Balance of the Mind and Body

by Swift Blaze

Chapter 10: Working the Farm

As the sun was setting, Swift Blaze made his way to Fluttershy’s Cottage. He knocked on the door to see if she was home. A few minutes later, the door was opened up by Fluttershy. “Oh, Swift Blaze! What brings you here?” she said with a surprised voice

“Hi Fluttershy. I was wondering if I can join you for dinner and have some, uh, fish you said you have for your meat eating friends?” the human asked her.

“Oh, sure. Of course you can join me. I’m glad you are taking up on my offer. I just got done feeding my animal friends before making my dinner. If you want, if you don’t mind, I could cook the fish for you. Or, if you prefer, you can have it raw.”

“I’m not a big fan of sushi, which is raw fish. You don’t have to cook it, honestly. I’m just glad you have some on hand. Right now, I don’t have the energy to go hunting after helping Applejack.”

“Ok, Blaze, I’ll show you where I keep the fish. Then, I will work on my dinner.”

“If it’s alright with you, I would like to make you a dish from my world. I can make it vegetarian for you and add fish to mine.”

“That sounds lovely. It’s not everyday that I get to try food from another place. I'll show you where the kitchen is, too.”

Blaze followed Fluttershy into her cottage. He looked around and saw several animals eating food pellets from their food bowls. Angel was being different from the others. He was having a fresh salad. The yellow Pegasus mare showed the freezer with the fish and where everything was in her kitchen.

"If you need any help, I'll be in the living room reading a book," Fluttershy said.

Blaze replied, "Thanks. It should be ready in about thirty minutes."

Once she left, the human looked in the pantry for the ingredients he needed. He pulled out rice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and oil. In the fridge, he found bell peppers, red onions, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, fresh ginger, and garlic. All the basic ingredients to make the stir fry. The human looked in the meat freezer and found the fish to be salmon, his favorite.

He placed a pot of water on the stove and lit it. Then, he started cleaning the fish. Blaze then gathered up the veggies and chopped them to the proper size to cook evenly. Once the water was to a boil, the rice was tossed in and stirred. The human then placed two skillets onto the stove over lit flames; one will be veggie only, and the other will be veggie and fish. He wasn't following a specific recipe as he has done this several times.

While Blaze was focused on the cooking, Fluttershy snuck back into the kitchen as everything smelled very good. She watched him mix different herbs and liquids in a bowl. Then, pour it over what was in the pans. Once it hit the hot surface, new smells she hadn’t smelled before filled the air. The rice finished cooking. Blaze drained it and place it onto two plates that he had pulled out at some point. The first pan was emptied onto one and the other was emptied on the other.

Fluttershy went to the table nearby as the human carried the plates over with silverware. He placed the veggie one in front of her and the salmon and veggie where he was going to sit. Lastly, he went back to the kitchen to get both of themselves a glass of water.

Blaze said, “Dinner is served. Just be careful with the first couple of bites. It's still hot from the cooking.”

The mare picked up some with her fork, blew on it for a bit, then took a bite. Her face showed pure happiness. “This is amazing, Blaze! I'm amazed you don’t have a cutie mark in cooking.”

“I only taught myself in how to cook the dishes I like to eat. True chefs know how to cook any kind of meal with the ingredients they can get.”

“Well, thank you for cooking it. I might ask you to come over more so I can see what other dishes from your world you can make.”

“I would like that. Once I get my own place, you can come by anytime too, if you want to eat more of my cooking.”

“That would be lovely.”

They finished eating and Blaze helped with cleanup. He said, "Goodbye, Fluttershy. I'm heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. I'm just helping out on the farm while Big Mac recovers."

"Oh, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on him. Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams," she replied.

