Elements of Foregiveness part 1: Honesty

Chapters

Prologue: And I'm here again...
Chapter 1: Trouble Blooms
Chapter 3: Watch in Awe!
Chapter 4: More Truth
Chapter 5:Putting it Off
Chapter 6: Day One
Chapter 7: Day Two
Chapter 8: Final Day
Chapter 2: Parts of Truth

Prologue: And I'm here again...

After everything that had happened, one might expect that a unicorn would never regain their life. It was true that he had his memories back, but there was something else missing. Hokey Smokes knew who he was supposed to be, knew what he had to do, but that was slightly less important to him than what he was missing. Where was his family? Where were his friends? The stallion had names of ponies, names of cities, but the two of them had brought him nowhere. Manehattan had been a bust, and Canterlot didn’t have a single pony who knew the ponies he was referring to. Somepony had told him to go to Appleloosa, but that hadn’t really made sense to him. Why would his family go somewhere that was filled to the brim with settler ponies? There was also the fact that the majority of what he heard made them all sound like earth ponies. His parents were both unicorns, just as he was. All of that meant that he was two months in, from the whole incident with Twilight and Luna, and there was not a single place that he knew he could stay at.

Hokey Smokes had actually taken to wandering rather quickly. There were always people who would pay for a good show, and magic was something that he had a slight grasp on. Even with his memories, the knowledge of how to do the spells, there was something that wasn’t quite right. Every time he tried to perform a spell, even one that he should have been able to do, it didn’t work. It was almost as if he was a little foal again, trying to learn them for the first time. If only Luna had stayed, maybe she would be able to help me understand this. At the very least, she could have pointed me toward figuring out where I could go to fix whatever problem is stopping me from doing much more than lifting things. Eyes looked up, not paying attention to anything that was going on around him. It started to seem weird that he was able to just wander around and make money. In a few towns, he heard about a great unicorn that possessed great power. He never got a name, but the words about her being the pupil of the princess were enough to make sure that he didn’t want to run into her.

Eyes looked back on the path that he had been walking, and a few blinks came next. It wasn’t that he had been trying to steer clear of this town, but there wasn’t any reason that he was there. Didn’t he say that I should follow the path that leads out of Canterlot to Baltimare, which is to the east? Then, and I think I remember this correctly, take the exit on the north side of town. That would lead me right to the town of Trottingham. It’s exactly where I was supposed to go, right? Hokey Smokes had stopped, glancing up in the air again as he tried to think of exactly how it was that he had turned up here instead of there. Another few minutes passed, and then came the realization that he was completely wrong. It hadn’t been north from Trottingham; it had actually been the direction from a previous journey. It was north from Manehattan that he had first run into the town of Fillydalphia.

Had he really gotten so confused in only a couple of months of travel? It had been almost nonstop, true, but it just seemed to be a huge mistake that he shouldn’t have made. His stomach started to rumble, the clear sign that he needed food. How could he show his face back in Ponyville? He wasn’t even sure he wanted to be there, the entire town was filled with ponies who he had likely angered. After all, Twilight Sparkle seems like she’s a pillar of the community. They all care for her; they all seem to like having her around. Or maybe it was just the noise. Either way, I doubt it’s a good idea to simply go into the town. Another rumble of his stomach came, almost as if to tell him that his stubborn pride was going to cost him, and then he let out a sigh. Hokey Smokes had to figure out what he was going to do. If he went into town, he might be able to make some bits. After that, he could leave and never show up again. The only other option that he had lay with stubbornness. He could refuse to go into town, and he could go hungry for the night. Manehattan wasn’t far, but it was starting to get dark.

And staying out might have the benefit of letting me lay out on the ground again. Then again, I don’t know anyone in Ponyville that would let me stay with them. Oh what I would do for a nice wagon right about now. I would take great care of it, and likely be able to make a huge spectacle of myself. Ponies love a good show, and I could provide. Maybe I could even get as much money as that showmare that I heard a lot about. What was her name again? A few seconds later, it came to him. He should have remembered somepony who referred to herself as the Great and Powerful Trixie. Of course, she likely has a lot of magic. I’m not quite as skilled, unfortunately. I know how it should work, but… I don’t know. Something isn’t right at all. The few minutes of thinking hadn’t made the decision any easier, but he soon decided to stay near Ponyville for the night. There was something about the town that made him feel safe. It could have been the scenery, or maybe it was the fact that everypony seemed to quickly react when he had gone in to confront Twilight Sparkle.

Around half an hour later, the night having taken full hold by now, Hokey Smokes came upon a destination. It looked like an orchard of some sort. He would just have to find a good place to rest for the night, and then he could leave in the morning. Aside from that, it looked as though there might be a few apples that wouldn’t be missed. There were plenty of trees. All he would have to do was remove a couple, eat them, and then find some way to make sure that the cores were never found by anypony who could link them to him. All in all, it was a good plan. A single apple was pulled down, and quickly eaten. Afterwards, he practically collapsed beside one of the trees and went to sleep. He hadn’t even been able to hide the core, the exhaustion from the travels seemingly hitting him at once.

Chapter 1: Trouble Blooms

The night had gone well, with dreams of apples filling his head. It might not have made any sense if it had happened any other day, but the previous night had him tasting one of the greatest apples he had ever eaten. There was no other way to put it; Hokey Smokes simply knew that he had to get more of them before he left. That might not have been the nicest thing to do, but it was the thing that would make him happy. It was the option that he knew he would have to be sneaky about, potentially even taking only a few apples from each tree. How many was he thinking to take? There were plenty of apples; the people who were there could afford to lose about ten or twenty. He even had a bag to put some of them in, he might be able to hold quite a few before he would have to leave and never come back. That had been the plan, but that wasn’t the thing that actually came about. His dreams, of pies and fritters to be more exact, ended with an apple reaching out and poking him. He wasn’t a pony who had never had a weird dream, the worst offender having to do with a guy setting him on fire. That one, and other ones that could only be described as insane, had passed as time had continued. This was the first time he could remember in the past few weeks, maybe even a month, that his dreams had been so strange.

“Hey, mister. What’re ya doin’ here? Are you alright? Mister?” A young voice woke him the rest of the way, though Hokey Smokes didn’t quite open his eyes. Maybe if I just lay here, they will leave me alone. They might not even do anything about the apple I ate. Yep, all I have to do is stay right here and pretend to be asleep. That plan is brilliant! Another few moments passed, and he was prodded a few more times. It was almost as if his plan was going to be thwarted by a little kid. That wouldn’t be something that Hokey Smokes could allow, even it meant that he had to keep up with the act the entire day. He was willing to lose a few hours, or even the entire day, if it meant that he would be able to take a few more of those delicious apples. His eyes were kept closed, but only until he felt the core that had been near him against his head.

“Ow! What did you do that for?” He shot up, and the young filly practically fell over. The look on his face was one of slight annoyance, as if she was the wrong one there. It wasn’t like she had planned to ignore somebody to get away with stealing apples. That had all been Hokey Smokes. It could have been blamed on being woken up with a poke, or maybe the apple core, but those would have been excuses. As he stood up, and almost knocked her over, a sense of where he was started to come back. He was outside of Ponyville, at some orchard that was likely her home. It was likely in his best interest to say something to her, to stop her from running off to tell somepony that he was somebody who was stealing apples. Both eyes looked down at the young filly, and then he started to actually feel bad for what he had done. He saw a look of sadness, mixed with a little fear. There was also the fact that she looked so innocent, something that would have made any heart melt from what had just happened. How could he have been so heartless? A hoof was put out, yet she pulled away and ran.

Tears were streaming down her face.

She had only wanted to help, and I turned out to be the worst person to run into. She only wanted to make sure that I was doing alright, that I wasn’t hurt. I should go see if she’s alright. Another few moments passed, and the thought soon conflicted with something called logic. If he went to the house, they might ask how he knew the young filly. She might have told them; whoever was in there, about the fact that he stole an apple. What might happen? They might tell the authorities about him. He might be forced to work for the family, or be run away, or physically remove him from the premises. That would be painful, extremely painful, if it actually happened. I think it’s better if I just get out of here before anything goes wrong. She couldn’t have told anyone yet, could she? Of course not. With that, he turned and started to trot away. All he had to do was get far enough away that he wouldn’t have to worry about being chased. How far would they chase him for an apple? Then again, his mind had wandered to some fairly heft punishments for a single apple. Either way, Hokey Smokes started to pick up the pace as he heard a second voice.

