“I haven’t missed anything, have I?” Twilight asked as she greeted her friends sitting on a set of makeshift stands Rarity made as magic practice. They were very nicely constructed and extremely comfy despite being stands.
Rarity had felt a little left behind when it came to magic as a unicorn lately. It made sense in a way given the two unicorns she was closest to outside her family were Twilight and Naruko. It didn’t matter they tried to point out how absurd it was rating herself to them considering who they were, or how she was extremely good at magic control. After Discord and everything, she still felt it necessary for her, an element, to improve herself in many ways including her magic.
“By the way these are really nicely done, Rarity,” Twilight said as she sat down comfortably.
Rarity smiled at the praise and answered Twilight’s question. “They haven’t started yet. They have been bragging to one another, but that is all.”
Twilight nodded to Rarity in thanks as she looked around the area. They had a score board and everything. It was a bit excessive in her opinion. This whole thing started just because Rainbow lost a game of horseshoes and couldn’t just lose a game played just for fun gracefully.
“What’s Cloud Kicker doing here? I didn’t know they told any others,” Twilight said as she looked towards the scoreboard.
“Ohhhh. She’s score keeper. I was going to be score keeper, but I kind of wanted to watch with everypony,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile.
“Big Mac and Sweetie Belle are judges. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wanted to be judges as well, but as you can see…” Rarity said pointing to the two fillies sitting at opposite ends of the stands. “That isn’t the case. They were both too biased. Apple Bloom for AJ and Scootaloo for Rainbow Dash. Everypony knows Big Mac is reliable and will be a fair judge, so they don’t have a problem with him judging.”
“Sooo… Where is Naruko?!” Pinkie asked.
“Oh! She wanted to come, but she got a foal sitting job and she really likes doing that and wanted to help out the parents. I’m going to tell her all about this tonight when she gets back home,” Twilight said giving a smile.
“Suuuuure you are. Try not to get toooo distracted by Naruko when you do,” Pinkie said with a giggle causing Twilight to blush.
Rarity then cleared her throat to draw their attention. “Look! They're getting ready for the first event!” she said much more enthusiastic than she really was. She did not want to hear about love and romance and all of that stuff at the moment. It absolutely, without a doubt, wasn’t because she was even a slight bit jealous of her fellow unicorn friends finding love or anything like that. That's what she told herself at least.
The first match was a Barrel Weave competition. They would take turns running through a set of barrels weaving between them. There was a four second penalty for every barrel you hit while running. The fastest time won. Applejack went first and she was fast. Rainbow went second and she was also fast.
“You know… I would have thought AJ had that one in the bag. I mean she does all of that Pony Rodeo training,” Twilight said.
“Rainbow is really fast at running too though,” Fluttershy said in defense of her fellow pegasus friend.
“True. But AJ lost because of a penalty. I just didn’t think she would get a penalty is all,” Twilight said and Fluttershy nodded to that in agreement.
Next up was a Bucking Contest and not in the sense of a crude word used to describe a couple’s moment of deep intimacy. It didn’t matter that Twilight’s mind drifted to that connotation.
“That was further apart than I thought it would be…” Fluttershy said with a half frown. AJ managed to blast the bell so hard it went flying.
“Makes sense to me, Darling. While both may buck a good bit due to their occupations. It does take more strength to apple buck than to cloud buck,” Rarity said as Fluttershy hummed in thought before nodding.
Twilight was blushing deeply as she said, “Does no pony else see how easily that word can be misconstrued? Seriously?!” Her friends blinked at her for a moment.
It was surprisingly Fluttershy who understood her first. “Eep!” she said as she blushed and cutely hid her face with her forehooves.
“Ohhhhh!! I get it!” Pinkie said before laughing with her back on the stands where she was sitting.
“A-a-anyways…” Rarity started as she tried her best to look composed despite her reddening cheeks. “Next their doing a Bronco Buck contest…” Her blush deepened. “That really doesn’t help. Does it?”
Fluttershy blushed more and now used both her wings and forehooves to hide her face. Pinkie paused in her laughter for a moment before laughing even more.
Twilight looked concerned. “I really hope Spike will be okay!” she said, the worry in her voice apparent.
Pinkie paused in her laughter again only to then laugh even more. “If it is good enough of a bucking… I’m sure he’ll be very happy!” she couldn’t help but say.
Twilight ignored her.
Fluttershy made a rather strange sound.
Rarity could only blink several times in astonishment before shaking her head.
When Spike was bucked off each of the two ponies, Twilight made sure to use her magic to bring him down safely. She felt relieved after Rainbow’s turn.
“For the next competition!” Sweetie Belle shouted for the now larger crowd of gathered ponies to hear. “They will be lassoing Spike!”
“I don’t remember volunteering for this…” Spike muttered with a frown.
“The first to lasso him wins!” Sweetie said just as Big Mac placed a helmet with horns on top Spike’s head. He also said something quickly to Spike that got the baby dragon to smile and go along with it.
Applejack won by hogtying his arms and legs quickly. This caused him to fall to the ground in a storm of dust with an “Oof” sound.
Rainbow somehow managed to hogtie herself to a nearby tree branch.
Twilight quickly teleported next to Spike, untied him and brushed him off before putting him on her back and teleporting back to the stands. If they needed anymore volunteers for something, they would just have to bully somepony else into it as far as she was concerned. She sat down with Spike comfortably and protectively in her forehooves to continue watching. He was oddly enough perfectly fine with this.
“Haah… Geez…” Twilight sighed with a frowny pout. “I’m surprised the two of them aren’t long lost siblings or something with the way they get carried away with their bickering and fighting at times…”
Rarity seemed to be in thought before she quietly said, “I guess I can kind of see it? Sweetie Belle and I may have our… moments, but we could never get that bad.”
