Twilight
The stands rumbled with anticipation as all the fans waited excitedly for the show to start. Twilight smiled vicariously as she watched and listened to all the excited ponies chatter about their world famous stunt team and proud hometown favorite. The Wonderbolts were a shining achievement of the city of Cloudsdale and every Pegasus who once called it home were extremely proud of them; Canterlot can have their princesses and Manehattan could make as much money as they pleased, but Cloudsdale had their Wonderbolts.
Rainbow Dash was bouncing as much as Pinkie Pie in their seats waiting for the show to start while Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity sat contently in their seats. True to Pinkie's word, she had packed everything that may have been needed for the trip including food. Once the six of them had sat down, Pinkie Pie began passing around snacks and drinks from her bag. Twilight politely took a small bag of popcorn and popped a kernel in her mouth. It had the sweet flavor of melted butter and caramel while keeping the mild tang of sea salt on the sides of her tongue.
“Twilight, is it starting yet?” Rainbow asked for the hundredth time.
“For the last time, I don't know! It should be starting any minute now,” she huffed in annoyance.
“Well it better start soon, and where's Connor? If he doesn't show up now, he's going to miss the show!”
“Raindow Dash, please calm down,” Rarity cooed, “I'm sure he is on his way right now to join us. And will you please stop bouncing; it's going to give me a headache just trying to watch you.”
Rainbow Dash let out an agitated sigh and settled down in her seat. Twilight glanced around everypony to see if she could spot Connor trying to find them. She wasn't worried yet, but concern did cross her mind as she wondered where Connor could be. Just then, a faded jeans blue Pegasus with a short, dirty blonde mane stepped out from a corridor off to the left with a wrapped carrot dog in one hoof and looking around for somepony.
“Connor!” Twilight called out and waved a hoof. The stallion looked up and to his right and spotted Twilight and the gang. He trotted over to join everyone and sat next to Twilight on her left.
“There you are! Did you find something to eat?” she asked.
“Yeah, the food is a little weird but I’ll manage. Has the show started yet?”
“Not yet, but it should be starting any second now.”
As soon as Twilight finished her last sentence, the decibel level in the stadium picked up as the crowd cheered for the start of the show. At one end of the stadium, a blue Pegasus with wavy white hair stepped out onto a cloud with a microphone headset on. The crowd roared with joy as the announcer for the Wonderbolts came on the invisible speaker system.
“Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome, to the Cloudsdale Colosseum. It is always a pleasure to see so many fans come out here today from their busy schedules to show support for this show,” the announcer paused to let the thousands of ponies scream and holler with joy, “Without further delay, I wish to present you the reason you've all come here for! They are known all across Equestria as the greatest fliers ever known! They have preformed in every city imaginable, but they still claim Cloudsdale as their favorite,” there was another roar of approval, “They are called, the Wonderbolts! Today we have flying with us: High Winds, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, Soarin, and finally our team captain Spitfire!!!”
“Spitfire, eh? Okay, not bad. Never thought I would hear a name in this world that sounded half decent.” Connor nodded in approval at the announcement of the team captain. As each name was called out, a Pegasus came Soaring out from an opening near where the announcer was standing. Streaks of blue and red smeared the sky above before lining up together to make a few low speed flybys over the stands. The crowds screamed and cheered as the fliers passed over their fans waving as they went by. Twilight cheered and threw her hooves in the air as the Wonderbolts went by, but it was nothing compared to her friend, Rainbow Dash. She whooped and hollered with all her might while Applejack let out a 'Yee-haw!' next to her. Rarity was in the middle of stopping Pinkie Pie fire her celebratory party cannon and Fluttershy let out a quiet 'Woo-hoo'.
The team of five waved and saluted thanking their fans for their love and support before flying off to start their demonstration.
They started off easy with synchronized flying formations and high speed passes to get the crowd riled up. The Wonderbolts formed a flying 'V' formation over head to show off their coordination and teamwork as they seamlessly flowed between switching formations. They flew single file, diamond, circles, and other shapes and patterns that Twilight and Rainbow could name off.
Soon, they broke off to make single fly-bys over the crowd coming feet within crashing but pulling up at the last second. The mares and foals screeched in fright while the stallions yelled in surprise before coming back to shout appraisals. Twilight yelped in surprise as fleetfoot dove for them before yanking back and flashing a grin. Connor didn’t yell, but he did duck a little from reflex. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hadn't flinched at all while Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity nearly dove for the floor.
