that usually ends up with a bath pretty quickly."

"Right, I forgot," Jake mumbled as they entered what seemed to be a room full of cupboards, with pans and pots hanging from the walls on racks. "He's not a sea dragon, just a fire-breathing one. But the second part, wha's 'Economy Sized' supposed to mean?"

"It means," Twilight said, using her magic to open a cabinet near her. Instead of finishing the sentence, she pulled out what looked to be a brown bucket made of paper and dropped all five gallons of it on a nearby countertop with a thud.

Jake looked at the bucket for a moment as Twilight pulled out a couple of shallow dishes and spoons, as well as a strangely shaped spoon with a lever on the side.

"Damn," he muttered before frowning and meeting Twilight's gaze. "Sorry, but..." He just gestured at the bucket before them.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I get it, but thank you for the apology. This, Jake, is economy size," she said grandly, waving her hooves around the container. "Now, are you sure you don't want a couple of little scoops out of this twenty-pound bucket?"

Jake started laughing softly, nodding. "Alright then, I'm convinced. I s'ppose I can help lighten that burden a bit."

Popping the lid off, Twilight dug the scoop deeply into the perfectly soft chocolate cream before plopping it onto one of the two floating dishes. She raised an eyebrow when Jake held out a hand before digging out another scoop and placing it beside the first, and floating the dish over to him.

Frowning slightly, he sighed as he took the spoon out of the air and dug into the soft dome of iced cream, and ran it over the outside. Catching the curl with the shallow bowl of silver, he lifted it and placed it between his lips.

He stopped, blinking, the spoon handle poking out of his mouth as the chocolate melted on his tongue.

Turning the spoon over, he slowly pulled it out from between his lips before his head tilted back, his eyes turned up to the crystal ceiling.

"Holy hell," he mumbled, one of his hands cradling the chilling bowl while the other hung loosely at his side with the spoon held in the loosest of grips.

"Uh, Jake?" Twilight said, halfway into pulling her second scoop. "You alright?"

"I don't think so," he murmured, blinking and looking down at the ice cream. "Uh, so I've had chocolate before and ice cream, but..." He ran out of words, instead just gesturing limply with his spoon.

"Yeah, it's the real good stuff," Twilight said with a smile. "Our local cows make it with imported cocoa powder."

He chuckled. "Twilight, you jus' said that the cows make the iced cream."

Her eyebrows drew together, and she nodded. "Yeah, they do. I suppose they could have somecreature else make it, but that would mean paying them and getting them set up with machines. It's easier overall if they just make it themselves."

Jake looked down at the rich frozen cream, gazing into the dish for almost a minute as Twilight finished scooping her serving and started eating it.

"It's melting, Jake," she said, looking over at him and waving her spoon through the air at him.

He jumped a bit, watched her place another spoonful in her mouth before sighing shallowly and taking up another spoonful and shoving it into his mouth. Shivering again, he let the cream melt on his tongue again before shrugging and starting to properly dig into the iced cream.

They finished at about the same time, and he let Twilight's magic float the dishes over to the sink as he gave it a conflicted look.

"Alright, now, let's leave off with the questions for the rest of the day," Twilight sighed, smiling at him. "That was a nice break, but I still don't want to burn you out too quickly, and that last bit was... Well, it was a lot," she chuckled. "So, is there anything else you'd like to do today?"

"Well," he said slowly, shaking his head as he thought. "Ah'd like to practice with my six-gun, but before that ah'd like to make sure we can make more. Y'said you had some experience with being a chemist?"

"Oh, right, the powder!" Twilight said, nodding. "Sure, I can take a look. Is it okay for me to take one apart, though?"

He nodded after a moment. "Yeah, the chance's worth it, ah think."

"Okay then, follow me!" she said as she pranced out through the kitchen door and started leading him down a hallway.

After a short walk, she pushed open a door and led him into a clean room with white tables full of strange glass equipment. Grabbing two pairs of goggles off the wall, she led him over to a clear table and gathered up a few different instruments and a tray.

"Alright, Jake, let's take a look at the boo-luts," she said, slipping the goggles down over her eyes.

