Elements of Foregiveness part 1: Honesty

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?”