Pinkie was silently in thought.
“That’s because you and Sweetie Belle are rather far apart age wise. You also usually have a certain air of maturity Rainbow and AJ lose all forms of when they let their tempers get the best of them,” Twilight said.
Fluttershy gave a shudder and let out a little sound in response to Twilight’s earlier words. “I can understand it… I am not looking forward to the next time I visit my family in Cloudsdale. My brother, Zephyr Breeze, always got on my nerves. I can only imagine how it will be now for me.”
“You have a brother?!” Pinkie asked with wide eyes. Fluttershy nodded.
“What’s he like? Oooooo is he like a stallion version of you? Is he like super popular?! Is he like the coolest pony ever?! Wait! I’m pretty sure if that was the case you wouldn’t get upset with him. Come on! Tell us Already!” Pinkie said eager to learn more about her friend.
Fluttershy blinked a little in surprise. She wasn’t used to ponies taking that much interest in her family or anything really. Both Twilight and Rarity were seemingly very interested as well. Spike was completely taken with watching the competition between Rainbow and AJ.
“Well… ummm… He is very annoying… and kind of a jerk… He is really full of himself and takes advantage of my parents’ meekness,” she said with a frown. “I mean he is my brother and I care about him… I guess… but he really gets to me.”
“What are your parents like?” Rarity asked.
Fluttershy blushed a little as she looked to the side not meeting any of her friends’ eyes. “Ummm… Even before I grew more assertive and courageous, I was still more so than they are. He just easily takes advantage of them without a second though.”
She then gave a huff. “He is so full of himself… He thinks he is the best at everything, but he isn’t. He could be better at things, but he always gets bored with everything and claims he is too advanced and experienced to get anything from classes! I really really dislike it!” Her voice was rising, even if it still wasn’t loud enough to disturb the now many other ponies watching the AJ and Rainbow competition. The two were hoof wrestling now.
“He also has the audacity! The audacity! To think Rainbow Dash is obsessed with him!” Fluttershy said in loud enough of a voice that Rainbow heard her. The rainbow maned pegasus got angry hearing that and thinking of Zephyr. She gritted her teeth and slammed AJ’s hoof down causing the earth pony to be deeply shocked and also fall to the ground.
“Oooh… Ummm… sorry,” Fluttershy said a lot quieter in apology to everypony. The other ponies watching the event didn’t even really register her remarks earlier. They were too busy watching one of the best sports’ events Ponyville had seen in a long while yet.
“Wow…” Pinkie started. “I guess I am extra thankful for my sisters then. I mean Maud is only the bestest, coolest, smartest, most fun Earth Pony ever! She is working on her Rocktorate. But even Limestone isn’t that bad. She is a little mean, but it is understandable. She’s under a lot of stress with taking over the family Rock Farm. Still though… wow…”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Fluttershy. I guess I’m lucky. I never got that bad with Shining even when we were younger and he loved picking on me,” Twilight said with a frown as she placed a comforting hoof on her pegasus friend.
Rarity made a mental note to take Sweetie Belle out after this competition to spend some time with her and to reward her for being such good and fair judge in the contest as well as a good little sister. Rarity frowned in thought as she mentally wished to find a way to get closer to her little sister without it endangering her career. Sweetie was wonderful, but also very much a klutz at times.
In an effort to distract herself from feeling guilty about the lack of time she made for her little sister, Rarity turned to Pinkie. “I didn’t know you had two sisters,” she said.
Pinkie smiled as she said, “Three! Actually. Limestone is the oldest. Then it’s Maud. And then there is Marble. She’s the youngest of us. Limestone and Marble still live with my parents and work the rock farm. Marble is actually very shy and doesn’t really speak much. But she is still a lovable sister!”
The group of friends might have kept talking, but Spike interrupted them. “Wow!! Rainbow’s actually taking a commanding lead now!” Some ponies might think the group was bonkers for not watching the whole contest, but they were just used to competitions between the two. It was a rather common occurrence for them all. They were interested after hearing Spike’s words though.
“Ohhh… huh…” Twilight said in thought as she watched what they were currently doing. It was some contest for moving a group of chicks across a mud pit. It seemed the one to have the cleanest and most chicks in the shortest time at the end won.
All eight were on Rainbow Dash. AJ seemed really angry about the turn of events. It made sense when you saw the score was currently 12 – 5 and it was obvious Dash would win this round as well.
Rainbow reached the end of the mud pit smiling brightly with all eight chicks happily chirping on her back and only two had a very slight amount of mud on them. Twilight was actually impressed with her. Rainbow Dash took a very creative and ingenious approach to the contest. She used her wings to block mud from getting on the chicks. It was rather obvious AJ’s assigned chicks decided to get a lift with Rainbow instead.
AJ frowned deeply at Rainbow, but she didn’t say anything at the moment.
The two judges were in a bit of a discussion about the rules of this little contest. It was Sweetie Belle who spoke up yet again. “Due to the nature of scoring for this stage of the competition… We, the judges, have decided to award Rainbow Dash not one point, but two! She carried two teams of chicks across the pit at one time and didn’t lose a single one.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow shouted in glee as two points were added to the scoreboard by her name.
“Grrr… We ain’t done yet!” AJ growled as she got ready for the last event. It was Tug of War. A classic. If she won that, which she believed she could, she could say for sure she is the better pony and call out Rainbow on her cheating with those goddang wings.