“Is that him, Applebloom?” This one was also female, but undoubtedly older. There was a single sound, one of a confirmation that came from the younger one. Well, at least I know her name. I can’t say it matters much, though, because I’m going to be out of here quickly. It’d be a lot easier if I could teleport, though. That was one of the spells that he knew he knew, but couldn’t quite do. Instead, he was forced to start galloping as quickly as he could to try to get away. There was good news that came with it, and there was bad news. The good news was that he didn’t tire out as quickly as if this had been even a couple of months earlier. That was where the good news stopped, and the bad news began. Hokey Smokes hadn’t gone through any sort of speed training. He knew that he could go faster than a filly, but he hadn’t expected the mare to be as quick as she was. A rope was felt around his hind leg, his left to be more exact, and the quick reaction was to try to throw something at her. The apple came off, and he heard a thud that sounded as if he had hit somepony.

He knew it was wrong, but he had to get away.

The problem was, though, that it hadn’t helped at all. Hokey Smokes continued to try to do something, anything at all, to keep moving. The problem was that he wasn’t moving forward, he was actually moving backward.

“Gotcha!”

There was no use in trying to get away, it was obvious that it wouldn’t work. A displeased look covered his face as he was pulled back, and actually tied up completely. There were two ponies who were looking at him now, both of them with the same questioning look on their faces. What was going to come of this? All he could do was sit there, tied up, and wait for whatever it was that was going to happen. Almost out of instinct, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. “If you’re going to hit me… not the face, please?”

Chapter 3: Watch in Awe!

Applebloom, and her older family member, continued to stand there and look down at him. He didn’t know what it was that the older one had planned. There was part of him that didn’t really want to know what was being planned, since it would obviously include something being done about him. It likely involved something that wouldn’t be pleasant. Was she going to press him about his reasons? A wave of paranoia started to wash over him again, but this time he was able to push it back. All of the fear seemed completely silly. Applebloom didn’t look like much of a threat, that much was certain. Hokey Smokes had started to calm down, and was starting to get the feeling that there wasn’t anything to fear from this other one, either. There was a certain quality that showed in her face, though it wasn’t something that he could quite explain to herself. Whatever it was, it ended with him starting to think that it might be possible that he could tell her what his problems were without getting hurt. Though she could probably hurt me if she wanted to, that’s for certain. Her legs are a lot stronger than mine. That much was obvious when I tried to run away from her. If only I could teleport away, that might be a good idea. I can’t, though, so there has to be something else that I can do.

“Whatcha thinkin about?” Applebloom was obviously asking something that her sister was thinking, but didn’t want to just ask quite yet. Perhaps she understood that Hokey Smokes might have some things he didn’t want to say yet or maybe she was just willing to wait until he cracked. Either way, he glanced over at her with a fake smile. There didn’t seem any point in hiding it, do he gave a few moments for the words to come together in a way that might actually make some sense.

“This whole situation. I was thinking about how I might be able to get out of it. You see, admitting all of that wasn’t exactly my favorite thing to do.” While he was doing that, Hokey Smokes knew that it was time for one more attempt to escape. He might not have been able to teleport, he knew better than to try that again. There might be lower spells, ones that took less focus that he might be able to do without too much trouble. “You gals don’t seem all that bad; I meant every word of that apology.” His headache wasn’t gone, but it had dulled to the point that he was starting to gather his focus back. He was hungry, he had failed to do the spell, but there was something that had to be done. Alright, all I have to do is tie the larger one up for a while with the rope. That shouldn’t be too much trouble. Escape was the original plan, and now it is going to happen.

“Well,thank ya kindly.” This time, it was the elder one. She didn’t completely smile, but it was obvious that she was starting to become less angry.

“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to leave you.”

“Like hay you are!” The elder would have a point with that, if he wasn’t a unicorn. His magic was something that was going to make this entire situation turn around. I might not have been able to teleport. That was a minor setback; I can still pull this off. I can still do this.

“Watch in awe!” His horn lit up, the magic working through the rope to start to move it. Everything was going perfectly, despite the headache that was coming back with a vengeance. Hokey Smokes was just about free from the rope, but then his vision started to fade quickly. Within a few seconds of the headache coming back, he was out cold. The failure of the teleportation spell, coupled with the single apple dinner, coupled with his attempt to talk while trying to do a spell, all combined to ensure that the headache was strong enough to knock him out completely. It was another failure, this time with something that should have been a simple way of escaping. He even had gotten a mental image of what would happen, with the older mare’s legs being tied together with the rope before he started to run away. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and ponies often go awry. He couldn’t see what had happened after he passed out, but the two of them simply stared at hi. Each of them blinked, not knowing what it was that he had meant for them to see.

“Quite the amazin passin out there.” The older one said, barely stopping a chuckle from leaving her mouth. “Go get Big Macintosh, I’d rather not drag him back to the house.”

“Should we really take him in there? He might try something again!”

“What? Pass out?”

Even though he had passed out, Hokey Smokes still heard every word. Yep, failure was not the friend that he wanted, not that eemed to matter. It seemed to follow him around all the time. Good thing I am a unicorn and all that. It’s almost like the magic I’ve been using so far has been so useful. The fact that his cutie mark had turned out to be a wand with smoke curling around it, something that would make it seem as though he would be good at magic, didn’t help with his intention to try to get out of the situation that he had gotten himself into. Of course, logic hadn’t been the thing that seemed to guide his life. Oh well, at least he was likely going to be left alone now. It was true that he had heard the thing about the house, but any sensible pony would likely just tell her to dump him somewhere else and let him find his own way wherever. Out of everything that could possibly happen, Hokey Smokes thought that his solution was the most sensible and therefore most likely to be done. Since it was obvious that this was going to happen, being sat on something and the sudden movement didn’t elicit anything other than a couple of words from him.

“Stupid horn.”

Those words must have seemed weird to anypony else, as they wouldn’t know any context at all. Hokey Smokes, of course, was the only one who had any context to what he had just said. He was supposed to be able to use magic, and he was supposed to be able to use it well. That was what the cutie mark meant, he knew it. It was how he knew those spells, or at least knew how they should work. Something was stopping him from being able to do much more than simple tricks. It was just like in Magic Kindergarten all over again, where he was behind the rest of the class. He had worked harder, discovered his talent, and surpassed all of them. That had been the ultimate revenge, being able to do something that he shouldn’t have been able to do yet. It hadn’t been enough to garner the attention of Celestia, and from all accounts it would be impossible to impress Luna. She was, after all, Nightmare Moon. Yes, yes, it takes a pony who is obsessed with learning, though he was not as obsessed as some of the other eggheads of the school. Luckily for him, he had grown out of it into being one of the coolest unicorns in the class.

Things had definitely gone his way, and his reading of obscure history had died down, after he left school. None of that seemed to matter right now, though, as he was unconscious and likely being taken off the property to fend for himself. Hopefully they don’t put me near the Everfree Forest. I don’t think that would go well at all. There was a certain shock when he heard an elderly voice. It seemed to be the voice of strength, which was strange considering it sounded like somepony who might have been alive out of sheer refusal to let her age mean anything. Hokey Smokes wasn’t one to judge people by their voices, or ages, or anything else, but this voice just made him think of somepony who had been around for quite a while. He couldn’t understand any of the words, but the voice stood out to him. What were they doing? That was it, he had to force himself awake. It wouldn’t be easy, but it had to be done. In his mind, he could see a bright light. Since he wasn’t dying, he assumed that it was the place that he had to go to get back up.

Eyes slowly opened to see a green mare looking down at him. That wasn’t the only change; there was also a red stallion. He didn’t look like a threat, though he did look as though he could likely be one if he wanted. Alright, so maybe I won’t be able to do much escaping. There wasn’t much of a chance for violence, or at least he thought that there wasn’t a chance for violence. Time would tell.

Chapter 4: More Truth

Now there were four ponies that he had met that day. Three of them were female; the other one was a male. At least I assume that the red one’s a guy. He looks like a guy. Maybe I’ll get to hear him eventually, all I have to do is wait. His mind was calm and collected, yet his expression was one that apparently garnered a reaction from the ponies that had brought him inside what looked to be a house. Another attempt to move, the feel of ropes quickly brought him back to reality, ended with failure. The green mare, the most elder of the ponies who he had seen today, was the first one that made any noise. It started with her clearing her throat, which was enough to get Hokey Smokes to glance over at her. There had been different expressions from everypony so far, but this one wasn’t one that he liked. She looked as though she was angry, and something about that look worried him. The one with the tied-up mane might be able to hurt him, and the red stallion definitely could, but there was something that made him fear this new one even more than the other two. Of course, he didn’t fear Applebloom as long as she didn’t have something to throw at him.

“What’re you doin here?”

