My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Common Ground

"Highlights in the world of sports! Buckball fever has swept Equestria! What started as a backyard hobby for fruit farmers and the like has blossomed into a literal phenomenon, with something for everypony. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies alike can't get enough of this breakthrough sport." As a film reel played for the audience, Axle Beam was enraptured by the fun new sport as he munched on some popcorn. Lea thought it was a fun idea for him, Sweet Delight, and Axle to take a little trip away from Ponyville and see the inventive sport made by the Apple family in Appleloosa: Buckball. Throughout the announcer's praise to invest the audience further, there were clips of Ponyville's greatest Buckball players trouncing their competition: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Snails. It seemed simple with the earth ponies settled in the center of the ring, kicking the ball to the goal of their unicorn teammates' bucket on the opponent's side, and the pegasi are the goalkeepers keeping the ball from landing in the buckets held in the unicorns' telekinesis. "And with its popularity still on the rise, buckball fans want—nay, DEMAND—an institution catering to their new obsession. And the ponies of Appleloosa answered the call, delivering a state-of-the-art locale where fans Equestria over can celebrate their passion: the Buckball Hall of Fame. Though given the game's recent nature, the only inductees so far will be the members of the current championship team from Ponyville."

"This actually kinda looks fun," Sweet whispered.

"Too bad you weren't born a pegasus, then the three of us could have been a team," Lea said, draping his foreleg around his marefriend. "Axle can carry us to victory."

"You would just stand around moving a bucket around in the air to catch the ball, you lazy punk," Sweet playfully jabbed, giving the stallion a light shove while he grinned cheekily.

"Say, do you think everypony knows we're here?" In the next row in front of the trio sat Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Snails and his closest friend, Snips.

Sadly, the rest of the audience were too busy staring at the star Buckball players, their presence only making the rest of the crowd starstruck. Snails was oblivious to the adoring fans, too busy munching on his own popcorn without a care in the world. Lea had heard that Snails and his stout buddy were quite the duo of troublemakers in Ponyville, and to have a colt with a very slow attention span being an incredible telekinetic pro at his age was baffling. It made Lea a bit jealous that he took quite a while to figure out how to master his own telekinesis, and he's more than twice the lanky colt's age. He's an unintentional prodigy, requiring no thought or care into focusing on his magic for a newly created sport.

As the documentary ended, the group left the small theater and back out in the Appleloosan sun. Outside was the Buckball stadium, built by the residents of Appleloosa for other teams to compete in championships, though they wouldn't stand a chance with Ponyville's pro players. Already, crowds swarmed the Ponyville team, asking for autographs and even willing to pay for one. Lea let out a groan as Snips had the crazy idea to make a profit by selling merchandise revolving Ponyville's Buckball team, even though there were already stalls around the stadium area that were selling souvenirs around the sport and the teams taking part in the first ever tournament.

"Little guy's already a step behind. I hope he doesn't get too money hungry if he thinks being his friend's 'manager' can make him rich," Lea grumbled.

"I just hope Snails will be done signing autographs soon," Fluttershy said. "Without him, we don't want to miss a match and forfeit out of the tournament."

"You think we'd be TOO good now that we've got some cool moves from Sora's abilities?" Pinkie asked curiously. "I mean, we ARE masters of the art of Buckball, but we would easily dominate the other teams if we go too overboard."

"Well, Snails better get his flank over here, soon!" Rainbow said. "You guys are gonna have to win the first few matches without me."

"Oh. Why?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"Applejack was too busy to come along, and I promised her I'd go to ALL the museum exhibits and tell her all about them," Rainbow explained.

*I wanna see the museum!* Axle excitedly stomped.

"Oh, you don't think it's fun watching a sport live and want to look at boring pictures and relics?" Lea teased as he ruffled Axle's mane.

"Then you guys better hurry," Pinkie said. "There's already a line forming."

"Huh?" On the other end of the stadium where the museum was held, Rainbow and Lea gawked at the tent that was sitting outside the building's entrance.

"...Ok, I know nutty sports fans camp outside of a stadium to get the best seats for a game, but not a museum for said sport," Lea commented suspiciously.

Rainbow flew toward the museum, not wanting to waste too much time waiting to see the exhibits to note down and tell Applejack later and miss the actual matches. She tried to open the doors, but they were locked, frustrating her. Her curiosity got the better of her as she stepped down in front of the tent. Lea, Sweet, and Axle wanted to know who would be crazy enough to camp out for an opening to a "historical" Buckball museum, even though it's only been known throughout Equestria for a year. Backing out of the tent was the owner, though his appearance made Rainbow balk in shock, recognizing the stallion. The earth pony's fur was a slightly darkened orange color, his hair several shades of gray from darkest to lightest, his cutie mark a speech bubble, and the stallion was wearing a white-collared shirt with red cuffs and a blue waist.

"Quibble Pants!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash! Fancy seeing you again!" the stallion greeted.

"You know this guy, Rainbow?" Lea asked curiously.

"Yeah. This is Quibble Pants," Rainbow introduced, still perturbed seeing Quibble again. "I bumped into him at a Daring Do convention a couple years ago. We were friends since we were fans of the series...Well, some of them."

"I still say the first three books were fine, but the rest of the series, despite the fact that they are actual events written by Daring Do herself under the alias A.K. Yearling, and nearly dying several times after getting kidnapped by the real Caballeron," Quibble said.

Rainbow winced, quickly covering the blabbering stallion's mouth shut, looking back at Sweet Delight and Axle Beam. The colt tilted his head curiously while Sweet seemed visibly confused.

"Wait, did he just say that...Daring Do's adventures are actually real?" Sweet asked. "And...a fictional character like her exists under a persona?"

"Hmm...You know, I think I saw something in one of the ornaments one day in the throne room," Lea pondered. "There was this temple, and the girls and Sora were there fighting back against this weird...Anubis-cat thing over these gold rings."

*Ahuizotl!* Axle quickly tapped, his grin growing wider as he excitedly discovered that his favorite adventure stories Sweet reads to him were actually real.

"'Ahuizotl'? I would have called him 'Demon Monkey Cat'," Lea said.

Axle hopped around, unable to contain his excitement as his hoof tapping turned into illegible, fanboyish babbling as he bounced around his mother. Rainbow let out an annoyed sigh, glaring at Quibble Pants as she removed her hoof from his muzzle.

"Dude, didn't Daring tell you NOT to say anything about her stories being real?" Rainbow scolded.

"Try telling that to the news involving 'Daring Do' being accused of stealing the city of Somnambula's glowpaz two years ago," Quibble stated. "Her secret's going to be let out at some point." Rainbow scratched her head, not even realizing there was anything newsworthy in Somnambula. Then again, the only reading she'd ever done was from the Daring Do books. Quibble continued setting up his camping spot outside the museum, wearing a hat matching his shirt and draped a small red sweat towel around his neck. "Is Sora around?"

"He's actually busy back in Ponyville," Rainbow said.

"Oh. I wanted to ask him some questions about 'A.K. Yearling's' ACTUAL fictional series featuring him as the main character," Quibble said. "Anyway, who are your friends?"

"The name's Lea," Lea greeted, snatching Axle in his magic aura and plopped him down in front of him while Sweet giggled at her son's energy and stood beside Lea. "And this is Sweet Delight and her kid, Axle Beam."

"Nice to meet you, Quibble Pants," Sweet greeted while Axle gave him a wave.

"Great. Now that introductions are out of the way, what are you doing here?" Rainbow questioned Quibble Pants.

"...Uhh, w-well, obviously I'm the biggest Buckball fan there is," the stallion proclaimed, though his nervous grin and shifty gaze said otherwise. "Y-You can't keep me away from that...Buckball rink."

Rainbow, Lea, Sweet, and Axle looked back at the stadium, the latter three wondering if the Daring Do fan was also really into sports. "...Dude, Buckball's played on a field," Lea corrected. "It's not ice hockey."

Quibble grimaced, knowing he wasn't fooling anyone like Rainbow Dash or Lea. "...W-Well, rinks are round, too, so it's...really easy to mix them up?"

"Quibble, you're not a sportspony like I am," Rainbow said.

While the stallion stumbled on his words, Sweet noticed there were a couple folding chairs Quibble had set up along with his tent. "Is there anypony else who's joining you for the museum?" she asked.

"Oh my gosh! Dee!?" Sweet's ears shot up, glancing behind the tent to see a unicorn mare and pegasus filly approach them.

The mare stared at Sweet Delight with delighted surprise, her coat a bright pink with light rose and light gray hair with a thin blue streak inside the light gray, her cutie mark a sun with a breeze of wind beneath it, and she wore a sky blue ascot around her neck. The filly was a light grayish indigo with small white freckles on her cheeks and nose, her hair a cobalt blue with two pale pink streaks, and her cutie mark was a horseshoe surrounded in blue flames, almost like it was crashing down like a meteor. Sweet immediately recognized the mare and ran over to her.

"Clear!" Both mares squealed and laughed as they both hugged each other, their interaction baffling the others. "It feels like forever since I last saw you!"

"More like an eternity!" the unicorn mare emphasized. "I haven't seen you in so long! How are you!?"

"Great! You have no idea what I've gotten myself into!" As both mares continued chatting away, Quibble glanced at Lea, Lea doing the same to him, then both stallions looked at the two mares.

"You know each other?" they both asked simultaneously.

Nearly forgetting about their audience, both mares giggled. "Of course," Sweet said first. "Clear Skies has been my best friend ever since we were fillies! I haven't seen her in years since..." The joy on Sweet's face quickly turned sour as she frowned. She shook her head, the waning sentence concerning her friend. "...Never mind. So, what are you doing out here in Appleloosa?"

"Quibble thought it was a great idea to see some Buckball matches with me and Wind Sprint, my little filly," Clear said as she gestured to the pegasus filly, though her expression was the complete opposite of fun.

"Well, you definitely got busy with Mr. Pants over there, huh?" Sweet teased, lightly jabbing her friend's side with her hoof.

Quibble stammered as Rainbow gawked at him, never realizing the dorky stallion was actually a father. "Quibble Pants is not my dad," Wind Sprint grumbled.

