//------------------------------// // The Preparations // Story: Journey of the Heroes Part 1: Friendship is Magic // by MetaMaster54610 //------------------------------// The group of six were walking. Screw exciting introductions. They were just walking. "So where do we go first?" Joey asked, his hands casually stuffed in his pockets. "Well, first we need to check on the food, being prepared at Sweet Apple Acres." Spike answered, looking over his checklist. "Can we get ice cream after?" Tristan asked. "No, Tristan." Twilight said. "Awww...." Tristan said, looking down. "Aw, lighten up Twilight!" Joey said. "Yeah, ice cream would be great!" Krillin said. "I want ice cream now..." Spike muttered. "I hate ice cream!" Achmed said in annoyance. "It goes right through me!" "Well, good for you Achmed, because we're not getting ice cream." Twilight said. Then she smiled and came to a stop. "Oh good, we're here." "How can you tell?" Tristan asked. Twilight gave him an "Are you serious" look and pointed at a large glowing neon banner that said "Sweet Apple Acres." "I still think we need more proof." Tristan said, closing his eyes and putting a finger under his chin intellectually. Twilight rolled her eyes and motioned for the others to follow, which they did. "This is a nice farm." Krillin said, looking around. "Yeah, the apples look real tasty." Joey said. "I hate apples." Achmed said. "They go right through me too." Suddenly, they heard a voice. "YEEEEEHAAAAAW!" The voice said. They all turned around to see an orange pony running at a tree. She quickly turned around and gave it a good, strong kick, causing all the apples in the tree to fall neatly into buckets. She looked over and saw the heroes. She gave them a questioning look, then noticed Twilight. "Well, if that pony over there can keep em under control, they can't be all bad." She thought. Twilight sighed deeply. "Let's get this over with..." She muttered. She put on a smile and she and the boys walked up to the orange pony. Twilight introduced herself. "Good Afternoon! I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Joey, Tristan, Krillin, Achmed and Spike." She pointed at each boy as she introduced them. "We're here to...." But she didn't get to finish, as the orange pony had grabbed her hoof and started shaking it roughly. "Well howdy doo, Miss Twilight!" The pony said in a thick Southern accent. "A pleasure makin your acquaitance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin new friends!" She stopped shaking Twilight's hand [Not that it made Twilight stop shaking] and went over to Spike, then started shaking his hand. "Howdy there, little pardner! Good to meet ya!" She left Spike rapidly shaking his hand and approached Joey. "Joey, hmm? That ain't a name I've heard before..." "Yeah, well, I kinda gathered when the creatures I've met so far are named after a crappy book series, somethin that kills me every time on Mega Man and a breakfast cereal, names like Joey or Bob or Joe aren't gonna be close by." Joey said, his voice quaking as Applejack shook his hand. She released him, leaving him to karate chop air, and approached Tristan. "Well, aren't you a skinny one?" She said as she shook his hand. "H-h-h-e-e-y-y, I l-l-like being ski-i-i-inny." Tristan said as his hand was shaken nonstop. Applejack left him and went to Krillin. "You're a bit on the short side, ain't ya?" Applejack said kindly as she shook Krillin's hand. After she released him, the force that he was using to chop the air actually propelled him forward. "Oh God! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Krillin screamed as he chopped an apple tree and got buried in apples. "Nice to meet ya too!" Applejack said obliviously. Krillin groaned. Krillin Owned Count: 5 Applejack then approached Achmed. She blinked and looked at him in concern. "And I thought Tristan was skinny! You're all bone!" She said. "It's because he's dead." Joey said from offscreen. "I am NOT dead!" Achmed snapped. "It's a flesh wound!" "Well, anyway, it's nice to meet ya'll Achmed!" Applejack grabbed Achmed's hand and shook it once... and Achmed's arm immediately popped out of its socket. Applejack dropped it and jumped back, and everyone managed to get their arms to stop shaking so they could stare at the disembodied arm in shock, the most shock coming from Achmed. He finally looked up to glare angrily at Applejack. "I KEEL YOU......" He said dangerously. "I keel you till you're DEAD!" Applejack took a few steps back and looked back to the others, who shrugged. She looked back to a still glaring Achmed. "That's worse." Then he looked back down at his arm and looked at everybody sadly. "Can somebody put it back on?" He asked pitifully. "Let's see here...." Twilight said as she levitated the arm into the air. She squinted as she looked closely at Achmed's socket. And she gently put his arm back in. "What are all those markings on your arm?" She asked, tilting her head. "I don't want to talk about it." Achmed shuddered. Twilight turned around, gave Achmed a concerned look, and turned to Applejack, who smiled. "So, what can I do ya for?" She asked, winking. Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration." She said. "And then we're getting ice cream!" Tristan said from offscreen. "No we are not." Twilight said, still looking at Applejack, with a deadpan expression. "You're no fun!" Tristan shouted, still offscreen. Twilight rolled her eyes. "So you're in charge of the food?" She asked. "We sure as sugar are!" Applejack said proudly. "Would you care to sample some?" "YEAH!" Everybody but Achmed shouted. "Whatever..." Achmed muttered. Tristan, Krillin, Joey and Spike looked at Twilight with pleading looks, and she sighed. "Fine..." She muttered. "As long as it doesn't take TOO long..." And with that, Applejack dashed away and rang a bell. "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!" She shouted. "EveryPONY?" Achmed asked. "That sounds like something one of my wives would say." "ONE of your wives?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I have 46 wives. They all wear the same thing and their faces are always covered." Achmed answered casually. "How d'ya tell em apart?" Joey asked. "The numbers on their backs." Achmed answered. "That's terrible!" Twilight said in shock. "I know, Mother's Day is a bitch!" Achmed said angrily. "And so are over half of the wives...." Suddenly, the ground started shaking. "Oh no.... THEY HEARD ME!" And with that, Achmed started screaming like a little girl. Then everyone got stampeded by ponies. They somehow ended up at a table, surrounded by ponies. "Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple family?" Applejack said. And with that, she introduced every single solitary member of her family so fast, the only ones the group could remember were Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. And that all of the names had something to do with apples. Tristan was quick to point this out. "But you're ponies, not apples!" Tristan said, genuinely confused. Everybody in the Apple family stared at him. "Ignore him." Joey, Krillin, Achmed, Twilight and Spike said in unison. "Aaaaah." Everypony in the Apple family nodded in understanding. "Why I'd say they're already part of the family!" Applejack said cheerfully. Twilight spat out the apple she had been eating. She started shoving the rest of the group away from the table. "Weeeeell, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way. Bye!" Twilight said nervously. "Aren't ya gonna stay for brunch?" A small voice asked. They all turned around to see Apple Bloom giving them the most adorable big eyed stare any of them had ever seen. "AGH, MY OVARIES!!!" Krillin shouted as he fell over. "WHAT?!" Joey and Achmed shouted in amusement. They burst into loud laughter. "Hey, I misspoke, alright?!" Krillin snapped. They all looked back at the young pony. "Well?" She asked quietly. "Aren't ya?" "Sorry." Twilight said, clearly resisting the urge to hug the filly. "But we have an awful lot to do." "Awwwww....." Everybody but Twilight and Achmed looked down sadly. Achmed looked around with a wide eyed stare while Twilight looked around, trying to fight the urge to stay. But she lost that fight. "Fine..." She muttered, rolling her eyes. Everybody but Twilight and Achmed cheered. 3 hours later... "Ugh.... I had too much pie..." Joey said, grabbing at his stomach. "That's what he said." Krillin said. "Gay." Achmed said. "I still want ice cream." Tristan said. "No ice cream!" Twilight said in annoyance. "But ice cream is my life! Next to children's card games of course.... even though I never play..." Tristan said. Twilight facehoofed. "Spike, what's next?" She asked. "There's supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds." Spike said, looking around. Everybody else looked around as well. "Well, she ain't doin a very good job, is she?" Joey said. Suddenly, something crashed into him from the side, sending both him and the culprit flying into a mud puddle. The culprit was a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. She stood up and looked down at Joey, lying facefirst in the mud. Joey pulled his face out of the mud, wiped it off of his face, and looked at the sky. "BROOKLYN RAAAAGE!" Joey shouted. The pegasus laughed nervously. "Um...excuse me?" She giggled. "Let me help you." She flew off and came back with a raincloud, which she held over Joey's head. She then proceeded to jump on it repeatedly, making it rain on Joey's head. She looked over and saw that Joey was soaked to the bone. "BROOKLYN RAAAAAAAAAAGE!" Joey shouted angrily. The pegasus giggled again. "Whoops. I guess I overdid it. Um...uh.... how about this?" And with that, she started flying around Joey at top speed, creating a rainbow tornado. "My very own patented....rainblow dry!" She finished the tornado and closed her eyes proudly. "No, no. Don't thank me. You're quite welcome." She said as she landed gracefully. Joey cleared his throat, causing her to look over at him. His hair was a mess, all tangled up with tree branches and bird nests sticking out of it. The pegasus burst into loud laughter and started rolling around on the ground, as did Spike, Krillin and Achmed. Even Twilight giggled. Tristan was too busy daydreaming about ice cream to notice. "BRRRRRROOOOOOOOKLYYYYYYYN RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!" Joey shouted at the sky. "So let me guess?" Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "You're Rainbow Dash." The pegasus immediately stood up and posed. "THE one and only!" She said. "Why? Ya heard of me?" "I HEARD you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear." Twilight said in annoyance. She sighed. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the princess sent me to check on the weather." Oh, and she introduced everyone else too, I'm just too lazy to write it in. "Yeah, yeah." Rainbow Dash said, waving a hoof at her while reclining on a cloud. "I'll get to that in a minute. Just as soon as I'm done practicing." "To defeat Dr. Eggman?" Tristan asked. Everybody stared at him. "What?" "Noooo...." Rainbow Dash said. She then pointed at a poster. "The Wonderbolts! They're performing at the celebration tommorow! And I'm gonna show em my stuff!" "Whoa! Too much information, lady!" Joey said, holding his hands above his chest defensively. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I MEAN I'm gonna show em my tricks!" She said. "Who are these....Wonderbolts?" Achmed asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds like something they would use in the bomb factory." Rainbow Dash gasped and got right in Achmed's face, causing him to widen his eyes and step back. "You don't know THE Wonderbolts? They're ONLY the most talented flyers in all of Equestria!" She said in utter bewilderment. "Ha! If you're as good as you say they are, there's no chance in hell that they'll let in someone who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day!" Joey said smugly. Rainbow Dash gave him a death glare as she got right up in his face. "Hey, I could clear the sky in ten seconds flat!" She said. "Prove it." Joey said, crossing his arms and smirking. Rainbow Dash glared at him and flew off to take out the clouds. She hit them with karate chops and flew through them with loop de loops, destroying them upon impact. Joey's jaw practically hit the floor upon realizing how long it took her to do it. "Like I said." She said smugly. "Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hangin." "Actually, that was 9.59 seconds." Twilight said. "Even...better?" Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head. She looked over at Joey and laughed at the expression on his face. "You should see your face!" She giggled. "You guys are a laugh! I can't wait to hang out some more." And with that, she flew off. "She's amazing!" Spike said. "She's badass!" Achmed said. "She's cool!" Joey said. "She's fast!" Twilight said. "She's hardcore!" Krillin said. "She's blue!" Tristan said. Everybody stared at him. "What?" Then he got a look at Joey's still messed up hair. He gasped and pointed. "Oh my God! That's exactly what I wanna look like!" Boy, if looks could kill, Joey would be in jail. He angrily started walking. "So where do we go next, Twilight?" Krillin asked. "Well, we have to check on the decorations." Twilight answered. "I think it's at Carousel Boutique, right Spike?" "Right!" Spike answered. Soon, they were at the Boutique. "So....beautiful....." Spike said dreamily. "Yeah, these are some nice lookin decorations." Joey said. "Not them!" Spike said in annoyance. "Her." He pointed at a white unicorn with a purple mane, fussing over ribbons. Everybody except the white unicorn looked down at Spike and noticed he had hearts for eyes. "Um.... you might wanna get that checked." Achmed said uncomfortably. Spike shook his head. "How are my spikes?" He asked. "Are they straight?" Suddenly, Troll from =3 appeared out of nowhere. "Your spikes are fake and gay." And then he disappeared, leaving behind a caption that said "A Big Lipped Alligator Moment!" After everybody recovered from the confusion, Joey tried to approach the unicorn. "Nyeh, excuse me." He said. "Just a moment please." The unicorn said politely as she turned around. "I'm in the zone, as it were." She tied a ribbon to a pole and applied some sort of sparkly substance to it to add effect. "Oh yes, sparkle always does the trick, wouldn't you agree?" "Not if ya apply it to vampires." Joey said. "Why, whatever do you mean, darling?" The unicorn said, turning around with a raised eyebrow. "I've never heard of such a thi-" She didn't finish on account of the face that she screamed when she saw Joey. "Oh great." Joey muttered. "Someone who's actually scared of us." He was surprised when the unicorn approached him. "Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your mane?" She asked. "Nyeh? My mane?" Joey asked, scratching his head. Then he came to a realization. "Oh ya mean my