The Wonderbolts returned to formation to begin the next phase in the routine. The trails behind each member lengthened as the Wonderbolts sped up to draw patterns in the vast blue canvas. Lights danced across the sky and across Twilight's eyes as she stared up in awe at the beautiful designs made by the Wonderbolts. Flourish patterns drew themselves across a blue background only to turn around to meet itself back at its origin and explode in a shower of sparks and explosions. The fans oo-ed and ah-ed at the display of pretty lights before the Wonderbolts transitioned to the next routine.
The Wonderbolts continued on with more fantastic demonstrations of speed and skill before the announcer came back on the speaker system.
“And now, please hold your applause for today's grand finale! It is a new routine the Wonderbolts have just completed and have dubbed it, 'The Explosive Cyclone'!”
The hoard of ponies roared in excitement and in anticipation of being the first city to see the newly created stunt. Everypony hushed their neighbors and gazed wide eyed up at the Wonderbolts reforming a single horizontal line in preparation of their last trick of the day. The team flew back into the stadium and banked to fly in a counterclockwise fashion. Slowly they gained speed, flying faster and faster around the outskirts of the field. The team had rolled far enough to be flying knife edge around the Colosseum. The wind whipped by the seats and blew food and drinks everywhere including Twilight's popcorn.
As the Wonderbolts flew, those flying closest to the ground began to tighten their turns around the Colosseum. The process continued all the way up except for the last member. Slowly, wisps of cloud began forming inside of the funnel being carved out by the Wonderbolts. The clouds swirled and churned faster until it was a solid wall of dark gray storm clouds rumbling around inside. The Wonderbolts were forming a twister inside of their cone. The stunt ponies were still maintaining their perfect line positions while this natural disaster monster came to life and demanded to be unleashed. But they held firm against the torrent of the uncontrollable, ferocious twister. They held the twister in it's pony-made prison for a few seconds while the crowd clapped and cheered to express their amazement. After the crowd died down, it was time to finish off the beast they had created.
One by one, the Wonderbolts broke off from the line to dive down into the belly of the twister. The first pony to go was the one closest to the rim of the cyclone. After that, the next closest one followed after their team member and the process continued until all members were inside the tornado. Their was a moment of suspense as every pony held their breath waiting for the Wonderbolts to appear. The twister wobbled a little bit and everypony gasped with uncertainty. Were they alright? The cyclone bubbled again and flashes of light could be seen and heard from the inside.
Suddenly, the tornado began to collapse in on itself and a few screams could be heard from the stands. Rainbow yelled in horror and looked ready to jump out of her seat to save her idols once again, but Twilight reached out and tugged at Dash with her magic to ease her friend. The tornado continued to collapse until it formed a sphere before bursting into a huge explosion. Sparks and fireworks rained down from the sky and the Wonderbolts burst forth into the sky from the remains of their twister. The Colosseum roared to life at the triumphant Wonderbolts for putting on another spectacular show.
“Thank you everypony for coming out to the Cloudsdale Colosseum! This concludes the demonstration today. Food, concessions, and souvenirs are located out through the corridors near the outside edges of the stadium as well as bathrooms. There will be a small opportunity to meet today's Wonderbolts as you leave the Colosseum in a few minutes. Thank you, and please have a safe trip home.”
~~~
“THAT! WAS! AWESOME!!!” Rainbow Dash zipped and twirled around in the air above their seats while everypony else was picking up their trash.
“No doubt about it, sugar cube. That was some pret~ty fancy flying,” Applejack agreed as she picked up a soda cup.
“I have to admit, I was impressed,” Connor stated.
“What?! Only a little impressed?! Let me tell you-”
“Okay Rainbow,” Twilight interjected before things got ugly, “We get it. It was a really good show. If we hurry we just might be able to meet the Wonderbolts as we leave the stadium.”
“Oh yeah! Come on everypony, double time! We have to make it to front entrance before the Wonderbolts leave!”
There was a wave of rolled eyes from the group at Dash's command and everypony continued at the same steady pace cleaning up their food before leaving the seats and heading for the exit. Everypony threw some debris in the trash can as the walked out. Connor threw out the foil for his carrot dog and some popcorn kernels. Twilight tossed out her popcorn container and a disposable lid to a plastic cup. Applejack had dumped a small stack of cardboard trays and Rarity disposed of a few straws. Pinkie Pie helped by wiping off their seats before they left leaving them ready for the next spectators to enjoy.
