The OC Apprentice: Episode Two · 3:21am Jan 24th, 2016
Last time, on the OC Apprentice; the contestants finally arrived to the GOB Manor and eventually met GOB himself. Coalstone tried to attack the God but was instead kicked to the curb. GOB gave them all the scoop on what will be happening in the future and wished the players luck. Since then, the contestants have been getting comfy in their new home. Some more comfy than others…
#Shrekt's Submission.
Nova slowly walked through the halls, with his bag over his shoulder as he kept glancing down at the ticket with the number of his room on it. “Room 524…..524...ahh here it is…” He walked over to the door and open it curiously, finding a large room on the other side. “Aww yea, this is what I'm talking about!!!” he ran over to the bed and sprawled on top of it with a sigh.
After awhile, he began to set up his music supplies and eventually sat down on in a chair facing a laptop and numerous buttons. He flexed his claws before he claws as he clicked a button as dubstep music began to blare throughout the room from his high-end speakers DJ pon3 gave him.
Golden was in the middle of searching for a room to call his own. He had been given a number but he preferred to think it was more a suggestion. All the rooms seemed far too extravagant for his taste. There was one that was modeled to resemble some sort of land of candy. Another was a room whose walls were all painted yellow. His skin crawled at that room but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Then there was the last room he checked. It was a black void that sucked him in. The next thing he knew he was in the current hallway.
He was in the middle of questioning how such a thing could happen but then a sound reached his ears. It was the sound of one of his many annoyances. He knew he had one goal in mind now. And that was to destroy the obnoxious sound to spare his ears from their vicious attack.
Nova continued to listen to the music, as he closed his eyes, as he smiled and tapped his claws on the table to the beat of the music.
Golden grew frustrated as he could not decipher where the malevolent noise was coming from. While he was a skilled fighter, he did have his share of losses to his name. And those taught him sometimes it is better to lick one’s wounds then to suffer unnecessarily.
Golden took deep calming breaths to regain some amount of composure. He needed to be calm to execute his cunning plan. Despite the noise he was able to relax long enough to focus.
His right front leg became surrounded by a glowing blue aura. The boxer opened his eyes. With all the swiftness of a coursing river he punched the very ground he was standing on.
A second passed. Then another and another. Golden winced. It was true he hadn’t used this technique for a few months but he couldn’t imagine he was that rusty with it.
As he lamented his apparent failure the existence of the music once again crossed his mind. The banging was then joined by a light tapping. Like the tapping of someone hitting a floorboard.
“Shut up!” Golden roared at the sound. It was then the full force of Golden’s technique was realized. The floor underneath him gave way and he fell to the floor beneath the current one.
...
Nova blinked and paused his music for a second, looking up. Had he heard something, or...? Nah, couldn’t be. The sound was gone, whatever it was. The dragon smiled and resumed the music as the sound carried through the halls as he chuckled and sat back in his chair in relaxation, with his feet up on the desk, claws behind his head, and tail swishing slightly with the music.
“GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” the boxer cried. No matter where he went the music still followed him. While true it was lessened where he was currently the mere presence filled him with rage. Rage of the Brooklyn persuasion.
“Will...you...get...OFF??” said a muffled voice from the planks below him.
“Depends,” he said smiling, recognizing the voice underneath. “Will you stop calling me Goldilocks?”
“Whatever, WHATEVER! Just get off, please, there’s broken glass here!” First Spark said, with a hint of urgency.
“Alright. Alright,” Golden said getting up. He offered his hated enemy a kind hoof. Emerging shakily from the pile of crushed and punched floorboards and scraps of colored glass, the pegasus took the hoof and stood.
No sooner had she done this than the fl- ceiling had rebuilt itself, planks fading out of existence and fading back in where they were pre-punch.
“What in Celestia’s name?” Golden said surprised at the marvel he saw before him. “I thought I was stronger than healing magic. Guess I gotta train more.” The pegasus rolled her eyes at him and started collecting the glass shards around them.
Lucky carried her things down the hall, scanning the countless doors for one to settle in. As she
rounded a corner, she spotted Spark.“Hi Spark,” she said, walking closer to her. Her eyes widened as she noticed the shards scattered across the floor.
“Oh, hey,” Spark answered, picking up the last of the pieces of glass. “You finding your way around alright? I know Goldilocks is...”
“Next time when I fall on you I’m staying,” Golden said pouting. “You liar.”
Lucky observed the two. She wasn’t willing to step in just yet.
