//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Sugarcube Races // by Stormie-squall //------------------------------// Felix trudged along under Twilight Sparkle’s shield spell as the rain pattered down around them. Even Rainbow Dash chose to walk rather than get her wings all soggy from flying in the rain. Every so often, she complained about the slow pace that Twilight was walking at. “Can you walk any slower?” she groaned, walking right at the front edge of the rain-free bubble. “Not while I have the spell going, Rainbow, I’ve told you this so many times before,” Twilight responded, still looking straight ahead at the muddy road. “Fine,” Rainbow sighed, and dropped back to walk beside Felix. The pegasus stallion marvelled at the sparkling purple bubble surrounding them and reached out a hoof to touch it, ending up with a rain-drenched hoof and a pleasant tingling feeling for his troubles. “Soo, you like magic, huh?” the rainbow-maned pegasus observed, causing Felix to stammer and look away from the unicorn leading them along as his muzzle warmed with a blush. “Yes,” he replied quietly, hoping that Twilight wouldn’t hear their conversation. It was simply improper for a stallion to lust after somepony he’d just met, especially if she was Princess Celestia’s favourite student! Rainbow snickered at his obvious embarrassment and discomfort. “Ah, it’s okay, Felix, plenty of pegasi admire unicorn magic. Can’t say that many have the reaction you do but I probably just haven’t met ‘em yet,” she assured him, poking at his extended wings. Flushing darkly, he managed to fold them to his sides once more and trotted a little faster to catch up to Twilight so that he wasn’t staring at her flank. “Hello, Felix,” Twilight greeted him with a smile. “Come up for a chat?” “Well, I was going to ask how long until the next town but we can have a chat,” he replied, grinning back at her. “The next town shouldn’t be too much further away, though we could’ve gone faster if we’d caught the train,” Twilight informed him. “Sorry,” Felix apologised, knowing that it was his fault that they’d avoided the train. “It’s okay, it’ll probably be easier to find your brother if we go on hoof, like you said,” she assured him, and stopped to reach out a hoof to ruffle his mane gently. He was left stammering and blushing at her touch. He hadn’t known before that unicorns had that same pleasant tingly feeling all through them. Before too long, the travelling trio stepped into the outskirts of the next small village. Felix noted that hardly anypony was outside today, probably due to the wet weather, yet the many small shops and cafes were still open. “Finally! If it was up to me, we’d have been here hours ago! I’m starved!” Rainbow cried as she zoomed out of Twilight’s rain-shield spell and into the nearest cafe. Twilight rolled her eyes at her excitable friend and trotted into the cafe with Felix at her side. Inside, Rainbow was already seated at a table and waved them over. “Good day, ladies and gentleman,” a waiter greeted them after trotting over to their table. “Are you ready to order yet?” “Yes, I’ll have a daisy sandwich,” Twilight replied while Felix scanned the menu for any pies. To his delight, apple pie was on the menu, so he ordered it. Rainbow, meanwhile, chose a basket of hay fries, two daisy sandwiches, and a cherry pie along with apple cider. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were starved,” Felix commented with a chuckle once the waiter had departed. “Eh, what can I say? I’ve got a high metabolism so have to keep eating,” she shrugged. “She eats much more when she’s been flying,” Twilight confided in him. “After her Iron Pony contest with Applejack, she almost ate the town cafe out of business.” Felix laughed at this, remembering that Ralph had once done that in their own town. He wondered where his brother was now, and if he was somewhere out of the rain. He hoped that he was. After eating, the trio headed into the town proper in search of accommodation for the night. While there, Felix heard one mare mention something about a monster pony near their town. It wasn’t in his nature to but in, but he could still eavesdrop and kick himself for it later. Besides, he reasoned, he had to find out about Ralph. “You were very brave to turn him away, Lilac,” a mare was saying to her lavender-coated friend. “Well, I knew that the town wouldn’t stand up to a monsterpony like him,” Lilac replied, blushing modestly. “I told him to keep away from town and that we didn’t want a monsterpony like him coming near our town ever again.” Felix turned away at that, feeling hurt on Ralph’s behalf. How anypony could call his brother a monsterpony was beyond him. Sure, he was big, but the princess was big and she wasn’t considered bad. The next thing Lilac said, however, made him almost forget his promise not to butt in. “Funny thing is, though, he had this little mare with him. She stood up for him, said he wasn’t such a bad pony. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy. But even if I’d let him in, it would’ve resulted in chaos. Can’t have a monsterpony in our town, no matter how supposedly good he is.” Felix grit his teeth together in anger and, before he could stop himself, he’d stepped forward almost right up in Lilac’s face. “Now, you just listen here, sorry for the intrusion!” he snapped at her. “My brother may be huge and he may have destroyed my village once and he might fight monsters on a daily basis but he is not a monsterpony. I happen to know that he’s very kind and gentle, and he wouldn’t have been any trouble in your town. He’s used to sleeping outside so if there was no room in your inn, he would’ve suggested sleeping outside. You shouldn’t judge ponies before you get to know them!” Around this time, he realised that he’d been almost nose-to-nose with the earth pony and hovering in front of her in his anger. As the realisation hit, he stepped back and chuckled nervously while folding his wings beside him. “We don’t serve monsterponies here,” Lilac told him coldly as she pushed him out into the rain. Felix sat glumly in the mud, but he brightened when he heard the two mares inside speaking to the lavender inn-owner. “Hey, you didn’t have to push him outside!” he heard Rainbow yell, and smiled gently at that. Minutes later, the three ponies were trotting out of town as the sun began to set. The rain, at least, had stopped, but trotting through mud was uncomfortable to say the least. “Sorry I made us get kicked out of town,” he apologised to the two mares. “We didn’t wanna stay with such judgemental ponies anyway,” Rainbow smiled at him. “Besides, you were being loyal to your brother.” “Well, at least now we know that we’re on the right track,” Twilight commented brightly. “He came here but got turned away, which means that he was either on this side of the town or the other one. And if he was on the other side of town and got turned away, we would’ve bumped into him.” “And we know that he’s travelling with a mare,” Felix added. “She could be his marefriend for all I know, considering I don’t pay as much attention to him as I rightly should, but I think that he’d tell me about something like that.” “Too bad we didn’t get a description of her,” Twilight mused. “Then we’d know who to ask around for.” “Or we could ask if a mare and giant pony came through,” Felix added. Twilight smiled at that while Rainbow took to the sky. “At least now that the rain’s stopped, we can fly,” Rainbow added. “I can see more from above. You coming, Felix?” After receiving an encouraging nod from Twilight, Felix stretched his wings out and then took to the sky with Rainbow Dash. “I can’t fly for very long,” he admitted once they were both airborne. “Well, it’s not like we’ll be able to fly very fast, what with no-wings down there,” Rainbow figured, nodding down at Twilight. “If you want, though, I can fly ahead and look to see if I can find your brother and his companion.” “That would be so nice of you,” Felix agreed, nodding eagerly. “Hey Twilight, I’m going to fly ahead and see if I can find Felix’s brother. I won’t be long!” Rainbow called down to her friend, and then with a rainbow-coloured flash she was gone. Felix was amazed at how fast this pegasus could fly! Sure, he’d heard stories about the fastest flyer in Equestria, but seeing her in action was something else entirely. Seeing her, he could easily see how such a fast flyer could pull off the fabled Sonic Rainboom. In no time at all, Rainbow Dash was back. “Hey guys, I found ‘em,” she reported. “They’re in the forest not far ahead. Well, not far for me, but probably about a day’s travel for you two slow ponies. Or longer since it’s pretty dense forest. The point is, I saw them.” “Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Felix thanked her gratefully. “At least now we know where they are. And you could give us directions.” “Yep,” Rainbow grinned proudly. “I’m the greatest.” Felix chuckled. He wasn’t sure about being the greatest, but in this situation, Rainbow Dash surely was great.