//------------------------------// // Meanwhile... (Shut up and take my money!) // Story: Thunder & Lightning // by Jetto //------------------------------// "One hundred tickets for Thunderlane!" Prince Blueblood announced proudly, stacking a pouch full of bits on the betting booth. The stallion behind him looked at the large pouch with mouth agape, until he shook his head and responded. "Uhm, sorry mister, but only one vote per pony allowed." He said, apologetically shrugging. "What? But... this is a charity drive! Are you saying you don't want MY donation?" "I didn't mean that, sir. It's just that the rules state clearly that every pony is only allowed one vote." "Why? Don't you want more money for your cause?" "We do, but our committee does not approve of unfair advantages when it comes to lotteries." "But... your prize is a coupon! For pastries!" "First grade, hoof-crafted, fresh baked goods, I'll have you know, good sir. And spa visit, too! Look, I appreciate your sentiment, but rules are rules. However," she stallion smiled brightly "you are more than welcome to leave your donation in our other booths! We have hot drinks and food, or you could always get our lovely merchandise!" He said, lifting a cup with the colorful logo on it, lifted just high enough that Blue could also see him wearing a t-shirt, filled with badges with the same logo. "WHAT?" Blue snapped, as his eyebrow twitched. "I'M NOT GOING TO..." He yelled, but cut himself in the middle of the sentence, once he realized that his voice was loud enough, that it attracted attention from all around the fair. He looked back to see his friends, three that were left with him, all mouth agape in shock. What seemed to be every other friend he made, from Ditzy, Dinky, Rumble (latter two probably skipping school), even Lyra, Bonbon, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, the flower trio, along with pretty much everypony he knew by the name, along with all the staff from Foal Hope, including a team of filly scouts, all had their eyes and gasps on him. "...I... I'm not going to pass on this glorious opportunity! I would love to get my hooves on your, ehem, lovely set of merchandise. You know, for foals!" He gulped, smiling brightly. The ponies in the crowd seemed to calm down and instead happily murmured something among themselves, seemingly getting a better image of him in the process. If there was anything he learned about Ponyville, was that it was very easy to fool, but as easy to enrage and befriend. "Glad to hear that, good sir! Please head that way for our other booths!" The stallion pointed his hoof at the booths, operated by the filly scouts. "Can I at least have my ticket," Blue muttered" PLEASE?" "Certainly," the pony took a small piece of paper and exchanged it to ten bits from the pouch "one ticket for Thunderlane, here you go! Have fun at the race!" Blueblood just grumbled, lifting his ticket and rest of the money with his magic and leaving, walking in the direction of said booths. There was no turning back, not after so many ponies witnessed it. Then again, it wasn't a bad idea to offer some of his trust fund for charity, now that he thought about it. It was supposed to go for the new suit anyway, which he didn't even need. Not when living in Ponyville, where clothes were a rarity. At least it was easier to explain to his aunt if he ever asks for more money. She was more lenient when it came to charity. He stopped at the tent of the filly scouts, where most of the merchandise was sold. He saw everything he expected, no surprise. Tons of t-shirts, caps, badges and it wouldn't be a filly scout tent if it didn't have crates full of cookies. He rolled his eyes at the cliché he was looking at and was more than content with leaving his money, no compensation needed. Then, one of the filly scouts noticed him and greeted him with a nice, fresh, minty smile. "Good afternoon sir, how can I... I..." the filly scout's eyes widened, as she started shaking "...I... I... meep!" She went back a few steps, stopped only because she bumped into a crate behind her, still looking fearfully in his direction. Blue raised an eyebrow and looked around him. Nothing seemed out of ordinary. The storm didn't start yet, nopony was paying them much attention and he didn't seem to be dirty of anything. The filly was looking precisely at him, which he found quite odd. Why would a filly scout be afraid of a tall, white unicorn stallion with such fabulous mane? As far as he knew, there wasn't anything scary about him right now, aside from that frown he made before, but why would a filly scout be afraid of that? Unless... He looked at the filly in question, squinting. She was a pale yellow earth filly, with neck long orange mane, dressed in a typical scout outfit, consisting of sash full of badges, a green beret and two red ribbons, one around her neck and one at her tail. He never knew any filly scout in his life, being a noble and such, yet she somehow seemed familiar to him. Then he had an epiphany. "No way!" He gasped with realization. "It's you!" "I-I-I'm sorry!" The filly started tearing, fighting the urge not to cry, winning so far, if barely. Aside from fear of being misunderstood for child abuser, Blue felt a little bit of nostalgia, as he remembered that fateful day. The one when his new suit died, killed by mud and dirty water, accidentally splashed by a certain filly scout. That was only a beginning though, followed by a nose he got broken by a certain unicorn ex-guard that started his humiliation conga in Ponyville. Good times. He couldn't quite approach the filly now, as she seemed terrified of his very