"Bullets," he said, pulling one off of his belt and holding it out. "The powder inside is the important part, but so is the primer," he said, turning the cartridge and showing Twilight the small circle in the bottom of the brass shell. "The hammer of my pistol strikes the primer, which sets fire to the power, which sends the lead out the barrel and into whatever's botherin' me at the moment."

He saw the look she gave him, and he shook his head. "No, I don't really use it on people botherin' me unless they're comin' at me with guns drawn."

She kept her uncertain look as she slowly nodded before taking the bullet.

"It shouldn't be too hard to pull the lead out," he said, pointing at where the metals changed. "It's loaded by pushing the two pieces together, so it ain't held in by nothin' but the brass."

Nodding, Twilight grabbed a pair of pliers and a clamp, arranging them on the table so that the bullet was still above the tray. Grabbing the top of the cartridge, she started pulling, ramping up her field's power until the brass gave and the lead popped out, a bit of fine black powder spilling onto the tray.

"The powder is a lil' sensitive," Jake said, pointing at the tray. "If you leave it out long enough in wet air, then it'll go useless, and once it gets wet, it can't be used anymore."

"Even if you dry it?" Twilight asked as she released the clamp and slowly dumped the rest of the powder out.

"Nah, the water does somethin' to it," Jake said with a shake of his head. "It's alrigh' to leave it out for a bit in dry air, but it'll go wrong if it gets even a lil' damp out."

"And it reacts with heat?" Twilight asked.

"Heat, fire," Jake replied, waving a hand at the powder. "You could set a bit of it off if you like; it's only real dangerous if it's somewhere tight or flammable. It'll catch all of it real quick, but it's as dangerous as a campfire as long as you're careful. Should prolly put it on another plate first, though."

Twilight pulled out another pan, scooped up a quarter of the powder with her magic, and placed it in a small mound on the second tray.

"Draw it out in a line," Jake murmured, tracing in the air with a finger. "Looks better," he replied to her inquisitive glance.

Snickering a little, she used her magic to draw it out into a thin line. "Better?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod before reaching into a pouch on his belt and pulling out a thin metal box, and popping the top off it. He withdrew a thin splinter with a red tip and a small sheet of strangely patterned paper.

"Oh, is that a match?" Twilight asked, looking closer at it. "It's pretty big, huh?"

He cocked his head. "Are yours smaller?"

Twilight opened a drawer across the room and pulled out a cardboard box that zoomed over to Jake. It opened itself, and a much thinner, shorter match lifted itself out.

"Huh," he muttered, looking it over and shrugging before putting his own back and replacing the box. "Alrigh' then, go ahead and light one end."

Twilight nodded and started to get closer before Jake put out his hand and gently tugged her back.

"It don't explode like dynamite does, but it does burn pretty big," he cautioned.

Nodding, she lit the match on the box and floated them apart, the box back to the drawer and the match to the second pan.

She gently touched the end of the lit match to the line of powder before flinching as the entire line went up with a flash and a hiss before turning into gray ash.

"Oh, it's like a firework!" she said, perking up.

"Oh," Jake said, perking up and looking down at her. "Ya'll have fireworks?"

"Yup! Small ones all year, but we break out the big ones for events and Hearth's Warming and New Year! So this powder is made of the same stuff as fireworks powder?"

Jake shrugged. "I don't know if it's the exact same stuff, but ah've heard it's made from the same base stuff."

Twilight hummed as she jumped up onto a stool and pulled a book off of a shelf, hovering it next to the desk and flipping through it with her magic. "I think I've got the basic formula here... Ah, this one is potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. Does that sound right?" she asked, looking up at the man peering at the black squiggles of ink.

"Ah don't know the first one, but the other two soun' right."

Twilight nodded and closed the book, setting it down nearby as she floated over a microscope. Placing it carefully on the table, she began picking up a myriad of items in her field, including a bottle of clear liquid with a stopper in it and a thin, tall tube.

Placing a couple of particles of the powder in the tube, she then uncorked the clear liquid and used a dropper to transfer two drops into the tube before she began swirling it.

"Wassat?" Jake asked, eyeing the bottle as it was recorked and put away.

