It had been nearly one week since Jason had arrived in Equestria.

While being under the watchful gaze of the element bearers, Jason had grown more accustomed to a normal day to day life.

Helping Fluttershy in the mornings with her animal friends went so quickly, that the others thought it would be a good idea to have him help out at Sweet Apple Acres.

Apple Jack and Jason walked down the main road through town, headed to her family farm.

As they moved along, passersby greeted the pair with a friendly 'good morning' while they continued to their own tasks.

What apprehension there was for the new being living amongst them was blown away with the reassurance of their Princesses, hometown heroines, his own friendly demeanor, as well as him saving the local mail mare from a nasty crash with relative ease

The final few who still needed to meet Jason would be the Apple family matriarch and AJ's elder brother.

"This shouldn't take too long seeing as they have already heard of ya from ma'self and Apple Bloom. We'll Just do a quick 'howdy-do' then I'll show ya the ropes of apple buck'n."

"Sounds good."

He looked about the town as they walked, admiring the different homes and buildings.

"Hopefully with yer help, we can get the buck'n, sort'n and store'n done sooner than last year." AJ smiled with an optimistic grin evident on her face.

Bringing his attention back to her, he brought up his hand, then clenched it in anticipation.

"I'll do my best."

The stroll to the farm was not a long one and they had arrived at a decent time.

Passing through the archway with apples adorning it, they proceeded down the path that was lined on either side with apple trees.

Jason might have lived the majority of his life in or near wooded areas, but this was the first time he had ever been to a orchard.

Especially one of this magnitude in sheer acreage.

While he was glancing about the surrounding trees in childlike wonder, AJ chuckled to herself.

"First time seeing this many apple trees? Ah can understand. Ah may have grown up here and been around these trees ma entire life but watch'n the sun set while on the hill overlooking the orchard is breath take'n, Ah tell ya."

Soon, AJ's home came into view through the thicket of trees and limbs.

Interestingly, it looked like a very large red barn.

"There she is. Ma home sweet home. Come on, Granny Smith and Big Mac should still be inside."

AJ moved into a canter and reached the front door, opened it, then hollered inside.

"Granny Smith?! Big Mac?! Could ya come out here fur a sec? I'd like to introduce ya to that Jason feller Apple Bloom and I been tell'n ya'll about."

After a short moment a voice called back.

"Alright, we're coming Apple jack. Keep yer britches on."

Aj rolled her eyes, seeing as she wasn't actually wearing anything apart from her hat.

The first to exit the home was the elderly mare, creaking all the while.

Big Macintosh followed behind with a relaxed, stoic look on his face.

Granny Smith slowly approached Jason as he took a knee to meet her eye to eye.

"So yer the feller who AJ been tell'n us about. It's nice to finally meet'cha."

She brought a hoof up, which he took in his hand in a gentle shake, treating her as if she could break at any second.

"Nice to meet you too, Mam"

"A polite one, ain't ya. It's good you young'n's now a days still know how to mind yer manners around yer elders."

She backed up to allow Big Mac his turn.

This time when he raised his hoof, Jason closed his fist, and bummed it into his for a hoof bump.

This was one of the many things Spike and Rainbow Dash had taught him about the standards and practices of being a 'Bro'.

Jason inclined his head while looking him in the eyes.

"Sup, Bro Mac."

More of their teaching's shined through.

Big Mac raised an eyebrow at this but gave a quick incline of his head in the 'Sup' motion in return.

With a bit of an eye roll and saying something about 'Stallions' under her breath she continued.

"Jason here was recommended to us for helping with apple buck'n. ah've seen first hoof that he is more than qualified to help with any heavy lifting around here and ah think with his strength, we could be done in record time. We'll start with showing him what we normally do and go from there."

A Few Moments Later

"And that's how we do it. Any questions?"

Apple Jack concluded her demonstration as the last apple fell into a bushel barrel.

Jason nodded as he tapped at his chin in consideration.

"I see."

