Shattered Past

by thunderclap

Sweet Turned Sour

“Apple Bloom you an’ yer friends need to get up.”

Jake bolted upright from where he was laying, panicking. ‘This can’t be good. That has to be Apple Bloom’s sister. Wait, she doesn’t know that I’m here. All I have to do is stay here and wait for her to leave.’

‘Girls,’ Jake thought, reaching his mind out to the sleeping Crusaders that were next to him.

They jumped up and nearly said something but he clamped a hand over their mouths before they could even make a noise. ‘Shhh, don’t make a sound. I’m talking to you through my telepathy because I think Apple Bloom’s sister is out there calling for you guys.’ They nodded slowly in understanding.

‘What are you going to do?’ Sweetie Belle asked.

‘I’m probably just going to stay in here until the coast is clear. I should be fine unless she decides to come in.’

“Girls,” the voice outside said, increasing in volume. “That tears it, Ahm comin’ up there.”

‘Oh come on!’ Jake screamed to himself.

‘Now what are we gonna do?’ Scootaloo thought. Jake looked around the clubhouse to see if he could find a suitable hiding place. Meanwhile, footsteps could be heard growing louder with each passing moment. He finally looked up at the rafters and decided on what to do. He started to run towards the wall of the clubhouse and as he was about to hit it, jumped. Then he rebounded himself off the wall and grabbed onto the rafter with both hands and flipped his entire body over it.

The door started to open as Jake pressed himself against the beam and out of sight, hopefully. “What are y’all doin’ here? Ah told ya it was time t’go.”

“Oh, we know we were just…”

“Doing some morning stretches.” Chimed in Sweetie Belle for a flustered Scootaloo, “We heard that it was important to start out the day with a quick stretch.”

‘That’s what they’re going with?’ Jake thought to himself. ‘It would be okay if they didn’t sound so rigid. Then again they are hiding a strange creature from an authority figure. But I don’t think she’s going to…’

“Ah guess that makes sense. Just finish up and let’s go. You girls have t’go to school.” Applejack said with a puzzled look.

“Okay, Applejack we will.” Apple Bloom replied. With that the girls and Applejack started to leave.

‘Did she really just believe that?’ Jake thought. ‘Maybe I should take a quick look in her head to be sure. I’ll probably hate myself for this, but I do have to look out for myself.’

Jake took a deep breath and reached out his mind to Applejack. He slowly felt his mind connect with hers after some resistance. Jake tried to limit his presence to her conscious thoughts and for the most part he succeeded. ‘I can’t quite put my hoof on it, but somethin’ seems odd with the girls, Ahm probably just bein’ paranoid. They just got in trouble, there’s no way they’re up to somethin’ already.’

Jake sighed in relief and loosened his grip on the beam. A small smile played on his lips with his fears alleviated. ‘That was close. Applejack may be suspicious but it’s the last thing on her mind so I don’t think she’s going to act on it. I’ll stay here for another minute until the coast is clear and head back into the forest for a while.’

Once Jake was sure enough time had passed he tried to find any signs of life with his telepathy. Satisfied, he crept out of the clubhouse and made his way to the Everfree Forest. The perpetual dark of the forest surrounded him as he tried to plan out his actions.

‘I need to figure out how I’m going to find anymore humans. I know I’m going to have to reveal myself to the ponies in town eventually but I have to be smart about how I do it. If I just walk into town as I am, then I’ll probably make a scene. And if Fluttershy is the first one I run into she’ll know she wasn’t just dreaming and I could cause her to panic or something.’

‘Maybe I should find a busy road into town and play dead there and when one of the ponies finds me I’ll look like an innocent, injured creature. Yes, this could work. It may not be the most dignified of plans but it’s better than nothing. If this is going to work though I’ll have to wait until nightfall so no one sees me before my plan goes into effect. Until then, I’ll make some snares to help make hunting a lot easier. I might need them. Seeing as the ponies won’t have any meat to give me. I might even be able to make a few extra-large ones for monsters like the one I saw yesterday.’
The school bell rang and all of the foals rushed out to get on with their days. All except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were upset that Jake had to run off again.

“When do y’all think we’ll see ‘im again?”

“I don’t know. It could be anytime between tonight and who knows when.” Scootaloo sighed.

“Don’t say that! Jake came back before and he’ll come back again.” Sweetie Belle pouted.

“Calm down, Sweetie Belle, Ah think Scootaloo was just sayin’ that he can be a bit… unpredictable.”

“Yeah, like how he can read minds and do crazy acrobatics. I’d say that was unpredictable.” Scootaloo added.

“Whatever, I just know that Jake will come back soon.” With that Sweetie Belle turned and walked away from her friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged a look for a moment, puzzled by their friend’s behavior.

“What was all that about?”

“Ah think Sweetie Belle’s upset that Jake had to leave so soon.”

“I guess that makes sense. Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“If we give her a little time Ahm sure she’ll be fine.”