That was a logical question, one that he didn’t really know an answer to. He had expected that he would be taken to the outskirts of their land, and then left to wake up. His life would likely continue as normal the next day, with him trying to find somewhere to earn some bits to get some food. Everything should have been like that, but he was in a house. “I don’t know, to be honest. I had thought that I would be sat down somewhere else. I didn’t move myself in here, somepony else did.”

“I don’t mean that, sonny. Why were ya at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Sweet Apple whatnow?”

Around this time, the red one let out a sigh. It was obvious that the question, the one that Hokey Smokes asked, wasn’t going to earn him any friends. He could have sworn that he had heard that name before, but this wasn’t the time for him to think about that sort of thing. Hokey Smokes only knew that he was on a nice orchard, with good apples, and that he had been stopped from taking anymore. The name of the orchard could have been Flim Flam Fields for all he knew, he just didn’t know where he had gone beyond the fact that it was near the outskirts of a village that he didn’t want to go into. “You’re at Sweet Apple Acres.” Those few words ended the question about whether or not this one was male, he definitely was. It didn’t help with the answer to the question, though. How could he tell somepony that he was refusing to enter a village because of one pony?

“Who are ya, anyway?” The mare with the tied-up hair finally asked a question that he really didn’t want to answer. If this one was a good friend of Twilight Sparkle, things definitely wouldn’t go well for him. Hokey Smokes would likely be taken back, and that would not end well. He had gotten it out of his head that she would harm him, it didn’t seem likely after she let him go, but there was something else that prevented him from wanting to go back there. There were actually two things that made him not want to see her for a long time, if ever again. The first thing was that he was trying to put that part of his life behind him, trying to erase the madness of those two weeks from existence. That wouldn’t be possible if he was forced to confront, and possibly even apologize to, a pony who he had assaulted. That was the second part, he felt really bad. How could an apology make up for everything that he had done? He had physically attacked her? There was no way that she would ever forgive him, he knew that he wouldn’t forgive himself if he was her.

That doesn’t make any sense.

“My name… is of no consequence.” The answer, or lack of one, finally came. It wasn’t enough to cause them to do anything other than roll their eyes. “Ah, come on. That was clever. And I came here to…” Telling her I came here to steal apples because I’m not able to get food otherwise is not exactly the most dignified thing to say. I could use some more of them, though. Maybe if I told them, they’d feel bad for me and they’d give me some of those delicious apples. His mouth started to open, to continue his tale, but the mare with the tied-up mane interrupted to tell what she had discovered. “He stole one of our apples! No clue why he took one, but I reckon he was hungry. I still have no idea who he is, though.” Her gaze turned to him again, and he started to sweat. Was this how it was going to go? Was he really going to have to tell her? Her gaze turned into a glare, and soon Hokey Smokes just wanted it to stop.

“Alright! I’ll tell you. My name is…” He gulped, not knowing how she was going to react. It could turn out to be a horrible mistake, but he had to get her to stop glaring. “Hokey Smokes.”

Applebloom was the first to react, and it was laughter. That was how others had reacted, when they first heard his name. He still remembered how Rainbow Dash had reacted, it hadn’t been as cheerful. And I think it would likely be even less cheerful now that I’ve assaulted her friend. Yep, you’re really Mr Popularity in this village. That reaction, the one from the filly, was one of the two reactions that were noticeable. The red stallion didn’t seem to really have a reaction, and the green mare simply nodded as she took the information in. It would surprise him if she remembered his name by the end of the day, though that was likely slightly ageist. The reaction that he didn’t like was the one that came from the one who had asked the question. She had been glaring before, but now it was worse. It was almost as if she was contemplating what to do, though it apparently didn’t take long for her to decide what it was that she needed to do.

“Why the hay are you showing your face around here?! I should...” Before she could do anything, the red stallion stood in her way.

“I don’t know what’s gotten in you, Applejack, but this isn’t you. Maybe you should go get some air.”

“Ah got plenty of air, but that pony there is bad news.”

“He doesn’t seem so bad. Look, you even scared him.” Applebloom pointed with her hoof to Hokey Smokes, who was shaking. It had started about the time that she had really started glaring, right before the red stallion had intervened to make sure that nothing too horrible happened.

“Fine, fine. You watch him, Big Mac. Ahm telling you, he’s bad news…” With that, Applejack stormed off. Without missing a beat, Big Mac turned and looked at Hokey Smokes. He was still tied up, unable to move, and he was worried. The stallion hadn’t glared at him so far, hadn’t seemed to be angry, yet there was something there right then. It was almost as if he was worried about what Applejack had said, something about how there was a need to watch him because he was bad news. Yep, I sure am popular around here. I knew I should have given them some sort of fake name. She wouldn’t have guessed that it was me, due to this horn. Oh, thank Celestia for this horn. Maybe I can come up with some sort of fake name. No, wait, that won’t work. Applejack knows my name, she could tell anyone that my fake name is just that. I guess I really screwed that idea over before it actually went anywhere. Oh well.

“You’re going to tell us everything.” Big Mac didn’t seem like a stallion that got told no, at least not when he wanted something. Hokey Smokes might have been a bit wrong, but something about this stallion made him worry. What would happen if he lied? Those eyes were almost peering into his soul, or at least it felt like they were.

“Promise you won’t get mad?”

“Nope.”

“We won’t get mad, sonny, if you’re honest.” The elderly mare looked at Big Mac, half shaking her head as she said it. Hokey Smokes started to feel silly for thinking she would do anything. If anything, her tone was more of a kindly grandmother than a pony whose anger could do anything.

“There isn’t much to tell, really.” Hokey Smokes started, thinking back to what had happened. “This whole situation started when I woke up at a hospital. I had nothing to my name, not even a name until I was told what it was, and then I went to the care of a nice old stallion. Within a week, I left there. It might seem weird, but I had been suffering from these weird dreams.” That was a weird term, but they ended in suffering at the end of his tale. Suffering? Dealing with? Having? Yeah, I won’t take back the word suffering. It fits with the general theme of my story. “They all seemed so real. Well, after leaving Manehattan for Ponyville, I… well, a pegasus named Rainbow Dash ran into me. We didn’t become instant best friends or anything, but we did talk at the hospital. She told me that her friend, Twilight Sparkle, could help me with my memory. Something about a spell. Well, I followed her, and then Twilight Sparkle tried something, but I passed out.”

So far, nothing bad had happened in his story. Applebloom looked interested, but the other two just looked as though they were waiting for it to reach some sort of conclusion. They wanted to know, but there wasn’t much reason for him to continue at such a slow pace. I should pick it up. “Something went wrong, I still have no idea what, and I passed out. Let’s just say that those dreams came back, and I soon jumped out the window when I came back around. Rainbow Dash was about to catch me, but I went into the forest and got away. That didn’t end well, either, as I soon ate these weird plants that almost killed me. But that’s not all! They also, apparently, caused these weird dreams. I think the plant was called Poison Joke, in case anyone was interested.” A gaze saw that only Applebloom was, so he continued. “Well, I thought they were real. I mean, they were of Twilight Sparkle… viciously attacking me. It was weird.” This was the part that got a reaction from the others. Each of them, even Applebloom, looked shocked at the idea that somepony would think that Twilight attacked them.

“I assumed it was real, so I went to go confront her. That didn’t end well, so I ran to find myself soon dealing with Luna. Whatever she did, she was able to make me remember everything. Not only that…” Hokey Smokes looked up at his horn, a smirk on his face. “But I got this thing back. How awesome is that?”

It was apparently awesome enough for Applebloom to clap, the story having made her happy enough. The other two simply stared at him.

“That’s it?” Big Mac blinked a few times, obviously expecting more.

“I might have attacked Twilight Sparkle.”

The elderly mare walked forward, and patted him on the head. “Well, I guess we can’t blame ya. You did apologize to Twilight Sparkle, didn’t ya?”

“Actually, I have been avoiding Ponyville ever since. That’s part of the reason why I took an apple. I normally go into the town, do some tricks, get some bits, buy some supplies, and head out. I couldn’t quite do that this time.”

“Well, it is Applebuck Season. I don’t see why ya can’t get some apples if ya work hard enough.”

That was an excellent offer, and the rumble of his stomach was enough to tell him to take it. “I graciously accept your offer.”

“If ya do anything wrong, though, I’ll let Applejack take care of ya. She can be mighty fierce, sonny.”

In his head, though, Hokey Smokes was already thinking about all of the appletastic treats that he would be able to get made with the wonderful apples.

