As Pinkie and the newly-dubbed 'Scorpie' traversed the humble town of Ponyville together, Scorpion had been drawing in frightful stares from the indigenous townsfolk. Many whispered disparaging things about him in their fear of him, others simply cowered in petrified terror. Considering his hands were still on fire as a result of his seething inherent hatred of everything surrounding him, they may have been right to do so. It didn't help that Pinkie was constantly yapping on about the mundanity of life in Equestria and calling him 'Scorpie.' There was only so much the specter could take before...

"Filthy barn animals!! All of you!! I will scorch your precious town into a pit of smoldering ashes if you--!!" Scorpion snapped.

"Scorpie!" admonished Pinkie Pie. "That is NO way to talk to ponies! And no scorching things into smoldering pits of ashes!"

"These repugnant horses berate and shame me without regard to who I am. Am I not to show them why it is wrong to cross me?"

"No, silly! The townsponies just aren't used to you yet. You gotta give them time to warm up to you. Haven't you ever been somewhere new where nopony recognized you before?" Scorpion thoughtfully pondered this question, actually considering a legitimate answer. It'd been a while since he actually had a casual conversation with anyone.

"Yes. My first day in the Netherrealm after my resurrection, in fact."

"How'd it go?"

"At first... it was unpleasant. However, I soon demonstrated to the denizens of Hell exactly why they should dare not trifle with me."

"Oh?" Pinkie naively asked, seeming not to catch that he mentioned that he was resurrected in the pits of Hell. "How?"

"Some, I merely beat to death with my bare hands. Others, I mercilessly drowned in the Lake of Fire. A select few met their gruesome ends by way of me driving my spear through their heads and decapitating them. On a special occasion, I'd slice them to bits with my swords and bathe in the blood of my victims. There are numerous way to slaughter those who defy me. Of course, my favored method of killing is--!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Scorpie!" Pinkie stopped him, feeling a bit sick. "I asked you how you get comfortable in a new place. Not how you used to do bad stuff to ponies!"

"You will refrain from addressing me by that name or else you will join the tortured souls of the Netherrealm in unrelenting anguish!" Scorpion chided, getting angrier.

"Ah ah ahh~! Princess Celestia said if you do any bad stuff here, you're going to get punished. Take a chill pill, Scorps!" Speechless and checkmated, the livid ninja refrained from digging into Pinkie Pie and tearing her head off with his bare hand.

"You are fortunate that I cannot murder you, horse woman, for you are becoming almost as perpetual a nuisance as Sub-Zero...!" Scorpion muttered in contempt.

"Ooh, look! We made it!" Pinkie pointed forward, seeming not to hear Scorpion's violent threat to kill her as they approached what seemed to be a homestead rife with apple trees. The two entered the farm through the front gate, where they met with an orange mare with blonde hair that was wearing a cowboy hat and had a branding of apples on her backside. This sight only confused Scorpion further. Were there NO normal horses in this world?

"Howdy, Pinkie Pie!" the mare greeted before noticing the foreboding figure standing next to her; his eyes completely white and filled with aggression and his hands ablaze as if he'd been holding lit matches. "What in tarnation...? Who is this??? Where'd ya find this... this thing?? What is 'e??" Of course, the farm mare's reasonable curiosity earned her a death stare from the golden-garbed bug warrior, causing her to gulp in fright.

"This is the help I said I was going to bring to you today, Applejack!" Pinkie nonchalantly, yet cheerfully informed her friend. Of course, Pinkie got an incredulous stare from the farm pony.

"*sigh* Doggone it, I KNEW I shoulda asked Twilight instead..." Applejack shook her head in disappointment, mentally kicking herself for trusting Pinkie Pie. "Did she have somethin' t' do with this?"

"Nopey-dopey! Princess Celestia asked me to watch over him so he would learn not to be so angry at everything to the point that he wants to burn Ponyville to the ground without even finding out if he likes it here or not! If you didn't notice already, Scorpie here is a bit of a Grumpy Grump. We're working on it by having him make some friends while he helps me run errands." Pinkie turned to the demon. "Go ahead and introduce yourself, Scorpie!"