Sweetie Belle walked into the Carousel Boutique with an uncomfortable look on her face. Just as the bell finished ringing Rarity stepped into the waiting area with a large grin on her face.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique where everything is sweet… Oh, Sweetie Belle, is something wrong?” Rarity asked, a look of concern appearing on her face. “You look upset about something.”

“Hey Sis, I just wanted to ask you for some advice.”

“Of course, Darling, just let me close the shop and you can ask me whatever you like.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.”

“It’s no trouble at all; business is always slow the day after a holiday.” Rarity returned after a few seconds and led Sweetie Belle into the kitchen and made two cups of tea. “There you go, Sweetie Belle. Now, what kind of advice do you need?”

“Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said, taking a sip from the cup, and fidgeted with it for a second. “Do you know anything about boys?”

“I have a little experience. Wait, are you saying that you have a crush on a young stallion?” Rarity asked, absolutely ecstatic. “You have to tell me everything about him.”

“I guess you could say I have a crush. He’s a little older than me, but he’s really nice.”

“A nice boy; when I was about your age I had a thing for a bad boy. What’s his name?”

“His name is… Braveheart.”

“That’s a nice name. What can you tell me about him?”

“Well, he’s really brave. Nothing seems to scare him. Not only that, but he has a good sense of humor and is really sweet.”

“He sounds like a real knight in shining armor. Tell me, does he have a brother that’s my age.” Rarity said with a small laugh.

“I don’t think so.” Sweetie Belle replied, smiling slightly. “So, how do I get him to notice me?”

“That’s the million bit question. Every boy is a bit different. Seeing as you say he’s brave he might appreciate a little bravery on your end. Tell him outright how you feel and he might be incredibly impressed. And a gift never hurt anypony.”

“Gift? Oh no! The scarf! I gotta go, Sis. Thanks for the advice!” Sweetie Belle cried, rushing out of her seat and through the door.

“That little filly is so excitable.” Rarity sighed I do hope her little endeavor turns out well.”

Jake sat under a tree after setting up his snares around several parts of the forest. All the while he stared at a small sliver of light that made its way through the thick canopy. “It took almost all day but I finally set up the last snare. Just another useful skill I don’t know how I have but do. I’m not even complaining this time. Sure I could be upset, but what would be the point? I just have to keep working until I can find others like me. All that serious stuff aside, despite being infested with a plethora of creatures that could kill me the second I let my guard down, this place is really pretty in an odd way.”

“That could just be me though. I can’t remember my aesthetic sense much anyway. I’m really glad I’m planning on showing myself to the ponies soon. All this talking to myself is probably unhealthy.” Jake’s stomach let out a small growl. “Looks like a few berries and nuts isn’t cutting it. Let’s see if any of my nearby snares have caught anything more filling.”

Jake closed his eyes and used his telepathy to check the surrounding area to see if his snares had proven effective. “Hmmm, so far nothing seems to be in my snares. But there is a group of Timberwolves about ninety meters east of here that are tracking something. Its mind was pretty resilient so I’m not sure what it was. Oh well, I just hope it’s edible.” Jake said, starting off toward the Timberwolves. A few seconds later a loud, high pitched scream rang out in the forest along with the howls of Timberwolves.

“Oh no, please let that be anything but what I think that is.” Jake said, storming off towards the source of the sound. Moments later Jake found a group of Timberwolves surrounding Sweetie Belle. Before Jake could even react one of the Timberwolves bit her in the midsection. She managed to choke out a small squeak as she collapsed to the ground.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Jake bellowed, lashing out with his telepathy. The Timberwolves immediately turned and ran as Jake rushed to Sweetie Belle’s side and tearing off any clean cloth he could find on his body and dressing the wound as best he could. “Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here? It’s way too dangerous for you to come here alone.”

“I… wanted to… give you… scarf.” She wheezed looking at something on the ground next to her.

“No, no. On second thought, just go to sleep.” Jake replied, using his telepathy to force her unconscious. Then he tied the makeshift bandages, put on the scarf that Sweetie Belle had made him, and scooped her up in his arms. “Come on let’s go get you some help.” Jake said soothingly before bolting out of the forest.

Rarity was walking down the street with a satisfied look on her face. ‘I wonder how Sweetie Belle is doing with her little crush. I bet they’re having a little date right now. Too bad Twilight said she had something important to talk about. Otherwise, I might be tempted to try and see for myself. Hold on, is it just me or did it get quiet all of a sudden.’

Rarity took a quick look around the recently busy street and saw nothing around her, except for a strange figure barreling towards her. Before she could even try to identify the figure it crashed into her and dropped something next to her. “Who in the world do you…”Was all Rarity managed to get out before she noticed the bloody and unconscious Sweetie Belle. “What did you do to her?! What did you do to my sister?!” Rarity shrieked, turning her gaze toward the dazed figure.

“Help,” a mysterious creature said with an outstretched arm.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Rarity cried, sending a blast of magic toward the tattered creature. It turned and ran off toward the Everfree Forest, leaving Rarity alone to panic. “Somepony, anypony, help!”