“ANYWAY...” Spark said, dumping the last of the shards into the kitchen’s trash can. “I’m hunting for colorful glass, has anypony seen anything like that around here?” A quick look over the two’s blank faces gave her her answer. “...No? Alright, fair enough...the hunt continues, then!”
With that, she dashed off and left the two alone.
“I can see you two are still at each other's necks,” Lucky said.
“She started it,” Golden asserted.
“Mhmm…” her throat murmured. She did her best to convey understanding through her blue eyes, “I know it can be hard to put aside your differences. It's okay to be angry, but please try to calm down, try to have a new start,” she saw a window nearby. She looked out it to see the tranquil sky while keeping her focus on Golden, “We're going to be living here for a while. I want to see us become friends.”
“Ugh. Fine,” Golden moaned. How the mare talked reminded him of his own teachers growing up. And they wouldn’t tolerate any disobedience. Though she didn't radiate the same cutthroat nature of those she still commanded the respect they did.
“How about we talk about something else. Why don't you tell me about yourself?”
“Sure,” Golden said slightly taken aback. He wasn’t a pony who liked to be questioned. “What do you wanna know?”
“Anything you feel comfortable with,” she said, noticing his uncomfortable posture, “I know we only just met.”
“Uh. I’m a boxer,” Golden muttered.
She nodded. “That sounds interesting, albeit a bit rough.”
“One time I fought a minotaur in a toga. And no I don’t know what a toga is. They punched like a battering ram,” Golden said fondly reminiscing. “Still she was no match for my special punch the Golden Shot.”
“Nice...but that minotaur was alright after. Right?”
He scoffed, “Of course. Sure she had a couple of cuts and bruises, but it’s not like boxers get seriously injured.”
“Well that’s good.”
Golden looked past her to see the end of the hallway, “I...gotta go. See ya later!” he said, walking away. Lucky turned and saw him moving away, wanting him to stay. But once he turned the corner, she continued forward.
Within that hallway, she settled on one particular door she picked for no reason. She opened it to reveal a large bedroom. Immediately in front of her was the bed, parallel to the wall on the opposite side of the room. To the right was a window and after that was a large, wooden bureau.
She strolled through it, fascinated by the combination of sophistication and simplicity within it, but she was especially drawn to the window. She gazed out it to see a garden with its wide array of flowers, ranging from large to small and white to violet. Her lips automatically curled into a smile as she was enamored by the pasture’s natural beauty.
A few moments later the music stopped playing, as Nova hopped down the stairs in annoyance at how high each step was compared to his legs. After getting down to the bottom floor he looked around curiously, “Where is everypony?”
“Hello?” He cupped his claws over his muzzle and called out curiously.
“Hello?” the echoing halls answered back. Except, the echoing hallway was feminine, for some reason. And sounded an awful lot like Spark..?
Nova raised an eyebrow curiously and slowly walked through one of the hallways, feeling intimidated at the size of the mansion, and from watching horror movies, he knew that long, scary hallways always meant bad news.
“Was that me or was that somepony else?” called out the echo again.
“Uhh….h-hello?” he asked, hearing the echo again, he gulped, holding his tail in fear, with his ear fins down.
“No...va?” the voice called out.
One of Nova’s ear fins twitched. “Sparky....is that you?”
“Nova!” said the voice, or rather, the pony at the end of the hallway. She came barrelling down, with a basket of different colored bottles on her back. He blinked, and she was in front of him. “I’m so glad to see a friendly face!”
Nova jumped up, and wrapped his arms around her neck as best he could, and nuzzling her slightly. “This place is really scary, it’s like one of those horror movies.” The pegasus looked down at him, with a smile.
“Really? I think it’s cool, but...” she said, glancing up at the hallway’s ceiling, many many yards above. “I can see where you’d say that. Where you headed?”
The white and blue dragon let go of her neck, dropping to the floor, looking down at his feet nervously, “Well….you see…I don’t like my room anymore, I'm so used to living in the same room as my older brother…” he looked away in embarrassment.
“Kiddo...you’re not scared of living alone, are you?” she said, the smile on her face replaced by one with a little more worry.
He rubbed the side of his arm slowly and nodded slightly, keeping his gaze on the ground. Spark gave a small smirk and took a few steps back. Then, without warning, she jumped right in front of the little dragon and scooped him up onto her back, with a small “Raa!”
“We can’t have you being scared of this place!” she said with a chipper grin. “We’re gonna be staying here for a while, and I don’t think it’d be a good idea to just be afraid of everything that comes our way!” She adjusted the dragon and the bottles on her back, and looked back at him. “Come on, let’s go to my room. I’ve got something to show you.”