"My name is SCORPION, you insufferable cur!!" Scorpion shouted, alarming Applejack, but surprisingly doing nothing to startle Pinkie.

"You might wanna work on your tone of voice there, buddy. At least we've gotten somewhere, though. You'll be reformed in no time at this rate! Hoof pound!" the mare requested, oblivious to the fact that the fire surrounding Scorpion's hands had amplified in intensity as he thought of various ways to brutally eviscerate the irksome mare. Despite this, he was relieved to get an inkling of the idea that this would be easier than he thought. So, he extinguished flames in his hands, but didn't take Pinkie's friendly offer.

"So... Scorpion, huh? Ma name's Applejack. Where ya from?" Applejack had the nerve to ask, making evident her rural accent in the process.

"I hail from the depths of the Netherrealm, plane of eternal suffering and home to lost, tortured souls," the wraith casually answered, thus frightening Applejack further.

"...Er, I reckon yer... from Tartarus, then...?"

"It is a safe enough bet to assume we speak of the same place, albeit under differing names."

"...Rrrrright..." Applejack uneasily nodded. "Ma stars an' garters, where does Pinkie FIND these crazy characters...?" she mumbled to herself. "Jus' last month, she brought in some weirdo in a jumpsuit an' a hockey mask that carried a machete an' did nothin' but scare the livin' daylights outta Apple Bloom..."

"You are contemplating," Scorpion said, hearing Applejack's soliloquy, thus shaking her out of her train of thought. "Is it about me?"

"*AHEM* Kinda... I jus' don't know ya all that well, but ya look strong so I uh... I figure ya'd be a good help t' the farm." Scorpion merely stared at her, his constantly-angry glare never faltering. "Anyway, er... Nice t' meet ya, pardner."

"Likewise, horse wom-- Awgh!" Pinkie jabbed Scorpion in the shin, causing him to stare hot death at her.

"We have names, silly! Stop with this 'horse woman' mumbo-jumbo! Her name is Applejack! Say it with me now! Aaaa-Plllle Jaaaa-ck."

"Were it not for my arrangement to be here, you would be the first to die by my hand. Your death would be slow and excruciating," Scorpion threatened.

"Glad you see it my way!" Pinkie agreed for no reason at all before turning to Applejack. "You might wanna be careful around Scorpie, A.J. He's a little shy, so he doesn't know how to express himself very well. He's also a little sensitive, so go easy on the poor fella if he gives you a hard time." Scorpion was very close to cutting Pinkie in half with one of his swords; to the point where he'd caught himself reaching for one with his left hand, which he contemptuously clenched into a fist before resting it at his side.

"I don't reckon 'shy' is the right word for it..." Applejack observed.

"What word WOULD be right then, horse woman?" Scorpion asked, his tone aggressive, causing Applejack to purse her lips shut for fear of agitating the hell-spawn.

"Okay, A.J., when are getting started?" Pinkie asked in an effort to curb the mounting tension.

"Now, actually..." A.J. uncertainly answered, bewildered by the being Pinkie Pie presumably dragged from pony Hell to help them. "Lemme take y'all where I need ya t' be..." and with that, the three commenced their task.

"Scorpion?" beckoned Applejack as they strolled into a field of apple trees.

"What do you request of me, Applejack?" Scorpion inquired, actually managing to use the farm pony's name to address her.

"You familiar with apple buckin'?"

"I am afraid not. Is it part of my reformation training?" A.J. shot him a look of befuddlement, but was careful not to let the expression linger for fear of agitating her assistant further.

"Er, sure, I guess. Anyway, what I need y'all t' do is kick these here trees t' make the apples fall out of 'em int' these baskets."

"Is that all? That hardly seems a daunting task, as ridiculous as it sounds."

