//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Sugarcube Races // by Stormie-squall //------------------------------// The early morning sunshine managed to infiltrate the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest, slowly waking the giant pony who rested near the swamp. Groaning, he covered his face with his hooves and managed to fall off his stump and into the mud. He muttered angrily as he pulled himself out of the mud and shook as much of the offending substance as possible off his coat. Great, now he had to go back to Pleasantville to get more shampoo. It wasn’t like he made a habit of keeping perfectly clean, but mud was not at all pleasant once it had dried. And so he began his trek through the forest and into the nearby village of Pleasantville. With any luck, his brother would be the first pony he bumped into. Along the way, he nodded to a friendly zebra out picking some plants and picked up the pace a little to hurry past a sleeping Timberwolf. At least most of the residents of the Everfree slept during the day. The light began to get brighter as the edge of the forest got closer, and before too long Ralph was trotting into Pleasantville. He hung his head out of habit as he passed some residents, trying to ignore their whispers and the way they all seemed to hurry back into their homes. He was used to it by now, of course- three years of being banished would do that to a pony. And now he looked like the monster that the mayor had made him out to be- shaggy mane, unshorn fetlocks, and large muscles working under his unkempt coat. “Why hello there, brother,” his brother greeted him cheerfully, flying in beside him and joining him in walking through the town. “You look well.” “Hey, Felix,” Ralph greeted him in return, his spirits brightening just slightly at the one friendly face in town. Felix still occasionally visited him, but ever since he’d got his golden hammer cutie mark, he’d been in high demand. “How have you been? It’s been a while.” “I’ve been quite well, thank you,” Felix replied, chipper as ever. “You look like you’ve grown a little since I last saw you.” “Well, I did battle a Hydra a few weeks back,” Ralph recalled. “I barely managed to defeat it so after that, I decided to start practicing on trees.” That was how he’d gotten his stump, by bucking down a particularly large tree. “Congratulations,” Felix beamed. “That’s quite a feat, Hydras are quite strong.” “It would’ve been nice to have not had to battle it at all,” Ralph muttered sourly. “I wish you’d find a way to get me out of banishment.” “Now, you know that I would if I could,” Felix assured him, but he’d heard it a thousand times before. No matter how much the pegasus begged, the mayor would not allow his brother back into the village. “I appreciate the concern,” Ralph sighed. “The mayor just hates me, that’s all there is to it.” “Well, there’s nothing saying that you can’t find a new town to live in,” Felix suggested. “I know that you’d rather live with your brother but that’s just not gonna happen.” Ralph only nodded sadly and grimaced at the feeling of drying mud on his hide. It was beginning to itch. When he reached the spa, however, Ralph soon came upon another problem- he wouldn’t fit in the front door of the shop. He could’ve cried and stamped his hooves on the ground in frustration. But instead, he huffed and sat on his rump as Felix trotted into the spa and purchased some shampoo for his brother. He returned to his brother a few minutes later with a bottle clutched in his mouth. “Thanks,” Ralph said softly with a smile. Felix smiled back after setting down the bottle. “Hey, it’s the least I could do,” he nodded. “I wish you could stay a little longer. I’d come back to the forest with you but...” “It’s okay, I need to wash this mud off me anyway,” Ralph assured him, though it stung a little that his brother wouldn’t come to visit him. “I’ll see you around, Felix.” “Goodbye,” Felix smiled cheerily, and waved as Ralph trotted off with the shampoo bottle in his mouth. It was such a pity that the drying mud prevented him from fully enjoying the sunshine. Back in the Everfree Forest, Ralph found one of the rare bubbling hot springs and had to resist the urge to divebomb into it (he still wanted some water in there, after all). So, instead, he climbed in and sighed blissfully as the bubbling water enveloped him. This was truly one of the best parts of living in the Everfree Forest- it was full of surprises. Relaxing in the bubbling hot spring, Ralph had time to think. If he could only prove to the residents of Pleasantville that he wasn’t a monster, he might be accepted once again. But how would he do that? He closed his eyes, which was always risky in the dangerous Everfree, and waited for an idea to come to him. He was strong, capable of fighting off monsters. Maybe he could chase a monster into the village and then fight it off? No, that would probably go horribly wrong. Or he could try making a speech? He laughed aloud at the idea. The mayor would never let him go near town hall, let alone make a speech to the residents of Pleasantville. It wasn’t like he had a special talent for speech-making anyway- his bucking cutie mark affirmed that he was only good at bucking things. And he did have very strong hindquarters for bucking. “What am I going to do?” he sighed as he finally heaved himself out of the bubbling water. He had no way of drying himself, short of shaking most of the water off himself, and he didn’t want to still be damp by the time night fell. “Forgive me for my intrusion, but I feel that I know of a way to give you a conclusion,” the familiar rhyming zebra offered, stepping out of the foliage. “Hey, Zecora,” Ralph greeted her cheerily. She was such a pleasant zebra, the closest thing he had to a friend. “Would you like my advice? I would be glad to help a pony so nice,” she continued after smiling in greeting at him. “Sure, you might be able to help me,” Ralph nodded eagerly, trotting closer to her so he could get out of the damp patch that his dripping form had caused. Zecora nodded and then suggested, “To get back on their turf, you must prove your worth. Bring news of a good deed to Pleasantville, and love you they will.” “So you’re saying that I should travel the forest and maybe all of Equestria to find something good to do,” Ralph summed up. Zecora nodded. “That doesn’t sound too hard.” “I wish you good luck, for you are such a good buck,” Zecora commented, and with that she smiled again and disappeared back into the dense foliage. His spirits considerably lighter, Ralph departed the hot spring and headed deeper into the forest. He wanted to head out now before it got too dark, and while the idea was fresh in his mind. Maybe there was a nearby village or even a city that needed saving from a monster. The possibilities were endless, really.