Elements of Foregiveness part 1: Honesty

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.