Nova, nodded and looked down at her from where he sat giving a small smile. “I think I like it up here, I can see everything.” She grinned wildly at his comment, looking ahead.
“You think you can see everything from here, then how about THIS?” With that, she jumped into the air and let her wings carry her the rest of the way, soaring and zipping in and out of the pillars that kept the ceiling from collapsing.
“Woah, you’re heavy, little dude...” she laughed, after a loop in the air. She scanned the ground briefly, before spotting her target and diving to land in front of a great, oaken door. “Here we are, home sweet home!”
Nova looked at the door, hopping off her back. He then looked up at her, “You're actually going to let me stay here, with you?” he asked with wide eyes and his tail dragging limply on the floor.
“Well, of course. I’ve got my special talent in hopes, not letting them crash.” She opened the door to let the dragon in, to let him observe.
The room, technically speaking, was like any other was at the great Gob Mansion. Fairly sized, with a large window on the far side and a four-poster bed on the side, there was nothing special about it. That’s not what anypony, or dragon, would say upon walking in, though.
It was laced with wires, wires EVERYWHERE. They strung about from the ceiling and lined walls, all plugging into one strange device or another. There were little LEDs poking out from everywhere, abandoned trinkets hiding out under the bed, and a multitude of other things that you might find in a crazed inventor’s workshop.
While Nova was left to gawk, Spark set about taking the bottles that she’d collected and putting one on each LED until the bottles had run out. She flipped a switch in the far corner, and the place erupted in a rainbow of colors.
“So, what do you think?”
He stared at the lights with wide eyes, and his mouth hung open slightly, before he shook his head and giving a small grin.
“This…..is…..AWESOME!!!!!”
He jumped into the air excitedly with a large grin on his face.
“So uh... yeah! Pick a place, you know, the one least covered in wires, and you can set up camp there, I suppose. I’m gonna go out and find more stuff, alright?” she grinned.
He left the room for a moment, heading to his old room, picking up his stuff, before coming back to the new room he was going to be staying in. He then slowly walked through the room, making sure to be careful around all the wires.
After he found a place, he pulled out a long, big pillow, that was larger than his body, he laid it down on the floor, before unpacking the rest of his things.
Once he finished unpacking his stuff, he walked over to his pillow bed and laid down on it, and curling up in the bed, as he decided to take a small nap till his new roommate came back.
Wandering the halls of the Gob Mansion was no easy task, without getting lost. So, naturally, Spark failed miserably to find her way again. It seemed like every turn she took led her into a brand new room, and even doubling back switched up the halls on her. How she’d even found her room again to begin with was a wonder.
Not that it mattered. New rooms just meant new opportunities, even if the concept of getting lost and finding new and mysterious objects was getting a little cliche at this point. None of the others would be able to see the excitement she got from adventure, from discovering each new possibility and exploring it to its fullest. Nova couldn’t because he was too young. Lucky Stars was too social, too connected to the ponies around her. She found joy in other ponies, not just the environment. And Golden...well, Golden was just Golden.
It was so strange, he was so alike Coalstone, that it was uncanny. Bold, strong-headed and just bursting with confidence, heh...
“You’re BOTH Rockheads...” she said to herself, quietly.
“WHAT did you just call me?”
Spark glanced up and out of the cabinet she was rummaging, her ears perking.
“...Coalstone?” she said. Closing the cabinet doors revealed a black stallion with a gray mohawk, leaning against the wall with a deep-set frown into his face. Hmm, but wasn’t that just his normal state? He was being calm, though, and that certainly wasn’t normal. The frown lingered for a bit, before disappearing and being replaced by...was that a smile?
“Good to see you, Spark,” Coalstone said, shifting his weight off of the wall and onto his own hooves again. The pegasus set down the few bottles and other loose parts that she’d acquired and ran up to give him a hug.
“You too, Ro- Coalstone,” she said, smiling to herself. She broke from the hug and looked up at him. “I’m so glad that of all the crazy ponies that I could’ve met from the other team, you were the one I ran into first. So, how’re the others? Must be pretty crazy with an alicorn, right?”
“Eh, they’re not too bad,” he said. “If anything, they’re a little better to talk to than the rocks.” Spark giggled, then scooped up her supplies and started to walk again.
“You coming? The mansion isn’t just gonna explore itself.” He nodded and followed after her, catching up in only a couple steps. Spark looked back to make sure he was there, and continued her aimless walk around the place, the only difference being that she tried to look like she knew where she was going this time.
