//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The bad end of the Rainbow // Story: Our new Friends, Our new Enemies // by The Potato Guy //------------------------------// Life. Life in Ponyville was…..simple. In all sense of the word. Solar had fully prepared himself a more secluded style of life, especially considering the small size and rural location of the town, not to mention a life where the ponies probably hadn’t done a single thing worth any interest for as long as they had been alive. But as he now stood in what he suspected was the town centre, Solar could only feel shock of how lifeless this town, and but unfortunate extension, its ponies were. Sure, they seemed cheerful enough , seemingly content to be doing something at least. Yet , upon further inspection, Solar became painfully aware of the incredibly monotonous nature they looked to be satisfied in, very much pre-set on performing mundane tasks. Like a train on rails, the lives were very pre-determined, doing one thing and then simply moving on to do another. Perhaps it was Solar’s ignorance of the world that gave him this negative view on this, a mere lack of experience and exposure causing him surprise and confusion, but given thought, the only thing confusing Solar was how these Ponies could be content with their lives where an average day only consists of walking to a store or friends house and back. Even if this was something Solae was about partake in a lot more now, he was content in the fact he had at least done something with his life, good and bad, which was more than these ponies could probably say. The next thing he immediately noticed was a massive, tree shaped, crystal like structure just on the edge of the town. Solar knew very little of this building, other than it was something of a castle that some Princess now lived in after beating some big red thing with horns. Other than that, he didn’t know much else and frankly, didn’t care. Why would he need to know about some royalty who thought herself better than everypony else? If she didn’t care for knowing about anypony else, than Solar wouldn’t care for her. And that was Ponyville apparently. Just as boring as he expected. That was, of course, until, while simply gazing around at his now fellow town ponies, he spotted with almost too much ease, an essentially pure pink pony frozen still, just staring at him. In response Solar could only stare back, wondering if there was something about him that would warrant such attention. Once he realised he was probably just being paranoid under pressure from what was quite obviously a very weird pony, he simply withdrew his gaze and continued walking, already amazed at the shameful caliber of the townsponies. Following this oddity, Solar had intended to go to his new home as soon as he entered Ponyville. That was until he remembered he hadn’t a clue where it was and the note from Blank Canvas had only stated it was a house with a black tiled roof. Judging from the architecture of the rest of the town, this shouldn’t be so hard considering the thatched roofs of the other houses but so far, he had no luck. Again looking around for his destination, now noticing that the odd pink pony had disappeared, Solar decided he would just walk down the street in directly facing him, possibly allowing him to find something of interest in this pioneering exploration of a location no pony would be interested in reading about. So for the next ten minutes, after both neither finding his house or anything worthy of interest to him, Solar went to a bench to sit and think. Chiefly among his thoughts were now that he was here, in Ponyville, what would he do? Even if he decided against working, he would have to do something to combat his boredom.  The problem was that his life in the shadows had only given him skills that a small peaceful town like Ponyville would obviously have no need of. Solar entertained the thought that he could take up work from Arcing Storm, but then he remembered how annoying that pony was, so that was a no. “Hey!” Solar then suddenly was ripped back into the real world, sacrificing his thoughts to the voice behind him. He turned, having to look up at a light blue Pegasus hovering above him. This particular Pegasi had a rainbow coloured mane and tail and a lightning bolt shaped cutie mark. In all, she wasn’t bad looking at all, but such thoughts were far from being on Solar’s mind. “What?” replied Solar bluntly, turning back around once he had got a look at the Pegasus. “Um, how about hi?” replied the female Pegasus in a voice now disliked by Solar. “How about no?” Solar instantly dismissed. To this, Solar received no response, leading him to happily believe the pony had flown off. That was until, after a mere blink, the rainbow maned pony was suddenly hovering right in front of his face. “You’re new around here huh?” quizzed the Pegasus with a serious look. “You think? Was it the fact that you have no idea who I am and have never seen me before? Was it those cryptic clues that gave it away?” said Solar, sparing no expense in how sarcastic he sounded. The rainbow pony scowled, obviously unhappy with the lack of cooperation. “Well you should know around here we treat other ponies with a little respect” Solar just smiled. Such shallow and easily offended individuals like this could only amuse him. Think skin never lasted well in the real world “Well if that’s the case maybe you could respect my privacy and fly off!” The Pegasus then flew closer to Solar, her face almost touching his, her eyes narrowed but still fixated on Solar’s own. He half expected the pony to hit him in any moment, so Solar prepared himself to receive her attack. In turn to the foolishly audacious assault, the then astound her with his experience and decisive counter attack. Perhaps unfortunately for Solar, and fortunately for the Pegasus, this never came and suspicions began to arise that this was probably a failed attempt at intimidation, to which Solar laughed internally. “Why the buck did you run off from Pinkie?” the Pegasus eventually said after what Solar suspected was a total inability to not act like some spoiled filly. “Who? I’m not running from anything”. This had been meant simply as stating he hadn’t ran the pony in question, but deep down, Solar couldn’t help but think that he was indeed running from something. Most of his life in fact. “Well she went to get something for you and when she got back, you weren’t there! So I decided id help her find you” The pony said, as if she was proud of this fact. “Are you talking about the pink pony? The weirdo staring at me?” Solar replied realising which pony was being referred to. The Pegasus suddenly recoiled, her face now visibly angry. “Hey! No one’s calls my friend a weirdo!” “She’s your friend? That’s not surprising”. The response went exactly as Solar expected. A sudden moment of widening eyes as she realised what he had meant, followed by increased wage for insulting both the pink pony, and herself.   