Chapter 5:Putting it Off

Still doesn’t make any sense. I guess the truth really does help out; people do appreciate being told when you’re going through hard times. Some even try to help out. Maybe this older mare, still don’t know what her name is, is one of those few good people left in the world. That thought was quickly followed with a face-hoof, to which everypony in the room quickly glanced over at him. None of them could hear his thoughts, of course, so none of them heard the comment or the soon-to-be self-correction. Actually, nice ponies seem to be in large amounts. Rainbow Dash had tried to help, Twilight Sparkle had tried to help, Applebloom seemed to want to help, and now this pony. I’d hardly say they’re rushing to become my best friends or anything, but at the very least they’re showing that I’m the pony with the problem. I have to change that, I hope that they can help me out. That’s likely the most that I can ask for right now, possibly ever. Then again, I still don’t know about going to see Twilight Sparkle anytime soon. I don’t know if I could forgive myself, even if she could. With time, there might be forgiveness from himself. This would come with time; a few months hadn’t been enough for it.

“Well, sonny, we can’t have you lying out on the ground while ya work. You have no problem with the floor, do ya?”

That was not even a real question, was it? Hokey Smokes had been alright with the outdoors, or at least he put up with it. To be indoors, even if on the floor, would be more than enough. He hadn’t expected that much kindness, it seemed to be something that might not be the best thing to accept. There was kindness, and there was burdening yourself over somepony else. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to be a problem.” Words came back to him, a forced smile on his face. “Miss Applejack seems to think that I’m some sort of problem. At the very least, I wouldn’t want to start a fight with her. You all seem like nice enough people, it wouldn’t be polite.”

“Ah, horseapples. I only asked ya to be polite. Yer stayin.” The smile on her face, it was almost as if she knew that he really wanted to stay.

“I guess that settles it, then.” Big Mac turned away, obviously going to go tell Applejack the decision that had been made. Before he could go any further, Hokey Smokes did his best to get the red stallion’s attention. There was something that he had to do; something that he knew was only the right way to go about it. There’s no need for him to tell her about the thing that happened between myself and Twilight. I should be the one to tell her. And, maybe, I’ll be able to get an apology in before she attacks. Yeah, that’d totally be great. “I think I should be the one to go talk to her. Whether or not I was myself, or any other reasoning that sounds good, it was still me. I can’t run away from it anymore.” That sounded a lot less suicidal in my head. And it sounded much cooler, at least 50% if I had to peg it by percentage. Oh well, it’s out there for the three of them to react to. Eyes scanned the three of them as he started to walk toward where Applejack had left, not knowing if he would be stopped or not. If any of them really wanted him to live, they would likely stop him.

“Ahm gonna go with ya. It might be good fer her to see family with ya.” Applebloom started to walk beside him, a smile on her face. She seemed to be the quickest to accept him, and the quickest to forgive him for what he had done to Twilight. Big Mac seemed to have forgiven him, too, if that meant anything. Well, no, I can’t really say that. He might not have forgiven me yet, I can’t read his face. I wish I knew what he was thinking, that might help me figure out if he’s liable to do something. Then again, he hasn’t shown himself to be the least bit violent. Even Applejack, the one I’m heading to go see, is more violent. I was actually lucky that he was around. The two of them, Applebloom and himself, had almost walked to their destination before he stopped. She continued to walk for a few moments, and then stopped as well. Her eyes looked up at him, right before she asked one of the most obvious questions that could have been asked.

“Whatcha stopping fer?”

“I’m starting to have second thoughts.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’d rather not get kicked repeatedly in the face.”

“Ah don’t think she’d do that. Besides, why do ya think I came? She’s my sister; she wouldn’t do too much…”

Yay for being right. What reward should I give myself? Maybe my reward should come in the form of slightly less self-hate. Yep, that sounds good. “If you say so. Might as well see if you’re right. I hope you are…” Hokey Smokes forced himself to start walking again, though there was still a slight fear in the back of his mind. Applebloom was nice enough, but she couldn’t possibly stop Applejack. That seemed to be a task that could only be handled by that red stallion, Big Mac. Or maybe she’ll not do anything, maybe she has forgiven me for it. Wait, what am I saying? She doesn’t know why it happened; she just knows that I attacked her friend. Yep, this is going to end painfully. Maybe I’ll even leave with a few scars to show for what happened. I hope not, though. His target, the mare that he was frightened by, was coming into view. She didn’t see him yet, but Applebloom would do something to solve that. He didn’t even have the words chosen right in his mind, yet he heard something being said by the young filly that got the mare’s attention. When he heard it, he stopped himself from face-hoofing.

“Come ‘ere sis. Ya need to hear somethin.”

That’s one way to get somepony’s attention. The other way would be for something to be said that didn’t seem so urgent. Perhaps some nice words, something about how the day is nice, would be enough to make it obvious that I don’t mean any harm. Then again, maybe I’m just being stupid. My methods aren’t doing much good, I seem to only make it worse when I try to do more than speak plainly. He looked to see that Applejack was looking at him, glaring as if she wanted to kick him right in the face a few times. All he did was look back at her, trying to ignore the fact that she likely wanted to physically maim him. Hokey Smokes hadn’t come back here to get friends, after all. He had come back here to make sure that his time working here, before he left, wasn’t filled with a lot of tension and a lot of pain. Her voice was as strong as her glare, and equally as scary when she asked one simple question.

“What’s he doin here? And why ain’t Big Mac watchin him? He didn’t do one of those spells, did he?”

“Oh yeah, because I obviously can do so many spells…” Hokey Smokes retorted, clearly sore about his lack of skill. He could remember being able to do a few more spells than he could now. That was the past, though, and so it wasn’t relevant. Oh Celestia, that’s probably just going to make her mad. I should have been smarter. A look of worry covered his face, the idea of the pain that was coming seemed to be something that likely spoke to the sarcasm that he had thrown at her. The only thing that came out it was a laugh, or more accurately laughter from the two of them. The shocking laughter was the laughter that came from Applejack, as Applebloom seemed to be a genuinely happy individual. There was still a question to ask about Applejack laughing. “Am I funny?”

“I was just rememberin yer performance before. Yep, that was a mighty good pass-out. You clearly are mighty powerful.”

So she’s… laughing at me. That’s just great. Then again, I might have looked pretty funny. I thought I was going to show a mighty display, and all that happened was me passing out. It didn’t show me at my greatest, or the problem is that it might have. I don’t know which one would be worse, to be honest. “Well, yes, that didn’t quite go as planned. But I was a showstopper up until the passing out, was I not?” Hokey Smokes put his most forced smile on, making it seem as though he didn’t hate the fact that he failed. Of course, she didn’t seem to buy that this was anything more than the bravado that it was.

“Sure, sure. Whatcha tryin to tell me?” The smile was gone, almost as if she remembered what it was that had happened. Hokey Smokes couldn’t quite blame her, as he had forgotten for that slight moment why he even came back there. For a moment, he even forgot why it was that he didn’t want to go back into Ponyville. Everything slammed into him again, though, so he cleared his throat. It might still not go well, even though it seemed as though she was starting to warm up to him a little. “I was offered the opportunity to help out a little, with my payment being some of the most delicious apples in Equestria. I also came to try to apologize. I’d rather not be hated at a place I’m going to be for the next few days.” How long can this thing last anyway? I doubt it’ll even be that long, but who knows? It might turn into something that could last a week for all I know. Even his own thoughts hadn’t stopped him from noticing the fact that she was studying him. Did she trust him? That was likely a big fat no, but that didn’t matter as much as whether or not she was going to be the one that caused trouble.

“Why did ya attack Twilight?”

Even though he had told it once, the question hit him like a sack of bricks. He looked away, suddenly feeling as though he was one of the worst ponies ever. At the time, it had seemed like the right thing to do. After he had done it, and for the next few hours, it had seemed like the right thing to do. It was only after that, when he learned the real truth that he started to feel bad. Time didn’t seem to be able to fix it, either, as he actually started to feel worse about his actions as time went on. A few tears came out of his eyes as he continued to look at the ground, not wanting to talk about it. As he had said to the others, no amount of excuses meant anything next to the fact that he had done something like that to a pony who had only meant to help him out. I shouldn’t look weak, I have to be strong. And I didn’t used to feel this bad, but something about these ponies seem to be doing something about how cool I am. What are they doing to me?

“It wasn’t his fault! Tell her, Hokey.”

“Yeah, yeah. I wanna hear it from his mouth, Applebloom.”

“C-can I tell you later?” If nothing else, Hokey Smokes wanted to get himself more composed. He also wanted to make sure that she would actually believe him, something that he was sure she wouldn’t do after what had happened.

“Whatever ya say. Ya gotta tell me sooner or later, though.”

“D-deal.”