Once the human got back to the barn, he saw a cot was placed where he had been sleeping the night before with a blanket. Guess they want to make sure I get good rest tonight, he thought with a smile on his face. Next to the bedding was a package wrapped up with a fancy bow. Blaze opened it and looked inside. His smile went bigger as there was a new Green gi outfit with white trim inside. Underneath, were all the undergarments he’d asked for. The human thought how nice it was of Rarity to deliver it here. He was excited to see what the other ones will look like.

Blaze placed the box next to the bed and went to sleep. Inside his head now, he made several groups of shadow clones. The first set practiced more water and earth style jutsu. The next went to practice the aerial moves Rainbow had him copy. He couldn't wait to start working on trying to learn wood style. That will be very helpful in building his house. Blaze only continued this training for a couple hours. He wanted to get a full rest for the work he said he will do.

Next morning, the human woke up at the usual time. He decided to skip the morning training. Going to get plenty of work outs on the farm for the next couple days. Blaze snuck into the farmhouse with his new clothes and headed to the upstairs bathroom to clean up. He didn't hear any movement from the bedrooms.

Once inside, he closed the door and began to undress. Blaze had his gi off and in a pile on the floor next to him. Just as he had two thumbs tucked inside the waistband to remove the undergarments, the door opened all the way. The human quickly turned his head and saw Applejack was standing there, with a groggy look on her face.

“Applejack! Don’t you know to knock!” Blaze shouted. Then, he slammed the door in her face.

“I'm sorry there, Blaze. I'm just used to being the first one to wake up and use the bathroom," the mare said with a sad tone in her voice from the other side of the door.

Blaze calmed down and replied, "It's alright. That was kinda an auto human reaction to that type of event. Don't think anything wrong about it."

"Alright. So, when did you come back last night?”

“I guess it was sometime after you ponies went to bed." Blaze continued with taking off his clothes. "I'm also sorry for snapping at you. Where I'm from, the human species don’t like to expose ourselves to strangers. I'm going to take a quick shower and be out quickly.”

Blaze turned the shower on and hopped in. Once all clean and dried off, He put the new clothes on. They fit nicely, the fact being it was Rarity's first time to make it for his species. He exited the bathroom and saw Applejack was sitting next to the door, with a sad look on her face.

The human lowered himself to sit on his heels and be at the same level with her. He placed a hand on the mare's shoulder and said, “It’s ok, Applejack. You couldn’t have known how humans feel about being naked in front of others. I'm not mad at you. Now then, cheer up, clean up, and I'll get some breakfast going.”

Applejack looked into his face and said, “Ok, Blaze. I'm sorry again for doing that. I’ve been meaning to get locks on that door. You can see that we ponyfolk don’t wear clothes all the time, so we are used to seeing everything.”

“I believe I know what you're getting at. Now, get in there and let's just forget this completely.”

As the orange Earth pony went into the bathroom, the human went to the kitchen. Blaze gathered the stuff to prepare a special pancake batter that he believed the Apple Family will laugh about when they hear what the human's call this dish. As he started to cook them, he heard the others getting up.

The first to arrive was Apple Bloom. The little filly said, “Morning Mister Blaze, what smells good?

Blaze replied, “Good morning to you too. I'm making breakfast this time. Your sister is in the bathroom at the moment. If you would like to help, can you set the table?”

“Right away! Hope you make enough for everypony.”

Apple Bloom scurried about with the plates and glassware to the dining room table. As she was finishing up, Granny Smith and Big Mac came down. They helped each other to the table. Blaze said good morning to them and they replied back with the same response. As the human was making the last batch, Applejack came down and joined the others. Blaze turned off the stove before he brought the platter with the special pancakes to the table. Before he could sit down, the other ponies started to take some and taste it.

“YEE-HAW! Those are some mighty tasting pancakes. What do you call them, Blaze?” Applejack asked.

“You,” Blaze replied with a big grin.

“You? That’s a strange thing to call them.”

The human started to chuckle a bit. “Not ‘You’ you. Its name is you.”

“I don’t get where you are getting at, partner. Mind just telling what the name is?”

“The name of this dish is called applejacks.”