"Distilled water," she murmured, taking out two small planes of glass and pouring the fluid onto one, and placing the other onto it. "If there is potassium nitrate, then it'll show up as a particular crystal under the microscope."

"Oh," Jake said before sighing.

Twilight giggled. "It's alright, Jake; I'm not going to look down on you for not knowing about the latest scientific processes in a completely different world than yours."

"Still feel like a child, an idiot," he murmured darkly before gesturing at the glass. "What's your thing say?"

Turning on the magical light, Twilight looked into the top of the eyepiece that jutted from the top of the device and turned a knob on the side. "There it is," she said quietly before floating over another reference book. "Yeah, it's potassium nitrate. So you could probably use our fireworks powder in place of your 'black powder' if you wanted to.

"Although," she murmured, returning to the first book, "I think you'd need to grind it a little finer to match your powder."

"Ah, good," Jake said with a nod. "Uh, what about the primer, the cap in the bottom?"

Twilight nodded and cleared her table of gear before lifting the brass shell and looking at the cap.

"If you look in the other end, ya can poke it out," Jake said, twirling his finger.

Twilight pulled out a long thin metal pick and proceeded to do just that. Placing the shell to the side after a quick look, she then leaned over and used a small field of magic to magnify it.

"Okay," she said out loud, "it looks like the cap is mostly made out of copper, and there's more of the same metal here in the shape of a round Y."

Using the metal pick, she carefully pried the inside metal out and looked at the white powder inside.

"Any clues, Jake?"

"Not on this one, ma'am," he said. "They were easy enough to buy on their own, so I never had to make one."

"You made your own fireworks powder?" she asked, gently scraping at the powder before it let out a massive crack and a flash that made her head whip away so hard that she fell off her stool.

"Holy hell," Jake half-laughed, leaning over to help Twilight up. "I always thought the noise came from the powder, but it sounds like some of it comes from the primer."

"They always sound like that!?" Twilight asked, hair and eyes wild with her ears folded back. "That was like, like, like when a firework shell accidentally went off on the ground back in Canterlot!"

"Yeah, they're all loud," Jake said, righting her and dusting her back off. "I would'a told ya, but I didn't know it was that loud. Or trigger-happy."

Shaking her head, Twilight slowly got back on her stool, rubbing her ears as she looked over the metal cap that was now distorted and blackened. "Uh, can I have another, Jake?"

Chuckling, he pulled another bullet and held it out. "I only have these and a single box, so careful, please?"

"It's okay, Jake," Twilight said, taking it and beginning to pull the lead out again, "even if we don't have the exact chemical, I think we can find one that works. It's pretty obvious this stuff is fairly volatile, so I could probably cobble something together from a firework formula if we had to."

The lead came out, and she placed it carefully to the side with the other before pouring the powder into its own pile and more carefully removing the cap from the base of the shell.

Grabbing the water and another test tube, Twilight placed the cap in the tube before pouring several drops of water over it and gently swirling it around.

Getting some of the water loaded on a fresh microscope slide, Twilight hummed to herself as she flipped through the same book she had earlier. After a much longer look through the reference, she made a small noise before checking the eyepiece again.

"It looks like a specific preparation of mercury, mercury fulminate. It's very volatile, although not as much a silver fulminate, and is used in blasting caps for mining projects and—" Twilight chuckled. "It's also used in a popular firework, the paper noisemaker. It's combined with gravel or sand, then wrapped in thin paper."

Jake chuckled. "So, sounds like we can make more of them fairly easily. You want to see them in action?" he asked, placing a hand on the leather bag on the same belt. "I'm no trick shot, but I've got a dead-eye when it comes to firin'."

"Dead eye?" Twilight asked, gulping as she looked into his dark brown irises.

Jake chuckled and nodded. "Turn of phrase that means my shots are good. 'Dead-on', right?"

"Oh, sure," she said, sighing lightly when he looked down at his belt to fiddle with the ties on the bag. "Uhm, what do we need?"

"Some targets would be nice," Jake murmured, finishing whatever he was doing and looking back at her. "If you've got some broken or empty jars or cans, they're the usual, but if you don't, I can bring a hatchet and make my own from a tree. Speakin' of, we should head away from town for the demonstration; the lead can travel far sometimes, and I've seen idiots shoot up their own town a couple times."

