//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Valiant // by Four Crazy Stallions //------------------------------// “Are we there yet?” A voice from inside the brightly colored caravan called. A light gold colt stuck his head out of the window, his light brown mane flowing behind his head as he looked out at the grassy fields. He squinted at the bright sun as the caravan shook and rattled along the dusty road. “What was the answer when you asked ten minutes ago?” The bright blue unicorn holding the reins quipped back at the young actor. “Honestly, Spotlight! Just relax. You’ll have your audience soon enough.” With that, he turned away, knowing that Spotlight’s complaints were far from over. Spotlight pulled his head back into the caravan, knocking his horn on the way in. He gave a small “ouch”, expecting sympathy from somepony near him, but receiving none. The travelling band of showponies was on its way to yet another town for its next show. As always, tensions were high wiith the fast schedule that Stormspell enforced as he drove the long line of caravans and carriages down the dirt road to fame and fortune. Two large earth ponies pulled the large front caravan, which was decorated in shades of red, blue and gold and had “Stormspell’s Spectacular Showponies” plastered on all sides. It didn’t take long for Spotlight to stick his head out, yet again. Stormspell sighed, knowing exactly what he was going to say before Spotlight even said it. “I’ve been cooped up in this caravan for seven hours now, and Prancer is getting on my nerves!” Stormspell mouthed out the words as Spotlight said them, only missing the word “seven”, seeing as how they had only been travelling for five hours. Stormspell slouched back and groaned, trying to mentally block out the noise behind him. “EXCUSE ME! I’m right here!” yelled a mare from inside the caravan, “If you didn’t want to hear about my entire life story, you should’a said something!” Spotlight and Prancer were the two main actors among the group. While they had been in many romantic scenarios onstage, they were not very fond of each other in real life. “I tried to, dear Prancer…” Spotlight said tragically, and then continued angrily “But you couldn’t hear me over the sound of your own voice! Stormy! Help me out here!” Stormspell gritted his teeth. He hated being called “Stormy”. Not being called by his full name just grated on his nerves. Storm was bad enough, but the extra ‘y’ at the end made it that much worse. Every time he heard Spotlight call him “Stormy” he had to try to hide his anger. “That’s Stormspell to you, Mister!” The blue colt demanded, and then returned his attention to the road. A low, serious voice came from behind the caravan, “Why don’t you get off your high horse and walk like the rest of us if it’s so bad up there?” Spotlight rolled his eyes and turned to look at the dark blue pegasus. His mane was thick and purple, and he held himself with confidence, despite his dreary appearance. He was giving Spotlight a cold glare, like always. Spotlight turned away and exclaimed in his best drama queen voice, “Must we go over this again, Foresight? I’m not a simple work pony like the rest of you. I need to maintain my handsome appearance for my audience!” “Can’t lose what you never had…” Foresight said casually. The ponies pulling the caravan chuckled at the insult. Stormspell cracked a smile, but decided to stay out of this argument. They seemed to happen about twice every hour. A smaller, white unicorn with a brown mane peered over the edge of the caravan. Novelty was always there to defend Spotlight, even though Spotlight would never do the same for him. He looked down on Foresight and protected his arrogant friend. “Don’t insult Spotlight! Without him, our show wouldn’t be worth coming to!” Foresight sighed, as once again Novelty played middleman, ‘I’ve always admired him for that, but why he looks up to Spotlight, I’ll never know.... I’d like to believe that Spotlight is a good pony deep down, but it’s hard to tell through his thick ego.’ “I still don’t know what you see in Mr. 'High and Mighty' over there, but I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t stoop to his level.” With a satisfied nod, Novelty retreated back to the roof of the caravan, where he had a small stack of papers and some pencils. Novelty was the show’s main writer, and had spent most of the trip to Ponyville writing a new play. Jotting down a few more words, Novelty levitated the stack of papers and trotted over to the front of the caravan, directly above Stormspell. Novelty looked down at the stallion, who was deep in thought. “Hey, Stormspell, when we get to Ponyville, I have another play for you to look over!” Stormspell snapped to attention and looked up at Novelty. He grabbed the papers from him with his own magic and gave a small smile. “Shoot, I’ll read it right now. Anything to distract me from all the horsing around back there!” Spotlight stuck his head back out the window. “I HEARD that!” Stormspell just rolled his eyes. ------------ The caravan of actors and stageponies continued to progress down the road, only two hours from Ponyville. Stormspell’s Spectacular Showponies was still growing its name, and had to start in small towns where they could gather a huge crowd easily. Having only heard of the town from a showmare who performed there, Stormspell didn’t know much about where he was leading the group, but if there was anything wrong, his assistant, Duskstride would have come back to warn the group by now. Duskstride always went ahead of the caravan and set up posters in one town while they were doing a show in another. A rare grin crossed his face as he thought, ‘Duskstride isn’t back yet, so we’re good to go. There’s something different about this town. I can feel it...’ “I’ve never seen you with a smile that big…” Foresight noted while catching up to the front of the caravan. As soon as Foresight mentioned it, Stormspell’s grin vanished and was replaced with his usual poker face. Stormspell didn’t bother looking down at the stallion who spoke to him as he replied, “I’ve never seen you act like you care about anything so much…” Foresight gave an uninterested snort and trotted alongside the ringleader. Foresight could tell Stormspell was thinking of something important. He wasn’t called Foresight for nothing. He could read most ponies like a book. Most being a key word. ‘He’s hiding something, he always is. If only I could figure out what!’ Foresight thought. Foresight let out a sigh as he remembered all of his failed attempts to figure out Stormspell. “Hide your secrets long enough, they’ll find ways to leak out…” He said half-heartedly. Stormspell brushed away Foresight’s comment with ease. He was the immovable object, Foresight was the unstoppable force. Only one would come out on top, and Stormspell intended to do just that. He watched from the corner of his eye as Foresight fell back to the second wagon. ‘Another battle won.’ He thought as he let the smile retake his face. ‘He’d be better off just letting it go.’ The string of caravans continued on to Ponyville. ------------------------ “I think I see something!!!” Pinkie Pie sat on the tallest apple tree in Sweet Apple Acres, looking out to the dirt road. She placed her eyes onto the small circles on her binoculars and jumped up and down. Rarity sat under the tree on a picnic blanket, reading a book. She replied to the pink earth pony without looking up from her novel. “Hmm? Oh, yes, of course.” Pinkie leaped from the tree and started hopping up and down in excitement, ranting in a quick, squeaky voice, “Come on, Rarity! They’re here! Let’s go meet them right now! Oh boy, showponies! I just LOVE it when showponies come into town; it’s always such a blast! Except for when that Trixie pony came into town but THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT! These ponies are new and they need a warm welcome-” Pinkie stopped mid-thought, as a thought hit her. "I should throw them a party! Will they think it’s weird? Nopony doesn’t enjoy a surprise party! Except Fluttershy, maybe, but those showponies aren’t Fluttershy, right Rarity!?!” Looking up, Rarity saw Pinkie watching her expectantly. She had sort of tuned out Pinkie’s rant, and only heard select words like “Showpony”, “Party” and “Fluttershy.” Nonchalantly, she replied. “I don’t think Fluttershy would make a very good showpony, darling…” Pinkie, for a split second, felt a bit of annoyance with Rarity, but it quickly turned back into happiness. “Of course she wouldn’t, well unless they have an animal act! OH! I wonder if they DO have an animal act! That would just be FANTASTIC! I wonder if they have alligators like Gummy! I want to see some animals! Come on, Rarity! Let’s go meet them right now!!!” Pinkie Pie grabbed the corner of the blanket Rarity sat on and started pulling it through the apple filled acres. Rarity gave a small scream and caught herself before she fell onto the grass. In a state of panic, she froze up and allowed Pinkie to drag her, not wanting to damage her coat of pristine white fur. She set her book down next to her and tried to shift more towards the middle of the blanket-made island. Pinkie had little difficulty dragging the unicorn as she trotted through the fields towards the dirt road. She kept talking, even with the blanket in her mouth. “Oh boy, I wonder what the showponies will be like? I bet they love talking, since that’s what they do for a living! I’m not one for talking much myself, but that’ll give the showponies PLENTY of time to talk! I wonder what they’ll think of me? I think I make a pretty great fan! I cheer for Dashie all the time when she does tricks and stuff, but, these ponies are used to such bigger crowds! I’m sure they’ll love me, though! I’ve yet to meet a pony who’s refused an offer to be my friend! Donkeys are a different story, however! HAHAHA! Oh, my! I wonder what play they’re going to-“ Muffled? “Pinkie Pie?” Rarity asked politely. “-perform? I hope they don’t perform The History of Equestria, I’ve already seen that one-“ “Pinkie!” She exclaimed, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “But I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing it from the audience’s spot! Ooh, what if they let me see it from-“ “PINKIE PIE!!” Rarity yelled, knowing she had no other choice than to raise her voice. Pinkie stopped in her tracks and turned to Rarity. Speaking in a completely happy and carefree voice, she replied. “What’s up?” Rarity stepped off of the blanket and began to fold it with her magic. She wiped herself off and gave Pinkie a friendly look. “Why don’t we play a game while we walk?” Pinkie, her eyes the size of dinner plates, began jumping up and down excitedly. “OOH!! I LOVE GAMES!!! We could play I spy or tag or freeze tag or zombie tag or have a race