Chapters Living where the crossing life leads
1 - Living the crossing life
1 - Living the crossing life
It was a clear and sunny day in the calm sea-side town of Smashville. The birds chirped in the healthy green trees, the wind whistled through the long grass, and the animal villagers who inhabited the quaint town where just starting their daily routines with smiles on their faces.
One villager that was just starting her day was Maple the honey bear.
“Ahh… It’s such a nice day out; I think I’ll do some gardening” she squeaked happily as she shut her door, she then took off in the direction of the town shop. After skipping a few feet from her home she stopped after glancing at the house of her favorite neighbor; it was the biggest house in town, standing twice the size of hers.
‘Hmm… I wonder if he’s awake, I could do three times as much work with his help’ she thought enthusiastically as she approached the black roofed house. Stepping on the welcome mat, she cleared her throat before knocking firmly on the door.
“Hello! Anybody home,” she chimed as she waited at the door. Waiting, she peeked through one of the house's windows.
‘No one’s home…’ she thought as her ears dropped disappointingly, she then looked to her left to where his mailbox was standing, the sign indicating when there was unread mail inside was blinking, feeling worried she decided to take a look inside.
“That’s not a good sign... maybe someone else has seen him today?” she walked off in search of the nearest villager she could find.
Meanwhile, on a tropical island just off the coast of Smashville, a young man was sitting patiently on a fishing stool. But unlike the furry citizens of the town, this young man was a human. Roughly 17, and clothed in a black t-shirt and dark colored jeans, he sat there motionless with a large fishing rod clutched tightly in his hands.
“Still sitting here, aren’t you?” said the voice of Boomer the penguin, one of the inhabitants of the small island, he walked up to him holding a coconut drink, he set it down next to him before he looked at his bobber.
“It’s been about a week since you set foot on this island and all I’ve seen you do is sit here day and night holding that fishing rod, not like I have anything against that”
“One thing’s for sure though. You're probably the most patient fisherman I’ve ever seen”
The concentrated expression that the young man held on his face turned into a smile, he then looked up at the kind islander, his skin was tan from the exposure to the tropical sun, the young man spoke.
“Much appreciated” he said, the Penguin looked back at him, delighted that he reacted well to his compliment.
“The name’s Jack by the way, I came to this island not long after I found out about it” he said as he turned his sights back to the water, Boomer then tilted his head as he kept looking at the bobber.
“So I'm guessing that you're some sort of oceanographer, here to investigate the sea life?”
“Nope” Jack answered plainly to his question as he fiddled with his fishing pole.
“I’m just a regular guy who lives not too far from here, Smashville to be exact” he said, Boomer gave a nod.
“Ah, I see...” he said before he noticed that Jack was sipping on the coconut that he had placed on the sand.
“Uhhh... that was my drink you know...” he deadpanned before jack gagged and choked on the drink.
“*Cough*-Sorry!-*Cough*” he said between coughs
“Hey its alright” Boomer said, concerned, as he rubbed his back.
“By the way -*Cough*- how long did you say I was on this island?” he asked with an awkward smile as he rubbed his throat “I've been sitting here for so long I even forgot the date”
A sweat drop rolled down the side of Boomer’s face. “So you did forget... well from what I remember you’ve been here about six day’s, give-or-take” he answered, Jack’s mouth gaped open for a second.
“S-Six days!?” he shouted with a shocked look on his face, giving way to an irritated groan.
“Gah! I can't believe I wasted almost an entire week sitting on my--”
“GAHHH!” he gagged as sand forced into his mouth from being dragged on the beach by his fishing line.
Grunting furiously, he tried to get his feet on the sand. Finally standing upright, he dug in his heels and pulled the rod back to his chest, before spitting the sand out of his mouth.
“Whoa! Looks like you’ve got a fighter, and a big one!” Boomer shouted as he went in to help him, locking his flippers under Jack’s arms, he pulled on the rod with him.
With traces of sand still stuck in Jack’s mouth, he tugged vengefully.
They kept fighting, digging their feet into the sand with every step back they took, the water splashed at them violently, soaking them as the opposing fish tried to break Jack’s line.
“Lets land this sucker!” he shouted out “Graahh!” he grunted as his face turned red, mustering his strength and gave out a mighty pull, this sent Boomer teetering a few steps back.
His pull forced the mystery fish out of the water and into the air, the sunlight bathed its silhouette as it flopped in the air, it was a very large and very ugly looking fish that was just roughly the size of the human himself.
“What the ducks that!?” Boomer exclaimed before Jack cowardly ducked, the behemoth smacked into Boomer’s face, sending him tumbling back on the beach and smashing into a palm tree.
While the poor penguin laid on the sand, Jack looked at him for a few seconds, then went ahead and picked up the strange fish that was gasping for water. It squirmed trying to get away as he held it up proudly by the line.
“Hey Penguin dude, you alright?” he said as he looked over to Boomer, who was rubbing the spot where he hit his head
“I’m fine just a minor concussion...”
Jack smirked and decided to stash the freshly caught fish into a cooler filled with salt water.
“What are you going to do with that thing?” Boomer asked as he stepped closer and looked curiously at the fish in the cooler dusting sand off himself.
“Not sure, maybe I'll take it to the town’s museum curator to have a look at it” Jack answered, closing up the cooler and shouldering it before walking towards the island dock, Boomer in tow.
“Does this mean your going back home now?” he asked sadly as Jack jumped onto a small row boat that was tied onto the dock.
“Don't Worry, I’ll Come back to Visit” Jack answered with a smirk.
“Take it easy Penguin dude!” he said while shoving off the dock and started to row.
Boomer smiled and waved. “Send me a postcard!” he said before realizing that he had forgotten to tell him his name, and his address for that matter.
Just after a few minutes of sailing Jack looked back towards the island, he still couldn't believe that six days had passed by since he stepped on the island, at least he had caught a fish he had never seen before and a sexy tan to show for it, he soon reached the town coast.
“Ahhh... Finally home...” he said letting out a big happy sigh, his boat shook as it hit the sand, that's when one of the villagers spotted him, it was the Mayor of Smashville, Tortimer.
Walking with his assistant Pelly nearby, the wise old tortoise walked up to him with a stern look on his face. Jack smiled as he saw him coming.
“Hey Mr. Mayor, what's--” Before he could finish his sentence he suddenly got bonked on the head by the old man’s walking cane.
“OWIEE!” he yelped holding his head, another villager spotted him and started to call the others over, soon after most of the villagers gathered there.
“Hey! What the duck was that about you old fart!?” He shouted out holding his throbbing head as he glared death at the elder turtle.
“Hey, Watch your manners whipper-snapper” He scolded him tapping his cane on Jacks forehead before Pelly pulled him away, the other townsfolk looked to their mayor, they then looked back at Jack.
“I was very worried about you young man, so was the rest of the town” the Tortoise stated as Pelly fixed his bow tie, Jack then looked at the others.
“Why would even worry about me? I'm not a dumb kid...” he groaned annoyed. In that moment he saw Maple come out of the bushes, his eyes then widened.
Before he could get away the honey bear lunged at him and tackle hugged him, he yelped almost toppling over “Maple, please don't!”
“Jack!” She shouted, before squeezing the air out of him in a bone crunching bear hug.
“Maple! you're---crushing---me!” he said gasping for air.
“Oh Jack! I was so worried about you, I started to think the worse!” she cried rubbing her tears with a paw, while Jack’s face started turning blue from the lack of oxygen.
“Eh-em!” the mayor signaled to Maple.
“Ah! Your face!” she yelped as she let go, letting him collapse on the floor, nearly passed out.
Jack quickly sucked in as much air as he could, the color returning to his face as he sat up, coughing. He then looked up at the other townsfolk as they helped him up on his feet, they started to speak up one-by-one.
“We’re sorry Jack... We just care about you, like a lot!”
Jack held his arms up as they were huddling around him.
“Look... I didn’t mean to make anyone worry about me... I promise the next time I go somewhere far from town I'll let you all know...”
“Alright then everyone! If memory serves me right, tomorrow should be the annual Chestnut Festival” He said, noticing Tortimer approving nod.
“That's Right everyone, so how about we put all this behind us and begin preparations!”
“Right!” They all cheered before Jack pulled his cooler out of his rowboat and hoisted it over his shoulder.
“Now if You’ll all excuse me, I have an important contribution to make to the museum” He took off hoisting the cooler on his shoulder with Maple trailing behind him the other towns folk went about their normal business, the mayor rubbed his chin.
“Hmm... to think that he became the most loved villager here... and he only moved to this town a year ago...” the old tortoise said, as Pelly gave him a curious look.
“What do you mean sir.” Tortimer simply nodded silently “Are you feeling alright, sir?” Pelly asked, tilting her head.
“I just feel a small chill. Let us continue our walk.” He said ,gazing after Jack
Jack soon arrived at the museum a few moments later with Maple still tailing him.
“Maple, Why are you following me?” he asked uneasily while she hugged his arm
“So I don't lose you again, silly” she smiled.
Jack groaned before answering with a scowl. “I already said that I'm not a kid, so you don’t have to follow me!”
Ignoring what he said, she continued to follow him “Did i mention how good you look with that tan?” she said rubbing his chest, only to get quickly shoved off by him
“No and I’d rather not hear it.” he deadpanned as he stood before the large museum doors.
Maple pouted as Jack kicked the doors, slamming them wide open. This shocked Blathers the owl, the town curator, out of his daytime sleep.
“Hey Blathy! I got a new donation!” He declared as he marched in with the cooler in his arms and a smug look on his face.
“Confound it Jack! What do I keep telling you about slamming the doors open like that!” he scolded, irritated that Jack had woken him up so suddenly.
“Oh Sorry, I still think it makes for a cool entrance” he said plainly.
“I agree!” Maple added cheerfully
The tired owl slapped his own forehead, with a long annoyed sigh.
“Hey easy on yourself Blathy, I gotcha a little something” He smirked as he placed the cooler down before him and opened it.
“Ah, another donation... lets have a look then...” He said rubbing his eyes which soon shot open, with disbelief, as he saw what was slightly cramped in the cooler.
“So what can you make of this thing?” Jack asked, hoping to get an answer to his ‘fishy’ dilemma.
Blathers rubbed his eyes again, not once, not twice, But three times to make sure he wasn’t still sleeping.
“This can’t be! This has to be a dream! A real living breathing Coelacanth right here in my museum!” he finally shrieked with joy, while Maple, who was standing next to Jack, tilted her head.
“What’s a Coelacanth?” She said curiously, Jack’s blood suddenly went cold as he looked at Blathers.
“Dumb Bear, What have you done!?” He exclaimed as a sweat beaded on his brow, he started to step backwards towards the entrance fearing for his life as Blathers took a deep breath, he had to get out of there now.
“Many Years ago there was a theory that the Coelacanth had gone extinct, But as it turns out it exists and has been living deep in the ocean for years and years and--” Jack quickly bolted out the entrance and slammed the doors shut, as Blathers kept telling Maple all the facts he could possibly sum up about the fish.
“That was close, I almost feel sorry for Maple... Almost”
“Ahhh...” he sighed as he held his hands behind his head, the sun setting over the horizon was shading the town in a golden glow.
He smiled to himself as he reached his house. Stopping suddenly, he rubbed his chin feeling, like something was missing. “Hm...” He reached into his pocket for his keys as he stepped at the entrance, opening the door he noticed his Gyroid, Lloyd. He was sitting, quite content on the table, next to a dirty piece of cloth and a bottle of polishing solution.
“Greetings Master Jack, I see you have returned from your fishing trip” The gyrating clay figure spoke in a robotic fashion.
“Yeah sorry Lloyd... I forgot to set you out before I left” he said as he lifted Lloyd off the table
“Yes, but I took the liberty of watching your house while you were gone”
“...What are you talking about? You’ve been on the table ever since I finished polishing you” He said smirking as he set the gyroid down, next to his mailbox outside.
“Master Jack, It seems like there is unread mail for you”
Jack scratched his head as he looked to his mailbox “Probably from the Happy Room Academy... I have to tell them to stop sending me letters” he emptied the contents before pushing down the sign.
“Would you like me to keep watch outside Master?” Lloyd said gyrating rapidly.
“As always Lloyd, you have a good night” Jack waved him off before closing his door. Sighing to himself, he walked upstairs to his lounging room/guest room
“Alright let’s see what we have here...” he sat down in his cream colored easy chair in front of the fireplace as he went through the letters.
“Junk...Junk...Junk” he said throwing each opened letter into the unlit fireplace.
“Jun-Whoa! Okay... what is this?” he said as he held the last thing he had received in the mail.
It was a rolled up piece of parchment paper, it was held in place with a red ribbon, and seemed to be sealed with gold colored wax. His eyes squinted as he inspected it curiously, it didn't seem to have a receiving address on it.
‘This is new...’ he thought to himself as he broke the wax off the ribbon and unscrolled the paper, upon further inspection he could see that whoever had wrote this letter had a thing for victorian handwriting.
“Ehem...” he cleared his throat before he started to read out loud.
“Greeting and salutations Friend,, My name is Twilight Sparkle and I humbly say hello to you from Ponyville in the far off land of Equestria--”
“That sounds like the name of a farm or a petting zoo.” he said with a smirk before he continued.
“A land of magic and friendship inhabited by ponies and many other species of life, I myself am a pony and I have sent this letter to you through the newly developed magic of interdimensional travel in hopes of discovering sentient life outside of Equestria’s realm of existence, If you are indeed reading this letter I humbly request a response from you to confirm the success of our first interdimensional communication, Instructions for sending this letter are written on the bottom should you comply with this request.”
“Your interdimensional pen-pal Twilight Sparkle...” he read out loud as he finished reading.
He sat there staring at the letter for a few seconds, before starting to grin. “PFFFFFF!” he bursted out with laughter, almost to the point of falling backwards in his chair, he held his hurting sides doubling over as he dropped the letter on the floor.
“Interdimensional travel! Thats Rich!” he cried as he tried to calm himself down.
“Dear Lord I think I almost wet myself!” he laughed in between his teeth as he picked up the letter.
“This just made my day, hands down!” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“This probably came from Alfonso, that croc always finds a way to crack me up.” he sighed, still chuckling.
“I gotta ask him how he wrote this!” he said with a smile before he read the so called ‘instructions’.
“I think I'm going to do this for the heck of it” he grabbed a pen with a smirk and he started to write on the back of the parchment paper as instructed.
“He’s totally going to get a kick out of this” He laughed to himself as he started to write.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle, My name is Jack and I live on the quiet seaside town of Smashville, I am happy to inform you of your success with your letter and I would like to know a little more about your world and your inhabitants. What do you do for fun? What do you all like to eat? Do you wear clothing like we do? I have so many other questions that I can't just fit into one piece of paper, I hope to write back to you as soon as you do.
“What? I have to burn this thing? How will I able to send it back to him then!?” he scowled as he looked at it again.
“Ah well... I guess I could just tell him I did this anyway, no biggie.” doing as instructed he tied up the letter with the same red bow and he placed it in the fireplace with the rest of the junk mail.
“I wanted to roast some marshmallows anyway...” he thought aloud, placing a log of dry wood in the fireplace and grabbing a pack of matches.
Lighting a match, he threw it into the fireplace. Whistling casually he looked through the cupboards for a bag of marshmallows before an eerie green glow illuminated the room for a couple of seconds.
“Huh???” looking back at the fireplace, he saw that the fire burned brightly in its usual color. “Wow... that is some lumber, took only a second to light up”
Dismissing the glow, he started roasting his fluffy treats, unaware that a sparkling green cloud of smoke had flown out of his chimney into the night sky, dissipating into nothing.
Living where the crossing life leads
3 - The Fountain Goddess
As the pony’s consciousness slowly returned, she heard two voices bickering from nearby.
“Alfonso you dumb gator!" one of the voices said, sounding a bit agitated
"What did I do?” answered the other, obviously confused
“You know what you did! You brought a naked girl into my house and you gave her my clothes to!?”
“Well you did save her, she should be your responsibility...” the second voice started to say before being interrupted by the first.
“My responsibility!? You were the one who wanted to carry her!”
“You were screaming for fifteen minutes straight. We couldn't leave her there, not in that state.” it retorted with a squeak
“Hmph... Whatever, did you really have to put her in my stinking bed though.”
“Where else was I supposed to put her... your man cave?”
“I’ll be damned for the rest of my days if I ever let a girl into my man cave!”
“Shhh! quiet, she’s waking up...”
The violet pony slowly opened her eyes, groaning in pain, before quickly looked at her surroundings. She seemed to be in a small attic, with nothing more than a few posters on the walls. Beside the bed was a night stand, a dusty looking telephone, and two peculiar individuals staring at her rather intently.
“H-Huh?” she said tiredly “Who are you... where am I?” she rustled around in the sheets, feeling unsettled.
“Now-now, don't try to exert yourself.” said the strange,orange alligator. “We found you out cold and brought you here to rest.”
“What do you mean we?” the other bipedal creature said with a scowl, something about his build seemed familiar, but she couldn't put her hoof on it.
She stared at the nearly fur-less one, quizzically, as the orange gator coughed slightly.
“Don't mind my friend here, he’s a bit of a grump.” the gator said with an assuring smile before presenting a claw. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name’s Alfonso”
“Um... Nice to meet you Alfonso...” the pony said, breaking eye contact and wiggling her way further out of the sheets as she tried to lift a hoof to shake.
She lost her train of thought as she noticed what the sheets covering her were made of. “Wow! This bed is made of gold... yet its so comfortable?” as she wriggled around to get a better look some of the sheets fell to expose some strange white clothing she was wearing. “How did this dress get on me?”
“Its a toga! We couldn't leave you naked and I didn't want any girly perfume on my good clothes” the fur-less creature stated, blushing slightly before making a heroic pose. “It’s a symbol of manliness from ancient times!”
“Calm down Jack!” Alfonso scowled at him, while she looked between the two with a perplexed expression.
“Wait... your name is Jack?” she asked as she tilted her head slightly.
“Yeah, that's my name, got a problem with that?” Jack seemed annoyed by her interest in him as he started to get up.
“Easy now slugger.” Alfonso said, placing a claw on Jack’s shoulder. He seemed to understand her curiosity well. “Jack, is the only ‘human’ here in our quiet little town of Smashville”
“So that’s what you...wait...Smashville!?” she exclaimed as her eyes widened. “Then that means...” a big smile grew on her face.
“Yes!” she screamed in an excited tone. “My spell worked! I’m the first pony to ever travel to another dimension!”
Both Jack and Alfonso’s jaw’s suddenly dropped as the excited pony turned to Jack.
“You must be the Jack who received my letters!” she exclaimed as she tried to jump at Jack to give him a hug.
“Woah-woah-woah! Hold on!” Jack said, getting out of his chair and putting his arms up defensively. “You're the one who was sending me those scrolls?” he asked with a twitch in his eye.
“Why yes!” she answered happily “I’m Twilight Sparkle, it's an honor to finally meet you Jack” she said as she managed to get out of the tangled sheets
“I have so many questio--Woah!” she yelped as she fell and hit the floor.
“Gah! Are you alright Miss Twilight!?” Alfonso said, while helping her up.
“Thank you Alfonso... I'm fine but, something doesn't feel right” Twilight said looking down, quite shocked by what she saw. “Ah... my body!”
“Well something’s definitely wrong with you.” Jack remarked, snickering quietly. “You can’t even stand on your own two feet.”
“ That's because I never had feet, or hands for that matter!” she remarked with an awed expression, looking over her new appendages. “I usually stand on four hoofs!”
“Maybe your body changed when coming here?” Alfonso suggested as he sat Twilight on the bed.
“That is a possibility, yes” Twilight said, feeling bubbly inside as she rubbed her chin with her hand. “I guess I could get accustomed to this.” she remarked happily, looking at her wiggling toes.
“Yeah-yeah, nice knowing that you have a new look, but what the fudge can you tell about this?” Jack questioned, pointing at her horn.
“Oh, this old thing?” Twilight said with a smile “This is my horn, I’m a unicorn after all.”
Jack blinked for a moment, seeming unable to comprehend. “ That's not possible, unicorns are a myth...” he stated plainly.
“So are humans from my research, yet you're standing here right now.” Twilight retorted.
“Well then if you're a unicorn, do something only a unicorn can” Jack snarked with a smirk.
Twilight scowled slightly at him as she got off the bed and tried to stay on her feet. “Fine, maybe I will!” she said as Alfonso put out a helping claw with a tired sigh. “I’ll make your bed with my magic.” she said as she started to concentrate.
“Hmmm!” small sparks came off her horn, but nothing else happened “H-Huh?” she said before she tried again, concentrating with all her might. “Hmmmmmmm!” A bigger display of sparks flew off her horn but the result was the same. “Why won’t it...Oh no! Alfonso, could you please get that mirror for me?” she asked politely, with a little anxiety.
Jack lifted an eyebrow as she held onto Alfonso’s empty chair for support.
“Here you go.” Alfonso held up the mirror for her.
“Ahhh!” she shouted, causing Alfonso to almost drop the mirror “My horn, its broken!” she exclaimed, touching the the crack gingerly. She noticed Alfonso glance at Jack from the corner of her eye before the human piped up.
“Ummm... Maybe you hit your head?” Jack said as he tugged on his shirt collar nervously.
“Hmm... well something did knock me out cold when I was in the portal sphere” she rubbed her chin, a scared look appearing on her face. “How am I supposed to get back home now?” she held her head. “I'm rendered useless without my magic!”
“Hmph...” Jack huffed “Some unicorn you are...” Alfonso shot him another glare.
“Jack! Stop being so insensitive!” Alfonso shouted angrily at him, but Jack just crossed his arms and huffed again.
“Hmm... Oh! Maybe the fountain goddess could help you!” Alfonso suggested.
Twilight looked at him quizzically “Fountain goddess?”
“Yep, she lives in the fountain just in front of the town gate” Alfonso said with a simple nod.
“Alfonso... you know she’ll be just wasting everyone’s time...” Jack deadpanned “That spoiled rotten excuse for a goddess should be the last person to ask for help...”
Twilight looked at him with a frown. “Well, I don't see any other option than to accept help from a foreign deity”, she said. “Maybe she'll help me if I’m polite?”
“Fine... don’t say I didn't warn you.” Jack said, shrugging as he took the lead in walking downstairs.
Jack opened the door for Alfonso as the gator walked Twilight out the front door.
“Alright, easy does it now” Alfonso said as he held her hand.
Twilight smiled sheepishly “It's okay Alfonso, I think I can walk on my own” she said, before Alfonso slowly let go. She wobbled slightly in place, before taking her first steps without any help.
“Oh good, I thought I had to hold your hand the entire day” Alfonso chuckled, scratching the back of his head a bit embarrassed. Turning around he noticed Jack was glaring daggers at him.
“U-Um... Well yeah I have to get going now, need to get ready for the festival and all that. See you there Jack!” Alfonso stuttered, before trying to run off in a hurry.
“Hold on there mister!” Jack grabbed him by the t-shirt, before shooting a look at the wide-eyed Twilight. “Give me one second!” he said before he dragged Alfonso behind his house.
“What now Jack!?” Alfonso said.
“You will not tell ANYONE, especially you-know-who, about this!” Jack said with a menacing stare.
“W-Why not?” Alfonso stuttered with fear.
“I can hardly bare her attention now, imagine if she catches wind of this and gets jealous.” Jack hissed into Alfonso’s ear. “I swear on Hell and Earth that if you even chirp a word about this, I will skin you alive and wear you as alligator skin boots!”
Alfonso gulped as the image grew in his mind. “Understood,crystal clear,comprendido mi capitan!” he said giving a nervous salute.
“Good... now scram!” Jack said, before Alfonso bolted and Twilight walked over, with a confused glance after the fleeing gator.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
“Just reminding him of his Chestnut Festival duties.” Jack responded grimly
“Chestnut festival?” Twilight said as she tilted her head.
“Oh right...” Jack cleared his throat before he started to explain in a grandeur tone. “Well the Chestnut festival is a celebration held here in Smashville every year. The festival is being held right in front of town hall to mark the end of the Summer as the leaves change color”
“And then you make Cider with the apples like Applejack does!” Twilight said, getting caught up in the hype.
Jack narrowed his eyes for a moment “What...who..no not at all?” he said with a tone of utter confusion.
“Oh! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not in Equestria anymore” she said, palming her forehead and sticking her tongue out. “Where I come from the seasons are only able to change with a lot of ponypower. We ponies do things such as bring in snow clouds for the winter, or gallop in herds to make the leaves fall in the Autumn...”
Jack scratched his head at the thought “O-kaayy...that actually sounds a little interesting..” he thought for a moment before remembering the annoying task ahead. “Well things here are much simpler.” he said, crossing his arms “Seasons change on their own around here.”
“Hmm... I wish I had something to take notes with!” Twilight excitedly stated, before her ears dropped disappointingly “But I left my quills and parchment in my suitcase...”
Jack shrugged “I didn't find any suitcases when me and Alfonso found you...”
“Oh...” she looked down for a moment before tripping, from a lack of concentration. “Woah!”
Covering her face with her hands Twilight expected to land painfully on the ground only to feel a strong hand stop her fall. Peeking between her fingers, she saw Jack was next to her and had grabbed her shoulder.
“Watch it!” Jack said with a scowl.
“Sorry... still getting trying to get use to walking like this...” she said looking up at him.
For a few seconds Twilight just stood there with Jack’s arm on her shoulder. As red slowly blossomed in his cheeks from Twilight’s eye contact, he quickly looked away and let go. This made her struggle to regain her balance as he walked past.
“....Gah!” Jack groaned, the blush fading from his face. “Come on, standing around here isn't going to get you home” he said.
They soon reached a large fountain situated in front of what seemed to be a bus stop. It was a simple fountain that had crystal clear water spouting from some statues. Twilight strode confidently towards the fountain, finally accustomed to her new legs.
“Is this where the Fountain goddess lives?” Twilight asked as she walked up to it.
“Eeeyup...” Jack answered plainly as he reached into his pocket.
“So, I'm guessing that you summon this goddess with coins?” Twilight asked again.
“Nnnope...” Jack answered again as he pulled out a rather worn axe.
“H-Huh!?” Twilight gasped in sudden disbelief “H-How did you do that?” she questioned, looking at his pocket intently.
“What do you mean? This is just a spare axe I carry around in my pocket.” Jack said, feeling his personal space being invaded as Twilight tried to look inside his pocket.
“That's precisely my point! It’s impossible to just fit something as big as an axe in your pockets, there must be some logical explanation behind it!” she exclaimed.
“Hey! Keep your mitts out of my pockets!” Jack defensively shoved her away. “I was always able to fit stuff like this in my pockets always, everyone can do that to.”
“Everypony!?” Twilight said, trying to keep her balance before landing on her rump “Ow... this is astounding!” she said, ignoring the pain of her fall “Entire hammer-spaces of storage for everypony in this dimension. Not even the most advanced form of magics can create that kind of space!” she exclaimed both fascinated and excited.
Jack stood there scratching his head “Everypony?” his face grimaced for a moment before he shook his head “Oh whatever, lets get this going already!” he said winding up his arm “Hah!” he grunted as he lobbed the dull axe into the fountain.
Twilight watched “What will that do?” she asked.
“Wait for it...” Jack said crossing his arms.
A bright glow suddenly erupted from the fountain into a tower of light, Jack stood his ground while Twilight cringed before the bright silhouette of an angelic figure. With the light fading She started to stand again as she looked over the goddess.
She appeared to be a bipedal white dog with large beady eyes, dressed in a white gown and wearing a golden tiara on her head. She floated majestically over the fountain before her feet touched the water, she soon went from seeming like a majestic omnipotent being to sounding like a whining child as she gripped her head.
“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!!!” she shrieked in pain as a large red bump swelled on her head “Alright! Who was the jerk-face who threw that axe at me!” her eyes blind with rage as she looked to the two before her. Twilight started to fear for her life as Jack just stood there with his arms crossed.
“Hey Serena.” Jack said, in a casual tone while picking his nose.
“Oh...Its you...” Serena deadpanned as she kept rubbing her head “How dare you lobb your axe at me!? I thought I’d already given you a golden axe already! What more do you want from me!?” she bellowed directly at Jack, who still stood there unfazed.
“I need your help to get someone back home...” Jack stated, calmly.
“And what makes you think I’ll help you!?” she shouted out at him, before Twilight stepped in between the two.
“Excuse me, your grace? Allow me to apologize if my friend here has disturbed you, but it is with great urgency that I plead to you for your assistance” Twilight said while bowing her head.
“Friend???” Jack scowled in the background as the goddess switched her attention to the violet unicorn.
“Hmm... you seem polite enough to speak to me... go on.” Serena crossed her arms as she looked down upon Twilight.
“Yes, well, as you can tell I am not from this world” Twilight said pointing out her horn.
“Wait, your n...” Serena looked surprised before quickly regaining her composure “I-i mean of course you're not... you obviously aren't from this world” the goddess said snobbishly, her head held high.
“Um, yes, and that is why I humbly request for a gateway back to my world.” Twilight requested bowing her head again as sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Hmm...” the goddess took a moment to look back at Jack, who was minding his own business staring at the clouds “Well I was angry from getting hit with an axe pommel... but your politeness pleases me mortal, I shall see to your request post haste” Serena said with a smile.
“You will? Oh thank you, your grace!” Twilight bowed her head after hearing Serena’s words.
Unbenounced to her Jack crossed his arms after overhearing this.
“So mortal... what universe do you hail from?” Serena asked.
“Equestria your grace.” Twilight answered.
“Ah, Equestria, very well... I will return to my fountain to search the plain of existence for your world, and I will get back to you...” Serena waved Twilight off before turning into a sphere of bright light and dissipating.
“Hah! I told you being polite would work” Twilight snarked proudly at Jack, who was sitting on the grass playing with a stag beetle he’d caught in his hands.
The fountain quickly lit up again as Serena emerged once more “I have returned mortal!” Serena announced, acting rather happy.
“Wow, that was quick!” Twilight complimented with a smile.
“Yes, I have reached to the far reaches of the Multiverse to find your world...” Serena crossed her arms proudly.
“That's great!” Twilight said with a sigh of relief.
“Unfortunately I am unable to comply with your request, for your world is far from my jurisdiction, like way far.” Serena said in a casual tone, her smile remaining on her face.
Twilight's eyes shot wide open as the sound of smashed glass echoed in her mind.
“Hmph! Well that was before I found out that your universe is out of my reach. Its not my problem anymore and there's nothing that can change that.” the goddess arrogantly stated, before looking at her nails. “You will just have to find your own way home.” Without another word she dissipated back into the fountain.
Twilight stood with a confused expression as her eye's started to sting.
Nonchalantly, Jack walked up next to her “Well shoot... she kept my axe, Eh... no biggie...”
Her head slowly turned to him “No biggie? You only lost an axe, I'm stuck here with somepony so insensitive that they would care for their personal belongings more than another living being!" feeling her emotions well up she gave him a shove.
Jack quickly caught his balance and replied. “I told you you’d be wasting your time with her, as a wise man once told me ‘thank the deity's that created this world, but do not rely on them’”
“...Y-You're Unbelievable!” she shouted out at him “I'm stuck here billions of lightyears away from my friends and family and your passing all of this off as something casual!?”
“Hey! I'm not the one who wanted you to come here in the first place!” he shouted back at her “I thought those letters were all a prank!”
“So what am I supposed to do now?” she said, starting to sound hysterical.
“...” Jack crossed his arms “Well, whatever it is... it shouldn't be my problem.” he said before turning his back and started walking off.
He’d taken a few steps before he started to hear quiet sobs.
“Hm?” he slowly turned his head to the noise. “Oh-no...”, he thought to himself as he saw Twilight. She was sitting in front of the fountain hiding her face in between her arms and knees, crying just loud enough for him to hear her.
‘Jack... you just reached a whole new low...’, a voice rang in his mind.
“What?”, Jack thought to himself, as if he tried to speak back to the voice in his head.
‘Just look what you've gone and done... so despicable...’, the voice answered. For some reason this voice made Jack feel insignificant.... and removable.
“Hey, it shouldn't be my fault”, he thought back to the voice.
‘Well it is... how dare you?’, the voice answered with finality.
Jack’s eyes widened as he realized the conversation he was having wasn’t just some hallucination.
‘You should be ashamed... making a girl as innocent as her cry like that... what would someone else think about you now... what would the ‘’readers’’ think about you now?’
He scowled as he listened to the scolding voice “What readers!?” he shouted aloud before he covered his mouth.
After noticing that the voice was gone, he took a moment to look back at Twilight, who was still crying with no signs of stopping. The image of her like this felt like it was engraving itself in the back of his mind. Jack then rubbed his forehead as his guilt started to sink in. He walked up to her and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Twilight slowly looked up to Jack with tear filled eyes.
“Um... Twilight...” he said with a sigh, before bending down closer to her “Look, I'm sorry, alright? I know I thought those letters were part of some elaborate prank... but that was a big mistake of mine, I realize that now that I see you like this.” Twilight sniffled as she rubbed her eyes on to the toga, which led to a slight twitch in Jack’s eye.
“So... here’s what I’m going to do, I am going to take full responsibility for my actions and let you crash at my place until whatever time you need to get your horn fixed or find you another way home, whichever comes first...” Jack said with a serious look.
His eyes suddenly widened as the violet unicorn invaded his space for the second time today. She was hugging him tightly around his neck and for some unknown reason he let this slide, only for a minute or so.
“Alright-alright, you can let go of me now” Jack said, pushing Twilight to arms-length as she sniffled slightly.
“Thank you...” Twilight said quietly before Jack got up and crossed his arms.
“Hmph!” he huffed “Don't think that me letting you stay, doesn't mean you should be thankful for it!” he said, pointing a finger down at her. “I'm going to start right now by laying down some rules before I have any of that!” Twilight's head sprang up attentively after hearing the word ‘rules’, which made Jack pause.
“U-Um... Right...Rule Number 1! You will not draw any unwanted attention, meaning that you shall not tell anyone that you are a unicorn!”
Twilight nodded at this “Agreed...”
“Rule Numero Dos! While living with me you will have your own room and you will stick to that room. I don't care what you do to that room as long as you don't touch anything else in my house, that way I will remain level-headed. Oh! That especially means that you will stay the fudge out of my Man Cave!”
She nodded again although with a slightly confused look “Um... alright?”
“Rule Number Three! I will have no complaints about anything whatsoever. I like my solitude and I would like to keep that intact as much as possible!”
“Alright then...” Twilight said rolling her eyes. “Anything else?”
“Yes as a matter of fact! Thank you for reminding me.” Jack said with a smirk.
“The fourth and final rule is this. While you’re living with me, you will have to work on tasks I give you to pay for rent!”
Twilight's eyes widened. “What!?” she shouted in confusion. “You're going to make me work!? What about taking responsibility for your mistake!?”
Before she could say anything Jack placed his index finger on her lips, shutting her up. “Tsk-tsk-tsk...” Jack waved his other index finger before holding up two other fingers.
“Besides, the fact that I must take responsibility for your shelter and health does not give you the right to be a freeloader...” he said with a stern look as he took his finger off Twilights lips.
She crossed her arms. “Fine...” she mumbled.
“Good, you will begin first thing tomorrow morning, after joining me and the other town’s folk for the Annual Chestnut festival! So until then you should relax and stick with me.” Jack said.
Twilight nodded again as she got to her feet with a sniffle.
“Oh... and one last thing...” Jack said before she looked at him. “...Quit the water works...” he said plainly, offering her a red neckerchief he pulled out of his pocket.
The violet unicorn accepted it and wiped his eyes “Well... you know what could cheer me up a little?” she looked at him as her face started to brighten. “Another dress to wear?”
A vein popped out on Jack's forehead “ITS A TOGA!” he shouted towards the heavens as Twilight began to laugh.
Living where the crossing life leads
4 - A Unicorn Joins The Chestnut Festival
“Okay, so let me get this straight...” said Jack as he walked with Twilight. “Pinkie Pie is a happy party goer, Rarity is a dedicated fashionista, Fluttershy is a shy animal lover, Rainbow Dash is a speedy daredevil and Applejack is a rowdy cowgirl am I right?” he said, counting each name out with his fingers.