The entrance hall was a crowded mess of Pegasi trying to leave or shake hooves with the Wonderbolts team. Twilight shook her head slightly in disapproval; if she was organizing this, there would be neat lines for ponies who just wanted to leave and those who wanted to meet the Wonderbolts. But she calmed herself; she did not need to add more worry to her life with trying to run the Cloudsdale Colosseum.
The group followed their rainbow maned friend to join the hoard of ponies trying to meet and greet their hometown heroes. Rainbow Dash already had a few items ready for her heroes to sign. The rest stood patiently in line and shared in their friend's excitement to meet the Wonderbolts again in person. Twilight led the group with Applejack and Fluttershy right behind her with Rarity, Connor, and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear.
Eventually, the seven were next in line to speak with the Wonderbolts. Currently, there was the team captain Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin at the meet-and-greet table that was set out for fans to come and visit. Spitfire was standing in the middle of the table with Fleetfoot off to the captain's right and Soarin on Spitfire's left. Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight so she could be face to face with them.
“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire called out in half greeting, half command, “Good to see you again!”
“Thank you, ma'am! It is good to see you too,” Rainbow snapped a salute to captain Spitfire, “I really enjoyed today's show. That last trick was awesome, ma'am.”
“You think so, huh?” Fleetfoot nudged her way in between the captain and Soarin to speak, “Yeah it was a pretty difficult trick when we were making it, but it was no problem for us,” she jabbed a hoof in her chest as she faked a humble brag.
Soarin simply rolled his eyes, “Sure, I’d like to see you hold your flight path at full speed while on the bottom rung of the twister ladder. Hey Rainbow Dash,” he gave a sheepish wave to Rainbow who returned the wave, “Uh, he-hey Soarin.” There was a bit of an awkward silence after that moment as Twilight looked between Soarin and Rainbow who was busy scuffing the ground with her hoof. Was is it possible that Rainbow Dash may be blushing a little right now? No, it was just a trick of the light; but this silence was becoming almost unbearable. If only somepony would break it.
“Hey, aren't you that one pony I gave a carrot dog to before the show?” Connor blurted out.
Okay, maybe not the best way to break the awkwardness.
“Huh?” Soarin looked up and past Rainbow Dash to spot Connor peering between everypony else at the Wonderbolts. Connor parted a path to the front so that everypony could get a better view at him.
“Oh yeah, I remember now. You did give me a carrot dog to me. I just want to say thanks again for it.”
“Oh Soarin, are you bumming food off of fans, now?” Fleetfoot nudged Soarin in the side with a coy grin while Spitfire gave him a disapproving frown.
“No, no, it was my fault,” Connor waved to dispel any suspicions, “I accidentally bumped into him and knocked his food on the floor so I offered to replace it with some of mine.”
“I'll bet you five bits that he ate like a mess!” Fleetfoot pointed at Connor excitedly with the bet.
“Eeh, aah, yeah,” Connor finally admitted. There was a chorus of laughter from Fleetfoot and everypony else with a few chuckles from captain Spitfire. The only ones who weren't laughing was Rainbow Dash and Soarin himself.
“Hey! Knock it off guys!” Rainbow defended from her friends. Rainbow spotted Connor giving her a funny smile and she quickly defended herself, “I-I thought this was supposed to be a team.”
The laughter quieted down and Spitfire turned her attention back to the rest of the group, “So is this the first time everypony has come to one of our shows?”
Everypony including Twilight shook their heads in disagreement. Everyone had, at one point, seen the Wonderbolts preform since the team traveled to almost every city in Equestria; or ponies from nearby towns would travel to the closest town that was hosting the Wonderbolts. The only pony who nodded was Connor.
“Yeah, this is my first time seeing you preform,” Connor said while he nodded slowly.
“Really?” Spitfire took an interest in Connor. A sense of dread crept into Twilight's face as it was unusual that a pony, especially a Pegasus, to have never seen the Wonderbolts preform. Earth ponies and unicorns had to travel by train or walk some distance to see the famous stunt team put on a show, but pegasi could fly anywhere which left little room for excuses.
Twilight feared the captain may become suspicious of Connor for never have seen the Wonderbolts preform and start asking more prying questions as to why he never saw them. But Connor spoke up as Twilight was planning an escape route.
