Ultra Combo: Brother, Gamer, Pony

by UltraCombo

Behold! Applejack and Ultra Race For Everlasting Glory!

I'MLATEI'MLATEI'MLATEI'MLATE!!!

Ultra was speeding towards Sweet Apple Acres, where both Applejack and Joystick were waiting for him. As it turns out, lugging a heavy crate containing many building supplies several blocks with only the help of one other pony took much longer than he thought, and he had fallen way behind the deadline of when he said he would meet AJ and Joy at the farm.

Using his wings to gain extra speed, he bolted over the hill and through the gate. He stopped and looked around, scanning the farm for the cowpony and sister.

"Hey!" he called out, panting furiously, "AJ!....Joy!.....Are....Are you here?!"

"Ultra!" responded a little voice behind him. He turned around and saw both Joy laying down on the grass waving, AJ beside her with her hat tipped over her big, green eyes slighty. Ultra returned the wave and began to walk over to the them.

"I...made it!" he gasped before finally getting his breathing rate back to normal. "Sorry to keep you two waiting." He looked down at them quizzically. "What have you been up to?"

Applejack tipped her hat back up and smiled at him, motioning for him to come over and join them. ”Just been doin’ a bit o’cloud watchin’ too, seein’ what the clouds resemble!” she remarked as she pointed up towards one that was swirled up like a bunch of cotton candy. "Hopefully work wasn’t too hard on y’all today?” she asked.

Ultra shrugged and laid down next to Joystick. "Nah, nothing too bad." he said, recalling the events of his work day, "Just a mix up with a delivery. The mailmare sent the supplies the wrong site. They said I should go and complain about her, but I decided not to. No real harm done, and she's got a filly to feed. Her name's Derpy. You know her?"

Applejack chuckled, bringing her hoof up to her face and letting it run down her face while shaking her head. ”Ah’ve definitely had some encounters with Derpy." she explained, still chuckling slightly. ”I remember Pinkie tellin’ me a time where Twi was ignorin’ her twitches and what they mean…booooy did she ever regret it afterwards!” Remembering this, she let out a good laugh.

"Yeah. I've had a few conversations with her whenever she drops off my mail, and she's real nice." Ultra said. His mouth suddenly dropped into a frown. "Kinda makes you feel bad for her. You know, how ponies make fun of her because of her..." Ultra paused, trying to think of a polite way to explain Derpy's condition, "...problem. With her eyes. You know what I mean."
Joystick looked at him curiously. "I don't! What are you talking about?"

Applejack thought for a moment, looking between the brother and sister. She sat up. ”Well Joystick, her eyes’re different than most other ponies.” she explained, trying to think up a way to even go about doing this task. ”Nothin’ like that makes a pony any better or worse, but she’s a tad…well, ditzy.” she went on further. Joystick continued to give a look of confusion and curiosity, signifying AJ would have to explain a little better. ”Well, lessee if I can make this easy to understand.” she said. She looked at Joystick and took in a deep breath, trying to cross her eyes as best as she could. Not seeing anything as it should be, AJ strained with this pose, which caused Joystick to giggle slightly, nodding as if she understood finally. AJ released her cross-eyed expression and shook her head, returning her vision to normal.

"Get it now?" Ultra chimed in.

"I think so."

"Awesome." Ultra got the sudden urge to move to a new spot, so he moved over to the tree that Applejack and Joystick previously sat at and plopped down onto his haunches. "So, anyway, where's Apple Bloom?" he asked, stretching out his limbs, "I assumed you and her would be playing around by the time I got here. She's still in school?"

Applejack nodded, stretching a bit herself. “Yeah, her class was goin’ on a picnic after their schoolin’ was over today. Guess Miss Cheerilee had ‘em doin’ a big test, so she’s lettin’ ‘em unwind afterwards with some food an fun…Which sounds good t’me if ya ask!" Applejack smiled, raising her face up to the sky, letting some sun poke down under her hat.