He walked over to a neighboring tree and placed a hand on its trunk.

Pulling it away slowly, he closed his hand into a loose fist.

He then threw a jab at the trunk in a quick movement, striking the tree just hard enough to cause it to shake but not enough to break it.

It shook violently, causing the ripened fruit to break free, then fall into the proper receptacles.

He turned to the three apple ponies with a questioning look.

"Something like that?"

They looked between each other with a regard of being impressed by the newbie.

"Seems we have a natural on our hooves. This might go even quicker than ah originally estimated."

Granny Smith bobbed to AJ's words in agreement as well as falling asleep where she stood.

"Eeyup."

"Well then, let's have Jason help with the buck'n for a bit, then stack'n after a few trees. Sound good?"

With a unanimous agreement, they all when to work.

The day went by quite smoothly thanks to the green horn, Jason.

Thanks to his help they were able to get almost half of the orchard finished in record time.

It was almost like he was made for this kind of work.

After placing the last bushel of apples on the cart, AJ huffed in satisfaction.

"Hoo-nelly! Like ah thought, this was the first time we'd ever covered this much ground, and only in one day to boot."

She drew close to Jason, then gave him a grateful grin.

"Thank ya kindly for all the help today, Jason. This means the world to us and puts us in a good spot for the future. Thanks.

Jason lifted his mask, wiped the sweat from his brow, then slid it back into place before he returned Applejack's pleasant grin.

"You're very welcome. It was actually kind of fun to be able to do this kind of work. Plus, being outdoors has always been more my speed."

He looked about the surrounding tree lines with a look of remembrance of days long gone.

Of walks with his mother through the nearby woods to view the wonders of nature.

A small smirk creased his face at the warm memories.

AJ Brought him back to the present however when she spoke.

"Well, we should call it a day seeing this is a good stopping point. Ah'll take you back to Fluttershy's place after we bring these carts back to the house."

"Sounds good, though I can always use 'Morph' to get there and come back tomorrow, you know?"

"Yes, but Ah'd still need to do the exchange of your guardianship, so Ah'll be come'n along. Princesses' orders, remember."

"Well, that's true."

AJ, Big Mac and Jason pulled the carts back, then stored their loads away with little ado.

After everything was packed away, AJ went to Jason's side.

"Alright. Let's get a move on then."

Jason placed a hand on her withers.

"Indeed."

Flutter Butt's Home

Jason and Applejack appeared just outside of the cottage from a puff of mist.

"Ah'm not sure Ah'll ever get use ta that, but it's a might better than being 'flash banged' when Twilight does it."

Jason was about to agreed but felt something other than Fluttershy in the cottage.

Something that wasn't a pony nor an animal.

It was much bigger.

A sudden yelp of surprise emanated through the closed-door causing Jason to stiffen.

Launching himself forward, he burst through the front door like the Kool-Aid Man looking to quench some thirsty kid's thirst.

What met his eyes was Fluttershy, being held aloft by a very tall slender figure with miss matched body parts, who was rubbing the knuckles of its pawed appendage into the former's head as she said "Stop!" in a giggly tone.

Though the only thing he heard was the word and not the tone.

In less than a second, Jason activated 'Shift' before the two could even take note of the new party in the room.

After closing in on the pair instantaneously, Jason gripped the tall form by the face, catching it by surprise.

This caused it to release its captive, which in-turn caused her to fall into Jason's awaiting free arm.

After holding her secure to his chest, he drove the offender backward, crashing them into the floor while gripping tightly onto its face.

While staring an icy cold glare at the new being, he growled with a voice that seemed to be coming from the depths of hell.

"What were you doing to Fluttershy?"

The voice that met his ears was from the yellow pony that was clutched to his chest.

"Ja-Jason?! Wait, stop! Discord is a friend! Let him go!"

Jason blinked at what he heard, then let go of the downed god of chaos's face.

Placing Fluttershy on the floor, Jason looked down to the yellow mare.