“Cowpony” corrected Twilight, fixing the blue bow concealing her horn.
“Ah... right... and what's the difference again?” Jack tilted his head.
“Ugh...” Twilight groaned. “Why do I have to keep telling you this? Most of our pronouns in Equestria end with ‘pony’ for obvious reasons”
“Hey! Don't try to lecture me like some kid!” Jack snapped at her.
Twilight tilted her head for a moment “But you're not a goat...”
Jack then slapped his forehead, leaving a red hand mark. “Take it easy Jack... It’ll take awhile to get use to her craziness.” he whispered under his breath, but apparently not quiet enough
“Why are you talking to yourself?” Twilight looked at Jack inquisitively.
“It helps me think... Alright no more questions, we’re here” Jack said, evading the question, as he walked up to a white and red house with a green roof. A blue tailoring sign confirmed the house as a shop.
“Able Sisters”, Twilight read out loud. “Is this the design place you told me about?” she asked with a smile on her face.
“Yeah that's right.” Jack said as he opened the door and walked in, letting Twilight walk into the opened door
“Hey! What about lady’s first?” Twilight scowled as she entered, rubbing her hurt muzzle.
“Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were a ‘Pony’ not a lady.” Jack chuckled with a smirk receiving a unimpressed glare from Twilight.
"I'm a mare to be specific, so yes I'm a lady." she responded through gritted teeth.
A blue porcupine with red powdered cheeks and a green checkered apron walked up to Jack with a smile.
“Hello there Jack!” said the cheery porcupine in a welcoming tone. “You're just in time, your yukata is sown and ready for the festival!”
“Ah, good” Jack smiled back as Twilight peeked over at the porcupine.
“Well hello there!” the porcupine said slightly surprised seeing a unknown girl with Jack. “Welcome to the Able Sisters shop, I'm Mable” Mable said with a humble bow. “Are you new here in town?” she asked.
“Yes! She’s a new citizen.” Jack quickly answered hoping that was a good enough excuse. “I'm helping her get some clothes to wear.”
“Oh, I see! Welcome to Smashville then miss?...” Mabel asked with a tilt of her head.
“Twilight, just call me Twilight” she said sheepishly.
Mable nodded, seeming to accept Jack's partial truth. “Well, feel free to browse the store then Twilight, if you have any questions feel free to ask.”
Twilight nodded back as she started to look around, rubbing her chin curiously as she browsed through the different clothing and designs they had on display.
“Rarity would definitely like it here...” she said before noticing another porcupine sitting in front of a running sewing machine.
This one was brown and wore a pink checkered apron, she didn't seem as perky as Mable at first glance.
“Um... Hello there” Twilight said to the working porcupine.
As Twilight waited for a response, she started to feel a bit awkward and edged towards the next rack of clothes. Hearing the sewing machine stop, Twilight turned her head as a tired voice spoke up.
“O-Oh... I'm sorry” she apologized “I've been so busy with this last Kimono I got stuck in a sewing trance again.” she held out a paw towards Twilight. “I’m Sable, nice to meet you.” Sable said with a tired smile.
“Its nice to meet you too Sable.” Twilight said before shaking her paw. “I’ve never heard of these kinds of dresses before, are they exotic?” she asked looking at the partially done dress.
“No, not at all...”, answered Sable. “There actually traditional dresses used for the town festivals that go on every year.”
Twilight nodded as she rubbed her chin. “Hmm...Is there any chance I could get one?” she asked politely before feeling a shiver up her spine.
“What?” Jack added as he cut into their conversation “Why would you want one?” he asked with a scowl.
“Well, I am going to join this little festival of your’s, aren't I?” Twilight said as she crossed her arms.
Mable smiled at the two while walking towards the small group. “Well we can certainly squeeze in one more before the festival starts, right Sable?” Mable asked her sister.
“U-Um... I could start working on one as soon as I’m done with the other orders...” Sable said with a small nod.
“Mable! You know better than to exert Sable like that!” Jack scolded Mable.
Sable looked up at Jack. “Don't worry... She knows that already, I can get this done and be able to join all of you for the festival.” Sable said fiddling with her thumbs.
With a sigh, Jack walked over to Sable and carefully patted her on the head, oblivious of the light blush on her face.
“Whatever you say Sable... Alright, I’ll be taking my yukata with me” Jack said to Mable before she walked to the register with his clothes, leaving the two girls alone.
“So what kind of kimono would you like Twilight?” Sable asked with a smile.
"Kimono, don't you mean a yukata?" Twilight asked with a puzzled expression.
"The yukata's are made of a strong cotton blend for the boys while the kimono's are made of a beautiful silk weave for the girls." Sable replied, her eyes sparkling.
"Aahh... That does make a difference. A star pattern stars would be fine with me” Twilight said thinking how much Sable resembled Rarity in that moment.
“That sounds like an interesting kimono design choice.” Mable said loudly from across the store, while punching out numbers “We here at the Able Sister’s shop pride ourselves in bringing out the inner designer in our customers! Anything else you'd like embroidered into the weave?”
“Don't get ahead of yourself Mabel...” Jack said picturing the cost of a detailed kimono draining his wallet. “We still need some regular clothes for her”
Mable crossed her arms and nodded “Right-right, that white dress she’s wearing doesn't compliment her violet fur at all.”
“TOGA!” Jack quickly corrected.
As the sun began to set over the horizon, the town’s folk were putting the final touches for the annual chestnut festival. Different stalls were being set up in front of town hall, grills were flaring to life and the light glowed from the many game vendors.
“Alfonso! Where’s the lumber?” hollered Mayor Tortimer towards the panting gator.
“I’m coming sir!” Alfonso said as he ran up with a cart full of dry lumber. “Phew...” the gator wiped his forehead before he looked over to a green stall, that was being set up by a shady looking fox.
I sure hope Jack show’s up , he thought to himself.
“Alfonso!”
The mayor's shout called again quickly snapping him out of thoughts as he rushed after the mayor with the cart. “Coming!”
About this same time Jack and Twilight were walking out of the Able Sisters shop, laden down with outfits for the evenings festivities and Twilight.
“I still can't believe how quickly Sable was able to make my dress!” Twilight said cheerfully as she held a bag with her new clothes in one hand, and a box with her outfit under her other arm with care.
“I still can't believe Mable let you have it free of charge to...” Jack said in a dry tone. “I had to shell out 8,000 bells for my outfit plus the clothes I bought you!” he grimaced looking over the receipt.
“Um... Thanks?” Twilight said with her ears pinned back.
“Don't mention it.” Jack deadpanned. “At least I can wash your stink from my toga.”
“Hmph... I’ll have you know that I bathe daily Mister!” she scolded him with her head held high as she walked past.
“Well you still smell like a hundred year old library mixed with a hint of writing Ink to me.” Jack mocked while covering his nose.
“Hmph...”, Twilight huffed. “...So is that what your currency is called here? These ‘Bells’?” Twilight asked trying to change the subject.
Jack looked at Twilight slightly shocked. “Fudge, I forgot to tell you about that. If you're gonna start working you’ll need to know what you're paying with.” he said while reaching into his pocket. “Here take a gander at this” he pulled out his wallet. “This here is a Bell” he said pulling out a gold coin with a star engraved on it.
Twilight looked at it closely “Oh! There just like bits!” she exclaimed.
“Yeeaahh... Well anyway, this coin is worth 100 bells. We have more types of coins that are worth less, but we mostly use those for change” he said while putting the coin away.
“Well, Bits in our world are valued individually. For example if I wanted a pound of apples I would have to pay 6 bits for it, depending on the economy of the apple itself.” Twilight explained before taking a big breath.
Instinctively, Jack covered his ears and knelt to the ground.
"What are you doing Jack?" Twilight asked staring at his strange pose
“Ugh...” he groaned while getting to his feet. “You sounded just like my friend Blathers for a second.”
Twilight lifted an eyebrow in confusion “Blathers?”
“He’s the town’s museum curator...” Jack said in a bored tone.
“You have a museum here!?” Twilight exclaimed “Oh! I love museums! Their so informative and exciting!" She grabbed hold of Jack's arm and gave her best puppy dog eyes before continuing. "Please, you have to take me there sometime!”
Feeling annoyed Jack rolled his eyes “Yeah-sure, I’ll take you there some other time”
“Oh I just can't wait!” She clapped her hands which led to her dropping her packages.
This girl is going to be the death of me , Jack thought to himself. “Um Twilight, you dropped your bags.” Jack said, pointing them out to the overexcited unicorn.
It was finally nightfall. The moon was full, the stalls were ready and the villagers were all up and about. Jack walked down the stalls, happily biting off a mouthful of grilled squid on a stick.
“Ahhh.... this is the life. A nicely charred squid in one hand, a goldfish in a bag on the other and Maple is in the city with her relatives for the holiday! Life can't get much better!”
“Jack! Hey Jack!” Alfonso shouted out.
“Hey Alfonso.” Jack said with a blissful smile as Alfonso ran up to him, the hem of his yukata of swirling pink and orange trailing.
“Wow Jack, the Able Sisters really did a great job on your yukata.” Alfonso said as he looked at Jacks outfit.
It was sewn together with golden thread with blue background with a lit black bomb imprinted on his back.
“So where’s Twilight, huh? Did she dump you or something?” Alfonso said with a suggestive smirk, right before he started seeing stars.
Alfonso fell to the ground with a steaming bump on his head. “Owww... what was that for?” The gator whined in pain as he got up rubbing the bump on his head.
“Cause I felt like it.” Jack said, blowing steam off his knuckles.
“Ehhh???” Alfonso exclaimed. “What do you mean felt like it!?” the gator growled.
“Calm down alright? Twilight’s playing some carnival games.” Jack pointed over to the disguised unicorn with his thumb.
“Darn it... I missed again” said Twilight disappointed at her loss.
“Oh...” said Alfonso “I’m glad to see that she decided to stop in for the festival” he said giving his head a scratch. “And you sure are lucky Maple isn't here to find out that you have another girl at the festival.” Alfonso smirked rubbing his chin. “Now what was I going to say?”
“Need me to bonk you on the head again to remember?” Jack raised his fist.
“No-no-no-no-no! Its fine!” Alfonso held his hands up defensively as a drop of sweat rolled down his eyebrow. “I just remembered!”
“Well then let me in on it.” Jack took another bite out of his squid as Alfonso gripped his shoulder.
“He’s here” Alfonso said, Jack suddenly swallowed with a loud gulp.
“Where?” Jack asked with a daring smirk as he followed Alfonso’s pointing claw.
What they were both looking at was someone standing in front of a green stall. Jack bit off the rest of his squid and dropped the goldfish bag in Alfonso’s claws before he started to walk towards the person.
“There you are...” Jack began to crack his knuckles as he approached the figure.
The person slowly turned his head to see Jack. He was a black wolf with red eyes and a white snout wearing a red yukata with orange flames.
“Jack...” said the wolf with a stiff nod.
“Seth...” said Jack returning the nod.
“I see you're here for another loss at Ol’ Redd’s target game?” Seth remarked with a sharp toothed smirk.
“Not this time Seth. This time I'll send you home with your tail between your legs!” Jack held up a challenging fist.
“Gentlemen-gentlemen!” hollered a fox as he meticulously rubbed his hands together “You can both take your frustration out on the targets instead of each other... for a mere 1,000 bells!” the fox grinned.
“Hey! That's 500 bells more than last year Redd!” Jack snapped at the fox “What are you trying to pull!?”
Seth laughed “You're not afraid of a little inflation are ya Kid?” Jack then shot back a cold glare that collided with the wolf's.
“Hey Alfonso.” said Twilight, walking over to the gator As she walked, the royal purple kimono swayed with her movements, giving glimpses of sparkling constellations skillfully sewn so the silver thread made them look alive. “What's up?” she asked.
“Hey Twilight...” Alfonso said trying to keep his eyes on the other two as she stood next to him. “Here you can have this, I'd just break the bag with my claws.” he said before placing the bagged goldfish into Twilight's hands.
“Oh thanks Alfonso! I've been trying to win one of these in one of those weird target games” she said with a warm smile, before feeling her fur stand up. “...Why do I feel a sudden electricity in the air? Is there going to be an earthquake?” she said frightfully.
“No Twilight, what you sense is a duel.” Alfonso said turning her head towards the two challengers as the fox manning the booth held up his hands to quiet the crowd.
“The reason I raise and lower prices every year is depends on the prize dear boy! And the prize this year is worth every Bell.” Redd snickered as he placed a chest on the counter with a flourish.
To draw all eyes on him, Redd slowly opened the lid as a golden shimmer emanated from the chest. Fully opening the chest both Jack and Seth beheld the treasure that was the first place prize, a slingshot made of a red, wood handle and a fork of solid gold.
Jack’s eyes shot open in recognition. “No... it can't be! H-How did you get this!?” he started to interrogate Redd before hearing Seth interrupt.
“Yes! I've finally found it! After all this time searching!” the wolf said with a toothy grin.
“What do you mean YOU found it!?” Jack scowled at Seth.
“Please, I just need to beat you like last year” Seth chuckled smugly.
Twilight quickly walked up to Jack oblivious to all the tension. “Jack, what are you doing?” she whispered tugging on his sleeve.
“Beat it Twilight, can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?” Jack whispered back at her.
“My-my-my Jack!” Seth said walking up to Twilight as she 'eeped' in surprise. “That's no way to talk to a young lady, especially such a pretty young mare.”
“Excuse me!?” Both Jack and Twilight said in a synchronized fashion but with opposing expressions.
“You heard me..."'Seth's eyes lit-up as an idea came to mind. "...How about we make this wager a little more interesting Jack?” he said to Jack.
He chuckled boldly before answering the wolf “How so?” Jack replied in a taunting voice.
Seth reached into his pocket and tossed a burlap bag onto the counter top, spilling a few of the contents. “30,000 bells, 'if' you can beat me" he shouted, getting a collective gasp from the growing crowd. Murmurs soon started to circulate throughout the crowd.
Never seen so many bells in one place before...
Jack could beat him easily...
I will sell you a sidewalk...
“What's the catch?” Jack asked staring down his rival.
Seth glanced over Jack's shoulder at the blushing purple pony with a grin.“If I win... I get to take your pretty friend out on a date. Movies, an expensive dinner and gifts..." shifting his gaze back to Jack. "...with you paying the bills.” he finished ominously
Twilight's eyes widened, trying to keep track of the unfolding events. "30,000 bells... date...wager...pretty?" steam poured from her ears as she tried to understand how she'd been roped into this rivalry.
“I can't understand how such an adorable beauty ended up with..." Seth waved a paw in Jacks general direction, seemingly at a loss for words.
Alfonso walked over to Jack and pulled him aside. "You can't do this!" the gator hissed, turning to point at the befuddled Twilight. "If you lose he'll find out about her being a unic--" turning back to look at Jack, Alfonso noticed he was gone. “Oh-no...”
"Your on!" Jack shouted as he gripped the wolf's paw tightly.
“There's a good sport.” Seth said with a sly grin as they both pulled out their playing bells and set them on the counter.
“Alfonso... did he just bet me off...?” Twilight asked, the steam was gone but her eyes seemed a bit askew.
The gator nodded. “I’m afraid he did... want to hightail it before he loses?” Alfonso asked before being interrupted by Redd's announcement.
“Very well then gentlemen, allow me to set things up!” the shady fox said, putting the chest away and pulled out a black box with a big red button.
Seeing this mechanism, the town folk jostled each other for better views. Twilight yelped as she and Alfonso quickly found themselves in the very front, unable to run with the other townsfolk blocking their way. Jack and Seth simultaneously reached into their pockets and pulled out their slingshots.
“At least this will be a challenge.” Seth commented, seeing Jack pull out a silver slingshot from his pocket as Redd placed two buckets of steel pellets on the counter.
“Shut your trap and show me what you got.” Jack said snidely, grabbing a few pellets from the bucket.
They both held four pellets between their fingers as they loaded the fifth in their slingshot pouches.
“I think its better to step back a little Twilight...” Alfonso said placing a claw on her shoulder, seeing both competitors gain a dangerous glint in their eyes.
“Wait one moment...” she shrugged Alfonso off and jogged over to Jack, giving the wolf a wary look. “Please don't lose. I really don't want to become dinner.” she whispered to Jack a bit scared, unsure of what a date really was.
Having his focus temporarily broken by her odd request, he pushed her back in irritation. "Give me a break Twilight!. I’ll beat this Wolf, it will be like taking candy from a baby only I'm taking his bells instead." he responded smugly, seeing Seth's ears twitch in their direction.
"Come on Twilight.” Alfonso said, awkwardly pulling her back towards the gathered crowd.
“Are you gentlemen ready?” Redd asked as the commotion died down.
“Ready!” They both shouted out, staring intently at the black box.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Redd slammed down on the red button.
“BREAK THE TARGETS!” the crowd cheered as targets flew from both sides of the black box.
Both Jack and Seth's eyes narrowed, before simultaneously hitting the targets dead center. With practiced precision they quickly placed another pellet in the pouch and pulled their arms back, just before the next set of targets sprang out. Pellets flied as they worked furiously to nail each target. The ground around the machine soon became littered with pieces of broken targets as Redd kept tally on a note pad. The crowd cheered loudly but both of the marksmen didn't notice. The only noise they heard was the stretch of elastic, the whistling of flying pellets and targets shattering.
“What a heated match up folks! I've never seen anything like it!” Redd shouted into a microphone, keeping a close tab on the breaking targets as the crowd cheered even louder.
“How can Jack even move like that?!” Twilight yelled over the noise, eyes glued to the two competitors.
“Jack’s been training for over a year! The first time he challenged Seth, he got beat pretty bad! If you knew Jack, you'd understand he doesn't like to lose!” Alfonso shouted back before raising his arms in the air. " GO JACK!"
After a full thirty seconds of flying pellets and bashing targets past, neither of the two sides showed signs of letting up. Midway Seth had grimaced slightly as one of his targets shattered, but his toothy grin had quickly returned.
“Here come the last two targets!” Redd shouted as the wood targets stopped and the crowd went silent.
“Oh no, that's how Jack lost last time!” Alfonso exclaimed.
“How?” Twilight looked around, still caught up in the previous excitement as she asked.
“The last two targets are made of rubber!” Alfonso covered his eyes with his claws.
“Rubber?” Twilight found herself doing the same. “Oh, I can't watch!”
“Mmmm!” Jack grunted as he loaded his last pellet. The rubber target, you won't get away like last time. He thought, waiting for the moment of truth.
Giving a dramatic pause, Redd held his paw teasingly over the red button. Without warning he pressed it and the final targets shot high into the air, punching two holes in the paper thin roof. Both Jack and Seth shifted their sights to follow the runaway targets, straining their elastics to the limit. Simultaneously the targets exploded into bits of rubber. The rubber rained down on the crowd as Seth and Jack exchanged glares, panting from the exercise.
“Whoa! What a big finish from our two sharpshooters here!” Redd announced into his mic. “Now let's tally up the scores!” pushing down the same red button, two screens rose up from the stall and began to flash numbers randomly.
Twilight and Alfonso slowly opened their eyes as a drum roll played for Seth's score.
“Amazing ladies and gentlemen! The champ Seth has scored an impressive 59 out of 60!” Shouted Redd into the microphone.
The villagers who sided with the wolf cheered with excitement as Twilight fell to her knees in shock. Seeing her drop, Alfonso tried to comfort her.
"Don't worry it's not a perfect score. Maybe Jack beat him!" Alfonso said trying to motivate her, but even he felt unsure about Jack's win after last year.
Twilight and Alfonso both looked up as fireworks flew from the box as Jack's score showed up on the other screen.
“This is incredible ladies and gentleman! Challenger Jack has scored a perfect 60 out of 60, we have our new champion!” Redd announced as the rest of the villagers went wild.
“He won!?” Twilight exclaimed.
“He won!” Alfonso threw his arms up before they hugged each other with cheers of excitement.
Jack gave a tired sigh as he looked over at Seth.
“You've improved, Missed the center of one of my targets." Seth said holding out a paw in good sportsmanship, which Jack shook.
“Heh... You don't seem so mad about losing.” Jack remarked with a smile.
“Naw, I'm just disappointed I didn't land that date...” Seth said, blushing slightly as Jack let out a laugh.
Both of them turned hearing someone approach
“Jack! That was amazing!” Twilight cheered as she skipped up to him.
“Course it was, I was training all year for this.” Jack huffed proudly before swaying slightly. "Not that I'm tired, but I think we should leave."
“Are you sure you’re not going to stick around for the rest of the festival Jack?” Alfonso said as Jack pocketed his winnings.
“Yeah Jack, why can't we stay longer? Beside becoming a wager this night's been pretty fun” Twilight whined as she showed the goldfish Alfonso got her.
“Meh... You know I don't stay around long for these kinds of things after I’ve eaten my fill of good festival food” Jack answered Alfonso while wiggling three fingers in Twilight's direction. “You start work early tomorrow so I think it's time to leave, is there a problem with that?”
Twilight’s ears lay flat on her head before answering, “No”, with a scowl.
“Work?” Alfonso said, before grabbing his fist in understanding. “Oh I see, you're giving her the old Nook treatment” he said nudging Jacks arm.
“The what?” Twilight asked, looking at the gator.
“Well you see Twilight, when Jack first got here he didn't quite plan out on how he was going to live. Tom Nook, the owner of the town shop, took him in and gave him a house. In exchange Jack had to work for three months to pay the house and start his life here in Smashville.” Alfonso explained.
“Oh I see, but I'm not going to be here more than three months... right?” Twilight looked worried at Jack.
“Of course not, I can barely stand you and you haven't even started living with me yet!” Jack said, stifling a bored yawn.
Twilight scowled as he started to walk away. “Well for your information, I'm not so fond of you either... Especially after you almost bet me out to some wolf!”
“Consider it training for your job.” Jack smirked patting his pocket. “This should cover the cost of your clothes nicely I might add.” he said with a chuckle, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.
“You know I only agreed to stay with you because you were supposed to take responsibility of me right?” Twilight reminded Jack.
“I am taking responsibility. As soon as we get back to the house, I’m going to set up the room you’ll be staying in.” Jack called as he got further away
Alfonso looked down slightly “I wish I could offer you a room to stay at my place... but my house is too small for two people...” the gator said sympathetically.
Twilight gave him a pat on the back, which quickly livened his spirits.
“Awww... that's still very generous of you Alfonso.” She said with a smile, before her face scrunched up at the sound of Jack nickering.
Turning on him with a furious look, she gave chase as he continued making ponycalls.
“Well... I guess I’ll see you two later” Alfonso called after the disappearing two, before heading back to the festival.
Too exhausted after chasing Jack, he'd had to carry her part of the way.
“You don't seem to me much of an athlete there Twilight...” Jack remarked.
"Stupid Jack..." she murmured, weakly punching his nose.
As her hand dropped back into her lap, Jack laughed at the absurdly weak punch. Finally the house came into view as a voice called out.
“Greetings Master Jack, I see you have returned from this year’s festival.” Lloyd said as he gyrated faster. “And I see that your guest from earlier today has returned, semi-conscious this time it seems”
"Wha~" Twilight started to say before she was dropped. "Ow, why'd you do that!" she said to Jack, looking annoyed.
"I carried you most of the way, you should be able to make through the door." Jack replied bluntly.
“Ah!” Twilight jumped behind Jack finally finding the source of the previous voice. “Wh-what is that?” she asked, finding herself looking over his shoulder.
“Oh, I almost forgot...” Jack said, prying Twilight off his shoulder. “This is Lloyd, he’s sort of a housekeeper even though all he can do is sit there and spin around.”
“Correction Master Jack, my prime directive is to greet guest with the utmost politeness.” Lloyd said as he stood still for a second. “And who might you be Madam?” Lloyd addressed Twilight as she inspected him.
“Hmm..You're made out of clay aren't you?” Twilight asked, ignoring Lloyd's previous question.
“Affirmative Madam, Master Jack sculpted me himself” Lloyd said.
“How are you even talking?” Twilight asked again.
Jack rolled his eyes, feeling the conversation drag-on. “It's complicated Twilight, don't try to wrap your head around it too much.” he said, tugging her away from Lloyd. “This is Twilight, Lloyd. She’ll be staying with me until I can get her back to wherever she came from.” Jack explained, trying to make the remark sound unimportant.
“Understood Master Jack.” Lloyd said, gyrating again. “Welcome to your new temporary home, Mistress Twilight.” Lloyd spun faster as Jack face palmed.
“Hmm... Mistress Twilight... I like how it sounds but why mistress instead of miss.” Twilight smiled as she asked Lloyd.
“Don't get use to it...” Jack said quickly grabbing her arm and dragging her away before getting her question answered... “Now lets go inside already.” Jack opened the door, this time he held it open for Twilight. “Mare’s first”, he chuckled.
“Thanks ‘Kid’” Twilight giggled at him as she walked inside, which immediately killed Jack’s good mood.
“Don't call me that...” he mumbled as he went inside after her with a vein pulsating on his forehead.
He quickly found her inspecting the living room. At first glance he could tell she was being judgmental of the rooms setup. She continued to pace around the different kinds of furniture and inspecting the miscellaneous things around the room.
“Where are the books?” Twilight asked after making two circuits of the room.
“The what?” Jack asked as he walked towards a flight of stairs.
"This is the house's study right, so where are the books? Are they down here?" Twilight asked jogging past him to the stairway leading downstairs.
She was about to start down the steps when a shudder crept up her spine. Turning to look at Jack, she saw a dark aura exuding from him.
"You'll regret it if you even dare taking another step down there..." he said ominously as she backed away from the steps.
He stepped onto another stairway leading upwards as his mood changed back to normal. “I’ll show you to your room.” he said cheerfully as Twilight hurried after him.
Reaching the second floor they found themselves in Jack's guest meeting room. It was half the size of the living room and was slightly less cluttered. Even so it held many assorted knick-knacks including: fish tanks full of exotic species, glass tables, dark red roses, a piggy bank, a picture frame holding a four leaf clover and what seemed to be a golden box with two bigger sets of boxes beside it.
“What’s this thing do?” Twilight said, walking up to it.
“Oh, that's just my golden stereo. I have some music in it for when I want to lounge in my chair.” Jack said, pointing to a black leather recliner. Next to it was a brick fireplace which supported a knight’s helmet.
“You use to be a guard?” Twilight asked as she picked the helmet up “Wow, this is heavy!” Twilight struggled to hold it up before Jack picked it out of her hands
“No, its just for decoration.” he dusted it off before placing it back on the fireplace. “And what did i say about rule number 2?” Jack said, scowling at her.
“I'm sorry...” she looked down “Its just that I have an older brother who’s a captain in Equestria... It’s been a long time since I last saw him...”
Jack stood there for a moment with his arms crossed. “Riveting story, does he save some princess and lives happily ever after?” Jack said with a yawn. “ Enough of the ideal chatter, I want to get to bed soon so let me show you to your room already” he said as he climbed up another flight of stairs.
Twilight gave a sigh watching him walk away without a care. “So much for trying to have a friendly conversation for once.” she thought aloud, following Jack.
After a few seconds of climbing, they reached the attic. “Hey, this is the same attic I woke up in when I arrived here.” she said, recognizing the messy bed.
“Yep”, Jack confirmed giving an over dramatic flourish. “And this is where you will be staying.” he said as he walked up to the bed.
“Oh, come on” whined Twilight. “You can't honestly expect me to live in some dusty old attic with no windows or anything!” she was going to continue before Jack held up three fingers again with a stern expression on his face.
“Don’t worry too much about it Twilight. Like I said this room is yours to do with as you please.” Jack said as he placed his hand on the golden bed.
“Fine...” she sighed. Her eyes soon shot open as the golden bed vanished before her eyes “The bed! W-where did it go!?” she looked around frantically.
“Calm down, it's right here” Jack said as he held up a green leaf.
“...You're kidding right...?” she gave an un-amused look before crossing her arms.
“Nope!” Jack said, putting the leaf away in his pocket. “And this will be your bed.” he said, pulling a slightly different leaf from his pocket.
To Twilight's amazement the leaf burst into a puff of smoke as it hit the floor. When the smoke cleared a blue colored twin sized bed had appeared.
“This world is going to drive me insane...” Twilight said as a hair on her head sprang out of place, she then saw Jack lay down another leaf, this time it exploded into what seemed to be a wardrobe.
“I have plenty of furniture here so pick what you like to decorate the place with. I even have some wallpaper and flooring in here as well. Just take your time and have fun with the decorating.” he said, strolling back to the stairs. “Good night...”
Twilight sighed as Jack finally left. “Okay... I guess I could make this work.” she said, looking inside the large wardrobe. “Hmm...” the first thing she pulled out was a note pad and something resembling a quill. “So do I just write or is there an ink pot.” she asked the wardrobe, looking for the missing ink. Not finding any she placed the nib of the strange quill and was happy to see black ink where it touched. “Ah-ha! So the ink is in the paper, now I can start documenting my findings at least” she exclaimed.
Remembering what Jack said before about pockets, she tried putting the notepad in the kimono's pocket. She gave a quick smile as it disappeared from view.
“I might get use to that... I just hope my friends aren't too worried about me” she said, hanging up the kimono and bow.
She gave a quick stretch, happy to be out of the fancy clothes. Plodding over to the bed, she crawled under the sheets. She lay in a ball under the sheets for a few minutes. Through her mind, thoughts of her family and friends made her cringe with homesickness.
“My friends...” she pulled the sheets back to look at the dark ceiling. “I miss you all already.” she said with a sniffle.
Living where the crossing life leads
5 - Welcome to Smashville! pt.1
“Mmmm... Spike... Stop throwing pies at me... Zzzz...”, Twilight mumbled in her sleep as she tossed and turned.
She eventually rolled out of the bed due to the animated movements and hit the hardwood floor with a thud. It took her a few seconds to realize the pain of the fall before groggily opening her eyes.
“Oww... where am I?”, she said with a yawn. Pulling off the sheets that covered her face, Twilight gave a depressed sigh. “Now I remember...”, she said rubbing her tired eyes.
Now that she was conscious, the silly dream only reminded her that getting home was still impossible at this time. She sighed as she used the bed for leverage to get onto her still unfamiliar two feet.
Alright, I guess I should start the day. As the thought drifted through her weary mind, the clock next to the bed made her eyes bulge in shock.
“T-Ten!? Its ten in the morning!? By Celestia how could I oversleep!” she shouted due to the shocking revelation.
Her mind turned to automatic as she hurried towards the stair that led to her room. Forgetting how clumsy her bipedal form was, she quickly tripped and started to fall down the stairs. “Ow-Oh-Eh-Oh-Ow-D’oh!” she finally stopped as she landed face first on the lower floor. The act reminded her of a couple negative experiences she'd had in the Crystal Castle. “Stupid stairs", she groaned as she got to her feet.
“Zzzz....”, Jack snorted as he laid in his golden bed. His sheets were sprawled all over the place and a bit of drool dripped out of his content smile. His sleep was shortly interrupted by the sound of a unicorn tumbling comically down a flight of stairs.
“Mmmm...”, Jack murmured like a giant woken from his slumber. He rose from his bed, giving a tired groan as he stretched out his arms and legs in bodybuilder poses before walking to the nearest window. Opening the window, a few clouds greeted him as they floated in the blue sky.
Scratching an itch on his butt, Jack sniffed the air for any relative humidity. “Hmm... no rain today... good...”, he said to himself as he heard the upstairs shower turn on.
“Might as well make some breakfast... I wonder if she likes bacon”, he mumbled to himself as he exited the temporary bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he paused to twist the sign on the door around. Giving a satisfied nod, Jack headed up the stairs to the kitchen.
The sign, embossed with the words ‘Man Cave’, tapped softly against the door.
“Okay I finished my shower”, Twilight announced with a deep in thought expression. Mentally she checked the final thing off her imaginary, morning routine list.
Rushing out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head, a delightful aroma pulled her from her thoughts. Investigating the aroma she stopped cold as she found the source to be coming from something Jack was cooking. Thinking he was mad by the way he focused so intently on his task, she quietly tip-toed into the room and sat at the table.
“Um...Jack...I'd like to apologize for oversleeping on the first day. I’m so sorry and it'll never happ-" Twilight nearly bit her tongue mid sentence in surprise, as Jack turned with a plate of brown strips held proudly in a victory pose.
"Success!", Jack shouted excitedly. "The most perfect plate of bacon and it's all mine. MWAHAhaha...*" Jack's expression froze as he seemed to finally notice her. Twilight's ear perked up thinking she heard a small snap as he looked at her
“Gah!”, he yelled in surprise as he covered his eyes with his free hand.
“Jack! Are you alright!?” Twilight exclaimed as she rushed to his side.
“Twilight! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!” Jack shouted while avoiding the worrying mare.
“Y-You're not angry I overslept?” Twilight asked.
“What? No! Just get some clothes on for pete's sake!”, Jack snapped at her.
“What's so important I need to put on clothes?” she replied with a confused tilt of her head, unaware of how red Jack’s face had become. Not getting a response she gave a huff and left to put on some clothes.
She rolled her eyes as she went upstairs “What is with the beings here and their need to wear clothes?” she grumbled before remembering how Rarity seemed to have the same desire.
Hearing Twilight walk up the stairs, he opened his eyes cautiously.“Fudge... guess that's going to be another problem”, he said to himself as he placed the plate filled with bacon on the set table.
After a few minutes Twilight walked back down wearing a purple dress and her blue bow “Is this better?”, she asked before adding, "Your not going to freak out again...right?"
If you only knew... , the thought made Jack’s eye twitch as he pointed out her seat with a forced smile.
Sitting down, he watched her tentatively sit and stare at the spread he'd cooked up. There was a cast iron skillet filled with eggs that smelled like olive oil. Near the far end of the table was a platter holding toast with various vegetables and cheeses used for sandwich making. Finally as a centerpiece there was a gold plate stacked high with bacon with a carton of orange juice and a jug of milk placed on each side.
“Better grab something before its all gone”, Jack said before taking a large bite out of a triple decker sandwich he'd created.
“Do you eat like this every morning?” Twilight questioned with an interested look on her face as she pulled out her notepad and ‘quill’ as she knew it.
Jack took his time to swallow what he had in his mouth before talking. “Pretty much”, he answered casually.
“Hmm... You must have a pretty big appetite then.” Twilight said while jotting down notes. “What's this?”, she said picking up a strip of bacon. “It smells really good!”, she said taking a whiff out of it.
Jack suddenly gave her a startled look. “That's bacon...”, he answered.
“Bacon? Never heard of it before”, Twilight said putting down the strip on her plate before writing more notes. “It sure is greasy though”, she commented.
“You’ve never heard...of bacon!?”, Jack’s face went from startled to horrified. “That's outrageous!”, Jack exclaimed.
Twilight then looked at Jack inquisitively. “And how is that outrageous?”, she asked. Picking up the strip again and nibbled on a crunchy end. “Ugh!”, she spit out the piece in disgust before reaching for a glass of orange juice and downing it. “It tastes like meat!”, she exclaimed.
“Of course it's meat! It's the best kind of meat there is!” Jack said as he suddenly stood up on his chair and put a foot on the table. “Bacon... is one of the world's culinary wonders! A true gift from the gods!” he proclaimed holding up a strip of bacon as if it were a mighty sword.
“O-Kay?” Twilight said awkwardly “I’m a herbivore though, I don't eat meat.”
“Don't eat meat?”, Jack said sitting back down in his seat. “Okay... so there’s no bacon where you come from...do you have videogames?”, Jack asked.
“...Video-games?”, she responded with a tilt of her head. “Never heard of such a thing. We have board and outdoor games in my world, but I tend to read when I'm bored.”
Jack paused for a moment as her answers sunk-in. What kind of sick, twisted dimension is this mare from? , he thought before shaking his head to avoid imagining such a place. “Well, never mind then... eat up you have a lot of work to do today.” Jack said, pushing the plate of sandwich vegetables towards her.
