The Wolfman of Ponyville.
Chapter 27: History lesson. ( Edited)
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It's been three days since Spike's rampage and when he and Rarity finally became a couple. Since no one recognized Spike in his larger form, they believed the whole evil cousin story. As for Rarity and Spike, well things seemed normal between them, though they would exchange a kiss every now and then. Twilight seemed to accept their relationship as long as Spike remembered to do some actual work at the library.
Speaking of work, Jackie told me that the zap-apple harvest was starting. I asked her how she could tell and she responded by saying when the Timberwolves start howling, that it's the first sign of the harvest. Through the next few days, I've been helping make sure the harvest would go off without a hitch, even had some Ghost Warrior trainees help work the field. Jackie and Lulu would've helped too, but the babies were due any day now.
During the preparations, I would catch the Crusaders try and convince either Jackie or Big Mac to take Granny's place in speaking at her school. After the attempt at making Granny into a puppet during her nap, I decided that I would speak in her place seeing as I'm AB's brother-in-law. Though I did ask why she didn't ask her Ma or Pa? She said they feared it would awaken some memories from the arena. Yeah, I could see how that would be a problem.
So, with me confirming with Cheerillee and Granny, I took the place as the speaker for Applebloom. I added more of my troops to help with the harvest so my signature slam wouldn't be missed.
And now, to the present.
I found myself once again, walking down the road towards the schoolhouse with the Crusaders by my side. " Hey, quick question, what am I supposed to be talking about again, Me or my family history?"
" Both actually. First, you have to talk about your family history, then about what you do for the community." Well, Sweetie just made me feel a whole lot better.
" So, who ya gonna talk about first Joe?"
" It's a surprise Bloom." We made it to the schoolhouse and went inside the school. I went over to the front and addressed the class and their family members. They weren't here to speak, they just wanted to hear what I had to say.
" Hello everyone!" I received the same greeting as I have the past two times. " Now, I know most of you were expecting Granny Smith to come and speak. But with the zap-apple harvest going on, I was asked to speak instead." I got a few excited cheers from the class, though Diamond seemed disappointed for some reason. " From what my sister-in-law has told me, I have to bring up some family history before I get to myself." I was given a nod from Miss Cheerilee, saying I was good to go.
" I believe the first ancestor I'll talk about, is one from a thousand years ago, his name, is Arminius Huffstutler. Although, at the time, he didn't have the last name. He was just Arminius, leader of the Cherusci tribe. What you might say, a noble of the Germanic tribes at the time." The kids were amazed that I was part of earth royalty at the time. " At the time before he turned twenty-eight, he was just a human being who wanted to free his people from Roman rule."
Before I could continue with my speech, Dinky asked a question. " Who are the Romans Mister Huffstutler?"
" Maybe, it would be best if I showed you. Back on earth, the history channel did a little spread on him before he turned full Werewolf." I summoned a screen with my magic and went back to the memory of what was said. The kids always got excited about this part. Even the parents were curious about what was going to happen. " Here we go." ( End at 5:00)
https://youtu.be/-UQsSC3seUo?list=PLXi7FpXgoZu8oRyZGaDE3A4dPiE7qa-aJ
When the video ended, I went back to my lecture. " Now that, was Arminius before he became a Werewolf, and even then, he was a man that was to be feared and respected." As I paused to put my thoughts together, I saw Appleblooms hoof raise. " What is it, Sis?"
" You keep saying before he was a Werewolf, wasn't your ancestor born a Werewolf like you?" Guess I never told her the whole story of how we came to be.
" That is an excellent question and, it will also explain why a talking gorilla dog like me, ever came to this world." This got all the children and even some of the parents to get excited. " Who here remembers the incident regarding Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon?" Everyone gave a confirming response to that. " Well, before my wife was banished to the moon, she created a potion, that she planned to put in the water supply. Once someone drank from the water, they would become a creature of the night, to fit with the eternal night plan she was going for."
" However, before she could go forward with this plan, Princess Celestia was able to thwart her plan and send her to the moon. Feeling guilty about having to send her own sister to the moon, she decided to modify the potion and search for a warrior to wield it. That's how she found my ancestor sometime after the battle at the Teutoburg forest. She gave the potion to him making him the first-ever Werewolf with the message that his descendant would be called the day of the thousandth year of Nightmare Moon's banishment. The rest, I think you already know." Everyone was in awe about my story so far and how our worlds met.
Silver Spoon raised her hoof to ask a question. " Do you have any other famous family members?"
" I have about a thousand years worth of famous ancestors. Like my great-grandfather Stephen who lived in Ireland around the time when William Wallace liberated Scotland from the English. He was part of his army and inner-circle to defeat king Longshanks and his army. In fact, he was best known as the mad Irishman because of his care-free demeanor on the battlefield. And thanks to Mel Gibbson's film Braveheart, I can give an accurate telling of his mannerisms." I conjured another image for us to watch. " Now I should warn you all, this will be graphic and a little obscene." And with that, I started the show.
As the film was going, I pointed out my ancestor as well as Wallace and his circle of warriors. When it got to the gorier part with the cavalry, a few of the mothers went to cover their children's eyes. I noticed a few of the fathers who were watching, stayed calm and collected and one actually took notes. Guess they were royal guards who got time off. When the illusion came to an end I looked for questioning minds. One of the dads raised his hoof to ask. " What is it, sir?"
" Are all your ancestor's warriors, or at least had military experience?"
