Chapter two

They spoke of a time, long ago

Written and checked over by: Drab Felmore

The three fillies sit in their tree house back in the warm weather of Apple Bloom's family farm on the outskirts of Ponyville. They had arrived only an hour ago from their three day adventure in the Crystal Empire, as for the spike, they had held on to it for two days now and they desired to figure out what it was. So their meeting currently was focused on what this spike may be.

"Alright, we need to figure out who, if anypony, may know what this is." Scootaloo said as she pointed towards the spike in the front podium that she stood at. Their question was quickly answered by the horn speaking up.

"Canter...lot." Scootaloo looked to the spike that spoken up for the first time in the two days since they had gotten it. Seeing as it had given them a lead she turned her attention back to her friends.

"Okay, we should check Canterlot for answers." Scootaloo said.

"Oh, Rarity is in need of dress supplies. If i tell her I am doing a school project and need to get information from the Canterlot Library she should be happy to bring me along." Sweetie belle said with a smile on her face.

Giving an approving nod Scootaloo took hold of the Spike on the podium and held it out to Sweetie Belle, enveloping it in her magic she took it and placed it in to her saddle bags that sat beside her but for a moment a little wisp of green connected from the spike to her horn. It was there for only a moment but it was very much there.

"Alright well, this meeting is dismissed."

***

Scootaloo walks up a hill to where Rainbow Dash and her usually do their flying lessons but like many other times Scootaloo found that Rainbow Dash was in fact sleeping on a nearby cloud. Usually this never really fazed the filly but today however she felt as if the sky blue athlete was rubbing it in. Her rainbow main and tail hung over the clouds edges which Scootaloo glared at with hostility. Something in the little filly hated her role model for showing off what Scootaloo couldn't do yet, and so in frustration Scootaloo turned away from Rainbow's main and began to practice flying like she always had.

Scootaloo took a running start and began to flutter her wings as fast as she could in an attempt to get higher off the ground but she only hovered a few feet above. After a bit of time she touches down again, in frustration Scootaloo kicks a small rock with her hoof making it go flying in to the grassy meadow she was practicing at.

"Slow... rhythmic... even." The voice of the object said in her head thoroughly surprising the filly.

"W-What?"

"Slow... wings... more... rhythmic... Evenly... expand... wings." The stallion voice said to her. With this advice Scootaloo returned to the hill she had started at and kept telling herself the words the voice had said.

Scootaloo opened her wings to their fullest and readied to take off in a run. She doubted that this voice could help her when Rainbow Dash couldn't even help but she would have been a fool to turn down the help provided. With a relaxing breath Scootaloo took off in a sprint towards the downwards slope of the hill, extending her wings to the fullest she could Scootaloo felt the air round them alter slightly. With a even flap of her wings Scootaloo's body lifted off of the ground and she was propelled into the air causing her heart to flutter.

Her wings wanted to flutter rapidly as they were used to doing but Scootaloo mentally forced herself to resist the urge. With a slow and methodical rhythm Scootaloo began to reach heights she only got to with the aid of her scooter and some ramps. Gleefully Scootloo cheered as she got ready to attempt a back flip in the air in celebration. The voice all the while quietly chuckled at the little fillies reaction.

The celebration however fell flat at the little Pegasus did just that coming out of the back flip. With a groan Scootaloo pulled her face off of the dirt ground, with a smile still plastered on her face she rubbed her muffle. She all the while was blissfully planning out her next attempt when he blue Pegasus trainer, Rainbow dash, came to her side. With her arrival Scootaloo's gin eagerly departed leaving a scowl in its place.

"Hey squirt I seen you-"

"Don't call me that, I'm not a baby Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo snaps as she turns away from Rainbow, the athlete rubs the back of her neck and laughs awkwardly.

"Sorry, I didn't know it bothered you squ- Scoots. Anyways... good job on the flight practice." grumbling Scootaloo got to her hooves and walked away from Rainbow Dash.

"Ya, no thanks to you." Scootaloo said over her shoulder, but as she walked she didn't notice that a few soft feathers fell from her wings. These feathers were quickly replaced by firmer and more mature feathers in its place, yet these feathers at their bases had a much dark colored set of veins running through them.

Scootaloo walked with a mixture of pride and uncertainty in her as she left Rainbow on their training hill. The filly only stopped when she passed a tree which she decided would do for a resting area. Taking a seat with her back to the tree Scootaloo looked out onto the grass fields before her.

