Scythe's Day
The sea air gently swept over the beach as Draco reclined in his chair and stared at the sky. It was the end of a beautiful day as the sun set over the clear water, causing to sparkle a crystal orange. Looking to the empty chair beside him, he sighed and shook his head before turning his attention back to the sunset. “What a shame.” It was missing someone to share it with, the one thing he truly wanted, but alas this would have to do.
As if on cue he heard someone call, “Scythe.” He looked over to see nothing and got out of his chair to scan the area. The voice was familiar, but he soon decided to stop dwelling on it, for it would cause him unneeded pain. “Scythe!” Draco blinked, that wasn’t his name. At least, not his human name. Deciding to ignore it, he sat back down in his seat and resumed his staring. A voice spoke again, but this one was young and had a southern accent, “Scythe, tahme to wake up! Applejack doesn’t like tardy farmhands.”
Scythe’s chest felt pressured as his breathing shallowed, causing his dream to melt around him. His eyes cracked open to the world, seeing Applebloom sitting on his chest. “Out of the dream and into the nightmare.” The room was just beginning to show the first rays of daylight shining through the window. “Five more minutes Bloom,” he mumbled, covering his eyes with a foreleg.
“Applejack wants you up now,” the filly huffed.
“AJ can wait five minutes.” Scythe closed his eyes and began to drift off into the land of sleep, only to have it interrupted by the filly bouncing on his chest like a trampoline. “O-kay-I’m-up!” he said, forming syllables between bounces.
“Thank you!” Applebloom smiled, hopping off of Scythe.
Scythe sat up and glared at the filly, “Don’t you ever do that again.”
She simply rolled her eyes at him and made her way out the door, “Fine.”
As Applebloom left the room, Scythe got out of bed and hit the floor on four hooves. The concept of walking on all fours was still new to him, but in his new body it felt right. Odd, but right. After taking a few minutes to stretch out the kinks in his body from sleeping, he too exited his room. Looking back, he gave it a once over. The room itself was rather simple; painted brown with a bed, dresser and window. Not much, but home nonetheless. “This place, my home,” he thought to himself, laughing quietly, “We’ll find a way home, I’m sure of it.”
Heading into the hall, the floorboards creaked underneath his hooves as Scythe made his way into the bathroom Applejack had shown him during the tour of his new home and workplace and quick introductions to the rest of the family the day before. He closed the door behind him and looked in the mirror, half frowning at what he saw. A silver stallion, not a teenage human, but a pastel pony. Scythe stared at the mirror, his annoyance showed as his ears flattened against his head. He shut his eyes tight and hit the wall with a hoof, just missing the mirror. “This is not me... No, it’s not me!” He continued to hit the wall over and over again, repeating, “It’s not me! It’s not me!” Opening his eyes and looking into the mirror again he sighed, “It’s me.”
A knock came from the door as Applejack spoke from the other side, “Scythe? Are you alright in there?”
Scythe’s gaze snapped way from the mirror. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, “Just give me a few minutes.”
“Alright, jus’ come down soon okay?”
“Okay.” He waited for the clip-clopping of hooves heading away from the door before looking back into the mirror. He turned the faucet and splashed some cold water onto his face. “Stuck in a new land, forced into a new life all because yours didn’t like you. Face it Draco, you’re in one of your stories,” he muttered to himself.
Shaking his head dry, Scythe walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the stairs. “It’s okay, I can do this,” he thought to himself. “First day on the job, I have to do my best.” Scythe puffed out his chest and began his descent to the main floor. Not even halfway down, his hoof missed its step completely and caused Scythe to begin a long fall down the stairs. Time slowed as one thought entered his mind, “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
*THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *CRASH*
“Murphy’s Law: 1 Scythe: 0”
“Are you alright Scythe?” He looked up to see a concerned Applejack standing over him.
“Just peachy,” he muttered angrily.
Applejack offered Scythe a hoof which he promptly smacked away. “I’m fine,” he moped. He struggled to pull himself up, barely managing to straighten himself before falling to the floor again. Applejack offered a hoof again, which he reluctantly accepted.
“Stop actin’ so tough, or else you’ll end up the hospital again.”
Scythe shuddered at the thought of returning to the hospital, it being the last place he wanted to be, especially given his current situation. Upon being helped back up, Scythe sniffed the air. A scent visibly wafted through the hall and into his nostrils, causing him to inhale deeply. His stomach rumbled as he mindlessly drifted towards the source of the aroma.