"Who's-?"

Jason's question was cut off by a cloven hoof to the chest, making him fly backward and embedding him into the wall.

"Discord?!" Fluttershy cried out.

"Popping up out of nowhere and taking mortals by surprise." Discord spit into an unseen spittoon with a ping before continuing. "That's my job."

(Somewhere in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie sneezed then looked around, confused).

Jason looked up from his new home in the wall with a dark expression, then pulled himself free from the indentation.

As Jason rushed toward his new foe, Discord had a confident smirk grace his features.

"Oh please."

With a snap of his clawed hand, a flash of light enveloped Jason.

After the blinding light, a tiny white rabbit stumbled and rolled across the floor, coming to rest at Fluttershy's hooves, face first.

Confused, Fluttershy laid down on the floor while looking the smol form over as it gradually got back up, shaking its tiny head to get the cobwebs out.

"What happened?"

It then turned to Fluttershy and hopped back in surprise.

"Fa-Fluttershy? How did you get so huge all of a sudden?"

Her eyes grew wide as she gazed at what she realized was her latest friend.

The tiny white bunny looked down to its adorable little paw and froze at the sight.

It then followed the foreleg to its fluffy chest, down to its pudgy pokable belly, its larger hind legs, then behind to its puffy cotton tail (which it gave a little wiggle).

reaching up, it ran its paws upward along its long, adorable ears, then let its arms fall to its sides, baffled.

It then shifted its gaze back to Fluttershy with a deadpan look.

The smol bunny had a design on its fur, that looked like it was wearing a tiny hockey mask with red chevrons on its widdle biddy face.

"Am I? A rabbit right now?"

With out saying a word, Fluttershy nodded.

Jason face-palmed with his itty-bitty pawed hand.

A chuckle made Jason glare up a Discord with a look that, if he was in his normal form, would cause any who had seen it to shit out their spinal column in fear.

Sadly, in this form, it might only cause a squeeing fit and a mild case of 'Diabeetus' to the viewer.

"Aww. Look at you. Trying to be tough even after being cut down to size? Isn't That just 'Pwecious'?"

Discord said the last word in a cutesy tone of voice while he batted a pair of very long eye lashes mockingly.

This cause Jason to clench a fist in righteous indignation.

Discord scoffed and poked Jason right in his squishy belly.

"What? You don't like that? You going to do something about its little guy?"

Discord leaned down and offered his chin to the bunny Jason.

"Go ahead. Give it your best shot, tiny."

Discord closed his eyes with a smug expression plastered on his face.

The smug was just radiating off of him.

Jason hunkered down and wound up like a spring.

With the perfect form of a 'Shoryuken', his pawed hand connected with the draconequus right in the jaw.

This cause Discord's head to launch like a rocket upward and smash through the ceiling.

Although Jason may have been shrunken to this tiny form, he was just as powerful as his normal size.

Discord hung limply from the rafters as Jason hopped over to the tail of his dazed opponent.

After gripping the serpentine tail in his teeny paws, Jason yanked down, freeing Discord and slamming him to the floor.

Before he had a chance to stop seeing stars, Jason began to toss Discord up and over, back and forth, slamming the god on the floor like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

He then spun in place and released his grip, sending Discord sailing across the room and into the wall opposite of where Discord had sent Jason flying into earlier.

Slowly Discord rose from the ground while placing his pawed to his head.

"Why you little..."

As Discord looked to where Jason was, He was shocked to see two bunny hind legs hurtling toward his face.

upon impact, Discord's head was driven through to the other side of the wall he was leaning against.

Jason hopped back to in front of Fluttershy and started throwing punches like a boxer who just heard the bell for round two.

"Guy's, please stop. I can explain."

Fluttershy's pleading fell on deaf ears as Discord's tail stretched out then slapped down onto Jason, flattening him like a pancake.

Then, after pealing him up like a sticker, it rolled Jason up into a ball, bounced him off the floor a couple times, tossed him up into the air, then swatted him away like a tennis ball.