All the ponies started to laugh, while Applejack was blushing. Blaze joined in the laughter.

They finished breakfast and the human helped with the cleanup. He then helped Big Mac back to bed before he joined Applejack outside. She was saying goodbye to Apple Bloom as she was going to school.

The orange mare said, “Ready to get to work, Blaze?”

For a response, he repeated the jutsu he did yesterday. Once the smoked cleared, they all shouted, “Ready!”

The workforce continued clearing the south field of the apples. They took short water breaks when needed. Most of all, everyone was having fun. When lunch time came around, half the south field was done. Applejack snuck away at some point to prepare some peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches for lunch. The mare made enough for all of Blaze's clones to eat too.

As the group continued working through the afternoon, the human had a feeling that something was watching him. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it has been there for some time. The other clones detected this also. They nodded to each other to continue the work without looking suspicious.

Blaze finally spotted what was looking at them in the corner of his vision. It was a very small portal hovering above the trees. Best size guess would be about the size of a camera lens. The human picked up an apple from a bushel and threw the fruit at it. It went straight and true and flew into the portal. He heard a faint scream as the portal closed. A letter popped in front of him with Princess Celestia’s seal on it. He opened it and read the following:

Dear Swift Blaze,

Impressive job of discovering that opening and being able to hit it with an apple. It tasted quite good by the way. If you are not busy tomorrow, I was wondering if you are now ready to discuss with me about your last moments on your planet and how you arrived here. I can schedule to be down there so you can tell me and your friends. I do want another time with you in private to discuss about those mental blocks you placed in your mind.

Your Sun Ruler and ‘eye’ in the sky,

Princess Celestia

After re-reading it for a second time, Blaze agreed that he shouldn't put this off anymore. He'll tell as much as he can, without messing with the possible future he may know.

Applejack saw that the human Swift Blaze had stopped working. In his hands he was holding a scroll. She trotted up to him and asked, “What’s going on, Blaze? Did that come from Princess Celestia?”

Blaze rolled it back up before he said, “Yea, this came from her. She would like to have another chat with me and ask me a few more questions. Also, Princess Celestia wishes for you and the others to be there too. I agree with it." The human turned his head away. "There have been some things in the back of my mind, I've should have said sooner. I’ve just been trying to think of the best way to say it." He looked back to the orange Earth pony. "Would you mind coming to it?”

Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a fore hoof as she said, “I don’t know. I still have a lot of apple-bucking to do. If both of us are gone, we will fall behind greatly.”

“No, we won’t. Remember, I can make more shadow clones to cover it. They'll continue to work for us while we do this.”

“Alright, sugarcube, I'll join ya. I do have a few more questions, based upon what you said. Now then, let’s get back to work. These apples won’t buck themselves.”

The two of them went back to work with the other clones. They worked until the sun had set below the horizon. Blaze released most of his clones, except for one. The human sent this one to inform the others about the meeting at Twilight’s library with the Princess.

Applejack and Blaze returned to the farmhouse with empty stomachs that were giving a mighty roar. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were taking care of dinner. With nothing to do, the human went to sit on the couch, or more accurately, fall onto it. He was still getting used to the aftermath of using these clones for long periods. He's grateful that he didn't collapse right after they vanished.

As Blaze sat there, he thought about what might have to come to light in the questioning, wondering what they will think of him lying about all of this stuff he's been doing, the ki and jutsu stuff. What will they say about his true self, a computer geek that spent his spare time on the internet, in one form or another, back on Earth. Well, it would be hard to say as they don't have the same tech level humans do now. Finally, the human couldn't avoid the main topic the Princess requested to learn. Maybe he should work on teleportation and substitution jutsu tonight, just in case.

“Dinner is ready, everypony!” Apple Bloom said from the kitchen.