“About that, what kind of work do you have in mind for me?”, she asked. "Without my magic and being in this new body, some physical tasks will probably be impossible." she added before Jack reached into his pocket.
“Here”, Jack said pulling out a small and meticulously folded piece of paper, “This is what you’ll be doing for the day”
“Alright, let me see”, Twilight said while unfolding the paper. “Make friends with everyone in town”, she read aloud. She stared at the paper for a few seconds before giving Jack a confused look. "Why do I need to do that?", she asked as she had a case of deja vu.
Jack cracked a smile between chews when she asked. “Well you want to learn more about other dimensions, didn't you?”, he said taking the last strip of bacon off the plate. “More friends you meet, the easier it's going to be for you to learn.”
Twilight looked back at the piece of paper while nodding her head in understanding. “Seems simple enough, there's only a few names on this list... that's strange, one of the names is all scratched out?”
“Scratched out name?!”, Jack said evenly while discreetly tugging on his shirt collar. “It's just a mistake I made and couldn't erase it.”
“Alright”, Twilight said as he gave out a slight sigh of relief. “So who am I catching dinner for...”, she asked before pointing to the next task. “...and what is this dribbled next to it? A fishing rod?”
“That's right, some of the tasks I’ll give you require certain tools.” Jack said reaching into his pockets.
“So you want me to go fishing?”, she deadpanned. “I could be doing something a lot more productive with my time like organizing-”, she started to rant before Jack held up three fingers. “You know that’s getting old, right?”, she said with a scowl.
“Don't care~”, Jack chimed-in with a smirk. “I’ll do it as many times as necessary”, he said while getting out of his seat. “Now hop to it!” he ordered while pointing at the door with his thumb.
Twilight got up and headed to the door. The way Jack ordered her didn't felt a little mean but she really wanted to learn more about the strange world. Stepped out the door she took a moment to look at the cloudy sky.
“I hope it doesn't rain today... wait a minute”, she said looking back at Jack. “I haven't even finished my breakfast yet!”, she exclaimed while crossing her arms..
“It's not going to rain today...”, Jack said cryptically before reaching into his pocket. “...You can pick up some brunch at the restaurant in town with this.” he then placed a small pouch in her hands that jingled slightly. “Consider that your allowance for the day.”
“Oh, thanks!” Twilight said with a smile.
“And here are the tools you'll possibly need.” Jack said before placing a few heavy tools from his pocket, atop the pouch.
“Woah!”, Twilight exclaimed while teetering left and right under the weight.
“Those are just the basic tools so don't beat them up too quickly", he explained while pointing from the tools to her pocket.
"Remember now, make friends, relax and just have fun.” he said before slamming the door shut.
“Hmph...”, she grunted as she managed to place the tools on the ground safely.
“Alright lets see... shovel, fishing rod and butterfly net?" After listing each tool off, she placed it to her pocket and watched them disappear with a look of enjoyment. The final thing she placed in her pocket was the pouch of bells before standing. The lack of weight still surprised her as she thought about how to better study the pocket.
“Oh well... guess I'll figure that out another time." she said as she remembered the list. she took in a deep breath as she looked at the list of names. “Alright Twilight, it's just another town... it's nothing like Ponyville but it's a town nonetheless. You can do this.” she said to motivate herself as she jogged towards the town.
“This must be the first house, well here we go...”, Twilight gulped as she knocked on the door. Her mood quickly brightened as a familiar gator opened the door.
“Hey Twilight!”, Alfonso said with a smile. “What brings you to Smashville?... Jack didn't kick you out did he!”, Alfonso exclaimed rather loudly.
"Alfonso...”, Twilight managed to say before the gator started to rant.
"That Jack can be so mean sometimes. Did you know he hits me all the time... He didn't hit you did he! The nerve of that guy, beating up such a young lady. I should've let you stay here while I stayed with him. Gah, why didn't I think of that before?" By now he'd started to check Twilight's arms for signs of abuse.
"No I'm fine, when I overslept Jack...", Twilight tried to get a word in edgewise but her traitorous stomach decided to rumble in hunger. It seemed to only made the gator fuss over her even more.
"He didn't feed you for oversleeping, that's inhumane. Let me whip something up for you right now, won't even take two minutes. How does bacon and eg... What am I saying, you're a herbivore like Tortimer. Let me grab you some fresh fruit and heat up a plate of cheesy lasagna. You eat cheese rig-" Alfonso froze up as Twilight giggled.
Taking a few minutes to stifle her giggling, Twilight finally cleared her throat before explaining the mornings events. "... So you see Alfonso, meeting everypo... everybody in Smashville is the first job Jack gave me." She then pulled the small list from her pocket and checked off Alfonso's name. "He also gave me an allowance for some brunch, but I'd love an apple if you have one." she said with a sheepish smile.
Alfonso seemed to unfreeze as he held his door open for her. “That's pretty easy for a first job. Come in, I'll get you an apple to snack on and the gift I was hoping to give you."
“Oh, well what is it?” the mention of a gift had piqued her interest as she thought of what otherworldly thing it could be. He first placed a bright red apple in her hand before he rooted through his pocket
When Alfonso presented a green shirt with a, 'L', embroidered in it, she quickly hide her disappointment.
"Ssoo... What do you think? It was a couple's collector item that I bought with my favorite shirt." he said as he tapped on his red shirt proudly. He stopped as he quickly revised his statement. "Not that we're a couple, I just can't wear the female sized one in public. I mean-"Twilight cut him off this time by giving the gator a friendly hug.
"Thank you for the wonderful gift Alfonso." Twilight said, accepting the gift as the gator stood frozen with a happy grin on his face. Carefully folding the shirt, she placed it in her pocket before waving farewell. “I need to get going now, I have to meet the other villagers” she called over her shoulder as she walked through the door with the red apple in her hand.
“Bye Twilight!” Alfonso called through the open door as he started to close it. Leaning against the doorframe, Alfonso couldn't keep the silly grin off his face. I can't wait to see her wear it , he thought with a sigh.
“Next is Seth... hmm... Why does that sound familiar?” she said to herself as she walked up to a large house. At first glance the house seemed almost as big as Jack’s. “Hello?”, Twilight called out as she knocked on the door. Her eyes widened as she saw who answered the door.
“Why if it isn't the little lady from the festival!” Seth gave a toothy grin as he tipped the dark brown cowboy hat on his head. His outfit consisted of a black leather vest over an olive green turtleneck, with a silver watch chain leading to a pocket on the vest.
“Y-You're Seth!?” Twilight squeaked in surprise, which made Seth chuckle.
“That's my name, Ms.Twilight. Sorry I wasn’t able to Introduce myself properly during the Chestnut festival.” Seth said, taking off his hat for a courteous bow “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance once again. Now what can I do for such a lovely filly?" he gave a soft chuckle as Twilight hide behind her list of jobs, red blooming in her cheeks.
Twilight looked at her list as she felt her face heat up. “Well,it's just that Jack wanted me to visit everyone in town and meet them in person.” she said while trying to act casual. “Sooo... I think I best be on to the next house."
"Getting such a pretty young thang like you working. It just doesn't sit right with me. How about you cross those names out and you hang with me for awhile." he suggested with a shrug. "I'm sure he would understand if you didn't have time to meet the rest of the townsfolk.
Twilight started to debate about if it was a good idea before hearing Seth's barking laugh. "I'm just teasing you, my dear. Jack has a tendency to take work too seriously sometimes... thinking about it now, I may have something you may like." Seth said before he went inside and opened a chest he had in his living room “Ah! here it is”, the wolf smiled as he walked back to Twilight with a leaf in his hand. “A little housewarming gift from me to you”, he said while gently closing Twilight's fingers over the gift.
Twilight blinked as she held onto the leaf. “Um... Thank you Seth, you're very kind” she said with sweet smile.
“It's what I do. Now you best be running off to the next task and keep in touch." he said while watching Twilight jog away.
“Okay, that didn't go so bad”, Twilight said crossing Seth off the list. “Two down, a few more to- Omf!” she let out as she bumped into something soft. “H-Huh?”, Twilight then looked up to see a large and furry villager looming over her.
Scratching his belly, he swiveled his head to look for who bumped into him. Twilight stood there with a pale look on her face as she looked up at the villager's face.
“Mmmm? What are you staring at?” the bear asked lazily scratching his yellow t-shirt.
“N-Nothing!”, she said while taking a step back. She was a bit fearful standing before an animal that could and would make her his meal. “Its just that you're so... big?”, she blurted out before covering her mouth.
The bear blinked before smiling widely. “Why thank you, I work really hard to keep this figure...”, he said turning towards her. “...What's your name?”, he asked.
Twilight gave a big sigh, relieved that she did not upset him with her poor choice of words. “Twilight sir!”, she answered with a slight nod of her head.
“Oh, You don't need to call me sir, I’m still young for a bear my size. You can call me Teddy”, he said scratching his cheek. Twilight could not help but giggle at the ironic name. “You’re not from around here are you? Come to think of it, I recall seeing you once at the Chestnut festival.” Teddy said in a slow voice.
“Well I came here yesterday... and since I had no place to stay Jack decided to take me in. In exchange I'm going through the old Nook treatment as he likes to call it.” Twilight said while looking for Teddy’s name on her list.
Teddy suddenly gave a chuckle after hearing the explanation. “Is that so? I always knew Jack would help anyone in need, but this is the first time seeing it.” he commented while crossing his arms.
“Okay... that's three people... only seven to go...”, she whispered to herself before sighing. “Then I have to catch some fish for Jack’s Dinner...”
Teddy rubbed his chin as he overheard her quiet debate. “Hmmm... perhaps you could ask Octavian for some help with that. I’m sure Jack wouldn't mind that.”
“Octavia...”, Twilight said as she tilted her head to look up at the bear. “... I don't see music helping with fishing.
“No, Octavian”, Teddy licked his lips slightly as a reminiscent look crossed his face. “He’s the best at catching fish here, with Jack as the close second. He’ll be able to catch whatever kind of fish you'd like.”
Twilight's ears perked up as she recognized the difference in names “That’s definitely the kind of pony-I mean person I need”, she quickly corrected. “Where can I find him?”, she asked before Teddy pointed towards the river.
“He lives just beside the town lake. Just walk along the river and you’ll find his house.” Teddy then looked at Twilight as he reached into his pocket. “Let me give you a little welcoming gift”, the bear said before pulling out a strange looking lamp. “I’m not really sure what this is... but I think it would look nice for decoration.”
Twilight turned the gift over in her hands with a quizzical expression. “Where did you find something like this?”, she finally asked.
“Well, I picked it off the ground a few hours ago. I gave it a good clean in the river, just so you know.” Teddy said while scratching the back of his head.
“Thank you then...”, Twilight smiled before running off to the next location. “... and thanks for the information!”
Twilight hummed cheerfully as she walked by the river. Its fresh water ran clear and seemed to teem with life. “I wonder what this Octavian guy is like?”, she said writing down some notes about her surroundings. “I think I’m really getting the hang of Human vocabulary. Now if only I could understand why Jack says 'fudge' all the time...”, she pondered over the question before she reached the lake.
“Ah! The lake, now all I have to find is... there!” Twilight exclaimed as she spotted a house. As she ran towards it, she quickly discovered that the house itself looked like a giant jar. “What an odd design”, she said, baffled by the houses weird shape.
Composing herself, Twilight walked up to the odd house and knocked on the door. After a few seconds of silence, she called out a greeting, “Hello, anyone home?” she stood there a little longer before turning from the doorway. “Huh,no response... Maybe I should check back later after getting something to eat.” Twilight said as she began to walk away.
“Ohhh... my stomach”, Twilight said gripping her empty stomach. The apple had helped but all that running around seemed to burn more calories then expected. “Where did Jack say that restaurant was?” she said impatiently while looking at her map. “The Roost huh? Sounds like someplace Rainbow would visit.” Using her finger, Twilight quickly found the desired location on her map. “Okay, this should be it”, she said looking up from her map.
Before her stood a white stone building with a carved owl adorning the entrance. As Twilight walked inside she found herself in a lobby with checkered floors and stained glass windows. Sitting at the very end of the room was an antique clock and standing in front was a rather sophisticated looking owl.
Twilight walked up to the owl as she curiously looked around. “Um, excuse me? What is this place?”, Twilight asked but received no response. “Hello?”, Twilight said while waving an arm in front of his face.
“Zzzz....”, Blathers snored in response.
“H-Huh? Oh! he’s an owl...”, she giggled to herself. “...don't want to interrupt his sleep” Twilight said as she slipped past him into a random room.“What could this room be?”, she wondered aloud before turning her head to see a massive reptile skeleton grinning at her.
“EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”, Twilight's scream resonated through the room into the lobby. “D-Dragon!”,Twilight curled up in fear with her hands over her head.
Expecting the roar of the mighty beast, she was surprised when she heard a small yawn. Peeking out from between her arms, as she heard some footsteps draw near, to see the same owl from the lobby standing fearlessly before the imposing remains.
“Tyrannosaurus Rex...”, he said with his wings behind his back. “Also known as the King of the Cretaceous period which was approximately three point eight million years ago.” Looking down at Twilight with a smile, he offered her a wing. “Blathers, pleased to make your acquaintance miss...”
"...Twilight", she responded while looking up at the T-Rex fossils. As she took Blathers’s wing to get up she looked around in amazement. All around her were other giant fossils, each positioned in various poses under bright spotlights. “Wow!” she exclaimed as she walked to each one, her face beaming with joy. “I’ve never seen anything like this before!” she said breathlessly before looking at Blathers.
Blathers proudly held his wings behind his back. “Of course, miss Twilight! A fine collection of fossils , and not to toot my own beak, but the best that the Smashville museum has had in years.”
“This is the museum!?”, Twilight’s eyes went wide with excitement. “I’ve wanted to visit this place ever since I heard of it, you must give me a tour!” Twilight said grabbing Blathers wing with pleading eyes.
Blathers gave a big smile as she held his wing. “Ah! A ripe mind in search of knowledge. Come then miss Twilight, allow me to give you a tour!” he said enthusiastically, leading Twilight around the prehistoric exhibits. “So as you can see, each of these species of dinosaurs died thousands upon millions of years ago. We learned this through a method called, carbon dating. We take a small sample from the bones and measure the amount of carbon to determine when the creature died.”
“Astounding...”, Twilight remarked, having taken notes since the beginning of the tour. “...and are there any dragon fossils here?”, she asked.
Blathers gave a chuckle “Sadly no, miss Twilight... as far as I know dragons are mythological creatures prominent in european and asian culture. There have been no scientific proof of one in existence”
Twilights ears lowered from hearing this. “Oh right, how silly of me...”, she said with a dejected sigh. so I was right, dragons don't exist here. she thought with a mixture of relief and sadness.
“So, shall we continue the tour to our aquarium? We have many different species of fish all donated by a very generous fisherman.” Blathers paused mid-step by the sound of an empty stomach rumbling. He looked to Twilight as she blushed from the embarrassment.
“I’m sorry... I haven't had anything to eat all day, Jack said there was a restaurant around here I could buy some brunch from.” she said giving a sheepish smile.
Blathers gave a light chuckle before pointing back down the hallway. “It's nothing to be ashamed of. Just make your way back to the lobby and down a flight of stairs to the left. The Roost should be easily located by using the signs downstairs.”
“Thanks... but there’s so much I want to learn here before I eat.” Twilight said with a smile before Blathers guided her towards the lobby.
“Nothing to worry about miss Twilight. You can come and visit anytime and absorb as much knowledge as you can take in. What's more important right now is that you gain the daily nutrients needed for a healthy body”, Blathers said with a smile.
Twilight giggled as she went towards the hallway. “Thank you Blathers, I’ll be here again soon!” she waved as she kept walking.
As soon as Twilight was out of sight Blathers gave a heartfelt sigh as he placed his wing on his chest “Woah... She’s cute, smart, and she even listens to my lectures... I think I’m in love Hootie-Who!”
Living where the crossing life leads
6 - Welcome to Smashville pt.2
Making her way down the stairs, Twilight could hear faint jazz music playing. Bobbing her head to the rythm she walked into the restaurant.
Immediately feeling nostalgic, she thought she'd walked into Donut Joe's. Besides the small stage in the corner, the restaurant was identical to the donut bar in Canterlot. Thinking about all the times she’d treated Spike to his favorite hot chocolate and sprinkle donut slowly turned her smile to a depressed frown. She plodded over to one the open seats at the counter as a bespectacled pigeon looked up from polishing coffee mugs.
“May I help you miss?” the pigeon asked, snapping Twilight out of her depressing thoughts.
"Oh, yes! I’d like to see your menu”, she said taking a seat at the bar as he pulled out a card and placed it in front of her. “Kind of a small selection here”, she said reading it over.
"Most of our patrons usually stop by for a cup of coffee instead of a full meal. Speaking of which, you seem rather new to town." he said in passing while turning to some shelves behind the bar. Sitting on them were hundreds of opened packages, each labeled with a different coffee name.
“I arrived just before the festival”, she answered with a sigh.
"Sounds like someone could use a cup of joe”, he said as his wing stopped over the only closed package.
“Why not... what's a Mean Greens?", she asked as the pigeon opened the package and carefully measured out some of the contents.
Popping the beans in the coffee machine's grinder, he turned to the anthro pony with a smiling beak. "It's a little vegetarian creation of mine. After roasting some eggplant, zucchini and bell peppers in the oven, I cut them into slices and place them on two pieces of whole wheat bread. I then smother the veggies in pesto sauce and grill it in a panini press.” a small chuckle escaped his beak before continuing, “I decided on the name because the vegetables kept getting burnt when I was trying out the recipe and I even tripped over a fallen eggplant at one point.”
Twilight’s frown slowly turned to a smile as she imagined the incident and the delicious sounding sandwich. “Well that sounds perfect, I think I’ll have one of the Mean Greens then.”
“Right away Twilight”, he said as he turned on the panini grill and pulled a prepped sandwich from under the counter.
Just looking at the large vegetarian sandwich, Twilight felt her mouth water in anticipation as he put it on the grill. Breathing in the smell of fresh coffee and grilled vegetables, she wiped some drool from her mouth as she finally noticed the pigeon knew her name.
“I don’t believe we met before...how do you know I’m Twilight?”, she asked with raised eyebrows. She wondered for a minute if Jack had broken his own rules before the pigeon gave a chuckle.
“Ever since the festival all the gossip in town has been about the bet Jack and Seth made over a purple pony. Being the only restaurant in Smashville, I hear quite a bit of the local gossip.” he explained while flipping the grilled sandwich onto a plate and placing it before her.
Quickly picking up one half of the sandwich she could feel her stomach rumble in anticipation. She took a large bite of the sandwich as the pigeon slide a steaming cup of coffee next to her plate.
“Mmm...” she hummed contentedly as she savored the delicious sandwich. I’ll need to take a copy of this recipe , she thought before swallowing.“This sandwich is so good mister...”, she commented while reaching for the coffee .
“Names Brewster, miss Twilight” he answered with a small smile.
Giving a smile in response, Twilight put down the sandwich as she reached for her hot beverage. She nearly knocked the scalding liquid all over the bartender as a high pitched voice surprised her with a greeting.
“Hiiiiiii!” The voice came from a blue cat leaning on the chair next to her. “Nice you meet you, I’m Rosie!” she said in an excited voice while grabbing Twilight’s hand and shaking it vigorously in greetings it deliberately “You must be the new girl everyone has been talking about!”
Visibly shaken and having her personal space invaded made Twilight grin awkwardly as she tried to act polite. “Why yes I am. My name is Twiliiiiiiiiight!” Twilight managed to say as Rosie pulled on her off the bar stool.
“Come on, Come sit with us! The girls and I were just about to talk about you and wouldn't’ you know it, you waltzed right into the place!” Rosie said excitedly as she sat the shaken Twilight down on an empty chair. Rosie then grabbed Twilight her coffee and sandwich, after grinning innocently at Brewster, before taking her seat. “So these are my gal-pals Carmen, Peanut and Chevre!” she exclaimed while each of the three girls gave a quick greeting as their names were called
“Hello”,the brown rabbit said with a wave, “I like your bow!”
“Hiya”, the pink squirrel chimed, “welcome to Smashville!”
“Hey there”, the white goat said while tapping her fingers together nervously, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Twilight scratched the back of her head as she looked around the table. She gave her own nervous chuckle as she tried to make sense of how she got roped into this meeting. “I-I'm flattered... It's nice to meet you all to.” she said with a sheepish grin as the group of friends giggled in unison.
“So Twilight, tell us how you like Smashville so far?” Peanut asked while forking a piece of cake into her mouth.
“Well... so far I find it very different from where I’m from.” Twilight said, keeping in mind Jack’s first rule of not drawing unwanted attention. “I really enjoyed the chestnut festival though”
“Yeah! I saw you there while Jack and Seth were duking it out at the target game!” Rosie said, sitting on the edge of her seat. “I can’t get how awesome that was out of my head!”
“And I can't get their dreamy looks out of ‘my’ head”, Chevre said while holding her reddening cheeks. The others giggled while Twilight sipped some coffee from her mug.
“Uh-huh... Seth is so handsome with his dark fur and cool personality” Peanut said resting her head in her hands with a sigh.
“Seth is mostly mysterious and has some good looks, but Jack is handsome and always wants to help others”, Carmen added to the agreeing nods of the other three gossipers.
As their discussion went on Twilight kept to herself as she lost herself in the warm comfort of the coffee and company. I could get use to this , she thought to herself before noticing the four had gone silent. “Hmm?”, Twilight murmured as she noticed the inquisitive looks directed her way.
“Soooo Twilight”, Rosie said leaning closer to Twilight. “How did it feel to be fought over by two of Smashville’s most desirable bachelors?” she asked, giggling slightly as Twilight almost choked on her drink in a comical fashion.
“Uhh....”, Twilight said while wiping the coffee off her face.
The question had completely ruined her train of thought as she quickly tried to think up an answer. She was glad when the sound of strummed guitar drew their eyes off her as she blushed. Atop the small stage, a bipedal white dog began to play his guitar and make noises in a jazzy melody .
“Who is that?” Twilight whispered to Rosie, hoping the group had missed her blush.
“ You've never heard of K.K. Slider?” Rosie whispered back with slight surprise. “He’s, like, one of the most handsome musicians out there” she sighed blissfully as she watched the performance.
Glad to lose the attention with her face beet red, Twilight quickly finished her meal as the other four listened to the song intently. Finishing the musical number, K.K. Slider gave a humble bow as the four fans clapped enthusiastically.
“Thank you so much ladies...”, K.K. said with a surprisingly smooth voice, “...of course that was just a warm up before I start taking requests. Does anyone have a song in mind?”
“Unfortunately I won't be able to hear another.” she said to the unhappy 'awws' of her four new friends while pulling out her list. “I still have some errands to run” she said, carrying the dirty plates over to Brewster.
“Oh come one Twilight! You should at least give a request before you leave!” Rosie whined with a pout as she rocked back and forth in the seat.
“Yeah, you should know at least one of his songs”, Carmen said.
The rooms atmosphere changed slightly as Twilight felt everyone's eyes on her. “Ummm....How about...”, Twilight’s mind scrambled for a song name. “K.K. song?”, she whispered, cringing slightly from the thought up song title. Her slight cower turned to surprise when K.K. rubbed his chin with an intrigued look..
“Interesting... not a lot of people ask for that one.” he remarked while adjusting his guitar strings.
“Well... you can see I'm unique.” Twilight said feeling the atmosphere return to normal. “Thanks for the delicious meal Brewster”, she said while fishing the pouch of bells from her pocket. Starting to count out the coins the pigeon stopped her by placing a wing on her hand.
“It's on the house miss, consider it my welcome to you.” Brewster said with a smile as the pony smiled in return before heading to the stairs.
“That was nice, maybe making new friends here isn't so bad.” Twilight said to herself before she heard a bizarre melody coming from downstairs. “Hm... strange...” she shrugged it off before heading to the main lobby.
“Alright, only a few more names! Next stop, town hall”, Twilight exclaimed while standing before the large building that was Smashville town hall.
A small jingle went off as she opened the door, quickly getting the attention of a white pelican in a purple dress. “Oh, hello there miss”, the pelican said as she leaned over the receptionist desk. “Pelly at your service, what can I do for you today?”
Twilight walked up to the counter, “Nice to meet you Pelly. I’m just here to meet the mayor, seeing how I’m new in town.”
“Mayor Tortimer should be available right now, allow me to get him for you.” Pelly said with a smile as she stood up and cracked open the doors behind her. After a muffled conversation, Pelly walked back to Twilight with a smile. “The mayor said he's been expecting you, right this way”, Pelly said as she opened the counter for Twilight.
Twilight nodded as she pushed open one of the double doors and walked into the mayor's office. Behind a large oak desk, an old turtle sat in the large seat with his fingers over a cane. Watching her walk in and take a seat on one of the open chairs, he slowly got off his own.
“So... you're the new girl everyone has been talking about”, Tortimer said as he hobbled towards her.
“I suppose...”, Twilight answered as she noticed the old tortoise's piercing stare.
“Hmmm.... allow me to ask you a question.” Tortimer said as he seemed to appraise her worth. “Who of your family do you share the most respect for? Your parents or your grandparents?” Tortimer asked.
“..Hmm..” Twilight rubbed her chin while contemplating different answers. “I believe that anyone older than oneself have much to teach and deserve respect”, she finally answered.
Tortimer chuckled while placing both hands on his walking cane. “Good answer!”, he said as a warm smile graced his aged face. “Welcome to Smashville young lady.”
“Um..thank you mister mayor?”,Twilight said with a sigh of relief. Apparently she'd passed some sort of test and that made her feel pretty proud of herself.
“Please, call me Tortimer”, he said while leaning on his desk. “I’m guessing you know Jack since you participated in the chestnut festival's target game.”
“Oh yes, he decided to take me in when I was having some trouble getting home.” Twilight answered while looking out the window.
“Yes, I’ve heard...”, Tortimer responded while twirling with his white beard. “...And you're grateful for the help?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly before answering his question. “To some extent seeing how he so willingly made me into a gambling prize... not that I don't appreciate everything else he's done”, she said.
Tortimer smiled again as he slowly nodded his head. “That's something you should keep in mind. Being helpful always yields to greater things in the long run.” he said tapping his cane on the floor.
“Thank you for your wisdom Mayor Tortimer.” Twilight said while getting to her feet. “It was nice meeting you, but I really must be off. I have something to take care of now that I've met everyone.”
“Hmmm...is Jack giving you the Nook treatment?”, he asked with a small chuckle
“That's what everyone seems to be calling it ” she answered with a sigh before her eyes shot open. “I almost forgot, I have to meet Octavian!" Jumping out of her seat, she gave a quick bow before running to the door. "Sorry for leaving so rudely but I still have some chores to complete Mayor Tortimer, see you around!” she said before the door closed and the sounds of her running departure could be heard.
Still leaning on his desk, Tortimer twirled his beard thoughtfully. Getting to his feet with a grunt of effort, the old tortoise slowly plodded over to his office doors and opened them with a push. “Pelly, begin sorting out her paperwork, I believe Twilight will make a fine villager in the community.”
His pelican secretary gave a double take as she looked between the departing figure and her boss. “So she left her information with you?” Pelly said, giving Tortimer a confused look.
“Just call it a hunch so please have the paperwork prepared." he answered with a wink before re entering his office. Behind him, Pelly sighed before grabbing out the required forms.
Twilight slowed down as she reached Octavian's house, she stopped to catch her breath.
“I still wonder why his house looks like that...” she said as she saw something glint in the grass. Kneeling down to pick it up, she held the small metal object before her face. “Hmm... now what could this be?” she asked herself while running a finger over some small ridges protruding from its narrower end.
Feeling something cold and slimy touch her shoulder, her face blanched in fright. A slight, "eeep", escaped her lips as she was suddenly turned around by two slimy tentacles. Frozen stiff, with the metal object held in her hand, she stared into the face of a red octopus with puffy cheeks and a purple t-shirt bearing a big star in the center.
“My key!”, the octopus shouted excitedly as he easily pulled the metal object from Twilight's grip. “ I've been looking for this blasted thing all day! Thanks!”
“You're welcome? Ah!” she yelped as she was hugged tightly by the grateful octopus. “U-Um, are you Octavian by any chance?" she said with a forced smile. Feeling the cold slime against her furred skin made her feel squeamish. For once she was glad she wore the dress because only her exposed arms got coated with the slime.
“Why yes!”, Octavian said unwrapping his slimy tentacles off her before giving a cordial bow. “And you must be Twilight, it is a privilege to make your acquaintance!” he spoke in a polite tone.
“Y-You know my name?” Twilight stuttered for a moment, trying to casually scrape the slime from her arms.
“But of course! Everyone know’s who you are after yesterdays events.” Octavian said while looking at his key, “Rumors always spread fast here in Smashville”
“I see...”, Twilight said with a nervous smile.
“But enough about gossip because you milady are my hero today!” Octavian said, adding more slime to her hands as he shook them. “If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask”, he said before walking toward the jar shaped house.
Seeing him turn away, Twilight looked at her slime covered hands with a mix of scientific curiosity and simple disgust. “Ewww..”, she quietly whined before bending down to wipe her hands on the grass. Cleaning her hands the best she could, she quickly got up and started walking towards the departing Smashvillian.
“Octavian, hold on!”, she said walking towards him, “there is something you could do for me."
Stopping to hear her request, Octavian smiled at her.
Meanwhile, Jack was walking down a dirt trail, his golden axe over one shoulder and a map in his other hand.
“The more I learn~ The more I see~ The less the world empassions meeeee~.”
Jack quickly stopped his made up song as he reached a very large oak tree, its bark looked grey and dull. “Hmm...”, placing his hand on the tree, he gave a sigh as he looked up at the dead branches. “You lasted a lot longer than the others...”, the corners of his mouth trembled as he stood back from the tree and gripped his axe with both hands.
“But all you were doing was delaying the inevitable!” Jack said as a psychotic grin streaked across his face. “I’ll make sure you have a proper ending, just like all the others before you!” he shouted as he let loose with his axe.
As Jack hacked away at the tree, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
“Jack. Hey Jack!”, Twilight called merrily as she wandered over with a cooler and red wagon. Her cheerful mood quickly turned to confusion as she saw the sadistic grin on Jack's face as he butchered the tree. “I'm done with my work...”, she said trying to get his attention.
Not hearing a response, she parked the wagon and cautiously walked forward. Getting a bit closer she called out again but Jack seemed lost in a trance as continued hack away at the tree trunk. Starting to get annoyed, Twilight finally stomped towards him and messed up his next chop by tugging on his arm.
“Huh? Hey! Let go of my arm, I’m working here!” Jack said with a scowl before brushing her off with more strength than he meant to.
“Omf!” she grunted as she fell on her back. Getting up to scold him, a crack made her freeze. Time seemed to slow as she turned her head to see the giant tree bearing down on her fragile form.
“AHHHH!!!!”, she screamed in fright. Covering her head with her arms, Twilight's life flashed behind her closed eyes.
A dull thud was heard before silence enveloped the world around her. She remained huddled on the ground for a few seconds before peeking out of one eye.
I’m... still alive? she thought as he slowly turned her head. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw Jack holding the entire tree up on his back. Still in shock, she remained on the ground in a daze. She finally noticed Jack was talking to her as his loud voice finally got past her initial shock.
“Hello? Earth to Twilight”, he yelled as a vein popped out of his forehead, "move!"
Scrambling on her hands and knees, she managed to pull herself out from under the leaning tree. Behind her there was a crash as Jack let the tree roll off his back to the other side. Twilight looked over at her rescuer as he stood there breathing heavily from the experience.
"Jack...you saved me", she whispered before he trudged over to her and roughly grabbed her shoulders.
"What the fudge was that!", he yelled at her. "Why would you do such a dangerous thing ya’ block head! You could've died back there, then what!?"
Letting go of the her, he retrieved his axe. "What would've happened if I wasn't able to stop it, Eh!"
Turning, while resting the axe on his shoulder, he quickly understood he'd been a little harsh. Before him stood Twilight, looking at him with a blank expression as tears streamed down her face.
"Twilight?", he said quietly before she bolted with a trail of teardrops in her wake. Aw crud ,"Twilight!"
Pocketing the axe, he dashed into the wood where she had vanished. Running through the brush, he called Twilight's name without getting a response.
Fudge... where did she go?... he thought after about thirty minutes had past. ...So much running around was his next thought, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Noticing a rather comfy tree nook, he let himself drop to the ground for a break. She probably just ran ho... he started to think before hearing a quiet sniffle from behind the tree. He sat against the tree for a few second, slowly face-palming, before quietly getting to his feet.
Slowly leaning around the tree he noticed Twilight rocking against the tree as she sobbed quietly.
"Uhh...Twilight?", he said awkwardly as she jolted like she'd been hit.
Slowly she turned her head to look at him with puffy red eyes. "What do you want? Did you come to yell at me again." she accused as her lips continued to tremble.
"No!...I mean, no.", Jack quickly corrected himself. “I couldn't just stand around while you were in the woods all by yourself...”
Scratching his head, he gave a sheepish smile as Twilight continued to stare. After minute of silence he scowled while crossing his arms and huffing in surrender.
"D’oh! Fine! I'm sorry I yelled at you." he grumbled while turning his face to the side.
It was bad enough that he felt guilty but it felt like a defeat apologizing to her. Noticing her mood lighten slightly, he was surprised when she punched his leg.
"That's for not evaluating my work", she grumbled in reply.
Heh. She punches weaker than Alfonso , he thought. Hoping to make her feel better, and lose the guilty feelings, he hopped on one leg pretending to be hurt.
“Ow! Was that really necessary?” he said before accidentally tripping over a tree root, "Gah!" he yelped before he fell face first into the dirt.
Grabbing his sore head, he heard Twilight stifle a giggle at his misfortune. Lifting his head from the ground, Jack noticed Twilight seemed much happier than a couple of minutes ago.
"Sorry! I didn't mean...", she paused as a few more muted laughs escaped her lips. "...Are you alright Jack?”
Jack nodded as he got up. “Meh. I've had worse falls”, he said dusting himself off.
Offering Twilight a helping hand, he pulled her up to her feet. Standing up, she seemed to remember something as her face lit up.
"Jack... I forgot the fish back at..." Twilight murmured while twiddling her thumbs nervously.
Staring at her he slowly shook his head with a chuckle.
“Is that so?”, he finally answered with a smirk before leading the way.
While heading back to the cooler, the two remained relatively silent before Twilight started to ask questions.
"So why were you chopping a tree down in the middle of the woods?".
Caught off guard Jack tried to think of an answer. Giving it some thought, he finally settled on the explanation he'd been given by Blathers.
“The metabolism of all plants are quick and need constant care or they’ll end up dying out in a matter of days, and what happens to a dead tree if it's left out for too long?” Jack asked looking at Twilight. “Well?”
Twilight's nose scrunched for a moment as she visualized the various books she'd red.. “They start to rot?”, she finally guessed.
“That's right”, Jack said as he reached into his pocket. “The tree starts to rot. This lets maggots and other disease ridden pests plague the wood...” as he went on he pulled a shovel out of his pocket, the shovel head was made of solid gold while having a red handle. “...Is that how you would want a tree to go?” Jack said looking back at her.
“No...”, Twilight let out before looking back at him, “...I guess not.”
“Good.” Jack said as the red wagon and stump came into view.
Walking over to the partially finished job, he speared the shovel into the earth by the old tree stump. Giving a slight heave, the stump popped out of the ground like a bottle cap to the mare's speechless look.
“That's another thing, are all humans that strong?” she asked, looking at Jack and then at the dislodged stump.
“Not really, I’m just this strong because I do a lot of tree chopping. And I mean a lot!” Jack said flexing his arms, although they did not look as buff as they should. “Now check this out.” he said with a sly grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of cherries.
Twilight watched quizzically as he dropped them in the hole where the tree stump once was. Seeing him shovel dirt over them, she tilted her head as the confusion grew.
Patting the dirt a few times, he backed up as he started a countdown. “Three... Two... One!” he said before a small tree sapling sprouted out of the ground.