“I've never really set aside enough time to come out and watch you preform as I had other things that had more priority. But I’ve always been a quiet supporter and everypony finally convinced me to come out and watch you guys.”
“What do you mean 'You've always been a quiet supporter'? You've never- ow!” Twilight stepped hard on Rainbow's hoof to stop her mid sentence and glared, “I mean, you've never seen the Wonderbolts before? Wow, gee, who'd of thunk?”
Spitfire's stern, analyzing eyes darted between the three ponies for a second, but relaxed and seemed to drop the subject; much to Twilight's delight.
“Well then, I hoped you enjoyed the show.”
“I did, thank you. And I look forward to meeting you all again,” Connor stepped forward to exchange firm hoof shakes with the three Wonderbolts, “It was nice meeting you, Soarin. And I never quite caught your names.”
“I'm Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts; and this is Fleetfoot,” the two mares shook hooves with Connor, “And what was your name?”
“Connor, nice meeting you. And thanks again for a good show,” he waved goodbye and Twilight took that as a good time to leave. Everypony filed out of the entrance and into the open air of the city streets. There was a pleasant murmur all around them as pegasi talked excitedly amongst each other discussing the show. Twilight and her friends were stopped just a few meters from the Colosseum entrance so they were out of earshot of most ponies.
Rainbow stopped in front of the group and turned to face Twilight and Connor, “What was all that about, Twilight?! And Connor, you've never even heard about the Wonderbolts in your life until you came here! So what was that whole story about you being a 'Quiet supporter' for?” she raised her hooves to form quotation marks in the air when Rainbow Dash said 'Quiet supporter'.
Twilight was the one to answer rainbow first, “Rainbow Dash, we do not need to be spreading around the fact that Connor is not from this world. It's best that we keep that little secret to ourselves for as long as possible.” Rainbow scowled at Twilight who scowled back.
“But that doesn't mean he has to lie about living here,” she pointed an accusing hoof at Connor while still looking at Twilight.
“I didn't lie,” Connor stated which got Dash's attention.
“Yes you did! We all heard it,” she faced Connor again.
“No I didn't. Everything I said was true. Since I’ve come here, I had no time to spare while I was getting... acclimated to living here. And I don’t have to be a raging fanatic to show interest in something; I didn't show that much interest in the Wonderbolts, but I was still interested.”
Rainbow turned her nose up in distaste, “You still didn't have to lie to my favorite team and my superiors.”
“You're just upset that I’m right,” Connor quipped.
“Fluttershy? Honey, is that you? Dear, I think its Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy was the first to turn around to see a older couple standing a couple of meters off to their sides.
“Mother! Father!” Fluttershy ran over to give her parents a hug. Everypony became distracted with the arrival of Fluttershy's parents and began to huddle around the small family reunion. Twilight and Connor stayed back behind everyone to watch the heart-warming exchange of hugs between parents and daughter before talking about how everypony was doing.
Twilight smiled as Fluttershy introduced all her friends and began sharing their adventures over the last few months. Connor stood next to Twilight also smiling which Twilight noticed.
“Wow, are you actually smiling right now?” she jested.
“Hmm? Oh come on, I’m not that much of a hard ash, am I?” Twilight smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Okay, yeah. I am that much of a hard aft, but I can appreciate family reunions. Besides, I’m laughing at Rainbow more than anything else,” Connor's gaze fell over the reunion again and focused on Rainbow who was in the middle of telling the daring tale of when they went to rescue Daring Do.
“Why is that?” Twilight asked with a curious raised brow.
Connor rolled his head to the side to stare at Twilight with a whimsical smile on his face, “Come on, Twilight. You didn't see it when we were talking with the Wonderbolts?”
“See what?” Twilight continued to give him a look of ignorance and bafflement as to what he was implying.
Connor rolled his eyes to the sky and shook his head in disbelief, “Honestly, if you couldn't see the hearts flying everywhere, we need to get your eyes checked.”
“But the eye doctor pony said my vision was fine a few weeks ago.” Twilight watched as Connor slapped his hoof hard against his face and let out a powerful sigh. Twilight still didn't understand what Connor was talking about so she turned to look at her friends finishing up with Fluttershy's parents. They all waved goodbye to her mother and father before rejoining Twilight and Connor.
“Wow Fluttershy, I never thought your parents were like that,” Applejack commented.