“It’s just too bad that we’re supposed to be competitors, I mean...” Coalstone started. “With us being on separate teams and all.” Spark’s steps faltered for a second, before she continued walking, though with not as much energy as before. It only lasted for that bit, before she looked back with a quirky smile.
“Why, miss me?” she grinned.
“Not for a SECOND,” Coalstone playfully snapped back. “I get ENOUGH crazies without the half-robot.”
“Ehey,” Spark laughed. “That’s 23% robot to you, mister-”
“Coalstone? Is that you?” called a voice that wasn’t too far away. It sounded like it belonged to-
“Thunderbolt?” Coalstone replied, looking up and looking around. At the sound of hoofsteps, both Spark and Coalstone turned around to see a honey-colored pegasus with a black and yellow striped mane, calling from behind them.
“Coalstone!” he called, flying towards the pair. “Come on! I just found a pool around the corner, and I’ve been wandering around looking for somepony else to swim with! This place is HUGE!” At that, he landed and looked at Spark.
“You can come too, if you want!” Thunderbolt Sentinel grinned, before Coalstone stepped next to him.
“Nah, I don’t think her 24% robot would agree with that...” he said, with a knowingly smug look plastered on. Spark rolled her eyes and glared at him.
“It’s twenty three percent...” she said, before shifting her gaze to the other pegasus and giving him a sorry smile. “And as much as I’d hate to admit, he’s right. Water’s going to be the death of me someday, I know it. Besides!” she said, perking up. “I’ve got other teammates to worry about, namely, a little-”
A large crash, followed by a short yell, echoed through the hallway, reaching the ears of everypony there.
“...dragon...”
-20 minutes earlier-
Nova slowly woke up, yawning slightly as he let out a small blue flame from his mouth. He slowly sat up, looking around curiously, while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
“That's odd, I thought Sparky would be back by now.” He stood up, walking out of the room , he then turned and walked down one of the halls.
He walked through the halls for a moment before he sniffed the air and licked his lips, “T-that smells like…..quartz!?!” he picked up the pace towards the kitchen, which the smell was coming from, he then entered the kitchen, looking around, before seeing a plate of gems sitting of to the side, on a counter that was barely taller than him.
-5 minutes later-
“Come on...I almost got it.” Nova whispered through clenched teeth and fangs, as he balanced on boxes, pans, toasters, and whatever else he could get his claws on, as he was now trying to reach for the plate of fresh gems that sparkled in the sunlight.
He leaned forwards a bit more, as his claws just touched the edge of the plate, before the items stacked under him gave way, and for a brief moment, he was suspended in the air, before he felt himself falling and screaming at the top of his lungs.
The fall ceased. What he expected to be a hard, cold floor was a soft, warm surface. He turned to see Lucky, whose face carried to remains of panic.
“Are you okay?” she asked more calmly.
He blinked a few times as he looked up at her in shock, he then slowly nodded, “Yea, I-I’m alright….thank you…”
She sighed and helped him up, “Just try to be more careful next time.”
He rubbed the side of his arm, while staring down at his feet. After a minute, he looked up to see her still standing there.
“Umm yea...I promise.”
“I know,” she said as her face awoke, “I was looking for you. I was hoping later on today we could all hang out in the living room together.”
“Oh, yeah sure, that'd be nice.” the scales on his face turned slightly red.
She smiled, “Good,” her gaze then shifted to the several objects that fell with Nova, “Do you need help picking up this stuff?”
“Sure, but you don't have to.” He went over to a pan and picked it up.
“No it’s fine,” she said, walking over to the toaster. She looked over to Nova, who haphazardly jammed the pan into one of the cabinets.
He closed the cabinet and chuckled lightly, seeing her watching. “I Uhh…found it there.” he then walked over to small garbage can and picked it up, placing it back where he found it.
Lucky noticed the plate of gems on top of everything, “I can see why you fell,” she said, getting up on the counter. She stretched her foreleg, being mindful of her balance, and grasped the plate. Her eyes darted to the counter surface as she leaned down, “Here you go.”
His eyes went wide, before he licked his lips, taking the plate in his claws, “Thank you so much, I love quartz, the taste is impeccable.” He hugged one of her forelegs gently.
“You’re welcome,” she replied as a smile formed on her face, “Anything else you need?”
“Hmm….nope I don’t think so…” he took a piece of quartz and gently sucked on one of the corners of it, savouring the taste.
