The next day's noon sun woke me from my nap. Rainbow and I didn't have much to do, but, since Rainbow wanted to hang out with the Squirt today, we powered through it as fast as we could. Rainbow and I had just finished dealing with our weather duties for the day when Conner came wheezing up to us.
<<Hey.>> He doubled over, and I waited for him to catch his breath.
"I guess you've got your plans for the day then?" Rainbow smiled. "One of these days, you, me and Scoots need to spend a day together, just the three of us."
I gave her a nuzzle, ear twitching towards Conner's gasping. <<I would love that.>> I waved good bye to my mare. <<You have fun now.>> With a small smile, Rainbow took to the sky, angling to the barracks.
I gave a soft glare to the goateed Eevee I was left with. "I was hoping to do that today, though."
"Yeah? Sorry, man." Conner gasped out. "I didn't want to be a messenger today, either. Fluttershy's hosting her tea party today, and I really didn't want to miss that."
I raised and eyebrow. "So, why are you here then?"
"Cy wanted to see you, and he wanted me to be there to oversee you two."
"Did he say what about?"
Conner raised a paw with his mouth open. He paused, before closing his mouth with a click. His paw folded as he racked his memory. "... N~o. No, I don't think so."
I face pawed. "So you just decided to deliver a message without getting the message. Good job." I sighed. I waited for Conner's breathing to even out before I started walking. "Let's go."
"Wha-? Hey, wait up!" Conner jogged to my side. "Slow down man! Fuck, girl, why're you rushing all the time?"
"I'm not, everyone else is just slow," I grumbled.
Conner shook his head. "You and Rainbow are becoming more and more alike as the days go by."
"And you're not with Joy?"
Conner raised his snout. "Of course I'm not. We're nothing alike." I snapped my teeth shut an inch from his face, causing him to jump back with a soft "Eep."
"Nothing alike, huh." I laughed. "You're right, you're not scared of your shadow!" I noticed him slow down slightly. "Wait... Oh, my, god. You are?!"
"I-it's not like that!" He whined. "It was late at night, I didn't turn on a light, the moon was full, and-"
"So you're just afraid of the dark!" I leaned in and gave him a noogie. "Don't worry, Auntie Leo'll look after you!"
"I'm a year older than you..." Conner mumbled. "I've my own Angel to look after me, and he can kick your ass any day!"
"Ha! That's if he could hit me! I'll run circles around that rabbit!" I boasted.
Conner smirked. "Ya hear that, Angel?"
"OH DEAR GOD, DON'T HURT ME!" I jumped over and cowered behind Conner. I only pulled my paws off my head when I noticed Conner laughing. "Oh, shut up. At least I'm scared of something real."
"Yeah, a fluffy bunny." Conner took his turn mocking.
I smacked him with my tail as I took the lead again. "If Looney Tunes taught me anything, it's you don't fuck with the bunny." We teased each other all the way to the farm.
Vince sat by the gate. He perked up when he saw us coming. "Hey, Cy's around back, at the rodeo track."
"The Apples have a rodeo track?" Conner asked.
"Yeah, Applejack's out there getting warmed up for her trip in a couple of days."
I nodded. "Ah, The Last Roundup." I looked over at Vince. "Be prepared for her to run off after the competition."
Conner had fallen slightly behind. "Since when did the Apples have a rodeo track?"
"They've always had one." Vince answered.
"Then, how come we've never seen it?" We all paused at that.
"Huh." I mused. "Never seen it in any of the sweeping shots of the farm on the show, now that I think about it... Before and after that episode."
"Why didn't Cy and I train there for the Running of the Leaves?" Vince asked.
"Do the writers just pull locations out of their asses?!" I threw my front legs up in exasperation. I took a few steps on just my hind legs before dropping back to all fours. "Wonder where else we've never been to in town that exist..."
"It's Ponyville!" Vince sighed. "It's not that big!"
"How far do we need to walk?" Conner complained.
"Not far." Vince reassured.
Eventually, we crested a hill and saw the track Applejack was running on. We trotted up and sat beside Apple Bloom and Cy. We watched as she cleared the last hurdle on the course, cheering with Apple Bloom. After witnessing Applejack beat her hay toss record -at least, I think that's what that was- Apple Bloom gave out another cheer, knocking her older sister's hat off and onto Vince.
"Applejack!" The filly crowed. "You're sure ta knock everyponys' hat off at the Competition!"
Applejack retrieved her hat from the covered Eevee. "Aw, shucks, Apple Bloom. I sure hope so."
"Hope so! I know so! After all, you're Ponyville's ten time rodeo champion!" Apple Bloom gestured to a framed display of blue ribbons. "I can't wait for you to win every blue ribbon in Equestria and become the Equestrian Rodeo Champion!"
<<Huh.>> I blinked.
<<What's up?>> Cy asked.
I watched the sisters head back to the farm. "I could've sworn that was more exposition ridden..." I shook my head. "What'd ya need me for?"
Cy looked at me. "Leo, I need your help learning something." He shifted his gaze to Conner. "You're here in case we hurt ourselves."
"And me?" Vince asked.
"Moral support, mostly." The Jolteon admitted before focusing back on me. "Will you help me with it?"
I rolled my eyes. "Please don't play the pronoun game with me. What is it?"
"Oh!" Cy winced, rubbing the back of his head. "I've been thinking of trying to figure out how to Volt Tackle. I need you," he thrust a paw at me, "to teach me how to Extreme Speed first. I figure I could add the lightning to it afterwards."
I stared at the larger canine. I drifted my gaze over the racing track. "I think we'll need more space..."