The two were each at a different end of a long rope. There was a flag in the middle to use in case the time limit completed without a pony in the mud. AJ was sure she had this one in the bag. Rainbow wasn’t weak by far, but she wasn’t an Apple or an earth pony.
Rainbow was actually a little nervous for this last event. She wasn’t sure she could stand up against AJ’s full strength.
“Ready?! Goooo!” Sweetie shouted. She was really enjoying being a judge in this competition. It was so much fun!
The two ponies started tugging. Rainbow did with all of her might. AJ wasn’t at full strength yet. She was planning on getting inside Rainbow’s head a little. AJ was luring the pegasus into a false sense of security by being a little slack in her pulling. It was working.
Rainbow couldn’t believe it! AJ was trying her best she was sure, but Rainbow was the one winning. The rope’s flag was slowly making it’s way towards her end of the mud pit. AJ looked like she was really struggling. “I guess she tired herself out from everything else? I don’t blame her. This has been really tough. If it wasn’t for my wings I would have lost already. Wait… My wings!” she thought to herself with excitement. Rainbow gave a mischievous grin. She knew how to win this competition with ease.
“Ah’ll admit she is strong, especially for a pegaus. But ah’m gonna win. Look at her getting all cocky and such. It is time to take this here competition up a notch!” AJ thought as she saw Rainbow’s grin and she got ready to make her move.
“What tha?! Horse apples!!!!” AJ shouted suddenly.
Rainbow got a tight grip on the rope and shot up into the sky a little bit. AJ screamed out loud in response. The blue pegasus grinned. She then actually felt a little a bad as she saw AJ’s shock and unease at the maneuver. The blonde farm pony’s eyes were wide in horror as her legs kicked about everywhere in panic. Rainbow was thinking maybe she went too far here, but that didn’t stop her wings from unintentionally raising them both a little higher into the air.
AJ wanted to scream out at the surprise and shock she felt. She really didn’t like going airborne without her consent like this! She kicked her legs about trying to find the ground to no avail. Rainbow raised up even higher. “Hay no! That cheater ain’t playing fair at all! Ah could get hurt if I fell from up too much higher!” AJ thought in panic. She let go before it got too much worse. She fell into the mud.
The crowd watching was actually a little shocked and silent at the ending to the competition. They breathed a sigh of relief when AJ got up and seemed to only be angry and not actually hurt. They cheered at the end to a very amazing and entertaining sports competition! Cloud Kicker added the last point to Rainbow’s name on the scoreboard. The ponies watching quickly left as they commented on how amazing it was now that it was over.
Rainbow landed on the ground and scuffed a hoof on the grass below her. She figured she should apologize for getting too carried away there at the end. She still couldn’t help but laugh in both relief and humor when she saw her farm pony friend covered in mud and looking a little angry at losing but no worse for wear.
“I won,” Rainbow said. She then gave a nervous giggle, though it didn’t sound that way as she said, “It was all in fun and games though. You did do pretty well, AJ.” She even tried to give a friendly smile.
AJ wasn’t in a good mood though and took Rainbow’s actions as mocking her.
“Ya’ll were cheating tha whole time once ya used them goddamn wings!” AJ said louder than she meant to say.
Rainbow was offended by this and gave an indignant scoff at AJ’s words. She hated it when ponies called her a cheater. She never cheated. She might read into what was left unsaid in the rules at times, like she did here, but that wasn’t cheating. She was also going to apologize for what she did and even think about calling it a draw in the end, but that wasn’t the case now after being accused of cheating by one of her friends.
“I didn’t cheat at all! You never said I couldn’t use my wings! I didn’t even use them until the end! I could have used them earlier, but I didn’t. You just don’t like it that you lost,” she said. Rainbow was angry and she wasn’t going to back down. It might have hurt her a little seeing AJ like this. She also didn’t like seeing their friends coming over to them as their smiles changed to looks of concern as they approached and heard the argument.
“Ah didn’t think I would havta tell ya about decent pony manners!” AJ said with a stomp of her hoof.
Rainbow was even more offended now and snorted steam from her nostrils. She wasn’t some etiquette queen like Rarity, but she wasn’t that bad! “All I’m hearing is blah blah blah… I lost but I’m claiming you cheated cause I’m a sore loser!” she said.
AJ growled at her. “How about we settle this proper like, then!” she started.
Rainbow blinked and some of her reason returned to her. She decided to hear her friend out. She didn’t want go even further and really damage their friendship. Sure, AJ was mad and wrong to be mad at her, but if she cooperated then they could make up with each other later. She might even dare to do all that mushy stuff that she hated.
“How?” Rainbow asked.
Apple Jack was taken a little aback and blinked a little. She mentally admitted maybe she was getting a little heated, but she couldn’t just let this stand. “The Running of the Leaves is tomorrow. Whoever wins that is the winner no matter what,” she said. AJ could easily make sure they were even and no pony with wings cheated for that race. If she lost, she could graciously lose in that case.
“Fine! We’ll call this a draw despite everything and settle it tomorrow fair and square!” Rainbow said as she pointed a hoof at AJ while she hovered a little above the ground. She could put up with that. She also was more agreeable because she remembered seeing her friend’s look when she was suddenly airborne without warning during Tug of War and felt a little guilty.
“Fine then,” AJ said. Her voice wasn’t at all hostile at this point. She then gave Rainbow a determined look and said, “I won’t go easy on ya.”
“Hmph!” Rainbow started before she grinned and said, “Wouldn’t want it any other way.” The two then shook each other’s hoof in agreement and the other friends all sighed in relief at the scene.