“Woah! That's amazing!” Twilight exclaimed at the sudden growth phenomenon she witnessed.
“See, fast growing trees...” Jack said as he looked at her “...When one life ends, another starts anew, no?” he said with a smirk.
“Umm...Jack?”, Twilight said behind him.
“Yes Twilight?” Jack replied while looking at the newborn sapling.
“Thanks...” Twilight said before giving a big smile “I brought some fish for you, although I have to be honest. I had Octavian help me with catching all these.”
“Oh really? That's actually kind of weird of him. The guy’s a total grouch.” Jack said as he looked into the cooler out of curiosity. “Ooh, salmon. My fave!” Jack held up the fish before it reared up and slapped him in the face with it's tail, “Ow! Why you little!”
Twilight quickly held her mouth trying in vain to hold in her giggles, Jack then glared at her with a funny look before she bursted out laughing.
“Come on Jack!” she said trying to catch her breath, “lets go home”
“Mmm... Sounds good to me!” Jack said stuffing the salmon back into the cooler and grabbing the wagon's handle. “Maybe you could try some sashimi when we get home. I’ll prepare it of course”
“Sashimi?” Twilight said as she walked next to Jack
“Its raw fish sliced into bite sized pieces. A true delicacy if you ask me.” Jack’s mouth seemed to drool at the thought of it.
“Jack? You know I’m a herbivore...” Twilight said weakly nudging Jack in the arm. “...And I wouldn't eat raw fish either” she finished with a chuckle.
“Oh come on Twilight! The best way to learn about other worlds culture, is through their food.” Jack said patting his stomach.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. “Okay Jack, if you say so.”
Jack smirked “Good, and maybe I’ll make some Onigiri while I’m at it.”
Later that day both Jack and Twilight were in the attic. Sitting in one of the chairs, Twilight went through all the gifts the townsfolk had given her. Holding up each gift, she told Jack the story behind each one and then talked about her day.
“So got a T-shirt from Alfonso. A free brunch from Brewster. Oh! I also go this leaf from Seth.” Twilight said as she held it up. “What do you think it could be?” Twilight asked as Jack crossed his arms
“I don't know..." Jack said as he picked up some of the salmon he'd filleted. "...Why don't you throw it down to find out?”
“Okay” she said with a voice filled with curiosity.
Tossing the leaf onto the floor it burst into smoke before revealing a telescope.
"Oh, my Celestia! A telescope!" Twilight exclaimed before giving it a hug.
Raising his eyebrow at the odd phrase, Jack crossed his arms. "Hmph... Probably used it for peeping." He blurted out with a with a snicker.
Pausing her fawning, she gave him a confused look. "Peeping? At what?"
His face immediately turned bright red as he picked up the plate of salmon. “Look to the stars for the answer!” he quickly replied as he stormed down the stairs, leaving her even more confused.
Pondering over his answer, Twilight forgot about the last gift still lying in her pocket.
Author's Note
Well Fudge... we finally got the second half of this chapter done!
With this I promise not to make any chapters by pt. anymore, Sorry I left you all waiting!
Props to Hydra for editing as usual, Thanks Bro!
Living where the crossing life leads
7 - Friendship is sickening
“Hmmm,” Twilight hummed happily as she looked through her new telescope, peering out a window Jack had recently installed into the attic for her.
Fascinating. The constellations here are marked by actual lines , she thought while jotting the new discovery in her notebook. So enthralled in her study of the alien constellations, Twilight gave a slight jump when she heard Jack speak up behind her.
“Still staring at the stars?”
“Yes and I’d thank-you to not sneak up on me,” Twilight said, turning on him with an angry pout. “One of these days you’re going to get a kick to the chest.”
“Maybe I’ll just eat these all by myself then if you’re going to be so grouchy.” Jack said as he waved a plate, full of triangular shaped rice balls, enticingly.
“Onigiri!” Twilight exclaimed as she broke away from telescope, and snatched up one of the tasty morsels of fish and rice. She sat on the edge of her bed as she happily indulged herself in her personal favorite of Smashville cuisine, not caring that a few grains of rice stuck messily on the fur around her muzzle.
Twilight took a moment to swallow before wiping a few pieces of stray rice into her mouth. “I know. I never actually gave myself the chance to taste fish, but these are just so good~.” She then proceeded to take another bite, giving an odd purr of satisfaction.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. First time my mom showed me how to make them, I couldn’t get enough.” Jack said with a surprisingly happy chuckle..
“You never mentioned about your family like that before. What are they like?” she asked before regretting it. Upon hearing the question, Jack’s joyful eyes took on a somber tone as the corners of his mouth slowly turned to a thin line. “O-Oh... I’m sorry. Did something happen to them?” she asked tentatively.
Flinching as Jack’s arm flew from his side, she felt slight relief when it grabbed hold of an onigiri and not her. He then proceeded to force the whole thing into his mouth, making a show of chewing it thoroughly.
“Don't know, don't care...,” he said after swallowing.
“Hey! That was mine!” Twilight scowled at Jack, hiding the nearly empty plate behind her back.
“Quit whining, I can always make you more.” Jack said as he got off the bed, he then looked around at her redecorating. Twilight looked at him quizzically as he did.
Jack began to rub his chin as he kept looking around. Twilights room looked stylish despite the small space, the wooden floor had a grass colored carpet laid out, which went well with the star studded wallpaper she had on the walls, Her telescope was set up right across from her bed, and a desk that seemed to have a constellation map spread out on it.
“You’ve really managed to spruce this room up in such little time,” Jack commented, “it kind of looks like Celeste’s observatory.”
Twilights ears perked up at the sound of ‘observatory’. “What!? Where is it!? Tell me, tell me, tell me!” she asked excitedly, her arms flailing up and down wildly.
“You mean you didn't see it already? It's on the museum's second floor?”
“Oh,” Twilight mouthed, remembering she’d ditched Blathers, mid-tour, back at the same museum. I’ll have to apologize before checking it out , she thought sheepishly to herself.
Jack nodded before eyeing her forehead. “How’s your horn by the way?”
Surprised by his sudden interest, she took a moment to compose her thoughts before taking off her bow.
“You bandaged my horn up pretty well. It’s healing so quickly I was able to lift an apple with my magic this morning,” she said with a smile.
Jack's quick retort of, “that's it," ruined her mood as she visualized slapping him.
"Sorry I can't lift more with my broken horn. Next time I'll do more tricks for your entertainment," Twilight said. She wasn't sure if she wanted his company anymore, even if it meant more delicious rice and fish snacks.
“Not what I meant," Jack said, hearing the edge in her voice, "I was hoping your horn was fixed already so you could get your butt out of my attic.”
“Hmph!” Twilight crossed her arms, “A unicorn's horn doesn't heal up as quickly as a common injury Jack,” she explained with a scowl. “Without any help from a healing spell, it could take about a year for full recovery.”
A whole year. With her. Jack thought with a visible grimace. Fudge!
Wanting to put him in his place, she got up before placing the plate of rice balls on a stool next to her. Closing her eyes as she concentrated, small sparks jumped from her horn before emanating a weak violet glow. The same violet glow began to envelope one of the onigiri, lifting it off the plate so it wobbled in mid-air.
“Whoa!” Jack exclaimed before catching himself. “I-Um... I mean cool. At least now I won't have to get up whenever I want a soda,” he chuckled before the rice ball flew into Jack’s mouth, shutting him up like an edible gag.
Twilight giggled, feeling better with the small act of revenge. “Serves you right,” she said with a grin.
Jack growled at her as he chewed the food stuffed in his mouth. Swallowing, he wiped the rest of the rice off his face with a napkin.
“Oops, looks like you missed one,” Twilight said as a single grain of rice floated off Jack’s face. The tip of her tongue stuck out of her mouth as she guided the small grain onto it.
Jack stared at her quietly as she licked it into her mouth with an audible, "mmm." It took a few moments for his brain to start processing after what he'd seen. It resulted in vacant stare that apparently was freaking Twilight out.
“Jack...” she said nervously before waving her hand in front of his face, “are you alright?”
Quickly shaking his head, Jack tried to hide the growing blush as he faced the stairway. “I’m fine!” he answered while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. “Justtiredgoingtobed. Good night!"
While Twilight tried to puzzle out the muttered word before watching him get up and run down the stairs.
“But it's only," she started to call before hearing a door slam somewhere below her, "... six in the afternoon...”
Grabbing the last rice ball, her gaze kept gravitating to the stairs. Nibbling on the treat, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd done something wrong.
The next morning, Jack casually walked out of the shower with a towel around his waist, he gave a relaxed sigh as he stretched out his legs and flexed his arms. “Yeah~! Nothing like a hot shower to start the day,” he said ecstatically while changing into the clothes he'd placed on his bed.
Opening the door to his room, and being sure to close it carefully, he made his way upstairs.
“Twilight! Come on it's time to get up!” Jack hollered as he walked up the stairs, each step creaking under his feet.
“Twilight~ you better be sick or dying in there?” he chimed, sticking his head into her room to see the lump in her bed move.
Pulling the cover to expose her face, Twilight blinked a few times as she looked over at Jack.
“Mmm... Jack... is that you?...” Twilight groaned in a raspy voice, “...is it... time for me to get up?”
Jack tilted his head as he noticed the sweat beading on her forehead. “Hold on..., ” he said while placing a hand to her forehead. It didn't take a doctor to know what the burning warmth meant.
“Wha...What's wrong?” Twilight asked deliriously as she noticed Jack scrunch-up his face, “did the mailpony bring pickles?”
“No it’s even better... you're sick Twilight, very-” Jack started to say before Twilight interrupted.
“Oh no!” she said, “now I'm stuck in another dimension. With a creature from another dimension. Slowly dying of a sickness from another dimension.”
“You're not dying, drama queen, although the flu can make it seem that way.” Jack said while rummaging through one of Twilight's cupboards.
“What are you doing?” Twilight said, trying to get up again as Jack pulled out a small white bag with a blue label from a cupboard.
Seeing the bed sheets start to slip, he dropped the bag before pushing her back into a lying position before it could expose anything. “Stay down Twilight, I 'really' don't want to see you out of bed while you're sick. Especially if you don't even have clothes on,” he said.
Retrieving the dropped bag, he snatched a blue and red colored pill out before turning back to see a silly grin on the delirious unicorn's muzzle. It eerily reminded him of a certain honey bear.
“Well... I don't mind. Clothes just make my coat all sticky with sweat and make me super hot in the sun.” Twilight said before sticking her tongue out and giggling devilishly as she fidgeted with the covers.
“Just swallow this, and leave those alone!” Jack quickly said, pinning the feverish mare’s hands as he tried to give her the medicine.
Twilight had different plans as she kept turning her head to avoid the pill, her mouth shut in a pout. This continued for some time until Jack’s eye started to twitch in annoyance.
“You're going to open your pie-hole and take your medicine or so help me, I’ll take away your telescope.” That seemed to hit the mark as he saw her eyes widen.
“Ugh, sorry Jack... Just a little out of it.” Twilight sheepishly said before, stopping her struggling.
“Is that so...” Jack huffed before popping the pill in her mouth and handing her a glass of water from the nightstand. “Great. First I have a mare living in my house, now I have to tend to her hand and foot while she’s sick in bed! What's next? Breakfast in bed?!” he grumbled aloud.
“Uhhh Jack? You're talking to yourself again,” she groggily said before giving him another odd grin, “and breakfast in bed sounds good...”
Jack slapped his forehead with an annoyed groan, knowing he’d set himself up for that remark.
Donning a white apron, Jack got to work making a suitable breakfast for his sick guest. He started by chopping up some tomatoes and fresh herbs for tomato soup, while putting some butter in a frying pan on the stove. Leaving it to melt, he brought out a sauce pot before tossing the soup ingredients in and adding enough water to cover the tomatoes. Turning the burner to medium heat, he left the soup to simmer as he turned his attention back to the sandwich. Turning the burner,under the pan to low, He cut a few thick slices of fresh bread, and some slices of tomato and cheese. Buttering the outsides, he made two grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches before placing them in the pan with a satisfying sizzle. Turning them twice, to ensure a golden brown, he then placed them to the side to cool before turning back to the soup. Scooping the stewed tomatoes and herbs out, he placed them in a blender and pureed them while slowly adding the tomato water. Reaching the desired thickness, he tossed the remaining water down the drain before seasoning the soup with some salt and pepper.
“Hmm... now it needs a little more kick,” he gave off a menacing grin as he reached up on the highest shelf in the kitchen, plucking out a small pepper from a basket.
“This Moruga scorpion pepper should do it” he said as he chopped up the whole thing and tossed it in, looking forward to the look on Twi’s face when he got his spicy revenge.
“Alright then, this should do it...” Jack finally said after adding a cup of tea and one of sandwiches to the tray. Picking it up, and already imagining Twilight chugging water from her bedside flower pot, he was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.
“Gah, who could that be?” he grumbled while putting down the tray. Stomping over to the phone, he grabbed it up and answered with a cheerful, “Aloha?”
“Hey Twilight! What's up?” Alfonso’s cheerful voice answered.
“I’m sorry, this is Jack’s house and scaly crocs won’t be allowed over if they forget that,” Jack replied as his tone made a one-eighty.
“Ah! J-Jack! I’m sorry I didn't know it was you,” Alfonso answered nervously.
“Course you didn't,” Jack said while scratching the back of his head, “If you're looking to talk to Twilight, she’s sick in bed right now.”
“Yeah, she’s come down with a nasty fever and-,” Jack quickly stopped talking as he heard the sound of the line being hung up. He listened to the dial tone for a few seconds before looking at the receiver.
“...Huh... must have left something in the oven...” Jack said to himself before putting the phone down.
Not two seconds before he was about to walk upstairs with the tray again, he heard an urgent knocking on his door.
“The fudge?” Jack blurted out while making his way to the door, “who could that be?”
As soon as Jack opened the door, a blur of orange and red pushed past him, making him spin in place.
“Where’s Twilight?! I came here as soon as I could!” Alfonso shouted, looking around desperately with his arms full of medicine bags.
“Twili-mfff!” Alfonso muffled out before Jack clamped his mouth shut and slammed him onto the hardwood floor, the medicine bags scattered all over the floor.
“Shhh!” Jack hissed to the gator’s face, with his teeth clenched angrily, “she’s in bed you scaly twit!”
The intimidating look in his face still carried the message through Alfonso’s head even though his voice was toned down. With a scared look in his eyes he nodded his head while muffling a, “sorry Jack,” before he was let go.
“Look, if you want to see Twilight so badly she’s upstairs. Just keep your maw shut,” Jack said as he jabbed a thumb in the stairs’ direction.
“Okay!” Alfonso said with a salute after he sprang up on his two feet, “I-I mean. okay.” He quickly repeated with his voice turned down as Jack glared at him.
“Ugh...” Twilight groaned, tossing and turning in bed as Alfonso and Jack both looked at her from the bedside.
“She looks really bad...”
“Yeah, her fever got worse in a matter of minutes,” Jack replied while rubbing his chin.
Alfonso slowly stepped closer to the bed, placing his hand on her forehead. It sounded like bacon touching a hot skillet, when his claw made contact with her forehead.
“Yeeow!” Alfonso shouted before shaking his claw in the air. He did an odd dance around the room as he scrambled for water.
“Holy fudge, at least I know not to do that now.” Jack exclaimed as he grabbed Alfonso’s claw and dunked it into the pitcher of water on Twilights night stand.
Alfonso quickly gave a relieved sigh as his hand cooled down, “Thanks...”
“Oh...” Twilight groaned again, grabbing the attention of the two.
“Rainbow.... Pinky.... F-Fluttershy...” She blurted out still turning in bed, “Rarity... Applejack...”
“Who?” Alfonso said tilting his head and looking at Jack.
Jack blinked for a moment, cupping his chin in the palm of his hand with a thoughtful look, “Those are Twilight’s old friends...” Jack said.
“Woah...” Alfonso said with a sad look on his face, “she must be homesick.”
“Don't be ridiculous Alfonso.” Jack snapped at him, “this is a matter of medicine. Being homesick has nothing to do with it.”
“Yes it does!” Alfonso snapped back, “if you were stuck in another dimension, wouldn't you feel the same?”
“Course not! In fact that would make quite the adventure.” Jack continued rubbing his chin. Meanwhile, Alfonso stumbled back, having been caught off guard by his answer.
“W-well we can't just sit around like this, Twilight needs our help!”
As if to strengthen Alfonso’s point, Twilight groan aloud next to them again.
Jack sighed before glancing at Alfonso. “So what do you think we should do, genius?”
“Hmm...” Alfonso hummed as he tilted his head sideways, “well... Twilight is homesick... so maybe we should get her something to make her feel closer at home?”
“Okay then I’ll just jump into my magical teleporter that lets me jump between dimension’s,” Jack said sarcastically, “or maybe I’ll find the answer in my answer-all machine...”
Alfonso looked at him incredulously after he was done, making Jack feel slightly guilty.
“You actually can do that!”
Nevermind, Jack’s apology quickly turned to a swat on Alfonso’s nose followed by him being called, “leatherhead.”
Nursing his sore muzzle, Alfonso’s eyes brightened before he snapped his claws.
“Oh! Maybe you won't have to!” Alfonso said placing his claws on Jack’s shoulders. “You remember Twilight mentioning something about a suitcase... or was it a briefcase?.. nevermind. Whatever it was, she mentioned it when she woke-up.”
“Uh, yeah I remember,” Jack rubbed his chin in thought before Alfonso shook him slightly.
“Maybe thats what we need! We have to go back to Seismos Cave and get her briefcase back!” Alfonso exclaimed as his face lit up with hope, before Jack pushed him off.
“Sounds like a plan,” Jack said with a shrug, “I’ll roll with it.”
“Great! Lets get back to adventure!” Alfonso shouted excitedly before running down the stairs.
Jack stood behind for a moment, before he took his first step down the stars he looked over at Twilight.
“...You’d better not be dead when I get back,” Jack said before he made his way down.
After a good hike, they finally arrived at the south-west corner of town where Jack and Alfonso found themselves facing Seismos cave.
“It’s just as we left it the other day,” Alfonso stated to Jack as he looked up the hill.
“Yeah, the pain of having to drag that unicorn’s butt out of that hole is still fresh in my mind,” Jack huffed at the thought.
“You mean after you were done screaming in embarrassment cause you saw her naked?” Alfonso snidely remarked with a grin.
Jack growled at Alfonso while raising his fist, “why you scally son of a-!”
Just before Jack was about to finish his sentence the ground exploded beneath them, sending the both of them flipping in the air.
“Gah!”
“Fudge!”
They both screamed before they hit the ground, Jack yelped as he landed on his backside while Alfonso landed on his head.
“Punks!” a familiar voice barked as the dust cleared, “I caught you both red handed!” Bellowed Resetti while pointing his pickaxe at them.
“Hey! What's the big idea ya overgrown potato!?” Jack shouted glaring daggers at the mole, while Alfonso rolled over on his back; his head still spinning from the landing.
“Don't make it like you don't know! Seismos Cave is off-limits!” Resetti stated crossing his arms.
“Since when?” Jack challenged while getting on his feet and dusting himself off, Alfonso following suit.
With a loud thunk Resetti slammed a ‘Keep Out’ sign next to him. “Since just now”
Jack scowled as a vein popped on his forehead. “That’s bullfudge!” he shouted pointing his finger accusingly at the mole.
“Yeah! This place has never been off-limits before! Are you doing this just to spite us?” Alfonso added while trying not to raise his voice too loud.
Resetti paused for a moment before scratching the back of his neck as a sheepish look crossed his face. “Well... Actually this place was suppose to be closed a couple of years ago, I just kept forgetting to put this sign here...”
“D’oh!” the two blurted out incredulously as they simultaneously plopped on their backs with their legs in the air.
“Ohhh....” Twilight groaned deliriously, opening her eyes individually. “Owww... my head...,” she moaned while slowly pulling the sheets off herself.
Twilight looked around as she slowly made her way down the stairs, using the railing for support.
Where is he? Twilight thought to herself as she wandered through the living room, and soon find herself walking down another flight of stairs.
Without much thought, she continued down the stairs, not caring that the sunlight didn’t disperse much of the darkness near the bottom of the steps.
“Jaaaaack?” Twilight called again, keeping one hand on the banister as the other was held in front of her so she didn’t hit anything.
“Oh yeah... I can use magic, Twilight you Ditzy Doo,” she said facepalming herself before she concentrated on her magic, which seemed to make her headache worsen. She grimaced in pain as a weak purple light sparked out of her horn, though it only had the luminosity of a small candle, it was just enough to see that she was standing in front of a door.
“Huh?... now who put that there?” and what does that sign say she finished silently in her head, feeling like she was trying to break into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing again.
“Guh, I can't even read this messy writing,” she said with exasperation as she looked at the odd text.
“Buck it!” she finally blurted out, before grabbing the door knob. While turning the knob, she burst into a fit of delirious laughter. “Hah, I said a swear.”
Walking into the room, she felt a cold breeze pass over her thin coat of fur.
“Brrrr, why is it so cold in here?” she said aloud, rubbing her shoulders for warmth as she continued to plod inside with her horn dimly lit the way.
The room she was in seemed big, as she found herself walking for a minute or two. Occasionally she would try to follow the pattern of black and white tiles on the floor; stepping only on one shade, then the next.
“What is this place?” Twilight finally said before looking up, to lock stares with the eyes of someone, or something.
“Uh... Hello?” she squeaked frightfully to the fiery orange eyes as their piercing green irises stared down at her.
“Ummm...” she paused for a few moments, mustering her magic and courage to brighten her light to reveal more of the strange entity.
“Oh!... Heh... it's just a mask...” Twilight sighed in relief. It was a purple mask with colorful spikes coming out from the edges, its eyes still seemed to stare directly at her in an eerie manner.
Upon further inspection the mask seemed to be in a glass case, placed on a table for display. Twilight looked to her left, seeing a dusty white hat sitting next to the mask. It appeared to be some kind of chef’s hat, and as she tilted her head for a better look, a small glow caught her eye.
“Hmm...” she walked to it, as her light lit the wall she could see a light switch.
“Oh! a switch, finally,” she said flipping it, she then powered down her horn as the lights quickly flickered on.
What she saw next could only be summed up by her surprised expression “....Woah...”
Living where the crossing life leads
8 - A chance to change.
All around her the walls popped with colorful murals. Staring out from one wall was a collection of posters containing strange characters she didn’t recognize. Another of the walls was adorned with a detailed display of different insects. The final two walls were completely hidden behind a small mountain of memorability, and a large black rectangle connecting to a tower of strange boxes on shelves. Looking them over; the names Nintendo, Playstation and Microsoft seemed to pop up frequently; while a single black box with the label, ‘Sega’ was carefully nestled in a clear case next to the pile.
‘’What... is this place?’’ she slowly said aloud, her voice echoing surprisingly well in the huge room. Twirling about to better look at whatever struck her fancy atop the golden tables, she stopped every once in awhile to look at a different oddity. Having finished looking over a strange gold ball with metal wings, she tossed it over her shoulder as her interest was peaked by a large vial filled with a green liquid; a scratching noise coming from inside. Casually lifting it for a better look, she gave a disgruntled look when she couldn’t make-out anything in the green slime.
“Maybe if...” Giving the vial a few good shakes, a satisfied grin spread across her face when she heard movement within, knowing she’d showed whatever was held within a lesson . No sooner did she stop shaking, her smug look turned to a scream as a monstrous creature slammed into the glass by her hand, loudly screeching a blood curdling sound. Quickly letting go, her mind registered that it probably wasn’t the best idea to drop the glass container containing the dangerous looking creature. Fumbling to catch it, she collapsed to the ground with the vial held mere inches from the floor.
Trying not to think of by the otherworldly being; with large fangs and mushroom-like body ramming the glass with bared teeth; relief washed over her as she placed the vial back in place.
“What in Celestia’s name is that?!’’ she said as she backed away from the freaky container, and the angered contents. Noticing the small printed sign next to it, labelling the creature as a Metroid , Twilight gave herself a mental note not to mess with another without a suit of armor. Managing to explore the rest of the room without something else trying to jump her, she finally collapsed atop the comfiest object she could find.
“Phew...” Twilight exhaled as she wriggled around to try burrowing deeper into the downy goodness, before a sense of foreboding made her pause in her attempts.
“Where’s Jack?” she questioned aloud as she lay on her back, staring at the upper edges of the room. Even at a first glance everything seemed fit into place with each other in this room, the ceiling above was painted a clear blue resembling the sky, with a white sun painted in the center. Bordering the top of the walls was painted in a brick patterns with shades of blue that accentuated this texture, bordered by the occasional green bush and clouds with eyes.
“I wanted to cuddle... Spike would always cuddle when I felt sick...” Pouting, Twilight placed a hand to her head as stars painfully ignited behind her horn.
“Oww... what a headache,” she grumbled, while rubbing her forehead, “I shouldn't have used that light spell.” Curling up in an attempt to avoid the pain, her foot kicked something from table beside her onto the floor.
Weakly turning to see what it was, her eyes started to sparkle as something inside her clicked. “This is so... Twilightlicious....”
“Guuhhh...” Jack grumbled, feeling a cold chill shoot down his spine. Uggg, what was that feeling? It's like something.... unspeakable has happened, he thought to himself.
“...And then I asks ’em. Why is Seismos cave supposed to be closed mister mayor? And then he says to me that it was because of the last time we were there and then I remembered to myself what happened. I tell ya, it wasn't pretty. Except for that archeological dame that was with us at the time, she was pretty, anyway...” Resetti droned on as Jack and Alfonso patiently listened to the boring explanation.
"How long has he been talking?" Alfonso whispered, making the life return to Jack's glazed eyes.
"30 minutes..." he quietly responded, smacking himself wide awake, "...I think."
“...Then I tells' that dame. Hey! I walk through ground like you walk through air, sweets! And wouldn't you believe it, she actually laughed. And you know what they say, best way to a girls heart is through her funny bone...” Resetti said, crossing his arms with a dopey smile on his face.
"I think my ears are bleeding," Jack whispered. Cocking his index and thumb, he pretended to slowly pull the trigger to emphasize his boredom.
"I don't know how much more I can talk. He can't have more stories to tell... Right?" Alfonso whispered, before chuckling lightly at the impression.
"I hope so," Jack said forebodingly to Alonso, before motioning towards the cave entrance with a nod. "I'm gonna sneak in, keep the groundhog busy."
Before Alfonso could protest, Jack silently stalked into the cave, while Resetti continued to reminisce. Alfonso was left to his boring fate, with a claw reaching towards the place Jack had departed. For Twilight... he thought, while Resetti took a deep breathe. ...All for Twilight...
“Grrah!” Jack grunted as he pulled himself through the small tunnel entrance to the cave “Ugh... I hate that crawl... Makes me wish I was a snake...maybe even Snake himself...” he thought aloud as he dusted himself off, taking a moment to reorient himself.
He smirked in the dark as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an oil lamp. Good thing I came prepared this time, before lighting a match stick off the wall.
After igniting the oil he made his way back into the cave. Looking around, he could see cave crystals that shimmered different colors with the light of his lamp.
“Woah... I never noticed all these crystals the first time I was here. No wonder I kept stubbing my toes all the way down this tunnel...” he grumbled stepping over them cautiously after giving some of them a kick.
Jack stopped for a brief moment before taking another step, shivering as he felt another cold chill down his spine. “Uggg, there it is again! Did I catch Twilight’s dang sickness?”
Quickly shaking his head, he shrugged it off and picked up the pace until reaching the dome-like opening of the caves main chamber.
“Hmph... At first this place was awesome. Now it just brings back bad memories,” he said aloud.
“Memories of what?” a familiar voice asked from the darkness.
‘’Ah!’’ Jack jumped with a loud yelp, before recognizing the snickering that soon followed. ‘’Seth! Is that you?’’
As Seth walked into the lamp light, his laughter slowly quieted down. ‘’In the flesh,’’ he finally said, tipping back his cowboy hat and readjusting the pickax on his shoulder.
“Grrrr! What are you doing here ya dingo?” Jack interrogated with clenched fists.
Seth kept smirking, although with a vein visibly popping on his forehead. “Wolf... I'm a wolf. And I'm here looking for some cave crystals for my pad”
“Oh... cool, why didn't I think of it?” Jack pondered while rubbing his chin, but quickly snapped out of it. “Gah, I don't have time for this, I’m on a mission”
“Eh? what kind of mission?” Seth asked with a tilt of his head, before Jack marched toward the glowing lake.
Jack stopped for a moment, looking back at Seth. “Hmmm, I could just say I'm looking for something for Twilight... he could be of some help looking for it. Nah... he’d probably hog all the glory. Wait! The fudge do I care?”
“Uhh... Jack? Are... are you monologuing?” Seth’s ears dropped with a freaked-out look on his face.
“Umm. Mmmm. Wait? What!? No!” Jack retorted covering his mouth after realizing he had been thinking aloud.
They both stood there, staring at each other awkwardly for what felt like hours.
“Sooo.... You need my help?” Seth finally said, breaking the silence between them.
“Yeah, I suppose I do...” Jack answered back.
“Sure, But you have to tell me what it is” Seth said with a wink as he regained his cool composure.
“Fine” Jack rolled his eyes with a cross of his arms.
“And then we found the giant Seismosaurus bones deep within the cave, And you would not believe the size of it! not even I could fathom to what a beauty of nature that was-” Resetti went on with his back turned leaving Alfonso to listen with a glazed look.
“......”
“But.... as much as a scientific discovery that dino was... we couldn't risk pulling those bones out, the entire infrastructure of that dome has only stayed stable because of the perfect shape its taken. If anything were to tamper with it, the whole thing could come tumblin down, so we left,” Resetti said before knocking the side of his helmet. “Dang! I forgot to get that dame’s phone number didn’t I.’’
''...........''
“So that is why no one is allowed to enter Seismos cave anymore. I know you guys like adventuring, especially you Jack. But it's my job to keep you away from danger. Got it!” Resetti said with finality before the sound of Alfonso’s snores broke the silence
“Huh?” Quickly turning his head, Resseti’s eyes popped comically out of his head as he saw Alfonso sleeping right on the spot with a bubble of snot stuck on his nose “Hey! What the!? Where’s Jack!?” He questioned the sleeping gator as he looked around frantically, he then glared at Alfonso.
“Waaake up!” he shouted at the sleeping gator with flailing arms
“........” The snot bubble popped on his nose before waking up “Mmmm.... Five more minutes...” Alfonso said lazily before opening his eyes to see Resetti’s red steaming face.
“Gggaaahh!” he roared right into the gator’s face.
“Aaahhh!” Alfonso responded as he tripped backwards over his tail.
Jack and Seth both paused as they felt the ground shake, bits of rock and sand fallingl from the ceiling.
“Awww fudge...” Jack swore aloud.
“Resetti?” Seth deadpanned as he looked over from a nearby boulder
“Yep. We better hurry before Alfonso spills the beans... which should be right about now,” Jack said while squinting his eyes to better scan the area.
“You had Alfonso stall him!” Seth scowled at him, “sure he’s expendable, but that lizard couldn’t keep a secret for the life of him.”
“He's my best friend you mutt! Give me one example of a time Alfonso couldn’t keep a secret!” Jack challenged before seeing the toothy grin on the wolf’s face.
“Is it true you fainted when you walked into the girl’s washroom by accident?”
“Hey look!” Jack exclaimed, ignoring the question as he pointed at the Seismosaurus skeleton. In the back of his mind he made sure to 'discuss' that incident again with a certain loose lipped reptile.
As they both looked they spotted a black briefcase balanced precariously atop the fossilized dino’s skull.
“How the heck did it end all the way up there? Didn't you say she lost that briefcase the last time she came in here?” He looked inquisitively at Jack, waiting for an answer as they walked around the lake.
“Yeahhh... about that,” Jack said while carefully avoiding the wolf’s eyes. “It’s a long story. How about you get the bag, and I’ll tell you how it got there. Deal?”
Looking up at the briefcase, and then to the stone floor beneath, Seth shot Jack a look of disbelief. “I’m not climbing that thing. You’re the one that’s related to monkeys, you do it!”
“What did you say! I thought you wanted to help Twilight!” Jack said through grit teeth.
“Just stating the facts, Blather did say you had a connection to them. Just scamper on up there and get the suitcase.”
“Why you!” Jack shouted before he was cut off by a sudden tremor. “Oh fudge!”
“Jack!” Resetti’s voice bellowed through the chamber as the ground exploded at the other end of the lake. The mole shortly popped out of the hole as he looked left and right for Jack.
“Uh-oh... You better climb quick monkey boy. Resetti gonna bust you good when he catches you,” Seth snickered.
“I ain’t going down alone you mutt!” Jack snapped back at Seth.
“There you are! Wait until I get my hands on you! You’ll be shovelling manure til’ your nose falls off!”
“Later,” Seth said innocently before vanishing behind some nearby boulders.
“Aw fudge! I’ll get you for this ya throw rug!” he shouted after the departing wolf. Getting a running start, Jack managed to grabbed onto the seismosaurus’s bony tail as he started to scale the skeleton.
“Hey! Wait up you punk!” Resetti shouted from across the lake before diving back into his hole. Judging from the raised trail of dirt, Jack didn’t have long before the angry mole reached him.
“Hmm! Hurrr! Grah!” Jack grunted and growled as he frantically climbed. He finally slowed down when he reached the base of the skull, a thought processing in his head.
“Wait.... What Am I doing?” he stopped right there as he looked around at the height he was at.
“Why am I risking my skin like this? This is stupid!.... I should just go back home,” he said while looking over at the briefcase. “Twilight wouldn't mind. Right?... she doesn't even know that I'm here right now. Then again...” The image of the sick mare emerged in his thoughts along with a familiar, but annoying, voice.
“So?... aren't cha gonna grab that?” it said, “Twilight’s probably waiting for ya.”
Huh? Hey, it's you again, Jack thought back. You're that same voice in my head from last time... who are you again? Amidst his own thoughts, he subconsciously adjusted his grip to the side of the dino skull.
The voice gave a small chuckle, “well... that’s a good question. Hmm. What was it I called myself last time? Oh yeah! Lets just say that I’m your conscience...”
You mean that little voice in your head that tells you right from wrong? Sounds really cheezy, Jack smirked, to stifle a laugh. Alright, Mr. Conscience, what are you bothering me for now?
“Jack, isn't it obvious? There’s someone in need, and it's your duty to help,” the voice scolded. ”And if you don’t help, I’m sure there are a few memories I can dredge up of a certain honeybear to help make-up your mind...”
Gah, fine I get your point... But is it really worth all this trouble? I mean I'm dangling off a-, he paused for a moment to look down.
“Eeep!” Jack’s pupils shrunk in fear, before clinging tightly to the wall.
“Yes it is worth all the trouble. Think about this for a moment. Twilight is another galaxy away from home, and all she probably has to remember her friends is that briefcase,” the voice said as it started to fade. “And you know more than anyone else what it truly feels like to be alone...”
Feeling those words sink in Jack slowly nodded his head. "Yeah..."
“Jaaaack!”
Nearly falling off the skeleton from the sudden shock, he glared downward to see who had interrupted the soul searching experience, before swallowing nervously when he saw Alfonso had decided to once again cause him some trouble, judging from how Resetti slapped the flat edge of his picaxe against his palm. He then saw something that had him scrambling once again for a handhold. Resetti placed his tool the side and climbed out of his hole. It was such an odd thing to see him standing out of his hole, and that he was also about Alfonso's height.
“Be careful up there kid! You’ve almost got that case!” Resetti shouted to him before holding a thumbs up.
‘’Hey! Don't call me a kid ya fat-’’ Jack stopped himself from yelling as Resetti’s words finally sunk in. For the first time he wasn't scolding him for something, in fact, the old tunneler was encouraging him. ‘’Uhh... okay?’’ Jack held out a thumbs up as he made his way along the side of the dino’s skull.
Alright, so I'll just... reach out and. Grunting from the exertion, he stretched his arm towards the case, managing to brush it with his fingertips. Go figure. Hanging on for dear life; and the case is literally within reach.