Clear glanced at her daughter, frowning sympathetically. "Quibble's actually my coltfriend," Clear explained. "Her father was...someone I thought was perfect for me, but after a few years into our marriage, it didn't work out as well as I thought."

"Oh no. You two were so perfect together," Sweet groaned.

"And what about you and YOUR Mr. Perfect?" Clear questioned, glancing over at Lea, then down at Axle by his hooves, who watched his mom chatting with his old friend curiously. "And you got busy yourself? What have you not been telling me?"

"Ok, let's back up and get a little more info out of the way," Lea interjected, relieving Sweet Delight from explaining the awkward situation she was left in. The two mares and filly joined the group so they could get proper introductions between everyone. "My name is Lea. I'm currently dating Sweety. And this big bundle of energy is her kid, Axle Beam."

"Well, Axle definitely seems to take after his father, doesn't he?" Clear teased.

"A-Actually...Lea's not Axle's father," Sweet explained.

"...Oh...I assumed with the nearly similar fur..." Clear glanced at Sweet Delight, noticing the apprehension in her friend's gaze. "...So, who was the unlucky stallion?"

"I'd...rather not talk about him," Sweet mumbled. "Like you, I thought he was the one, but when Axle was conceived..."

Clear furrowed her brow, understanding where the situation went with her friend. "Well, it seems like we both found ourselves someone far better than our ex's at the very least," she said as she walked over to Quibble Pants and nuzzled him, surprising the stallion.

Sweet grinned, but Wind Sprint gagged, clearly showing no interest in liking Quibble Pants. Ignoring her mom and Quibble making goo-goo eyes, she looked at Axle, who gave her a friendly wave.

"So, your name is 'Clear'?" Lea asked, butting into the couple's romantic nuzzling.

"Oh, right!" Clear giggled. "My name is Clear Sky, and that's my daughter Wind Sprint."

As the filly looked at Rainbow, her eyes lit up in excitement. "You're Rainbow Dash! One of the Wonderbolts!"

Rainbow let out a chuckle at yet another adoring fan recognizing her. "Yup. That's me. Also one of Equestria's biggest heroes besides Sora."

"You KNOW Sora!?" Wind Sprint gasped in shock.

"Of course," Lea interjected. "We're all pretty close friends of his." He held out his hoof, flashing his Keyblade, which only enamored the filly more. "And reliable allies."

"Whoa...So cool," Wind Sprint uttered.

Quibble wilted slightly, letting out a small sigh. Sensing her coltfriend feeling completely ignored, Clear Sky tapped her daughter's shoulder to get her attention.

"Wind, don't you want to thank Quibble Pants for camping out so we'd be first in line to see the museum?" she asked.

Wind frowned and let out an annoyed sigh. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"No problem at all," Quibble said, his nerves getting to him as he began to ramble. "I-I would have done it anyways. But, you know, I also know Sora. Bumped into him in the jungle when I got kidnapped with Rainbow Dash." Wind Sprint didn't believe him, despite it being the truth. Panicking, desperate to find some way to impress the filly, he rummaged through his tent and pulled out a brochure of the Buckball arena. "I...can't wait to see the...'evolution of the buck basket from farm to field.' That just...Isn't that exciting?"

From the stadium, they could hear the crowd roaring with cheers as the first of the matches began. "I'd rather watch the game," Wind grumbled.

Disappointed, Quibble dropped the brochure. Lea could tell Quibble was doing his hardest to make Wind like him, though he seemed to be trying too hard to be the cool stepdad. Quibble was about to give up and just take them into stadium to watch the games. Wind Sprint began to walk off toward the stadium, but Clear put her hoof down, snatching her daughter in her magic aura and dragged her back toward them.

"Wind, Quibble planned this whole thing for us," Clear scolded. "You could be a little more appreciative."

The filly rolled her eyes, pouting bitterly. Quibble was grateful for Clear Sky helping him try to bond with Wind Sprint, though it was a bit embarrassing to him. The doors to the museum finally opened, letting the "first arrivals" in to see the "historic" Buckball memorabilia. It wasn't anything impressive to see for a simple sports game, but if it becomes popular in a few decades, it would very well be impressive for the next few generations.

"You know, I kinda wanted to skip the museum, too," Rainbow said to Wind Sprint. "But I promised a friend I would check out all the exhibits."

"All of them!?" Wind Sprint exclaimed with a groan.

"Wind!" Clear scolded.

"Er, perhaps we should split up?" Quibble suggested. "I want to catch up with Rainbow Dash, and we could...see all the exhibits much faster..."

As fun as the idea sounded, he felt dejected when Wind Sprint barely acknowledged him as she chose to stick with her mom. "I think that's a good idea," Lea said. "It'll give our girlfriends some time to catch up on lost time as well."

"Well, I certainly want to know everything that happened since we got out of school," Clear said. "And I want to know more about this adorable little guy."

The unicorn mare ruffled Axle's mane, the mares splitting up with their foals while Quibble, Lea, and Rainbow wandered to another section of the museum. "So, you and Clear Sky, huh?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's great," Quibble said. "I've never been happier...Which is why I need your help!" He grabbed Rainbow, pleading desperately. "I have no idea what any of this stuff is!"

"You seriously have no clue what such a simple idea of a sport is?" Lea questioned.

"No! I'm not the kind of pony who's into sports!" Quibble exclaimed. Rainbow and Lea blankly leered at each other, barely surprised at the obvious fact. "I don't even know what bucking is!"

"...It's kicking," Lea explained, giving a physical example as he reared on his forelegs and lightly kicked behind him. "Are you really that much of a nerd to not know any physical activity like walking?"

"Yes!" Quibble admitted. "Wind Sprint is such a huge sportspony, and her dad is a huge athlete, too! I can't compete with that!"

"Do you even need to?" Lea questioned. "Just be yourself and not pretend to be a huge fan of something you don't like."

"Oh, easy for you to say, Lea," Quibble snorted. "Your marefriend likes you and so does her own kid. He hasn't said a single word about how much he likes you, and I can already tell he appreciates you as his father better than whoever dumped her."

"Axle's mute," Lea stated. Quibble grimaced, immediately regretting his comment. Rainbow awkwardly watched from the side, unsure how to help Quibble with his predicament. "Hey, Rainbow, why don't you join the girls and Axle? I think I can help Quibble."

"Uhh, ok," Rainbow mumbled. "But after all this, I want to know what you've heard from Somnambula." She began to walk off, only to back-peddle back to both stallions. "The town, not the Pillar of Equestria...And some more Daring Do."

Rainbow finally took her leave, confusing Quibble Pants. "...Wait, the 'Pillar'?"

"It's a long story, which we'll talk about after we deal with your predicament trying to win over Wind Sprint's attention," Lea said, guiding the stallion to another section of the exhibit. "But like I said, if you want Wind to like you, stop pretending to be something you're not."

"She obviously knows," Quibble sighed. "I want things to work out with Clear Sky and Wind Sprint, but I think Wind thinks I'm butting into her family despite her parents split up. I don't want her to think I'm some replacement in her family. And I really thought bringing her to see some Buckball matches would help us bond."

"And you know next to nothing about any sport to bond over," Lea summarized. Humming in thought, he looked around at some of the exhibits. Hoping the staff doesn't mind, Lea levitated a ball and bucket, dropping the ball in Quibble Pants' hooves. "I believe Buckball is a pretty simple sport that's easy to learn and competitively fun."

"Have you ever played it before?" Quibble asked.

"No, but it's easy: two teams of three with a bucket carrier, defender, and offensive kicker. Earth ponies stay in the center of the field and cannot move from their position as they kick the ball to their bucket carrier on the opponent's side. Pegasi fly to block the ball and pass it to their earth pony teammate. And the unicorns stay on the outer ring of the field, using their magic to move the bucket to catch the ball." Lea took a few steps back, holding the bucket out in front of him. "If you've played catch before, then this should be a very easy sport you can be a semi-pro in."

"What's 'catch'?" Quibble asked.

Lea leaned his head around the basket, giving Quibble a baffled, perturbed look. "...Did you really just ask what-?" Lea shook his head, suppressing a groan to disappoint the bookworm stallion further. "Just throw the ball into the bucket."

"Ok." Grabbing the ball, Quibble stood on his hind legs, concentrating on making the basket.

He lifted his hooves up, winding up for a throw, quickly losing his balance and stumbling backwards, overestimating himself. He crashed into a large bucket display with a yelp, getting himself stuck with the ball bouncing out of his hooves and rolling toward the girls. Lea resisted the urge to facehoof, especially since Wind Sprint noticed the ball, glanced over at them while giving Quibble a deadpanned leer.

"A bit too much oomph with the windup, Quibble," Lea muttered.

Quibble tried to get out, but he couldn't push himself out of it. "I don't think this is gonna work," Quibble grumbled, giving up as he looked at Lea, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe you or Rainbow Dash could talk to her? Rainbow's famous, and you're one of those strong warriors like Sora. You could talk me up and try to convince her I'm sporty?"

"Well, I could try," Lea mumbled. "Although, I think she saw your 'performance', and that probably won't help convince her."

"Anything that doesn't involve me looking like a foal who can barely walk," Quibble grumbled.

Clear Sky came over, spotting her coltfriend stuck in the bucket. "Oh my goodness, Q. What happened?"

"Uhh...I lost my balance?" Quibble nervously answered.

"I'm trying to help him be sporty enough to help him impress Wind Sprint," Lea said. "He apparently has never played a game of catch in his youth."

"Oh dear." Clear grabbed Quibble's hooves, pulling hard to help him out of the bucket and to his hooves. Lea helped, finally yanking Quibble forward, though his backside was still stuck in the bucket, making him look like a turtle. The stallion was only embarrassing himself more as Wind Sprint silently judged him and his lack of dexterity. Clear used her magic to hold onto the bucket while Lea physically pulled Quibble, finally freeing him while sending both stallions flopping over. After placing the bucket display back where it was, Clear helped the dejected stallion back to his hooves. "You don't have to try so hard for Wind Sprint, or me. This trip is already enough."