The Pegasus then rose higher as if to appear taller, forcing Solar to raise his head. “What you trying to say buddy?” “I’m saying that wierdos stick together." This apparently was said louder than Solar expected and as such, many passing by ponies clearly within ears reach, now had their attention fixated on Solar and the Pegasus. These ponies’ looks appeared to suggest that the following reaction should be an interesting one, as if this Pegasus had a local reputation. Her look did seem to suggest an interesting reaction, something that Solar welcomed if it meant that he could put this annoying pony in her place, but realistically, given that this was the first of possibly many days in this town, beating a girl wasn’t probably the best of ideas so in restrained disappointment, he withdrew from the stare in the only way he knew how, with great uninterest. Rolling his eyes and visibly relaxing while turning away, Solar allowed the blue Pegasus the minor victory, if only to calm the situation down. Even so, the Pegasus did not know Solar’s reasons and looked to take this as Solar backing down like a coward, and as she learned back in mid-flight, crossing her front legs while the other ponies continued with their day, Solar was thankful that it seemed that the Pegasus was beginning to calm down, at least in terms of anger. “Pinkies throwing a welcome party for you so why don’t you get off your butt and go to it and apologise?” the Pegasus said, obviously not letting the matter go. However, unfortunately for the pony, the very idea that Solar should apologise for not saying hello sickened him and now he would once again have to delve in an argument with the blue pony again. “No” Solar said sharply, taking the Pegasus by surprise. “Excuse me?” the Pegasus replied. She had obviously heard Solar and wasn’t happy one bit with his answer. “I said I’m not going to do that! I simply couldn’t care for your friend or whatever stupid party she's wasting her time on!”  Judging by the Pegasus reaction, Solar may have said this a little too aggressively and bitterly. “No one refuses a pinkie party!” Now, with Solar confident that the Pegasus was about to resort to violence, he removed himself from the bench and stood up to face his annoying aggressor, now annoyed himself. “Well I am! So leave me alone!” cried Solar, almost in desperate defense, before walking away in deep annoyance. Yet as Solar expected, this pesky Pegasus didn’t seem like she had enough, a blur of rainbow shooting past him to stop in front of him, blocking his path. “Not so fast buddy. You’re going to that party even if I have to make you myself!” Solar’s reaction suddenly went from annoyance to downright amusement. “You want to try that? Show me what you got, light bones”. Realising Solar had practically mocked all Pegasi, the mare gasped and squinted her eyes in anger. “You don’t want to mess with me or my friends bud!” “I’ve had training and experience, so if you don’t want to see that, get out of my way” threatened Solar, though knowing full well that this pony, even after only talking to her for barely a few minutes, was not one to easily back down. “Oh yeah, what type of training? The Pegasus asked, probably not believing him. Solar was immediately ready to tell this pony of all his dangerous adventures and experiences, but not before realising this could both profile him a bit too much to the world, an act he was now trying to avoid, but also put him in some serious trouble, such was the nature of his past acts. These tales of his past may even scare this pony, which, despite her great annoyance, was not something Solar wished upon any pony. “The Royal Guard” Solar decided to declare, still stating the truth. The Pegasus seemed unconvinced. “Then why’d you leave? You can’t just quit like that”. “I left because it was a boring waste of my time and abilities. Plus the Captain was a real ass” Memories of Shining Armor’s betrayal came flooding back. Solar was once called a friend of Shining Armor, yet he never saw the captain step in to help him when things were precarious. Observing the new pony’s face, oddly, the Pegasus took this news hardly well at all, landing on the ground and walking towards Solar, obviously angry about what Solar had just said. “Hey! That ‘ass’ is my friends brother, so you better keep the mouth shut and show some respect ok? Or you’re going to find yourself in a lot of trouble”. “I can’t exactly show any respect with my mouth shut, can I? Besides that ass deserves no respect for getting me kicked out the guard” Solar suddenly said, realising he had given out a little personal information. Having her friend furtherly insulted was obviously not something the Pegasus could take well, now was nearly nose to nose with Solar. “You got kicked out the guard? I’m not even surprised.” If the Pegasus had given even a smile at her little comment, Solar was sure he would have just bucked her right there and then, while not even caring for the repercussions and consequences, such was the brashness lack of thought to her words. Still, even despite zero care for the guard or his career in it, and while Solar had relatively composed himself throughout this annoyance, now he felt actual anger build up within him. “You know, I don’t even know how you got in the Guard in the first place”. That’s it! “You say anything again, and I will