{-} {-} {-}
“Thanks again for agreeing to this, Naruko. It really surprised me you did. I figured you would be busy with the Ever-Free Patrol and all of that, but there was still a little hope,” a mare with a pinto coat said with a smile as she carried a couple of saddle bags of groceries.
“No problem. We have new recruits who are testing to join, but Derpy is taking point on that so I have some extra time. I did just get cleared for working again by my boss and figured I could do something a little different. I also really missed the little guy,” Naruko replied with a smile as she walked with the mare who she met on the way to her job.
She was foal sitting Pipsqueak again. She wanted to do a job she considered more fun than just paperwork as she eased herself back into working again. “Plus,” she started with a smile. “He still goes on about how he is a big fan of Princess Luna. I don’t mind looking after a fan of my boss.”
The other mare gave a chuckle to that. It was kind of funny hearing somepony calling the lunar princess simply boss. “We really appreciate it. My husband and I are both really busy with late meetings at work tonight. We were allowed a short break first to take care of some things at home, but we should be busy into the night sadly. One of those times of the year things, you know,” she said with a smile as she opened the door to her home.
Naruko was immediately assaulted with a tight hug around one of her forelegs. “Lady Naruko! You really are here again,” Pipsqueak said with a wide grin.
His mother chuckled as she said, “As you can see he is really excited. So, excited he doesn’t even greet his mom with a hello.”
Pipsqueak gave a nervous laugh as he said, “Well you are going to just be leaving again shortly. I was saving up my welcome backs and all of that for when you get back tonight!”
The mother chuckled to that. “I’m not so sure I want you staying up that late tonight,” she said after giving her colt a smile.
“Then I’ll just save them for the morning!” he said with certainty.
“Did you do your homework and practice already, Pipsqueak?” she asked him after ruffling his mane a little.
He nodded and pointed to the kitchen table where his dad was checking over it to make sure he didn’t miss anything. The stallion looked up with a smile and waved as he said, “Hello again, Naruko!” The blonde unicorn returned his greeting.
“Good,” Pipsqueak’s mother said to him after his dad confirmed he was looking over it all.
“I also straightened my room and did my chores!” he said with a big grin. He didn’t want anything to get in the way of fun with the coolest foal sitter ever! “Seriously! Who else gets to say the Grand Captain foal sits for them and wouldn’t be lying?” he thought as his grin grew.
“So, what are we going to be doing today then? Another sea faring adventure!” Naruko asked with a smile as she got down to his level.
“Aye Matey!” he replied as he ran upstairs to get what he needed for playing pirates.
“No running up the stairs! Be careful, Pirate Captain or not!” his mother called after him.
She received a “Got it!” in reply before he later ran back down stairs.
His mother gave a sigh as his father chuckled. He then placed Pipsqueak’s work down on the table and helped his wife with putting away groceries. “He finished everything,” he told her.
Pipsqueak tugged on Naruko to follow him into the living room area. He had decided it was the pirate store where they would get the map for their next adventure and plan it. He also knew his parents would be leaving soon and wanted to see them off before they really got down to pirate business.
{-} {-} {-}
Naruko hummed happily to herself as she stroked the mane of a sleeping Pipsqueak. She really did like children when they weren’t being too much trouble. She could tell how strong the love of this family was. She thought about her own family. She really wished she could have lived with her parents. She was going to make sure to visit them a lot in her mindscape though. She wanted to experience family as properly as she could.
Foal sitting for Pipsqueak was a lot less stressful now for her. She still worried a little when he cried out because of small pains, but he stopped pretty quickly and he wasn’t as bad as he was at first. Today they played pirates again, even if they were more of a strange mix between pirates and what she guessed was Pipsqueak’s thoughts on what it was like in the Ever-Free Patrol.
He had a much different idea about what pirates were like from what she knew in real life back in Konoha. She guessed it was a mix of childhood innocence and how things were always seemingly much better in Equestria compared to back there, even at their worst. She gave a chuckle as she thought back over the day. Pipsqueak had proudly announced he was going to be an awesome and friendly pirate for Nightmare Night this year.
“Nightmare Night huh?” she thought out loud. It was a pony tradition she really loved, but she felt a little odd about it now.
Princess Luna was her boss. Princess Luna was both Nightmare Moon and not Nightmare Moon as well. She wondered if things would be different this year for the holiday now that ponies knew of Princess Luna. Maybe they would keep going with the fun and old tradition because it was fun and old. Maybe other ponies had decided Nightmare Moon was different from Princess Luna or something. Naruko was kind of looking forward to the holiday anyways to see what it would be like.
{-} {-} {-}
Naruko heard the door to the house open after the lock clicked. She smiled as she knew who it was. “Welcome back,” she greeted softly.
Both of Pipsqueak’s parents sighed in unison as they entered. Their meeting went well enough and it wasn’t as late as they feared, but it was still a very draining day.
“Thanks again, Naruko,” Pipsqueak’s mom said with a tired smile. Her smile grew a little livelier as she saw Pipsqueak sleeping peacefully on Naruko’s lap. It was clear the little guy played himself out already. “Will you wait here a little bit?” the mother asked. Naruko nodded in reply. The two pony parents took their son upstairs to tuck him in for the night.
When they came back down, the father spoke first. “I want to thank you for being able to look after him on such short notice.”
Naruko grinned brightly as she said, “No worries! I really like the little guy. He’s a lot of fun to watch over and not too much trouble.”
“How did things go?” the mother asked as she entered the kitchen to get a couple of drinks.
“Pretty good. He got a little scrape or two, but it wasn’t too bad and I treated them. He didn’t even cry too much. Children really are surprising like that I guess,” she said.
