A flash later and the group teleported to the town square. As the ponies got their bearings, Twilight was rubbing her horn. Group teleports, over any distance, can severely drain even a skilled or powerful Unicorn’s magic.
Blaze looked to the others and asked, “Are we ready to get some grub?”
“Heck yea!” Rainbow Dash replied. The others nodded.
As they entered the diner, the hum of conversations continued on as if Blaze was invisible. The waitress led them to the same table from last time, took their orders and turned them in. They all turned their heads toward the human, waiting for something.
Blaze looked at them confusedly, “Ok, now what’s going on?”
“Mind telling us about that Wood Style Jutsu you did?” Twilight asked.
“That’s one of the combination jutsu styles I’m able to learn. It’s a fusion of Earth and Water styles. It’s difficult to learn, and the fact it takes more chakra to use just makes it even more difficult.”
“So, you can make anything out of wood pop out of the ground?” Applejack asked.
“Not just out of the ground. I can grow it out of existing wood like trees or chairs, and even out of my own body.”
“That’s where that new door at Sugarcube Corner came from!” shouted Pinkie. “You popped a new one from the frame. I was trying to figure out how to explain to the Cakes why the front door was busted.”
“How did the door get busted in the first place?” Twilight asked.
“Ditzy had one of her mad muffin cravings when she smelled Blaze’s breakfast muffins.”
“I’m surprised you were still able to do the jutsu after she crashed into you,” said Rainbow.
Blaze replied, “She didn’t crash into me, or my food.”
“How’s that possible? When she’s like that, she can even hit me.”
“Then I guess I’m just faster than you. But actually, knowing how to dodge things is part of my training.”
Rainbow decided to test him. As Blaze continued to explain how he dodged Ditzy's airborne assault, the mare tore a tiny piece off her paper napkin with her mouth, grabbed the straw from her drink and launched a spit wad straight at Blaze’s forehead.
The human saw what she was doing out of the corner of his eye, but continued the explanation as if he hadn't noticed. Just before the wad hit him, Blaze snatched it in mid-air and launched it right back at Rainbow Dash, hitting her right between the eyes.
At first the others were surprised by the prank she'd tried to pull, before laughing at how it'd backfired on her. The mare swiped away the wad as she looked at the human.
Blaze smirked, “You satisfied with my reflexes now Rainbow Dash?”
“Well, I expected you to dodge it. I didn’t think you would send it back at me,” replied the mare. She then smiled, “That was impressive. But don't think I won't get you back for turning my own prank against me."
“We shall see if you can prank me.”
Barely a moment later, their food arrived, with Blaze taking almost half the plates for himself. While the girls continued chatting, the human was content to just listen as he shoveled the food away like snow on a sidewalk. When everyone was done, the six ponies were astonished at the five empty plates their friend had emptied.
“How in tarnation were you able to eat all that?” asked Applejack. “I’ve never seen a pony eat that much, even at an eating contest.”
“I agree. Please pardon my straightforwardness, but I think it is uncouth that you ate so much.” Rarity said.
“I pretty much drained my chakra today and used up a good chunk of ki on those Timberwolves. The food will replenish my energy and strength. You try thinking straight on an empty stomach,” the human said as he continued to pick his teeth with a toothpick.
Each of them paid for their own meals, with Blaze generously tipping the waitress. He was eager to finish his house, the thought of cooking with actual meat constantly sizzling in the back of his mind.
They walked together through the town under the starry sky, discussing what they would do the next day. Blaze saw Rainbow happily smiling as she whispered into Pinkie Pie's ear.
Rarity asked, “So, wherewill you be sleeping tonight, Blaze?”
He replied, “Are you offering to let me stay the night at your place?”
The white mare blushed for a little bit, then regained her composure, “I was only asking as I’ve been working on your two tuxedoesfor the Gala, and need to see how they fit on both of your forms.”
“I think that would be a great idea. Then I can go with Applejack to get some furniture and paint for my house.”
So everypony headed to their homes and Blaze followed Rarity to hers. They went inside and the Unicorn closed the door quietly.
She said in a quiet voice, “I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep down here on the couch. My little sister is sleeping in my guestroom.”
“Have you told her about me?” Blaze asked.
“I’m afraid I haven't had the chance. She arrived just after I left the spa. I told her I’d be home late because a friend needed help,” she said looking at the human.
“Then I better change into my pony form so she won’t scream monster,” he joked.
“That might be for the best. I'll go get you a blanket and pillow.”