With a shiver, Twilight nodded. "White Tail Woods it is, then."

Jake nodded before flicking a hand down at his feet. "Lemme get my boots on, and then it'll be your lead, Twilight."

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

"Yeah, it's the real good stuff," Twilight said with a smile. "Our local cows make it with imported cocoa powder."

Twilight, I dunno who's telling you stories, but if it came in a five-pound bucket, it ain't the "real good stuff".

[PhycoKrusk]

10910348
Still could be.

Just means that Twilight is unaware that those local cows are packing it into five gallon containers just for her so she thinks she's getting a deal.

[Charlie_K]

I know the popular portrayal of ponies is that they're peace-loving creatures who just want to get along, but I've often wondered if a pony like Twilight would take a look at firearms, what we use them for, and summarize it would make sense for humans to rely on mechanical intervention since they can't use defensive or offensive magic like they can. No moral high ground, just recognizing things for what they are between their respective worlds.

[Wydril]

I'm expecting Twilight to be unimpressed at the damage to the targets in the next chapter, and accidentally duplicate the last hundred years of development in an afternoon. "It only went a few inches and stopped! If you used a stronger mixture, more powder, maybe taper the bullet itself, lead is heavy but soft, there's a tungsten mine nearby that we use for light bulbs, maybe put a shaped crystal at the tip of a tungsten rod for penetration while the lead spreads out on impact! What do you think Jake?"

[A Soul In Limbo]

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I get it, but thank you for the apology. This, Jake, is economy size," she said grandly, waving her hooves around the container. "Now, are you sure you don't want a couple of little scoops out of this twenty-pound bucket?"

When KFC decides their cakes don't make for enough desert options.

[A Soul In Limbo]

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I get it, but thank you for the apology. This, Jake, is economy size," she said grandly, waving her hooves around the container. "Now, are you sure you don't want a couple of little scoops out of this twenty-pound bucket?"

When KFC decides their cakes don't make for enough desert options.

[A Soul In Limbo]

10910496
Wassup Charlie!?

And dayum, I always wondered something like that too, but your take on it is brilliant, and so well-worded.

[Lucerna]

Hello, I am one of the Catholics that you mentioned being worried about offending in the authors note, and this

"So, you eat the bread that represents his body, to show that you remember him, and you drink wine that represents... represents blood he shed to forgive you your sins?"

Is wrong.

You see, it would be correct for every other Christian denomination, but Catholics are different about the Eucharist. We don’t believe that the water and wine represent the body and blood, but that during the consecration they actually transform into the body and blood.

There’s a whole lot more that goes into this, but you probably don’t care too much about that. Important part is that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus, not a representation or metaphor.

But yeah, you were worried about offending Catholics, and some of the more stereotypical hardcore ultra Catholics would definitely be offended.
Congratulations.

Also, the part of the AN where you said that’s just how you think Jake would understand it shows that either he’s some other denomination of Christianity and not Catholic, or that his first communion teacher was lackin’

[Joe Toon]

10911001
As a Catholic I can confirm this.

[Charlie_K]

10910850
What I look to happen is Twilight being disgusted with how much cleanup is needed after shooting, because of how corrosive the black powder and fulminate residue is on the steel, and formulating a cleaner burning substitute.

Although from a highly technical angle, I could also imagine Twilight taking the opportunity to analyze one of Jake's revolvers and concluding the cylinder walls simply aren't suited for containing any additional chamber pressure, and either finding a way to strengthen the steel, or seeing about having new cylinders made from local steel to withstand much more.

10910999
It's what I do.

[SilverEyedWolf]

10911001
Thanks for the explanation, it's a lot easier to comprehend then the stuff I found on google! I still don't think Jake is the most devout cowboy, so him getting it wrong is honestly a plus. On top of that, I'm not sure how much of the west was actually catholic vs protestant vs baptist vs the rest of the myriad denominations.

And thanks for being a person about it as well, it's much appreciated

[Schwabauer]

10911399
The majority of the west were descended from Germans and the English, making them Protestants and all the fractured churches that sprang from them.