Metal In Equestria: Chapter 14
The Rising
Fluttershy couldn't help but feel sorry for Packie. After all, she never really instructed him to come to a proper landing. However he had no ill feelings towards her. The shade created by the overhanging trees kept them cool. Lying together in the grass was taking his mind away from the pain and away from thoughts of his parents. Packie was learning to take in the moment. The constant trickle of the stream provided light background noise, along with their syncopated breathing. As the sun shifted, so too did the patches of shade covering the forest floor. Some pinecones littered the landscape though pine needles had not yet fallen.
"This reminds me of those trees," Packie said, "the ones in California. They were huge."
Fluttershy adjusted her head on his to allow him easier time breathing. "Bigger than these trees?" she calmly asked.
"Yeah, though these are still pretty big."
"Can you hear the birds?"
Packie laughed at the idea. "Totally. This is still all so weird to me."
She shifted her head so that her chin came to rest on his arm. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd be happier."
"Oh I am. Don't get me wrong cuz this place is amazing. It will just take some getting used to." His words helped her, maybe even lessened her pain inside. "And I want to be the fastest flier around, why even bother with shape shifting? Flying is definitely something I could be great at."
"Oh definitely!" she heartily agreed. "But you might not be able to beat Rainbow Dash. She can go faster than the speed of sound." Packie laughed in disbelief.
"But I still think you could do it." she assured him.
"Just need to work on the landing." He laughed quietly again and Fluttershy joined him.
Afterwards she rested her head on his again. They listened to each other inhale and exhale slowly. The forest floor was to starting to lose sunlight as shade took over. Nightfall was fast approaching.
"We need to go soon." Fluttershy lifted her head to look over their surroundings.
"Yep… you're right… grunt*" Packie pushed off the ground with his left arm and caught himself with his right. As he stood up he could feel the weight of his wings attempt to keep him down. Now that they were partially broken they felt much heavier. Fluttershy assisted by getting under him and pushing him upright. His legs caught the full weight of his frame.
SNAP*
Another piece of cartilage had cracked.
He didn't even flinch.
"Alright Shy, I ain't a pussy so let's get going." He started walking.
"What, are you okay to walk? Let me help you!" she protested. She forcibly moved his left arm out of the way so he could lean some of his weight on her shoulders. His left wing moved across her back, resting on top.
Packie gripped his left shoulder with his right hand. He could feel his skin stretch and pull around the joints connecting his lateral muscles and wings. Each step seemed to pull them apart more. They would need to be bandaged to prevent further breakage.
"Good thing we didn't go that far." he said.
"Yeah…" she agreed, "maybe it was. I'll fix you up though. I'll make it all better."
"I'm sure you will."
After twenty minutes of labored walking they approached the edge of the woods. The red sun had almost vanished over the horizon. Fluttershy's cottage came into view.
"Almost there." she said. They turned their heads so that their eyes met with varying shades of blue. Packie was quite happy, not like he had been on Earth.
"I could definitely get used to this."
"I'm glad." she said.
Earlier in Ponyville…
THOMP* THOMP*
Jiggs took another step.
THOMP*
The weight of the van proved to be truly taxing of his energy. At first it seemed easy, but the longer it went on, the longer his patience and muscles wore thin.
"Grph… hoahh… mmff… how much further?" Gritting his teeth helped him regain control… or so he thought. His struggling seemed to be in vain. Nonetheless he was making progress.
"Not much further, man." Wallace assured.
"Y'know Anthony," Twilight began, "I don't think Princess Celestia realized the full extent of the power she bestowed on you."
"You mean me too?" asked Wallace.
"No not quite. You haven't really learned to control your abilities yet… beyond moving a few plates."
"Hmpf…" he said, "…well you haven't seen anything yet."
"Grmpf… oh yeah?" Jiggs spat out.
"Mhmm… I've got something in mind."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Are you going to make coffee spontaneously appear out of nowhere?"
"No, but that's not a bad idea." Wallace admitted.
THOMP*… THOMP*…THOMP*…
"Damn… huff*… when did it get so heavy?...huff*"
THOMP*…THOMP*…
There was a slight pause, and then…
KABOOSH!*
All four tires collided with the ground and sunk into the dirt. It was simply amazing that the frame of the van hadn't cracked. Everything inside had been violently stirred around by the sudden impact.
Jiggs released his grip and took a deep breath. He placed his hand on his chest and applied pressure to ease the pain. Through labored breathing he looked up at the tree house. The orange sun was nearly an hour from setting. Sweat trickled down his head onto his pectorals, and further still down his abdominals. His black hair was completely a mess because of constant contact with the back end of the van.
He patted dirt out of his hair and then again on his pants. Plumes of brown haze enveloped the air around him. It's been a hard day's work, he thought to himself. Wallace had gone inside the tree house to use Twilight's restroom and Twilight herself went in to clean up the main room to empty out the van.
As Jiggs was catching his breath, he turned around to meet a set of familiar emerald eyes.
However these eyes were composed of surprise rather than delight.
"Sup Jersey." he said.
Applejack was still somewhat shocked from the initial sound of the van impacting. "Oh hey there… big fella. You carry loads like that often?" She laughed nervously, partially out of fear.