"Would you please leave it on the couch? I'd like to freshen up before hitting the sack."
"Very well. You'll find the bathroom upstairs, the first door on your left."
"Thanks, Rarity. Good night."
"You're more than welcome. Good night, Blaze."
As Rarity went to the back of the her boutique, Blaze went upstairs to the bathroom, careful to be as quiet as possible. Once he'd cleaned up and taken care of some other needs Blaze headed downstairs and transformed into his pony form, eagerly snuggling up to the soft pillow Rarity had left for him. Not even a minute later, he'd entered the world of dreams.
Blaze found himself standing as a human in the middle of a field. Not wanting to waste time, he quickly began thinking on the next style he should learn. Let’s see . . . the other three basic elements are wind, fire, and lightning. Each of them have their upsides and downsides when it comes to training. Screw it! I'll just go in order.
Blaze imagined the Ninjutsu computer and pulled up the chart, which showed the next style to learn was fire. So he pulled up some fire-style scrolls and began creating clones to start practicing. He stopped after a few hours, feeling a need for more sleep after what had happened that day.
Sadly, Blaze didn't get to wake up on his own. For some strange reason, a filly's scream has the capacity to interrupt anybody's sleep.
“RARITY! THERE’S A BURGLAR SLEEPING DOWNSTAIRS!”
The stallion fell off the couch and got wrapped up in his blanket. As he tried to get out, Blaze felt a little body jump on top of him.
“What’s going on?” the red Earth pony asked, before realizing who'd jumped on him. “Please get off me, little filly. You might get hurt if-”
“You’re not going anywhere. The guards are going to take you to the dungeon,” the filly replied.
“Sweetie Belle! What are you doing?”Rarity said from the top of the stairs.
The white filly shouted back, “I caught a burglar sleeping on the couch! Go and get the guards!”
“Oh! No no no no, he’s not a burglar. He’s a guest and a friend,” Rarity said as she quickly descended the steps.
“You’re not a burglar?” She asked him.
“No, I’m not,” Blaze replied. “A burglar wouldn’t break into a house just to sleep on a couch. A homeless bum might, but I’m not that either. Can you please get off me now?”
She quickly hopped off and said, “I’m sorry mister for thinking you were a burglar, mister.”
“It’s alright. I probably would've done the same thing at your age.”
He got out of the blanket and stood up on his hooves. “Let’s forget about this incident and start all over. Hello there. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze.”
“My name is Sweetie Belle and Rarity is my big sister. Can I ask you why you were sleeping on the couch?”
“Well, my house is currently being built so your sister offered me her couch last night.”
“I haven’t seen any construction going on in Ponyville. Where’s your house?” Sweetie asked.
“It is just outside town. Should be done by tomorrow.”
“That can’t be true! I’ve never seen a house built by ponies so fast! There must be lots of ponies working on it.”
Blaze rolled his eyes, recognizing the need for yet another explanation. “Well, I’m the one that did most of it yesterday. I’m not actually a pony. I’ve already explained this to your sister, her friends, the Princesses, and several others.”
“Then what are you? You sure look like a pony to me."
“My species is called, human. I have these abilities that allow me to do things similar to magic. I’m going to do one right now to return to my original body. Please, don’t scream or freak out.”
The small Unicorn had a confused, yet scared look on her face. She went and stood by Rarity and waited.
“It’s all right, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “It might look scary when you first see his human form, but he’s very friendly. Also, those abilities are dazzling.”
This put a smile on the filly’s face as she waited for Blaze to change. He released his Shadow Transform Jutsu and his human form appeared out of the puff of smoke.
He saw the small Unicorn take a deep breath, but she stopped herself by placing a hoof over her mouth. She uncovered it and said, “You are definitely a creature I haven’t seen before. Where are you from and how did you do that magic?”
So Blaze went on to explain himself, his planet, not having magic, and how he could do things similar to magic with chakra. She was really focused on listening, while Rarity had gone to the kitchen to get some breakfast for everyone.
Once Blaze finished telling his story, the white filly asked, “So, you’re still learning these jutsu things and do it all within your brain?”
“Yep. Even though the scrolls are in my head, I have to read them and practice the moves.”
“That’s amazing! You also said you can fly with that ki stuff. Can you show me?”
“Sure.”
The human gathered the same amount of ki he usually used to make him hover off the ground. When Blaze forced it down, he flew straight up and hit his head against the ceiling. He landed back on his feet and rubbed the back of his head from the impact. Rarity came rushing in from the kitchen.