"How can you speak to me when I don't have the spike thingy?" Scootaloo asked out to the empty air, she mentally hopped that she wasn't just going crazy and hearing the voice. Upon hearing the strained voice her worries quickly settled.

"Conn...ection."

Scootaloo let this word settle in her mind for a few seconds while she sat watching the clouds over head roll over the distant Everfree forest.

"So, I'm connected to the horn?"

"Part...ly only." Scootaloo nods.

"Alright, well what exactly are you?" Scootaloo asked the voice but for some time the voice did not respond. She found herself worrying that the connection she had with the spike might have been cut off but those worries died out when it spoke again.

"An old... leader."

*One day later*

Apple Bloom walks out onto the porch as the sun begins to peek out from the distant horizon. Bags had formed under the fillies eyes and her main popped out in many different directions. To say her night was restless would have been an understatement, but to Apple Jack this was nothing new. Apple Bloom on many occasions had stayed up late doing 'crusader business' which in turn caused the filly to lose out on her sleep.

After stretching out her limbs Apple Bloom slogged over to her siblings who had already begun work on wooden frames. The Apple family had been planning to replace the garden frames for a while now and were now able to get to them. With Hammer in mouth Big Macintosh nailed two wood boards together while Apple Jack held them in place. Once together the elder two siblings turned to Apple Bloom who stood before them with droopy eyes.

"Mornin' Apple Bloom." Apple Jack said happily but Big Mac's 'morning' was muffled by the hammer he held.

"Ya, mornin'." Apple Bloom grumbled as she looked around for a hammer of her own to start working. She soon found one beside the pile of wooden boards by the barn along with a saw. Apple Jack slides the frame they have so far along the ground till the next corner Big Mac needed to work on was in front of him. Apple Bloom deciding to get started on helping them headed to the hammer and grabbed it only for Apple Jack to speak up.

"Apple Bloom, can you actually saw us some more boards? You can use the ones we already have as reference."

Without waiting for a response Apple Jack turned her attention back to her task and brought a board up to butt against the board end for the frame. Grumbling under her breath Apple Bloom grabbed the saw and brought one board down off of the pile. After wrestling the wood on to a nearby sawhorse Apple Bloom retrieves an already cut set of boards then brought them to the board she had prepared on the saw horse.

Once she had the length she needed Apple Bloom set to cutting the board with her saw.

'Stupid chores, stupid farm. Ah have better things ta do than fix some silly garden frames.' Apple bloom thought as she sawed away at the wood, anger and frustration fueling each pull and push she did.

"Why do... they get... the ea..sy jobs?" Apple Bloom froze for a second at the sound of the voice but after realizing she was just stood doing nothing she resumed her sawing.

'Great, now ah'm hearin’ voices in my head.' Apple Bloom thought snidely but was met with the voice chuckling.

"You... have a... hostile... side I see." As if to mimic Apple Blooms jaw the board she was sawing dropped to the ground with the section she needed to cut now free. Picking both her jaw and the board off the ground Apple Bloom brought the cut board to her siblings. They didn't acknowledge her contribution as they hammered away so once again the filly walked away from them but this time growling in irritation.

'Ya could have at least said thank you, you, you...'

"Go ahead, I won't scold you for foul language." Apple Bloom contemplated on this for a bit as she brought a new board over to the saw horse, with a single fling the board landed on the saw horse with a loud thwack. Looking over to her two elder siblings still hammering away she grinned mischievously.

"Bitch." That single word sent a shiver up Apple Blooms spine, never once had she dared to swear around anypony, especially her sister. This swear however sent feeling of wrong through her but at the same time it felt so good to her.

"How... do you... feel?" The voice asked, Apple bloom happily grabbing the saw once again began to saw her next board without even measuring its length with the reference board. As she cut Apple Bloom couldn't help but admit she felt good, no great. She hadn't felt this good in a long time but that good feeling was slowly fading, and she wanted more of it. She had heard a wide variety of cusses and swears over the years and though she never dared to say one in public she memorized every single one.

With the next board finished Apple Bloom brought the board over to Apple Jack and Macintosh who had just finished their first full frame. Placing down the obviously short board Apple Bloom turned to continue her sawing job but was stopped by Apple Jack speaking.