Chapter 6: Day One

The rest of the day hadn’t been as eventful. He still got the occasional glare, though most of the time Applejack simply seemed to be trying to figure out what he was trying to hide. As soon as he had moved away from the situation, and started to simply move through his day, he was able to get his composure back. The tears were gone, he was able to talk in full sentences, and he could actually look in other pony’s eyes. Hokey Smokes had been told that he should get ready for the next day, which involved looking at the orchard to see where it was that he needed to be to be able to help. Applejack had followed him around, obviously still not completely trusting him. Trust was something that was earned, not given, so he knew that it might take a while for her to do more than simply want him to leave. And I’m not going to have to put in that time. It won’t be long before I’m able to leave here and go to the next town. Maybe a second performance at Manehattan will be enough to get some bits together to get myself some food for a longer journey. Canterlot seems to be a good place, there seems to be enough ponies there to feed me for a while. They’re also quite easily amused.

The day ended with a nice meal, which he was given a small portion of, and then he was told exactly where he would be staying for the remainder of the job. It might have seemed rude to a lot of ponies, to stay on the floor, but it was something more than simply staying outdoors. There was a lack of a threat, a lack of cold, and a lack of the rain that started in the middle of that very night. Whoever designed the first roof gets my thanks. This is definitely better than getting rained on, even laying under a tree isn’t this good. Eyes had opened a few times, mostly when the rain started to get louder. This would be when he would normally try to find a cave, so it was just a bit of habit that he knew he wouldn’t need to break. I’ll have to go back to getting used to that after I leave here. I can’t possibly rely on the kindness of other ponies; they can’t all randomly invite strangers into their home. Most of them would have likely done something about the theft, too. These ponies are just… nicer.

Logically, he was right. The village of Ponyville didn’t seem to run on logic, though. This was a lesson that Hokey Smokes would likely have difficulty learning.

-The next morning-

Aside from the few times when he was awoken by the rain, which hadn’t affected him much, the entire night was peaceful. It was a change to get up at sunrise, a terrible change by his opinion, but it happened. Applebloom had been sent in, she seemed to be the one who was the kindest speaking of the ponies that he had met there. Actually, none of them seem so bad. At least I know that I’m not going to get maimed by any of them. Big Mac doesn’t seem violent, and Applejack seems to be putting aside her own dislike for the time being. The elderly mare, whose name I still don’t know, might as well be a grandmother. She’s nice enough to be. I wish she was. That might be nice. Aside from the time, it wasn’t particularly pleasant to be awoken by having the same apple core being thrown at his head. That might have been some sort of joke, at his expense no doubt, because of the events of the prior day. If it was intention, and if that really was the apple of yesterday as it seemed, then it was probably a good sign. That was what he was going to tell himself, anyway.

It made him feel better about himself, anyway.

Breakfast came and went; it was filled with the delicious apples. Hokey Smokes didn’t even pay attention to any of the conversation; his focus was on the apples. They tasted so good; he didn’t need to partake in any conversation that might ruin it. The only other explanation was that everypony was talking between themselves, as none of them actually tried to get his attention until breakfast was over. At that point, Applejack walked up to him and tapped his shoulder with her right hoof. He had just started to think about what the day would entail, how he would have to work hard to keep up with the ponies that did this on a normal basis. A shake of his head, and then he turned to look at the mare that had tried to get his attention. He put a smile on his face, this time not having to put as much effort into forcing it on there. The prior day had left a lot of room for improvement, though, so it hadn’t taken much to make him happy. There was the lodging that had solid walls, the good apple meal, and even the company of some nice ponies.

“Ah reckon Ahm gonna be the one that see how much work ya can do.”

“I hope I meet expectations.”

“Hmmm.” A hoof was put on her chin; obviously she was going to say something. “Ah don’t know about that. Twilight showed some awesome magic when she helped.”

There was that name again. Hokey Smokes felt worse with each passing day, yet he couldn’t bring himself to track her down to apologize. He couldn’t even bring himself to talk about her, not yet. Was this what horrible guilt was like? I really wish I could just move on. Maybe I should go find her. As she had said it, there was a flinch and a turn. It was obvious that he was going to be compared to Twilight, but that was actually the lesser of the evils that had to do with the purple pony. Regardless, another few moments passed because he could plaster the smile on his face and look back at Applejack. “I’ll do my best, Ma’am.” With those words, it was obvious that he was trying to lower expectations from Twilight. He would try his best, but there seemed to be a gap that he couldn’t possibly traverse. How could he be expected to do something like that? How could he be expected to be as good as a unicorn that seemed to have no problem performing all sorts of spells effortlessly?

“We’ll see.”

That seemed ominous, but Hokey Smokes didn’t quite know how to respond. He gave a nod, and then he started to follow behind her. It didn’t take a genius to realize that there was a certain order to do things. If this was an organized effort, such as would be expected from the name Applebuck Season, they would likely start at one place and move to the other side. That was the only thing that made sense in his mind, after all. When they stopped in the middle of one section, though, it became obvious that he was wrong. Well, alright, so it’s a good thing that I’m not working full-time for any orchard. If this is the way they do things, I’d have gotten it horribly wrong on my own. And that doesn’t take into account the fact that I’m likely not as quick as they are. The hoof to his side got his attention, and Applejack rolled her eyes as she noticed that he had actually jumped at the soft touch. If things were going to get any worse, Hokey Smokes had no idea how.

“Alright, ahm gonna be takin down the apples near yours. Ah need to see just how good ya can do.”

That makes perfect sense. “Alright. I’ll do my best to not slow you down too much.” Only a fool would think that they could keep up with one of the people who worked there normally. Hokey Smokes was going to be trying this with magic, of course, so it might be something that could be the big equalizer. If my horn wants to cooperate with me today, it might mean something. If it is anything like yesterday, I’m going to be passed out before lunch. Oh well, let’s hope it doesn’t end with me passing out. “Let’s see how this goes.” He knew that he was being watched, but that only made him more determined. Yesterday, he might have tried to simply move the whole trees worth of apples. That wasn’t the right way, he knew it. Roughly half of the apples soon had a glow around them, and then they were pulled down to the basket. That should have been something that was simple, yet it wasn’t. Hokey Smokes was putting his all into it, yet he was still only able to move those with considerable effort.

“Magic just ain’t yet strong suit is it?” Applejack might have been trying to make a clever joke, break the ice, but it only made him push himself harder. Any hint of conversation was gone for the next few hours, with Hokey Smokes doing his best to focus on the task at hand. He wasn’t as fast as Applejack, who stopped keeping up with him after a while and just continued. The hours that passed were enough to make sure that he thought about how he had gotten here. The only thing that stopped him from continuing past the afternoon was his own need for something to drink. It turned out that he wasn’t the only one who thought that was, as Applejack brought him an apple juice to help him keep going. “I should be able to do more. I know I used to be able to do a lot more.” The words slipped out without him thinking about it, but it wasn’t the end of what was being said. “Imagine what would happen if you woke up one day, and suddenly your legs were just plain weaker… for no reason.”

After that, he went back to work. Hokey Smokes hadn’t intended to make it sound bad, but the thing she had said earlier was still resonating with him. His mark was one of magic; his skill had been the craft that he could now barely do. By the end of the day, he felt like he needed to pass out. His skill with magic wasn’t going to cut it tomorrow, not if he wanted to keep up with anyone else. There was no chance that he was going to be able to buck them with his hind legs, though, which meant that he was really without any choice. Hard work would reward him with apples that were really the only thing that kept him going. The day was just about over when Applejack came walking up beside him. “I ain’t gonna bug ya about the story yet, but I wanna know what ya meant. What do ya mean that ya used to be able to do a lot more than ya can now?”

That wasn’t a subject that he liked to talk about. I was the one that brought it up, though. It would be terribly rude of me if I didn’t say anything. And she hasn’t exactly been all that rude today. A breath was taken, the words were collected in his head, and then he looked right into her eyes. “I was almost hornless, you know. It started when I got attacked by that Ursa Minor. I was able to do only so much, but… it swiped at my head. Before it took my horn off, I was powerful. Have you heard of Trixie Lulamoon?” A smile covered his face as he remembered when he ran into her, it was one of her stage shows. He didn’t even notice the glare when he brought up the name Trixie, nor would it have mattered. “She tried to embarrass me, and she failed.” The smile faded almost as quickly, the dawning that such a thing wouldn’t happen came to mind. “I doubt that would ever happen again, though. All because of that Ursa.” It wasn’t a happy story, and it led into what he was going to tell her later, but it was something that had to be told. “That happened before… well, before the things that led me here.

I’ll tell you about that later.”