existence. To be fair, she had every reason to be, as their last meeting ended up leaving her quite shaken. He smiled brightly and put the bag of bits on the counter. "No apologies needed, little lady. I would like to make a donation." The filly stopped in her track and blinked. The fear vanished, now replaced by confusion and curiosity, which prompted her to walk forward and inspect the bag. She gasped upon noticing a large stack of bits inside. "But sir, that's..." "One thousand bits." Blueblood proudly proclaimed. "Well, nine hundred ninety, to be precise, I had to pay for the ticket." "I-I can't take all this money!" "It's not for you, it's for the orphaned foals." He replied, instantly wondering if he just performed the biggest faux pax this century and she was one of the orphans. He gulped, awaiting her reaction. "But, that's a lot of bits!" "Use it well." He sighed, as no feeling seemed to be hurt. He started walking away, before that filly would start arguing even more. Seriously, what was wrong with charity workers these days that they won't accept his friggin money? "Umm, thank you, sir!" She called to him, as he was walking away. "No, my little pony. Thank YOU!" He replied, waving a hoof as he left her with a bag of money. Monetary loss aside, this was a good thing to do and he was already feeling better. For about ten seconds, before he heard the filly calling him once again. He turned around to see her running towards him. "S-sir, I changed my mind! I can't take this money from you!" She hastily announced, provoking Blue to slap his face, very hard. "Why can't you ponies just take my money!?" He whined, which thankfully was ignored by the filly. "Sir, that goes against the code of a filly scout!" She coughed and rose one hoof up in a salute. "A true filly scout is not a beggar! She will not beg, she will not ask, she will not be a bother!" That last sentence earned an irked glare from Blueblood. Thankfully, by now she was cured of the fear he induced in her a while ago. "A true filly scout will work her hardest!" "...right. What was I thinking?" He deadpanned. "So," the filly smiled, as she pointed at her tent "would you like to buy something?" "You won't leave me alone until then?" "A true filly scout..." "I get it!" "Say, anypony seen Blue?" Asked Shining Armor, as his entire team gathered at the seats before the start line. He only got himself a few shrugs, before they all noticed Blueblood coming back to them, magically hauling a large cart with bunch of crates on it. But what truly caught their attention, was his new attire. "Should we ask what happened?" Asked Doctor. "I'd rather you didn't." He muttered back. "Filly scouts?" Asked Big Macintosh. "Yeah, how did you... No, wait, let me guess: speaking from experience?" "Eeyup!" "Wait a second, does that mean..." Doctor sniffed at the cart, then went towards one of the crates and opened it. His eyes brightened at the look of it. "...filly-scout cookies! Oh, they got mint chocolates over here!" "Help yourself." As soon a Blue said that, Doctor grabbed a pack and violently opened it, swallowing at least half the pack into his mouth. At least one pony was happy with this purchase (not counting the filly scout). "Nice shirt!" Said Shiny, as he giggled at the sight of a plain white t-shirt with Foal Hope logo on it. The unamused look on Blue's face was only adding to the effect. A face that soon turned his frown upside down and smiled viciously at Shining Armor, making him feel uneasy for some reason. "Why thank you, I'm mighty glad you like it," his horn glowed, as another shirt levitated out of the cart and went towards Shining Armor "because I bought one for you one as well!" Shining Armor's smile faded. He knew just knew that Blue's misfortune would somehow ricochet in his direction. He gulped and took a few steps back, trying to get away from floating, tacky shirt with rather ugly design on it. It wasn't something he wanted to wear in public, despite being rather topical for the event and a lot of other ponies wore similar ones. He smiled once he took a closer look and found a little bit of hope in the situation. "Umm, thanks, but, uh... this one's too small for me!" He pointed his hoof at the label. "I wear large, but this one's medium. Sorry Blue." Blueblood raised an eyebrow and levitated the shirt towards him. "Huh, silly me, of course it's too small for you," he shrugged, while Shining Armor was about to wipe the sweat from his forehead "this one's for Doctor!" "Huh?" Shiny tilted his head. "Nomnom-huh?" Doctor looked up, turning away from his third box. "I got one for ALL of you!" With a bit more magic involved, Prince Blueblood levitated half a dozen more shirts from the cart, which now levitated around his entire circle of friends, Ditzy included. And sadly for some, he had all the different sizes available, including one large and even an extra large, probably for Big Macintosh. Much to Blue's chagrin and the overall irony, they didn't have any kids size, but that was a rant for other day. Not that they would do him any good, seeing as both Dinky and Rumble had their raincoats on, like any foal (or adult pony) should during that weather. "Umm, thanks Blue, but..." "Oh come on, now," Blue trotted forward, bringing the shirts with him "don't tell me you'll reject a gift from a friend now, will you?" Shining Armor, Big Macintosh and Ditzy gulped and reluctantly had to accept the gift. Dinky and Rumble were glad they dodged that bullet. "Sweet, free shirt!" Doctor smiled, instantly donning his new attire. After all, generosity was just as much about giving, as it was about receiving. ...actually, not really.