The parents laughed fondly to that. “He really is,” the father said as he wrote out the check for Naruko’s payment. “I love him as he is, but there is a part of me that can’t wait to see the stallion he grows into. I also can’t wait to take him out for father and son bonding trips.”
“It will be nice to have those days to myself around the house and Ponyville,” the mother said with a chuckle.
“Oh yeah… He’s kind of decided he wants to be a pirate for Nightmare Night this year,” Naruko said.
The parents chuckled again. “He decided that a while ago and hasn’t changed his mind. Given how much he loves playing pirates I’m not surprised,” the dad said.
“Speaking of which…” the mother started earning a curious look from Naruko. “We were wondering if you would be able to watch over him that night… That’s only if you don’t have something else planned already.”
Naruko hummed in thought. She had some plans, but they were plans for late in the night. “It won’t be too late will it?” she asked.
The mother seemed relieved, but the father wasn’t celebrating yet. He shook his head, “Not too late. We were thinking at latest about this time again. We would drop him off a little before night. We know it is a bit selfish, but there is this party we wanted to attend that night. It is really hard to keep the love on fire when you have kids you know. We wanted a little break where we could be young again in a way at least.”
Naruko chuckled to that. “I can understand in a way. I get it. I can do that. Twilight and I wanted to spend some time looking around Ponyville that night together, but we can do that with him anyways. If you don’t mind,” she said.
The parents chuckled to this. “The two strongest and most gifted unicorns we know watching over our boy together? We would be too much of worrywarts if that wasn’t really enough. You don’t think she will mind, do you?” the dad asked. He didn’t want their selfish desire to interfere with Naruko’s plans.
“It will be okay. We’ll have the later parts of the night together alone so no worries there,” she started. She then blushed a little as she added, “We in some ways both let our inner fillies out on Nightmare Night anyways. So, I think things will be perfectly fine!” Naruko smiled fondly at her previous memories of Nightmare Night with Twilight.
When Naruko first heard about the holiday, she was really excited about it. When her first Nightmare Night actually came she was nervous she might make a fool of herself for being too childish and excited. It was only a couple of minutes into that first time the two of them forgot all pretense and pressure to act like “grown-up” ponies and they just enjoyed the holiday to the fullest without a care.
“Good to hear!” the mother sighed with relief. She really wanted to be with her husband that night as a mare and a stallion instead of as a mom and dad. Hearing Naruko agreed to watch Pipsqueak that night and actually seemed happy about it, was a huge relief and bonus. Her husband was satisfied with it as well. “We’ll tell Pipsqueak later and work out the details with you before then,” she said.
“I look forward to it,” Naruko answered before taking the check and smiling in thanks to the couple as she left to go back home. It wasn’t too late in the night so Twilight should still be up and about. She really wanted to hear all about the AJ and RD Iron Pony Competition in full detail.
{-} {-} {-}
“So, after all of that… They called it a draw and decided the Running of the Leaves would be where they decided who was the best,” Twilight finished explaining to Naruko as the two sipped tea together and Naruko chuckled.
“That really does sound like the AJ and Rainbow thing to do. I’m surprised it seemed to get so tense there for a moment,” Naruko said in thought.
“We were as well. The rest of us decided to keep an eye on them just to be sure they will be okay after tomorrow,” Twilight said.
“It’s too bad I couldn’t make it, but it was a lot of fun watching Pipsqueak. Oh yeah… speaking of which… I kind of said I would watch him on Nightmare Night. It will be until about the time I returned tonight at the latest. I figured that would leave plenty of time for our personal plans. I really hope you don’t mind,” Naruko said.
“I don’t mind. I think it might be kind of fun. I’m just glad you can also plan for us to have fun as well. Everything we had planned for earlier in the night shouldn’t be a problem to do with him as well. In fact, it might be even more fun!” Twilight said with a bright smile.
She then looked to Naruko dead serious as she said, “I still plan on being Starswirl the Bearded this year, even if you two are pirates.”
Naruko laughed to that. “Well he was very adventurous in his day from what the stories say. I wouldn’t be surprised if he traveled with pirates similar to how Pipsqueak sees them. I don’t think it will be a problem. I’ll convince him otherwise if need be. Don’t worry about it,” she said with a smile.
Naruko’s smile then turned a little lustful as she added, “I do wish you were going as some non-bearded super sexy female version of him though.” Naruko placed a hoof on Twilight’s flank causing the other girl to gasp as she blushed.
“Really… You can be quite the incorrigible pervert when you want, Naruko,” she said with an exaggerated sigh and roll of her eyes.
Naruko giggled as she said, “Says the pony who could only think ‘Bucking Contest’ meant a sex competition.”
Twilight blushed deeper as Naruko giggled. She joined her friend in laughing after a moment. “I know I am a pervert at times, but you really should have seen the other’s reaction to that. It was very amusing, even if I didn’t mean for that to be the case.” Twilight finished with her own giggle as Naruko joined her with a new round of giggles.
{-} {-} {-}
Twilight gave a mighty yawn as she got up and stretched the morning of the Running of the Leaves. She looked around a little groggy as she yawned again and made her way out of the room in a daze. She knew it wasn’t her room. The full extent of what that meant hadn’t reached her yet as she staggered through the hallway, catching Spike’s curious eyes as he noticed she left from Naruko’s room. He frowned a little in confusion as she passed him with a slight nod in greeting. There was an odd scent to her, but he couldn’t place it and figured it was just some strange morning thing or something.
As the warm water rained down on her in the shower, Twilight’s purple eyes widened a little bit. “Whoa…” she said as her brain re-engaged. She had never done that much during the night with Naruko before. She had stayed in Naruko’s room plenty of times, but they either just relaxed or were much tamer in their affections. Last night that wasn’t the case.