That wasn’t the type of thing that brought about a smile to her face, but it was obvious that he wasn’t budging. A grumble was heard, Applejack started to walk back to the house. It would have been a good idea for him to do the same, but there was something that needed to be done. Hokey Smokes focused all of his strength into his horn, and he tried to lift a whole trees worth of apples to put them in the buckets. They started to move, though slowly, and then they all fell as he collapsed on the ground. Another day, another time where Hokey Smokes finds a way to make sure that he passes out onto the ground. He knew that he should have been able to do that, but something was wrong. Why couldn’t he do this? Perhaps all he needed was time, he seemed to be gaining back a small portion of his strength each and every day.

Chapter 7: Day Two

The entire night passed without much happening. There wasn’t rain, which was lucky as Hokey Smokes had passed out while trying to perform his magic outside. It was almost perfect outside, yet he couldn’t help but toss and turn in his sleep. This didn’t come from any external stimulus, but from what was happening in his mind.

Fanfare was heard, and Hokey Smokes was drawn to a stage. The first thing that he saw was a lovely mare, azure coat with a beautifully styled mane. A cape, covered in stars, adorned her back. There was a hat, with stars as well, that looked as though it came from one of the many children’s stories about magicians. At this point, he didn’t know what to think. Was she serious? She might have been an actress, a performer of something that wasn’t magic, but that didn’t seem likely. Unicorns were proud of their magic, proud of their ability to do thing that nopony else could do. At the same time, though, it seemed possible that she was just joking. Either way, he watched her with interest. What would she do? Fireworks were shot out, a confident smiled covering the performer’s face as the crowd started to respond in the manner one might expect. This was a show, not even a mad show, and the ponies seemed to be enjoying themselves. Everypony but Hokey Smokes, that was, who was more focused on trying to figure out if she was actually going to be doing any magic anytime soon.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie shows feats beyond imagination!”

That was a wide boast, likely to be proven wrong. Hokey Smokes continued to listen, though, as she started to tell a story. That didn’t seem to be all that great, the story focused on a group on animal called the Timber Wolves. The story focused on a small town that was being attacked, and only the Great and Powerful Trixie could do anything about it. This was just hot air; the story was too small for anypony who thought about it to take seriously. None of the others did, so he took a step forward toward the stage. He cleared his throat, getting everypony’s attention. “IS this really supposed to be something great? Anypony can scare some wolves away with magic. I’d wager that it doesn’t even take magic. A pegasus could get rid of one, as could an earth pony. What makes it special, Great and Powerful Trixie?” There was the subtle feeling that this wouldn’t gather him any favor from the showpony, but he didn’t really care. It bugged him to no end when somepony claimed that something small was actually something big. At this point, he knew he could have done the same.

“Then show us. Show us all what great powers you have.” Her gaze then turned to the others, the confident smile on her face. “Or maybe one of you would rather try. It doesn’t matter; the Great and Powerful Trixie will outshine any of you here.”

Of course, that wasn’t going to be necessary. “Now, now, Trixie. I don’t think any of them will have to come up here to put you in your place. I can do that myself.” With those words, confidence that could almost be called his own bragging, Hokey Smokes took the stage. He was bigger than she was, as would be expected. There was something about the two of them, as if they both had the same confidence that the other was going to fail, that could almost be said to make them similar. He was sure that he was doing this for good reasons, though, so it was alright in his book. “Would you like this to be done quickly, or drawn out?” That wasn’t just confidence, he knew those were mean words. Why had he been like that, back in the day? Had his magic really made him that way? Looking back, now that his horn was growing in strength at a slower pace, he knew he shouldn’t have done half of the things he did.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie needs this to be over quickly, she has an audience to captivate.”

“Quickly it is.”

With that, Hokey Smokes focused all of his strength into his horn. The audience would see Trixie’s hat be pulled down, covering her eyes. Her cape wrapped around her, the corners of it being tied together to wrap her up. The last part was to hold her in the air, roughly twenty feet, and spin her around. He didn’t make her go too quickly, though when he let her drop she still fell down onto her face.

“And that’s that.”

The crowd cheered, and a stage magician quickly retreated. She had been defeated.

When Hokey Smokes finally awoke, there was a young filly looking down at him. It took a moment for him to remember that he was at Sweet Apple Acres, and that this was Applebloom. He didn’t do anything to attack, which was a big step up from when they first met, though he was shocked into jumping up onto his hooves. His expression showed that he had been startled, which caused the young filly to simply laugh. How long would it take him to shed the past bits of paranoia? It couldn’t come fast enough; at least that was his opinion. “Oh, it’s you Applebloom. Is there something I can do for you?” He looked around, noting that he wasn’t inside. Oh, right, the last trick last night. I shouldn’t have tried that, maybe. It would have been better if I’d have just come inside. Yeah, that would have been great.

“I was just wonderin why you were outside, that’s all. We were worried about you. Well, everyone but Applejack. But at least she didn’t stop me from lookin for ya!”

I can’t say I blame Applejack for still disliking me. But at least she doesn’t hate me completely, that’s good enough. Hokey Smokes motioned for them to start moving for the house, and Applebloom started to move. “Yeah, sorry about that. I wanted to try something, but it turned out to be a bit of a dud. And then you found me here, right then.”

“Does it have anything to do with that Ursa Minor thing that Applejack told us about?”

So she told them… Hearing the word was a reminder that he had told her, as well as a reminder of what happened. Neither of those things brought a smile to his face. It had been a lot easier when he had been focused on just figuring out what to do with the time that he had. When he was focused on what he used to be able to do, and what happened, it always brought a frown to his face. The only thing that stopped it from coming this time was that he knew Applebloom would ask about it. There was no conversation on the way back, or at least none that Hokey Smokes could really understand. He was thinking about what he was going to do that day, which took his entire focus. He could hear that Applebloom was talking, but a few sounds to make it seem as though he was listening was all that she got. It wasn’t until he bumped into Big Mac, and fell down, that he was pulled from his thoughts and into the present.

“I’m sorry about that, I should have been paying attention.”

“It’s alright.” The red stallion replied, stepping around him to go start with the job of the day.

There must be a lot of apples if they want help. “So, I take it that I’m going to be working with Applejack again today?” It might be nice, or it might turn into another yesterday.

“You sure are.” The words came from Applejack, who had just stepped out of the house to start her own work. “Glad to see ya aren’t doin too badly. I thought ya might’ve run away or somethin.” She started with a slight grin on her face. “Or were ya showin off some of yer amazing skills to somepony again?” As she passed, she nudged him. It was a joke, obviously, but it wasn’t one of the types of jokes that he liked. At the same time, though, the only thing he could think to do was chuckle and respond with a few simple words.

“I can never turn down an audience. It turned out just as well as last time, too!”

“Ah can tell.” Applejack looked at the trees, noting how much progress had been made the past day. Today was going to be a long day, but it was going to be good to eat some of the apples that he removed from the trees. Hokey Smokes turned, looking at the fact that only about a third of the trees looked as though they had been harvested. Wow, and I did my best yesterday, too. Is this going to be it? Is this going to be all I can do? His mouth had gone wide, but Applejack was quick to physically close it. “Yer actually helpin is go faster.” Her reassurance was good, but there was something about that idea that made him glad he didn’t live here. How could they do this every year?

“Thanks.”

“So, are ya gonna tell me yer story today?”

“We’ll see….”

That seemed to be enough of an answer, or she might have gotten the hint that asking repeatedly wouldn’t work, as the mare went to start with the trees. Hokey Smokes knew that he had to follow her, had to start working near her to make sure that he didn’t screw up too horribly. He was hoping that he wouldn’t, didn’t actually think he would, but there was always the chance that something would go wrong. Another day of long work had started, but this time it was on a lighter note. Positive thoughts filled his mind, which helped to alleviate some of the stress that the magic put on him. Something helped him to be able to do this slightly easier than the day before, though it was still difficult. Noon, as the day before, came with apple juice. Once again, it was enough to help him continue through the rest of the day. This time, there wasn’t a single word said about his magic, or how weak it was. It was almost as if the revelation of the prior day had been enough to stop her from making comments.

At the end of the day, though, he still almost felt as though he could pass out at any point. Applejack looked the same, but she was holding something out for him. It was a mug, but the contents weren’t simply apple juice. “This is some apple cider that we make. I got Big Mac to fix us a barrel, and was thinkin you might like some.” To everypony else, it was a small thing. If this was special, and she was letting him have some, then it was a sign that she didn’t dislike him anymore. The day seemed to like proving him wrong.