Applejack followed as Scythe made his way into the dining room where he took a seat behind a plate. Scythe licked his lips at the breakfast before him. A stack of half a dozen pancakes with a healthy coating of syrup and a square of butter on top. “You only see food this good in cartoo-Oh wait.”
Applebloom was busy defeating her own tower of deliciousness while Granny Smith was reading her newspaper. Applejack took a seat next to her sister as Scythe bowed his head and closed his eyes, “And now for grace.” He raised his head and smiled, “-ing myself with these delectable cakes from the pan. A-freaking-men!”
He then went in head first, taking a bite out of the top layer and letting his tastebuds savour the sweet, buttermilky goodness. After that first bite all bets were off as Scythe quickly cleaned his plate. The others at the table stared at him as he chuckled, “Heh, sorry about that. It was delicious, thank you.”
“So Mister Scythe, how are you holding up, being a pony and all?” Applebloom asked.
Scythe leaned back where he sat. “Well squirt, the whole walking on four legs thing is still a bit odd, but I seem to be adjusting,” he replied. “And I really miss the dexterity I had with my hands, but if that’s the universe’s trade off for letting me keep me stay a guy, I say it can have them.”
“An’ what’s wrong with being a mare?” Applejack asked, sounding angered by Scythe’s comment.
The sudden change in her tone caused Scythe to lean too far back and topple backwards. “WOAH!” “Murphy’s Law: 2 Scythe: 0” His head popped up from under the table to see three pairs of angry eyes glaring at him. “I-I mean, th-there’s nothing wrong with that, but-”
His panicked rant was cut short by a chorus of laughter. “No worries Scythe, we were jus’ pullin’ yer leg,” Applejack snickered.
Scythe’s eye twitched at this as he let his head fall to the table. “Universe, send me back now,” he muttered.
Applejack got up and patted her new employee on the back, “C’mon sugar, we were just joking. How about we get to work?”
“I guess,” he sighed, lifting his head up from the table.
“Ah mean what’s the worst that could happen?”
Scythe let his head fall back to the table, “Rule number one, don’t tempt Murphy’s Law... Sucker.”
“Shut it, Sil,” he whispered.
In The Orchard
Scythe followed as Applejack lead him through the orchard. He darted his eyes back and forth, checking for any signs of the universe’s next attack while ignoring Applejack’s instructions. “... ya got that Scythe?”
“Mmm? Yeah.”
AJ looked back at him, "Scythe, you need to pay attention. Applebuckin' is hard work and if yer not careful you really hurt yourself.”
“I’m kicking a tree and making apples fall out of it, give me a demo and I should be able to figure it out.”
Applejack rolled her eyes at his comment, “Fine, but if you get hurt it’s not on me.”
“I’ll get the Murphy’s Law counter ready...”
Scythe mentally facehoofed as he realized what the universe’s next move was; using his paranoia. Hearing a loud *thunk* nearby, the pair changed their direction towards the sound. Coming over Scythe saw a massive red stallion lazily tap a tree with his hind leg, causing a cascade of apples to fall into baskets waiting underneath. “Note to self, never piss the big red guy off.”
“Mornin’ Big Mac!” Applejack called over.
The stallion turned his gaze to them as Scythe shrunk back a bit. He knew that Mac was harmless, but the sheer size the Apple had compared to him was intimidating by itself.
“Mac, this is our new farmhand, Silver Scythe. Ah believe you two havent met formally yet.”
“Uh, nice to meet you,” Scythe greeted, stepping forward and sticking a hoof out.
Macintosh accepted it with a shake before returning his attention to his work. Scythe looked over at Applejack with a confused look on his face. “He can be shy at tahmes,” she shrugged.
Scythe nodded, “Well big guy, I’ll be here until I can find a way home, so if you want to talk you know where to find me.”
“Eeyup.”
Walking back over to Applejack, Scythe decided it was time to learn. “So about that demonstration...”
"Right, Ah’m hopin’ that by the end of today we’ll have you buckin’ trees like a natural." With that Applejack trotted over to a nearby tree. “There’s nothing to it, really. Just line up yer body to the trunk, keep yer balance and buck it as hard as you can!” she explained, demonstrating each step, causing apples to fall from the tree.
