'Buck... So close!' Glorious stood in the middle of a street, face stained with tears, rain, and anguish.
A figure walk towards him, clothed in what appeared to be a hat and jacket of some sort. Glorious could barely see this pony's face, but he could make out a unicorn horn. The looming figure then stopped as he spoke.
“Glorious Elocution.” He uttered with a dark tone, “Come back to Fillydelphia,” A devious smirk appeared upon the unicorn's face as he pointed to the ponies behind Glorious to emphasize his dastardly plan, “or do my associates and I have to ruin somepony's life due to your selfishness?”
Glorious glanced back to see six ponies, all of their faces outlined with concern. Elocution's drenched head hung low to the floor, “Fine. You win!” As his words were muttered, thunder exploded in the clouds above yet, it sounded more like a loud...
THUD!
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Glorious woke up abruptly to the sound resonating from the window next to him.
All Glorious could see was a mass of blonde mane that began to stir. The blonde clump shook and through the cracked train window revealed a pegasus with a gray coat and saddlebags.
Upon closer inspection, Elocution could tell that the pony was a mare; however, what really stuck out to the gold stallion was not the fact that the gray mare has made an innocent glass pane her hit-and-fly victim, but it was her eyes. The orbs of yellow intrigued him due to their mismatched nature.
“Hello! I'm Derpy Hooves,” The gray mare spoke with a lopsided smile taking Glorious out of his thoughts, “You look new. Here, I got something for ya,” Her head then disappeared within the saddlebags, but quickly reappeared with a... muffin? She then used her forehoof to signal Glorious to lower the, now broken, window.
He obliged and proceeded to pull the window down as told. When the cracked glass barrier was out of the way, Derpy threw the baked item on to Glorious' seat. She then spread her wings to get ready to take off, but not before saying, “Have some muffiny goodness!” Derpy then sprang in to the air, beating her wings with gusto as she flew in to the clear, cerulean sky.
Glorious just stood there, staring at the muffin. Completely dumfounded.
“I've met a couple of odd-balls in Fillydelphia,” Elocution pondered out loud as he picked up the baked treat, “but I don't believe I've met some that crashed in to a train window, politely greeted you, and then handed out free baked goods!” He then brought the muffin up to his nose to take in its aroma.
“Hmm... Freshly made.” For the first time, Glorious flashed a genuine smile. He usually got gifts from fans, but this was different. This random, very destructive, act of kindness from somepony who doesn't even know him, filled him with hope.
Although Elocution was grateful, he was still uneasy. Glorious then lifted the alluring aromatic snack to his muzzle and took a hearty bite. He began to think about his current situation.
'Am I truly free from the invasive press, the greedy fans, the—SWEETA CELESTIA! THIS IS BUCKING DELICIOUS!'
All of Elocution's qualms suddenly evaporated. His frown was quickly replaced with a face-splitting grin as he chewed happily. 'Buck the press!' he started, 'I can take on all of Equestria!'
Glorious fixed his fedora, and ate the muffin while trotting off the train with new found optimism.
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The golden pegasus made his way through the train station, the train behind him now was loading in new passengers. After taking a few steps in the unknown town, he stopped to take in the sight of the multitude of races, the suburban houses, and the crisp, clear blue sky being enhanced by Celestia's sun. The only sounds he heard was the sound of hooves hitting the stone path and the care-free chatter of ponies going about their normal routine.
He was here in... “Where in tartarus am I? Appleoosa?” Glorious dipped his head in to his trench coat to retrieve his ticket that read Pon___lle due to Captain hole puncher on the train.
'Ya, cause Appleoosa starts with a 'P', genius.' Elocution mentally slapped himself for not remembering, 'Maybe I can ask one of the locals... that are wearing raincoats?' Upon further observation, it appears that the residents of this town are wearing attire for a storm.
'Why would anypony wear that in this warm weather?' Glorious' thoughts were then cut short by a roaring shout.
“INCOMING!”
He turned his head in the direction of the voice, only to get hit by a colorful blur. Elocution and the unknown pony careened towards a conveniently placed bale of hay that stopped their momentum. Glorious remained still as he found himself dazed on the organic cushion.