"Uh Apple Bloom, Ah think that board is the wrong size..." Apple Jack picked up the board Apple Bloom had put down to show its length compared to the other boards. Sure enough there was a noticeable difference between them. "Ah gave you a simple job Bloom, ah would have expected ya to be able to handle it."

Apple Bloom's relief from her swear had plummeted back to irritation as she looked at her sister. "A simple job is holding two boards up together for somepony to hammer, not sawing, not measuring, and definitely not carrying multiple boards around multiple times." Apple Bloom retorted but her irritated response earned her a few moments of silence from her siblings.

"We all play a part in the chores Apple Bloom, Sometimes ah do difficult chores while you do the simple ones. Sometimes Big Mac does the hard things. Sharing the hard and easy chores is an expectation in teamwork."

Flaring her nostrils Apple Bloom turned around, heading back to the sawhorse she mentally fired insult after insult at her sister. It is only when she begins to saw a new board that she realizes what she had been doing.

'What the hay am ah doin'? Apple Jack does do so much for the far... am ah really that upset about sawing some boards?' Apple Bloom asked herself as she sawed away with the proper measurements for the boards length. It is only when she sees her brother and sister in the corner of her eye that she pauses halfway through her board.

The two elder siblings were now struggling to move the frame to where it was meant to go. Seeing as they likely needed help Apple bloom grumbled and goes to help them. Pulling up a corner that was lying on the ground and placing it on her back Apple Bloom began to help her siblings carry the frame.

"Thanks Apple Bloom."

"Ya whatever, ah just hope you and Macintosh know that you two are stupid for doing it this way." Apple Bloom callously said to Apple Jack stopping her in her tracks, Apple Bloom all the while doesn't realize or care to notice what she had said. "Excuse me?" Apple Jack asked sternly.

"Ah figured you would have seen this by now but I'll explain it to your blight infested brain..." Apple Bloom sneers at her sister who looks both shocked and outraged at her sisters words. "You both built the frame a good thirty feet from where they need to go against the house. Meaning after exerting the pitiful effort to build these cow dung frames you still need to carry it. That doesn't even bring up the fact of needing to adjust them once you get there."

"What would you say is a better option Missy?" Apple Jack asked in a obviously heated tone, Big Mac however slowly places his corner down and backs away from the two fuming females before him.

"Oh ah don't know, maybe don't be a dumb cow and think about how to efficiently-" Apple Bloom is cut off part way through her retort by Apple Jacks hoof making contact with the side of Apple Bloom's face.

"Don't you dare be so disrespectful to your family." Apple Jack hissed with venom dripping from her tone. Apple Bloom scowls at her sister as she rubs her cheek, tears threatened to fall from the young fillies eyes but she held them back with and iron grip.

"You are such a-a..." Apple Bloom stammered as she battled a war against herself. Her sister looked down on her as if daring her to say what she wanted to say, that look told the filly if she did say it she would surely regret it but after a few seconds something gave way in her and what she next says just spills out without filter. "You are a fucking bitch!"

"That's it, you are grounded Missy. Go to your room." Apple Jack bellowed, Apple Bloom froze looking at her sister as if her world just shattered before her eyes. That look only lasted for a few moments before it got replaced by a new burning hell fire of fury that spread across the fillies face. In a bling fury Apple Bloom picked up the closest object to her and threw it at her sister, that object just so happened to be a hammer. With a solid toss the metal head of the hammer directly impacted her sister's noise emitting a loud crunch sound from the impact.

For Apple Bloom the world move in slow motion as the hammer bounced off of her sisters muzzle and nose and fell to the ground. Realization of what she had done slowly settled in to her mind but for some reason a part of her was overjoyed at what had happened, this part only grew when the first trickles of blood fell from Apple Jack's nose. Wiping away the slowly increasing trickle of blood from her nose Apple Jack looks to Big Mac who now is looking at the both of them in utter shock.

"Can you get Apple Bloom to her room and make sure she doesn't leave?" Big Mac only manages a small no in response to Apple Jack as she drops her corner of the garden frame to the ground finally. With that Apple Jack walks off with a hoof to her nose, After a few minutes of silence Big Mac clears his throat behind Apple Bloom.

"Ya, whatever." Apple Bloom grumbles as she heads towards their home with Big Mac close behind. If He had been able to see the little Fillies eyes he would have been able to see the whites of her eyes had taken on a green color slightly.

Author's Note

Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter. If you guys don't mind please give me feed back on what you think. I can only get better with help.