“He’s almost got it!” Alfonso cried from below, earning a slap upside the head.
“Keep shouting like that and you'll make him fall! Bad enough that jaw probably can't hold Jack's weight!"
"What did you just say?" Jack questioned from above when he finally got a grip on the case, "I could've sworn you just said-" The words caught in Jack's throat as a creaking noise filled the cavern.
" ... How much does Jack weigh again Alfonso?” Resetti asked, following the falling trails of dirt with his eyes.
“He tipped the scale at 200 pounds last time..." Alfonso answered monotonously, "...guess all that general labour bulked up his muscles."
“Oh...kay...”
The two of them stood silent for a few seconds, staring up at Jack from the ground. The soft padding of paws on stone mingled with the creaking as a third member joined the two.
"So I was just passing by the cave entrance, minding my own business I tell you, when the strangest noises come out." Seth started to explain to Resetti, before gasping loudly when he looked up at Jack dramatically. "Omigosh! I'm just now becoming aware that Jack may fall to his doom by a coincidence I had no part in." Both, Resetti and Alfonso, gave Seth a look before he continued. "If only some suave, passionate, and sensitive wolf, because only a wolf will do, was able to break the news to Twilight that Jack final words were to hold her and comfort her in his stead."
"I'm not dead ya mongrel..." Jack called down.
"I can still hear his voice in the wind," Seth said while wiping a false tear, before a piece of stone fell from the strained skeleton and bonked him on the head. A large bump started to appear between his ears as Alfonso and Resetti quickly high fived.
“Serves you right!" Jack gloated before a sudden crack sent him scrambling for a foothold. The dislocated lower jaw smashed to pieces against the ground as Jack managed to hold onto the fossil's eye socket with one arm, the other still holding tightly to the briefcase's handle.
"Jack!" Alfonso cried out, "hang in there! We're coming to help."
‘’Quite the predicament he’s gotten himself into...’’ Seth observed before crossing his arms. Trying his best to think of a way to be the hero, he kept getting distracted by the odd looks Resetti was directing towards him and Alfonso.. ‘’What?’’ Seth finally said defensively, receiving no answer as Resetti started to stretch.
Jack stayed there dangling by his arm atop the Seismosaurus, sighing as he waited for the three to come up with a plan. He almost expected the three stooges to cause more trouble before managing to actually help. Well Jack. You never thought you’d find yourself hanging for dear life atop a giant fossil. Trying to get something for a stupid girl that crash landed into your world from another dimension... but in a twisted turn of events, here you are. And you have no idea how it could possibly get any worse he then heard another crack.
There it is, he thought with rolled eyes before glancing by his hand. Creeping along the eye socket, a crack slowly widened as the aged bone started to give out, before finally snapping off.
“Aaahhh!” Jack shouted as he plummeted like a stone. As Jack fell, Resetti quickly grabbed Seth by the shoulder.
“Hey kid! Ever wanted to fly?”
“What do you mean fly-ahh!” Seth shouted as Resetti grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and spun around before tossing him like a hammer, sending the wolf into an uncontrollable spin as he soared. Hissing through his teeth, Resetti placed a paw to his back as he watched his living projectile smash into Jack.
Scrambling for a grip on something, Seth latched onto the briefcase, his momentum dragging the two screaming flyers into the icy waters of the lake. With a magnificent splash, the two belly flopped in while Alfonso reflexively rubbed his stomach sympathetically. Rolling his eyes at the gator, Resetti quickly waddled to the lake edge.
‘’Jack! Seth!’’ he shouted, growing anxious when bubbles stopped breaking the surface. Joining him at the lake edge, Alfonso shielded his eyes as he looked for a sign for either of them.
“You don’t think they-” resetti silenced him with a head chop, before pointing at a silhouette in the water. A brief moment passed before the silhouette approached them, slowly rising out of the water. Taking a gasp of air, Jack finally broke free of the water, dragging the dazed wolf by the shoulders. The briefcase knocked against the back of Seth’s head as Jack pulled him, the handle clenched firmly in Jack’s teeth.
‘’Jack! You're alive!’’ Alfonso jumped for joy before rushing towards his best friend. Letting the unconscious wolf drop muzzle first into the sand, Jack pulled the handle from his mouth with trembling fingers before pushing the slimy handle into Alfonso’s grip.
“Hold. This.” Being sure that the gator wouldn’t drop it, Jack wrapped his arm under his armpits before shouting, “ so! Freaking! Cold!” He started shaking furiously as he finished, his skin taking a bluish tint as the water sapped the warmth from his body. Alfonso made some flustered motions as he tried to decide what to do next, while Resetti simply stared at Jack's scowling face with a bemused look.
"Hmm... pffft! Bwahahahahaha!’’ Failing to keep a straight face at the fact Jack looked like he had been chucked into a freezer, Resetti knocked on his picaxe while keeling over in laughter. Jack scowled in response, before silencing the gator next to him, who had thought it a good idea to join in, with a cold glare.
"Eh, hehe...do you need something warm. Jack?" Giving a sheepish grin, Alfonso hurriedly cowered behind the briefcase, just incase Jack decided to get violent. “U-Uh. Anyway. Don't you want to thank Mr. Resetti for saving you?”
‘’W-Wait! It was y-you who t-threw Seth at m-me? Why would y-you do t-that?’’ Jack stuttered from the cold as he spoke.
"Well he seemed like the softest choi-"
"N-not that, you-you-gah! Alfonso! Come here and m-make yourself useful!" Pinning the breifcase between himself and the surprised gator as he tried to sap some body warmth.
“Uh, Jack? You know I'm cold blooded right?” Alfonso said awkwardly.
“F-F-FUDGE!” Jack swore as Resetti forced himself not to laugh again.
Regaining his composure, Resetti sighed before closing his eyes, "because you risked your life to help your friend. It takes a lot of guts to climb up a giant dino skeleton, but it takes even more to do it for a girl you got the hots for.’’
"..." Jack stood there seemingly frozen in his feet, a wall-eyed look on his face. "...What?"
"Alfonso told me all about how much you wanted to help a dame out, even if it meant getting past me to do it. You deserve some respect for that kid... no. Jack." Jack's expression became more distant as the mole patted him on the shoulder, while making his way to his hole.
Watching him give a quick salute, and a wink, Jack repositioned his arms around Alfonso's scaly throat as Resetti dived into his hole. “Alfonso! What have you done!?’’ he roared into the gator's bulging face as he shook him violently. “Do you even know what would happen if rumors spread?"
‘’B-But I told him not to tell anyone! I swear on my scales I did!’’ Alfonso managed to choke out.
“Why do you think he would keep a secret like that! Even you couldn't!’’ Jack grunted back as the muscles in his arms flexed.
“Jack... Air... Breathe... Choking...” Alfonso coughed as his face started turning blue.
“Grrrr....” Jack growled, before letting the gator go. Collapsing in a heap, he gasped as the colour returned to his face. Meanwhile, Jack's eyebrows knit together as he massaged her forehead. ‘’....Alright... are you sure you told him not to tell anyone?’’ Jack looked up at the gator as he kept hugging the briefcase.
"Absolutely positively!” Alfonso hurriedly replied, crossing his heart with a claw.
“Hmph...” Jack grunted before shrugging his shoulders “Fine then, as long as he promised. I’ll talk to him some other time to make sure.” he said while offering Alfonso a hand up. Yeah... talk...
“I’m sorry Jack...” Alfonso said as Jack patted his back.
“It's okay Alfonso,” Jack said as they began to walk, “at least it was better then him finding out what she really is.”
“Yeah, it’ll be worth seeing the smile on Twilight's face’’ Alfonso smiled as they began to walk toward the cave entrance.
“Guh... ow...” Seth groaned painfully, a he lifted his muzzle out of the sand. Playing dead had paid off, he'd heard something interesting. Did I just hear them right? What was that monkey talking about. What she really is..?
Living where the crossing life leads
Jack and Twi #1: Paying Nook a visit.
Jack and Twi #1: Paying Nook a visit.
(This will be the beginning of bitesized, unedited mini chapters sandwiched between the bigger chapters, keep in mind that some of these chapters won't have much continuity with the actual story. As they are just for fun, hope you enjoy!)
“Look alive!” Jack shouted as he gave the final swing to a tree he was cutting down.
Casually stepping to the left the tree crashed into the ground mere inches next to Twilight.
“Alright Jack, this is the last tree of A-3” Twilight said while checking it out on the map.
“A-3? what are you talking about?” Jack asked wiping sweat off his forehead.
“Oh thats just a sector of the town I decided to name here on the map, it helps navigate this place a lot better”
“Let me see that...” Jack snatched the map out of her hands, taking a good look at it while shouldering his golden axe he noticed that the entire map was set on a grid of numbers and letters.
‘’Huh... this seems a lot more complicated to read then my map...’’ Jack said baffled before Twilight grabbed her map back from him.
‘’Its not complicated at all, in fact even Alfonso could understand how to read it’’ she said with a smirk as she walked away.
‘’Hey! what's that supposed to mean!?’’ Jack scowled at Twilight as she stopped walking.
‘’Allow me to demonstrate, I am now standing in A-2, north from A-3’’
‘’Yeah, Okay... but how will I know which sector I'm in?’’ Jack said.
‘’Oh come on Jack, after all this whole town is encased by cliff sides!’’ Twilight deadpanned pointing out the cliff wall that stretched out from north to south.
‘’The fudge? I never noticed that there!’’ Jack’s eyes popped out in surprise.
‘’Ughh....’’ she slapped her forehead with an annoyed groan ‘’its okay Twilight... if you cant say anything nice don't say anything at all’’
‘’Hey! even Tom Nook's shop is marked nicely here!’’ he said appearing right over Twilight’s shoulder.
‘’Ah!’’ she threw her arms out in surprise, throwing the map into the air before losing her balance and plopping on her backside.
‘’Oops, sorry...’’ he said before catching the map out of the air. ‘’Come on, lets go pay Nook a visit!’’
‘’Grrr, Can't you help me up first? Jack?’’ she grunted as she sat up, looking around she noticed Jack was already gone ‘’...Buck...’’
Jack sat on a bench outside a large white building, on top of the building was the name of the store ‘Nookington’s’ and it also had different clothes and Items on display behind windows.
Jack had a small device in his hands as he waited for Twilight.
‘’You will eat my arrows Ganon!’’
‘’Ehehem...’’
Jack raised his head to see Twilight standing there with her hands on her waist.
‘’Great you're here! this map you set up really works! I can't tell you how many times I've tried to get around town without walking in circles before this!’’ he said, stopping Twilight from saying anything.
‘’...R-Really?’’ Twilight said giving off a goofy smile ‘’I’m flattered you think my map was a big help’’ she said scratching the back of her head, before she felt silence around here. ‘’Jack?’’
She turned her head to see Jack walking in, sliding doors closing behind him.
‘’....’’ She growled before running after him ‘’Stop doing that!’’
' Hmm... this store looks very nice ' Twilight soon found herself stopping before the sliding doors, confused as how to open them ‘’Umm...’’ stepping closer the doors suddenly slid open, startled by this she took a step back and the doors closed again ‘’Wow, how does that work?’’
‘’Morning Nook’’ Jack waved as a Tanooki wearing a navy blue colored business suit walked up to him.
‘’Ah! Hello Jack, long time no see!’’ the Tanooki said with a smile ‘’How has my ex-employee been holding up in life?’’
‘’Eh, you're still commenting about that?’’ Jack deadpanned scratching his head.
‘’Of course! you were my best employee!’’ Nook said patting Jack on the back.
' the feeling isn't mutual ' ‘’Oh! thanks Nook, that means a lot’’ he said ' not to mention the lack of free days and no coffee breaks '
‘’Hmm... who’s that fooling around with the sliding doors?’’ Nook looked over at Twilight.
' Fudge ' he thought as he went over to her ‘’I’ll take care of it...’’
Twilight was writing on her notepad as she kept stepping forward and back from the doors ‘’Interesting, they must be reacting to my presence’’
‘’What are you doing?’’ Jack said as he stood between the doors.
‘’Taking notes on these doors, they move all by themselves without any magic!’’ Twilight stated with an astonished look before Jack grabbed her arm.
‘’Thats called electricity Dumb-Dumb’’ he scowled as he pulled her inside ‘’Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet’’
‘’Hmm...’’ Nook rubbed his chin as Jack pulled Twilight up next to him.
‘’Twilight, this is Tom Nook’’
Twilight tilted her head as she stared at Nook.
‘’Hello there young lady, You're new here aren't you?’’ Nook asked.
‘’Uhh Yeah, you could say that’’ Twilight chuckled knowing it to be a partial truth.
‘’Hmmm.... Very well then’’ Nook said before he started to walk towards the front counter.
Twilight stood there dumbfounded ‘’Quick question, what exactly is Mr.Nook?’’ she whispered leaning towards Jack slightly
‘’He’s a Raccoon’’ he whispered back as they watched Nook look for something behind the counter.
‘’I really don't think he’s a Raccoon, his ears and tail don't seem to fit the look’’ she whispered back.
‘’Alright then miss!’’ Nook said placing a folded up green shirt with a white leaf in her hands.
‘’Umm, what is?- Ah!’’ she yelped as Nook began to shove her out the door.
‘’Welcome to smashville! You will wear that as your uniform and work will begin at 9:00 tomorrow, your work hours will be from 9 to 10 monday through saturday including holidays, keep yourself neat and trim for training tomorrow!’’
‘’Wait-what!?’’ Twilight exclaimed before she had a wooden keychain shoved into her mouth, a small key hanging out of it.
‘’Here is the key to your new home! courtesy by me for 200.000 bells which you will be working-’’
‘’Alright now hold on!!!’’ Jack interjected, cutting Nook off ‘’She’s not going to work here! she’s a guest’’ he scowled at Nook as he took the shirt off the confused Twilight’s hands and yanked the key out of her mouth.
‘’A guest?’’ Nook blinked as Jack handed his things back to him.
‘’Yes! she’s staying at my place while she visits the town’’
‘’My... my apologies miss’’ he bowed, blushing slightly from the embarrassment while hiding the things behind his back.
‘’Oh no sir, it's no trouble’’ Twilight said with a polite smile ‘’I almost forgot that it was you who helped Jack when he first arrived here, that was very kind of you’’
Jack crossed his arms as he stood there in between ' Awkwaaard~ '
‘’I am glad that you think so miss!’’ Nook smiled ‘’now is there anything I could do you for?’’ he said while putting his things back behind the counter.
‘’Yes as a matter of fact, Jack?’’ she said looking at him
‘’Ice cream’’ Jack simply said.
‘’Alrighty then!’’ Nook said while rubbing his hands together.
After a few minutes they walked out of the store, Twilight waved goodbye at Tom Nook as the sliding doors closed.
‘’Mmmm, sweet chocolate’’ Jack said before fitting a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth while holding the quart in his other hand.
‘’Do you always carry that spoon with you?’’ Twilight asked inquisitively.
‘’Ice cream waits for no one! and neither do I, especially If have to wait to get home just to eat it’’
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the randomness of Jack’s words.
‘’You know, It was kind of nice to meet the famous Tom Nook, I was close to getting my own house too’’ she smiled at Jack.
Jack only shot her a glare with his cheeks stuffed with Ice cream which made Twilight burst into laughter.
‘’Can it!’’ he snapped with his mouth full
Living where the crossing life leads
10 - Lets go to the city!
‘’Wow! how long were we in there? It's almost lunch time!’’ Jack exclaimed looking looking at his watch, he and Alfonso had just made their way out of Seismos Cave.
‘’Well we did come here in the morning...’’ Alfonso stated, still dusting himself off after crawling out of the cave entrance.
“Fudge... I even left without any breakfast...” Jack said while rubbing his stomach.
“You wanna swing by my place for some lunch?” Alfonso asked invitingly with a smile.
“Nah...” Jack simply replied before snatching Twilight’s briefcase out of the gator’s claws “I think we should just split for today” he said before he slid down the gravel hill.
Alfonso followed, looking rather disappointed “Awww, but I wanted to see Twilight get her lost case back, we worked really hard to get that...” Alfonso said before Jack shot him a piercing glare.
“What the hell do you mean we? I was the one that climbed twenty feet of dead Dino bones all by myself just to nab it!” Jack snapped at him.
“Gyah! Okay then!” Alfonso retorted stepping back a few inches from Jack.
Jack kept glaring at him before he sighed “... sorry man... I'm just a little on edge from that big fall I had a moment ago...” Jack said in apology, patting Alfonso’s back.
"I understand" Alfonso nodded, looking back at him he dawdled with his thumbs ‘’Jack, I've been thinking..."
"That sounds dangerous..." Jack chuckled, dusting off Twilight's briefcase.
"I'm serious Jack... how are you going to get Twilight back to her own world?’’ he tilted his head
Jack paused for a moment, rubbing his chin as he looked at the sky “...I don't know man... I'm no physicist when it comes to inter-dimensional travel...’’
‘’You do realize that she might be stuck with you forever if you don't find a way to send her back’’ Alfonso deadpanned.
‘’Yeah I know’’ he casually said scratching the side of his head ‘’but the thought of it doesn't seem to bother me that much, it's only been a week and she seems to follow my rules to the letter’’
Alfonso blinked, taken aback by Jack’s reaction ‘’Are you alright Jack???’’ he said checking his temperature.
A vein popped on Jack’s forehead before he bonked Alfonso’s noggin, “Cut it out! I didn't catch Twilight’s cold!”
“Ow!!” Alfonso said rubbing his head
“....Hmph” Jack huffed before he strutted off “Twilight’s probably still sleeping, I’ll ring you up when she starts feeling better. If I feel like it!”
“.....” Alfonso stood there quietly as he still rubbed his head
'Something’s definitely going on with Jack, it looks to me that Twilight’s starting to growing on him' he thought to himself as he stood there, he smiled with a shrug before he began to head home.
Just as Alfonso had left, Seth slowly poked his head out of the cave crevice.
'Looks like they chose to split... Good' , the wolf thought as he crawled out, shaking the dirt off his fur he looked around to see that no one else was in the area before he began to jog north-west
Making his way down the trail he jogged in a casual manner, preemptively surveying his surroundings.
‘’Then I flip a switch and fluffy is everything!~
I flip a switch!~
I flip a switch!~
I flip a switch!~
Nananaaa-nananaaaa-nananaaaa!~’’
‘’Okay that's enough...’’ Jack stopped himself from singing as he arrived at his house.
‘’Greetings Master Jack’’ Lloyd spoke up from his spot as he spun in place.
‘’Anything going on while I was out?’’ Jack asked his clay cladded doorman as he rubbed his feet on the doormat.
‘’Negative Master Jack, there have been zero visitors and zero visits from Pete the mail-pelican’’ Lloyd stated, still spinning rapidly in place.
‘’Good, thanks Lloyd’’ Jack nodded.
‘’Master Jack’’ Lloyd stopping Jack from opening his door.
‘’Hm?’’ Jack turned his head ‘’what is it Lloyd?’’
‘’May I request a change of color? I find myself unsatisfied with my current color scheme’’ Lloyd asked, much to Jack’s surprise.
"U-Um... Okay?’’ Jack said with an inquisitive look ‘’what kind of paint job do you want?’’
‘’Hot-rod flames’’ Lloyd stated still spinning.
‘’Hot-rod flames???’’ Jack exclaimed.
‘’Indeed, a vibrant display of Hot-rod flames,’’ Lloyd stated again, stopping dead center to stare at Jack with his empty eye holes.
‘’....I guess it's okay,’’ Jack said, slowly opening the door.
‘’Excellent, you have my gratitude, Master Jack,’’ Lloyd span in place as he stepped inside and closed his door.
"Yeah- Yeah," shrugging off the compliment, Jack blinked as he stood there behind the close door 'what the fudge was that all about?' he thought before kicking off his shoes.
“Must have breathed in too many mushroom spores in that cave, messing up my head and all’’ he thought aloud while he began to walk upstairs “better get this to Twilight... she’ll probably be very happy to see it’’ Jack thought as he looked at her briefcase.
Slowly making his way up the stairs he looked around Twilight’s room, since her curtains were closed the room was dark.
Jack gently tip-toed around her room, holding his hand out to not bump into anything 'Now if I can just find a-' “Gah!” he yelped after he stubbed his toe on a stool. '!!!' covering his own mouth he looked over to Twilight’s bed in alarm. A tense moment passed as he waited to see if his ninja skills had failed him, alerting the sleeping mare to his presence. But the moment passed as the pile of bed sheets remained undisturbed on the bed. "Phew~ That was a close one," he whispered to himself, quickly placing the suitcase down on the stool and hobbling as quietly as he could to the stairs with a sore toe.
Cringing with each step, the pain slowly faded to a dull ache in his foot as Jack headed downstairs. Patting himself on the back, Jack felt a reward was in order for all his recent good deeds. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, time for some Ice tea, a snack and a nap,” he chuckled, looking forward to the R&R while quietly reaching the bottom of the stairs and reaching the entrance of his fortress of solitude.
‘’Ahh... No place like the Man Cave!~’’ Jack chimed, but something in the air gave him pause as he turned the knob to his personal sanctuary of manliness. "Wha-!" Taking another whiff, he tried to place the odd scent. The smell lingering in the air was a mix that brought about thoughts of the darkest concord grapes, and a field of Lavender. "Not too bad~" Jack thought aloud, blissfully, before realizing how unmanly he was acting in front of his sacred 'Man Cave'. Slapping himself to snap out of the alluring scent's grasp, he scowled as he resisted its unmanly temptations and swung the door open. Slamming his fist on the light switch, he glared about to try finding the source of the feminine corruption. In the light, everything seemed as it should, as he stalked into the hallowed halls. All of his trophies and baubles remained in their place, but there was an imbalance permeating the room that tugged at the back of Jack's mind. Finally, when he could find nothing wrong, Jack could only guess his mind was playing tricks on him after all the craziness he'd been going through recently.
Must've gotten something on my clothes in Twilight's room, He thought, wondering if he'd need to burn his clothes later to get the scent off, as pressed a button on the room's vending machine. Popping the can's lid with a 'hiss', he took a big swig before belching. ‘’Ahhh.... bonafied bliss in a can’’ Jack sighed before sidestepping to a fridge.
Checking its contents he shrugged indifferently ‘’Meh... nothing I'm in the mood for here..’’ he slammed the door shut before he walked over to his bed, he took a moment to look around his room more.
‘’Jeez... I'm so lazy right now, I don't even feel like going out again’’ he stifled a yawn while sitting down on the side of the bed, leaning back against the pile of unkempt blankets. Placing his can onto the nightstand next to his bed, he kicked of his shoes and got under the sheets, too tired to change into PJs.
‘’Oops... almost forgot’’ Jack clapped his hands, causing the lights to go off.
Jack smiled as he stared at his ceiling. with the lights off small stars that were painted on glowed in the dark like the night sky.
'Alone again' he began to feel a sinking sensation as those words echoed in his mind.
Turning on his side he closed his eyes, his sinking feeling suddenly changed to a pleasant warmth, followed by the smell of grapes and lavender from before, only much closer then before.
A goofy smile grew his face "Mmmm... that smell again’’ Jack’s eyes shot open as he came to a realization ‘’Hm!?’’
‘’Zzz....’’
Jack’s face lit up red hot at what he was seeing and feeling, because sleeping there with her arms and legs wrapped around him, slightly drooling on him was Twilight!.
‘’....G-G-Guhhh....’’ Jack felt paralyzed from both the enraging fact of Twilight being there in his Man-Cave and that her arms and legs were impairing his movement.
"Nnnngg!!" with his heart trying to pound out of his chest he forced himself out of her clutches and threw himself out of the bed, landing stomach first into the tile flooring ‘’Ow!’’
At this point Jack looked like he had the life shocked right out of him, he breathed heavily pulling himself off the ground.
Slowly rising up from the floor his shadow loomed over Twilight, Jack’s hair and face gave off hot steam as he watched her sleeping in his bed ‘’How... dare you...’’ he said under his breath as his eyes blanked out with rage.
‘’There it is...’’ Seth said as he ran up to Jack’s house.
‘’Hmm... you must be Jack’s Gyroid...’’ Seth said tilting his head.
‘’Greetings, Master Fleabag’’ Lloyd said.
Seth scowled ‘’....Yep, thats Jack’s alright... door gyroids are so expensive, yet Jack has to be the only one to have one because he sculpted his own, dork’’ he snickered.
Seth quickly looked over to the bushes, thinking he had seen something in the corner of his eye.
‘’Hm... must have been a bird...” Seth said to himself, turning his head.
‘’Yipe!’’ He yelped as two paws reached around and covered his eyes.
“Guess who!~’’ A loud and cheerful voice rang into Seth’s ear, it was too familiar and too annoying to forget.
'D’oh, fudge' Seth thought placing his paws on the ones that covered his eyes.
“Hello...” Seth said with a forced smile “Maple...”
“Aww Seth, how did you know it was me?” The honey bear said, taking her paws off Seth’s eye’s, she giggled as Seth turned around to greet her.
“Its been so long” Seth said, still having a forced smile on his face.
“Ohh don't be silly, you silly wolf! I’ve only been gone for a week!” Maple said giving Seth a jabb on the arm
“Ouch!” Seth cringed rubbing his arm “watch the punches!” he snapped at Maple.
“Oops, sorry! I don't know my own strength sometimes’’
‘’Have you been working out??’’ Seth said still rubbing his arm.
‘’Yeah! I try my best to get stronger, one day I’ll be as strong as Jack too!” Maple said proudly with her paws on her hips.
“Why on earth would you want to be a strong as him? that guy’s a beast and just as dumb as one too” Seth deadpanned.
“Hey! Don't you say that about my Jack!” Maple pouted and gave Seth a straight arm punch, this sent him crashing into a tree.
“OWWW!” Seth’s head spun from the impact.
“Oh! I'm sorry-I'm sorry-I'm sorry!” Maple shouted running to help Seth.
“I'm okay, no need to worry” Seth said getting up on his own “Say, speaking of Jack, I heard he was having lunch at the Roost today, why don't you go say hi?’’ he said while propping himself up on the tree.
‘’Really!?’’ she gasped with a smile as her eyes glazed over ‘’I was waiting to see him ever since I left for my holiday!~’’
‘’Yeah, he’s probably waiting for you with a slice of cake too!’’ Seth added.
‘’Wait for me my handsome prince! I’ll feed you that cake!~’’ Maple dashed out of sight, leaving a trail of dust in the air.
Seth watched as she ran out of sight ‘’Wow... that worked better than I thought it would’’'What the?'
Jack slowly curled his fingers as he raised his fist.
Twilight, who was still asleep had her arms stretched out where Jack was, her hands opened and closed, as if she was looking for something ‘’Mmmm.... Cupcakes....’’ she mumbled in her sleep, the drool on the side of her lip dropped slightly.
At the sight of it Jack’s heart began to pound again, he gulped ‘’Grrr, H-Huh!?’’ his eyes widened as he found himself unable to move, even though every intention to knock her straight out of dreamland boiled in his mind, he couldn't bring himself to bonk her on the head.'Grah, what the hell is wrong with me?'
' Having trouble there?' his conscious rang in his head
'You! are you doing this?' Jack thought back with an angry twitch in his eye.
' Pfft-! Haha!... of course not! this is all you, Jack'
'What's that supposed to mean!?'
' Hehehe... you always crack me up Jack' his conscious chuckled out, ' she probably wandered in here because of her dizzy state, remember that? I mean just look at her!'
Jack grumbled as he turned his back 'I'm not gonna! She’s fudging naked!'
' Hmph... you really need to learn to lighten up with the ladies' his conscious snidely suggested.
‘’Shut it!’’ Jack shouted out loud.
‘’Ah!!!’’
‘’Eh?’’ turning his head something soft hit his face with a squeaking sound ‘’Gah!’’ he scoffed.
‘’Jack!? What are you doing in my room!?’’ Twilight shouted covering herself with the sheets.
‘’Grrrr!’’ Jack growled at her before he recognized what she hit him with ‘’Hey! were you sleeping with my Squirtle doll!?’’ Jack barked before picking it up and wrapping his arms around it protectively.
‘’I asked you a question first Jack!’’ Twilight scowled at him ‘’were you watching me sleep???’’ she questioned, getting out of the bed and crossing her arms.
‘’Gyah!’’ Jack shielded his eyes from Twilight’s naked body ‘’Fudge!’’
‘’Answer the question Jack...’’ Twilight pressed Jack into answering.
‘’Grrrr, Fine! Yes, I was watching you... because this isn't your room!’’ Jack faced the opposite direction from Twilight, he put his doll down before he clapped his hands up in the air.
‘’Huh?’’ Twilight spat out just as the lights turned on, she covered her mouth in disbelief as she looked around.
‘’This Is the MAN CAVE!’’ Jack held his arms out as his roar echoed through the room.
‘’Man cave?...b-but, how did I end up...?’’ Twilight shook her head, taking a step back ‘’oh no...’’ her eyes began to well up as she held her head.
Jack stood there silently with his arms still held out.
‘’I just broke rule number two!’’ Twilight cried out.
"!?" Jack's eyes shot open at this.
‘’I’m so sorry Jack!’’ Twilight desperately hugged him from behind.
Jack blinked, trying to keep his face hidden as Twilight kept saying sorry over and over and over.
‘’Im sorry, Im sorry, Im sorry! Please don't kick me out Jack! I have nowhere else to go!’’ Twilight pleaded for forgiveness as she wiped her tears on the back of his shirt.
'Is this mare for real!?' Jack thought, a sudden wave of guilt washed over him for a moment and it took several minutes for her to quiet down enough for him to speak.
‘’Alright! Enough!’’ Jack answered sternly ‘’get off me!’’ he ordered with his arms crossed, Twilight quickly let go of him, taking a step back her head slumped as she dawdled her fingers nervously.
‘’I'm appalled to hear you apologize to me like that? Where’s your sense of pride!?’’
‘’B-but-’’
‘’No butts!’’
Twilight’s ears laid flat as Jack scolded her.
‘’Hmph...’’ Jack huffed ‘’did you honestly think I would kick you out because of this? I will do no such thing! as much as I have to tolerate you being in my house I will never go back on my word!’’
Twilight lifted her head slightly from hearing this ‘’S-So you're not kicking me out?’’
‘’Oh course not...’’ Jack said with a nod ‘’however!’’
‘’H-However?’’ Twilight gulped.
‘’However you have still broken a rule, a damn sacred one at that and for that you shall be penalized for it!’’
‘’...Yes Jack...’’ Twilight nodded, wiping her eyes ‘’I’ll take any penalty that you find just for my wrongdoing’’
‘’Good, now go to your room! I shall pass judgement on your deed momentarily’’ Jack said pointing at the opposite direction to the stairs.
‘’Understood...’’ Twilight slumped her head slightly as she made her way toward the stairs, looking back for a moment she raised an eyebrow as she noticed that steam emanated off the top of Jack’s head.
‘’And don't forget to get dressed!’’ Jack ordered.
‘’Right’’ Twilight nodded before closing the door.
Jack quickly looked behind to make sure she was gone. Grabbing his iced tea he quickly dumped the cold drink over his head, he gritted his teeth while the drink hissed as it evaporated off him like water being dumped on a hot grill.
"I HATE GIRLS!"
Twilight paced around her room, she was wearing the green T-shirt Alfonso gave her and had her horn concealed in a green bow that matched the shirt.
‘’I see you're wearing Alfonso’s shirt’’
Twilight’s ears flicked towards the stairs as Jack walked into her room ‘’It was the first piece of clothing I could find...’’ she looked down slightly.
‘’Meh, it’ll do...’’ Jack said with a wave of his hand.
“Are you going to punish me now?”
“Nah, I haven't quite thought of the proper punishment yet...”
“I see...” Twilight slumped her head.
‘’Did you see the surprise I have for you?’’
‘’Surprise?’’ Twilight looked around the room ‘’Is it about the penalty?’’ she asked with a scared look on her face.
‘’No dumb-dumb! I still haven't thought it up yet’’ Jack scowled at Twilight before walking over to her window to open the
Twilight shielded her vision from the sudden change in light, before her eyes widened with surprise. ‘’My briefcase!’’ she gasped.
‘’Yep, I happened to find it with Alfonso back where we first found you’’ Jack smiled waiting for Twilights eminent thanks.
‘’Oh Jack... I don't know how to react to this... I'm so happy you found it... yet I still feel sorry for breaking your rules...’’
‘’Hey, don't sweat it... everyone breaks rules now and then, I do it all the time’’ he snickered.
“Somehow that doesn't surprise me...” she deadpanned.
“.......” Jack began to rub his stomach “Oww!” his stomach grumbled loudly.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked with a concerned look.
“I hadn't eaten all day! I'm starving!” he exclaimed clenching his stomach.
“I’ll run down to the kitchen for you!” Twilight said running toward the stairs.
“Wait...” Jack grabbed her arm, stopping her “this isn't some kind of hunger you can put away with a triple decker sandwich...”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight tilted his head.
“Come on... were going to the city!” Jack dashed to the stairs pulling on Twilight’s arm.
“Hey! wait! but what about my penalty?”
“Forget about it! we have to go now!”
The door bursted open before Jack rushed out full speed ahead “come on Twilight!”
Twilight quickly stopped at the door, gently closing it “goodbye Lloyd, take care of the place while we're gone!”
“Understood Mistress Twilight” Lloyd gyrated in place.
“Wait up Jack!” she trailed behind Jack, who was already far off.
Seth came up from behind a tree quickly going after them, keeping himself unseen from Twilight as he zipped from one bush to the next. 'Alright Seth... time for a little more fieldwork investigating'
He thought as he kept trailing behind Twilight 'there’s something fishy about you... and i'm going to find out what'
He could spot Jack as he stood on a small platform with a bus stop sign, Twilight walked up to him.
“Couldn't you just plan the next time we’re about to go out? I couldn't bring any money with me” Twilight said, still catching her breath from all that running she did.
“I’ll give you some allowance money when we get to the city, right now I really need to get there” Jack’s fingers tingled as he paced on the platform.
“Heeey Jaaack~!” The voice of Rosie the cat called out. .
“Yeah-hey-there-Rosie” Jack spat out quickly as he kept pacing.
“Hey there Gal-pal!” Rosie said ecstatically while raising up a hand for a highfive.
“Umm... Hey there Rosie” Twilight said, not really knowing what a highfive was she kept talking “What's wrong with Jack? he says he hasn't eaten all day and now he wants to go to some city”
“Oh! You're going to the city!” Rosie’s eyes sparkled after lowering her arm “Smashville City is a wondrous place to visit! There’s clothes shops and restaurants and clothes shops and the theater and clothes shops!”
“You just said clothes shops three times...” Twilight pointed out.
“I know they're amazing!” Rosie gave a twirl “Can I go with you guys!?” she asked giving Twilight kitten eyes.
“Sure, if you like” Twilight stepped back slightly, feeling her personal space was being invaded.
"Twilight!” A familiar voice called from behind.
“Alfonso!” Twilight turned around with a smile to greet him.
"You're okay!" Alfonso then gasped immediately noticing Twilight wearing the t-shirt he gave her “and you look... amazing...” the gator said as he stood there with a goofy smile on his face.
“Why thank you Alfonso, the shirt you gave me is very comfortable to wear” she said still smiling.
“Hey Alfonso~” Rosie chimed walking up to him.
Alfonso, quickly snapped out of it to greet her “Hi Rosie!”
“You're looking buff today, have you been working out?” Rosie purred rubbing Alfonso’s arm.
“Ohh no, just- Woah...” he said as he noticed Jack still pacing on the platform “Looks like Jack’s got a major Ramen appetite”
“Ramen? what's ramen?” Twilight questioned tilting her head.
“Oh! I know! ramen is that pasta in a cup you pour hot water into right?” Rosie said looking at Alfonso.
“No-no-no-no, that's the cheap cupped version made by corporate fat-cats to make a quick buck, real authentic ramen is... sublime...” Alfonso shook his tail from the thought.