This broke Blaze's thinking, with some help from his stomach growling. He got up and made his way to the table. The human saw that on the table were two salad types and the usual apple deserts that were popular. The first salad was a veggie-based one, with what he's probably guessing is an apple style dressing. The other one is just different fruits that were cut up and tossed, that included apples. Blaze only went for a good serving of these, while the Apple family was eating a bit of everything.

Some time later, as they finished eating and settled down in the living room, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom quickly went over and opened it. Standing there, was the pony form of Swift Blaze. "What the? I thought you . . ." the young filly said as she looked back and forth from the living room and the door. "AHHH! It's a changling! Run everypony!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while running away.

Before this filly could run up the stairs, she was yanked back and had hooves holding her around her body. Apple Bloom thrashed about, trying to break free. She soon saw it was the pony that was standing at the door that had her. This caused her to want the break the hold more.

"Calm down, Apple Bloom. I'm not this changeling you ponies keep calling me," the pony Blaze said.

"Yeah, right! Then how come you look like my friend's pony form when he's sitting right over there?"

The human Blaze replied, "That's because that is one of my clones I can create."

"What the? There are more of you in Equestria?" Granny Smith asked.

"No, this is just another one of those fancy magic things I can do. I'm too tired to go into details." The human Blaze turned his head to the pony Blaze, "Why are you still around? I thought you would release yourself after visiting everyone."

The clone replied, "I would have, boss, but I had to bring back a package from Miss Rarity. I left it in the barn next to the cot."

"Wow, she really worked fast finishing the other outfits."

"Before you ask, I did thank her for doing them."

"But, it still doesn't explain why you had to walk over here and tell me directly."

"Well, I wanted to see the filly's expression on seeing two of us. It was funny, right, boss?"

The human Blaze gave a small chuckle. Then he said, "Yea, I guess it was."

"I'm still here, ya know," Apple Bloom said while still being held by the pony Blaze. "I've calmed down. Think you can let go of me?"

"Oh! Sorry about that." He set the filly down gently before releasing his hold. "We good, Apple Bloom?"

After the filly adjusted the bow in her mane, she said, "Yea, we are. I didn't see that coming. Now I'm looking forward to the next thing you'll do."

"Well, it will have to wait until later. I have a meeting with the Princess tomorrow and should get my rest."

The pony form released the jutsu and his memories merged with the human. He got up and said, "As the other me stated, I need to hit the sack and get ready for some of the questions that might come tomorrow.”

“How in Equestria are you going to prepare to answer questions you don’t even know?” Applejack asked.

“I'm basing it on what has already been asked,” then, in a small whisper voice, “and what I've read in other fiction stories.” Blaze switched back to normal volume and said, “Good night, everyone. See you all in the morning.”

They all said good night to him as he left the farmhouse. Inside the barn, he saw the package his clone got from Rarity. Blaze opened it up and began to take the clothing out, one at a time. The first one was a blue gi with black trim. Next, a red gi with black trim, a full black gi, a full white gi, a green gi with black trim, and finally, a black gi with white trim. The human was very impressed with how they all looked and their color choices. He couldn’t wait to see what Rarity will do for his tux for the Gala. He folded them back up and placed them back in the box to keep them clean.

Blaze lay down and entered his mind. He first made clones to start learning the new jutsu he thought he should have, in case of needing an escape method. While they did that, he focused more on what he may have to cover and possibly have to reveal. There is only so much the human could show from his iPad. If possible, and they accept it, somehow, allow them access to enter his mind. Of course, he will have to be in control of what they will see. Can’t let them wander into his personal memories. This only went on for a few hours before actually going to sleep. Blaze will need it to keep his mind sharp and in check of what’s to come.

Author's Note:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Comments

[Shisarakage]

I got tone.

Fire whene'er ye're ready.

Roger that. Eagle Twenty, Fox-2!

Sorry fer tha', Lad, but we couldn't resist th' op'rtun'ty t' quote 'Independance Day'.

Looking forward for the next one!

[unknowncape7377]

6364384 yeee it gud reference