“What day is it today? Become a crash test dummy day?” Elocution said to himself considering the incident earlier. He got back on his hooves and shook of the the hay that were on his clothes. 'Well, might as well help,' Glorious then grabbed the blue hoof sticking out of the hay with his forehooves and pulled the mystery pony out.
What sprang out was a pegasus, but not your everyday pegasus. It was a mare with a rainbow mane and tail. Her coat was cyan, which could rival the sky's color. But, for some odd reason, Elocution could have sworn that he has seen this pegasus before. She then shook off the excess hay and looked at Glorious with her magenta eyes, an apologetic smile gracing her muzzle.
“Sorry about that,” the rainbow mare spoke with a raspy voice, “Didn't mean to fly in to you.”
Glorious responded with a smirk, “Don't worry about it. Some muffin enthusiast earlier almost crashed in to me,” Elocution recalling the events that transpired on the train.
The cyan pegasus giggled at that remark. “Let me guess, it was Derpy?” she questioned, completely aware of the answer.
Elocution cocked his eyebrow due to her accurate assumption and just had to raise the question, “Is this like an everyday occurrence here?”
The fellow pegasus nodded, “Happens pretty much everyday here in Ponyville,” Rainbow responded
'At least it's more logical than Pon___lle and Appleoosa,' Glorious grinned remembering his ticket.
“Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. The name's Rainbow Dash!” When she announced her name, it jogged Elocution's memory. He once wrote an article about her on his radio show because she won The Best Young Flier's Competition in Cloudsdale.
“The fastest flier in all of Equestria, right?” Glorious inquired.
Rainbow Dash swelled with pride and puffed out her chest as she proudly proclaims, “The one and only!”
Glorious couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes at the mare's cockiness.
“Speaking of names,” Rainbow Dash added as she raised a forehoof at Elocution, “What's yours?” She asked; her proud smile now a cocky grin.
“Oh, it's Glo-,” The well-spoken pegasus cut himself off before revealing his true identity. He couldn't allow anypony to know his true persona, just in case some of the ponies in Ponyville are actually from Fillydelphia, and if he actually did make a name of himself here, then news would certainly spread outside of this town.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion, “Huh? I didn't quite catch that.”
Glorious shifted his head away to avert her gaze, 'C'mon Glorious! Think of something...' Elocution deeply scowled as he furiously struggled for a name, but then an image hit him like the mare in front of him did a few minutes ago. The image was the circus tent he saw before he left Fillydelphia. This gave Glorious an excellent idea. He quickly locked eyes with Rainbow again; his scowl now a light smile.
He spoke up to break the awkward silence, “Sorry about that, my brain just got screwy for a second,” Elocution said while regaining his composure, “The name's... Serendipitous, Serendipitous Speech,” He lied casually.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow upon hearing Glorious' new alias and responded, “That's an odd name,” Glorious bit his lower lip, hoping his ruse will work. Her face then eased in to a grin, “Mind if I call you a nickname instead?” Once she finished her question, Glorious let out a breath of air he was holding in. He was elated and relieved that she didn't call him on it.
“Sure Rainbow, what did you have in mind?” Elocution asked going along with it.
“Hmm...” She brought a forehoof up to her chin as she thought of a nickname, “How about 'Double S'? That sounds pretty cool.”
Glorious thought about it and simply nodded his approval.
“Awesome! Hey Double S, how bout' I fly you around town since you're new? I'm starting to get bored just standing around.” She offered while stretching out her wings to emphasize her restlessness.
Glorious considered the offer, but decided against it. He usually like to keep to himself due to the constant 'fan' pestering. 'Besides, I gotta decide my next move here in Ponyville.' He thought as he looked off in to the distance while scratching his head with his forehoof.
“Maybe another time Da- 'Oh buck.' His train of thought derailed by what he saw in the nearby distance. Glorious clenched his teeth at the sight.
It was the demon that haunts every fiber of his being.
The bane of his own existence.
There stood, a couple feet from him, a dark brown pony with an enthusiastic smile. He wore a fedora that matched his coat that held three items.
A pen.
A note pad.
And something that is idiosyncratic of that pony's profession.
A slightly tilted piece of paper stuck between the rim and the hat itself.
On that piece of paper was a word in big bold letters that spell out: PRESS.