“Hey! here’s an Idea, why don't all four of us go for some ramen?” Rosie suggested while wrapping her arm around Alfonso’s “Lets make it a double date!~”
“Eh!?” Alfonso blushed.
“Hmmm....” Twilight rubbed her chin 'not really sure what she means, though visiting the city and trying new food does sound fun'
“Yeah-sure-whatever-I'm-in” Jack quickly said as he leaned against the bus stop sign while tapping his foot on the cement.
“Great! Lets go!” Rosie cheered as the bus came into view.
‘’What is that?’’ Twilight exclaimed, surprised by the large growling vehicle.
‘’You've never been on a bus before?’’ Rosie said while pulling on Alfonso’s arm.
‘’No.. not really’’ Twilight admitted
‘’Come on Twi, it’ll take us straight to the city’’ Alfonso said as they began to board the bus.
‘’Well, alright’’ Twilight said getting on after them.
‘’.....’’ Seth growled as he reared up from behind a nearby tree ‘’rats... now I’ll have to wait for the next bus...’’ he thought aloud.
‘’Ohh Seeethhh!~’’
‘’!!!’’ he froze up in fear as he saw who was calling him closing in on him from behind.
‘’You lied to me Seth, Jack wasn't there at all!~’’ Maple said in a cheery voice, cracking her knuckles as she did.
‘’Fudge-RUN AWAY!!!’’ he shouted, instinctively running for his life.
‘’Oh Seeeeth! Come back and take you medicine, you silly wolf!~” Maple chimed as she skipped after him.
As she stood next to the door Twilight couldn't help but look out the window as the bus rolled out of town, looking over the town she could take a better look of what it looked like from above the cliffs that surrounded it, the colored houses, the lush green trees, some even bared many kinds of fruit and all in the same place and the sea shone with sunlight from the angle in which she was perceiving it all.
‘’Wow...’’ Twilight said in awe.
‘’Quite the sight ain't it there lassie?’’
‘’Huh?’’ Twilight turned her head to see a peculiar looking animal, sitting in the drivers seat wearing a blue bus driver uniform.
‘’Smashville be quite the beautiful town’’ the green turtle like animal said in a salty old sailors accent, his eyes on Twilight yet only enough to talk to her and pay attention to the road at the same time.
‘’Yes... it is a nice town...’’ she said looking back at it ‘’I just got here a week ago, but I never managed to see it like this...’’
‘’Yarr... you ought to see it during a sunset, tis as golden as anything you could ever see in yer life lassie’’ he said with a look of nostalgia planted on his face.
‘’...Hmm...’’ Twilight smiled, imagining the same thing.
‘’What be yer name young sea flower?’’ the driver politely asked.
She turned her head to him ‘’Twilight sir’’ she said with a smile.
‘’Gar, It be a fine name for a mare such as yerself’’ he chuckled ‘’Name’s Kapp’n’’
‘’Oh! so thats what you are! a Kappa!’’ Twilight exclaimed ‘’I once read about your kind in a book I got while I've been here’’
Kapp’n smiled ‘’Yarg, that what I be... many of the like’s of me aren't around nowadays’’
‘’I see...’’ Twilight nodded.
‘’...Arr, we be nearin the city in a few minutes, ye better grab a seat’’ Kapp’n suggested.
‘’Thank you’’ Twilight said, looking to the others she had almost forgotten that she left with them, Rosie leaned slightly on Alfonso as he was looking over to Twilight, Jack sat at the very back of the bus, his eyes fixated on the window as he had his chin in his hand
“Hey...’’ Twilight said, sitting down next to him.
‘’Oh, Hey’’ Jack said glancing at her.
‘’So... What's this ramen I heard about before deciding to go on this trip with you?’’
Jack began to smile ‘’What's ramen you say? ah... I can sure as hell tell you what it is as a food, but as an experience... hard to say...’’
Twilight smiled, listening attentively.
‘’What it basically is, is noodle soup made with different kinds of broth ranging from vegetable, to meat, to seafood’’ he said looking at her.
‘’Interesting’’ she said jotting down on her notes.
‘’Wait- you're taking notes of this??’’ Jack blinked.
‘’Yeah, as a matter of fact I've taken notes of almost everything I've found and looked at here’’
“That's a lot of notes...” Jack said.
‘’Yep, 5 Notepads full, 200 pages each’’ Twilight said with a smile.
“Eh!? that's how many a college textbook would have!’’ Jack exclaimed
“Oh-please, I eat books like that for breakfast, with some buttered toast and a cup of tea on the side’’ she giggled.
“Uh-Huh... Anyway, there’s the broth of the ramen, then there's the noodles... long, stringy with a chewy texture... and the toppings, an important part of the ramen’s presentation, if you ask what kind of toppings it's really what goes into the broth to give it a good flavor combo and it's all served up in a large bowl’’
‘’Sounds appetizing’’ Twilight remarked “and the experience?’’
“Almost forgot that... in my opinion it's something special that you should have at least once a month... I like it as a way to take me back to those... simpler times in life...”
“Simpler times in life?...” Twilight tilted her head.
“....” Jack sighed “so yeah, that's ramen for ya”
“Hmm...” Twilight smiled, looking over her notes “I can't wait to try it!”
Jack smiled, the bus wheels screeched slightly as it slowed to a stop at it's destination.
“Yarr, we have arrived!’’ Kapp’n announced before opening the doors, Alfonso and Rosie were the first ones to get off.
‘’Come on Alfonso! I want to check out Gracie Grace!!” Rosie said pulling on the gator’s arm.
“Woah! alright Rosie!” Alfonso went with her.
“We won't be seeing those two in a bit...” Jack said as he walked up to the front of the bus.
“Jack’’ Kapp’n said tipping his hat off to him.
“Kapp’n” Jack motioned back with a smile.
“You know Kapp’n Jack?’’ Twilight said cutting in on the conversation.
“Yarg! Know him? I be the one who brought him in town the first time he moved to town, I can still remember the wee snapper being yay high!’’
“Hahahaha Yeah, those were good times” Jack said scratching his nose.
“Aye! I see ye found yerself a fine lass too!” Kapp’n smirked nudging Jack on the shoulder.
“She’s not my girlfriend’’ Jack simply stated.
Twilight tilted her head.
“Whatever ye say there Jack’’ Kapp’n leaned back on his seat with a smile.
“See ya later then!” he said getting off the bus, followed by Twilight.
“Finally here! Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Smashville City!’’ Jack threw up his arms
Twilight opened her mouth in awe as she beheld the city, standing in the town plaza she could already see a clothes store, a theater and and a barbershop all within a few feet
“What's that over there?” Twilight asked, pointing at a sign with a gyroid on it.
“Oh that's the auction house, some people put their stuff up for sale there”
“And what's that?” she then pointed to a marble building with a house on it.
“That's the happy room academy... really annoying people there...’’ Jack rolled his eyes.
Twilight’s smile suddenly sand into a blank expression as she looked over to the fountain situated in the center. “I don't like that fountain” she said, staring at it intently.
“Neither do I” Jack said walking past it, it was a fountain with a statue of Serena on top “Come on we're burning daylight”
“Wait up!” Twilight said jogging after him.
Twilight gazed at the different sights and stores they passed by on the way downtown “Do you happen to know of any bookstores around here?” she asked.
“I do, but that’ll wait till later’’ Jack said looking ahead “We're almost there!”
“Right… ramen comes first” Twilight smiled with a roll of her eyes, starting to feel famished herself she decided to put her sightseeing urge on hold for now “How much more until we get to this restaurant?”
“Just a few more blocks down” Jack said looking back at her “Any big cities back in your dimension?”
“Yes as a matter of fact… not that I visit any of them much…” she mumbled the last part.
“What are they like? Any you can name off the top of your head?”
“Sure! There’s Manehattan, Canterlot, Oh and the Crystal Empire is a really big city too”
“Crystal Empire? What is everything made of crystal?”
“Yep, the buildings, the plants. Even the ponies living there”
“Seriously?”
“Well... it's more like a crystalline appearance, but everyone that visits and shares in the kingdoms magic are turned into crystal as long as they are there”
“Really???” Jack stopped at the thought “That sounds awesome! I always wanted a crystal sculpture of myself, but being the sculpture sounds even better!”
“Ehh…” Twilight smiled scratching her head “First you have to find me a way back home before we can do anything like visiting the Crystal Kingdom Jack…”
Jack frowned as the thought smacked him out of his daydream “…Don’t remind me…”
“Hey, is that it?” Twilight pointed to a small building made of wood and logs, the dark cedar wood contrasted with the white brick buildings it was wedged in between.
“How did you know?” Jack said walking up to it.
“The sign says restaurant am I right?” she said pointing out the sign.
“...Oh, right… Duh” he said walking through the doorway, pushing aside some drapes hanging as decoration “Hello?”
The restaurant looked very old fashioned, from the cedar wood flooring, to the sliding paper doors, to the kitchen implements behind the counter and even the short tables with cushions to sit on.
“This is different” Twilight looked with intrigue at the unfamiliar setting “Not a lot of people here...”
“That's because it's Monday” Jack stated before sighing “It’s good to be back” he said with a smile on his face “Hey! Is anyone here?”
“Coming!” walking through a curtain leading to the main kitchen was an orange cat, she wore a green apron and she looked like she was using a lot of lipstick “Hello Jack, it’s nice to see you again” she said with a bow.
“Two hot bowls of ramen Kaitlin and make em snappy!” Jack ordered as he took a seat at the bar.
“Jack! Where are you manners? Be more polite!” Twilight scolded at him.
Jack rolled his eyes “Jeez sorry…”
“It’s alright miss” Kaitlin said with a soft voice “Jack is always well mannered whenever he visits our restaurant."
This made Twilight lift an eyebrow “Jack? Well mannered?”
“Yep” Jack said with a smirk before belching. “So where’s Katie at?”
“Gross…” Twilight remarked.
“I sent Katie out to buy some fresh crabs…” Kaitlin said walking towards the window; she hasn't come back yet… I’m worried sick…”
“….” Jack looked at her “How long has she been gone?” he said getting off his seat, which caught Twilight’s attention.
“I sent her out this morning…” Kaitlin whispered with a sniffle.
“That’s long enough” Jack scowled as he went for the door “Come on Twilight, were heading out!”
“We're leaving already?” Twilight got up surprised as ever “What about the Ramen?” she walked to him still confused from his sudden decision
“The ramen can wait, there’s a lost kitten out there in the big city!”
Kaitlin looked up to Jack “Are you going out to find her?” she asked with a hope filled look.
Jack stopped at the doorway as he looked back “Your damn right I’m going out to find her!” he said with a pump of his fist.
Twilight's eyes widened before she gave a smile “Right! And I’m joining him!” she stood next to him mimicking his heroic pose.
“Really!? Thank you, thank you both very much!” Kaitlin bowed her head repeatedly in gratitude.
“Off we go!” Jack rushed out the door, Twilight followed suit.
“Alright, here’s our plan of action!” Jack said as he unfolded a map of the city. “Here we are at Tortimer Ave with 22nd street, the closest seafood market is five blocks east from here”
Twilight nodded “Got it, so we start searching there? then what?”
“We continue to search around a ten block radius, since Katie always gets easily distracted she’s probably at a nearby comic book store”
“How do you know that?” Twilight said quizzically.
Jack gently pulled Twilight closer “Believe it or not this isn't the first time I've looked for the same lost kitten” he whispered.
“Really? does she get lost often?” she whispered back.
“Yeah... and her mom never really notices she’s gone until she’s out of the kitchen, that restaurant really keeps her busy, even when it comes to taking care of her own kitten...”
“Wow, that must be really tough on her...” Twilight frowned at the thought “In that case we must not delay our search! who knows what kind of dangers lurk in this city!”
Jack nodded “Well said, now lets hightail it!”
“Come on Alfonso! you're as slow as a rock!” Rosie called as she turned behind her.
“Ughhh... I'm... coming...” Alfonso groaned as he carried a tower of boxes in his arms, and at least ten different bags hung on each arm as well.
“Are all those clothes weighing you down?” Rosie tilted her head as she looked at him.
“Yes.... very much....” Alfonso muttered.
“Tee-hee!~” Rosie giggled “this shouldn't bother you, you're a big strong gator, this should be easy for you” she smiled as she kept walking.
“.......spine... about to snap... in two.... someone... please..... help” Alfonso whimpered.
“Here we are, the seafood market!” Twilight said as she and Jack slowed their pacing through the city streets, at this time there were not many people roaming the market.
“Alright, lets start asking the merchants here” Jack said walking up to the first vendor.
“Excuse me, have you seen a kitten around here? orange, about this high?” Jack held a hand up to his arm describing her height.
“Oh yeah! saw her this morning I did, I think I saw her head down Rodway”
“Fudge, well that figures...” Jack deadpanned.
“Is that bad?” Twilight tilted her head.
“For us who are searching for her it is, Rodway is the longest stretching street in this city, and where the most shops are located too”
“That is bad...” she rubbed her chin.
“You're darn tootin it's bad, It would take us forever to look through each store there just to find her!” Jack crossed his arms.
“Unless...” Twilight looked up at her bow.
“Unless?” Jack looked at her.
“There’s this tracing spell I could use to track her”
“Negatory!” Jack snapped “we don't want to draw any attention remember? and I don't want you to strain your busted horn” he huffed.
“I understand that very well Jack, but you're doing so much by looking for this lost kitten, I just have to help you!” Twilight pleaded while pulling on his arm “It's the least I can do for all you've done for me, I don't even feel sick either if that's what your thinking... Pleeeeeeeease~” she begged, looking up at him with big beady eyes.
“.....Grah... fine! but we need to go to a less crowded area and let go of my arm!”
“Oh right, personal space...” Twilight nodded 'Yes! thank you Applebloom!'
After moving onto Rodway street they turned into a dark alleyway, Twilight undid her bow revealing her wrapped up horn.
“You sure you want to go on with this? the damn thing could explode for all we know” Jack said while keeping watch for any possible bystanders.
“Highly implausible, unless I were trying to force a spell that could lift a mountain, I managed to lift a broom yesterday so this spell is a piece of cake” Twilight said confidently as her horn began to glow, she winced as the crack on her horn began to spark.
“Twilight, I said you didn't have to do this already!” Jack looked at her with concern in his eyes.
“Its alright Jack, I can handle it!” she said as she pushed further, her horn’s glow began to intensify to a bright light “By the way, I need to hold your hand for this spell”
“What!?” Jack exclaimed
“The spell won't work unless I have memory’s of what she looks, talks and smells like” Twilight explained while holding out her hand “Hurry, I can't hold this spell for long!”
“Why didn't you tell me before?” Jack scowled at her.
“Would you have said yes to begin with?” Twilight asked.
Jack grumbled "Good point..." forcing himself he took Twilight’s hand, by doing so a blinding flash of light bursted from her horn.
“Caramba coño! my eyes!” Jack shouted as he covered his eyes.
“Jack! it's working!”
“Huh?” slowly opening his eyes everything around him was covered in a violet veil, a blue line began to glow on the pavement in a straight line before turning to the left.
“Woah...” Jack’s mouth gaped slightly as he walked out of the alleyway.
“Look over there!” the blue line angled to the right toward a store visible about three blocks away.
“Hey! That's a gamechamp store, those are my favorite stores!” Jack exclaimed.
Not two seconds after pinpointing the location the blue line and the violet veil began to fade.
“Ohh...” Twilight, nearly fainting propped herself against the wall.
“You gonna be okay?” Jack looked back at her.
“I’ll be fine... just a little light headed...” she chuckled.
Jack, giving a thumbs up of approval went and handed Twilight her bow, soon after they walked out of the alleyway and toward the store.
“Alright Twilight we do this quick without any surprises” he said while opening the door. “Kya!”
Jack had the pants knocked nearly out of him as an orange kitten tackle hugged him “Onii-chaaan!”
Jack groaned annoyed as the kitten happily squeezed him around his stomach “Katie, how many times have I told you not to call me that!”
“Awww, don't be so mean Onii-chan! I've been waiting so long for you to come back and play with me!” Katie looked up at him with a smile. “Mew!”
“D’aaaawww!” Twilight’s eyes glazed over at the sight “That's so cute!”
“Quiet you!” Jack snapped at her, Katie looked at Twilight and back at him.
“Hey, Onii-chan! who is that? aren't you going to introduce me?” Katie tilted her head.
“There’s no need for that-” Jack grouched before Twilight cut in.
“Hi there! nice to meet you little one, my name is Twilight!” she introduced herself with a friendly smile.
“Hello Twilight! I'm Katie!” Katie went and hugged Twilight.
“Yes alright you got yourselves introduced... now can we get you back home already? Your mother is worried sick” Jack grumbled.
“....D’oh!” Katie slapped her forehead “I completely forgot that I had to go back to the restaurant! I got the crabs though!” she said pointing to a large green bag next to an arcade machine, the bag was teeming with the live crab inside.
“Good” Jack went over, grabbed the bag and hung it over his shoulder.
“Thanks Onii-chan” Katie smiled, hugging his arm “Mew!~”
Jack choked for a moment ‘Must... maintain... manliness... against... cuteness... FUDGE!’ he bided in his mind as he began to walk.
“Hey Jack, what does ‘Onii-chan’ mean?” Twilight whispered as she walked next to him.
“Big brother...” Jack mumbled embarrassingly
“....” Jack then noticed that Twilight was smiling from end to end.
“What's with the face???” Jack whispered with gritted teeth, an angry vein popping on his forehead
“Is Onii-chan Jack taking little Katie out for a stroll?” Twilight teased with a big grin on her face.
“WHY YOU-” Jack quickly stopped himself from screaming in front of Katie as she yanked on his arm.
“Come on Onii-chan! we need to hurry!” Katie shouted as she made Jack run after her.
“Yeah Jack, come on” Twilight followed with a smile.
“Hello there Alfonso, it's nice to see you again” Kaitlin bowed as Alfonso and Rosie walked into the restaurant.
“Hi there!~ Is this the ramen restaurant Alfonso and Jack have told me about?~” Rosie asked excitedly.
“Yes it is” Kaitlin said with a smile “Would you care to take a seat? I will take your orders as soon as my daughter comes back”
“Okie dokie!” Rosie then walked over to Alfonso, who was putting down all of her bought clothes.
“Awww that feels so much better!” Alfonso stretched out, making his spine crack.
“This place is pretty barren Alfonso, are you sure this ramen is as good as you say it is?” Rosie tilted her head.
“Of course it's good, it's only empty here because it's Monday”
“Ohhh, that makes sense!~”
They went and took their seats at a table next to the window, after waiting a few minutes Katie came walking through the doorway, still pulling on Jack’s arm.
“Mom, I’m back! and I brought Onii-chan with me!” Katie hollered
“Katie!” Kaitlin rushed to hug her child “I was so worried about you!”
“Mom! I was only gone for a few, you're embarrassing me in front of Onii-chan!”
Meanwhile Twilight and Jack stood back as they watched mother and daughter reunited, Alfonso and Rosie both greeted them after witnessing the touching moment themselves.
“Jack, that was so nice of you!~” Rosie chimed
“Yeah! I couldn't have done anything nicer than that myself” Alfonso added.
“Meh... it is nice and all, but I shouldn't be the one to take the credit” Jack waved his hand dismissively.
“Hm? what do you mean?” Rosie tilted her head.
“Twilight’s the one who deserves the praise here” he pointed at her with his thumb “If it weren't for her I would have been searching for Katie all day”
Twilight smiled at him.
“Thank you Miss Twilight, I am in your dept...” Kaitlin bowed her head as she still held Katie in her arms.
“Oh... it was nothing really...” Twilight tugged down on her t-shirt while her cheeks blushed from the flattery, suddenly everyone in the room turned their heads to Jack as they heard his stomach rumbling.
“What? I haven't eaten all day!” Jack scowled, the others began to laugh at Jack’s expression.
“Onii-chan looks so funny when he’s mad~” Katie hugged him around the waist after her mother let go.
“Grrrr....” he grumbled.
“Ahh... well this has been a good Monday indeed” Kaitlin smiled “How does a nice hot bowl of ramen sound? It's on the house!”
“YES!”
“Woo-hoo!”
“Yes please!”
“Its about damn time!”
The bus engines revved up as Jack and Twilight climbed on the bus back home, Rosie and Alfonso took their seats all the way in the back next to the pile of clothes Rosie had purchased today.
"How many bells do you think she spent on all that?" Twilight whispered.
"Not much i'm guessing, if anyone can haggle a good price its Rosie, I once heard that she even gets good prices at Gracie Grace, no one gets good prices at Gracie Grace..." Jack whispered back.
"Maybe you should take me there next time" Twilight giggled.
"Yeah, just maybe"
"Yarg, we be shovin off for Smashville town, all aboard!" Kapp'n stated before closing the bus doors
After a few minutes of traveling Twilight looked over at Jack, who had his eyes glued to the window the same way he did on the way to the city.
"Something on your mind?" Twilight asked "Your not still thinking of ramen are you?"
"No, I already had like 5 bowls today..." Jack answered.
"Then what is it?" she swayed her head.
"Its just..." he paused for a moment "I've been thinking..."
"That sounds dangerous" she giggled.
"I'm serious Twilight..... wow, De-ja-vu..." Jack blinked.
"Is it perhaps... about how I'm going to get home...?" Twilight asked.
"No..." Jack lied.
"Then what is it?" Twilight tilted her head.
"Um... Cake! Yeah we need cake, chocolate cake"
"Hmmm... cake does sound good right now..." Twilight rubbed her chin.
"Yeah, we'll swing by Nook's later"
"Okay!" Twilight smiled
"Great then..." Jack smiled back
'That was close' he thought slowly turning to the window again 'What am I gonna do to get you home?...'
“Thanks for the trip Jack, I had a lot of fun with kitten searching and noodle slurping...” Twilight said as she got off the bus with Jack.
“Its no problem, least I could do after you invaded my privacy” Jack said with a snicker.
“I said I was sorry Jack...” Twilight slumped her head.
“I was just kidding! forget about that already” he waved his hand with a smile
“Alright...’’ she said with a nod “Um... Maybe when we get home I could show you my briefcase?”
“Oh! right, I forgot to ask you what was in there” Jack said as they soon arrived at his house, they went inside and up into the guest meeting room.
“I’ll get the briefcase” Twilight said walking up to her room.
Jack nodded as he waited, Twilight came back down with the case in her hands.
“So lets see it” Jack crossed his arms.
Twilight shuffled nervously in place for a moment “Um.. Jack? can I do something before I open the briefcase? It was something I was planning to do before leaving Equestria’’
Jack tilted his head ‘’Eh? Sure I guess’’
‘’Great! You might want to sit down’’
‘’Okay?’’ Jack did as instructed, sitting on his sofa, Twilight placed the case down next to her.
She smiled before clearing her throat ‘’Ehehem... Greetings and Salutations foreign life form! , I am Twilight Sparkle, apprentice of Princess Celestia and guardian of the Element of Magic’’
Jack raised an eyebrow as Twilight continued.
‘’I come from a far off land of Equestria, a land where friendship is magic and everything is filled with untold beauty, from the wild life, to the ponies that inhabit it’’ she went on as she unbuckled the briefcase ‘’What I will show you now is a Map showing the almost entirety of Equestria’’ she said before pulling out a small telescopic chart stand.
Jack began to show interest as Twilight unfurled the map and clipped it onto the stand.
‘’As you can see there are many locations named here on the map, I must apologize for the reason that this is only a older version of the map and it does not show locations such as the Crystal kingdom, which I will go more into as this presentation goes on’’
Jack nodded while crossing his legs as Twilight went on, pulling out sheet after sheet of paper with brief facts about Equestria’s inhabitants, locations and climate, different animals and creatures Jack had always thought to be mythological but exist in that world, Equestrian technology and architecture and most importantly some of the adventures Twilight herself had gone through with her friends.
‘’and finally, to conclude this presentation allow me to give you a gift, as your inter dimensional pen pal’’ Twilight smiled as she placed a large book into Jack’s hands.
‘’Wow, thanks... what is it a spellbook?’’ Jack said while skimming through the pages.
‘’No Jack, it’s a book on the brief history of Equestria’’
‘’Ahh...’’ Jack said in fascination as he held the book up, watching as the gold unicorn on the front cover glimmered with the sun.
‘’So... what did you think of my presentation?’’ Twilight asked tugging down slightly on her T-shirt.
‘’Amazi- I mean... yeah... very interesting...’’ he stated with a nod.
‘’Thanks Jack! i'm just glad I could do all of it even though I can't use my magic...’’ she said while looking at her hands. ‘’Any questions?’’
‘’Yes! Um... what do your friends look like?’’ he asked with a tilt of his head.
Twilight looked surprised for a moment before slapping her forehead ‘’Oh no! I forgot to take pictures before leaving! I knew I was forgetting something...’’
‘’Wait, you have flash photography in your world? I thought you said you didn't have electricity’’
‘’Well, we don't...’’
‘’That doesn't make any sense’’ Jack deadpanned ‘’So far I heard you have quill and parchments, hourglasses, and only use candlelight’s at night.’’ Jack said reaching over and snatching a sheet of paper.
‘’Hold on... Microphones? Cast Iron Radiators? Hazmat suits? and even Reel to Reel Projectors? That still doesn't make sense!’’ Jack exclaimed as he kept reading it over.
‘’Hey, I don't question why Lloyd can talk or how you can seem to fit anything in your pockets, so don't think too hard about it...’’ Twilight said taking the paper back from Jack.
‘’But I can't help it!’’ Jack held his head ‘’Jeez... alright I’ll try not to delve into it too much or else my brain might hurt...’’
Twilight giggled ‘’Again, sorry I can't show you what we really look like, I was in such a hurry to come here I only grabbed small bits of information to show to you... I even intended to show the entire town as well...’’
‘’Not a good Idea... they would still freak out if they found out you were a Unicorn’’
‘’Yeah, I guess you're right’’ Twilight said admittedly.
“Speaking of which... how’s your horn?”
“Its fine I guess, my head stopped hurting now that my fever’s gone’’
“Hah! I knew it would work! bringing your briefcase back would snap you out of your homesickness’’ Jack said slapping his knee.
“Don't be silly Jack” Twilight giggled “I was under an alien sickness, Homesickness has no kind of effect on the body like any other common diseases, though I still appreciate you bringing it back...”
"It was a cold..." Jack deadpanned.
"Oh... really? that's embarrassing..." Twilight scratched her head.
"I just thought of another question...” Jack said, Twilight looked at him attentively. “Don't you think your friends have noticed you've been gone on this little expedition of yours a little too long?”
Twilight then rubbed her arm awkwardly.
"They do know your here right?" Jack crossed his arms.
“Um... actually... they don't.... they just think I was just off on vacation...”
“....What?” Jack blinked trying to comprehend what Twilight’s thought process was behind all this.
Twilight sighed “Yes I know its dumb when you think about it..." she pinched the space between her eyes
"Of course its dumb! did you even think ahead of the risks before coming here!?" Jack scolded.
"Yes Jack... I understood the risks very well..." Twilight said, turning away from him.
"Then why in flying fudge did you decide to go through all this trouble?" Jack questioned again with a twitch in his eye.
Twilight paused for a moment, thinking it over she then nodded "Alright Jack... since I got you involved in all this... you deserve to know why I came here in the first place...” she said before sitting down on the couch across from him, Jack kept his arms crossed.
“You see... when I said you're kind was part of my research, I wasn't making it up... in fact no pony has ever seen your kind before In Equestria, yet tails of your species were told in story books for foals”
“The stories in the books tell at of a highly intelligent race of beings that were capable of using the surrounding elements of nature to build entire civilizations of stone and metal, but of course everypony dismissed them as just creatures of story and myth... but not me...”
Jack narrowed his eyes, he began to feel a certain tension as she went on.
“Since I was a young filly I was fascinated with the story’s of your kind, and when Princess Celestia herself appointed me as her apprentice... it gave me free range of the Canterlot archives, where I found ancient scrolls that dated farther back than Pony history could recall and it was then that I really began my investigation, during my spare time of course."
“And then you made this spell to see if you could find Humans in other realms?” Jack asked.
“Not exactly... after a couple years of investigating and putting the pieces together I was just about to give up... until I came across this...” Twilight said before reaching into her briefcase again, she showed Jack a sheet of paper with old looking text, a drawing in the center resembled the sphere that Jack shot at when Twilight first arrived.
“I was confused to what this spell would do at first... so I scaled it down from a traveling spell to a simple opening spell, you know like reaching through a pipeline to grab an object, except this pipeline stretched as far as other universes and with this I began pulling objects from other places... simple things like fruit’s... until I came across something I theorized would lead me to sentient life beyond Equestria” Twilight said before reaching into her briefcase again, Jack watched at the edge of his seat.
She pulled out a simple ordinary letter “This letter, signed to this address, under the name Gemheart... does this ring a bell to you?”
Jack blinked “...Unfortunately yes...” he rolled his eyes “Gemheart... is my last name”
Twilight blinked “I didn't know your last name was Gemheart”
“Yeah-yeah say what you like, it's not my fault I have a stupid last name!” Jack snapped at her, snatching the letter out of her hands.
“Actually... I think it's a nice last name...” Twilight said sheepishly
“Hmph...” he huffed tearing open the letter “So let me get this straight, through all of your investigations you came across this letter which so happens to be from my mail, so you sent your own letter through the same pipeline?”
“To summarize it yes...”
“So what were you planning on doing after getting back? report your discovery's to your world?”
“Technically no... this was a top secret experiment after all, not even the Princess knows about it...” Twilight said laying her ears flat.
“Smooth” Jack snickered, pulling out the letter inside “Yatta-yatta-yatta, Nook point system, bla-bla-bla, Wario hat... Wario hat?”
“What’s the letter say Jack?”
“Hey! it's the Wario hat I got from the Nook point system!” he reached into the envelope and pulled out a large yellow hat, fitting it onto his head it showed a blue ‘W’ emblem “Cool!”
Twilight blinked before smiling “Well, at least you got that back...” she said plodding over to the couch, sitting down next to Jack “I’ve discovered so much while I was here... and now I can't go back to share it with anyone...”
“.....” Jack’s eyes shuffled left and right in thought, he got up and began to pace around the room.
“Jack?” Twilight watched. “What’s on your mind?”
“....Your punishment...” he answered, pacing all around the room.
“I thought you told me to forget about it”
"I did... but I'm not going to stand around anymore!” he finally came to a stop and looked at her
“Stand around?” Twilight tilted her head "Jack, what do you mean?"
Jack stood and pointed his finger at her.
“Twilight... You're going to teach me magic!”
Living where the crossing life leads
Jack and Twi # 2: Jack a Human Documentary
Jack and Twi # 2: Jack a Human Documentary
“Hello there! My name is Twilight Sparkle!”
“And I’m Jack!” he said with his hands behind his back.
“Allow us to take this moment to give our thanks to You the readers for propelling our story forward into this nearing Milestone of 50 likes on FIMFiction.net!” Twilight nodded clapping her hands.
“Heck It ain't featured or somethin fancy like that and the writer ain’t exactly top notch so we’ll take what we can get” Jack smirked before getting a gentle nudge on the arm from Twilight.
“So with this we would like to present to you this Mini-story dedicated to all you great readers”
“And Animal Crossing fans! which are pretty scarce nowadays...” Jack followed up.
“And we hope you enjoy!”
“Seriously I played that game since the GameCube, before it was cool, does that make me some kind of hipster or somethin???”
“Jack focus...” Twilight snapped her fingers in his face
“Right...”
“Ehem... now keep in mind that these mini-stories are slightly unedited and share little to no continuity with the actual story, as they are just for fun”
“Right so all you people who care mostly for the plot and nothing else or all you grammar nazi’s out there can kindly STFU and exit the building”
“Jack your doing it again!” Twilight sclolded through gritted teeth.
“Oops sorry, Enjoy folks and don't forget to leave some crackerjack comments!”
“Ugh... Celestia help me...” Twilight sighed as she left the room.
“What, What did I say?” Jack followed.
=====================================================================
“Quiet serenity can be felt on the horizon... it is a brand new day in the calm sea-side town of Smashville... as local anthropomorphic animal townsfolk rise to the glistening sunlight... one creature still remains in the dark, waiting much longer to wake from his slumber, it is a creature of unparalleled mystery, intrigue, and what the people would describe as ‘manly’, join me as we delve into the habitat... of Jack the Human”
“Zzzzz.....” Jack snorted as he laid sprawled out in his bed.
“Here we are in the Human’s domain, scientifically known as a Homo Sapiens”
“Zzzzz....”
“The human’s domain is a dark and very cold place to be during these hours of the day, right over there we can see him laying dormant as we speak, lets see if we can get a closer look...”
Jack laid on his back his arms and legs stretched out wide.
“Observe the Human’s visual features closely, it's largemouth, it's bushy eyebrows, small ears and most noticeably it's orange triangular nose, which if looked at up front seems flat, but if examined sideways can be seen protruding in a triangular manner as well.
“Zzzzz...” Jack stiffled a yawn, opening his mouth.
“Ah, what an opportunity... take this moment to notice the features present in the Human’s mouth, as you can see it's frontal teeth resemble that of carnivorous species, yet it's hind teeth resemble herbivorous species, labeling it as an omnivorous species in itself... just look at those teeth, they look strong enough to chew through steel and then some!”
“Mmmm....” Jack turned on his side.
“Uh-oh, looks like this giant is close from climbing out of it's short daily hibernation cycle, better clear out of it's territory while we can”
"Mmmm...." Jack hummed as he brushed his teeth with a groggy look on his face.
"Here we are in the Human's washroom... like us Ponies they partake in daily morning routines like showering, brushing of teeth and other personal grooming habits.
"Hm?" Jack lazily looked at his door "....the fudge?..." he mumbled.
"That was close... having sensed our presence the Human is on a state of alert, let us wait out of sight until it feels safe enough to continue its routine..."
"Aww heck yes, nothing like a quadruple peanut butter, jelly, banana and nutella sandwich for that morning sweet tooth!"
"Remarkable... watch as the Human is about to indulge in a calorie bomb the size of a bowling ball..."
"Over the teeth and through the gums~" Jack chanted as she pressed the sandwich tighter in his hands "Look out stomach, here it comes!"
"Never in all my years have I seen anypony down a sandwich like that... amazing"
"Ahh...." Jack patted his stomach after leaving his plate clean "BUUUUURP!"
"Truly grotesque..."
"Hm???" Jack looked next to him "....Again... am I hearing things?" he scratched his head.
"Jack walked through the woods with his map in his hand. "Okay so I have three tree's to kill... five holes to cover, an acre of weeds to pull and a boulder to move from point A to point B.... this should be fun"
"Shhh... be very quiet... we are now perusing the Human as he prepares for the manual labors given to him by the town, in these hours of the day the Human will be more alert to sounds so I will be whispering for the remainder of the observation..."
"As you can see, Humans have the strange necessity of clothes all day everyday due to the lack of hair on their body's, "
Jack snickered as he approached the first tree "Good day to you sir.... and now prepare to die!"
"Here is another rare moment to behold... the human is reaching into its pockets... up to this day the Human pocket remains a mystery to all forms of science and magic due to its nature, now watch what comes next"
"Yeah I can probably read what your trying to tell me 'oh please spare me, I have so much to live for!' well to that I say bull fudge!" Jack taunted slowly pulling out his axe.
"Astounding... that is what makes the pocket defy logic, it is capable of unknown amounts of storage space as just witnessed, further studies must be conducted to make use of the pocket's properties for the benefit of pony kind..."
Jack swung his axe at the tree "Strike one! Strike two! Strike three!" the tree toppled over, landing on the ground with a loud crash. "Your out!"
"Did you just witness that? with just three swings of his tool the human managed to take a full grown tree down, such a terrifying amount of strength all packed into the simple anatomy of that body... is this what they call... manly?"
"Hm?" Jack paused as he heard something, he shot his glare towards some nearby bushes "Okay I know I heard something this time..." he slammed the axe down onto the fallen tree, sticking the blade end onto the bark before he walked over to the bushes.