or-” Rarity quickly cut her off and said in a lady-like voice, “I was thinking something along the lines of The Quiet Game!” Pinkie bounced even higher, “Alright! It’s on, Rarity!!!” Rarity placed the blanket on her back and went back to reading her book, as the friends trotted through the fields towards the long line of caravans, in the peace and quiet... “I LOSE!!!” Rarity gave an agitated yell as Pinkie continued to rant her thoughts. ------------------------ The caravan pressed on, only a half hour away from it’s destination. Approaching them from down the road was a light gray pegasus with a short, orange mane. He flew gracefully and waved to the travelers. Foresight grumbled to himself and slowed his pace to create distance between the caravan and himself. Soaring over the procession, Duskstride made a wide U-turn and landed casually on the ledge of the caravan above Stormspell. He peered down at the ringleader and happily reported, “All is well in this town, in fact, some of the ponies seemed quite excited for the show! Maybe this’ll be our ticket to fame!” As with most traveling shows, ‘Stormspell’s Spectacular Showponies!’ spent most of their time and money establishing a name for itself. Unfortunately, they had not been the most successful. “I know there are some famous ponies living in this village. I heard they saved Equestria from destruction a couple of times or something. Maybe they’ll come to the show!” Duskstride added hopefully. A white Pegasus with a long, bright blue mane flew up to Duskstride and landed gently beside him, leaning up against him. Duskstride put his foreleg around her and continued his conversation. “Maybe if they like us, Princess Celestia may have reason to see our performance!” Stormspell was intrigued at the thought. If Duskstride was right, though unlikely that the groups’ visit would get them to meet Celestia, they could get recommendations from ponies with influence. There was only one problem, he didn’t know much about Ponyville. ‘How can I get more information about this town? Nopony in the group seems very concerned or knowledgeable about anything but themselves, let alone small towns. Except maybe... Foresight. He always reads the newspapers in every town we visit, however odd it may be...' Even when in a bad mood, Foresight had the sense not cause trouble when he talked with Stormspell. He called out to him, “Foresight, come up here. Let’s talk.” Foresight looked up at the conversation taking place up front. Stormspell, Duskstride and… Soaring Sky. 'Of course.' Soaring Sky glanced back at him, and looked away with an uninterested expression. Foresight had a rough history with her. She was his marefriend only a few months ago. She was always sticking her snout into other's business, and Foresight just couldn’t stand it. After all, he was the kind of stallion who focused on his own business (except for Stormspell, but that was different). Foresight thought back on his tumultuous relationship. The aggressive flirting, the giving in, the happiness... 'What are you doing, Foresight?' '...I'm done.' 'What?!' 'I'm sick of your lies.' 'What lies?!' 'Don't give me that, Sky. We're through.' 'I didn't even do anything, you insensitive colt!' 'This was a disaster from the beginning and you know it.' '...You're right. There are far better stallions than you!' 'What am I? The tenth pony you've dated in this group? Frankly, Sky, you're just plain desperate for a coltfriend.' 'And what am I, your first? Stay away from me, you creep...' and all the sadness that followed... Foresight was happy to have broken up with Sky, but it pained him to see the exact same thing happening to Duskstride, a pony he normally respected. Sky didn’t love him, she just wanted attention. Foresight picked up his pace and indifferently lifted his head to look at Stormspell. He let out one simple word, summing up every emotion he had at the moment: “What?” Stormspell smirked. “You know anything about Ponyville?” ‘Of course I do, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked.’ Foresight thought, holding in the know-it-all remark. Foresight had read about Ponyville in many newspaper articles, all published recently. “Rainbow Dash saves Wonderbolts”, “Discord Defeated”, “Princess Luna’s Return” There seemed to be quite a few adventurous and heroic ponies living there. Out of sheer annoyance, he looked back at the ground and simply said, “Ponyville is home to the Elements of Harmony, they have saved the world more than once.” Stormspell, satisfied with the response, dismissed him, “Thanks. You can return to your lurking now.” Unoffended, Foresight did just that. He slowed his pace and moved back behind the caravan. Foresight returned to thinking, ‘Was I in the wrong? I never seemed to care about anything or anyone. Was it my fault? If she was worth it, I might have cared more… I can’t believe we went so far as to-’ “HELLO!!!” Foresight concentration shattered, and he stood bolt upright and looked to his side. A pink earth pony was hopping alongside him, with a giant smile on her face. She was talking so quickly he could barely separate the sentences between the pony’s words. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, I’m a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE fan of showponies! I think it’s one of the COOLEST jobs ever! What do you do in the circus? Acting? Stunts? Music? Everything? Personally, I would-“ Foresight saw exactly where the pony’s rant was going, and she wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, nor would she say anything productive the entire time. Knowing to act professional and happy for fans, he put on a grin and cut her off, “Woah, woah! Slow down, theatre goer! I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I’m very… busy at the moment.” Pinkie Pie looked at Foresight confusedly, then cheerily responded, “OH, I see! Sometimes I get lost in thought too! Like the time I couldn’t decide whether to put green sprinkles or red sprinkles on my cupcakes this morning! I thought and thought and thought, but then I just decided to use both! Are you memorizing lines? I LOVE memorizing things, especially songs! There’s the one about cupcakes and-” Foresight tried to drown out Pinkie with his own thoughts, but the noise doubled. Looking up, he saw Spotlight walking on the opposite side of Pinkie. Foresight struggled to keep a peaceful mindset. Spotlight always knew a fan when he heard one, and he couldn’t get enough of the praise they offered. He had leapt from the caravan and was begining to introduce himself. “Greetings, Ponyvillian! I am Spotlight, the most talented actor in Stormspell’s Spectacular Showponies!” Overhearing this from the front of the group, Stormspell let out a harsh laugh. Ignoring the mockery, Spotlight kept gloating. “I do it all! Action! Adventure! Romance…” he finished, shooting Pinkie a wink. Pinkie started giggling a tiny blush working over her cheeks. “Pinkie Pie, you didn’t have to leave me back there!” Rarity chided as she trotted up to her friend. “Well, a fine afternoon to you, good sir. Who’s your friend, Pinkie?” She asked as she gave Spotlight a once over. Pinkie, still giggling, replied, “This is Sp-“ Spotlight cut her off, knowing no introduction would be a great as his own, and said, “I am Spotlight, the most talented actor in Sto-“ “Give it a rest, Spot!” Duskstride and Soaring Sky had moved over to the conversation and sat on top of the wagon. Foresight kept his head low. Duskstride began laughing as well, “Don’t scare away our first fans from Ponyville!” Rarity gave a small laugh, seeing some of herself in the golden stallion, as Pinkie began talking, “Oh, there’s no way you guys can scare me off! I can’t wait to see you perform, and I also want to see the stunts and win all the games!!” Soaring Sky cut in, “Trust me, Spotlight will find a way.” Foresight snapped. All of his built up anger at Spotlight’s ego, Soaring Sky’s attitude, Stormspell’s secrets, and everything else just overflowed. “NOPONY CARe…s...“ Foresight felt the eyes of everypony on him. He had never embarrassed himself so much in all his life! Getting angry around a fan was unacceptable. Foresight mumbled something and trotted away, off to the other side of the wagon and a good distance away from the rest of the group. Rarity, looking concerned, asked “Is there something wrong with him?” Duskstride and Soaring Sky shot each other a glance. Foresight was always very mature, and that had come from seemingly nowhere. Duskstride started to apologize on Foresight’s behalf, but Sky cut in before he could. “He’s always been a little loopy in the head…” Duskstride glared at Soaring Sky for the blunt lie she just told, but she pretended not to notice. Rarity continued the conversation, “Well, I guess that explains that. Anyway, Pinkie Pie and I came to get a sneak preview of the stageponies we’ll be seeing tonight, and to wish you good luck! I can tell who the lead is going to be. Would you be so kind as to introduce us to the rest of the cast and crew?” Spotlight burst into animated speech, pointing every which way, singling out various ponies . “First off, we have myself. The lead role. Most important pony in the entire show! Then we have the other actors and actresses, most of them are in that caravan back there, but the female lead is snoring away in this caravan next to us!” Spotlight moved in front of the small group and began walking backwards with expertise, pointing to ponies in the string of caravans and carts. “There are make-up artists, stage hands, clowns, strongponies, stuntponies, musicians, set up, clean up, light specialists, security guards!” Spotlight looked to the lonely blue Pegasus walking by himself, seeming to be scolding himself through thought. “That stallion you met does the music. He messes up my sound cues sometimes, but I must say his ability to play a canterlot piano with his hooves AND his wings impresses even me!“ Spotlight looked up on top of the caravan, gesturing to the two pegasi, and Novelty, who had sat next to them. “Soaring Sky does stunts. Duskstride sets up posters in towns that we’re about to play in, and Novelty up there writes most of our shows!” Rarity cocked her eyebrow at Novelty’s introduction. She took out the book she had been reading and sure enough, there was the name of the author “Novelty” She butted in and looked up at the white unicorn, “Excuse me, pardon my interruption, but… Do you happen to be the Novelty that wrote this book? The marvelous romance writer?” Novelty, just as shocked, sheepishly replied, “Oh, they actually published that?! Yes, I am the Novelty who wrote your book.” Rarity gave a squee of joy, and began chatting away with the author. As the introductions and conversation died down, most of the crew returned to their places as the convoy slowly came into town.