Twilight blushed a little at the memories. She was a little embarrassed, but also really happy and warm inside. She just hoped Spike didn’t notice anything was up with her or anything that morning. She and Naruko were no strangers to ‘intense affections’, but it was never that long into the night.
Twilight was also surprised how awake and refreshed she felt. She was ready to take on the Running of the Leaves and conquer it head on! She had been taking time to train for it with Naruko. She may not be in some competition like AJ and Rainbow, but she was going to give it her all. She had tried to convince Naruko to go all out, but her girlfriend was dead set on keeping pace with Twilight the whole time pretty much. They might have a mad dash race on the last part of the event, but that was all.
Once she was finished, Twilight started working on breakfast. It was her turn today, even if the menu was already decided. “Mooorningggg” she said in a sing song voice as Naruko entered the kitchen with Spike.
“You seem to be in a really good mood today, Twilight,” Spike said casually as he helped himself to a glass of juice before breakfast.
Twilight paused for a moment as both she and Naruko blushed unnoticed by the baby dragon. “I just got a really good night’s sleep last night… Besides… I need to be energetic today! It’s the Running of the Leaves,” she said with a smile. She hadn’t lied one bit in that statement and Naruko recovered her own composure. Twilight was a little surprised Naruko was caught off guard like that. She really loved seeing her blush though.
{-} {-} {-}
“What is this all about again?” Rainbow asked with a frown as she was tied up in rope.
“This is so you won’t be all tempted to use them wings no matter what! We’re keeping this here race completely fair and balanced,” Apple Jack said as she tightened the rope one last time. She had effectively tied Rainbow’s wings to her side.
Rainbow sighed to this. She guessed she could understand where AJ was coming from, but it kind of irked her a little. “I wasn’t going to use them, you know…” she said with a frown.
“And Ah’m sure ya would have said that if I asked you before the Tug of War before you ended up using them anyways,” AJ replied.
Rainbow couldn’t really come up with a convincing rebuttal to that. She might have still been tempted to use them since it wasn’t against the rules. Though truth be told, “Well, we won’t know that now I suppose…” she said grumpily.
AJ actually paused for a moment. “Ah guess… not…” she said in a low voice. She actually wasn’t so sure now that she thought about it. She had already tied Rainbow’s wings to her side, but when the pony said she wasn’t going to use them anyways, she oddly felt as if her friend was kind of telling the truth. It didn’t matter now.
“So, this is the tie breaker?” Naruko asked as she and Twilight came up by the two with their own numbers. Twilight was smiling very brightly and it caused Rainbow to wonder about it for a moment before she got into race mode.
“Yep! It sure is,” AJ replied.
“I still think the tying my wings thing is unnecessary,” Rainbow grumbled.
“Well it is too late now. Quit yer griping,” AJ said as she looked to the other two ponies. “Are ya’ll sure yer ready for this?” she asked.
Twilight gave a determined nod. “I’ve been training for this. I’m sure I’m ready!”
“Alright, but ya’ll aren’t gonna get any higher than third. Hope ya’ll don’t mind!” AJ said. She gave a chuckle and said, “I’ll be getting first. And Rainbow here will be getting second!”
“Hey! I’m the one who will get first. And you’re the one who will get second!” Rainbow corrected.
“Heh heh. Ah like yer optimism. But ya’ll gonna be second,” AJ said.
“Ha! In your dreams, AJ!” Rainbow replied.
“How about you two just focus on the race and not get in a fight about it? That way you won’t be distracted,” Twilight replied.
“That’s what I was going to say,” Rainbow replied.
“Sure… We’ll see who wins!” AJ said.
“Hey Derpy!” Naruko said distracting the others from their argument.
“Heya Boss!” Derpy replied from her spot on the starting line. The others took this as a sign to get ready for the race.
Just then Mayor Mare came out and stood in front of the starting line and smiled at the ponies. “I'm proud to welcome you all to Ponyville’s Annual Running of the Leaves. It is good to see so many new faces and returning faces today,” she greeted while waving in the vague direction of some of the usual pony participants and smiling. She really didn’t mind events like this, but it still meant she wasn’t getting to have this weekend day off. It was actually pretty remarkable she could be so charming and happy at such an event.
Mayor Mare then brought out a cap gun and aimed it to the sky. She pulled the trigger. It let out a resounding crack as the runners started!
AJ and Rainbow quickly took the lead, but then they started to try and shove the other around. They didn’t pay any attention to the other ponies who passed them as they complained about the other pony getting in their way. The two didn’t even notice as they were now at the back of the pack.
“Come on let’s go faster!” Twilight shouted in excitement as she noticed a large amount of the pack of ponies were in front of them.
“You’re the one who wanted to pace herself. Are you saying you want to change strategies? I thought the goal you had was to complete the Running of the Leaves with your marefriend,” Naruko teased as Twilight blushed.
“Oh… okay… Yeah. Heh heh,” Twilight nervously chuckled. She had gotten lost in the excitement of the race. She momentarily forgot her goal. Naruko could easily finish this race and probably secure first before then taking a nap while waiting for the others, but Twilight wanted the two of them to finish more or less together. They were going to have an actual race in the last stint, but until then they were supposed to stay together.
Twilight had wondered why Naruko agreed to this, but her girlfriend simply told her, “I’ve never had a relationship before. Especially with such a cute Pony like you, Twilight. I want to do everything we can together no matter what.”