hair! Long story. We're just here to check on the decorations. Then we'll be outta your hair." "Out of MY hair?" The unicorn said, bewildered as to how he can be so calm about this. "What about YOUR hair?" Then she immediately ran behind Joey and started shoving him into another room. "Ow! Hey, watch where you're stickin that horn!" Joey said irritably. "Terribly sorry, darling." The unicorn said as she adjusted her head. Soon, she and Joey were in the other room. "Well, let's get out of here." Twilight said as she turned for the door. "NO!" Spike shouted. Everybody turned to look at him in surprise and he looked around awkwardly. "Uh.... I mean we can at least wait for Joey, right?" Twilight leaned toward him. "To be honest, I don't want to." She whispered in his ear. "But Princess Celestia told you to make friends." Spike whispered back. "So far, these guys are all you've got." Twilight sighed. "I guess you're right." She said in defeat. She went to sit on a chair in a corner along with the other three. Spike turned away and snuck a fist pump. __________________________________________________________________________________ "Too green." The unicorn said as she had Joey in a leprechaun suit. "Too yellow." She said as Joey wore a yellow jumpsuit. "Too poofy." She said as Joey wore a big poofy pink dress and a large pink polka dotted hairbow. Before she could change him though, Joey interrupted. "Wait!" He said as the unicorn came back with a suit and tie. "I uh....kinda like it." He said sheepishly. The unicorn's mouth and eyes widened with shock, causing her to drop the suit on the floor. "Darling, darling, darling. Trust me when I say that this is simply not the style for you." She said, putting a hoof around his shoulder. Then her eyes widened. "I've got just the thing!" She ran off in excitement and came back with....the exact same outfit Joey was wearing from the beginning. "Best. Outfit. Ever." Joey said, legitimately grateful. "Why thank you. I simply put your clothes in the wash." She said with a shrug. "So then why'd ya keep me here?" Joey asked. She shrugged. "I just needed a break from the decorations." "Ah. Neat." Joey answered. "So I uh...suppose you're free to go." She said. "Oh. Cool." Joey said. The unicorn tapped a hoof on the ground and Joey rubbed the back of his head. They turned to look at each other. ".....Wanna hang out?" Joey asked. "Well, if you insist." The unicorn replied with a smile. 5 hours later.... Joey and the unicorn, who's name he had learned as Rarity, laughed. They had really hit it off. "So, tell me darling, where are you from?" Rarity asked before sipping her tea. "Well, I'm from Japan, yet for some reason I have a Brooklyn accent." Joey said. He sipped his tea and scratched his head. "Where AM I from?" "Well, I'm sure it doesn't matter. You're happy where you live, right?" Rarity asked. "Yeah." Joey shrugged. "Well, there you go!" Rarity said with a smile. "You know, I love Ponyville and all, but I've always wished I could live in Canterlot." "Canterlot?" Joey said. "Can't quite say I've heard of that." "Oh, it's absolutely amazing, darling. The glamour, the sophistication, the constructionwork! It's simply divine." She sipped her tea and smiled at Joey. "We're going to be the best of friends you and I." "Yeah." Joey nodded. Suddenly, a loud knocking sounded on the other side of the door. "JOEY!" Achmed's voice sounded from outside. "Get out here or I kick your ass!" "Whoa! Looks like I lost track of time! Sorry, Rarity! I gotta go!" Joey said. "Keep in touch, darling." Rarity called after him. She turned and smiled. "What a nice young man." Joey walked out of the room to see an extremely agitated Twilight glaring at him. "Nyeh, hey Twilight, how ya doin?" He asked. "YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR FIVE HOURS!" Twilight shouted as she teleported in front of Joey and stretched her neck up to his eye level. "Nice to see ya too, Twi!" Joey said, handwaving her clear annoyance. "Ugh." She nudged Krillin, Tristan and Spike. "Wake up you three, it's time to go. You too, Achmed." "Okay, just let me...." Achmed began, clearly trying to place something inside a plant. "No. Come on." Twilight said. "Just one second!" Achmed said. "No. Now." Twilight said, clearly losing her patience. "But..." Achmed whined. "Do you WANT me to write to Princess Celestia? There's a moon with your name on it!" Twilight threatened. Spike crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "She's not like that Twilight." Spike muttered. "I was just gonna hide her broach in this plant as payback for keeping us waiting...." Achmed muttered as Twilight shoved them all out the door. "Can we get ice cream now?" Tristan asked. "WE ARE NOT. GETTING ICE CREAM." Twilight said, poking Tristan in the chest for emphasis. "STOP CRUSHING MY HOPES AND DREEEEEEEEEAMS!" Tristan sobbed. Twilight rolled her eyes. "So what's next, Spike?" She sighed. Spike was too busy leaning against her back, sighing dreamily. "SPIKE!" Twilight