“What was that noise?” the white mare asked.
“Sorry about that. Sweetie Belle wanted to see me fly,” said Blaze. “So I gathered what I normally put out to hover. Instead of hovering, I flew into the ceiling. Guess I need to readjust my control some more, since I feel lighter from losing that emotional baggage last night.”
"What's emotional baggage? And why did you lose it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
The human got down on one knee, so he was at her eye level. “You see, it was a repressed memory from my childhood. I’d totally forgotten about it until it resurfaced yesterday. Your sister and her friends helped me take care of the feelings that memory brought back and take away the strain those memories were having on my body.”
“What was the memory?”
“Let’s just say some bad stuff that was doing bad things to me. I won’t go into details as this world is too peaceful to know about it.” Blaze turned and looked at the Unicorn mare and asked, “So, Rarity, is breakfast is ready?”
“It’s ready. Go and eat up,” she replied.
Sweetie Belle quickly went into the kitchen to start eating. Blaze stood up and made his way there.
Rarity stopped him for a moment by ushering him to get closer. He did and she whispered, “Well done! You explained just enough to have Sweetie Belle understand the situation, without delving into topics she doesn't need to learn about yet. I was afraid if she was told everything, she would get nightmares.”
“You and the others are going to be the only ones to know about that part of my past. It’s too dark for any other pony to know about,” Blaze whispered back.
Rarity smiled and headed into the kitchen. The human followed and saw what she made waffles. He sat down at the table and grabbed a few of the waffles before spreading some butter and syrup on them. Again, he was amazed at how fresh everything was. Nothing had any of the preservatives or chemicals like the food back on Earth.
They finished the breakfast and Blaze took care of the clean up. Rarity started to get ready for him to try on my tux for both of his forms. Sweetie went off somewhere and he doesn’t know where.
The human entered Rarity’s workshop and saw both tuxedoes. They looked amazing. They were the standard design for a tux, but Rarity had a red vest on the inside of the jacket and a bola tie with his cutie mark on it. The human had pants and the pony didn’t.
“Rarity, these are just amazing! You’ve really outdone yourself,” he said.
“Why thank you, Blaze. Let’s get them fitted for you to make sure everything will look good on you,” the Unicorn said.
“Ok, do you have a changing room I can change in for the human one?”
“Yes, that door to your right. Typically for those ponies who are shy.”
Blaze grabbed the hanger of the human tux and entered the room. He took off his gi and put the tuxedo on. The human stroked his hair back before stepping out for Rarity to see.
He then said, in a James Bond accent, “The name’s Blaze. Swift Blaze. I’ll take my drink shaken, not stirred.”
His cool demeanor and smooth-talking, coupled with his devilishly attractive new clothes, almost caused Rarity to faint on the spot. “Oh my! Monsieur Blaze, don’t you look dazzling tonight. Would you mind standing on this platform so I can make adjustments?”
“Of course, Lady Rarity.”
The mare giggled when he called her that. The human got on the platform and stood still as she used her magic to make adjustments to the tux. Once she was done, the white Unicorn ushered him to get the tux off and go into his pony form. Blaze went back into the changing room, took the tux off, and put it neatly back on the hanger. He put his gi back on before performing the Shadow Transform Jutsu. Now as a stallion, he walked out with the human tux laying on his back.
“Ok Rarity, ready to try on the next one,” said Blaze.
She used her magic to pick up the human tux and then used it to swap his gi with the pony tuxedo. He looked at himself in the mirror, gazing in wonder at the rich pony staring back.
“Rarity, you still amaze me with how easily your clothes can change a pony's looks. If I wanted to, I could act like one of those fancy ponies in Canterlot and I’d probably fool them.”
“It’s true that the right ensemble can make anypony appear more sophisticated. They will not, however, change a pony's personality. I’m glad you allowed me to make these for you.”
“Well I didn’t want to dress like an idiot when I escort my friends to the Gala. I’ll be on my best behavor while there. If anything bad happens, you know I’ll do everything I can to fix the problem.”
“Of course I know you will. Nothing bad ever happens at the Gala from what I've heard. Now get up on the platform so I can adjust the tux.”
Blaze let her make the adjustments where they were needed. Once she was done, Rarity used her magic to put his gi back on. The stallion got off the platform and changed back into his human form.
“Rarity I have a question, and I think you'd be the best pony to ask."
“What is it, Blaze?”
“Is there a spell to change the weight of an object, like clothing, to make them lighter or heavier?”