"It ain't as easy as it looks, pardner. Try for yerself." Taking up Applejack's challenge, Scorpion approached the nearest tree and gave it a mighty roundhouse kick.

"HAH!!" *CRACK* The ninja sent the poor, unsuspecting thing flying off into the distance like a football, thus flabbergasting his partner. Applejack could only hope that tree didn't land on some unsuspecting pony or their home... "How was that?"

"Um... Not quite what I meant. I only need ya t' make the apples fall down; not the whole darn tree," A.J. informed, trying not to sound upset that Scorpion had done damage to her merchandise. Nevertheless, Applejack approached another tree and demonstrated how apple bucking actually worked. Scorpion was a little shocked to see that she'd done no visible damage to the tree's trunk, yet made every fruit it bore fall into the baskets down below.

"I see. You calculate how much power you use before delivering a precise, expertly-aimed attack to the trunk in order to garner the results you seek," Scorpion theorized, catching on quickly.

"Sounds about right, Scorps. Can I call ya 'Scorps'?" At Applejack's request, Scorpion scowled... or at least, he would've had it not been for his mask hiding most of his face. Still, the message came across clearly when his eyes narrowed at the innocent hardworking pony.

"Not unless you would enjoy walking around with a sword plunged deeply into your abdomen...!" he warned. "The foolish pink one is already testing my patience. Do not join her."

"Noted," A.J. frightfully agreed. "Good luck to ya," she added before swiftly leaving him to his portion of the acres to work with. It was here that Scorpion would learn his first attribute of self-restraint: patience. He began by trying to gauge his strength before testing his might against the trees. If he was to garner the same results as the pony he was helping, he was not to use his full power to kick the trees. This proved no easy task, however...

*SNAP* Scorpion inadvertently sent his next tree tumbling down. He would not give up in mastering the art of apple bucking, however. He tried again and again, trying to find the necessary amount of power to pull off a successful buck. However, nothing he was doing seemed to be working. Sometimes, he'd used too much strength, which would either send the tree flying miles away or toppling down. Other times, he'd use too little strength and whether or not he made any apples fall, he'd hurt his foot. He'd been at this for as little as 15 minutes before...

"DAMN THIS ACCURSED TECHNIQUE!!" He yelled, whipping out his swords in preparation to slice apart every tree in sight. "I will show you to disobey me, insubordinate fruit!!"

"Scorpie!!" a voice called to him. Before he could question it, a pink blob fell from the tree he was about to tear into pieces of fruit-bearing lumber. "You gotta relax! I hate to say it, but you're not doing a very good job so far. You're ruining Applejack's farm! At this rate, you're gonna fail your test!" Hearing this news made Scorpion sheathe his blades in pensive thought. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.

"Tell me, Pinkie. What am I to do?"

"Believe me, I know apple bucking isn't easy. I still don't know how to do it very well myself. But a quick word of advice when you're mad: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and once you're all calm, try again."

"I... I will," he agreed with a nod as he clasped his hands together in such a way that only his thumbs, index, and middle fingers were sticking up while the others were interlocked with one another. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to relieve himself of his self-imposed tension.

"Good boy! Now I'm off to finish my part of the field before checking up on you, okay?" Scorpion wordlessly nodded. "Okie dokie! Don't you go doing any more bad stuff." And with that, she bounced off in glee, humming to herself as she went along. Soon, Scorpion was left alone again to redouble his efforts to complete his task. Remembering Pinkie's words, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands together once again after approaching the next tree. He took a few deep breaths in preparation when he heard...

"TEST YOUR STRIKE!" commanded that same ethereal booming voice from nowhere. Seeming to be unfazed, Scorpion prepared to strike the tree. He envisioned some sort of meter that accurately measured how much strength he needed in relation to how focused he was. Each breath he took would bolster his resolve to land the perfect strike. He had to be careful not to take too many breaths, however, or he'd fail. Within a few seconds, Scorpion synchronized his mind and body and with a calculated attack...