"Exactly what I was telling him," Lea agreed. "There might be something else you can bond together with." As he looked over to where Sweet and Rainbow were with Axle and Wind, the filly was curious about Axle's EHL as the mute colt and tapped the ground while his mother translated what he was saying. Hard to believe Wind Sprint had an interest in learning and had tried to practice a few words to try to talk her new friend. "Looks like Wind Sprint is a little interested in Axle and they're teaching her Equestrian Hoof Language. Maybe there's some fantasy stuff you like that she might like, too."

"I've tried, but she's definitely not interested in role-playing, comics, or novels involving mystery or adventure genres," Quibble mumbled. "She doesn't even like Daring Do. She thinks she's not athletic enough; a pegasus explorer who delves into ancient ruins, gets caught in traps and breaks out of them in the most insane ways possible, and stops mad villains from destroying the world through some ancient magic or artifacts forgotten through time centuries or thousands of years ago."

Lea frowned, blinking a couple times as she looked at the pegasus filly. "...Yikes. Better not let Axle know, then," he uttered. "He loves Daring Do...and so does Rainbow Dash."

Quibble pondered over another idea when his eyes laid on the gift shop. "Maybe a souvenir could do it." Clear sighed, but she shook her head. She didn't want him to try too hard, yet he was still determined to try to find something to get her daughter to like him. Quibble approached the stand, looking over at all the different team shirts, accessories, banners. What caught his eye the most was an almanac, his love for books making him give it a look and browse its contents. "Ooh! Look at all these statistics! Point totals, saves, even facts about any technical shots from each player that was recorded! It's all about Buckball, and numbers! She might like this, right!?"

As he looked at his marefriend and Lea, he was suddenly shoved out of the way by muscular earth pony stallion. "If you ain't buyin', get out of the line, nerd!"

As Clear Sky ran over to help Quibble up, Lea stared down the jerk who pushed him. Standing about a foot taller than Lea, his fur was a deep auburn, his mane dark black and cut short with red lightning streaks down the sides and middle, and his cutie mark was a hoof smashing through a boulder and scattered it into pieces.

"Hey, buddy, my friend was browsing!" Lea called out. "You want a gift? How about a knuckle sandwich!? I'll buy it for you!"

The stallion looked over his shoulder, giving Lea a stink-eye. "The hay's a knuckle sandwich?" he questioned.

"Something that slack jaw of yours is hungry for," Lea remarked.

Barely intimidated, the stallion laughed, flicking Lea's horn roughly, causing him to wince and stumble back. "Take a hike, conehead! You and your dweeb buddy can go make out in the dirt when I'm done shopping."

Lea growled, ready to duke it out with the rude cutter. The stallion was itching for a fight, too, but as his eyes glanced over Lea's head, he completely ignored him and focused on Sweet Delight. Smirking, he forgot about his shopping, smacking Lea out of his way, causing him to crash into Quibble, nearly sending Clear Sky down along with them.

"Hey! What's your beef, pal!?" Lea exclaimed angrily.

"What a jerk," Clear grumbled. "Are you two alright?"

"My body or my dignity?" Quibble questioned.

Lea got up, seeing him approach his marefriend. The stallion casually strolled up to Sweet Delight, who barely noticed him while she was busy translating for Axle to Wind Sprint. Wearing a sly grin, he gave Sweet a few taps on her rump to get her attention, making her squeal from the unnecessary contact as she turned around, ready to slap the random stranger for touching her, only to wince when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Sweetie Pie. Recognize me?" he asked coyly.

Sweet Delight, immediately frowned angrily, backing away from the random jerk. "Unfortunately, I do," she grumbled.

His attempt at flirting caught Axle, Wind, and Rainbow's attention, Axle noticing how uncomfortable his mother was with this stallion. "I knew you wouldn't forget about me. How long's it been? A year?"

"Try eight," Sweet stated.

"Well, eight is my lucky number," the sleazy musclehead gloated with a small laugh.

Before he could continue hitting on Sweet, Lea grabbed him by the tail with his magic, forcefully pulling him away from her. "Hey, back off!" he warned. "What are you doing trying to hit on my girlfriend!?"

"Huh? 'Girlfriend'?" The stallion looked at the furious unicorn stallion, then back to Sweet, his lips curling with amusement as he stifled his laughter. "...Oh. Oh, wait. You really think some wannabe punk like you can even get with a dame as hot as Sweetie Pie here? Why don't you go hang out with your nerdy coltfriend?"

"'Sweetie Pie'?" Lea questioned, the nickname even making Axle gag, but it made him wonder how this stranger knew his mom.

"Bruiser, knock it off," Sweet begged, already feeling embarrassed.

"Wait, you mean you know this jerk who just knocked me and Quibble Pants to the ground back by the gift shop?" Lea asked, Bruiser guffawing when he learned of Quibble's name.

Sweet grimaced, stepping closer to Axle and held him. "...Y-Yes. Lea...That's Bruiser...My ex-coltfriend," she introduced, which made her sick to her stomach just mentioning the stallion between them. "...And...Axle...this is...your father."

Both Lea and Axle's jaws hit the floor, gawking at Bruiser, who stopped laughing to look at Sweet Delight again. "Eh? 'Father'?" He finally looked down, noticing the stunned colt in his mother's forelegs. He lowered his head, squinting his eyes to get a better look at him, but Axle squirmed back, unable to believe this stallion was supposed to be the father he didn't know he had. "...Kid doesn't look like me at all. You sure he's not conehead's runt?"

Frustrated, Sweet growled at him. "Yes, Axle Beam IS your son," she insisted. "Instead of being the coltfriend who actually loved and cared about me, you left me the moment you found out I was pregnant with him."

"Must have slept with some other stallion, because there's no way I knocked you up," Bruiser insisted, which only angered Sweet more, upset Axle, and made Lea threaten to burn the entire museum down if he didn't keep his own rage in check.

"You were the only stallion I've ever been with!" Sweet exclaimed. "I never once cheated on you! And instead of being with me to support me, you abandoned me! You abandoned your own foal!"

"Then you should have told me you were ripe for the plowing," Bruiser argued. Sweet didn't see a point in arguing with her former lover as the anger toward him that she kept bottled up boiled over as tears welled in her eyes. "Come on! This little brat looks nothing like me anyway. He hasn't even said a word, or even bothered to call me 'dad' if your big news is nothing but a bunch of lies."

"He can't talk," Sweet mumbled, holding Axle tighter as she struggled not to break down.

"Oh, giving me the silent treatment. I see." Bruiser scoffed, completely ignorant of the scene he was causing in front of the others, including the salespony at the gift shop. He turned and walked out, barely paying attention to Lea as he walked past him, nudging him with his shoulder. "So much for thinking you were still hot after all these years. Later."

Lea wanted nothing more than to punch the stallion's lights out for what he just said. But as he exited the museum, Lea didn't think he was worth the trouble and focused on Sweet and Axle. Axle was disturbed by Bruiser, but Sweet Delight wasn't faring the "reunion" any better. She trembled, clenching her eyes as a few stray tears trickled down her cheeks. She didn't want to see him again after leaving her heartbroken and panicked, going through her pregnancy alone and raising her son alone. What was worse for her was how he acted in front of her current, better coltfriend, her best friend, and her son when she once thought Bruiser was the love of her life.

Lea approached her, gently bringing her closer and gently held her. "I-I...I didn't want you to-"

"Hey, forget about him," Lea calmly said, planting a soft kiss on her head while she buried her muzzle into his chest. "I get why you never wanted to talk about him."

Axle hugged Sweet's leg and nuzzled her as he and Lea comforted her. To meet his real dad for the first time wasn't what he expected. Regardless, the colt only needed his mom, and if Bruiser came back to hurt her like that again, he was going to try his hardest to buck him in the shins to protect her.

---

After spending a little more time in the museum, both for Rainbow to examine everything for Applejack and Sweet to compose herself, the group exited the museum. While waiting on the next scheduled match to start, Axle showed off the frisbee Lea gave him to Wind Sprint as the two played catch with it. Thankfully, Bruiser was nowhere to be found, giving Sweet some breathing room as Clear hugged her best friend tightly.

"Sweet, I am so sorry you wound up getting involved with the absolute worst pony I've ever seen," Clear Sky uttered in sympathy. "I am glad that you were out of that relationship before Axle was born, but to go through all that by yourself? You should have written to me, or visited. I would have loved to help you."

"Well, you were busy with your former ex, I didn't want to be a burden," Sweet reasoned. "At least you broke off on somewhat decent terms with him."

"What the hay does that guy do for a living?" Rainbow asked.

"He worked at a gym specifically for earth ponies. And, from what I heard in the news during the Equestria Games, he almost passed the preliminary matches in Rainbow Falls for the new Struggle tournament that was added in, but got beaten by somepony who called themselves 'The Unknown'." Sniffing slightly, Sweet Delight scoffed. "Losing only makes him more ignorant than humble. Whoever that pony was should have knocked his block off."

"Heh. What a coincidence," Rainbow said. "Terra was actually that mystery Struggle fighter who whooped him."

"Another friend of yours who has those Keyblades?" Quibble mumbled.

Glancing beside him, there was a gift bag, and inside it was the almanac he was looking at before Bruiser decided to shove him aside. He wasn't sure if Wind Sprite would like this after she must have also seen him getting easily pushed by some other stronger stallion than him. He was an earth pony, and sadly, he was as paunchy as a pillow with barely any muscle in his body.

Lea was still fuming over meeting Bruiser, though what he did to him paled to what he had done to Sweet Delight. He could also see Quibble Pants felt so emasculated by Bruiser's insults and be tossed aside like a ragdoll with him. He can deal with the terrible ex some other time; Quibble needed a motivational boost for himself and to let Wind Sprint see him as another father figure to look up to.

"Hey, ladies, I'm gonna take Quibble for a little stroll around the area," Lea said. Sweet stared at him curiously, caught off guard by the surprise kiss he gave her on the cheek. "Go watch Team Ponyville kick some butt. We'll be back before the final matches come up."