“I believe so, yes. Twilight might know the spell you’re looking for. Why do you ask?”
“Well, since I lost that emotional weight I was carrying around, I feel any trainning I do isn’t going to be effective. I literally won’t feel the burn. I’m thinking if Twilight does know of a spell, I‘ll ask her to increase the weight on some clothing. That way I can continue my training. Do you have some bands that can go around my wrist and ankles?”
“All I have are hoof bands, but they are stretchable so they should fit where you want them to.”
“Cool, I’d like eight of them, please. Half for my human form and the other half for my pony form. How much for those and the two tuxedoes?”
“Let’s see, sixteen bits for the hoof bands and two hundred for the tuxedoes.”
Blaze reached into the money pouch tied to his waist and pulled out two hundred and fifty bits.
“Here you go.”
“Blaze, you don’t have to leave me a tip. I enjoy doing the work.”
“I insist. Well I’m off to get with Applejack to get some furniture. See you later, Rarity.”
The human left the boutique, after putting the hoof bands on both his forms. He made his way to Applejack’s farm. As he rounded a turn to see the farm, Blaze saw the apples were different colors and patterns.
Realizing what was happening, the human hid in the forest nearby. He heard a couple of giggling ponies coming up the road from Applejack’s fast. Blaze saw Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash running by. Once the area was clear, he finished making his way to the farm.
The human saw the orange mare sitting next to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She was having a small chuckle, then looked up to see all the apples in the nearby trees painted.
Blaze asked, “Hey Applejack, what’s with all the new apples?”
“Pinkie and Rainbow pulled a prank on me and painted all these apples with water-based paint,” she replied. "I got a good laugh, but now I gotta wash off all these apples, and that's going to take a while."
"What would you say if I got you a raincloud to wash off all the painted apples?"
"I'd say that'd be mighty impressive. But you ain't a Pegasus, and there's no clouds out. How in tarnation are you gonna pull it off?"
“I can make a raincloud from that barrel of water and manipulate it over the trees.”
"I guess you learned something new, huh?"
"Yep."
"Well, I'd much appreciate that kind of help if you can pull it off."
"I'll get right on it, then we can go buy some furniture for my house."
Applejack nodded and stood back as Blaze walked up to the full barrel of water. He did a couple of hand signs and said, “Water Style! Rain Cloud Formation Jutsu!”
A dark rain cloud started to appear over the barrel. Once it was a good size, he stopped applying the jutsu.
"That there was amazing, Blaze! Now, how're you gonna make that thing rain on the apples?"
"I'm going to fly over the trees and squeeze the cloud like a sponge full of water."
Learning from his encounter with Rarity's ceiling, he slowly brought his ki out until the human started to float and rise to where the cloud was waiting. Blaze channeled chakra into his hands to grab hold of the cloud. Once everything felt good, he flew around and spread the rain over the painted apples in the trees until all the paint washed away. The human took what was left in the cloud and squeezed it back into the barrel.
“Thanks for your help, sugarcube. Let's head into town and do some shopping.”
“Sure thing. Let me just change into my pony form. I want to test a theory that's been simmering in the back of my mind.”
“Ok, Blaze. I’ll wait by the entrance when you’re ready,” Applejack said and started to walk in that direction.
The human switched his form and started to channel his ki to his hooves. He was trying to use just enough to hover above the ground without it being noticeable, pretending to walk as he skimmed over the earth. So the stallion ‘walked’ up to Applejack and said, “Let's get going.”
“Ok. So what were you thinking of trying out?”
“I’ll explain later or when you notice.”
Applejack looked him over for something different. Seeing nothing, the pair started to head towards Ponyville. As they rounded a corner, Blaze saw something further down the road. There was a big patch of leaves in a circle in the middle of summer. The red Earth pony looked and listened for something that might be in the forest. He heard the faint sound of a giggle.
The stallion moved closer to the orange mare and whispered into her ear, “Applejack, act naturally for the next few minutes. Up ahead, I think Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have set a prank for me in the middle of the road. Please walk along the edge of the road and act like you don’t notice it.”
She nodded and made her way to the edge. Blaze continued to slightly hover off the ground and mimic walking. They got to the trap and he just went right over it. After the pair were several yards away, there was a sudden scream from behind. The Earth ponies turned their heads around and saw Pinkie Pie. She was hanging upside down by a piece of rope tied to one of her hooves from a tree limb by it. Rainbow Dash was trying to help her down. The orange mare and red stallion laughed and continued toward town.