"Alright who's there!?" Jack called out as he pushed the bushes aside "Huh? n-nobody's there..." he took a step back, he looked around cautiously before going for his axe.
"Fudge... I know I'm not hearing things... maybe I should just get these chores done quick and take the day off... yeah... maybe I can go see what Twilight's doing for her day off..." he nodded to himself before shouldering his axe, he took off into the woods.
"Phew... that was close... if it weren't for this hole in the ground and grass colored sheet I used to hide he would have found out my whereabouts, we now have a lot of ground to cover to reach the Human again"
"Grah!" Jack grunted as he lifted a boulder over his head "yeah! now to carry this over to the marked spot" he breathed heavily as he rested the boulder on his shoulders, he began to walk up a hill with it.
"... found him... pay close attention now, the Human is now using his beastly strength again to carry the boulder up a steep hill, why is he carrying it? where will he place it? lets find out..."
"Ah Jack! hello!" said mayor Tortimer, waiting for him at the top of the hill with a small crate beside him.
"Hey gramps! how's business?" Jack asked with a smile despite being weighed down by the boulder.
"Very good thank you for asking, you can put that down right here son" Tortimer pointed at the ground next to him, with a grunt Jack slammed the boulder down into the ground.
Jack then dusted his hands off "Anything planned to win us over for the upcoming elections?"
Tortimer looked up at him "Nope..."
"Nope?" Jack tilted his head.
"I wont be here for the next election... I think it's just about time I hung up this old hat of mine..." Tortimer stated with a smile.
"What!?" Jack exclaimed "I-I mean... is that so?..."
"Yes Jack... it is so..." Tortimer sighed as he reached into the crate next to him "for 50 years I've been mayor of this town since its founding... and I have seen a lot of people come and go"
Jack crossed his arms as he listened.
"So I'm thinking of finally retiring... maybe buy myself that island off the coast of town to relax for the rest of my years..."
"Whatever you want to do gramps... let me tell ya right now, my door's always open if you decide to drop by" Jack patted the old tortoise on the shoulder with a smile.
"Thank you Jack... now would you be so nice as to hammer this plaque on this stone for me?" Tortimer held up a metal plaque and a hammer.
"In memory of founder and mayor Tortimer " he read the plaque out loud "Hah... you never change gramps"
"Heh Heh Heh Horf!" Tortimer laughed "who knows? maybe one day you might be mayor of this fine town"
"Huh... somehow I don't see that happening anytime soon" Jack shook his head as he hammered the plaque into the boulder "There..."
Tortimer stifled a long yawn "Well, this has been a nice day... I think I'll end it with a cup of tea and a nap" he said while walking off.
"See you around sir!" Jack waved goodbye "Mayor Jack.... humph... don't really think I want that kind of responsibility" he said to himself
"I'm finally done with my chores... now what?" Jack rubbed his chin in thought "Hm!?" he turned his head as he heard more rustling, this time it was up in a tree.
Without any hesitation Jack drew his golden slingshot and aimed it at the tree.
"Eeep!!!" the one who yelped fell from the tree on her head "Uggghh...."
"Twilight!? What were you doing up there?" Jack scolded while lowering his weapon "you were the one following me all day!?"
"Oh-no! the human has spotted us! we must now make a quick get-away before its too late!"
"Is that my camera!? Twilight!" Jack gave chase with Twilight screaming the whole way.
"This has been Twilight Sparkle! and thanks for watching! somebody help!!!!"
"GET BACK HERE!!!"
Living where the crossing life leads
His finger descended like the barrel of a gun before his sight was set on Twilight. Her eyes crossed as she followed the finger’s decent before he decreed, “Twilight… You’re going to teach me magic…” His words hung in the air like gold as she stared at him in stunned awe. He was the mighty Jack, slayer of trees and the most popular guy in Smashville. There was no other more deserving of the ability to wield magic, and he would become the greatest wizard of all ti-...
His fantasy quickly dissolved as he found himself staring down at the laughing unicorn. Her eyes had become teary from her excessive chuckling, her forehead resting on the couch arm as she tried to stifle her laughter with one of the couch pillows.
“Teach you. Oh Celestia!” she broke into another bout of laughter when she managed to look at him again. Jack felt the sudden desire to break something as she succumbed to her giggle fit, but thankfully it only lasted a few minutes. Clearing her throat, and avoiding direct eye contact, she finally composed herself under Jack’s stern look.
“Finished?” Jack asked while bearing his fists, a grim warning about his current feelings.
“Uhmph! Sorry Jack. It’s just. Well you’re...you.” The resulting arm waving in his direction only helped in stoking his ire.
“Is there a problem with me?” The tone was all it took for her to carefully think over her next choice of words.
“Well technically there is Jack,” gently removing her bow she cleared her throat before continuing. “From all my studies in magic I’ve learned some key rules about using it. First is never attempt any new spells while Pinkie is around. That’s just asking for trouble. The second is that without a proper magical catalyst, one cannot weave spells. Instead the gathered energy disperses into the surrounding area causing random effects, and an abundance of side effects for the caster.” The two of them stared at each other for a minute, Jack nodding his head slowly, before Twilight sighed and gingerly tapped the cracked horn adorning her forehead. “If you don’t have a unicorn horn, you can’t use magic.”
“Ah!” he said as recognition flashed in his eyes. Even as Twilight placed a hand to her head, an impish smile appeared on his face. "Shows what you know.”
"Huh?"
Walking over to the fireplace with a swagger in his step, Jack continued to beam. Running a finger along the left side, a click and whirr was heard before the mantle extended and opened wide to reveal a hidden cupboard. Held within was a variety of ancient looking tomes, some with their titles displayed on the spine while others were barren besides a decorative design of animals and what seemed to be runes.
The unicorn's jaw practically reached the floor as she watched the curious mechanism reveal the contents it guarded. Even her eyes tripled in size before she walked past Jack for a closer look. "And I thought you humans were illiterate."
"I know right... wait?" Expecting praise, her response caught him off guard. Scratching his head the pieces quickly fell into place before he gave her an offended look. "Hey! I can so read you egghead!"
"Sorry Jack. I didn't mean that offensively.” Twilight said whirling around at the misunderstanding. A panic came over her thinking she may have ruined her chance to read such big, dusty, and otherworldly material. “I've just never seen you trying to read anything. I Just assumed you were illiterate, or tried to avoid it." Though she tried her best to show her sincerity, the books made it so difficult that she found her fingers beginning to fidget against her will.
Giving her a hard look, which made her even more anxious, he finally let her off the hook with a huff and wave of his hand. "Fair enough. I can't speak for others. If there are any. But I prefer reading books off the internet instead of having real books cluttering my house.”
"In-tear-net?” The word sounded so alien it took a moment before she showed recognition, and chuckled at the absurdity. "Why would someone use a net with a tear to read books? You’re just being silly today." Turning back to the precious literature, Twilight gave a concerned sigh before a particularly large leather bound tome with silver inlay of sigils made her ‘oh’ in interest. She eagerly tried to pry it from the cupboard grunting as it stubbornly refused to leave its place of rest, but she wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily. Placing one foot against the fireplace, she gripped the book with both hands before tugging. Straining from the effort, the thought of Spike doing this very task so easily passed through her thoughts before the book popped free. She flashed a victorious grin, before the book pinned her to the ground under its heavy weight. Struggling to escape, but not damage the book, she finally gave up and looked at Jack with pleading eyes.
“Firstly, the internet doesn’t trap people under first edition copies of ‘Apothecary guide to Flora and Fauna’.” He squatted down next to her, tapping the book cover teasingly. “Secondly, this silly person could just let the bibliophile find her own way out of this predicament because he didn’t like being made fun of…” Jack started to stand up before Twilight rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry I called you silly.”
“And?”
“Could you please help me.”
“Of course Twilight.” Adopting a smug grin, he easily lifted the book of her front and placed it on the nearby coffee table.
“Thanks,” she said before getting up and dusting off her skirt. “Could you possibly; please; help me put some of these books on the table so I can read them?”
“Sure. Seeing how you’ll probably need these to teach me magic, I’m pretty glad I stol- ahem! Bought these from Blathers.” One step ahead of her, he quickly deposited the first half of the books on the table before wiping the dust from his hands with a few claps.
Feeling overwhelmed by the sudden increase in possible reading material, Twilight happily went to work organizing them into a reading order after taking a seat on the couch. Coming across what seemed to be the newest addition to the collection she paused to look it over. It was written by someone named J.K. Rolling and had the image of three figures in the middle of a pile of treasure. The one in the center stood out from the other two due to his glasses and crescent moon scar.
"Hmm... Harry Potter?" she tilted her head her head inquisitively as she opened to the prologue, hoping to find out more about the contents.
"Yes, Harry Potter!" Jack said as he pulled another book out of his cupboard and into the second pile building in his grip. "It’s the last of the series and its about magic, witches, wizards, weird potions, and even weirder creatures that will make your skin crawl!"
"Interesting..." Twilight said before she shut the book, putting it aside so she could read it later. "But what does this have to do with me teaching you magic?”
"Don't tell me you don't see the big picture already!” he said before the pile in his arm nearly toppled. “A week ago everything I knew about reality was challenged when you first arrived. Magic is real! Its like waking up and having superpowers!"
“Really,” she said raising her head from one of the open books to give him a skeptical look. Seeing she was already a third of the way through Jack took a moment to wonder if she was actually reading, or just trying to show off.
“Yes!” Dumping the second load of books on the table, she shot him a disapproving look when they tumbled onto her page. “If you can travel through dimensions on a whim-” Seeing the look progress further to a stern librarian’s, he rolled his eyes before moving the books out of her way. “...with the right spell ! I’m sure you can teach a human magic. You even said I was part of the mythology of this Equestria place, and I’m standing right here, real as day!"
“I’m just not sure that it’s possible, or even safe for that matter.” she answered before what Jack said next had her ears perking up.
“And here I thought you’d want to get some fascinating report about your studies to see if humans could manipulate magic or not. I’m sure Princess Celestia would be so proud of her best student for discovering totally new things, and sharing her knowledge with others...”
Twilight jumped out of her seat excitedly, her thoughts easily shown on her face as his words sunk in. Hook, line and sinker , Jack snickered in thought before she grabbed his hands
“Do you really think so! Omigosh! I could be the first unicorn to ever have a human apprentice,” she looked him over skeptically again as she spoke. “Even if it turns out you can’t.”
"And I’ll be able to turn Seth into a frog like he deserves"
“What was that?”
“Nothing! I just think it’s getting a little late... I’ll lug these up to your room and then we can start training in the morning,” he said avoiding her questioning by grabbing a armful of books and hurrying up the stairs.. “I’ll get you home with my magic skills in no time flat!”
Twilight giggled at his excitement, feeling nostalgic. Watching him running up the stairs with the books, she imagined a small lavender filly acting the same way after becoming Celestia’s personal student. "You're really such a silly guy…” she said. He disappeared up the stairs, before she wiped a small tear from her eye with the palm of her hand. ”...But thank you Jack... For everything.”
Standing victorious over the groveling wolf, Jack stood with one foot on Seth’s head as glowing sparks danced between his fingers and an unseen crowd shouted his name over and over. Beside him was a huge golden trophy with a plaque saying ‘Jack The greatest at everything and the manliest man alive!’
Under his foot he heard Seth whine before saying, “I was wrong to ever challenge you. Not only are you the better man, you are more worthy of her then I.” Still prostrated before him, Seth’s hand motioned to the side where a curtain parted to reveal Twilight wearing the kimono from the festival.
She blushed as Jack looked at her, admiring the geta sandals and hiyoku that had been added to her attire. She slowly stepped towards him with her hand outstretched, her lavender coat smelling of the delicate flower it resembled. Her blush became even more prominent when Jack took his foot of the wolf and meet her halfway, gently bringing her hand to his lips before kissing it.
“Well this is pretty awkward. Most people don’t kiss when they first meet, or even on the first date” Twilight said in a strange voice before the surroundings vanished, and Jack found himself kissing a chubby ghost’s hand. Too stunned to move, Jack just stood partly bowed while the ghost pounded its chest with it’s other hand and coughed. “Pardon me, I think I’m getting a bit of a frog in my throat.”
With his arms pinwheeling, Jack finally fell backwards on his rump and started to scoot backwards in fright. “G-g-g-g-g-ghost!” he shouted with a finger pointed at the ghost. The ghost screamed and turned where Jack had pointed, before turning around with a unhappy look on his oversized lips.
“Don’t scare me like that!” the spirit said. He wrapped both hands around his middle as he scolded Jack, who had quickly gotten to his feet during the distraction. “Ghosts are scary and I don’t like them. And after all this trouble to get into your dreams to talk to you Jack. I could’ve had a heart attack if you really were possessed.”
“What are you? How did you get in my head? And-and why did you give me such a weird dream?” Jack finally blurted out before the ghost could babble anymore. Standing with his own arms crossed Jack waited tensely for an answer.
“Oh! Right, introductions. I am Wisp, the genie!” Two weak puffs of smoke appeared at his side as he raised his hands, before they fizzled out almost immediately. Looking embarrassed the genie repeated the same motion. Instead of smoke, it sounded like someone farted. “...We lamp spirits really need to work on our entrances. Anyway, I got in here because supposedly you help others in need. You see. I’ve kinda, sorta, probably left my lamp somewhere and forgot where it was. I used some of my magic to enter your subconscious to ask you for help.”
“So you couldn’t just knock on the door and say. ‘Hey Jack, I heard you’re a real helpful guy and thought you could help me. Maybe I think it’s really rude that you decided to jump into my head and made it seem like I was interested in that egghead. Maybe I’ll say n-”
“If you find my lamp, I’ll have enough magic to grant you one wish.” Wisp added twiddling his weird arms together as he looked off to the side nonchalantly.
“As I was saying. Of course I’m willing to help you. Just what kinda lamp we talking about here. I’ve got some nice electric one’s downstairs, and one of those old funky lava lamps somewhere. Any of those interest you?”
“Not really” the genie said although the last option seemed to be intriguing him. “It needs to be my lamp you see, it sorta boosts my magic powers and I have all my stuff in it. It’s easy enough to find out if it’s mine if you give it a rub, it shoots out fireworks after I upgraded to the deluxe model.” His arms dangled in front of him as Jack watched. Thinking about it, wasn’t he more transparent than before?
“Thanks anyway...” Yawning the genie regained some substance. “I’ve been holed up in a conch shell for the last few days. It’s difficult to sleep properly in a spirally shell, especially with those pesky crabs trying to drag me out with their little pincers. Terrible little things I tell you. One even tried to take my precious hat before I tossed him in the sea.”
“Can’t you just move?” Jack pointed out. It seemed simple. Lift the shell somewhere safe, or just find somewhere better to stay until the shell was found. Wisp’s ‘are you crazy’ look though made him wonder what he’d missed. Rolling his eyes, the genie started another rant. It was starting to remind him of how Twilight acted when she tried to prove a point. “... They’re like limp noodles.” Wisp said while he waved his arms to demonstrate. They did infact bend like wet noodles, and that display was the only reason Jack managed to catch the last part of Wisp’s rant. “I could also sleep inside somebody's mind, but I need their permission first.”
“Wait. So if I gave you permission, you’d be able to move into my body?” This gave him an idea. If the genie was with him all the time, maybe he’d find the lamp quicker. And that meant getting his wish quicker to
“Well yes, but there are some side effects that you should-”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Jack said while mimicking Wisp’s mouth with his hand. “Do you want to sleep in an uncomfortable shell, with crabs trying to kick you out. Or live in one of the greatest people in Smashville for awhile”
“You mean Nook?”
“No!” he answered without thinking. He quickly tried to cover-up the mistake incase the genie decided to spread rumours later, or offer his mentor the proposition instead. “I mean me. Nook’s a great guy, but he’s way too busy with important stuff to be of help. I, Jack, give you temporary permission to live in me. Just no trying to make me look like a fool, or making my body move in weird ways. Got it!”
“Sure. Well, I guess so. Are you really sure?” Wisp seemed flustered by the whole chain of events’ before another yawn made the decision easier to make. Puffing himself up to look as mystic as he could, he crossed his arms before saying in a booming voice, “the great and powerful Wisp accepts Jack’s hospitality, and agrees to the conditions.” Ending with another yawn, his eyes drooped a little as he started to fade. “So I’m gonna go sleep now. Wake me up when you find something. Um... out of curiosity, what do you want to wish for?" Wisp managed to ask before he nearly vanished.
“A roller coaster,” Jack said quickly. His eye twitched slightly as he grinned at Wisp.
"So for your wish. You want a roller... coaster?” Wisp felt taken aback by the tremendous request. Usually he helped people by completing everyday tasks, but a roller coaster just seemed selfish.
"Yeah! It’ll be ginormous, be super fast, and have at least two loop-de-loops." Jack said before spreading his arms wide. "I can picture it now. Lines of people looking to ride, a complimentary barf bag for each rider, and a slogan. ‘Mangles your spine, leave your money behind!’"
“Yes... of course. If a roller coaster is what you want then a roller coaster you shall have!" Wisp said with a nod. “I’ll be off to sleep then. Good morning.”
"See ya then" Jack waved as Wisp went on his way, a little confused by his last words.
"Oh, and by the way..." the genie seemed to force himself awake as he stared intently at Jack, and inhaled deeply. "Wake up!"
“Wake up Jack!” Practically dragging Jack out of bed, Twilight gave his leg another tug as he groggily muttered about wanting five more minutes. Huffing loudly she looked at plan b, taking a moment to fantasize about her premeditated wake-up plan. "We need to start you on the basics.”
"The genie was going to give me a wish… need to sleep." Mumbling as he curled the bed sheet around him, a content sigh escaped his lips as he heard her huff. The only warning of the icy water that followed was the creaking of a metal hinge as the bucket was upended on him, before the bucket was dropped on his head. “GAH! what the fudge!?” Flailing around blindly and soaked to the skin, Jack fell off the bed as he tried to pry the bucket loose. After a great deal of struggling, and running into the corner of his bedside table, he managed to finally get free. Just in time to see Twilight pull the third photo free from one of his cameras.
“Awake?” she asked with a smile as he glared at her. She casually waved the photos, letting them quickly develop.
“Why you little…” he barked at her. he was about to take the bucket and let Twilight experience a similar embarrassment, but the photos gave him pause. “...wait. What are you doing with those?”
“Consider them incentive. If you want to learn magic, we’re doing it my way. Can’t give you marks for anything, if you manage to do something, and I’m not really classified as a teacher anyway. So you’ll be working to earn these. Otherwise… I might just let Brewster have these.”
“That’s blackmail!” Jack growled.
“Without this much, you won’t put your all into it. Also, I’ve wanted to use this method since I saw how quick Applejack taught Winona how to roll-over with a few treats.” she said before heading out of the room. “Now hurry-up, I still need to finish the list of chores for today.”
Grumbling as he cleaned up the mess of wet sheets and a few items that had fallen, he tried to recall who this Winona was as he went through a mental list of her friends from the Equestria place. When it finally dawned on him, he just dropped everything and facepalmed.
She is going to have sooo much work tomorrow , gritting his teeth as the cold water evaporated from the heat of his anger. Hearing a loud whistle from upstairs he quickly dressed in a dry set of clothes before taking the stairs two at a time. He was already thinking something in the weeding department by the time he’d reached the main floor. That’s when he got his second surprise for the morning. “Where’s all my stuff!?” Seeing not only the rooms’ furnishings gone, Jack nearly had a heart attack before Twilight pointed to a leaf pile in the corner.
“They were taking up too much space and I needed the room for the desk and blackboard.” she explained as he started going through each leaf to make sure nothing was missing. “I also hide all the clocks so you wouldn’t get distracted while you learn the basics of magic.”
Completely overwhelmed by the reversal of roles, Jack didn’t know whether to be angry about her complete disregard for the three rules, or excited that he’d learn how to make fire balls come out of his hand. One thing was for sure though, he didn’t want to know how Twilight had gotten her hands on the blackboard and desk. More so because he didn’t remember giving her the bells to buy them. Not wanting to pry, incase he heard something he didn’t want to, he took his seat as Twilight started writing on the board.
“Today I’ll be teaching you the basics of magic, starting with origin and common uses…” Making some diagrams on the board as she started the lesson, Jack noticed she’d wrote ‘Ms. Twilight Sparkle’ in the corner with a small star next to it. He could already tell this was going to be boring. “Magic is a natural essence that surrounds living, and in some disturbing cases, dead organisms. Although the exact time of it’s discovery is uncertain, some unicorn historians believe it created by raw energy in the air being affected by strong emotions and traits, or by being assisted by certain materials. Love, hate, joy and sadness are some of the most common emotions that fuel the catalyst. The best example of this catalyst being used to full effect is the elements of harmony in Equestria, a set of six crystals that direct these traits to a single unicorn to create spells of unimaginable power. Personally, I theorize it would allow pegasi and earth ponies to instead strengthen their unique abilities...” she jotted down keywords on the board as she droned on. She’d been talking for only forty-five minutes, and Jack already felt like hitting his head against the desk to alleviate his boredom.
“...The only known creatures to use magic in its pure form is unicorns and alicorns,” she quickly circled the two titles before crossing off the other three. “Pegasi and Earth; and humans for all I know; do not have that ability.” Seeing Jack’s raised hand, she paused. “Yes Jack?”
“What about genies?” he asked as she chuckled.
“Genies are fictional Jack. It’s impossible for a single creature, not to mention fictional ones, to grant any wish on their own. Mythological creatures like that are impossible in reality. Why do you ask.” Jack opened his mouth to tell her about his dream, but it sounded absurd and crazy now that he thought about it. “No reason Ms. Sparkle.”
Waiting incase he had any more questions or remarks, she finally cleared her throat before continuing. “Alright then. Continuing on, the most use for magic in modern times is for detail work, like opening doors and lifting quills, along with supplying temporary power to special motors, like a enviromental form of battery. Sometimes magic can even be bundled into a condensed ball, and shot into the sky to make fireworks. The lower atmosphere makes the magic become unstable before…”
Jack hardly heard a word she said as he danced through a forest of dead trees, each swing of his golden ax cutting trees down left and right. Slowly the surroundings began to thin as he started to notice black roots sticking out of the ground. They were nearly as big as his arm, and the tree they came from was nowhere in sight. Getting closer, he heard a Super Mario theme song start. That’s when he saw it, the mother of all dead trees. A small ding was heard before he noticed words appear in the air. Boss battle. Ready… fight! Gripping his ax Jack jumped on a boulder for extra height, lifted the ax over his head and ju--
A sharp rap to his shin made him look down from his desktop perch to see Twilight looking up at him with displeasure. “Jack! Are you even listening?” Watching as he returned to his seat, she continued to scold him. “This is all basic magic knowledge you need to know before putting it into practice. I have half-a-mind to make you sit in the time-out corner.” She pointed to a lone stool that had been placed in the corner, making Jack wonder just how old she thought he was.
“Okay… So can I try to make the magics? I’ve learned so much already from listening to your delightful lecture. How about letting me try to use my magic.” Hoping to get around to something hands on, and perhaps escape the boredom of more lectures, Jack tried to look as truthful as he could to soften her up.
“Alright then,” she said before disappearing into the kitchen. Jack silently fist pumped behind her back in victory, quickly hiding it when she returned with an apple and the kitchen table’s leaf. He almost didn’t catch her smirk as she reactivated the leaf and placed the apple on top of the table.
“You’ll be trying to perform a level one levitation spell. For this spell you will need to channel the magic surrounding you to cover the surface of the apple and gently lift it a foot in the air...”
“Right! Lets do this!” Jack excitedly said before she continued.
“... If you don’t manage to do this you’ll have to write up a four page report, single spaced, explaining why you couldn’t lift the apple with the proper spell and do all my chores for the day.” She smiled smugly at him and he knew she’d called his bluff, but extra work was still better than continuing the lecture.
“I agree, but if it does work, we continue the lessons the way I want them done. Especially the time the lessons start. Deal?” Jack leaned back in his seat as he waited for her answer. They locked gazes, neither wanting to back down. Finally Twilight scrunched up her nose before walking over and holding out her hand.
“Deal!” Taking her hand, Jack shook it with a grin. Even if he failed, he’d at least escaped the rest of her lecture. Oddly enough, Twilight seemed just as relieved before stepping behind him, leaving the apple in clear view.” “Just concentrate on the apple Jack,” she instructed. Walking up next to him he noticed she'd crossed her fingers, unsure if she was wishing him luck or hoping he was going to do her chores.
Taking a deep breathe, Jack closed his eyes. He imagined the apple, bright red with only a small stem, and pictured the same glow Twilight’s magic had covering it. When the apple was fully covered in his mind, he used all his mental strength to imagine the apple floating above the tabletop. Seconds ticked past as he closed his eyes tighter and tighter waiting for a magical feeling to tell if it was working or not. Instead, Twilight answered his thoughts with a disappointed, “nothing’s happening.”
“What?” Jack opened his eyes to find that the apple was still sitting on the table.
“I knew this wasn’t going to work…” Twilight sighed with her head over Jack’s shoulder.
“Maybe I can’t concentrate because you’re leaning up on me.”
“Why would that make it hard to concentrate?” she asked before stepping back when Jack got out of his seat and walked over to the table.“I don’t think that’ll he-””
“Abra-kadabra! Alla-kazoo! Shazam!” Jack shouted randomly as he took different poses, a vein popping out of his forehead with each failed attempt.“Fus-Ro-Dah!” he finally shouted, making the apple topple when he brought a fist down on the oak table.
Twilight shook her head slowly as she recognized the attempts for what they were. “Jack… you’re not going to move the apple with random magic words either.” she sighed as she walked towards the stairs, wanting to give him some privacy for a while “Well… at least we can’t say we didn’t try. We’ll continue in the morrow, but for now I’m going to get my chore list. You can come help when you’re ready.” Jack didn’t seem to register the words as he stood next to the table, his eyes glued to the apple with a bitter dislike. “Sorry Jack… our only option now is to just wa-” she stopped mid sentence, a tingle running down her spine, before she quickly turned around.
Then she heard Jack growl. “Are you okay?” she asked as she felt the tingling grow stronger as she looked as him. Nothing looked different, but something in the room’s atmosphere had changed.
“No…” Jack gritted his teeth, his fists curled tightly. “You fudging fruit… you made me wake up early in the morning, you sit your stupid red butt on that table, you crushed Twilight’s hopes of getting home so she can tell everybody about the great me.” Hearing that, Twilight momentarily forgot about the tingling and rolled her eyes as he continued in a low whisper,
“...and worst of all… you made me angry.” Twilight suddenly felt the need to hide up in her room under her blankets. For some reason she didn’t dare say a single word, and even though Jack’s building rage wasn’t directed at her, she felt as if she was being stared down by one of her pegasus pony friend forever, Fluttershy.
“There’s absolutely no way I’m going to let you stand in my way!” Jack declared while pointing at the apple, glaring death and damnation at the fruit. "Consiga doblado bocas!” In response to his outburst, the fruit itself had an outburst of its own. It coated the surroundings in a glistening coat of apple juice and pulp, leaving Jack and Twilight stunned and sticky. There was a moment of silence as they tried to process what just happened. Wiping the applesauce from her face, Twilight was the first to break the silence.
"By Celestia…”
“Oh fudge!” Jack stumbled back before falling hard on his backside. “I-I blew up the sun. Oh gods what have I done. I've doomed the world to eternal darkness! Can anybody fix this!" he lamented with his hands to the heavens. Still a little stunned, Twilight walked over to Jack and wiped some of the apple off his face. Seeing he had not in fact blown up the sun, his cheeks turned a deep crimson as he idly scratched the side of his chin. "Uh... I totally meant to do that... was that a levitation spell?" Getting to his feet quickly, he tried to brush off the remaining fruit to retain what dignity he had left.
“I-I don’t know,” she answered. “It wasn’t a levitation spell, but it definitely was something... wait a minute. You did something! Do you even know what this means?” Twilight’s ears perked up as she realized the significance.
“I’m going to have to clean for hours.” Jack grumbled before he wiped some apple off the table with his index finger and stuck it in his mouth. “Mmm, macintosh,” he salivated slightly before putting another helping in his mouth.
“You just used magic!” Twilight shouted excitedly before tackling him in a wet, and very saucy, hug. “I honestly didn’t think you could, but you did!” Tensing under her grip, he tried vainly to get some space before he flicked her on the forehead. “What was that for?” Escaping when she rubbed the sore spot, he inwardly shuddered before wiping his front. Jack then snickered as he crossed his arms “Guess I can use magic miss know-it-all. I told you I don’t need no stinking lectures.”
“And I guess this means we have a lot more work to do.” Twilight smirked back, mimicking his pose. The smirk became a grimace when she felt the wet, sticky fur press against her skin. “Starting with another shower and outfit.” Pulling her arms apart, she held them awkwardly as she walked to the steps and disappeared to the second floor.
“ Hey, wait a second!” He nearly slipped on some of the apple as he stumbled to the steps. Grabbing hold of the banister to regain his balance, Jack pointed to the mess before shouting, “you still need to clean this up!”
Her head popped into view from the top of the stairs with a grin on her face before she answered. “You lost the bet Jack, that means that this is ‘your’ mess to clean. I’m going to go to the museum today.”
“I don’t even like apples!” Jack grumbled before a piece of the core fell from the ceiling and bounced off his head.
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Living where the crossing life leads
Jack and Twi #3: Twilights Pixel connundrum
Jack and Twi #3: Twilights Pixel connundrum
The lights flashed to life in the Man cave.
“Alright Twilight, today I have a special task for you” said Jack as he walked down the stairs.
“Something to do with the Man cave huh? you know I’m not allowed to be in here by your rules” Twilight stated as she walked in after Jack.
“Exactly, their my rules, so you can forget rule number two only for today” he said as he began to circle the room.
“Alright, if you say so...” Twilight said flatly “this room is pretty interesting though, maybe you could give me a tour?” she asked with a smile.
“Hmmm... Sure, why not” he indicated her to follow with a wave as he walked towards one corner of the room “the Man Cave as you can clearly see, is a room where I keep my most prized possessions, some of them rare, others of very high value and others that would just make a normal person freak the fudge out”
“Glad to know that you're not a normal person then” Twilight remarked before giggling to herself.
“Please hold all dumb remarks until the end of the tour please” Jack said as he circled towards another corner “the Man Cave is divided into three sections for my own entertainment purposes”
Jack made a quick stop, there was a set of black colored sofas set up in a square next to the main entrance, pressed up against the wall in between two of them were three vending machines, one for salty snacks, one for sweet snacks and a last one for hot and cold beverages. There was also a cube-like bookcase with comic books lined up in the center of the area.
“This is the snack zone, this is where I can take a load off after a long day’s work, have some snacks or beverages and or read a good comic book off of my personal collection”
Twilight walked up to one of the vending machines “wow... a lot to choose from...” she browsed through the sweet snacks first, she stopped midway as something caught her attention.
“what's this?” she asked as she eyed a red box with a picture of sticks, they seemed to be dipped in chocolate.
“Thats pocky, here have some” Jack went up and pushed a red button at that particular snack, a clunk sound went off at the bottom.
“Aww, chocolates for a Mare? you're too kind” Twilight joked around as she opened the box.
A vein popped on Jack’s forehead as he turned to the drinks machine “don't push it Twilight...” he grumbled as he pressed a blue button on it “Brewster, I’ll have the usual” he spoke to it.
“Huh?” Twilight tilted her head “is Brewster in that machine?”
“In a can Jack?” Brewster’s voice spoke back at him.
“I’m kinda thirsty... can you send me a whole pint of it?” Jack pushed the button again as he spoke.
“He is!” Twilight gasped, after a few seconds a pint glass dropped into a seethrough cylinder, Jack then opened it and grabbed the glass by the handle.
“He’s not in the machine Twilight, I’m talking to him through an intercom” Jack said before he took a big gulp out of his drink.
“In-tear what?” she scratched her head “and what's that you're drinking?” she asked before she curiously sniffed his glass.
“Hey! keep your nose out of my drink!” Jack scowled at her before shoving her face away.
“I don't want to drink any of your cooties...”
“Ow!” Twilight rubbed her muzzle “hold on, did you just say cooties?”
Ignoring her question, Jack pushed the blue button again on the machine “Hey Brewster, can you send me some more? this time in a can”
After getting her drink they continued on with the tour, walking down the room Twilight was able to get a closer look at all the knickknacks and strange artifacts decorating the room.
“The second zone, or rather, the entire room, is where I keep all my displayed items, stylish headgear, action figures and the occasional fish tank or two” Jack pointed over at the tanks, as they walked closer they could see one tank filled with colorful exotic fish and another housed a great white shark circling around in it's own tank.
“Uhhh... Jack?” Twilight paused with a scared look on her face as she looked at the seamonster pacing around in it's tank “You do know that these are dangerous right?”
The shark in the tank stopped as it saw Twilight, turning on it's side it eyed her curiously.
Feeling rather intimidated she waved nervously, the shark seeing this gave a sharp toothed grin.
“Aww... he likes me?” Twilight smiled back with some of the tension lifted off her, that is until the shark began to swim rapidly in a circle, gaining momentum as it did “Huh?”
With a humongous splash the shark threw itself out of it's tank and into the air, aiming it's body at her like a missile the beast opened it's gaping mouth ready to chomp down on Twilight, who stood there paralyzed in fear
Ahhhhh!!!!
*WHACK!!!* *SPLASH!!!*
“Bad Bruce!” opening her eyes Twilight saw Jack standing in front of her while waving a wet rolled up newspaper at the shark, who was apparently named Bruce.
“How many times to I have to tell you? No eating the guests!” Bruce cowered in a corner as Jack scolded him.
Twilight stood there with a disturbed look on her face "now I dont know who to fear more... him for the shark..." she thought out loud.
"What was that?" Jack questioned while turning his gaze towards her
"Oh nothing!" Twilight looked away before she spotted something familiar “Hey! What can you tell me about this?” she asked while pointing at a purple mask encased under a glass box.
“Ah-yes, that would be Majora’s Mask”
“Who’s Majora?” Twilight eyed the mask closely as she walked up the the glass case.
“Don't know” Jack answered with a simple shrug “I bought it off some traveling mask merchant with a huge backpack, said it was some ancient artifact used for hexing rituals, it looked interesting enough for me...”
Looking at the mask Twilight began to get this eerie chill as she stared directly into it's burning orange eyes, coupled with it's piercing green irises, even with the lights on it looked creepy.
“May I take a closer look?” she inquired while feeling a little gutsy.
“Sure, go right ahead” Jack crossed his arms as Twilight opened the glass.
Slowly reaching in for the artifact the room began to feel silent. The moment Twilight’s fingers made contact with the mask she gave a sigh of relief to see that nothing happened as she held it in her hands.
“Ah... for a moment there I thought--” Twilight stopped mid-sentence.
“Thought what?” Jack tilted his head, she just stood there, without a response.
“Hm... wierd...” Jack scratched his head “well, I better put this back now”
The moment Jack picked the mask out of Twilight’s hands she came to, gasping for air, she quickly got down on the floor.
“Are you okay?” Jack blinked while Twilight was curled up on the floor, shivering as if she had been locked in a freezer for a week.
“Horrible..... Horrible.....” she whispered over and over “I saw... a town.... the moon.... fire.... black letters...” her eyes welled up as she laid there terrified.
“Come on! we don't have time to fool around!” Jack scowled.
“you have met with a terrible fate haven't you?” she whispered as she was then being dragged across the floor by her tail.
“Snap out of it, I’m about to give you your task for today”
“Huh? what is it?” finally pulling herself off the ground she found herself amazed yet again as she stood next to Jack.
“Behold!” Jack threw up his arms “The Archive Of Power!” his voice echoed through the room as they stood before a massive book shelf that covered the whole wall, the endless amount of CD cases and cartridges surrounded the small space in the center where a 40 inch LED screen Tv was nestled alongside many game consoles, following the ends of the bookshelf sat several arcade machines that lined up from end to end
Twilight stood in awe for a moment, seeing this and the expression on Jack’s face she knew that he was very proud of this collection, just as she was proud of the collection of books in her library “So these are what you call Videogames?” she asked as she walked up to the towering shelf.