"YAWW!" *THUMP* He did it. He'd landed the perfect strike. He saw the fruits of his efforts (no pun intended) rain down into the baskets set below the tree's branches. As an added bonus, he saw that he did no damage to the tree's trunk. He looked up to inspect how thorough a job he'd done and all seemed well... until he caught a glimpse of one tantalizing apple, still hanging from a branch as if to mock the ninja for his ineptitude. The sight of this made Scorpion's temper boil over like a tea kettle from Hell.

"You DARE mock me!!?" the ninja cried in frustration as he drew a sword and sliced clean through the tree, sending it hurtling into the ground. As if that weren't enough, he raised his hands as they caught fire, causing the tree he'd just chopped down to instantaneously engulf in hellfire and burn to smithereens. As soon as he did this, however, he realized that he needed not only to master Applejack's sacred technique, but also to retain the patience necessary to do so. With that, he shook his head to curb his wrath, performed another breathing exercise, and moved on to the next tree, keeping in mind not to lose his temper again for fear of his punishment. Of course, he walked away not knowing that he didn't extinguish the embers burning so subtly on a nearby patch of grass.

Eventually, with much perseverance and careful calculation, Scorpion mastered the elusive apple buck technique. He, Pinkie, and Applejack met up just outside of the orange mare's home after they'd spent the last two hours or so clearing the trees of apples, carrying buckets of apples with them.

"Thanks fer yer help, y'all," Applejack gratefully thanked her friend and the ninja. "I honestly didn't think we'd pull it off so quick, but we did it... whew!"

"No problem, A.J.!" Pinkie assured. "With me and Scorpie on the case, there's no room for failure!"

"Y'all are tellin' me..." she gratefully responded before turning her attention to Scorpion. "I'm glad ya could tag along t' help, Scorpion. Ya might seem a bit rough around the edges, but I can tell yer a good pony... or whatever you are..." Just as A.J. finished her sentiments, she caught scent of something. She sniffed into the air as the stench grew stronger. It wasn't long before she noticed a menacing cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. "What in tarnation...? There a fire somewhere?"

"APPLEJACK!!" cried another rural voice from the distance. "THERE'S A FIRE IN THE SOUTH FIELD!! COME QUICK!! AND BRING SOME WATER!!"

"Oh ma stars!!!" Applejack screamed in horror as she bolted off toward the direction the distress call was coming from. After she departed, Pinkie put two and two together and eyed Scorpion.

"Scorpie... You were in the South Field. You don't have anything to do with that... do you?" she asked, suspecting him to be the culprit.

"Of course not. I currently have no reason to raze this primitive prairie into oblivion," he lied. He thought back to when he set that tree ablaze out of frustration and quickly made the judgment that he unwittingly started the wildfire Applejack was now responsible for putting out. Knowing that might have jeopardized his chances, he chose to bend the truth a little. "I spent my time learning to be patient and from there, I mastered Applejack's sacred technique."

"Alright!!" Pinkie cheered as she leapt up to hug the dishonest specter. She squeezed him so tightly that she'd inadvertently choked him, forcing him to teleport out of her grasp. "Nice job, Scorpie!" Scorpion was tempted to mouth off to the party pony for her disregard toward his wishes not to be called 'Scorpie,' but refrained from doing so to prove that he'd not be so easily perturbed as a result of him learning to be patient.

"...Right. Onward to the next task, then," Scorpion calmly ordered.

"Ooh, aren't we eager? Alright, let's go! Onward, to the Carousel Boutique!" Pinkie announced, again taking Scorpion by the hand and dragging him off...

Author's Notes:

Hanzo Hasashi's "Scorpion's" To-Do List:

1. Assist Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres to Understand Patience

2. Help Rarity Find Jewels to Learn Humility

3. Cheer up Scootaloo to Comprehend Consideration & Compassion

4. Spend Quality Time with Pinkie Pie to Gain Respect

One Down, Three to Go!