She looked at the door before turning back to him, “Well, then,” she said, “I have some unpacking to do, so I’ll leave you be.”
“Hey, do you want some help?” He set the plate on a shorter counter. “Since you helped me and all.”
She stopped. For a moment, she was silent. Nova noticed this and figured it was merely indecision.
“No thanks,” she answered, “I’m nearly done.”
“Oh...okay.” He looked down sadly, turning away, as he dragged his tail on the ground as he began to walk off.
Lucky stood for another instant. Once Nova was out of the room, she made her departure. She headed up the stairs, allowing each step to produce an independent sound. Upon reaching the last of the flight’s fifteen steps, she proceeded through the maze called the second floor to find her room.
She walked in and saw the cases that still needed to be opened. She took one of them, a brown one, and clicked it open. The first thing she pulled out was a frame of another white Earth pony. This one, however, had an auburn mane instead of her black. Seeing the mare’s face made her smile.
“Don’t worry, Trinity,” she whispered as she stood up with the frame, “I’ll make you proud. You’ll be so happy with what I do here.” She then walked over to a bureau on the other side of the room. Seeing how it was next to the window, she propped it up on the top of that side. She turned her head to see the bed perfectly lined up with the view.
Meanwhile, Nova slowly walked through the halls, not really feeling like eating anything at the moment. He stopped by the door, remembering GOB saying something about a hot tub and pool, he decided to check it out.
The sun beat down on him, warming his scales and reflecting off the white scales, he looked around, seeing the pool and hot tub nearby.
After a moment he smiled slightly and walked over to the hot tub and slid into the warm water, and sighed as his scales warmed up nicely. After a moment, he closed his eyes and day dreamed.
“Aw come on. Where am I now in this stupid place?!” Golden snarled.
When he was talking to Lucky he could have sworn he saw a shadow that reminded him of something. It was large and filled his heart with aches and pains he thought he had long buried deep inside his being. He chased after it for what felt like hours.
He winced at his stupidity. Of course that pony had been gone for a long while. To think they’d suddenly show up in some random mansion was insane. Despite that logical reasoning he couldn’t help but hope it was wrong. That somehow it defied logic. It was a battle he had lost many times in the past.
The empty hallway he found himself in was the bringer of this harsh news. Ordinarily he’d want to punch something but the disappointment he felt sapped him of all the energy he had.
This lack of energy robbed the boxer of his senses. So when he bumped into an incoming zebra he fell down from the impact. For a brief moment he considered staying there on the ground.
“Oh. I’m sorry,” the zebra said holding out a hoof.
Golden recognized the zebra. She was one of those on that other team. What were they called again he wondered. In any case he decided to accept her hoof.
“So you’re one of our opponents,” she said as she helped him up.
“Yeah,” Golden confirmed. “Name’s Golden Horseshoes. If you didn’t catch it before.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Renieghah,” she said brightly. “So what’s got you being so grumpy?”
“What?”
“Your expression tells me you’re in pain. I tend to know these things.”
“How?”
“I’m a social worker.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere in Equestria. Eventually I’ll hit every spot,” she answered with a determined expression. “But enough about me. What about you? I mean it’s not every day I get to talk with a boxer.”
“I’m from Fillydelphia. That is all,” Golden said plainly. The tone of his voice had grown even more hostile than before.
“Well good luck with doing whatever you were doing,” the mare said pleasantly. She had hoped maybe talking would help him out of his attitude. But it was clearly evident he wanted to wallow in his pain for the time being.
She had seen it many times over the years she had worked as a social worker. The best thing she could do was wait for the stallion to calm down. And then maybe her or somepony else could get him talking. Maybe then he could heal from whatever thing was ailing him.
“I was just looking for a room to go in,” Golden said with a sneer. He took off looking for a room he knew he would never find.
He did manage to find a room that suited him just fine in the mansion. Well most wouldn’t call it a room. It was actually a boxing gym. Which to Golden was the least bizarre room he had found in all of the mansion.
It had everything from a sparring ring to benches for sitting. Or in the case of Golden for sleeping. As he began to unpack a small smile spread across his face.
The feeling being in a gym always reminded him of training with his father. His father Fighting Spirit was a proficient boxer and Golden loved him to death. So it was no surprise when he was old enough Fighting would teach Golden how to fight.
Sometimes in his dreams Golden could almost hear his father’s voice again. Unfortunately he couldn’t say the same for his mother.
He could remember everything about her. From her favorite things to her appearance every day he was with her. Which only drove him all the more mad when he’d long for the one thing he couldn’t recall.