Scythe blinked and took a moment to go over what he was just shown. “Heh, no problem. Should be as easy as slaying a chuchu!” he boasted.
“A what now?”
“A small slimy monster thing,” Scythe explained.
AJ rolled her eyes, “How about you put yer money where yer mouth is and get to work.” She led him to a tree, this one was thinner and slightly shorter than the other trees, but beared bright red fruit nonetheless. “We’ll start you off on some younger trees so you can build up yer strength.”
“Seems fair,” Scythe nodded. He stepped up to the tree and went through the steps. “Line up your body, check. Maintain balance, check,” he thought to himself, tensing his hind legs. “Aaand,” he shifted his balance forwards to bring his hind legs up, but a sudden shift caused him to lose control of his body. “WOAH! Balance not check! Abort! Abort!”
But it was too late. Scythe’s balance shifted awkwardly as he attempted to buck the tree, but instead of meeting the tree high, his hind legs shot out and spread slightly. Just enough for his lost balance to send him crashing into the tree.
*CRUNCH*
A searing pain lanced through his groin and quickly spread throughout his body. “Murphy’s Law: 3 Scy-”
“OH SHUT UP SIL!”
Scythe hit the ground and curled into the fetal position. Slipping into the dark recesses of humiliation and agony, Sil had one thing left to say, “It is pitch black. You will likely be eaten by a Grue,” followed by a maniacal laugh.
And then nothingness.
A few minutes of shame and pain later...
Scythe heard a distant voice say something, but could not make out its muffled words. “Oh, you’ve finally decided to bring us back to reality? Fine, let me boot up the ROM BIOS.”
“I am not a computer.” Scythe sighed as his eyes cracked open and his senses began to crisp up. He was on his back and staring through the trees and into the sky.
The muffled voice became clear as he made out two figures as Applejack and Mac standing over him. “Scythe.” His ears registered her voice. “You alright?”
He closed his eyes again as sensation returned to his body. His crotch still hurt, but the rest of him felt relatively fine, aside from the shock of the impact. The pain lessened, but not entirely bearable, he managed a small whimper in response. He opened his eyes to see Mac reach down and lift him up to his hooves.
“C’mon sugar, walk it off,” Applejack comforted.
Scythe took a few shaky steps forward. The siblings stayed close in case he were to fall, but as he regained his stability, they left Scythe to walk unassisted. Feeling his mind come to rest, he turned back to face Applejack. “Okay, maybe applebucking is more like fighting a bull. Sorry about being cocky earlier.” He bowed his head and sighed, “Truth is that I’m just a city boy with a knack for telling stories, I doubt that I’m going to be much help out here.”
“Ah don’t see it that way,” Applejack stated.
Scythe looked up. “How so?”
“Look at it as if you need to grow into it, I can see you have the potential. We’ll have to work on yer aim and power, so Ah’ll have you start workin’ the heavybag every mornin’. For today you can collect baskets an’ put them on the wagon.”
“What? I’m perfectly strong enough, watch.” Scythe limbered over to another tree and assumed the stance, being careful not to repeat his earlier actions. Struggling with his injury, he managed to deliver a direct buck to the trunk. The result, however, was extremely underwhelming as two apples came loose, only one making it into the awaiting baskets.
Scythe stared at the result and facehoofed. After a moment of silence he spoke, “Basket boy it is then.”
“Eeyup,” Macintosh agreed.
“So how do I lift these things?” he asked, gesturing to the filled baskets that Mac had filled earlier.
“There’s a basket harness in the wagon over there,” Applejack pointed to a wagon visible through some nearby trees. “Just put it on and hook the baskets to the sides and put them on the wagon.”
“Alright,” Scythe said, making his way over to retrieve the harness.
A few hours later...
The sky had begun to turn orange as Scythe and the Apple siblings returned to the house.
The pain from a long days work lingered in Scythe’s muscles, the exhaustion that wracked his body felt rewarding. He was strapped up to the wagon and was helping Applejack pull it back to the barn. His legs ached, his crotch was stiff, his back sore from lifting the many baskets, and he was covered in sweat and grime, but it was all worth it. The hard day of work felt good.
“You sure yer okay Scythe?” Applejack asked, her face showing concern, “You really put in a lot of effert today.”