"W-Where are you going?" Sweet asked.

"Quibble's in need of a confidence booster, and he's been wanting to get Wind Sprint to like him," Lea added. "I'll see if I can whip him into shape to be a little more sporty. And maybe help him forget we both got our butts whooped by a beefy, brainless macho man."

"...Ok." She was caught off guard by a soft kiss on the lips, feeling grateful to have met Lea to be there for her.

"Love you," Lea said, giving her a wink and tapped the side of his head with his usual gesture. "Got it memorized?"

That got a small giggle from Sweet, mimicking his gesture. "Always."

Assured he would be back, Lea walked over to Quibble and dragged him from Clear Sky. "Come on, Q. Lets take a walk."

"W-Wait, hold on a second!" Quibble complained, unable to break away from the unicorn stallion's magical hold.

"Quibble doesn't need to do this," Clear said with a sigh. "Wind gets a bit of that stubbornness from her father. If she gave him a chance, he wouldn't need to work this hard for her acceptance. He doesn't need to be into sports like she does."

"I'd better go along with them," Rainbow said. "I think Lea's still insistent on helping Quibble Pants because their pride as stallions were challenged by that jerk."

Flapping her wings, she flew after Lea and Quibble, the latter still helplessly flailing about in the former's aura as they stopped at one of the Buckball training fields at the back of the stadium. Lea dropped Quibble to the ground, turning around and prepared to give this stallion a much needed workout.

"Alright, Quibble Pants. Time for you to experience the feel of burning muscles and sweating from exertion, not anxiety," Lea proclaimed.

"What's the point?" Quibble questioned. "I'm not good at sports, and I'm never gonna be good at anything athletic."

"That's quitter talk!" Lea shouted. "There's gotta be something about you that you can pull off! We just need to know what your biggest strengths are on the physical spectrum."

"I don't think I even have any strength as one of them," Quibble muttered. Lea fired a small beam of magic at the stallion's hooves, making him yelp and jolt away, giving the unicorn a confused glare. "Hey! What was that for!?"

"For one, putting yourself down," Lea said. "And you just showed me something: reaction. If you can dodge a magic beam, you can be an athlete."

"Couldn't we try something that's not lethal? I'd prefer getting smacked by a rubber ball," Quibble stated.

"It's not even that painful," Lea assured. "Just a little zap. Now, DODGE!"

Lea fired beam after beam at Quibble, making him yell as he was forced to duck and step out of the way to avoid getting zapped. Lea was purposely aiming away from him to make him move, but at least Quibble had some decent reaction time, until he wound up fumbling on his hooves and got shot in the chest and tripped. Quibble panted heavily, barely moving for a minute before he had to catch his breath. Disappointed in his lack of stamina, Lea hung his head and sighed as Rainbow hovered down between the two stallions.

"Well, that was a fun drill," Rainbow commented.

"Didn't this guy get dragged along through ancient ruins with you and Daring Do during that and flee from danger that lasted longer than twenty seconds?" Lea questioned.

"We both got kidnapped, but when adrenaline finally started rushing through him with the actual danger we were in, he moved," Rainbow said, vouching for the winded stallion. "...Although, he only got that mobile when we ran into that cipactli in that temple Caballeron that made it its home."

"The hell is a cipactli?" Lea asked. Rainbow dug into Lea's pocket and pulled his memory orb out, showing him the creature in that very temple that rose up behind Quibble while angrily ranting about the situation they were in still felt faked or forced while they were kidnapped at the convention. It was a monstrous reptillian beast mixed between an alligator and a giant toad. "...Yeah, my butt would be moving the moment that came rising out of the mucky jungle water flooding the place."

"We were pretty lucky Sora and Daring managed to find us in time before we got chomped," Rainbow added. She tossed the ornament back to Lea, pocketing it away for another trip down someone's memory lane. "But I don't think attacking Quibble Pants is gonna help motivate him to feel sporty."

"I...second that," Quibble agreed. The stallion slowly got to his hooves, wiping the sweat and dust off his face. "Can we try the 'catch' thing again? I think that sounds safer."

"The 'catch' thing?" Rainbow repeated.

Lea groaned, still finding it hard to believe Quibble has never heard of a simple game of catch. "Yeah. He's never played catch," he confirmed to the pegasus.

"...Alright. You need some serious coaching, Quibble Pants," Rainbow said. "Lea and I are gonna find out what you've really got that'll make you a sorta decent athlete!"

---

"Ok, I was wrong. He definitely isn't an athlete," Rainbow groaned.

After an hour of whipping Quibble into a decent amount of shape, Rainbow and Lea were dumbfounded by how poorly he performed at the three different strengths of an athlete: speed, strength, and agility. Lea figured the earth pony had no agility in him after getting his backside stuck in that bucket back in the museum. Even when they attempted to see him simply pass a ball, it's like he was a puppy trying to swat a new dog toy, afraid to touch it but too overly curious and wound up missing attempting to touch it all at once. Speed also wasn't his forte either; a small race between him and Lea showed he moved his legs fast enough, but after the dust cleared from kicking it up, he barely moved an inch from the starting line while Lea simply trotted to the finish line. At least he tried to give Quibble a handicap, but even then, the earth pony had exhausted himself from running in place than running forward. Clearly, strength should have been a cinch for his race, but not even an ounce of hidden potential revealed itself when he struggled to lift two hardcover books in his forehooves while on his back. Lea tried giving Quibble some weights earlier, however, not even a small five pound weight was "easy" when he struggled to lift it while it was on the ground.

Quibble panted heavily after a few weak reps with the hardcover books, dropping them aside as he breathed heavily and caught his breath. Lea expected something, but Quibble Pants was all brain and no brawn. Then again, he did mention how being himself instead of someone he's not would better impress Wind Sprint. The only problem is how Wind can give him a chance when she constantly refuses and doesn't give him that chance to get to know him.

"There has to be some common ground between him and Wind Sprint to look up to him," Lea muttered.

"And title drop!" Pinkie suddenly yelled as she randomly appeared beside him.

Lea and Rainbow barely flinched, but Quibble yelped and sat up, staring at the pink earth pony in bewilderment. "Where the hay did you come from!?"

"Well, I was born on a rock farm with two older sisters and a twin who's only a few minutes younger than me," Pinkie explained. "It was a cool, summer eve when my mom and dad thought another foal would be perfect for the family, so my dad wooed my mom into the bed, and-"

Lea quickly shoved his hoof in Pinkie's mouth, silencing the explicit details of her and her sister's conceivement. "Too much information, Pinkie," Lea scolded. "And he was asking how you like to pop in unannounced without any warning."

"Wait, isn't there a match you, Fluttershy, and Snails are in right now?" Rainbow questioned.

"Mm mphm mmmf mm mmphm," Pinkie mumbled, then glanced down at Lea's hoof still sealing her muzzle, pushing it down before she spoke again. "We're taking a time out. The other team needed a little break. I don't know if it'll help, but we're all at least having fun, right?"

"If you're dominating the matches, I don't know who would be having fu-" Lea paused, suddenly getting an idea. He looked at Pinkie, glancing at her mane in its double poofy pomfs while she competed in Buckball, quickly ignoring her choice of putting her mane up as he returned his thought process back to his initial idea. "Hey, do Buckball tournaments do a little fun halftime thing and let some lucky fans play an exhibition match with their favorite team for fun?"

"Hmmmm...Maybe," Pinkie said. "As long as it's fun and not stressful and makes me panic to try harder and fumble and cause Fluttershy to stress and fumble too, then that would be super fun!"

Rainbow chuckled sheepishly, being reminded of what happened when she and Applejack pushed their two best Buckball players into training and sucking the fun out of the game. "Where are you going with this?" Quibble nervously asked.

"Well, let's say if Team Ponyville was given a choice to pick a few lucky ponies to try a fun little match against them," Lea said. He pulled Quibble closer, pointing at him, then himself. "An earth pony, a unicorn, and a certain, sport-loving pegasus filly who would be lucky to show off their skills in non-competitive match? Huh?"

"...Wait, you want US to be the lucky trio!?" Quibble questioned.

"Hey, yeah! That's actually a good idea!" Rainbow agreed.

"N-No way! I don't want to embarrass myself!" Quibble exclaimed, pushing away from Lea, but only managing to push himself back and flop over while Lea barely nudged an inch. "You've seen me try to hold onto a ball! I can't even throw or kick it! What makes you think I stand a chance against a pro team as the offense!?"

"Sometimes, the pros can go easy on the newbies and give them a chance to win," Lea said with a sly grin. "It won't tarnish whatever points they have in their careers since it's not an official match. And if Team Ponyville is up to going easy on a few newbies..."

He looked over his shoulder and at Pinkie, giving her a subtle hint to his scheme. "...Ohhhhhhhhh...I don't get it."

Lea cried out in exasperation as he fell on his back. "Pinkie, if you, Fluttershy, and Snails go easy on us, we can get Wind Sprint to like Quibble and get the chance to know him since he's dating her mom!"

"Oh! Well why didn't you just say so instead of giving me that certain look like I know what you're thinking?" Pinkie questioned. "I can't read minds, silly." Lea grumbled irritably, but passed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie to avoid the headache. Pinkie suddenly began vibrating as a bell rang from her person. She dug her hoof into one of her poofy pigtails and pulled out an alarm clock. "Time out break's over! I'll let Fluttershy and Snails know about the big plan! See you on the field!"

Pinkie hopped her way back to the stadium, humming a little tune without a care in the world. "...Where was she-?" Quibble began to ask, only to be dragged by Lea with his magic once again as they headed toward the stadium after Pinkie, Rainbow flying behind them.

"Don't ask," Lea simply stated. "If you don't want your brain to cramp up, don't. Trust me."

---

After the game resumed with Pinkie returning on time, Lea, Quibble, and Rainbow Dash found their group and took their seats. Team Ponyville really is unstoppable compared to any of the other teams. Pinkie was able to throw off her opponent with her wild, silly, unexpected bucks, Fluttershy's long tail and mane were like an extension as she flipped and passed it back to Pinkie as she blocked the ball, and Snails didn't even NEED to do anything while his mind wandered elsewhere with his magic holding onto his bucket. Snails wasn't the brightest of his peers, but his lack of attention caused less stress to him, which made his magical control more focused without even needing to focus.