While his father brought the energy to the gym there was something more valuable his mother provided the warmth. Even so many years after she had passed he felt content in one.
He dropped his stuff and went to lie on the bench. He was far too tired to worry about being clean. That's not true. Even when he wasn’t tired he didn’t care about cleanliness.
His body went into his usual shape while on the bench. He had slept on many during his life. He struggled a few minutes to find that sweet spot that they only talk about in legend.
Once he found that holy place he closed his eyes. His eager heart eased. He was ready for the land of dreams.
Nova walked through the halls, with a towel over his shoulder as he made his way back to his shared room, after he found the oak door, he was careful to step inside, due to all the strange gadgets and wires everywhere. After a small struggle to the spot he had set up his music system and recording area, he went to his demo music that he was working on. He cranked up the amplifiers to the max and pressed play.
As soon as the final click was made, the music and beat of the electronic dubstep came blaring out of the speakers, like an earthquake, shaking the radius around the speakers.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” a familiar voice shouted in utter anguish.
A grin began to spread across his face, from the reaction, and finally went to sleep for the night.
And Sentinel's Solo submission.
After being instructed and conversing with his teammates/housemates ,Sentinel, decided i was time to grab a room. Clearly even though he was a member of, Team XxX_Illuminati_XxX, there was still only a limited selection of rooms and he wanted to make sure he got one that suited him before anypony else could.
After checking a couple rooms out he opened the door to one that seemed to speak to him.
The room looked less like some manor bedroom and more like an ancient garden. Marble pillars with vines stood tall with a small stream moving throughout the room. A large bed with white sheets and a beautiful golden trim was the highlight in the center of the room, on a small platform of marble in the center of a small pond the river passed through. A skylight let in natural light, but several torches lined the walls for when the sun set. The room was the same size as the others, but seemed to speak to him, as though it was designed for him by some almighty deity, or contest host who had done his homework on the contestants. Sentinel thought to himself how such a place could exist.
Why would he have a room like this? Did he know I would like it? GoB couldn’t possibly know about my tranquility garden could he? No, he doesn’t read minds….does he?
After staring blankly for several minutes into the room, he decided to actually take a step inside. He looked around for the source of the water, a small aqueduct taking water from a pool on one end of the room, and elevating it before letting it go on the other in small carvings for the water to pass through. Upon closer inspection, he could see a soft glow from under the water as magical gems in the base light up in a beautiful gold matching the trim of the bed.
Sentinel knew this was the room for him, it had to be. Either it was made for him, or this was the cruelest joke he had fallen victim too. Not many ponies even knew he liked gardens like this one though, only his close friends knew, after all, it’s hard to be the tough Royal Guard when you’re the stallion who takes care of a garden.
Mares wouldn’t be into that would they? Nah, sensitive stallions would just get friendzoned.
After marveling at the room, he decided to lay on the bed in the middle of the room. To his surprise it was made of cloud under the sheets.
Probably enchanted so even non-pegasi could lay on it. He thought to himself.
Laying on his back, looking up, he could see small clouds in the room. Clearly just for decoration, not for rain.
He remembered all of the bedrooms he had seen were unique, as though designed for each member of the team. This one was clearly his.
After taking a brief nap, he decided it was time to explore the manor. He remembered hearing about a hot tub, and that caught his interest.
It took about five minutes to find said hot tub. He could see some of the other ponies conversing nearby, but figured to leave them for now. They’d be getting to know each other real soon.
He had talked to his Alicorn teammate, Candle Light, earlier that day. Turns out, for a red and black Alicorn, she wasn’t bad to talk to, a little crazy, but a good pony. Appearently she had come from an island where several Alicorns lived. Not as strong, good at flying, or magically talented as the ponies that usually have those traits, but capable of all three.
After resting a bit in the hot tub and watching the others talk, he figured there was more to this place. You can tell a place by it’s basement.
What he found out though, was this place had a lot more too it. There must have been another mansion’s worth of space down there! So he went from room to room.
After an what felt like an eternity, he found an armory of sorts. Finally! A room he understood!
Inside there was a shooting range, sparring mat, and lining the walls were weapons of all varieties. Just to be safe though, he decided not to touch anything yet. What if they were only decoration? What if some were magic, or even cursed? Nope, looking is safe.
Soon he felt hungry. After all, staring at weapons he doesn’t think he should touch takes a lot of willpower. It was time to raid the food.
Or, as much as he could. There must have been enough to feed a small country! You could blame world hunger on the owner of the mansion!