The admission was so heartwarming and a little heartbreaking for Twilight. She was reminded of how Naruko’s life used to be. She had cried tears at that moment which were a mix of happiness and sorrow. Of course, she claimed they were all tears of happiness to Naruko. She didn’t even care that she herself had never been in a relationship before either. In Twilight’s mind, it was strange that a wonderful pony like Naruko hadn’t had a couple of lovers already. Twilight took this as proof of how lucky she was and again vowed to be the best lover and girlfriend she could be for Naruko.
The two ponies settled into a comfortable pace that might have been a little faster than Twilight’s initial calculations claimed they should be for optimum performance. The beautiful purple pony didn’t care about that though. She was feeling more energized and happier than she usually did, which was saying something for her since she came to Ponyville. Twilight wanted to be happy and fulfilled by the time they finished this race. She didn’t care if she was more tried than she initially planned or sweatier. She wanted this to be a memory for them both to last a long time.
Twilight’s pace picked up a little bit. Naruko just smiled at this turn of pace. “She seems to be in a really good mood. She can go at this pace and make it I bet,” she thought as she gazed at Twilight for a moment before catching up to her.
{-} {-} {-}
Rainbow wasn’t sure how she eventually got separated from AJ but she did. She had a feeling she was in the lead. She decided to play a trick on AJ. She ducked behind a bush as she waited for AJ to come into sight. She blamed AJ for tripping her earlier, even if the other pony wasn’t anywhere nearby at the time. Rainbow then noticed AJ was coming up the way. She quickly spun a sign to point AJ in the wrong direction.
“What the… Ah sure don’t think that is the right way,” AJ said as she looked over the sign. Rainbow did her best to hide her giggles. “Ah guess they changed the route or some such…” AJ said before she trotted up the path the sign pointed towards. It was actually a dead-end path, but Rainbow didn’t worry about AJ.
She then spun the sign back around so it was pointing in the right direction again and the flock behind AJ continued to run in the correct direction as she laughed at AJ falling for the trick. Rainbow then climbed out of the bush and joined the other ponies in their run. She knew she could easily make up for any lost time she had.
“Did she just…” Naruko asked lowly.
Twilight gave a sigh, “Yes, she did…”
“I really don’t get it,” Naruko admitted with a frown.
“I don’t either. Looks like she is getting ready to do something else now… Should we just forget about them?” Twilight asked.
“I say we do. We can explain on what they're doing is wrong after the race if we really need to do so,” Naruko said. She looked around behind them and frowned again. “I guess I will have to run this course again or something after the race. Their constant fighting and interfering is causing problems with everypony else and messing up the whole purpose of this race in the first place.”
The real reason behind the Running of the Leaves was to help clear away some of the more stubborn leaves from the White Tail Woods. It was a bit odd for Naruko who was still a little used to how seasons worked as a human, but this wasn’t Konoha. This was Ponyville. The Running of the Leaves was a pony thing that only really made sense to ponies in the end. She understood it, but still found it a bit weird in some ways. There was no denying the event was fun though.
“Alright! Let’s kick it up a notch, Twilight!” Naruko said with a grin.
“Sounds like a plan to me!” Twilight agreed as the two picked up their pace and started to make their way towards the front of the pack of ponies.
{-} {-} {-}
“You brought this upon yourself, AJ! I know you tripped me a few times and then that one stunt you tried to pull! Don’t blame me for evening the odds and flying this last stretch. Get off me!” Rainbow said as she flew a little above the ground with AJ grabbing on tight and not letting go.
“Ah tried to get you?! What in the hay are ya talking about? I know about the sign. You were trying to trip me! And ya broke your promise and started to fly the second ya could! How about that for sportsmanship?” AJ asked clearly angry.
“Ohhh…” Rainbow said. She came to realize just what she had done to a friend no less. She felt a little guilty now and seemed to crash back down to the ground. The two tumbled a bit and then immediately got back to running full speed ahead.
They were neck and neck with each other. There weren’t any other ponies around. They were sure they would be the first to finish, but who would win?! She wasn’t flying anymore, but both AJ and Rainbow were trying to shove the other off course as they continued to run.
“Not much further!” Rainbow said.
“I can see it!” AJ said.
They were yards away.
They were feet away.
They were inches away!
Rainbow and AJ both dived forward to try and get a hoof ahead of the other. They were both sliding forward as dust flew up everywhere and they came to a stop at the finish line.
They tied…
“How in the Sam Hill?!” AJ shouted in frustration. How did she and Rainbow tie after everything?! It wasn’t fair at all.
“That’s what I want to know,” Rainbow grumbled as she got up and helped AJ up as well out of instinct.
As AJ stood up, she asked, “How in the hay did we manage to tie? Again?!”
“I know! Right? Seriously… There is no way we should have slid to the finish line at the same time like that. I really don’t like ties,” Rainbow said with a sigh.
“Me too, Dash. Me too…” AJ said with a sigh.
“Soooo… who gets the first-place medal? Do we both get it?” Rainbow asked.
“I guess so… Ah’m not sure…” AJ replied.
“Actually… Neither of you get a medal,” Twilight said only sounding a little smug. As far as she was concerned, this turn out severed them both right. She really hoped they would learn a lesson here, even if she was sure the two would always be hyper competitive with each other.
“Wha?” AJ asked in shock.
“Yeah… Because you two were more focused on fighting and interfering with each other you two tied for last,” Twilight said with much more ease than the other two liked.
“Did Ah hear tha right?” AJ asked in disbelief.
“You two tied for Last,” Twilight repeated herself.
“Last?!!!” Rainbow shouted in a whine. She then whined a little more and hung her head down in shame.
