//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The new pony in town // Story: Somepony to Love // by Jet Storm //------------------------------// At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was sitting at her dressing table getting ready for the day. She, Twilight, Applejack and Starlight had planned to catch up in town to discuss their plans for Spike’s appreciation party. Applejack had finished her chores earlier that morning and decided to check up on Rarity before meeting with the others. A decision she soon came to regret. “Oh for Pete sake! We’re going to be late. Aren’t you just about done yet?” “Applejack, please,” moaned Rarity as she continued brushing her mane whilst gazing at her reflection in the mirror. “I am almost finished. I’ll be another five minutes. Ten minutes at most.” “That’s what you said half an hour ago,” grumbled Applejack as she tapped her hooves impatiently. Rarity ignored Applejack’s remark as she continued. Once she was satisfied with her mane, Rarity placed the brush down, sprayed on some perfume and puffed up her mane. She gazed at her reflection adoringly one last time to ensure there were no imperfections. “See all finished. How do I look?” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Like Sunday Morning! Can we get going now?” “Of course we can,” answered Rarity. As the two made their way down the stair however, Rarity stole a quick glance at a nearby wall clock. “Oh my stars, is that the time? Sweet Celestia, we’re going to be late!” “That’s what I’ve- “Come along, Applejack,” Rarity interrupted, “we must pick up the pace if we’re going to meet Twilight on time.” Applejack bit her lip. “Remember what Granny Smith always says, if you got nothing nice to say, than yah sure as heck don’t say anything,” she whispered to herself. “Hurry up, Applejack!” “Remember what Granny Smith always said,” repeated Applejack through gritted teeth. “You’re late,” stood a bemused alicorn princess watching her friends catch their breath. “I’m really sorry, Twi,” huffed Applejack. After her second puff, she swallowed and turned to Rarity, who in her haste had become dishevelled undoing all her hard work. Applejack looked at the frazzled unicorn smugly. “Rarity was getting ready.” At this snide remark, Rarity snapped her head back causing every strand of her hair to flick back into place, and reveal the dazzling mare underneath. She smiled at some onlookers who were equally impressed by her transformation and beauty. She batted her eyes at them as they passed, before turning back and sticking her tongue out at the country mare. “Perfection takes time, Applejack. Not that you’d understand.” “You’re right, Rarity. Ah don’t,” retorted a bemused Applejack. Rarity ignored Applejack and instead turned to Twilight, hoping to change the subject. “So how’s everything going?” Twilight stood stunned for a moment at her friend’s instant recovery, before shaking her thoughts and regaining her composure. “Everything is going according to schedule,” she beamed. “Rainbow Dash has finished mailing the invitations and thankfully nearly everypony has confirmed that they’ll be coming. Fluttershy’s animal orchestra is still rehearsing, but she’s confident that they’ll be ready. I was hoping to catch up with her later after we arrange the cakes from Sugarcube Corner.” “Sound’s good,” nodded Rarity. “Let’s get moving. We can talk along the way.” “Twi, where’s Starlight?” asked Applejack at the belated realization. “Wasn’t she meant to join us?” “Starlight is on her way to see Trixie,” answered Twilight, earning perplexed looks from Rarity and Applejack. “She wanted to ask her if she would be willing to put on a show for the party.” “Trixie, huh?” asked Applejack with a slight frown. “Do you think that’s such a good idea?” “I don’t mind at all,” smiled Twilight. “Trixie has come a long way and is a much better pony. She’s also Starlight’s friend. How about you girls? How are things going on your end?” “Me and Granny Smith just finished baking the last of the apple pies,” said Applejack proudly. “The rest should be finished by tomorrow morning.” “And I’ve just finished the last of the party decorations,” added Rarity joyfully. “They are absolutely divine. Oh Spike will be so pleased.” “Wasn’t Pinkie supposed to be helping you?” asked Twilight. Rarity shrugged her shoulders. “She said she needed extra confetti and two more cannons. I haven’t seen or heard from her since.” “No need to fret, Twi,” reassured Applejack. “Pinkie is the most reliable pony Ah know. And Ah’m sure she has her … um reasons.” “Oh I’m not worried, Applejack,” replied Twilight. “It’s not like her to miss a party.” “How’s Spike doing these days?” Rarity asked cautiously, hoping that yesterday’s impromptu outing with Spike didn’t damper the drake’s spirits. “I don’t know,” Twilight sighed, earning a curious look from her friends. “I have been trying to avoid him these past couple of days. It’s just so hard to keep this all a secret you know.” “Oh darling, I completely understand your predicament. Even I have trouble containing my excitement,” said Rarity sympathetically. “Yeah, Ah bet Pinkie Pie is having a hard time too,” chuckled Applejack. The trio giggled as they remembered when Pinkie Pie’s struggled desperately to keep Cadance and Shining Armour’s pregnancy a secret so many moons ago. They continued on to Sugarcube Corner enjoying each other’s company, when the mood was suddenly and unexpectedly interrupted. “Rarity!” “Hmmm? Did you call for me, darling?” asked Rarity as she looked at her friends. Applejack shook her head. “No, it wasn’t us.” “Rarity!” it called out again, though this time a bit louder. “Rarity!” “Who in Celestia could that be?” wondered Twilight. “Rarity!” came the cries of the strange pony. “I’m not sure, Twilight,” Rarity replied slowly as she tried to identify the pony calling for her. The voice sounded familiar but she wasn't sure. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. “Rarity! HEY RARITY,” it shouted though this time a bit louder. The constant cries for her attention started to grate Rarity. In any case she had other things to do, and her friends came first. “Whoever that pony is they are just going to have to wait. I’m not available at the moment,” said Rarity dismissively as she made her way to the front of the pack. “Let us carry on, shall we?” Despite her best efforts to deviating their attention back to their original goal, a commotion was happening behind them, as the random pony continued to beckon the bemused seamstress. Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her and began to search for the pony calling out for Rarity. “Rarity, where are you? Rarity? RARITY!” “Whoever it is I think they really wants to talk to you,” said Twilight attentively pointing a hoof in the direction of the voice. “What makes you say that?” asked Applejack with a smug face. “It doesn’t matter anywho,” snapped Rarity, who was becoming quite agitated. “We have- “RARITY, THERE YOU ARE!” shouted the stallion across the busy street. His bright green eyes fixated on his prize, earning an incredulous groan from the seamstress. “Guess he found you,” snorted Applejack enjoying her friend’s annoyance. Rarity glanced curiously for the briefest moment at the purple unicorn who was panting excessively. He seemed handsome enough, but his desperation oozed out of his hungry eyes. That combined with his pathetic earlier attempts to beckon the mare’s attention only sent shivers down her spine. “Hmph,” was her only response before snapping her head away and ignoring him. Twilight and Applejack switched between the two, before following Rarity. The stallion eye’s widen for a moment. Had Rarity not hear him properly? he thought to himself as he watched the trio turn tail and leave. “RARITY! WAIT FOR ME!” he yelled, galloping at full speed towards the trio. In his haste however, he tripped over his own leg. The moment of which caused him to stumble forward and leap into the air screaming. “WOAH-WOAH-WOAH!” To his luck and surprise he landed, his back in a toy pram with his legs in the air. He sighed a short breath of relief but was cut short when it began to roll onto the oncoming traffic. “THAT’S MINE” screamed a filly The three mares stopped and watched as the stallion, bumped clumsily and comically crashed into every colt, filly, mare and stallion in his path. “GET OUT OF THE WAY!” he shouted. “Hey watch it!” shouted an angry pony pulling a milk cart. “CAREFUL” screamed another. Rarity stood stupor when suddenly the pram snagged a pebble, sending the stallion flying towards her. Helplessly stunned below, her eyes widen as the collision seemed inevitable. Suddenly Applejack yanked her to safety, just in the nick of time as the purple and green blur whizzed past smashing into an unsuspecting flower cart. When the dust settled, the stallion’s head was spinning as his eyes rolled about in different directions. “Oww … ” he groaned. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?” asked Twilight approaching the fallen pony cautiously. “Yes I’ll be fine,” winced the unicorn as he rubbed his side. “I’m still getting used to all this.” “My flowers...” whimpered a pink mare. “My stand,” was all she could utter before she fainted to the ground. “Sorry,” he chuckled nervously. “I’ll pay for those.” “He-hm” came a furious cough. The stallion’s attention was suddenly diverted to the angry mob that had congregated around him. Each pony glared menacingly at the one responsible for the carnage. He smiled at them sheepishly with his hooves raised submissively. “And any other damage I’ve caused too. Sorry everypony.” His response was not well received by the furious mob. They opened their mouths to express their grievances but were stopped by Twilight who stepped between them. “OUT OF THE WAY!” screamed a pony. “He broke my pram-pram,” cried a filly. “THAT PONY HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!” screamed another. “And he will,” Twilight stated firmly. “He has already apologised and has already agreed to pay for any damages that he has caused.” “But Princess-” Twilight raised in the hoof in the air ceasing any further protests from the crowd. “Everypony, I understand your anger, but clearly this was an accident,” she began to explain with a stern but gentle voice. “Let us handle this. In the meantime, please send me a letter with your details, any damage he caused and estimated repair costs. Once this is done, he’ll be sure to repay each of you in kind.” “We will guarantee it,” added Rarity smiling to the crowd reassuringly before throwing a venomous glare at the apologetic stallion. It had been partially her fault for ignoring him in the first place and now she felt somewhat responsible. “Come on y’all,” called Applejack, beckoning the crowd to reason. “Y’all, this is the best way to deal with this mess. So long as nopony got hurt then the rest can be settled easily.” The crowd murmured to themselves as they considered their request.  