Well, no, not really, but there was a lot of food.
After stuffing himself and working it off by flying around the area, he decided it was time to meet his team. It was important to know them.
Today's challenge.
GOB sat alone in the boardroom from yesterday. In his hand was a large mug of coffee that he sipped from every few seconds. He checked his watch and furrowed his eyebrows. He tisked and muttered something about being tardy. With a quick snap of his fingers, eight bodies appeared in his office on the floor. Each body sleeping soundly. GOB inspected each of the sleeping contestants, the one known as Golden Horseshoes was quite entertaining to watch. He was curled up into a fetal position and shivered slightly as he slept. GOB scanned the other players and noticed something quite adorable. First Spark seemed to be holding Nova as if he were a small teddy bear. GOB quickly magiced an old looking camera and took a quick picture of the snuggle buddies.
“That’s going in the binder…” He grinned as he inspected the new photograph. He poofed them away and replaced the camera and photo with a megaphone. He clicked it on and tested the sound by shouting at the top of his lungs.
“WAKE UP YOU MAGGOTS!!” He exclaimed, each contestant jerked awake and some even screamed in horror. When they realized where they were they all stared at GOB with anger.
“What? I had to see if it worked or not!” GOB defended.
“You don’t just do that to ponies, guy!” Sentinel protested.
“Yeah, you really had us spooked!” Lucky agreed.
“Sorry, sorry, but I had to get you all up for the challenge today! It’s going to be very exciting! But first, we must eat breakfast!” As quick as a hare, GOB snapped his fingers and they all appeared in some sort of diner. They all sat in a single corner booth large enough for each player, each player had their own little space for elbow room. GOB sat in the center, separating the two teams from one another.
“OK! What are we all having?” GOB asked as he turned his head to view all his peers who seemed too confused to answer. “Alright, I’ll order for all of you.” GOB scanned through the menu and placed in gently on the table. He put his hand to his mouth and called out in his booming voice.
“WAITRESS!” Suddenly, a white as snow, faceless, female waitress in appeared and salluted.
“We’d like to order! I’ll have the Lumberjack meal with extra bacon, extra hash browns, extra sausage, extra pancakes, and all the syrup you have! Thunderbolt, Coalstone and Golden Horseshoes will have the same thing but with less of everything I just ordered. They may be big boys, but they don’t need all that food. Oh, and hold the meat, they’re you know… Herbivores.” GOB cringed as he said the word. “The cyborg, the zebra, and the teacher will have eggs with hash browns and a fruit cup, Miss Light will have your French special, and the dragon will have the pancakes with the smiley face on it. Coffee all around.” GOB gave all the menus away to the waitress and with another salute the waitress zipped away and in ten seconds flat, returned with every meal GOB ordered.
“Alright gang, eat up!” GOB exclaimed as he dug into his breakfast. The rest seeing no reason as to why they should reject a free meal began to eat as well, all staring at GOB with confusion and wonder.
‘How did he order so quickly?’ Reneigah wondered as she ate her meal.
‘Why is this food so deliciously amazing! I can’t stop eating!’ Coalstone thought as he quickly began to dig into the lovely meal.
‘Why did I get the kid’s meal?’ Nova complained as he poked and prodded his pancakes with a fork.
“So, after we’re all done here, we’re going straight to your challenge for the day!” GOB announced as he continued eating his hearty meal. What was amazing was he appeared to be already halfway finished with his food and didn’t look full at all!
Curious, Thunderbolt turned to Candle Light and whispered;
“Does he usually eat like this?”
“No, this is surprising of him. He usually eats all of what the restaurant has…” Candle informed without any real emotion. Sentinel’s mouth dropped open.
“You mean this guy can eat all that food and not gain any weight!?” Sentinel asked in amazement.
“Of course not, he’s not that amazing… He’s about the same weight as the sun itself but he’s a god. He’ll always have the body of one… When I first learned that I was amazed myself. The fact he eats all that and weighs that much is one thing, but the fact that he has abs you could skate on is very amazing.” Candle finished. Reneigah blushed at Candle’s comment.
“You’ve seen his abs before?” Reneigah asked.
“He has muscles?” Sentinel asked.
“You guys are acting as though I just met the guy! The business always has potlucks and more times than not, they’re usually held at the same mansion you guys are staying in. We always go in the pool, and he always transforms us into our anthro forms.”
“So let me get this straight, he’s a god and can basically eat all the food in the world and not gain any weight and show it physically?” Reneigah asked with wonder.