“They were really fun! We should invite them to visit Ponyville soon and I can throw them a welcome-to-Ponyville party!”Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly.
Fluttershy politely declined, “Thanks girls, but I think it will be a while before they get some free time from their other hobbies.”
“Well, now that the show is over what should we do with the rest of our time here in Cloudsdale?” Applejack asked everypony.
“How about we go visit the rainbow factory?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“Why in Equestria would we want to do that, Pinkie? I’ve already shown you the factory and how rainbows are made,” Rainbow Dash huffed with indignation.
“Yes, and I still need to find a souvenir for Sweetie Belle before we head back to Ponyville,” Rarity touched her chin with a look of worry on her face.
“But I want to go again! You have no idea how long I’ve been training my tongue to handle spicy foods and I want to see if I can taste the rainbow again!”
“Wait, hold on! What's this 'Rainbow factory' that everypony is talking about?” Connor took a step forward upset with disbelief.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that rainbows are made here in Cloudsdale at the weather factory,” Rainbow shrugged at the missed detail.
Connor looked at Twilight incredulously for some answers, but Twilight looked back asking, 'What do you want me to do about it'?
“See? Connor hasn't seen the rainbow factory so this would be a perfect opportunity to show him!”Pinkie Pie bounced at the idea.
“Hmm, I guess we could stop by and take another tour around the weather factory. Rarity can look for something to get Sweetie Belle while we walk there and Rainbow can show everypony how rainbows are made again,” Twilight offered the idea to the group and there was a murmur of agreement.
“Then its settled!” she announced, “We can head over to the weather factory and have some fun touring around again.” Rainbow huffed again and slowly flew in the direction of the weather factory.
“Yeah, I want to see this. There is no way you can simply manufacture a rainbow,” Connor commented as everypony followed after Dash.
~~~
The walk to the weather factory was a pleasant one for Twilight. Everypony was enjoying themselves in Cloudsdale while Rainbow Dash lead them down the many streets. Applejack had found some snacks to try when they passed by a convenience store and was sharing with Fluttershy. Rarity managed to pick up a little figurine of the Wonderbolts captain in a knick knack store a few blocks down the road from the Cloudsdale Colosseum.
Since the Colosseum was moved closer to the city center, the weather factory was only a short distance away. As the group finally approached the factory, old memories came flooding back to Twilight from their first visit to the weather factory from a few years back. Rainbow was competing in the young flier's competition and was experiencing severe cases of stage fright. It didn't help that Twilight's friend, Rarity, had decided to enter in the competition as well when Twilight was first trying to figure out how to get non-pegasi ponies to Cloudsdale without falling through the clouds.
As the weather factory came into full view, Twilight saw pegasi flying in and out of the front doors on a regular basis. A couple ponies were getting off their working shift while others were going in for the start of theirs. Some ponies were hanging out outside the front doors presumably on break.
“Welcome back to the weather factory, everypony!” Rainbow Dash introduced to the group, “You know the drill like last time; once we enter the building, grab a hard hat, a white coat, and a visitor's pass. Once everything is settled, we can begin the tour.” Rainbow Dash flew off to the front door of the weather factory where (Twilight assumed) she would be taking care of the necessary paperwork.
After everypony signed a few documents and put on the proper equipment, Rainbow Dash lead the group through the factory to show how every type of weather was made. They stopped at the cloud vapor machines to explain the process of how clouds were made. Water was poured into the basin at the top where the machine would super heat the water to evaporation before cooling it back down so the water droplets would condense and cling to each other to form a cloud. From that stage, the machine would blast the cloud out with a burst of air so that the next cloud could be made.
Next after the cloud making process, they stopped by the snow flake R&D department to see next winter's snow flakes be hoof-crafted by the pegasi. It was a tedious process and required a steady hoof and attention to detail; something that was too boring for Rainbow Dash in her opinion.
As tour continued, Rainbow explained more and more tidbits of information while they walked down the hallways between different sections dedicated to different parts of weather patterns. Finally, the group stopped in front of large double doors and Rainbow turned around to talk.
“So, what do you think so far?” The question was more directed to Connor than to anypony else in particular.
“It's not bad. So far, everything makes logical sense,” he nodded in deep thought, “I'm still waiting to see this rainbow factory part.”
“Well don't you worry! Behind these doors is where all the rainbows in Equestria are made!” she tapped the large doors behind her while Connor let out a dubious snort.