"Nah, not really. This is the biggest thing I've ever hauled." He nodded to the van. "Don't worry, I won't hurt ya." he added.
She was visibly unsettled from his sudden display of strength. Jiggs could not decide if this was a good or bad thing.
"Well ahm glad to see you're not smokin' now." she said. "I heard you were having problems earlier with… um… breathing." she quickly noted.
"Who said that? It wasn't anything like that, I promise." he defended.
"Well then what in tarnation was it?" she asked.
"It was…THIS!"
CRUNCH*
Jiggs flexed his muscles with all of his might and struck a pose. His pecs bulged out and his shoulders broadened. Three layers of abdominal muscles became clearly visible, accented by the orange glow of the setting sun. Some sweat still trickled down over his chest.
He held this pose for a few seconds before he deflated.
After exhaling, his skin still stretched taut over his near perfect bodily frame. His muscles lost some of their mass, but his Olympian physique was nonetheless impressive.
"It's better like that." she said.
"Like what?" he was afraid to ask.
"Not so bulgy. It's better without the bulge… if ya get what ahm sayin'"
Jiggs examined his toned body. It was more aesthetically pleasing without his bulging pecs and biceps.
"Yeah you're right."
"I know ahm right. I always am." she said, "Don't be afraid to show it off though. You'd be surprised how much a little show of force can keep you out of trouble. Not that you should go lookin' for trouble."
Jiggs nervously reached for his shirt. It had been conveniently placed on the tail end of the van. Putting on his shirt seemed to take minutes, maybe hours to him. Why am I so nervous? He asked himself, she's just a pony, but why do I care about her opinion of me?
Applejack realized she might have come off a tad too strong for him. "Oh! Ahm sorry, I didn't mean anything silly by that. Please just forget I said anything."
Jiggs calmed down. "Umm… alright I guess."
There was a brief silence between them, which was interrupted by Twilight.
"Hey AJ! What brings around this part of town? Most of the shops are closed. Did you come to say 'hey'?"
"Well kinda Twi'… y'see I saw a plume of smoke coming over the southern mountains… and well frankly it's been buggin' me for a while now." Applejack shifted her footing southward. "You can barely see it from here, but's it there…sure as sugar."
"Oh wow," Twilight took a deep breath of worry, "that doesn't seem like a good thing. No of course! It must have been what the princess wanted to tell us earlier. We got so caught up in the moment at the palace that she never told us about any dragon-related threats."
"What about that story?" Jiggs asked. "The one she told us about the Spartans?"
"Exactly! I must send her a letter right away!" Twilight ran inside the tree house to fetch her sleeping dragon assistant.
"Seems kinda ironic. Don't ya think, Jersey?" Jiggs awaited her approval.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," Jiggs started, "she's got dragon problems and she needs a dragon's help to fix em'."
"I s'pose… but that's not what I mean. What is Jersey and where did that mess come from?"
"Oh sorry… heh it's kind of a long story. I used to live in a state called New Jersey for about a year… as a bartender."
"And…" she impatiently added.
"And we had this hard apple cider, mostly everyone called it Jersey Lightning… but it was officially called a different name." he cheekily snuck in the last part.
"Applejack?" she asked him.
"Bingo!" Jiggs yelled. "Sorry I didn't clear that up earlier."
"It's really okay Sugarcube. I normally don't get flustered over that sort of thing, and that wasn't really a long story."
"No, I guess it wasn't. So… you ever need help around the farm?" Jiggs asked nonchalantly.
"Sorry, what?" was all Applejack could manage before they were interrupted.
Twilight came bolting out of her home. "It's done. The letter has been sent AJ!"
"Thanks Twi. I feel a might better now, and I think it's bout' time I headed home."
"Oh okay AJ, tell me if you need help with anything else." Twilight quickly added.
"Yeah," Jiggs laughed, "See ya Freckles."
"Well what is it? Jersey or Freckles?" Applejack glared back at him.
"It's Jersey… but as for the freckles, don't be afraid to show em' off."
Applejack smiled as she realized what he was referencing. "The same goes for you."
Jiggs half-smiled in return.
"Well I should be going. Stop by again sometime." She broke from his gaze and turned down the dirt road, bound for the ranch.
"Take it easy Jersey, and I will!" He watched her slowly fade into the distance.
What Applejack didn't show him was her face turning red when he called her Jersey again.
"Did I miss something?" asked Twilight.
"Nope," Jiggs lied. He quickly ran into the tree house, dodging obstacles. "But I gotta use the shitter! NOW!"
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Author's notes
Hey did you like this chapter? Please don't be shy and let me know.
So since no one said I shouldn't do it, I am definitely doing shipping, and this shipping will be epic. Like Star Wars epic. Seriously epic shipping is gonna go down.
But I know what you're going to say!
But he is a human and she is a pony! It would be weird and/or wrong!
Well I have a few ideas for that! ^^^^^^
Notice Rarity hasn't been in this yet? I've noticed too! Sorry if you're a Rarity fan. She will be in it eventually!
Nicknames:
Twilight/Highlight-Lone Vanguard
Applejack/Jersey Lightning-ShadowFire117
Thanks!
Conner aka SurrenderedEndeavor