" I'm proud to say that we have all had led our lives by the sword. For instance, my great grandfather Joseph, who I share the same name. He fought against the British during the American revolution. He was a marksman for the colonizers and would often pick off juicy targets from hundreds of yards away like, officers. In fact, he took as many as fifty men with his Kentucky long rifle. Though that's nothing compared to my great grandfather Martin."
" He fought in the second world war on the European front. He was part of the landings that took place along the coast of France dubbed, Operation Neptune, though many call it D-day." Some of the kids looked ready for another show, but I decided against it. " He was part of the Omaha section of the landings, which most historians agree, is one of the bloodiest parts of the invasion. This did not deter my grandad at all as he kept moving up the beach with his Garand and made it to the murder holes, which is what they were calling the machine gun nest's the Nazi's were using against the Allied forces."
" Um, Joe." I looked over to Cheerilee to see that she was getting kind of pale. " I think we've had enough history. Maybe we can get to the part about you?"
" My favorite subject." This got a chuckle from most of the class. " Well, I was born in Austin Texas the live music capital of the world, at least on earth. I spent most of my life there while traveling to different parts of America during school breaks. When I was around thirteen, I was put in military school. Let me tell you this right now, be thankful you have a teacher like Miss Cheerilee. The teacher I had, was the meanest son of a bitch the gods ever put on one leg. He would lean his hands on his desk and swing his leg at ya! Then when you were standing there shocked that a one-legged man had kicked you, he'd bite ya." The kids all looked frightened that such a person could ever be a teacher. Even some of the adults looked afraid.
" When I turned eighteen I went through USMC training and passed with flying colors. I went on one tour over in Germany for six months, didn't really see much combat though. It wasn't until Princess Celestia arrived at my house that things started getting interesting. She brought me over here to help the bearers of the elements fight and cure Princess Luna. When that task had been completed, I was awarded an ax crafted by the dwarves of Svartalfheim, as well as the power of an Alicorn. Hence the wings and magic hands. After my task had been completed, I decided to stay and make a life for myself here."
" As far as a job, you might say I have three. My first job here is a farmhand on Sweetapple Acres. Many times I would be asked to perform what I call, the apple slam. Basically, I rise forty feet in the air then drop with me pounding the earth, this causes the closest twenty trees to shake and let loose their apples. It takes me a full three hours to complete an entire section of the orchard with this method, whereas it would take someone like Big Mac a week to finish with just the regular apple-bucking method. There's another thing that Jackie asks me to do, but I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say what it is in school."
" My second job was given to me out of fear. A while back, our town seamstress Rarity, was kidnapped by a pack of Diamond Dogs. Spike came to me for help in getting her back when he realized he couldn't do it alone. Both he and I stormed the underground kingdom in search of her and found her in the middle of a large cavern being put to work. At first, we expected a fight to happen but once I wolfed out, they stopped in their tracks and bowed before me." I conjured the crown they gave me and put it on my head. " To keep me from beating the crap out of them, they made me their King. I accepted the job on the condition that I would make them great warriors to serve me. If you all read the news, you'll know that I succeeded in doing just that." I conjured the Canterlot inquisitor and showed them the front page of me and my Ghost Warriors taking down the Caribou as well as Blueblood.
" As for my third job, I married into it." A few of the kids looked puzzled as to how someone can marry into a job. " You see when I got married to Princess Luna, Jackie and I became Equestrian royalty. As far as I know, this doesn't really change anything. Though I might have some diplomatic meetings in the future since I'll be merging my kingdom with this one. Though I think, for the time being, Lulu and Tia will just want me and Jackie to show up at certain parties where we'll just stand there like idiots." This got a laugh from the whole audience.
I was about to continue with my lecture, but I noticed the time on the clock and saw that it was almost time for me to go. " Well everyone, seeing as it's almost time for me to wrap this up, let's see a fun little video." Everyone got excited about another illusion, though Cheerilee looked nervous, no doubt wondering if I'll show something inappropriate, again. " Okay, here's a clip from one of Steven Spielberg's greatest films. I should warn you again, there is death, but it's all directed to the bad guys." I conjured another screen and let it play.
At the end of the illusion, everyone believed the hero to be dead. Time to bust that thought away.
All the sad faces turned to ones of joy when they saw Indiana climb up the edge. And we all busted a gut when he looked over the edge with them. Just when the video ended, the bell signaling the end of the school day rung. " Alright, that was a very informative piece of family history. Class, what do we say to Mister Huffstutler?"
" Thank you!"
" It's always a pleasure to visit. Now if you'll excuse me, Applebloom and I have some zap apple jam to make." I then walked up to Applebloom and ripped open a portal to the kitchen at the farmhouse. When we went through, we were greeted by Granny.
" So, how did family appreciation day go?"
" It was great! We all learned that if it wasn't for Joe and his family, we might be having this discussion in the dark!"
" Oh Applebloom, you're gonna make me blush." I gave her hair a tussle before heading over to the jam that was cooking on the stove. " So how's the first batch coming Granny?"
She grabbed a wooden spoon and ladled a bit of jam. " See for yourself youngin."
I took the spoon from her and stuck it in my mouth. Once that jam hit my tongue, I froze stalk still as the incredible flavor slammed into my taste buds like a wave against the rocks.
As I stood there unmoving with the spoon still in my mouth granny chuckled to herself. " It never fails. The first time always leaves them in shock."
Next Chapter: The new arrivals. ( Edited) Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 36 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
Alright, so a little fun chapter here. The next chapter will deal with something that may test Joe's resolve. Parenthood