Although the only pony hurt was the foolish purple and green stallion, it still didn’t feel as though justice had been served adequately. Quiet whispers became louder and more audible, suddenly tempers flared once again as the more disgruntled ponies became for vocal. “What do we do Twilight?” whispered Applejack who, like Rarity, was began to feel a little nervous. Twilight said nothing but instead began to glare back at the crowd, beckoning her friends to do the same. The crowd seemed unmoved by their stern gazes or display of defiance. Twilight gulped. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt compelled to protect this stallion. He felt familiar. His mannerisms and speech. It was almost like he was a younger brother. Her horn started to glow as she prepared herself to take more drastic action if necessary. Just as all hell was about to break loose, and Twilight ready to unleash her magic, the mood of the crowd suddenly changed. Fear replaced anger as their faces turned ghost white. The girls were surprised by the change of events as the angry mob became submissive sheep. As powerful as Twilight’s magic was, she was normally reserved and therefore wouldn’t have scared any pony. Taking advantage of the situation, Twilight stood forward. “Please everypony,” she said gently to the crowd. “We ask you to be reasonable. We promise to get this sorted. And so does he,” said Twilight whilst pointing to stallion. The stallion was bewildered at how Twilight had subdued at the frightened crowd that he himself remained still. Applejack impatiently nudged the stallion who snapped to attention. He stood up quickly, brushing the dirt off his coat, and hung his head shamefully. “I’m sorry everypony. I didn’t mean to cause any harm. Will you please forgive me?” The crowd remained still for a few seconds. Not a word was said, but instead they nodded vigorously at the stallion. “Great!” beamed Twilight, pleased with her mediations skills, “now that everything has been settled, how about you all go home-” before she could finish her sentence however the crowd disappeared“- and begin writing those letters.” “Wow Twilight, you can be scary,” said Rarity with a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know you had it in you.” “Those ponies ran off faster then a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” commented Applejack. “Hmmm,” pondered Twilight as she wondered about their suspicious behaviour. The stallion who was none the wiser, sighed a breathe of relief before thanking his rescuers. “Thanks everypony,” he smiled. “I owe you one.” His moment of reprieve however was dashed as Applejack snapped her attentions and mood to the stallion. “What in tarnation is wrong with you?” she yelled. “I’m - I’m sorry,” he replied shamefully as he stood up. “What you did was completely unacceptable,” childed Twilight as she placed a hoof across Applejack gesturing her to end her tirade before beginning her own. “You could have nearly hurt somepony. What were you thinking?” “I know. It’s,” he looked at the ground shamefully rubbing a hoof against his shoulder, “it’s just that I - I was in a hurry … I just needed to see Rarity.” Rarity as stood in front of Applejack and Twilight. The pair watched as the white unicorn looked over the purple stallion. “I’m here now,” she said with a bit of contempt. “Is there something I can do for you? Mr?” “Sp-,” was the sound that came from his mouth but he stopped mid sentence when he suddenly remembered Discord’s warning. If he was to reveal who he was, then the spell would break and he would become a dragon once more. He looked desperately around for ideas at creating a new alias for his altered form. By sheer luck and coincidence, a smug pony walked past pulling a cart with a large sign which read: PYRO TECH! For all your firework technical needs (an ACME company). “Sp-Spyro,” he blurted out loud. Satisfied with his new name, he clears his throat and repeated himself, albeit clearer and calmer this time, “I’m Spyro!” “Spyro?” repeated Twilight slowly. “Yes, that’s me” he answered, smiling proudly to himself for coming up with such a unique and clever pony name. Twilight looked at Spyro suspiciously. Something about this pony seemed off, and yet familiar. “So what can I do for you?” asked Rarity once more. Spyro stopped briefly, and contemplated how best to answer this question. In all the excitement of his new body, he never thought about what to do next. He looked over at Rarity, the dazzling and beautiful seamstress and began to ponder. Rarity was a young, sophisticated fashionista with a love for the arts and culture. She loved to read those gossip magazines particularly the articles about the lives of the rich and famous. He couldn’t act like himself or risk being exposed. Furthermore, clearly Rarity wasn’t interested in him as per her ruse from yesterday’s outing. Along with his name and appearance, he would need to go further and change his personality. He’d need to act like a celebrity or better yet, like a Canterlot stallion. “Well?” asked Applejack impatiently. “You plum down nearly get yourself killed and summon an angry mob to get me here so what do you want?” Spyro snapped back to attention. He smiles at the unsuspecting trio. He closes his eyes before spinning on the spot, snatching a boutique of trodden flowers from the broken cart behind him. With a flirtatious smile, he presents them to Rarity as a gift which leaves only the mare stunned. Blowing a hoof kiss and putting on his best Canterlot accent, he states, “I simply wish to go on a date with you beautiful maiden.”