He hit the wall with a cartoonish *splat*, slid down turning into a puddle on the floor, then popped back up into his normal bunny form in the stance he was in before being flattened, only much worse for wear.

After waddling to and fro, he pointed up at the ceiling and stated in a drunken sounding voice.

"If you think I look rough, you should see the other guy. He's 'all kinds' of messed up."

He then fell to the floor in a heap.

Discord's tail then snapped like a pair of fingers, causing another flash and turning Jason back to normal.

Discord then pried his head free from the wall.

Then, on shaky legs, stood up.

Following soon after was Jason.

They panted and glared at one another for what seemed like forever, then ran head long at each other.

Before they could proceed with beating each other to a bloody pulp, an extremely loud voice rang out.

"ENOUGH!"

This cause both of them to trip, fall and skid along the floor on their faces till they halted mere inches away from colliding, legs dangling above their heads in a 'C' shape.

As they laid there, face down on the floor, a tapping sound could finally be heard coming from the side of their heads.

But this wasn't just any kind of tapping.

It was the kind of tapping that a mother might do after she just caught her children in the middle of throwing a party while she was away.

This caused a shiver to run down both of their spine's.

They turned their heads toward the sound at a glacial pace.

Upon looking up, they saw a smiling Fluttershy gazing down at them with her eyes closed and dark aura clouding her features.

Sadly, for them, there was no joy in that smile.

It was only in the shape of one.

"Are you 'boys' done now?"

Fluttershy slightly opened her eyes to where it seemed that they were just barely visible.

A quiet fury burned in their depths.

The sight of this caused Jason and Discord to sweat profusely, as well as lose color by the second, leaving them to be pale, white as a sheet.

In a flash, they both sat on their feet, hand resting on their knees, back ramrod straight.

Being unable to look her in the eyes, both found the floor really interesting right at that moment.

"Now then. Who wants to tell me what 'That' was about just now?"

At this, both pointed at the other and stated in a low timid voice.

"He started It."

The smile on Fluttershy's face disappeared as a 'unamused' look took its place, causeing them to snap back to their previous positions in an instant and tremble.

Fluttershy sighed while shaking her head.

"Alright. Jason, you go first."

This cause Jason to shake even more, while Discord had a barely evident smile form on his lips that said 'Ha ha. You're the one in trouble and not me'.

Jason poked his index fingers together in front of his chest, while looking down at his hands and pursing his lips.

"Well. Um. You see. The thing is."

"Jason. I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me why you did what you did."

With the utmost timidity, Jason raised his head to meet her eye to eye.

The cold glare had softened somewhat.

She was now just looking for an explanation.

There was still some irritation present, but it helped to ease some of the tension in the air, making it easier for him to think of what he had to say.

He gulped down the lump in his throat and began.

"Well, I was helping AJ at the farm like you asked me to."

Fluttershy's head bobbed in understanding, coaxing Jason to continue.

"And we got a lot done, almost half of the apple harvesting, actually."

"Wow, That's great. You did a very good job."

Fluttershy let some warmth permeate her voice and lighten her face as she genuinely praised him in his accomplishment.

"Go on."

After the basking in the warmth of her praise for a moment, he resumed.

"Then after we got done for the day, we put everything away and I used 'Morph' with AJ to get home quickly."

Fluttershy looked over to the broken remains of her front door to Applejack, who confirmed his words with a nod.

"Okay, then what?"

"Um, well. While we were outside, I heard you yelp and got worried. So, I broke through the door as fast as I could."

She looked at the shards of the exploded door scattered across the floor.

"Uh huh."

"And when I saw 'Him'." He then pointed a finger to Discord. "Holding you in his arms and you crying out for him to 'stop', I thought you were under attack by this weird creature. So, I moved to save you."

"HEY!" Discord shot up as he glared over at Jason. "I'm not some 'weird creature'!"

He placed his clawed hand on his chest and struck a prideful pose. "I prefer the word 'unique'."