Barely exhausted after winning their next match, Team Ponyville scored the finishing goal with a perfect game. "And Team Ponyville blows Team Manehattan out of the water! These pros are undefeatable!"

"That was so awesome!" Wind Sprint cheered. "Team Ponyville's the best!"

"Hay yeah, they are," Rainbow agreed. "But you know what would be even more awesome? Playing a friendly game with the winning Buckball team during the halftime show."

"Yeah, that does sound cool," Lea said, nudging Quibble, who was already feeling anxious screwing up in front of an audience of Buckball fans. "Quibble knows Rainbow and Sora, and he's also got some connections with Team Ponyville."

"What?" Wind questioned, curious, though still feeling skeptical of Quibble and him being a sports fan.

"Alright, everypony, it's halftime, and we've got a special event for a few lucky ponies who will play a quick match against the dominating Team Ponyville!" the announcer said. Immediately, the audience cheered, eager to be one of the lucky trio to try their hooves at Buckball and play a round with one of the best teams in Equestria. "And our lucky ponies are any unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus in Section D, Row 9!"

"Wait, that's us," Clear Sky said.

"Well, what a coincidence!" Lea said. "Who wants to-?"

Wind was already flying down to the field, being the only pegasus among their group besides Rainbow Dash. "She's quite eager," Rainbow chuckled.

Axle wanted to take part as well, but Lea caught him with his magic before he could race down the stairs. "Whoa, buddy. Maybe next time if we go to another Buckball game," he said as he set the colt back down beside his mother. Axle was a bit disappointed as he pouted. "I volunteer me as the bucket goalie and Quibble will be our muscle."

"Er, define what muscle is in your eyes," Quibble uttered nervously.

"Come on, it's not going to be that bad," Lea whispered, nudging the stallion down the row and down the stairs. As they reached the bottom, they joined up with Wind Sprint, who was already disappointed that Quibble was going to be playing with her. The fan team got themselves dressed in white shirts similar to the vests the players wore, hearing the crowd cheer them on as they stood beside Team Ponyville. "Alright! Who's ready for some Buckball!?"

"I am!" Pinkie cheered.

"We're not gonna score a single point," Wind grumbled.

"W-Well, a-against the best team in the sport, I-I don't know if we can try," Quibble said with a sheepish grin. "But...maybe we might get lucky?"

Wind groaned, taking her spot around her side of the field as she hovered in the air. Quibble wilted, earning a slight nudge from Lea as he gave him a wink, then hurried over to his goal side with his bucket in his red aura. Quibble was not prepared to make a fool of himself, but since Pinkie knew of Lea's plan and informed Fluttershy, he thought that he might have a slight chance of proving his worth to Wind Sprint.

As both earth ponies turned away from each other, the ref tossed the ball up in the air to start the first kick. Pinkie was ready, but Quibble was too busy bracing himself, unable to time his kick with his eyes closed. Subtly assisting the stallion, Pinkie grabbed and stretched out one of his hind legs, giving him the first kick as it bounced off. The contact startled Quibble, watching the ball fly overhead, but it headed toward his side of the goal, making its way into Snails' bucket while the colt was busy meditating. The crowd cheered for Team Ponyville, though the crowd thought Pinkie did some crazy stunt by tricking his fan opponent, letting him kick and send it into her goal.

Quibble leered at Pinkie, who smiled sheepishly and slowly lowered his leg back down. "Uhh...oopsie? Didn't expect that to happen."

Lea sighed and shook his head. "It's fine. It's first to three points," he mumbled to himself. "Random fluke...with the random pony who defies the laws of physics and logic."

Wind Sprint clearly wasn't happy with the flub up as she glared at Quibble. The next round started with Fluttershy giving her patented hair spin toss to Pinkie. Displaying their synchronized teamwork, Pinkie kicked to their goal, but Wind Sprint swiftly sped after it and caught it. Quibble gave her a wave, open for a pass. The filly relented and tossed it to Quibble. He reared back, panicking slightly as he shut his eyes and didn't pay attention to where the ball was going as he kicked. His hooves missed it by a couple inches, bouncing away from him as the players all watched it roll off to the edge of the marked field.

Clear Sky was worried Quibble was going to die from embarrassment. She knew he didn't have to do this just for Wind's approval, but his desperation for it was going to make him look like a laughingstock. Thankfully, the crowd seemed to notice how unathletic Quibble was, thinking his unicorn friend on the field forced him to try out of the chosen row of lucky ponies. Unfortunately, there was one pony that was openly laughing at him, and he was sitting further down the stands around the same section as them, which was none other than Sweet's ex, Bruiser.

"Come on! A blind filly could kick that easier!" he jeered with a smug grin.

Clear glared at the back of the brutish stallion's head. "I am this close to showing that jerk a thing or two," she grumbled.

"Please, don't," Sweet begged.

"Dee, if you don't find some closure with him, even if you don't forgive him, leaving you after getting you pregnant is going to keep haunting you until you tell him how you felt about what he did," Clear said.

Sweet Delight grimaced, avoiding looking down at Bruiser to try to focus on the halftime match. Axle glared at the stallion who was supposed to be his father. He could tell his mother was afraid of him, mostly to speak up to him and confront him about what he did. He wanted to protect his mother, just like when he promised Lea the day they first met on the train when Nobodies attacked everyone. And he knew Lea could take his "father" in a fight if Bruiser got much more physical.

Once the game resumed, Team Ponyville got another score by complete accident, though Pinkie hit the ball a bit faster than she expected for the second point. Wind Sprint wasn't quick enough, and Snails caught it out of instinct. Lea could hear Bruiser laughing his plot off, resisting the urge to blast some fire in his face and focus on the play. Fluttershy had the serving ball again, giving a little spin and flung it to Pinkie with her tail. It headed toward the fan team's side while Pinkie was busy hopping on her tail, heading toward Quibble. Wind Sprint zoomed down and kicked it up in the air, saving it from hitting the ground by a few inches.

"Whoa! Pop fly!" Lea called out.

"I got it! I got it!" Quibble scrambled underneath it, getting himself in the perfect position to kick the ball.

Without paying attention to where he was aiming, Quibble shut his eyes again and timed his buck. He hit the ball, sending it flying as Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Lea watched it with bated breath. The ball finally dropped and landed in the bucket.

"And the fan team finally scores!" the announcer said.

"Ha! I scored a point!" Quibble cheered, though everyone else wasn't.

"...For the other team," the announcer stated after a long pause, sounding perturbed by the results of Quibble's kick. "Team Ponyville wins the halftime match 3-0. Better luck next time."

"H-Huh?" Quibble looked at Lea, the bucket completely empty.

He grimaced, slowly looking at the other end of the field, where the ball landed in Snails' bucket. Wind Sprint was not happy, even though it was an impressive shot Quibble made. Through the crowd's murmurs, Bruiser laughed even louder, even falling out of his seat while clutching his sides, disturbing the other ponies around him.

"What a loser!" Bruiser mocked. "Who let the nerds play!? They suck!"

"Hey, he at least scored a goal!" Clear shouted at the jerk, defending her coltfriend and child from his bullying.

"I think your eyes are busted, sweet cheeks! He scored on the wrong goal! That doesn't count!" Bruiser argued.

Fuming, Clear Sky wanted to zap the smug grin off his muzzle. Down on the field, Lea was losing his patience with the guy. Bruiser's only making a mule out of himself and gaining no support from the rest of the audience when all it was was just a halftime event, not an official match. As smart as Quibble was and could try to come up with an excuse to keep the game going with its rules, he didn't bother and walked off, sulking in misery and embarrassment. Even though Wind Sprint was upset with Quibble, hearing Bruiser mocking him quickly changed her attitude. Her own mother came to his defense against Bruiser's jeering comments, and she even knew Quibble wasn't into sports like she was, yet his insistence with bonding with her through Buckball was annoying. She didn't like him or his dorky antics or hobbies, but she didn't want him to make himself look like a fool, or be talked down to be another stallion.

---

Lea dressed back in his clothes, leaving behind the "souvenir" of his fan game. He needed some time to cool off, outside the stadium while leaning against the wall, forelegs crossed and standing on his hind legs while leering at the desert landscape. He didn't know where Quibble disappeared to, but he probably didn't want to talk to him after he not only screwed over his chances of bonding with Wind Sprint, but also embarrassed himself in front of the entire Buckball community. It didn't help with Bruiser around the area watching the whole thing and being more of a bully and reverting back to an entitled colt who thought he could get away with anything.

"Mr. Lea?" Snapping out of his funk, his ears twitched when he looked to his left, then down, surprised to see Wind Sprint approach him.

"...Hey," Lea greeted, confused. Lowering himself to his haunches, he wondered why the filly was looking for him. "What's up?"

"Mom told me why Quibble Pants is being weird," she said. "He wanted to bond with me over Buckball, but he's obviously not good at it. Or any other sport...And you were trying to help him."

"...Yeah. I thought playing a friendly match was a good idea, but that all backfired," Lea groaned. "I actually believed Quibble had some kind of muscle to do any simple physical sport, but the only muscle he's trained is his brain. I just wanted to help him try to bond with you so you could like him."

"...I asked mom why she liked him," Wind said. "I thought Quibble was trying to replace dad because of this planned trip to watch Buckball. She said he wasn't, but when we tried 'bonding', he showed me all this Daring Do stuff and things I don't really like."

"Did you even give him a chance, or tried to give what he liked a chance?" Lea asked. Wind Sprint was quiet, glancing down timidly. It was clear Wind Sprint didn't bother to try learning about Quibble's interests while Quibble tried way too hard to learn about Wind's interests. Lea chuckled at the irony. "Well, I see you two share something in common; you two don't really know anything about each other."

"How does that help?" Wind questioned.