Twilight’s expression softened a little. “If you had just raced properly you probably would have placed first and second, though I don’t know in what order. It’s just supposed to be for fun, you know. The whole Running of the Leaves. You two got so carried away I wouldn’t have been surprised if you hurt… your friendship…” Her voice tapered off towards the end as she frowned deeper and looked to the ground.
AJ gave a sigh. She then sniffed and took her hat off before placing it over her heart. “Ah sure am sorry, Rainbow. I shouldn’t have gotten the way I did. Ah love competing with ya, but ah got carried away. Can ya forgive me?”
Rainbow sniffed a little as well. “Of course, I can. But only if you forgive me as well. I got really carried away as well. I even ignored my heart when it told me I was doing things wrong…”
“Ah can if you can…” AJ replied.
“Then I do…” Rainbow replied as the two sniffed a little and hugged each other as a way to show their forgiveness and reaffirm their friendship.
Rainbow then looked back behind them and frowned anew. “There seems to be a lot of extra leaves still,” she muttered.
“Ummm… well… You two kind of messed that up too,” Twilight started.
AJ’s eyes widened as she looked as well.
“Don’t worry about it!” Twilight started. “Naruko’s going to take care of it. She’s already back at the starting line getting ready to run again with a bit of a wind spell following her to fix it all.” She hoped that would put her friends at ease.
“Gosh darn it… We can’t let Naruko fix up our foolishness. We were the ones acting liked spoiled fillies. We ought ta fix it,” AJ said.
“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed.
“I can teleport back there with you if you two really want to do this. Otherwise Naruko will probably be finished by the time we got there,” Twilight said.
“Teleport away,” Rainbow said as she placed a hoof on Twilight. AJ nodded as well before placing her own hoof on Twilight. The three vanished in a bright flash only to reappear seconds later back at the starting line.
“Hey,” Naruko greeted them as they appeared.
“We were the ones to mess up, so we’re gonna fix it,” AJ said to their blonde unicorn friend as Rainbow nodded.
“Do you two have the energy left to do so?” Naruko asked.
They nodded.
“Can you two not get carried away competing again and actually do it properly?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The two other ponies blushed at exactly the same time and each placed a hoof behind their head nervously before nodding.
Naruko smiled. "Alright then,” she replied.
AJ and Rainbow lined up. Rainbow then asked a question that had been bothering her. “So where did you place, Twilight?” she asked pointing a hoof at the medal around Twilight’s neck.
Twilight beamed brightly as she said, “I actually placed third! I did much better than I thought I would do. I just wanted to finish the race. I had no idea I would actually rank that high!” She then cutely clapped her forehooves together as she squealed a little in happiness.
“Wow… That’s actually really good,” Rainbow admitted.
“Who got second then?” AJ asked. She kind of figured Naruko got first given what she saw the pony could do.
“I did,” Naruko admitted as she held her medal up to Twilight’s and the two grinned together.
“We were keeping pace with each other until close to the end. I then raced Naruko on the last stretch of the course. I knew she was still going easy, but it was exciting even though I lost to her,” Twilight replied.
“Double wow…” Rainbow replied in shock. She too figured Naruko would get first if Twilight got third. “Who got first?” she asked.
“Track Stars,” Twilight replied. “She had a good lead before we got serious at the end.”
“I almost overtook her, but she managed to cross the finish line just before me,” Naruko admitted. “I might have gotten a little too carried away and serious in that last stretch.” Naruko gave a grin and scratched the back of her mane and laughed a little.
“Well, Ah’ll be…” AJ said in disbelief.
“Anyways… We should probably get started, AJ. We messed up enough as it is and need to make up for our mistake,” Rainbow said.
“Got that right,” AJ said as the two got into position and Twilight counted down for them before they shot off again. This time they weren’t going to horse around. This time they were going to do things right.
“It seems like they learned their lesson,” Naruko said with a smile.
“Maybe…” Twilight said still not fully convinced. She then smiled brightly as she asked, “So what do you want to do now?”
Naruko was in thought for a moment. “Well there was that one place you wanted to try. Shake’s an’ Hay’s.”
Twilight gave a new squeal in delight and hugged Naruko tightly. “I really want to try that place! I really want to have the Banana and Berry Cream shake I heard about. What are you going to get?” she asked.
“I think I’ll try that Iced Mocha Coffee,” Naruko said with a nod.
“Are you sure? You do remember how coffee affects you? Right? When you’re already awake at least,” Twilight said.
Naruko frowned. “It’s Iced Coffee…” she argued.
“It’s still coffee…” Twilight replied.
“It’s still the afternoon. I’ll be fine,” Naruko said with a nod.
“Okay… I just hope you won’t end up too energized and excited to sleep tonight,” Twilight replied in concern. Naruko could have coffee in the mornings after waking up just fine, but having it later in the day could be problematic. The caffeine went straight to her and didn’t let up at all until many hours later.
“Besides…” Naruko said with a mischievous grin. “I’m sure the two of us could think of some very fun and great feeling ways to get me exhausted tonight if needed,” she said with a bit of a bump in Twilight’s side.
Twilight blushed but smiled widely back. “I heard they have a two Iced coffees for one deal today in case your interested, Naruko,” she replied back.
Naruko giggled, “Now you're being an instigator and a little greedy.”
“All I see is a win-win situation for us both,” Twilight teased in reply before giggling again. She led the way to Shake’s an’ Hay’s much faster than a pony who just ran a marathon and placed Third usually should be able to move.
Naruko giggled again and caught up with Twilight’s pace and placed a kiss on her cheek. Twilight smiled warmly in reply before quickly returning the favor. “Let’s make this day even more memorable, Naru…” she said in a breathy voice as Naruko blushed.