"I'm sure it will be!" he replied. Ultra got up and began moving around. He was restless, and needed some activity. Joystick on the other hand, was happy just enjoying the good weather that the pegasi has brought upon them, although she was anxious to see Apple Bloom again. There was so much they still had to do, and this was the last day she would be in Ponyville before she had to take the train back to Fillydelphia. She was so excited, she blurted out her entire plan for the day to Applejack.

"First, we're gonna play tag, and then we'll have a race, and then we'll play with the loopty hoops so far, and..." Joystick rambled on and on. When she was finished, AJ frazzled up her mane again as Joy giggled.

“Hehehe, looks like you two have a bunch of stuff planned alrighty!”

"You bet!" cheered Joystick. Applejack laughed at the little filly. She was acting just like Apple Bloom when she went cutie mark hunting with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

Applejack then noticed Ultra acting strange. He was rather fidgety, acting rather impatient when not doing anything. She chuckled and leaned down to Joystick. ”When Apple Bloom gets here, ah think me an’ yer bro will go find somethin’ t’do ourselves and let y’all play today.” she said. ”Just don’t go gettin’ yerselves hurt is all I ask.” she instructed. Joystick nodded, confirming that the information sank home.

Just then, her gaze left Joy and went to the hill, where she spotted a small yellow dot jumping along the path to the farm. There was no mistaking it: that was Apple Bloom, alright. ”Looks like y’all won’t be waitin’ much longer, that’s fer sure!” she told Joystick. Joy turned her head to see what Applejack was looking at, and Joystick's face exploded into an enormous smile, jumping up and down.

"APPLE BLOOM!!!!" she cried out in glee as ran down the path towards her to meet her halfway.

Ultra laughed and said "It's like she hasn't seen her in years!"

“Some ponies are just like that though," Applejack replied, chuckling to herself, "ever so energetic!” A frown slowly came over AJ's face. ”Hopefully they can make the best of the comin’ hours, ah just hope they don’t get too sad when it’s time t’go…” she said sadly, knowing all too well that Joystick wasn’t going to take the trip back home well after having so much fun here with Apple Bloom...

She shook the sad thought from her subconscious and turned back to Ultra, her familiar smile returning. ”So, y’all have anythin’ fun in mind we can do t’leave the young’uns to play?” she grinned, leaning down to pick up a piece of hay in her mouth, chewing on the end.

Ultra brought his hoof up to his chin as he thought for a moment. "Well," he said after a period of thought, "I could go for a run right now. Does that sound like something that would peak you interests, AJ?" Ultra's hooves began their irregular tapping once again at the mere thought of the activity. "Whoa! I don't know what's up with me today, so full of energy and stuff. Must be Joystick rubbing off on me again."

Applejack smirked at Ultra as she stretched herself out, making sure was nice and limber. ”Y’all just asked the right pony about a run, cause lemme tell ya, bein’ athletic is somethin’ ah’m always tryin’ to be!” She readied herself by the fence, winking at him at shooting him a competitive smile. ”If yer lookin’ fer a race, you’ve got one right here, pardner!”

Ultra was enthralled by the concept of a race. He hadn't raced anypony in a long time, but he knew that back when he lived in Fillydelphia, he was quite the runner. Not many people wanted to race him, because they knew he would most likely beat him. This type of competitiveness is part of why Ultra loved gaming, and the constant competitions he competed in back then, whether it was in gaming or anything else, had changed him into a very competitive pony.

"A race, huh?" Ultra said reluctantly, "Well, I've seen you run, and I don't know if I'd be able to keep up..." Suddenly, his old competitive nature emerged like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Ultra's expression changed from a carefree one to a smirking, competitive looking expression. "..but, hey, I'm always up for a challenge." he finished in a cocky tone.

“Well," Applejack said, considering the path their race would take, "we need us an endin’ point, cause it’s gonna start right here I reckon!” She furrowed her brow, adapting a similar look to Ultra. The last decent race AJ had was during the Running of the Leaves with Rainbow Dash, but it didn't help that they were trying to sabotage one another during the race.

Gotta remind myself of the Running of the Leaves. Don't let the competition go to your head, Applejack.

"So..." she said again, grinning at Ultra, "where to, Ultra?"