"I don't really know Quibble that well. Just from what Rainbow's details from their last adventure," Lea said. "They both love Daring Do, but Quibble loves the puzzles and mystery while Rainbow loves the action and adventure. They have their differences, but that didn't mean their interests were different either. There has to be something they both can appreciate, but in different ways, and perhaps compromise with each other so they can learn something they didn't know was interesting."

"But how?" Wind asked again. "Quibble's not good at playing."

"Maybe not physically, but when it comes to player stats, he could probably guess the outcome of each game," Lea said. "You know, sports aren't all about just action; there's planning, practice, strategies, and even teamwork that comes into play. Winning's not just about physical skill."

"...Really?" the filly asked curiously.

"You didn't think playing in any sport was just about being athletic and winning, did you?" Wind Sprint never thought much about how each sport played aside from the physical aspect. Watching her father playing and doing exceptionally well against other teams he's competed against, she wanted to be just like him. She believed the only numbers that were important were the amount of points being tallied. "There's some sports that require using your mind and outplay your opponents rather than blindly rush in without thinking of their next move in advance. Even when I protect Equestria from monsters, I keep an eye out for any tells they have and what they're going to do before going in take them out. Got it memorized?"

"...Oh. I see," Wind mumbled, getting the big picture now. She glanced behind her, feeling a little ashamed for not giving Quibble Pants a chance despite her fears of him replacing her biological father. With the thought of Quibble wanting to be involved in her life, she looked back at Lea. "...What about you and Axle? Are you like a dad to him? Even before meeting his real dad?"

Shocked, Lea never even pondered the thought. He didn't see himself as a fatherly figure toward Axle, but the colt did look up to him a whole lot. He only thought meeting Sweet and Axle was only a chance encounter, but with them bumping into each other in Ponyville again, fate changed that drastically between the three of them. Lea and Sweet Delight were a couple, both of them able to provide a sense of comfort for any woes, and Axle already took a liking to him at first glance. Axle even mimicked his mannerisms, showing how enamored he was after seeing him battle the Nobodies on that train and being the coolest stallion he'd ever met. He may not have had the ability to speak, but the colt's energy and his cheerful expressions around Lea spoke volumes more than words ever could.

Before he was able to provide an answer, Quibble and Clear Sky came around the stadium searching for Wind Sprint. "There you are," Clear said. "I was afraid you wandered too far."

"Sorry," Wind Sprint apologized.

"I think I should be the one apologizing," Quibble said to Wind Sprint. "I got desperate to try to get you to like me, and...I'm clearly not doing a good job doing it by lying and pretending to like something I barely know about. So I got Lea and Rainbow Dash to try to help me be sporty enough to find something in common, but...I'm clearly not athletic enough to even catch a ball."

"Well, you did manage to score a point at least," Clear Sky assured.

"But for the other team," Quibble reminded his marefriend.

"I still think it was a good shot," the unicorn mare reassured.

"Regardless, the only thing I'm playing is Ogres and Oubliettes," Quibble grumbled.

While Wind resisted the urge to frown and roll her eyes, she noticed Quibble had a bag on his back. Curious, she flew toward him and looked inside, the bag containing the Buckball almanac he liked back at the souvenir shop in the museum.

"You bought a book?" Wind asked.

"I-It's an almanac, actually," Quibble explained. He pulled the tome out, letting out a small sigh. "It's got statistics on everything about Buckball. Probably the closest thing I have to being involved with a sport."

"What statistics?" the filly asked.

"Uhh...I don't think you'd be interested in it," the stallion mumbled. "It's got player stats from scores, points, saves, percentages of certain passes or shots a player makes that are tallied each match they play. Lots of boring math that you wouldn't like after I tried to introduce you to Ogres and Oubliettes."

Growing curious, Wind Sprint took the book, surprising Quibble. She opened it up to the listing of Team Ponyville's stats, her eyes growing wide when she saw the number of points Pinkie shot and scored throughout the last year.

"Pinkie Pie scored THAT many points!?" she exclaimed. She flipped through the pages to see the other earth ponies on the other teams, counting their totals together in her head. "She scored more than all the other teams combined!"

"Uhh...Y-Yeah. She...she did," Quibble mumbled, looking at Clear Sky in confusion. Even she looked just as surprised, but seeing her daughter interested in the book made her happy that she's finally found something of interest with Quibble. Quibble Pants looked back at Wind Sprint, who was now engrossed in the book, her eyes darting through each stat and growing more excited. "Wait, you...you mean you actually like it?"

"...Well, I didn't know sports involved numbers like this, and...I don't like reading," Wind Sprint admitted. "But Mr. Lea told me sports were more than just doing them. They take strategy and planning."

"They do?" Quibble asked. He looked at Lea, who smirked and shrugged in response, ushering him to go along with it. "I-I mean, y-yeah! Of course they do. E-Especially if there's a subtle change in the weather, wind resistance can affect where the ball may go."

"It can? I didn't know that," Wind Sprint uttered in awe.

"Why, would you look at that? Seems like you two do have something to bond over," Clear giggled. "I told you you just had to be yourself."

She planted a kiss on Quibble's cheek, elated to finally share a connection with Wind Sprint. "I-I didn't think it would work after last time," Quibble said. He thought of another thing they could bond over when he mentioned to Lea how big of a fan Wind Sprint was of Sora and his Keyblade. Even though he wasn't a fan of the later series of the Daring Do books after the third, he did read through "Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny", which was the book that first introduced Sora as a character, along with Rainbow Dash in the illustration, and started A.K.'s new adventure series involving the colt with the Key. "Although, seeing how much of a fan she is with Sora, I don't know if she'd have an interest reading a book of Daring Do that has him in it."

Wind's eyes tore off the pages of the almanac as he looked at Quibble, startled. "What!? SORA'S in Daring Do!?" she asked.

"Yes. 'Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny'. That story was the origin that started the 'Kingdom Hearts' series for A.K. Yearling," Quibble explained. "And there was some discrepancy I noted around the second book where Sora mentions an adventure to his two traveling companions while they split up and went into summarized detail of an adventure through a jungle and bumping into a pegasus explorer to save the world from an endless, sweltering heat wave." The filly's jaw dropped, along with the almanac. "But, since you don't like Daring Do, I could spoil you with what exactly happened to-"

"Can I read that when we get back home!?" Wind excitedly asked, her wings flapping eagerly as she struggled not to lift herself off the ground.

"Perhaps, but in order for both stories to make sense, you might want to read the Daring Do books before that," Quibble mentioned.

He winced slightly, thinking Wind might not like it. Wind Sprint had paused in her giddy excitement, but as she mulled it over, she looked back at Lea, then back to Quibble.

"...I guess I can give Daring Do one more try," she said.

Shocked, Quibble did not expect the filly to give Daring Do another shot. "And you thought that reading would be boring," Clear laughed, pulling Wind closer and nuzzled her. "Who are you and where did my sporty daughter who dislikes learning run off to?"

Lea watched the trio as Wind Sprint finally seemed to accept Quibble as part of the family. Not as a new dad to be forced to get along with, but another father figure who was able to teach her and support her and her mother. While happy for them, the moment was ruined when Axle came sprinting around the corner and ran toward him in a panic.

"Axle, what's going on?" Lea asked as the colt frantically began stomping his hooves.

*Mom is in trouble! That monster Bruiser is trying to take her away!* The mention of Sweet's horrible ex reignited Lea's anger, and he's finally had enough of him.

"That's it. He's going down," Lea snarled, then sprinted off.

Though Quibble, Clear, and Wind didn't know what Axle was worried about, if it involved Sweet Delight, they were concerned for her well-being. They and Axle chased after him to find the colt's mother.

---

"Let go of me!" Sweet exclaimed, being dragged by Bruiser as he pulled her far from the stadium and from anyone who would be able to save her from her ex. "Why are you doing this to me!? I want nothing to do with you anymore!"

"You're saying that, but I'm willing to give you another chance," Bruiser said. He pulled Sweet closer, making her wince and try to push away from him, but he was physically stronger than her by a wide margin. "Ditch the runt and the conehead you're with and we can start over. If you play nice."

"Get off of me!" Sweet shouted, slapping Bruiser as hard as she could in the face.

The stallion was appalled, his brief moment of shock turning into a scowl. "Fine. Want to play hard to get?" Bruiser then slammed Sweet Delight into the ground, making her cry out, then panic as she was forcefully pinned down on her stomach with her ex hovering right over her. "We can play that game."

Too terrified to squirm, she clenched her eyes, but thankfully, her prayers for someone to come save her were answered. Lea spotted them, his mane flickering with embers as he sprinted faster, then fired a magic beam that blasted Bruiser off of Sweet. When she looked up, she scrambled to her hooves and ran for her coltfriend, getting far away from her ex as possible. Lea slowed as she ran up to him and clutched him tightly, embracing her gently as the mare shook with fright. Bruiser got back up with a grunt, ignoring the dust from the Appleloosan desert on his fur as he glared at Lea.

"Axle warned me he tried to kidnap you," Lea calmly said while glaring back at the brute. "You alright?"

"Thank Celestia you made it," Sweet mumbled, terrified. "H-He was going to-"

Lea gently rubbed her head, calming her down and silencing her, giving her no need to explain what unspeakable acts he was going to do with her. Quibble, Clear, Wind, and Axle finally caught up, thankful to see Lea caught up and got Sweet away from Bruiser.

"Get back," he gently said to Sweet. "I'm gonna teach this punk a lesson."

"L-Lea?" Being gently nudged toward the others, Axle helped bring his mother to safety, knowing exactly what Lea was going to do to his bully of a father.

As she got closer to Clear, her friend immediately held her tightly. "Thank goodness you're alright," she said. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know anymore," Sweet muttered. "He was never like this...I don't know why he became such a..."

"You think I should get Rainbow Dash? Or authorities or something?" Quibble asked.

Axle tapped Quibble's leg, getting his attention, and answered with a shake of his head. He was confused by the response when his own mother was being kidnapped and almost assaulted, but he didn't know just what Lea was going to do. Quibble knew he had a Keyblade like Sora, though what he was going to do to Bruiser was beyond him.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Bruiser," Lea growled. "Now you've pushed me too far."