crack your skull. I swear on my life!” Solar was so calm in speaking, almost seemed as if he wasn’t serious at all, but, even for just a quick second, the surprised and shocked look on the face of the Pegasus showed that the calm, almost deadliness in his voice had made the threat all the more dangerous. Strangely enough, and only contributing to his anger, Solar then realised that he was again staring at a face of defiance and anger. The Pegasus didn’t seemed fazed by his threat, or at the very least was willing to be there when threat turned to action. She was defiantly a fighter, Solar could give her that. Yet this tiny amount of admiration almost instantly disappeared, only anger taking its place. “You know, I don’t know why Pinkie’s even setting up a party for you.” The Pegasus began, perhaps wisely avoiding Solar’s threat given that just one strong buck from a strong looking Earth Pony would not end well for her. “You obviously don’t deserve it!” She gave a moment to see what Solar’s reaction was, perhaps deep down seeking satisfaction from seeing this apparent jerk being so affected by her. “I’m going to make sure no pony has to waste their time with you! Have fun alone with every hating you, idiot!” Solar took that as an incentive to promptly leave, uncaring as ever. “Yeah, have fun with that” he said as he sharply turned away and began to walk, finally free. It was then he was thankfully alone once more. Free of some mere Pegasus who had quickly discovered she disliked him. What struck him the most was not that he had already made an enemy, which he knew he should have cared about but didn’t, but that finally leaving that pony now felt like an the an achievement, as if he had completed a challenge. A foreshadowing of what it would be like in Ponyville probably. But unfortunately for Solar, it was a challenge left uncompleted. Again the Pegasus refused to leave Solar in peace, and flew with remarkable speed in front of him, stopping his progress. “Why do you have to be such a jerk?” Impulsive actions would not end well here, but Solar wished nothing more than to perform one. Was this Pony touched in the head? “Do you seriously enjoy arguing? More importantly, do you seriously want to continue testing me?” Yet before the rainbow pony could have a chance to reply, serving only to further the argument, Solar went on the offensive, refusing to give her a chance to speak. “I couldn’t care less about your damn ideals about friendship, nor your damn friends too! Please, for the love of the Princesses, do every pony a favour, quit this agonising barrage of annoyance and buck off!” The reaction that came was slow at first, an emotionless and blank floating pair of wings. Then it came. “W-WELL SCREW YOU TOO DUDE.  ALL I WAS DOING WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU BUT YOURE JUST A REAL ASS IT SEEMS! SEE YOU NEVER AGAIN LOSER!” The speed of her escape was, quite legitimately, impressive. This also pleased Solar in other ways. The quicker she made her exit, the better.  Any second later she had stayed and extended this encounter would surely see if his mental endurance was up to scratch. From the few seconds he could see her rainbow trail, she, in all of her weak emotional composure, had rocketed out the town, far beyond Solar’s eyes could see. Solar then gave himself a minute to calm himself. He had low expectations of this place, but even his most pessimistic side knew this was a new low when it came to his current fortune. An unfortunate and chaotic welcoming party for him in Ponyville, and one not appreciated it any way, even had it been far more peaceful. Recomposed, Solar continued looking for the, now extremely eventful, quest that was searching for a house. Discarding a heavy sigh into the ground, Solar dreamt of a time where his usually simple and peaceful tasks of little consequence did not end up making his blood boil and his day bleaker. Now, just further up the street in front of him, he witnessed, quite unmistakably, a purple maned Alicorn running with great haste, followed closely by what seemed like an adolescent dragon. Solar never considered an expert on royalty, especially considering when there were some seriously dedicated ponies with almost spy like knowledge on the subject. Weirdos, Solar called them. Never the less, he needn’t have been one of these ponies to know this was the new princess of friendship. She looked panicked, yet still excited. Together with a pair of Solar Guards, the speed of their run seemed to indicate something was amiss. Something that peaked Solar’s interest, for when a Princess, an effective goddess of the land, seemed to take a matter seriously, it usually meant a matter of great importance, and such a thing made Solar curious at the very least, hungry for an accompanying opportunity at most. His legs almost automatically carried himself in their direction, were it not for a brief hesitation. He had only just got here, supposedly, seeking a new life, regardless of if it wasn’t really his idea. He may have not planned all this, but not but yesterday Solar was open to entertaining this idea of relative peace. Yet now, after an admittedly quite unexpected welcome, was he already forsaking this position? Setting aside the threat of death he had received from Blank Canvas, an important part of the fine print of his presence here, he had to quickly consider his true position. The anger given to Solar by the rainbow Pegasus remained and lingered, and while he didn’t know it, it would greatly impact his final decision. Purely investigating this disturbance would do little on his future fortunes. Should nothing come out of this, then so be it, but should something interesting emerge, then, whatever form it take, Solar was excited of the opportunity to learn more of this new princess, despite his low opinion of her Whatever opportunity he may fish out of her, it was infinity better than sitting around in a house, waiting for the next pony to annoy him. His decision was made, and he quickly gave chase to the Princesses party. Yes, Solar had changed his tune rather quickly, but her couldn’t deny his truth self. Power was what he was truly seeking. Right?