Jason just rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Oh, you're 'unique' alright."

"What was that?!" Discord snapped at Jason's quip while shaking a fist in his direction.

"AHEM!"

Fluttershy cleared her throat, causing the two much larger beings to cower.

"So, you thought I was in danger and acted to rescue me? Is that right?"

Jason nodded while sweat beaded on his brow.

Fluttershy could feel that he was being honest and sighed.

"Okay. I can understand you had good intentions in trying to keep me safe and acted in the way you thought was best."

Jason glanced up to the soft-spoken mare.

"But."

She looked at him with a bit of dismay, causing his chest to tense up.

"Discord here is a friend of mine, and we were just having a friendly tussle between friends. If Discord wasn't Discord and it was somepony else, you might have really hurt them. I thought you would have learned that not everypony is as durable as you are."

Jason hung his head in shame, knowing she was right.

That's when she drove the final nail in the proverbial coffin.

"I'm not mad. I'm just, disappointed."

At the utterance of that word, Jason slumped forward like he had physically taken a cannon ball to the chest.

He gradually fell to his side, then laid there motionless, without any sign of life anywhere in his eyes, while tears just poured out from them in streams, pooling on the floor.

Discord saw the anguish that his former opponent was in and grew a haughty look while Jason languished in misery.

"And you."

It was short lived when the gaze of Fluttershy swung back to the god of chaos, causing him to take on the appearance of a deer about to be run down by a freight train.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What? Me? I was just defending myself, wasn't I?"

Fluttershy gave an extremely incredulous look that made Discord wince.

"Really? Even after you turned him into a bunny?"

Discord shrank ever so slightly.

"Then proceeded to make fun of him while he was in that form?"

He shrank to half his normal size.

"Then egged him on with a free chin shot?"

Down to quarter his normal size.

"That was all self-defense? Really?"

Discord was now down to an inch in height.

He then looked away from the towering figure of Fluttershy with a sheepish expression.

"Well.... No....."

"Uh huh. I thought so."

Fluttershy's face took on a tired look, shown clearly on her face.

"Look Discord, Jason has only been in Equestria for maybe a week and doesn't really know how things work here. He is still figuring out how to fit in as well as our social norms. He has a bit of leeway when it comes to a few things. You, however, should know better than that."

She then stood up strait and took on the visage of a judge that was about to hand down her judgement.

"That's why, you are going to apologize to Jason first."

Discord's head shot up at this.

"What?!"

"He will apologize to you afterward, but you are going to go first."

"But-but-but..."

"No but's, mister."

Discord grimaced as he glanced over to Jason, who hadn't moved in the slightest with a resemblance to a dead fish, surrounded by a puddle of his tears.

"Sigh.... Fine...."

Turning to face Jason quickly said, "Sorry." Then turned back to Fluttershy with a face that said 'There. I did it. Happy?' which caused her to glower back unimpressed.

"Like you mean it, Discord."

"Oh, come on!" He whined.

"Discord." She gave him the 'Mom' look.

"Okay, okay, jeez."

Going back to Jason, he bowed his head and sincerely stated.

"I'm sorry I kicked you across the room, turned you into a rabbit, made fun of you while you were a rabbit, then used you like a tennis ball."

Jason still didn't move.

Applejack approached the downed Jason, placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a little shake.

This caused him to turn over onto his back but that was about it.

"Um, Fluttershy. Ah think he might be dead."

Fluttershy drew close and peered into his eyes that were vacantly staring at nothing.

"Jason?"

She tapped him on the side of his face softly, while not breaking eye contact.

"Jason, all you have to do is say you're sorry and we can move on. We'll 'forgive and forget' and move on, okay. We are still friends."

This finally got him to move.

He rolled over, got back on his knees, then bowed his head to Discord.

"I'm very sorry for misunderstanding the situation, hitting you into the ceiling, flinging you around like a rag doll, then drop kicking your head through a wall."

