Elements of Foregiveness part 1: Honesty

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.