“Yep! This Archive is my personal game collection, over 10 different arcade cabinets, 30 home consoles and 10,000 games in all. Spanning over 41 years of gaming history!”
“41 years? not as old as some books I have, but still very old...” Twilight looked up before reaching out and picking out a random cartridge, the label on it said, Ghost & Goblins
“These don't look like anything you can play with...”
“Thats because you have to pop them into a system dumb-dumb” Jack said, snatching the game out of her hand “This here’s an NES cartridge, and what you use for this is the ol’ Nes here”
Twilight watched as Jack inserted the game into the strange gray box, he turned the Tv on and with a click the screen showed the game.
“Ah!” startled by the images on the screen she hid behind the sofa “What kind of Magic is that??” she questioned as she peeked from behind the sofa.
Jack smirked as he turned the game off and the Tv as well “Thats on a need to know basis, right now you will concentrate on your task, to alphabetize all the games In The Archive Of Power!”
Twilight’s eyes widened “All these?” she gulped as she looked at the shelf “without my magic?...” she whispered the last part before Jack went up the stairs.
“Have fun!” he snickered.
*6 hours later*
“Zzzz....” Jack snored on his easy chair with his Gameboy on his lap, the game was still turned on as he had dozed off mid-play.
“Mmm... Guuhh...” Jack groggily opened his eyes, after switching off the neglected Gameboy he got off his chair, scratching his butt he looked at his watch “Time to go see how the Egghead is doing”
Making his way down the stairs he could hear familiar electronic noises from behind the door.
“The Fudge??” Opening the door he spotted Twilight sitting on the rugg, an NES controller nestled tightly in her hands “Oh she didn't...” he scowled as he stomped his way over to her.
“Twilight! What do you think you're doing!?” Jack interrogated Twilight, looking up at the screen she was playing the game he had placed in the system before he went upstairs.
Twilight seemed unresponsive as she sat there as she kept mashing the buttons rapidly on the controller, Scoffing at this Jack went over to the shelf “.....huh...” his temper quickly went out as he looked from left to right.
“Holy fudge, she actually did all the work... and rather nicely” Jack rubbed his chin before looking back at Twilight “I gotta hand it to you Egghead, you organize a mean shelf... Twilight?” looking back at the screen he noticed that she was already far into the game.
“Hmm... she seems pretty good at it” Jack blinked, he waved his hands in front of her eyes, still getting no response from her “Oh... don't tell me...” he facepalmed.
*4 hours earlier*
“Phiew... I finally did it...” Twilight wiped her forehead proudly at the job well done, stepping down from the sliding ladder she plodded over to the Tv “Hmmm...” feeling curious she followed the steps she remembered from Jack to turn it on and start the game.
“Lets see what all the fuss Jack makes is about...” Twilight said, grabbing the controller that was neatly coiled up on the system.
*Now*
“NES fever...” Jack sighed as he walked over to the system “I hate to do this to you... Pffftt, who am I kidding?” Jack chuckled as he shut the system off.
“AHHHHH!!!!” Twilight shrieked in terror, making Jack double over while covering his ears.
“WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?” Twilight screamed bloody murder at him as she sprang up and tried to flail her feeble arms at him.
Jack then quickly flicked her nose, making her lose her balance and fall back on the couch “Sorry Twilight, I had to, you were in a near comatose state from playing too much Ghosts & Goblins...”
Twilight rubbed her aching nose, she laid her head back “Ughh... really? I can't remember anything...” she then looked at him “why do I feel so... awake?”
Jack then cracked a smile “Congratulations Twilight...” he said “You’ve just discovered Video Games...”
Living where the crossing life leads
After hours of work, Jack finally let himself collapse on the sofa. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he wished he hadn’t accepted that bet with Twilight. The apple had gone everywhere and after cleaning it he’d had to put all the furniture back into place before getting to the rest of his and Twilight’s work. She even had the nerve to wave at him from one of The Roost’s tables when he picked up a bag of coffee beans for Nook.
“Totally making her weed,” Jack mumbled to himself while glancing at the written report on the coffee table, the final and most degrading part of the bet. There was a silver lining though. Twilight never said the essay had to contain proper english. The bad grammar and shortened word was a petty form of revenge, and sure to make the bibliophile unicorn cringe.
Sighing, Jack sat in silence as he tried to think of stuff to do. He wasn't really up for video games and Alfonso hadn't left his house all day, although he'd noticed some odd noises coming from the gator's house. Even Seth had been oddly quiet recently. Counting off other possible ideas on his fingers, a subtle noise made Jack's head perk up. Scrabbling off the couch, he rushed to the front door and slammed it open, startling the white pelican by his mailbox. "Hey Pete! Delivering the mail again I see.”
Obviously not expecting him, Pete quickly readjusted his courier bag while organizing the contents. “Hey there Jack. How ya doing today?” he asked, lifting the mailbox's flag so it started beeping. Pete paused momentarily after doing so, a look saying, Why did I do that? crossing his face.
"Pretty bored, wish I’d be better," Jack said with a small wave. Leaning on the mailbox, Jack dropped the flag and pulled out the new mail. "So any spam letters today?" he asked before receiving a shrug from the pelican in response. Stopping midway through the pile, Jack smirked before holding up a pile of flyers.
"Well you know how it is with advertising,” Pete said as he adjusted his satchel. “Wish I had time to chat more, but I have mail to deliver. See you around Jack.” Raising a wing, Pete gave a curt wave before waddling off in the direction of the next house.
Waving, Jack called after him, "Make sure you don't overwork yourself! I really don't want to get stuck with mail duty again anytime soon,” Jack then shuffled through the rest of his mail with mild interest. Walking back into the house, Jack discarded the mail on a table before tossing the pile of flyers into the trash. It wasn't until they left his hand that something peculiar in the pile caught his eye, almost as peculiar as Twilight's first letter. Pulling the black envelope from the trash, Jack looked it over but only found his name printed across the front in block letters without any address. Carefully removing the content, Jack gave it a puzzled look. The letter had been composed using cut out letters from flyers making a message that read, mEet mE at THe Roost at 3:00. CoMe aloNe.'
Jack’s eyes scrolled over the message as his curiosity grew. Just who in the fudge would send such a letter, much less one that was calling him out. He then grimaced before looking behind him at the living room clock. Seeing 2:50, he grabbed his denim jacket from the coat rack before rushing out the door and barrelling into a familiar face.
The honey bear quickly pulled away from the door's peephole before idly twirling a stray lock of hair with her paw. “Hi Jack. I thought you were out,” Maple said with a smile, making Jack cringe internally. “So how has your day been going?” she asked as he brushed past her, before skipping down the walkway behind him. "Mine's been fun, especially now that we can spend some time together."
"Great" Jack muttered in a sarcastic tone, "Just my luck” Much to his annoyance, Maple only giggled from the sour response.
“I’m happy to hear that!” Maple said before snuggling up to him. As if he was dismantling a bomb, Jack slowly pried her paws loose as they walked, until her next sentence stopped him dead in his tracks.
"...I almost forgot to ask you! Have you met the new pony that moved into town? I think her name was Twilight.”
Jack’s blood went cold as he felt sweat bead on his brow. “T-Twilight? Never heard of her,” he lied instinctively, he then chastised himself mentally for stuttering after Maple gave him a strange look. “Really? She just moved here a week ago,” Maple said, freeing a paw to scratch her head.
“You don’t say?” Jack said, his pokerface finally surfacing.
“Yeah! And she’s very friendly too. Just yesterday I let her borrow my whiteboard because she was going to teach math to Teddy.” Maple continued, letting go of Jack's arm to brush another stray lock off her face.
“Oh, really?” Jack said with an inquisitive look, not missing the fact that miss goodie-two-shoes Twilight had fibbed. Maybe she'd actually learned something during her time with him. Clever Girl... he thought with a smirk. Carefully making some space between himself and the clingy bear before Maple could grab his arm again.
“Uh-huh,” she nodded energetically, “so if you happen to meet her could you make sure to ask about the whiteboard for me.”
“Yeah. Sure. Whatever,” Jack quickly answered before palming his forehead. “Oh dear. It seems I forgot the oven on." Taking a few steps down the road, he waved to Maple as she shot him a confused look.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Maple called after him. “Isn't your house here?”
“I meant Alfonso’s oven! Stay away from my house!” Jack yelled back as he kept running, leaving Maple scratching her head at the end of his walkway.
*3:20 pm*
The beach subtly echoed with the sound of crashing waves as Rosie, Chevre, Peanut and Twilight lounged on their towels on the white sands
“....Ahh... what a nice day out... wouldn't you agree Twi?” Rosie asked Twilight as she sipped from half a coconut.
“I agree Rosie, even if it's the beginning of autumn it's still nice enough for a leisurely lounge on the beach” Twilight said with a smile, before she noticed someone at the corner of her eye.
“Oh my, look who it is!” Peanut exclaimed cheerfully “Hey Jack! Heeeeeey!!!” she squealed as she waved like a lunatic, only to be stopped abruptly by the other two next to her.
“Stop it Peanut, He’s not going to mosey on over here just because you're calling him...” Chevre whispered.
“One does not simply lure the Mighty Jack over” Rosey said as she stood up slowly to show-off her pink one piece. Seeing Jack ignore her, she pouted before falling on Twilight. Not expecting it, Twilight jerked back in surprise before Rosey gently, but firmly, took hold of her face. “He's a difficult fish to catch," she said coyly, running a finger under Twilight's chin with a purr. Bewildered, like a deer caught in the headlights, Twilight's eyes went wide as she gulped. "But you seem to have just the right type of bait for him."
“U-Ummm...” Twilight fumbled for words as she was now being shoved into the front lines.
“Now get out there and reel in that man for us!” the enthusiastic cat cheered, her cheer quickly followed by the other two.
“Um... Okay?” Twilight dumbfoundedly said as she walked up to Jack.
“Hello there Jack, what brings you here today?” Brewster asked as he polished his coffee mugs, Jack took a seat in front of him before he began to speak.
“Hey Brewster... I got an anonymous letter saying I should be here at 3:00”
“Sounds mysterious...” Brewster said while glancing towards the stairs with his usually relaxed look “perhaps it might be a secret admirer? you do have many of those here in town”
“I do? fudge...” Jack groaned “Its already enough with one honey bear stalking me, I don't need another crazy girl lure me into some death trap!” he gritted his teeth at his predicament.
“Afternoon Brewster” said Seth as he walked in.
Jack glanced at him as he took a seat at the bar next to him “I’ll take the usual” he ordered as he tipped his hat back.
“Coming right up...” Brewster nodded before he walked into the back.
“...” Jack paused for a moment, he took a moment to lean over with his elbows on the counter.
“Yes I know what you're thinking, why would I, the coolest guy in town, send you a creepy anonymous letter.... well... the thing is--”
“Jack? You alright?” Seth suddenly said with Twilight's voice.
“Huh!?
“Jaaaaaack, Hello?” Twilight said while she waved her hand in his face.
“Oh! Twilight, hey there” he said, snapping out of his flashback.
“Hi Jack, I see that you managed to finish all your chores” Twilight teased with a smile.
“Yeah... I did, I also finished that report for you...” Jack replied and much to Twilight surprise he didn't give the usual scowl or gritting of teeth she was accustomed to when getting on his nerves.
“Are you okay Jack? you look like you have a lot on your mind” Twilight stated while paying more attention to his reactions.
“What makes you say that? I don't have all that much on my mind” Jack glanced away from her
“Air Hockey? sounds interesting, can I come?”
“NO!” he quickly spat out “I mean... Sorry, it's a guys thing, besides you wouldn't want to leave your friends hanging would you?”
“...Oh... um.. not but--”
“Then don't, I gotta scoot so I’ll see you later” he said before he took off.
“Jack...”
“Woah... what happened there? Rosie asked, walking up to Twilight.
“I don't know Rosie... something seems... off about him”
“Oh dont worry boy’s are like that, you’ll get him!” Rosie said with a confident paws up.
“Alfonso! Open up! I know you're home!” Jack exclaimed, banging on his door.
“Jack? Is something wrong?” Alfonso said with a tone of concern as he opened the door, Jack immediately barged in.
“I dont know if I can explain all this right... it just happened half an hour ago and I still have cold sweat running down my neck” he rambled as he sat down in Alfonso’s living room.
“Uhh...” after a slight delay in his reaction Alfonso walked after Jack, sitting beside him “What happened? is The Roost out of Ice Tea? Did you see Tortimer without his shell again?”
“No you Leather-brained Mook!” Jack snapped at him, not wanting to remember that first time ever again “It's... about Twilight...”
*BANG!* “Out with it Fur face! What the fudge did you want to waste my time for?” Jack questioned after banging his fist on the table.
Seth smirked “Now, now Jack... I’d watch my temper if I were you...” he turned a sleazy gaze toward him “but I guess I can't really blame you... since you don't really know your present situation”
“What???” Jack bared his teeth.
Giving a chuckle Seth reached into his pocket “Here... let me show you...”
Jack’s eyes shot open as photos was tossed in front of him “These are...”
“Evidence...” Seth said with a toothy snicker, just as Brewster brought their drinks.
“You’ve been spying on us!?” Jack sneered “That's too creepy, even for you!”
“That may be... ” Seth said before sipping from his ice coffee.
“And what exactly do you expect to gain from all this?” Jack asked.
“Isnt it obvious?” Seth turned to him “I want your little mare friend” he said with a snicker.
“She’s not my mare friend!” Jack huffed “She’s just a house guest”
“More like a Supernatural house guest... one that you don't really seem to like being around, or am I wrong?”
Jack grunted, baring his teeth, Seth kept a sly grin on his face as he sipped away at his coffee “Either way... you’ll have no choice but to hand her over to me.”
“And what if I say no” Jack threatened with an intimidating glare.
“Simple... I spread these photos around to the public... everyone in town will know that you've been keeping a Unicorn in your basement and taint your precious ‘Loner’ image... how does that sound?”
“Holy swamp balls!!!” Alfonso shouted frightened of the news.
“Yeah...” Jack admitted “This just makes things a lot more complicated than I ever thought...”
“...W-What will happen to Twilight if word gets out?” Alfonso asked fretfully.
“...” Jack said nothing for a moment seemingly caught in the steel vault of his own thoughts, almost a minute of tension between them ticked away.
“.......” Alfonso stood there, he began to feel something pool up inside him as the thought of what might happen festered in his mind, something his laid back carefree nature would never conjure up, rage. “That... dirty... flea bag...” he whispered.
“Huh?” Jack turned his head to Alfonso, who slowly turned to his nearest wall.
“THAT DIRTY FLEABAG!!!” a scaly iron fist of rage flew through the air before smashing into the solid concrete wall, shaking the room they were both in while leaving a smoking crater half the depth of the wall itself.
Jack sat there with a surprised and rather frightened expression on his face, he had never seen Alfonso go bezerk like that, much less get angry for anything except whenever he’d drop his ice cream.
“...Ow...” Alfonso backed away from the wall, rubbing his hand “Sorry you had to see that Jack...” he slumped his head in shame for losing control like that, before he felt the hand of his best friend touch his shoulder.
“It's okay Alfonso...” Jack said with a nod “Now that you let that out it's time for a plan...”
“What do you have in mind?” Alfonso turned to him.
“The same thing I've had in mind ever since she first got here... Send her back” Jack said as he sat down, grabbing a paper and pencil.
“But how are we going to do that?” Alfonso asked as he watched Jack draw something.
“I think I found a way... but I’ll need your help...” Jack finally said as he finished drawing what seemed to be an old lamp.
Even though Alfonso didn't understand the drawing at first he still gave an affirmative nod.
“Lets Do It!”
Author's Note
Hooooly Crap.... has it really been six months since I last posted something on this site?
Kind of embarrassing if you ask me... I really cant keep procrastinating my work like this or people will start calling me Leonardo XD
I still hope you all enjoy this chapter, its been in development hell for a while.
Living where the crossing life leads
2 - An unwanted guest from another world
“Haters Gonna Hate~Haters Gonna Hate~Haters Gonna Hate!” Jack chanted with a grin, marching past the many trees that were part of Smashville with a map showing specific parts marked with X’s.
“Now... where is my first target again?” looking at his map he tried to make sense of the confusing map. Most of the locations the map showed were marked with a vague landmark, such as a black colored rock or a pond with blue lily pads. It always seemed so easy for the townsfolk to find their way around the vast land, but Jack still had trouble with finding his way to some of the most common locations.
Finally finding the right landmark, he arrived where the map showed an ‘X’ .
“Ahhh, there you are my pretty!” He exclaimed as he stood before a large tree. Its outer bark was dull and dead, the branches showed no signs of life whatsoever and the tree leaned dangerously to the side.
With a snicker, he meticulously dove his hand into his pocket
“Hello there tree, I'm glad we could meet.” he said with a false tone of sadness mixed with sadistic intentions, as he pulled something out of his pocket. First came a wooden handle wrapped in purple gripping leather and his somber expression widened into a wood-thirsty grin as he pulled out a solid gold axe.
“Now I really don't want to do this.” he lied with a straight face, placing the axehead between his feet.
“It’s not you it’s me.” he said, making a show of spitting into his palms before grabbing the leather handle. “You should be grateful though, another week longer and all sorts of wood maggots would slithering under your bark”
Hefting the heavy axe over his shoulder, he got into a classic lumberjack pose.
“So with a heavy heart I must accept the duty of putting you out of your misery” he said with his sadistic snicker, getting ready to hack away like an escaped murderer from an insane asylum, if the tree had a face right now it wouldn't look pretty.
And just as Jack was about to take his first swing the ground started to shake under his feet, even with the balanced stance he fell flat on his rump.
“Oh-no, not again” he thought aloud again, a sweat drop rolled down his eyebrow as the trembling got nearer and nearer and just when he was about to brace for the worst the shaking had stopped.
“Huh?” he thought as he looked around in utter confusion.
“HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!” A powerful voice that would make even the toughest man in the world fudge his pants, bellowed from underground. Jack’s pupils shrank to the size of pins before the ground exploded before him.
Thoughts clouded his mind as dust clouded his vision, would this be the end for Jack? Would he ever live to see his parents again? Would he live to eat that steak he left in the fridge? Would he ever find true love?
“Bleck!” he gagged at that last thought as the dust cleared, a mole standing in an all mighty 2’0’’. dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls and yellow hard hat, stuck out of the ground holding a pickax which had seen some extensive digging by the looks of it.
“HEY PUNK! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU TO NEVER START CHOPPING TREES DOWN WITHOUT MY SUPERVISION!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? THINKING YOU CAN JUST TAKE OFF AND START WHACKING WOOD LIKE THAT!?” the mole flailed his arms around as he yelled at the petrified Jack.
“But come to think of it I guess I can't blame ya kid, this is one of those jobs that this town gives ya every day” starting to talk in a casual tone the mole watched as Jack gasped and held his heart.
“Resetti... one of these days you're going to GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!” Resetti’s face went pale for a moment as Jack bellowed back at him.
“HEY! At least I'm not the one who goes insane after swinging at a tree for only a few seconds! Do you even remember when you chopped down your first sapling here!? You went on a tree murdering spree; Your axe was reduced to dust! Now that you have that gold axe, you probably won't stop until this entire town is a barren wasteland!” Resetti shouted back in a firm tone that shut Jack up.
“Alright alright--Just stop calling me a kid...” Jack mumbled as he got up, grabbing his axe off the ground. Getting back into his chopping stance, Resetti sat there watching Jack with his arms crossed.
Jack started to give a few practice swings, memorizing the exact spot to start chopping.
“I don't have all day kid!” Resetti said impatiently.
“Well I could get this done if you would stop staring at me like that!” he groaned annoyed, Resetti sighed and turned his back.
“Alright-alright if it makes you feel better I’ll keep my back turned while you work... But no funny business!” he said, while Jack stuck his tongue out at him.
“Thank you!” Jack said sarcastically as he winded up his arms again, suddenly an idea came to mind. His face turned into a sickening grin as he decided to sidestep slightly around the tree.
Looking from this angle he noticed how the tree leaned over the unsuspecting Resetti. With a maddening look in his eyes, Jack chopped away at the bark, quickly reaching the core while the tree started to tip over.
“Timber!” he shouted out before Resetti glanced back for a second to see the tree was about to topple over him.
“GAH!” the mole yelled in surprise, his eyes bulging out of his head before crawling back into his tunnel as the dead tree fell on the hole.
“Hah! See Ya!” Jack said with a smirk before he bolted.
Resetti then bursted out of another hole right next to the fallen tree as Jack ran like the dickens.
“WHY YOU LITTLE PUNK! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!” Resetti yelled, shaking his pick-axe threateningly as Jack dashed out of sight.
After a few hours of merciless wood hacking and jogging around town, Jack finally stopped at a large moss covered boulder that stood close to his house.
“Wow... That was a workout” he said, sighing, as he sat down on the grass leaning the prized axe against a boulder.
Contemplating the quiet scenery around him, a smile crept on his face as he layed on the lush, green grass.
“Alone at last...” he thought aloud, closing his eyes and slowly drifting into a blissful state of sleep. For minutes he laid there, sleeping without a care or worry in his little world.
For some reason he started to get a warm and fuzzy feeling wrapping around his body, similar to the feeling of hugging a plush toy. When the sensation suddenly included the feeling of paws pressing on his chest, his eyes shot open and a vein popped out on his forehead as he stared into the large brown eyes of Maple.
“Hiya Jack~” Maple whispered with a devious smile on her face, Jack was silent as he felt Maple sitting on his lap, with both her paws on his chest.
As flocks of birds flew from the trees in fright, Jack dusted himself off before grabbing his axe off the mossy rock and resting it on his shoulder. Taking a moment to check the time on his pocket watch, he headed home, leaving behind an unconscious honey bear with a smoldering red bump on her head.
“Greetings Master Jack” said Lloyd, gyrating as Jack walked closer to him “I trust you where able to complete your daily objectives listed to you by the Mayor?”
“Yep” Jack answered with a stern look on his face, trying to ignore the gut wrenching moment he just had a moment ago, Lloyd started to gyrate slightly to the right.
“I detect an incoming visitor in the vicinity” Lloyd beeped as he spun faster.
A orange colored alligator wearing a red t-shirt with a red ‘M’ emblem was jogging towards Jack with a butterfly net in his claws
“Jack! Hey Jack!” he shouted excitedly before he tripped on a pebble and fell on his chin. “Omf!”
“Owie” he said with a painful look on his face “I'm Okay!”
“What’s up Alfonso?” Jack said as he took the gator’s claw and helped him back on his feet.
“Well... What was it again? Oh Yeah!” Alfonso said snapping his fingers “Are you going to be at this years chestnut festival?” he asked.
“Of course I am. I’m helping to prepare most of the lumber needed.” Jack stated proudly, subtly caressing the golden axe in his hands.
“Thats good to hear... because I heard from a little bird that...” Alfonso said, quickly looking around before pulling Jack in close.
“Ah, my old nemesis...” Jack said in a devious tone, turning away from Alfonso to rub his chin. “This time I’ll make sure he won't make a fool out of me this year!”
“Yeah!” Alfonso said, holding his bug net over his shoulder while pumping his fist.
“Oh! I almost forgot Alfonso” Jack looked at his reptile friend with a mischievous smile. “I got that prank letter from you yesterday”
Still lost in the moment it took a few seconds before Jack’s words sunk in.
“Come on, don't act like you don't know!” Jack nudged him on the shoulder. “I know it was you who sent that letter with the fancy handwriting.” seeing Alfonso at a total loss Jack felt confusion set in. “It was you... right?”
Alfonso scratched his head “No, I don't remember sending any letters this week...” Jack could easily tell that Alfonso was just as confused as him.
“So... if it wasn't you, then who was it?” feeling stumped Jack tried to think of other possible pranksters. A sudden yell from behind the two friends made them both jump in surprise.
“Master Jack, there is mail in your Letterbox” Lloyd announced, facing Jack’s mailbox which had the blue joint flap up and blinking.
Alfonso stared at it for a few moments before turning to Jack. “I didn't see Pete delivering mail here today...”
“Me neither...” Jack answered, staring at the blinking flag.
“Well... aren't cha gonna open that?” Alfonso said, shielding himself behind Jack while slightly pushing him forward.
“I-I don't know... Stop Pushing Me!” Jack snapped at Alfonso before turning around and grabbing him by his protruding mouth “You go!” Jack exclaimed, judo throwing the gator.
Alfonso tumbled through the air before slamming into the mailbox “OW!” he cried, before rubbing his face “Not cool Jack!”
Looking around, Alfonso thought Jack had run away for a moment, before he saw his head pop out from behind a boulder.
Alfonso looked at the mailbox fearfully while the light on it kept blinking. Trembling uncontrollably, he slowly reached for the lid and closed his eyes tightly before quickly opening it.
There was nothing but silence for a couple of seconds as Alfonso cowered in a ball.
“Eh?” Alfonso said feeling something land on his back, before opening his eyes to see what it was.
“Hey, its a scroll!” he picked up the rolled up piece of parchment off the ground to take a closer look. “Looks fancy too.”
“Let me see that.” Jack said, snatching the scroll out of Alfonso’s claws “Hey! This is exactly like that prank letter I told you about!” Jack exclaimed as he broke the gold colored wax on the red ribbon.
Alfonso looked over Jack’s shoulder, curiously eyeing the mysterious piece of paper as his friend began to read the message aloud.
“Dear Jack,
No amount of words can express how exhilarated I feel for this breakthrough in the history of Equestria, coming in contact with an extraterrestrial being from another dimension had never been heard of, much less tried by pony kind.
I have wasted no time in making preparations in coming to visit you and all of your friends in Smashville, If my calculations are correct I will be able to travel to your dimension soon
See you then, Twilight....”
After finishing the letter they both stared at the letter in silence until Alfonso decided to break the silence.
“Wow...” looking at him, slowly tilting his head “That sure is a bizarre letter if I've ever seen one.” he managed to say before Jack gave him a withering glare.
“This is serious man! The last time I got a letter like this, I burned it!” Jack shouted, crumpling the paper in his fist before stuffing it in his pocket. “I must be losing my mind...”
“Well it sounds to me like this visitor might be nice” Alfonso said with a smile, followed by a muffled yelp as Jack grabbed the gator by the mouth again.
“Or... this so called ‘visitor’ might be a hostile invader bent on enslaving us!” Jack said, shaking Alfonso’s head up and down like a paint mixer.
“Mmmf Mmmmfmm Fmmmm” Alfonso muffled.
“Wha?” Jack said, letting go of him.
“I said, you've played too many video games.” he stated holding his head as the world continued to bob up and down. “Don't be so close minded about it.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at Alfonso “What I don't understand is how you can be so open minded about it.” he slowly took a firm grip of the axe handle as he continued in an accusing tone. “You seem to take this inter-dimensional letter business all too casually.”
Alfonso quickly put up his arms defensively, seeing a dangerous gleam in his friend’s eyes. “Its seems like this is similar to that time when that, Alien crash landed here” he explains, nervously glancing between his friend and the axe’s sharp blade.
“Gah! I already told you that he wasn't an alien! he was just some crazy seagull in a flying contraption!” a vein popped out on Jack’s forehead before before his axe went flying towards a nearby tree, the blade making a dull *thunk* as it stuck.
“Um... Nice throw?” Alfonso said with a nervous chuckle.
Letting out a sigh, Jack walked towards the tree and pulled his axe out. “Maybe all this tree chopping just has me tired, maybe if I take a nap all of this will go away”
Before Alfonso could say anything there was a sudden shade covering them, surprised they both look around to find that outside had darkened significantly.
“Is there going to be a storm?” Alfonso said, shielding his eyes while looking at the sky.
Jack looked up as well, putting his axe back in his pocket. “The forecast said it was going to be clear today. What gives!?” he yelled at the sky, shaking his fist.
Seeming to hear Jack, lightning sparked in the dark clouds that started to spread over the blue sky, roars of thunder also started to go off, but there was no drop of rain to be felt.
“I think you made it angry...” Alfonso said shivering in place while Jack looked around
“That’s stupid” Jack answered before a massive thunder clap made them both jump.
“Ahhhhh! Scary!” Alfonso shouted as he curled up again in fear.
After the thunder clap, the white lightning started to turn purple
“What is that!” Jack said in disbelief, making Alfonso briefly peek through his fingers, as a bright violet sphere of light appeared from the dark clouds.
“U-F-O!!!” Alfonso shouted pointing at the glowing sphere as it started falling in the direction of the beach.
Jack, who had watched the anomaly dumbstruck, shook his head and looked at Alfonso with determined eyes.
“Come on, we have to find out what that was!” Jack said to Alfonso before he darted in the direction of the light.
Alfonso looked up at the sky again to see the dark clouds clearing up.
“What is going on...” he said before hurrying after Jack. “Hey wait up!”
Jack easily ran past the trees and vaulted over rocks as Alfonso panted and tripped trying to keep up with his friend. He soon arrived at the beach in the south-west corner of town with Alfonso in tow. Before the two, stood a tall gravel hill topped with a pile of boulders, blocking the entrance to a cave.
“Old Seismos Cave...” Jack stated as Alfonso doubled over with his claws on his knees, trying to catch his breath after running halfway across town.
“Look!”
Alfonso followed Jack’s finger to see the violet light floating over them before it disappeared behind the cliff wall.
“Well... I guess that’s that!” Alfonso said, trying to sound unhappy, before turning tail. Feeling his feet slapping uselessly against the ground, the crock looked back to see what was stopping him.
*gulp* “Uh-Oh...” Jack had a firm grip on the gator's prized shirt
Quickly dropping to his knees, Alfonso started to beg.“Oh please, please, please don't make me go there!”
Thinking it over for a few second, Jack sighed. “Fine... You big baby...” he replied, starting up the hill.
The loose gravel made for a difficult climb, but Jack finally made it to the top without sliding back to the bottom. Standing before the boulders, he tried to think of a good way around. As a proverbial light bulb flashed over his head, an idea came to mind. Grunting as he bent down, Jack placed his hands under the boulders and started to lift. Surprised by their light weight, Jack started to smirk.
“Hah! I knew I was super strong, these rocks aren't even a challenge!” he said, smugly, before chucking the boulders out of his way. “Ever since I got here I've always heard about this cave, and how an ancient beast lurks behind this wall.” throwing away the last rock, he uncovered a hole just big enough to crawl into.
“And now its finally time for me to explore it!” Jack’s eyes gleamed as he got down on his knees and crawled into the opening.
From the bottom of the hill, Alfonso watched as jack vanished into the dark hole
Jack coughed as he crawled through the dusty tunnel. “Fudge, I can't see my hand in front of my own face.” Jack thought aloud as his eyes started to adjust to the dark.
As time past in the silent darkness, Jack started to feel a chill, when a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
“Am I dead?” Was the first thing he thought before a sharp stone scraped his knee. “Nope still alive... better keep moving” he said, gritting his teeth from the sharp pain.
Squeezing through a tight space, the tunnel widened enough for him to stand up. He was about to continue towards the light, before a voice from behind suddenly stopped him.
“Jack!” Alfonso yelped as his mouth stuck out of the rocks “Are you in here?”
“Well-well-well, look who decided to come crawling” Jack chuckled.
“Not funny Jack!” the mouth scowled as it wiggled to and fro. “Can you please help me, I'm stuck...”
“Fine, don't get your scales in a bunch” Jack remarked with a snicker as he grabbed Alfonso by the mouth “Heave-Ho!” he shouted as he yanked the crock out with a single pull.
With a slight *pop*, Alfonso flew out of the tunnel and made the two friends fall in a unkempt heap. Pushing the heavy gator off him, Jack slowly got up and offered him a helping hand.
“Sorry about that” Jack said.
“Its fine... I'm use to it by now” Alfonso sighed, accepting the help and dusted off his shirt.
The two walked down the long tunnel for what felt like hours, the light being their only guide. Seeing the light grow brighter, the two broke into a jog. Before them stood an underground terrarium that had spiraling walls with a hole at the peak that filtered in natural sunlight. As they made their way down a steep incline, they took in the breathtaking scenery of cave crystals, fluorescent mushrooms and babbling brooks that all lead to a glowing lake in the center.
“Wow... this is amazing... How come no one’s ever tried coming back here?” Jack said, before noticing Alfonso had suddenly stopped.
“Alfonso, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a--HOLY FUDGE!” Jack’s eyes bulged out of his head as he followed the gator's gaze.
“M-MONSTER!” Alfonso screamed in terror pointing at a giant lizard skeleton encased by the spiraled wall across the lake. After a few seconds of panicked screaming, Jack finally noticed something that made him calm down.
“Hey, easy there! That's not a monster” he said placing his hands on his friends shoulders in an effort to calm him down, which seemed to work considerably.
“AAAAHHH...Its not?” the crock said, curious, before lowering his arms down.
“A Seismosaurus” Jack stated, remembering one of Blather's mind numbing lectures. “the largest dinosaur to ever walk the earth in more than a million years” slowly he walked towards it with an outreached hand, as if to touch it.)
Alfonso chuckled nervously as Jack got closer to the lake. “Maybe he’s my long lost relative or something...”
“Now’s not the time for speculation Alfonso.” Jack stared back at him with a stern look, before looking towards the opening in the ceiling. “We have more pressing matters."
“Right... the U-F-O.” Alfonso nodded as he went up to him “But I don't see it anywhere. Maybe we should just head back, probably gone by now.” almost defiantly, an eerie glow started to emanate from the ceiling, as the mysterious violet sphere appeared in the opening. “Oh me and my big mouth!”
Standing his ground as Alfonso looked for a place to hide, Jack reached into pocket while the sphere descended slowly.
“Take cover! things are about to get hectic!” Jack said with a confident smirk as he pulled out a silver slingshot with a blue handle.
Loading it with a pebble, he aimed at the center of the glowing sphere and pulled the strap as far as it would go.
“Its time to kick butt and chew bubblegum, and I'm all outta gum!” Jack said before he let the strap go.
The pebble whistled as it flew through the air and shattered the outer shell of the sphere like glass, causing the glow to fade.
“ Bulls-eye!” Jack yelled, pumping his fist in victory.
“Oh come on, is that really your big line!?” Alfonso scowled at him for the cheesy one-liner. That's when he noticed the silhouette of a figure shining through the dying sphere. “Jack! there's someone inside!”
“Huh!?” Jack stopped his victory dance just long enough to see the figure slip through the crack in the sphere.
“Quick! It could be someone they abducted!” Alfonso exclaimed as he tossed something at Jack.
“Whoa!” Jack held up his arms as he caught it, it was a flat red crystal shaped like a board. “Right!” he said.
Noticing a ramp to his right, Jack acted quickly. Using the crystal as a skateboard, he slid down the ramp. In a matter of seconds he reached high speeds before realizing he had no clue what he was doing.
“Fudge what was I thinkiiiINNNGGG!?” he yelled as he flew off the ramp and into the air.
Noticing a flash of violet fur passing him, Jack grabbed the falling person and crashed into the water. Long seconds passed as Alfonso paced along the lake shore.
“Come on Jack...”
Suddenly, bubbles began to surface before Jack emerged, gasping for air, with the person he caught on his shoulders.
“C-Cold!” Jack said with chattering teeth as he quickly swam to shore.
Alfonso ran up to them “Jack! are you alright?” he asked concerned
“I'm fine, just really really cold!” Jack answered as he shivered “at least this guy is okay...”
Alfonso stood there silently with his mouth open
“Why do you have that face?” Jack asked with a scared look on his face, Alfonso looked back at him.
“Um... you're not gonna like this...but...” Alfonso slowly turned Jack’s head to the person he had saved.
Jack’s face suddenly went as red as a tomato. Lying on the lake shore beside him was a girl!
She was a violet colored pony that had long, dark purple hair, with lavender and pink stripes running down it, the same went for her tail, and she had a single horn protruding from her forehead that seemed to have a slight crack.
Jack hadn't noticed any of this. All he'd noticed was that she was completely naked.
“Uh-Oh...” Alfonso instinctively covered his ears before Jack let loose a terrified scream.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