“Hang on!” Pinkie shouted, “Let me warm up my tongue first!” Everyone stared in odd fascination and repulsiveness as Pinkie Pie manipulated here tongue in ways everypony thought not possible.
After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie finished her tongue exercises and put on a determined look, “Oakahy evfferyponahy, ah'm reaffdy,” she spoke with her tongue still hanging out.
Rainbow pushed open the doors and Twilight's eyes fell upon the rainbow factory. Every color from red to purple fell from waterfalls and pooled into different tubs where each individual color was inspected for imperfections before pouring down another waterfall and disappearing into another section of the rainbow making process. Everypony filled the entrance as they gazed in awe for the second time looking at the amazing process for making such beautiful colors in the sky.
“Alright Pinkie, which color of the rainbow are you going to taste?” Rainbow looked at the different tubs of individual color as she asked Pinkie.
“Red!” pinkie said defiantly. She trotted over to the nearest pool of red and stuck her hoof in it. Everypony watched in slow motion as Pinkie brought her hoof to her mouth to taste the bold red color. Her hoof touched her mouth and she paused. Suddenly, Pinkie shuddered and cringed as her tongue turned rosy red from the heat. Her face contorted in pain as she tried to withstand the spicy onslaught against her tongue, but it was too much for her to handle. She ran out of the room screaming, “WATER!!!!!!”
Everypony laughed at their friend's vain attempt and misfortune against the rainbow. As everypony calmed down, Rainbow dove into explaining more about the process of how rainbows were made. She explained how each color of the rainbow was pulled out and manufactured, but was interrupted mid-sentence from Connor.
“Stop!” he yelled.
Rainbow peered back at the faded blue Pegasus who was glaring angrily again, “What is it this time, Connor? You've been asking so many questions that it's getting annoying!” she snapped.
“I am going to have to call bull-hockey on this whole thing! This whole thing of pulling out colors from the sky is utterly impossible and stupid!” he hollered as Twilight recognized a scientific rant coming.
“What do you mean, 'This whole thing is impossible'?! Weather ponies have been doing this, for like, forever!”
“I'll tell you why! Rainbows only happen when white light reflects off of water droplets in the atmosphere and scatter into the visible light spectrum! Rainbows are literally, made of light! You can't manipulate light like you do with matter! Visible light is just a state of energy, not a state of matter! Whether they are just radio waves, visible color, or gamma rays, they are all just electromagnetic waves at different frequencies and are therefore, not matter but different levels of energy!” Connor fumed as everypony around him was giggling and laughing at his inability to comprehend their world.
“Oh Connor, you are worrying about it too much, dear. Just let it be,” Rarity giggled.
“No!” Connor half yelled, half laughed out as the laughter was becoming contagious, “I will not just let it be! This bull-logni is ridiculous and I am not just going to let it slide by like I don't notice it!”
Twilight caught Applejack sticking her hoof in the red pool like Pinkie and came out with a large hoof-full of the liquid and a devilish grin on her face.
“Connor,” Applejack called.
He turned around at the sound of his name, “Wha- ppphhhffffffssssftttt! Phfst, phfst, phfst! Ah!”
Applejack stuck the hoof full of red rainbow coloring into his mouth and said, “Lasso that mouth shut.”
Everypony laughed, including Twilight, as Connor sputtered, coughed, and spat out the spicy red liquid as it burned his tongue. He bounced around and trotted back and forth trying to cope with the shockingly hot liquid and trying to get it out of his mouth by scraping his tongue or swallowing. They laughed even harder as he found out that swallowing the liquid was even worse than just having it sit in his mouth melting his tongue away.
Pinkie Pie had just returned chugging some water down. When she finished Connor snatched the water and poured it down his mouth.
“Hey! I wasn't done with that!” Pinkie complained.
“Don't worry, Pinkie,” Rainbow explained, “He needs it more than you do right now!”
“Why? What happened? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!”
A few seconds later, Pinkie was on the floor laughing with everyone else. Even Connor was now laughing along side everyone while tears streamed down his face from the heat.
After everypony gave their last 'Ha!', Twilight looked up at a clock on the wall to read the time. It was 8:13 and if they wanted to get home before midnight, they needed to leave now.
“Alright everypony, we should probably head back now so we can head home.”
Everyone chuckled one last time and started filling out.
Connor was the last one in line behind Applejack, “That was mean, Applejack.” Applejack chuckled and threw a grin over her shoulder.