Barely intimidated, Bruiser stomped over to Lea. "You're gonna pay for that," he said. "When I'm done beating you to a pulp, I'm snapping off that horn of yours and shoving it right down your throat."

"You don't know who you're messing with, do you?" Lea questioned, biding his time and waiting to unleash his potential in front of the stallion.

"All I know is that you're the one who messed with the wrong pony, conehead." As soon as Bruiser got close, he reared one of his forelegs back and threw a punch.

Lea dodged and snapped his leg down on Bruiser's, catching it in a lock that surprised the earth pony stallion. "...You like playing with fire?" he asked. "Then how about I turn up the heat!?"

Suddenly flaring up around them, a dome of flames erupted from the earth around them. Startled, Bruiser looked around, both of them trapped inside the raging fire walls.

"W-What in the-?" Lea headbutted Bruiser hard, sending him reeling back with a grunt. Growling while rubbing his forehead, he leered at Lea, who calmly glared at him without budging from ramming his skull into his. "What is this? Some kind of magic trick? You think some illusion is gonna scare me, wimp!?"

Standing on his hind legs while keeping his eyes directly locked onto Bruiser, Lea shot his forelegs out to his sides, summoning his chakrams in roaring flames that spiraled around his hooves. "...This is no game," Lea said. Bruiser began to laugh, expecting his threat to be a bluff. Lea threw both of his chakrams at Bruiser with a grunt, flames billowing around the sharp points and igniting them on fire. Both chakrams flew past Bruiser on both sides, barely grazing his body by inches, and the stallion's smug grin and cocky attitude quickly turned to horror. He actually felt the intense heat of the fire brush past him, nearly licking his fur. His ears flicked behind him when he heard the metallic thunk of both throwing weapons hitting the ground. "Don't underestimate this 'conehead'."

His chakrams returned to his hooves, lazily spinning the one in his left as the right was gripped by the edge. Bruiser didn't want to back down, but to know that his weapons were actually real and so was the fire, he had no idea what to do.

"...Y-You're crazy, you know that!?" he called out.

"What's the matter? A tough jerk like you scared of a little fire?" Lea questioned, but he wasn't joking around or taunting him. "I thought you were going to teach me a lesson! So teach me! Beat me up! You like hurting others to feel good about yourself, even to someone who genuinely cared about you! Then when something goes wrong, you treat them like trash and leave them!" He threw his chakrams again, making them land at Bruiser's hooves. The earth pony yelped and backed away, but when he looked up, he barely blinked when he saw Lea dash toward him with blinding speed. Sprinting behind him, Lea swept Bruiser's hind legs, knocking his body up into the air, then kicked him hard in the stomach. Bruiser wheezed and tumbled across the ground, rolling onto his back, but when he tried to get up, Lea was already on top of him, his Keyblade pointed at his muzzle while his chakrams hovered beside his face. "Didn't your parents tell you not to play with fire? In the end, you're the one who'll get burned."

Bruiser's eyes shifted to each weapon aimed at his head. Putting on a brave face, he gave Lea a quick jab in the chest, surprising the unicorn as he gasped, seeing where he got the name from with that powerful blow. Given an opening, Bruiser kicked Lea hard with both his hind legs, sending him flying out of the fiery dome. Seeing him phase through it unscathed, the stallion got back to his hooves and sprinted in the other direction.

"Of course it was all just a trick," he said to himself with a breathy laugh. "Stupid wannabe tough colt thinks he can scare me. I'm gonna clobber him, then that stupid-!"

The moment Bruiser made contact with the fire, expecting to run right through, he slammed into it like it was a wall, yelling in pain as he burnt himself. He backed away, frantically patting his body, but the flames didn't catch on his fur. Looking back at the wall of fire trapping him, his pupils shrank. Tentatively reaching his hoof out to touch the flame dome again, Lea's hoof suddenly shot forward and grabbed his. Screaming, unable to wrench his hoof away, Lea phased through the fire unharmed, glaring menacingly at him.

"What did I just tell you?" Lea asked. "And don't let your prison stop you from finishing your sentence. After me, who else were you going to hurt?"

"W-What the hay are you, man!?" Bruiser asked, terrified now.

"ANSWER MY DAMN QUESTION!" Lea's body erupted into flames, tapping into his magic surge as his fur turned white, his hair now a fiery inferno, and his eyes a bright red. "Who was going to be next!? Were you going to say Sweet Delight!? Axle Beam!? You're going to hurt my family and think you could get away with that!?"

"N-N-No! I-I wasn't going to say that!" Bruiser pleaded.

"...Liar." Forcefully turning Bruiser around, Lea unleashed an explosion of fire between them. The spell was harmless, but the concussive force sent Bruiser forward, making him tumble across the dirt and nearly toward the other end of the dome. Spinning his chakrams about in his magic, flames spiraled around him and the center of the dome. "BURN, BABY!"

The bright flash of roaring flames nearly blinded Bruiser, then the painful burning sensation at his hooves made him wince as he hopped around to keep the burns from getting worse. Glancing down, he yelled in panic as the desert ground had suddenly turned into molten lava. He had no way of escape, he was trapped with a mad unicorn, and if he stayed in one place, he was afraid he would catch on fire from the burning floor at his hooves.

"A-Are you some kinda fire demon monster in a pony body!?" Bruiser asked, constantly jogging in place as he backpedaled from Lea."

"I could be if you keep screwing around," Lea said with pure malice. He backed Bruiser up, making him yelp as his rear made contact with the wall, literally trapping him. "Think you're tough? Think you can do whatever you please without any consequences? You thought you had any chance to redeem yourself for walking out on Sweet, abandoning your kid, and try to pull a stunt like this without any of us noticing!? You want to be an ass, then do it against someone your own size!"

"I don't want to die!" Bruiser pleaded. "I-I'll do anything you want! I don't want to burn to death! I'm sorry, alright!?"

"Oh. It's not me you need to apologize to." Part of the fiery wall opened up on the opposite end of where they were. Outside, far enough away from the flames, the others waited and watched, Quibble, Clear, and Wind dumbstruck seeing Lea's prowess unleashed, and his magical surge rage. Lea pointed to them, specifically at Sweet Delight at Axle Beam, the former still held in her paralyzed friend's hooves while the latter stared blankly at his "father". "You need to apologize to the family you deserted."

"W-Whatever you want, man!" Bruiser quickly agreed. "I'll apologize! I'll apologize to everyone!"

Lea leered at Bruiser while he still hopped around, looking desperate to get out of the inferno. After a few more seconds watching him suffer, his fur and mane returned to normal, then he grabbed the stallion in his magic, lifted him up, and flung him out through the opening. Bruiser screamed as he was tossed, flying through the opening without getting burned and sent tumbling across the dirt. Lea slowly walked after him, dispelling his flaming barrier behind him. While Bruiser was hyperventilating, relishing the desert heat over the intense blaze of deadly flames, Lea set a weak Fire spell at his rump, making him scream like a girl and clamber forward.

"Oh, shut up. I'm not gonna burn you alive; just roast you until you're well done," Lea grumbled. Bruiser stumbled and fell a few feet away from the others, looking back at Lea as he dared not to move to antagonize the unicorn. Standing over the stallion, planting his back hooves on Bruiser's back to keep him firmly planted to the ground, he forcefully turned his head to look at Sweet, Axle, Quibble, Clear, and Wind. "Now, start apologizing."

"...I-I'm sorry I poked fun at you and him back at the museum," Bruiser said to Quibble.

"...Uhh, I...accept?" Quibble said, still shaken up seeing Lea's affinity over fire.

"I wouldn't have after he shoved you and was the only one in the audience who jeered at you during that halftime match," Lea said. "At least the rest of the crowd and the announcer felt sorry for you and appreciated you giving it a shot. But you definitely need to apologize to two ponies whose lives you really could have ruined if you chose to stay with them."

Turning Bruisers head, Lea forced his gaze to look at Sweet Delight and Axle Beam. Though Sweet was with the ponies who were looking out for her, after what he tried to do, she was too afraid to step closer to him. Axle continued glaring at him, part of him wishing he got a burn scar for stealing his mother away. Bruiser grimaced, but a sharp tug on his hair by Lea made him grunt, silently warning him if he refused to apologize.

"...I'm...I'm sorry for what I did to you, Sweety Pie-" He yelped as Lea nearly yanked on Bruiser's mane.

"Sweet Delight," Lea growled. "You don't deserve to give her a nickname."

"Sweet Delight!" Bruiser quickly corrected himself, the tugging thankfully loosening enough, but Lea kept a firm grip on his head. "I'm sorry, Sweet Delight! I...I left you to...to raise your foal alone...And I'm sorry I...tried to kidnap you...and hit on you...and...attempting to hurt you after you hit me earlier."

"So you were going to strike her," Lea grunted.

He then forced Bruiser to look at his son, making the stallion gulp as he took a moment to choose his words before saying the wrong ones that would set Lea off. "...I'm...I'm sorry...for leaving your mom," he said to Axle Beam. "For kidnapping her..."

Axle furrowed his brow, refusing his apology. He stomped his hooves, speaking to him through EHL, then approached the stallion and kicked him in the snout. Bruiser winced at the contact, having no clue what was wrong with the colt as he watched Axle walk back to Sweet and nuzzled her leg. Sweet Delight draped her hoof over her son and hugged him, given enough confidence in her best friend and her family, along with her own foal and the stallion she was lucky to have met.

"...I begged you to stay with me when I told you I was pregnant," she said, knowing Bruiser was listening this time with Lea finally deflating his oversized ego. "You argued with me, claimed it was my fault when we were both fooling around and barely taking any precautions if we didn't want a foal yet. Then...you just walk out...and you didn't come back." Tears welled in Sweet's eyes, not wanting to expect the worst, but she was already in enough pain having dealt with him just leaving her to make her a single mom. "You said you would be there for me for anything, but it was all a lie...I thought what we had was special, but instead, you immediately changed after that day. All those months carrying Axle, I couldn't focus, I gave up my dream of opening my own bakery, and when Axle was born, I had no time to myself when he needed me day in and day out. I didn't want to burden my parents or even my best friend with what was going on in my life.