“That’s right. So can I. Right about now, I weigh the same as a small meteor…” Candle nonchalantly said as she finished her breakfast. Leaving the zebra and the guard shocked with their jaws wide open.
“Y-You’re a goddess?” Reneigah asked.
“Yep, goddess of fire and light.” Candle said as she leaned back in her seat.
After some time, everyone finished their food and GOB transported them all to where their challenge was. Although none of the contestants knew where they were, Candle and GOB knew exactly where they were.
“Welcome ladies and gentlecolts to a baseball stadium! Baseball, America’s favorite pastime! You all don’t know what America is or what baseball is, but I’ll tell you this much, Equestria’s got nothing on the land of the free, and home of the brave!” GOB said with pride.
“I beg to differ…” Thunderbolt mumbled.
“Here, the sport baseball is played. Baseball is a game where two teams try to get more points by touching each of the three bases in order and running to the home plate. But since none of you have played and it would take too long to teach every single one of you, what you’ll be doing instead is this,” GOB magiced up an odd looking object.
“This is a hotdog. It’s usually made of pig meat. Yes, this is the meat of a pig.” As he announced that, almost all the ponies standing before him cringed and even looked away from the small food. “Oh quit whining, you babies! Now, as I was saying the hotdog is usually sold during baseball games. These are GOB branned hotdogs made with only the finest of hogs. You guys will be selling these to the public during a baseball game! Whoever sells the most hotdogs by the end of the game wins! The bonus goal is to sell twenty-three hundred dollars worth of hotdogs by the end of the game. Whoever can reach that goal will earn an extra prize!” GOB said with a smile.
“But first, we need to change something.” GOB said. “You all will be selling these to humans, so that means you guys have to look the part!” GOB snapped his fingers and they were all suddenly turned into what they all thought were odd, disturbing, creepy beings. For the ponies, their fur was replaced with a soft fleshy layer and their hooves were replaced with claw like appendages made of the same material and for Nova his scales were replaced with the same fleshy stuff. They were all wearing clothes that seemed to reflect what they looked like prior. Some wearing different clothing that matched their personalities. For example Golden wore what seemed to be dark boxing shorts with a black tank top. After they all screamed in horror of their new bodies, GOB recorded their reactions with a video camera. Before they could notice, GOB put the camera away and magiced up two baseball bats.
“Alright…” GOB called out to calm them all down. But they were still freaking out.
“Alright!” Still no calming down.
“SHUT THE HELL UP YOU PIGS!” He angrily shouted. Stopping them all in their tracks. He cleared his throat. “I apologize for the name calling. Now, here is a mini-challenge. These are baseball bats, you use these to hit what are called baseballs. In the game, there’s a thing called a ‘home run’ a home run happens when somebody hits a baseball with a baseball bat hard enough to send it flying out of the park. Or over those walls there.” GOB pointed towards the walls of the large stadium. “You guys will choose one teammate who’ll bat for your teams. The first one to hit a homerun will earn a fifty dollar head start when the selling can begin. I’ll let you all get used to your bodies before you can choose who’ll bat. Feel free to take your time, I paused time in this universe so you have all the time in the world before the game starts. But that doesn’t mean take forever…” GOB deadpanned.
You all have until tomorrow night to have one of your teammates win the pre-challenge. But here's how it'll work. Both teams will write a scenario in which their player wins over the opposite team and both teams will submit that piece. I will choose the winner of the two and that winner's team will earn the head start. Remember, you have until tomorrow night, or Sunday night to finish this.
Alright. Sounds cool. I'd like to do the batting if they let me.
There I was, prepared to start my load of homework and be productive for the first time in a decade...
*First challenge appears*
*sobbing and typing* Damn you, GOB. I'm spending time conversing about baseball when I should be working...
Renieghah has a thing for human abs.
Headcanon approved.
3708496 I'm online. When are we starting.
3708543 I was just about to message you about the batting. Your character is pretty athletic, so I say go for it! Just remember not to make it too easy for Thunder.
Oh btw do you want help with the writing?
3708546 Are we going to do this in a Gdoc?
3708552 I set one up, give me a minute
3708557 great.
3708496 38.media.tumblr.com/780fc12677720229a46a1e3b3a37bfed/tumblr_n0kt78BwAf1qcga5ro1_500.gif
But hey, it doesn't have to be a long thing. You can still do whatever homework you have. Don't let this get in the way of true success. KNOWLEGE IS POWER!
3708557 I need access dude.
3708587
And power corrupts.
Study hard, STAY EVIL