“Ok Blaze, how did you not set that trap off when you walked over it?” Applejack asked.
He replied, “Who says I was walking?”
“You look like you were.”
“I’m actually hovering and pretending to walk.”
“That explains why I wasn’t hearing your hooves hitting the ground. I thought you put on some silent horseshoes on, or something.”
“Nope. Just barely hovering off the ground.”
Blaze soon heard something fast was coming up from behind. He didn’t turn around, but guessed it was Rainbow Dash. She probably wanted answers to that backfire, and she wasn’t slowing down. The stallion wanted to truly test the speed he’s at now. He killed his ki hover and prepared himself.
The Pegasus continued to get closer and Blaze acted like he hadn’t noticed her approach. She was probably a foot away when the red Earth pony made his move. For that spit second, everything seemed to slow down with the speed he was pushing his body to go. Blaze dodged out of Dash’s path as she flew by. He saw her expression, thinking she got him. Once by, the stallion went back to where he was, acting like nothing happened.
Rainbow Dash soon realized she didn’t get him. She looked behind and saw the red Earth pony in the same spot. The blue mare looked forward, just in time as she crashed into a pile of bundled hay. Applejack and Blaze ran up to her to see if she was ok.
“You ok there, Rainbow?” Applejack asked.
The Pegasus shooked the dazed look she had and replied, “Yea, I’m fine. Care to explain yourself, Blaze?”
“What did I do?” he asked.
“Explain how you avoid that trap prank Pinkie and I set for you. Then how I missed grabbing you just a few seconds ago.”
“That trap in the forest was for me?” Blaze said, innocently.
“YES IT WAS!” Dash shouted. “I was trying to get you back for backfiring that spit wad last night! That trap had a hair trigger so even a slight touch with your hoof would have set it off. How could you not set it off when you walked right over it!”
“Here’s my secret.” He got close to her ear. “I wasn’t walking, I was flying just above the ground.”
Blaze backed away quickly before she responded.
“WHAT? How could you be barely off the ground when you were clearly walking?”
“I concentrated on my ki control and pretended to walk. Plus the fact I saw the trap when it came into view. The pranker just got pranked,” he said with a big grin on his face.
“Ok, then how did I miss grabbing you when you didn’t move?” the Pegasus asked.
“Oh, I heard you coming, so I thought it'd be a good time to see how fast I could move. Turns out fast enough for you to not notice.”
“Then prove it. There’s a guard post with a guard on the north side of town. I want you to take his helmet, put it on top of the flag pole by the school house, and then come back here. You've got three seconds.”
Applejack stepped in and said, “Ya don’t need to prove anything, Blaze. She’s just being a sore loser for her failed pranks. I don’t want ya to get tossed in jail.”
Blaze replied, “I don’t mind. It sounds like a fun prank to pull. Besides they won’t see me coming. I’ll be ask quick as the Flash.”
“Who?”
“Forget it.” The stallion turned to Rainbow Dash. “I’m ready when you are.”
The blue Pegasus said, “Ready . . . set . . . GO! . . . One-”
“Done.”
“How can you be done?” Applejack asked. You haven’t moved.”
“Take a look at the flag pole.”
They both looked at it in the distance. Sure enough, there was a royal guard helmet on top of the pole. Soon, the group heard a pony shout, “Who took my helmet!”
The group started laughing. Once that was done and everypony calmed back down, Blaze said to Rainbow Dash, “Thank you for the awareness exercise, I needed that. Now I have a better understanding of how my abilities have improved.”
“So, you’re not mad at me for trying to prank you?” Rainbow asked.
“Of course not. I'm just tougher to prank. Lots of watching Looney Toons skits.”
“I take that’s another show thingy from your world?” Applejack asked.
Blaze nodded.
Rainbow smiled and said, “Well, don’t expect me on giving up on pranking you. I’ll leave you alone for now. I have some weather duties to take care of.”
The blue Pegasus flew off, as fast as ever.
“Whoo-whee, you weren’t kidding when you said you feel lighter,” Applejack said.
“The downside is I need weighted clothes if I want to continue my training, or I won’t feel the burn. My body has been used to that weight, and I still weigh the same, but I don’t feel the same. I’m happy I got rid of it, I just need to replace the weight to continue my training.”
“So ya going to do that type of training from that show of yours?”
“Yep, I am going to see Twilight to see if she has a spell so I don’t actually have to wear weights.”
“First, let's get you the furniture for your house.”