Ultra smirked, seeming suddenly and very strangely confident, considering he JUST mentioned that he probably couldn't beat her. He paced for a few seconds, wondering where the finish line should reside. Suddenly, he stopped, a finish line visualized in his mind. "How about from here to the library? I was meaning to check out some more books on for my little 'home improvement' project anyway." He had a wall that needed to come down, but he had never been taught how to properly demolish, only build.

Applejack's competitive nature left her momentarily as she raised an eyebrow. ”Home improvement?…Well, if’n y’all wanna put this aside and we race some other time, ah’d be more’n happy t’help y’all with fixin’ whatever ya need!”

Upon bringing up his project, the competitive smirk left his face immediately. "Well," he said calmly. actually, it's more home development than improvement. I don't know if Joy told you, but I'm building my own house right now. Totally solo. You don't have to help if it's too much, not that I'm asking you to help me build the whole thing, of course." Ultra noticed he was stumbling over his words, so he shut up. "You wanna go see it?"

“Hmmmmm…sounds like a plan t’me.” Slowly, the competitive edge returned to her face. "How about we race to it, then?” she smiled, tilting her hat back. Ultra was intrigued, and tilted his head slightly, letting AJ continue. ”If y’all win, ah’ll help ya with whatever ya want!”

Ultra's competitive side was back with a vengeance. "Oh, you are on." Ultra trotted over to the entrance to the farm. "It's not to far from the library, actually a little bit closer. You'll know it when you see it. Well, you ready to go AJ?" Ultra's smirk was almost sinister looking now, he realized, so he quickly eased up with the faces, but it was too late. Applejack took one look at his evil expression and burst out laughing. She didn't want to embarrass him, but that look was too much for one pony to bare.

"Ah'm....Ah'm sorry!" she apologized as she calmed down, wiping tears from her eyes. "Sounds like a plan, Ultra!" She and Ultra approached the gate and readied themselves. Ultra slowly pawed at the dirt, unable to contain himself. Applejack smiled at him and prepared for takeoff.

"3…2…1…GO!” she shouted, both taking off, hooves thundering down the path. AJ got a whooping lead into the beginning of the race. He briefly considered using his wings to fly overhead and take the lead, but quickly shot down that idea.

No. he thought to himself, I've never been a cheater before, and I'm not starting now.

Instead, Ultra strategically slowed down for about 10 seconds to gain energy, and sprinted forward, getting nose-to-nose with AJ in no time at all. She turned to Ultra, making brief eye contact with him and smirking. However, this short time was enough to capture Applejack's attention long enough so that she didn't notice the large pebble on the ground in front of her. Her hoof made contact with it, tripping her up momentarily, allowing Ultra to speed ahead of her.

As the two ponies darted down the path, bystanders observed them, wondering what exactly it was they were doing. "Here comes the finish line!" Ultra called out to his opponent. Ultra then turned around, seeing AJ beginning to catch up to him, so he put all his energy into one final push, and, in the end, reached the unfinished house first. Ultra was thrilled, to say the least. "YEEEAH!!!! I WIN!!!!! Oh yeah! I am so-" Ultra remembered his opponent, and how she was had tripped up back there. He cleared his throat and started again. "Sorry about that. You okay? I saw you trip back there, I was worried for a sec."

”Yeah, ah’m fine don’t y’all worry.” she reassured Ultra, panting and huffing to regain her oxygen. ”That rock nearly did me in, by golly! I need t’be more careful in the future.” She checked her hoof to see if any major damage had been done, and then looked up at Ultra's construction site. "So, this's it?" she asked.

"Yep, this is it." he responded, as he looked upon his house. The exterior of the house was completely finished, and by Celestia it was nice. It sure stood out, with a touch of futuristic sheen to the outside. The only thing the house was missing at the moment was a door, which was replaced by a hanging tarp. "It may look good on the outside, but the inside may surprise you." He trotted up to the door frame and lifted the tarp. "You ready?"

"As ah'll ever be!" Applejack replied cheerfully, as she entered the house, closely followed by Ultra as he sealed the tarp back around the frame to keep any unwanted pests out.

Comments

[P!nR!ght]

like the chapter bro