"I never wanted to see you again, but any news I hear about you, it made me hate you all the more. I didn't want Axle to know you existed because I was afraid you were going to hurt him as well. But now...you just show up here, in Appleloosa, out of nowhere, and you forgot what you did to me and what we used to have together...You thought I slept with some other stallion before you..." Sweet began to quiver, her anger and sorrow boiling over as she continued releasing all the pent up emotions she's had for so many years toward her ex. "...You only care about yourself...But even without you, I was able to raise Axle just fine on my own. And I found the love of my life who does care about me, about Axle, and he's nothing like you...I can't forgive you...I never will...You took yourself out of my life...and now I want you to stay out of mine...Forever."

Axle nodded as he glanced back at Bruiser, holding his mother tightly. "Well, you heard them," Lea said.

"B-But...t-the runt didn't-" Lea quickly slammed Bruiser's face into the dust, making him grunt. "-I-I mean Axle! H-He didn't even say a word to me!"

"That's because he's mute," Lea said. "He was born without the ability to talk, but sometimes, actions speak a whole lot louder than words. I find that as a benefit to him. So, that 'silent treatment' was a poor excuse to not bother knowing your own kid is handicapped by one sense." Bruiser's eyes widened, looking at Axle, immediately regretting his actions now, though too little, too late. "Though, I don't think you have the right to call him your son after he basically disowned your entitled, one-track minded tail."

"W-What?" Bruiser mumbled.

"Those stomps were his words through a special equine language for those who can't talk," Lea explained. "And he said to you, 'I do not accept your apology. You're not my real father. And if you come near my mom again, I will hurt you more than what Mr. Lea did to you.'" Lea leaned down and hissed in Bruiser's ear. "You're lucky I went easy on you, because if I wanted to, I would have burnt you to ashes if you ever come near Sweety like that again." Bruiser's face went pale, terrified at the fact that what he experienced was only a fraction of Lea's magical prowess. "And my name is Lea, not 'Conehead'. Got it memorized?"

"Y-Yeah. Got it," Bruiser answered nervously. "Crystal clear."

"Good." Getting off of him, Lea grabbed Bruiser in his aura, hoisted him back on his hooves, then shoved him away from the others. The earth pony stumbled, but he didn't look back and high-tailed it out of there. "If I catch you in Ponyville or either of them does, I'll make sure you wished you were swimming in the fiery pits of Tartarus than mine!"

As soon as Bruiser was out of sight, Lea exhaled deeply. He was a little exhausted from shifting into his magic surge, but what mattered was being sure Sweet Delight was ok. As he turned around, he was already met with his marefriend leaving her friend's side and hugged him tightly. That part of her dreading her ex's return still lingered, but she was truly grateful for Lea for having her back, just like she had for him.

---

Though most of the day of Buckball entertainment was soured by Bruiser's presence, they tried not to let it bother them with the rest of the tournament. Team Ponyville dominated the rest of the other teams, and they all had a relatively good time as the afternoon wound to an end. Wind Sprint was finally able to bond with Quibble Pants as they both taught each other a few things about the sport. Wind had comically instructed Quibble which goal belonged to which team, while Quibble called out certain plays or moves the other players did, especially with Pinkie Pie supposedly being random, but he quickly caught on to her special shots during the right conditions on the field.

With the sun now setting, the two families had to go their separate ways. This time, however, Sweet Delight made sure to let Clear Sky where she was staying in Ponyville and set up play dates between their foals. Wind Sprint and Axle Beam got along pretty well together, as well as their new coltfriends despite the awkward plan to make Quibble Pants sporty to impress the pegasus filly. The group from Ponyville got on the train and waved goodbye to Quibble, Clear, and Wind, both mares eager to meet up in the future and catch up some more.

Night arrived as the sun dipped below the horizon, the train halfway to its destination. Sweet Delight rested in their seat, feeling emotionally exhausted after the ordeal with Bruiser. Her head rested on Lea's shoulder while he calmly watched the scenery pass by, sitting how he usually does as a human. When he glanced at Axle Beam, he couldn't help but laugh when he saw the colt sitting exactly like he was, only without struggling to position himself and keep that pose without wobbling.

"You know, to be fair, sitting like that as a pony does look weird from this perspective," he said. Axle grinned and shook his head in response. "Nah, you're right. Only us cool guys can sit like this without a care in the world." Being careful not to wake Sweet, Lea used his magic to brush a couple locks of her hair from her face. Wind Sprint's question came back to the forefront of his mind, watching Sweet's calm, sleeping face before bringing his attention back to Axle. "...Sorry your dad turned out to be a huge jerk. Probably didn't expect him to be so horrible, huh?"

Axle slowly shook his head, but it didn't bother him at all growing up without a dad in his young life. He was content having only his mom around in his life. Though, as he looked at Lea, his gaze shifted every so often as a questioned bubbled in his mind, except he was afraid to ask it. Lea grew a little concerned seeing Axle's expression grimace, wrestling with his thoughts and what he wanted to say until Axle finally summoned the courage to "speak" his mind.

*Bruiser isn't somepony I want as a dad. You clearly do a better job than he does, and we've only met a couple years ago.* Axle hesitated slightly, but Lea was a little surprised by the compliment. *You're awesome. You fight like a super hero with cool fire magic. Mom really likes you, and I do, too.* Lea had a hunch about what Axle wanted to say to him. Axle paused again, biting his lower lip as his hoof hesitated again as he looked at Lea. *Can I call you...dad?*

Lea's heart skipped a beat, and it swelled at the endearing question the colt asked him. He couldn't utter a response, but couldn't from the lump in his throat. If Sweet were awake, she probably would have begged him to say yes like it was some kind of marriage proposal. He cared a lot about Axle Beam, and if he wanted to call him his father, he couldn't deny such a question.

After a moment of silence, Lea grinned, tapping his hoof against the seat. *Call me whatever you like. I'd be happy to be the dad you always wanted.*

Stifling a gasp, Axle beamed, hopping from the other bench and hugged Lea's barrel. Lea hugged the colt, feeling tears well up as he felt proud to be Axle's father. Though Lea was accepted as part of Sweet and Axle's family, it an incredible feeling to give this colt the father figure he needed. He wondered if he should tell Sweet Delight, or maybe let Axle tell her.

The train soon came to a stop at Ponyville's station, the shifting cars nudging Sweet Delight awake as she let out a yawn. "We there yet?"

Lea chuckled, clearing his throat as he quickly wiped away his tears. "Yeah. Home, sweet home," he said.

"Sorry I dozed off," Sweet apologized, rubbing her eyes. When she looked at Lea and Axle, she noticed her sun hugging Lea tightly with the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his muzzle. "What did I miss?"

Lea looked down at Axle while he looked up at him. "Want me to tell her, or you?"

Axle pondered the question, but he shook his head. *Maybe later. To surprise her.*

"Surprise?" Sweet questioned. "Ok, seriously, what did I miss while I napped on the ride back? Is it for my birthday or something?"

She squeaked when Lea picked her up in his aura and set her on his back after getting up from his seat. "I think we've all had a bit too much excitement for today," he said. He then lifted Axle and placed him behind his neck, carrying his family out of the train car with their belongings and souvenirs in his aura. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the night without anything messing it up further."

"Well, you say that, and something's going to eventually," Sweet grumbled.

After exiting the station and making his way to Sweet's home, Lea slowed for a moment as he pondered the supposed misfortune of his statement. "...To be fair, I kind of expected Isa to show up and torment me some more," he uttered. "...Maybe he's finally cutting me some slack..." Shaking his head, Lea grunted, picking his pace back up. "Or he's too busy with stuff in the Organization to bother with me at the moment...Just what does he hope to gain by destroying all the worlds with Xehanort...?"

Comments

[Postwarmonkey50]

Wow, go Lea. He did a good job kicking Sweet Delight's ex's flank.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Honestly, if anyone has proven to be dad material, Lea has won that prize hands down!

[Princespeedywhooves]

Awesome job Lea defending his girlfriend from her ex boyfriend that’s a good job in my book.

[BenictheHedgehog]

Fun fact: common bond was an episode requested by Quiver’s Va to be based on his family that happen irl, but in reverse with his new wife being the VA of Clear Sky & his daughter being the VA for Wind sprint.

It was heart touching one, and I liked the idea of Clear Sky having to be childhood friends with Sweet Delight with it giving more background to her & Axle Beam. Plus I do see Lea be a great Father figure for Axle. But I do think maybe it be best if Sweet Delight informed Twilight about Bruiser and what he did to her & what he tried to do. That guy almost gave me Glutton vibes & fear of he ends up becoming the next Seven deadly Heartless sin.

[Postwarmonkey50]

If the Pirates of the Carribean arc comes up, will Sora start neighing like a filly in excitement all around when he realizes what world they'll be going to next?

[DeathRider2021]

11776474
Well we all know how much he loves that world. My guess is that it reminds him of when he went sailing out on the ocean with his dad.

[castroedgar316]

"It's not even that painful," Lea assured. "Just a little zap. Now, DODGE!"

Reading that immediately made think of this:

[MLPFanForever]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrGzMplgtUk

Seriously, this was an amazing chapter! Excellent job! Amazing character development for Lea and his family.

[DeathRider2021]

Lea sure gave that big jerk what he deserved. Bruiser acts so tough just because of his big muscles. But underneath he's just a rotten coward.

[Codex92]

11777982
I always kept hearing "Ascend", though because of Sephiroth's theme bellowing in the fights, it is a little hard to hear what he "chants" doing that in both 1 and 2. And looking it up elsewhere, it actually is "Descend"...To be fair, either direction, it'll kill you one way or the other.

[Garuda IV]

I was wondering if something like that would happen after Wind talked to Lea about him being Axle's dad, but I can't say just how sweet and adorable it was that it actually did happen in this chapter. Now the question is whether or not Lea proposed to Sweet after Axle tells her the news.

Guess we'll just have to wait and find out next time.

[HarryBuilder]

11776310
Felt more like Pride or Lust to me.