“Thanks. And I have something for you.” A hoof reached out, grabbing the mug. “But it isn’t something you can hold.” Hokey Smokes saw the puzzled look, and then he looked up. “You know that Ursa attack I told you about? I woke up a long time later, I’m not even sure if I can remember how long I was out to be honest, in a hospital. Imagine not knowing who you are, what you are, or why you’re there.” He pointed to his horn, and then let out s sigh. “And this wasn’t even there. So there I was, homeless and without a single bit of information about myself. I didn’t even know my name until I was told it. And that’s where the boring part ends. Over the next couple of weeks, a lot of things happened. I ate a weird plant, had the most bizarre dreams, and just generally made a fool out of myself.” A smile came to his face as he worded it that way, almost as if he was pleasantly surprised at how bad it didn’t sound. “And somehow I came to the conclusion that Twilight Sparkle had attacked me, after she did some weird spell thingy. This was after Rainbow Dash, who had ran into me, took me to her. It was wacky.

And the whole attacking thing came from that. It wasn’t until a visit from Princess Luna that everything was set right. I even have my horn back, but something seems to be wrong with it. I just don’t get it…” Hokey Smokes had been taking sips whenever he could. It had been delicious. “But I figure that’s all you really want to know. So now you know why I can’t show myself to Twilight Sparkle, or go into Ponyville, ever again. It wouldn’t end well for anypony.”

Applejack looked away for a moment, and then simply laughed.

“Twilight prolly already forgave ya. And who knows, she might be able to fix yer horn there.” A hoof moved to his horn, tapping it a few times. “But that’s enough for tonight. We’re almost done with the harvest, so tomorrow will be yer last day. We’re going quicker than ah thought. Well, let’s head on inside.”

Hokey Smokes didn’t even eat a single bite, drifting off into sleep as quickly as he lay down. That day had been good. It had felt good to finally get the story off his chest. Unknown to him, things were going to get really interesting when the next day came.

Chapter 8: Final Day

It was around five in the morning, almost half an hour before he was awoken, when the bad dreams really started to kick in. It started with something small, with the memory of his confrontation with Trixie playing through his mind. That had been bad enough. Even though he had known it was the right thing to do at the time, he wasn’t so sure now. Had he been too rude? Had he caused more trouble than he had fixed? Should he have apologized? What was wrong with him? The more that he thought about it, the more that Hokey Smokes started to dislike the old him. If it wasn’t his interaction with other ponies, like Trixie, it was his interaction later on with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Guilt seemed to pile on top of guilt, with the final minutes of the confrontation with Twilight playing through his head a few moments before he felt something touch him. It was at the worst possible time, actually, with the collision of the white-coated mare landing at the same time. At the same time, he also heard a familiar voice.

“Ahlright, it’s time for ya to get up for some good ol’ Applebuckin!” The voice belonged to Applebloom, the kindest of the ponies there. It was true that Applejack didn’t want him dead anymore, and even seemed slightly hospitable, but it still wasn’t the same. Maybe it’s because I didn’t hurt her friend. If I had hurt one of her friends, she likely would have been just as nice as her big sister. And that wouldn’t have made this whole job any better than Applejack’s dislike of me. Eyes opened, Hokey Smokes blinked a couple of times everything came into focus. This wasn’t the dream, this wasn’t where he played through that night again. “Somethin wrong?” Ever perceptive, she seemed to realize that something had happened during the night. A bad dream wasn’t something that he was new to, but guilt was definitely not something that he liked. If this was the old him, he wouldn’t be feeling anything of the sort. If this was the old me, I wouldn’t be as happy, either. I hate the old me. It was almost karmic that he had lost his memories, almost a curse that he had gotten them back. This was, actually, the first time in the past few months that he had thought about them in that way. When he had gotten them back, it had been nothing but happy times for him.

Now some of the bad times were coming to the front, and he didn’t like them.

“It’s nothing, Applebloom.” A hand went to ruffle her mane, but she backed away. “I’m not going to hit you or anything.”

“It’s not that, only mah family gets to do that.”

Family.

This was a subject that Hokey Smokes didn’t like to talk about. Where was his family? What had happened to them? Hadn’t that been why he had started moving around? There had been a couple of months, and he still didn’t know where they were. How was it that they hadn’t looked for him? Were they disappointed by his inability to do basic spells anymore? Had something happened to them that prevented them from looking? That thought was not a pleasant one, and it led to a few tears trailing down his cheek. Immediately, his hoof went to wipe them away. Hokey Smokes hated looking weak, which was obvious, but there was nothing that could be done to stop this. Once something is done, it is almost impossible to undo. Crying is one of those things that are especially impossible, with it being seen and heard by all of those around the pony. His tears elicited a reaction from the young filly, who had a sad look on her face as she stepped forward.

“I didn’t mean ta make ya feel bad.”

“It’s nothing you did, I’m alright.” His reaction was forced down; it wasn’t likely a good idea to tell her that he was currently without a family. How do you explain that sort of thing to a young child? Hokey Smokes wiped a last tear, and then forced a grin. It likely wasn’t convincing, but it was the best that he could do. “Applejack is probably waiting for me.” With that, he turned and started to walk away. This was his quick retreat, the one that didn’t even look like a quick retreat. He only got two steps before he was stopped by some unexpected words.

“Actually, you’re gonna be workin with Big Mac for tha day. Applejack said she had some business in Ponyville.”

Oh joy, this is going to be interesting. I get to work with the pony who won’t want to talk. A glance upward, he realized that he didn’t talk much either. It might actually turn out alright, since he was simply working. All of his concentration was needed for the task at hand, which in this case was magically removing apples from trees. He still wasn’t as good as he wanted to be, but that was something that would change with time. All he had to do was practice, just as he had done when he was a colt in magic school. Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. It was so much nicer than practicing like this, though. It was so much better. By the time that he looked down, he was looking at Big Mac. Might as well get this over with. It might not be too long before the job is done, and I can go elsewhere. Something about this place is making me feel guilty. Then again, I should feel guilty. I did a lot of terrible things. The internal conflict wasn’t going to get externalized, he pushed it down and simply vocalized the question that he knew the answer to. “So, we’re working together?”

“Eeeyup.”

“It won’t take too long, then.”

The red stallion turned, looking at the trees.

“Eeenope.”

Splendid.

With those few words between them, the two of them went out to start the job. There was no time for conversation anyway; they needed to work as hard as they could. Yet, for the life of him, Hokey Smokes couldn’t help but start to ask questions. They started as things he asked himself, but as time went on he became less and less able to prevent himself from vocalizing them. Where had Applejack really gone? Why wasn’t she helping? Why wasn’t Big Mad saying anything? A majority of them were about the same topic, the hard working mare that seemed to be stronger than him. Not to mention that she’s infinitely better to look at than Big Mac. As he thought that, a slight blush appeared on his face. No, that was a bad thought. You do not have those thoughts. You do not. A few moments later, right before the red stallion glanced over, he had forced the brightness from his face. There was no way that he would put himself in the situation where he had to explain himself. Instead, he focused on moving apples. He forced himself to take more with each attempt, trying to find that point where he couldn’t do any more. After that, he was going to try to take a few more.

The only way to get better was to push the boundaries of what was possible.

By now, he could pick up a few more than half. It was progress, but it was slow progress. Each and every apple became a new weight on his mind, a new small piece of a larger headache that was starting to form. Hokey Smokes was getting better at ignoring them, but that wasn’t likely a good idea. He was also becoming better at ignoring everything else, which was definitely not the right thing to do. It hadn’t worked well in the past, and now it turned out that somepony was trying to get his attention. That wasn’t something that he had realized until an apple was pulled from his group. It had a purple aura around it, one that he could have sworn he had seen before. It was only when it hit his head, and caused him to drop the others, that he turned to see that it was the last pony that he had wanted to see. “Twilight Sparkle?” He said, disbelieving that something like this had happened. Why was she there? Had that been the important thing that Applejack had done? By now, he was starting to shake. He wanted to believe that she would forgive him, but he hadn’t apologized. There was also a nagging feeling that a simply sorry wouldn’t mean anything, wouldn’t do anything.

With that thought in mind, he threw himself down on the ground.

“I’m so sorry. I know it probably doesn’t mean anything, but I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to make me feel so bad before.” Eyes looked up at her imploring her to forgive him. Hokey Smokes knew that he didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t hope for it.

Twilight merely blinked a few times, and then motioned toward town. “Let’s just see about that horn. I’m genuinely curious about what could have happened to you.” No forgiveness yet, maybe he would have to earn it. A reluctant smile was on her face, as if she had been drafted into doing this by one of her friends. “Unless you’d rather just lay there.” That one was obviously a joke, and Hokey Smokes took it as such. He even stood up, starting to walk behind her as they made their way toward the library. Whatever would happen there, he knew that it would likely be interesting.

[Author’s Note: This is the end of Part 1. There will be others.]