He spoke as if his soul had been ripped out.

"Okay, now shake."

Jason sat up while still looking at the floor.

He then lifted his hand to shake.

Discord however had to have a few words.

"Oh, for the love of!"

Though, the argument was over when he looked to Fluttershy's insistent glare.

With a sigh and an eye roll, Discord grasped Jason's hand, then gave it a shake.

After letting go, Discord stood up.

"There, now I'm getting out of here before you say we have to 'kiss and make up'."

With a snap of his claw, he was gone, and the cottage was fully repaired.

Jason left his hand hanging in the air for a moment, till he let it drop into his lap.

AJ glanced between the depressed Jason and Fluttershy for a couple seconds, then cleared her throat and moved for the door, trying to escape the awkward atmosphere.

"Ah'll, uh, see ya'll tomorrow. kay?"

"See you later Applejack." Fluttershy called to her friend as she got closer to the miserable masked man.

Jason just nodded listlessly.

"Right. C'ya."

After Aj had closed the door, Fluttershy touched Jason's hand, causing him to flinch slightly, then lifted his sight to the yellow mare.

"Hey." She said in a soft warm coo of a voice.

He let his eyes fall back down to the floor once more.

"You know I'm not mad at you, right?"

He nodded weakly.

"You know that I know your sorry and that I forgive you, right?"

Another weak nod.

"And that I don't hate you, right?"

This time there was no nod.

He only looked up to her from the corner of his vision.

"Really?"

She placed a hoof under his chin and lifted his face, so his eyes met her's.

"Of course, I don't hate you. You made a mistake, you're sorry about it, you've apologized, you'll learn a better way for the future, and we'll move on. Everything will be right as rain by tomorrow."

Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, then ran down his face.

"Really?" He asked with a sniffle.

Fluttershy came closer to him and gently pulled him into a tight hug.

"Really, really."

Jason wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he sobbed gently in relief.

"I'm sorry." He said as he buried his face into her neck.

She gently patted him on the back to help sooth his troubled heart.

"I know, and I forgive you." She said loud enough for him to hear, then started to hum a little tune and rock gently side to side to help calm him.

They stayed like that for quite some time, till Jason's sobs slowed to a stop.

Soon after, Jason's grip loosened, causing his hands to fall to either side of Fluttershy's flanks.

"J-Jason, what are you?" She chirped in surprise.

Suddenly, Jason began to lean forward and to the right, causing them both to fall over.

Fluttershy blushed furiously while getting flustered.

"Wa-wa-wait! I haven't prepared my heart for this yet!"

That's when a dull snore met her ear's.

Following the direction of the sound, she found the source.

Jason was peacefully snoozing away.

Fluttershy breathed a small sigh of relief, then wiggled free from under his arm.

Gazing down at the sleeping Jason, she shook her head and sighed once more.

"You must have had a really long day, huh?"

Going over to the couch, she retrieved the pillow and blanket, brought it back and covered him carefully as to not wake him, then placed the pillow under his head.

After she had finish, she turned to walk away, only for a hand to grasp her hoof stopping her.

She studied his face for a bit and saw he was still asleep.

With a slight smile gracing her features, she sat down next to his head.

She placed her free hoof on Jason's head and caressed it softly while humming the same tune as before.

Jason's grip on her hoof slowly released, allowing her to retrieve it.

That was when the unexpected happened.

Jason spoke in his sleep.

"Mother."

Fluttershy froze at hearing him actually speaking a word, then peered down.

A stray tear ran down the side of his masked face.

Her visage took on a saddened appearance at the sight of this.

Though he had the body of a grown man, and the strength of hundreds more, she realized then that he still had the mind of a small boy who misses his mother terribly.

She resumed her gentle caress and whispered as she hummed.

"It's alright, Jason. I'm here."

Author's Note

Greeting's.

I Just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who took the time to read this far.

Thank you.

Anyhoo, thank you once more for your time and I hope to see you in the next chapter.