Scythe turned his head to her and gave a weak smile. “Trust me, I’m fine. Putting in one hundred percent is the least I can do. You gave me chance to find something I’ll enjoy here, something that no one back home would ever give me. It may not be what I’m supposedly destined to do, but still, thank you for this opportunity. I won’t let you down.”
AJ chuckled at his response, “Alright, just don’t push yerself too hard. We’ll drop off these baskets and get back for some dinner, sound good.”
Scythe’s stomach grumbled at the thought of food, the early lunch he had gave him a good burst of energy, but it was beginning to take its toll. “Sounds good.”
“Eeyup,” Mac added.
Scythe turned his attention to the taller stallion walking next to him. “Can you say anything aside from ‘Eeyup’ and ‘Nope’?” he asked. It was a question that plagued him all day as Macintosh gave his signature one word responses to everything he asked in an attempt to start a conversation.
Mac gave him a sly grin, “Maybe.” They began to laugh as they approached the barn.
“Scythe!” Applebloom ran up to him with two fillies in tow, one an orange pegasus, and the other a white unicorn that reminded him of Rarity.
“Oh hey Bloom, who are your friends?”
“Oh, this is Sweetie Belle and this is Scootaloo,” she said, gesturing to her friends as she introduced them. “And together we’re...”
Scythe didn’t stand a chance as the three fillies raised their voices and shouted in unison, “THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”
Scythe reeled back slightly at the sound of the mini explosion before him. “Uh-huh. So what can I do for you?”
Scootaloo stepped forward, “You’re an alien, right?”
“Scootaloo, we’ve been over this, there’s no such thing as aliens!” Sweetie Belle objected.
“Right, because there’s a huge difference between a being from another universe and an alien, but please, continue,” Scythe remarked.
“Well, we were wonderin’ how you got yer Cutie Mark,” Applebloom explained.
“Actually girls, where I come from we don’t get marks that tell us our special skills.”
“What!?” The trio were shocked by this.
“But how do you know what your special talent is?” Sweetie asked.
Scythe shrugged, “That’s the thing. On my world we had to work for our skills, nothing was just shown to us and instantly said “Here’s what you’re good at, have fun”. Some people can end up going their entire lives without knowing their true potential.”
“So you don’t have a story to how you got yer Cutie Mark?” Applebloom summarized.
“Well no.” Seeing the fillies visibly deflate, Scythe thought up a solution. “Tell you what, meet me back at the house and I’ll finish up here. Then I’ll tell you a story about the story of how I discovered my talent.”
“Really?” They perked up at this.
“Sure, storytelling is my talent. Now you three run along and I’ll tell you the story of how I, Draco the silver tongued explorer extraordinaire got my mark!” Scythe turned to Applejack who rolled her eyes.
The fillies nodded eagerly and smiled, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS STORY LISTENERS! YAY!”
Later...
Scythe sat on the couch with the Crusaders sitting in front of him. “This is the story of how I learned of my destiny.” He smiled and began his tale, “It was a very windy and cloudy day when I decided it was time for me to embark on an adventure to find my true skills, and obtain my mark. Most had simply tried things they are good at and stayed in the safety of their home town, but me, I wanted something grand, something I could say I did, a grand story to tell when I returned!” He thrust a hoof into the air for emphasis, causing the fillies to “Oooh”.
Applejack watched from across the room. She laughed quietly at Scythe as he told of his supposed ordeal before turning her attention back to the letter she was writing.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I had Scythe begin work on the farm. To be honest, I was a little unsure about whether or not he’d be able to hold his own, let alone have fun with his attitude. After a few accidents, he’s actually begun to open up and enjoy himself. He can tell some good stories, but the sarcasm I could do without. If I were in his position, I don’t think I would fare much better, but I guess that once you find something that you can be passionate about, you can make the best of any situation.
Your faithful subject,
Applejack
P.S. What’s a Sil?
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you missed a line or 2
2563155 Thanks for pointing that out. I will let Tobias know straight away.
2563155
Thanks for pointing that out!
Really the only thing that is bugging me is i want to know more about Sil, but it looks like you guys are getting to that
2564773 Indeed we will be.(well eventully, you may hjave to wait a few chapters though.)
My opinion? My opinion is that I like
2565465 I can wait i have a few other stories to help me kill the time tell you get there and really curious on how this is going to work out