Chapter 2: Parts of Truth

Both eyes were closed, so Hokey Smokes didn’t get a single glance at the ponies that were likely going to be assaulting him. He had been rude, a thief, and even attacked them with the apples that they worked hard to grow. At this point, he wouldn’t have blamed them at all if this was how it ended. It wasn’t how he wanted it to end, the encounter as he knew they wouldn’t take his life over such a petty thing, but it wasn’t likely up to him. He was prepared to be defeated, tensing up for the first signs of pain, when suddenly he heard chuckling. This could have been at the words, at his expression, or any number of things. It was fairly obvious, though, that they weren’t going to be attacking him at this point. The chuckling, both the filly and the mare obviously couldn’t contain themselves, turned into full-fledged laughter. It isn’t that funny, is it? Do they normally laugh at people who fear for their lives? Probably not, but that only leaves one thing. Is there something on my face? It didn’t dawn on him that the sheer idea of violence was not something that had entered either of their minds.

A hoof moved to check his face, and nothing out of the ordinary was there. Eyes slowly opened to see that there were the two ponies standing right in front of him. The laughter had been forced to quiet, but there were still wide grins on their faces. Something about all of this was funny to them, obviously, but it still wasn’t obvious what. Hokey Smokes assumed that they weren’t going to be happy about the apple, or making the young filly cry, or assaulting one of them with the fruit. None of those were things that created friendships, after all. The next thing that he saw, though, was the young filly’s head shake. It was almost as if she was judging him, but that would have been rude. Instead, he waited to hear something to make anything that had happened make any sense. Luckily for him, that didn’t take long.

“Ah can’t believe ah was afraid of that.” Applebloom started, barely holding back a returning chuckle.

That might have been the thing that she was chuckling about before, the fact that she had been afraid of a stallion whose first reaction was the wish that his face be unharmed. Even with that reasoning for her, there wasn’t much for the other one. Why would she have laughed as well? Who was she, anyway? That was a question that was likely best left unasked. Every pony in Ponyville likely knew each other, it was a small town. If he asked her, she would ask him, and then there would be something bad when she learned that it was him that had confronted Twilight Sparkle. Of course, that fear could be completely unfounded. Hokey Smokes had been afraid of being hit for what he had done, he was obviously delusional. A couple shakes of his head; it must have been the hunger that hit him. One apple was great, but he normally ate more. And that’s why I don’t have any money right now, I guess. Well, that and the fact that I’m not that good of a performer. A glance to Applebloom, and then to the older mare, put a final piece of the puzzle down.

They had to be related, maybe even sisters. That would have made his move worse, with the need to protect her even more obvious.

“Ah thought he was gonna be some sorta scary stallion from yer description.”

That was another piece of the puzzle down. She had laughed because of the fact that he wasn’t scary at all. Hokey Smokes had frightened the little filly, likely startle was a better word, and she had gone to tell about him. Applebloom had told her relative that he was something worse than he was, or maybe her mind had actually made him seem worse than he was. Either way, the mare had gone out there to try to take down a threat to the orchard. That left one big question, though, about what was going to happen next. He might be allowed to head out, but there was no reason to tie him down if they just intended to let him go. I don’t think I’m going to have the strength to get out, and definitely not the speed to go faster than the mare. She’s fast, too fast for me. Teleporting would be nice right about now, but I’m not able to do that. Wait, no, might as well try. With that thought, he started to focus on his horn. All of his energy was put into trying to go anywhere else, he needed to just get a good hundred feet in any direction to give himself a good head start.

His horn started to glow; it was enough to startle the two of them. Hokey Smokes could feel it; his magic was going to do it. He started to concentrate harder, trying to force as much energy as he had into his horn. By this time, he was starting to lose focus. It started with a small headache, originating at his horn. This was the same thing that had happened before. That was before, though, and he was going to make sure that he fought through it this time. Nothing would stop him from going far away; he was going to do it. A light enveloped him, almost as if he was going to do it. The light shot out, and then he opened his eyes to see exactly what had happened. He was surely a good distance away; the two ponies were likely nowhere near. When he opened his eyes, though, he saw two blank stares at him. Neither of them knew what to say, and Hokey Smokes didn’t really want to say anything to the same two ponies that had captured him when he had tried to flee.

Hokey Smokes had gone nowhere, and had a headache to show for it.

“What in the hay was that about?”

What was what about? Hokey Smokes didn’t want to tell about his failure, didn’t even want to continue to think about it. He had a headache, which was bad enough by itself, but the thought that he couldn’t do this basic spell was something that made his face change to a frown. I have to try to get out of this. Well… they seem nice enough; I might just get away with asking. Yeah, that should work. He forced a smile onto his face, though it was fairly obvious that it was forced, and then he gave a few seconds of thought about what he was going to say. “I was hungry and ate an apple. I… didn’t expect anypony to find me before I left. But if you’d be so kind as to l-“ He didn’t even finish, the glare that hit him was almost enough to scare him. The filly was just looking at him, as if to wonder why there would be some sort of problem with eating a single apple. Of course, it likely came from the idea that nopony would be poor enough to where they actually had to go about stealing. Regardless of why, he couldn’t look at her anymore, he had to focus on the mare that was glaring.

“That’s not what ah meant. What was that light? Why did ya just take an apple? And why did ya have to go and scare mah sister like that?”

Those were good questions. If it were any other situation, or maybe even a good day, he might have felt inclined to answer them all. Today wasn’t a good day, though, so Hokey Smokes had to think. Which one, or ones, did he feel like answering? The one about scaring her was likely the one that he could answer without bringing up failures. Also, note to self. Do not try to teleport again. His head still hurt, rather bad actually. Alright, so I know one of the questions to answer. The first one is about my attempt to escape; the second one is about me stealing the apple. Neither of those are questions that I want to answer, not to her at least, so I think I’ll just ignore them for now. “I didn’t mean to, I just… woke up wrong. After I got hit with an apple core, I might have overreacted a little. And for that, I apologize. I should not have reacted in the way I did.”

“It’s alright, ah forgive ya.” Applebloom stated quickly, though for some reason she didn’t have the wide grin on her face anymore. If this were any other pony, he might wonder about the apology for throwing the apple core. Hokey Smokes had a subtle feeling that this wasn’t going to happen, though, so he let it go.

“Ya aren’t gettin out of those other questions so easily.”

It was obvious that he would have to come up with something. A lie might work, but that didn’t feel right. It was alright to ignore a question, but it wasn’t alright to tell a lie. That was just wrong. Then again, maybe I should tell about some sort of unbelievable thing that ends with the truth. Surely she’ll throw the whole thing out, and assume that I don’t want to tell her. Or maybe she’ll just make me tell her. She can probably sit here all day if she has to, and I can’t go anywhere until she lets me out. I am in quite the predicament. Wait, no, the truth is the only thing I have to say. She’ll understand, right? The ponies in this town aren’t completely heartless, are they? I’ve only met a few, but still. I have a feeling that everything might not turn out horribly.

“Well, you see, that light was me failing.” The questioning glance, from both of them, was let him know that it wasn’t enough. “You see, I was hoping that I might get away. I know how this spell should work, I remember having done it before, but there is definitely something to be said about execution. As you can see, I didn’t actually teleport anywhere…”

A look of realization came to the mare’s face, and she snickered. “So you were tryin one of those spells that Twilight uses all the time?”

“Twilight who?” The question was almost not needed. Hokey Smokes had the feeling that the name was linked to the one pony who he didn’t want to see right then.

“Twilight Sparkle, one of mah good friends.”

Yep, that was horrible news. His expression changed to one of panic, as if Twilight might come around at any point. It wasn’t that he thought she might kill him or anything, but he still didn’t know how to deal with that part of his life. Hokey Smokes had hoped to put that behind him, but it was obvious that this wasn’t going to happen. Once again, he got two questioning glances.

“You just look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“Uh-huh.” The mare simply glared at him, but he didn’t crack. Hokey Smokes was a wall, unbreakable in his desire to not tell her that he had assaulted her friend. There was a lot to be said about telling the truth, but this was definitely not one of those times when it would turn out good at all. “And the appl-“

That question was cut off by a rumble of a stomach. Hokey Smokes was going to say something, right before that had happened. A blush covered his face, and then he glanced down. Well, no use beating around the bush. “I might just be a wanderer with no real home to speak of. My shows haven’t been getting as many ponies as I would want. And I didn’t want to go into Ponyville for… reasons.” I don’t have to lay everything out. I can have some secrets and she’ll probably not hate me for it. Wait… why do I care if she hates me? I’m going to head out as soon as possible, and I won’t look back. At the same time, though, he was staring down a mare who seemed like she was thinking of some sort of plan of her own.