snapped. "Huh? Oh yeah! Music!" Spike said. "Okay, let's finish everything up and go to the library already!" Twilight said in agitation. Suddenly, they heard the sound of birds chirping a victorious sounding tune. They all peeked through the bushes and saw a yellow pegasus directing a chorus of birds. Suddenly, one of them got slightly offkey. "Oh my." The pegasus said quietly. "Um... stop please, everyone." She flew up to the offkey bird. "Excuse me sir." She said as the bird gave her a questioning look. "I mean, no offense, but... your rythm is just a TEENY, TINY bit off." The bird smiled and nodded. The pegasus smiled and flew back. "Now follow me please. A one, a two, a one two three...." "It's a baby panda!" Tristan shouted loudly from offscreen, startling the pegasus and scaring off all her birds. Joey thumped Tristan in the back of the head, eliciting an "Ouch!" "Stay back, guys, and let Krillin handle this!" Krillin said confidentally. He approached the pegasus. "Hey there. My name's Krillin. The idiot who called you a baby panda is Tristan. The blonde is Joey, the dead guy is Achmed, and the unicorn is Twilight. We came to check out the music, and it was great! You're doing pretty good here." The pegasus shyly stepped back and hid behind her mane. "Um..... what's your name?" The pegasus mumbled something incoherently. "I'm sorry, what?" More mumbling. "Hm.... I've heard sometimes when people act like this, they have a dark, troubled, painful history. Were you abused as a child?" The pegasus whimpered and Joey threw a rock at the back of Krillin's head for asking such a stupid, offensive question. "Um... sorry. I'll just be leaving now. Your birds are back anyway." He reapproached the group. "Well, that was quick." Twilight said. "Why didn't you introduce me?" Spike said in annoyance as he stepped out from behind the bush. Fluttershy immediately noticed him, and her demeanor instantly changed. "A baby dragon!" She shouted. She flew at top speed to Spike, knocking over Krillin in the process. "Oh I've never seen a baby dragon before! He's so cute!" "Well, well, well!" Spike said, crossing his arms and smiling smugly. "Oh my!" The pegasus said excitedly. "He talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I-I just don't even know what to say!" This prompted Joey to grab Spike so they could walk away. "Kay thanks bye." Joey said, not wanting to incur Twilight's wrath. He set Spike on Twilight's back. "Wait!" The pegasus said. "What's his name?" "His name is Bobbert." Achmed said quickly. "Bobbert? That's a strange name." The pegasus said. "My name is NOT Bobbert!" Spike said, glaring at Achmed. "It's Spike! "Hi Spike. I'm Fluttershy." The pegasus said happily. "Wow... a talking dragon. What do dragons talk about?" "Well.... what do you wanna know?" Spike asked. "Absolutely everything." Fluttershy said. Twilight gasped, Tristan picked his nose and Joey, Krillin and Achmed screamed like little girls. 7 hours later.... "And that's the story of my whooooole life." Spike concluded. "Well, up until today. Do you wanna hear about today?" "No she does not!" Achmed said angrily. "Oh, yes please!" Fluttershy said excitedly. Suddenly, Twilight turned around. "I am so sorry!" She said. "How DID we get here so fast? This is where we're staying while we're in Ponyville, and my pooor baby dragon needs his sleep." "No I don-" Spike attempted to interject, but Krillin knocked him out by hitting him on the back of the head with a tree branch. Twilight glared at him. "Awww, isn't that adorable? He fell asleep on Twilight's ba-OW!" For Twilight had smacked Krillin upside the head with the same tree branch he had used to knock out Spike. Krillin Owned Count: 6 Fluttershy scooped the unconscious Spike up in her forelegs. "Poor thing. We must get him to bed!" She attempted to fly into the library, but Twilight pulled Spike out of her legs with her magic. She pushed the other boys inside. "Oh, you just leave that to me! Bye!" And with that, she slammed the door. It was pitch black in there. "It's pitch black in here!" Twilight said. "Let's split up and try to find the light switch. Then I can study up on the Elements of Harmony." "Got it." The boys said. They all split up. "Ow! Who stepped on my foot?" "Son of a bitch! My arm fell off!" "Hey Twilight, can we get ice cream now?" "NO!" "YOU'RE NOT NICE!" "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Krillin screamed as he fell down the stairs. Krillin Owned Count: 7 "Damn it! My leg fell off too!" "Nyeh, this is giving me rage of the Brooklyn variety!" "I still want ice cream." "TRISTAN, DROP IT!" "NEEEEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEER!" Suddenly, the lights turned on. "SURPRISE!" A whole bunch of voices sounded off simutaneously. The group looked around in surprise, and in Twilight's case, sheer terror. There were decorations set up everywhere, and a whole crowd of ponies wearing party hats. Twilight groaned while the boys looked around in delight.