“Come on, you two; lets go.” Twilight spotted Connor's eye twitch, but she ignored it.
They made the long trip back to the front of the weather factory and returned everything they borrowed before rushing over to the hot air balloon landing pad a few blocks away. The sun was setting over the horizon and they only had a few hours left of daylight. Thankfully, the balloon was still there and hadn't returned back to Ponyville. Everyone piled into the carriage and sat down ready to head home. Connor also chose to ride in the balloon as well, against rainbow's protests. So rainbow decided to fly back to Ponyville by herself while everypony else rode the balloon.
The trip back was a calm and pleasant experience. Everypony was talking about the day and laughing at all the things they did. Connor even came into the conversation a few times and put in his two comments, but for the most part he happily listened to the banter between Twilight and her friends.
When the balloon finally touched down in Ponyville, the friends said their farewells and headed back to their homes and their waiting beds. The sun had finally set and most of the populace in Ponyville had turned in for the night. Twilight sighed as the day came to a close and she tiredly walked back to the library. There were a few lights still on which meant spike was probably inside reading one of his comic books. Before Twilight touched the door knob, she heard Connor call out.
“Hey Twilight!” Connor few in and landed on the ground near Twilight, “I've been wanting to ask you; ever since we saw that Wonderbolts show, I’ve been wondering what other kind of moves I could learn for flying. I was hoping if there was any books on flying or aerial maneuvers.”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, “Hmm, I think we do have a few books like that. Come on in and I’ll see if I can find them.”
“Thanks.” They entered Twilight's home and she shut the door behind them.
“Spike! I’m home!” she announced.
“Hey Twilight!” Spike bounded down the stairs from the second floor, “How was the Wonderbolts show?”
“It was great. Spike, do you remember where I put that book on basic flight maneuvers for pegasi, again? Connor would like to read it,” Connor waved a hello to Spike.
He waved back before answering again, “Hmm, I think you left it on the desk upstairs. Let me go get it,” Spike dashed off again up the stairs and was back carrying a textbook with writing on the cover that read, 'Basic Flying for Young Pegasi'.
“Here you go,” spike held up the book for Twilight to take in her magic.
“Thanks, now go get ready for bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes, myself.” Spike groaned and trudged back up the stairs trying to stall for more time before he had to go to bed.
Twilight opened the book for Connor and her to read a little while she explained about the book.
“Its a pretty simple book that only explains the basics of flying, but its a good resource to read. I think we also have more advanced books on flying too, somewhere in the library. If you would like to read them, just let me know.”
“Thanks,” Connor took the book in his wings and cradled in front of him to continue reading as he slowly walked over to the table to sit. Twilight let him be while she reshelved a few books that were left out from the night before and grabbed some ink and paper to make up another letter for the Princess.
But when she turned back to look at Connor, he was sitting at the table with his eyes closed and his head slowly bobbing as he nodded off to sleep. Twilight giggled at his sleepy form, but had to wake him because he couldn't sleep in the library. She quietly trotted over to him and prodded him awake.
He jumped and his eyes shot open again before slowly closing again to half lidded eyes. He yawned and rubbed his eyes and asked, “What time is it?”
Twilight looked at a nearby clock, “Its 11:23; its pretty late. Maybe you can come back tomorrow and continue reading then. I’ll make sure to set the book aside for you when you come back, okay?”
“Mmph, yeah; sure, okay then,” he let out another yawn and stood up from his seat, “I'll see you tomorrow then, Twilight.”
Connor tiredly walked to the door and fumbled a few times with the handle, but got it opened in the end.
“Have a good night, Connor!” Twilight called out after him.
“ 'Night!” he called back before the door shut behind him.
Twilight let out her own yawn and stared at the parchment and ink sitting on the writing desk off to her side against the wall. She contemplated if she should write her letter now to the Princess and send it off in the morning, or write the letter in the morning and send it with the rest of her mail. Twilight could hear the calling of her bed, coaxing her to go to sleep and put it off until the morning.
She blearily stared at the desk and let out a small sigh of resignation. If she didn't write it now, she would forget it later and run the risk of being tardy on a report. She still needed to do some work on finding parts for the portal and still needed to prepare for the important pony that would be arriving in Ponyville soon. Maybe she could only write half of the report now and finish later in the morning when she was well rested.
She levitated a quill and dabbed it in the jar of ink before setting it against the paper and began writing.