Elements of Foregiveness part 1: Honesty

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.