//------------------------------// // The Mall // Story: Wilmont // by gmen15 //------------------------------// Chapter 6: The Mall City Hall- Morning Today was much more chaotic than usual. The building was packed with reporters running from person to person, asking for short interviews so that they could gather information about Jacob Hanson following the "accidental" diner explosion. Cameras flashed at every corner of the building as local politicians were being interviewed about the late mayoral candidate.   With this all going on, Brett was sitting at his desk watching the local news. Enjoying that he wasn't pulled aside by any of the local media parasprites who didn't give a damn about Hanson's death, only the story and ratings surge it gave their respective stations. Hell, Brett KILLED Hanson, yet he felt that he was mourning his death than any reporter or journalist that was running around city hall. A woman news reporter was discussing the tragedy previous night, [i.]...the explosion that killed twelve people, including Mayoral Candidate Jacob Hanson, is being blamed on a gas leak that came from the kitchen." Smiling at the brilliant lie, Brett took a sip of his coffee as he continued to watch and wait, until finally Drocsid's response was shown on the news, "It is truly a tragedy to hear about such a loss. Jacob and I may have been on opposite sides of the political fence, but he was an upstanding citizen and a respectable man and I send out condolences to his friends and family." Brett smiled demonically and laughed as he watched Drocsid walk away from the podium with the flashing of cameras lighting him up as he disappeared from view, questions from reporters being shouted after him like the expected him to come back and answer them. "It's amazing how far some pretty wording can get you in politics." Brett let out a chuckle and leaned back against his chair and let out a sigh, "Bringing this world into chaos will be as easy as teaching a fish to swim." Wilmont Mall When Carl and Ryan pulled into the mall parking lot, it was clear, based on the sheer number of cars parked outside, that teenagers recently freed for summer needed someplace to hang out or go on massive shopping sprees that they had saved up for throughout the year. It was that packed. While it was busy, there was still ample parking due to the sheer size of the lot, and the mall for that matter. So both Ryan and Carl easily found two spots right next to each other, though they were somewhat far from the entrance. But that wasn't too much of a problem, after all some walking was healthy, even if both boys, like most teenagers, would do anything they could to reduce the amount of effort needed to get places. In Carl's car, Rarity and Twilight both pressed against the windows of the car to see the mall, eyes wide in excitement. The mall was very large, with grand, glass entrance that led directly to the food-court, where fast food joints lined the walls. There was a large carousel that was clearly visible through the glass entrance. It went around and around, little kids screaming in joy as the ride continued on, and on, and on in the same direction. "Oh is this the mall?" Twilight asked excitedly. "Yep." Carl replied as he turned the engine off and un-buckled his seat-belt. "It's simply grand." Rarity said as she pressed her face completely into the glass. "And that carousel I see really adds a touch of classiness to it." "Yeah, I don't think there's a mall this impressive in all of Equestria." Twilight said, her eyes still glued to the carousel. "That's nothing, wait until we get inside." Carl said as he opened the door of his car, "let's just hope your spell worked out well Twilight. I'd hate to see people's faces if they saw you girls as ponies." Twilight nodded, "It will work. Trust me." Carl got out of the car and was about to help the girls out, only to see both the passenger-side door and one of the doors in the back fly open, a familiar magents aura surrounding them. Carl looked at Twilight as she and Rarity hopped out of the car. Twilight's horn then glowed again, as did the two open doors, before they both shut with a nice, solid "thud". Twilight then nodded in approval before turning to Carl, who just stared at her with an eye-brow raised. "What?" Twilight asked. Carl rolled his eyes, "Show off." As Twilight rolled her own eyes at Carl's reaction, Carl locked the car and turned towards Ryan's car. Ryan was already out of his own car, the four ponies that he drove stood around him, stretching their legs, and wings in Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's case, a bit to get the stiffness out of them. Ryan gestured for Carl to follow him so that they were a few feet away from the girls, as Ryan needed to talk to him. When Carl went over, Ryan leaned towards him and whispered. "Hey, do you think we should have all six of them come in with us? I mean, if we do that we might draw attention having a girl to guy ratio of 6:2." Carl raised an eyebrow. "Is everything all right?" Ryan put his hand to his head, "Yeah, but do you think all six of them should come inside with us? We might draw unwanted attention to ourselves with a girl to guy ratio of six to two." "And that's a problem because...?" Carl asked, confused as to how such a ratio, with so many girls, could be considered a problem. If anything he felt it would make them look boss. Ryan put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and let out an annoyed sigh, "Look, we aren't exactly "ladies' men". If we go into the mall with all six girls, one of three possibilities will happen." Ryan then started counting off the negative possibilities on his fingers, "One, someone working for Discord might recognize them. Two, it'll make us out to be pimps, which isn't bad at all, but the third possibility is more likely in that people would think that we're..." Ryan made a gesture as if to say Carl should be able to guess what the third thing was. But Carl was clueless. "That we're what?" Ryan rolled his eyes. He then did a quick girly motion with his hand in a "oh no you didn't" manner, an expression most men wouldn't even consider doing unless they were joking around. Carl got the idea and his eyes widened in horror. "Oh shit." "Right," Ryan said. "So I think one of us should stay back with some of the girls." "Yeah, but which ones stay back?" Carl asked. "Ahem." They both turned around to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looking up at them. Apparently, they felt like privacy wasn't a right anymore for these two boys and went over to eavesdrop on them. Actually, it was more of Rainbow Dash going over there and dragging Fluttershy with her. The yellow pegasus felt that eavesdropping was rude. But Rainbow Dash was more assertive, and she wanted to know what the two boys were talking about. So, like always, she got her way. Rainbow Dash smiled at the two. "We don't mind staying back." "Only if you don't mind, after all, I wouldn't be comfortable in such a big place with so many people." Fluttershy said. She then looked over to the mall entrance and gave a big, nervous "gulp" that, of course, was adorable. "And I can't stand being around so many clothing stores. It's just WAY too girly for me." Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue as she said this to illustrate her disgust. Ryan looked at Carl. "I'll stay back with them." he said, "and you can take the others inside. If he asks, tell James I'm outside with two of "Tara's" friends because they're sick from walking around." "Walking around?" "Tell James we're giving them a tour of the local area because they aren't from around here." Carl nodded, "Okay, I just hope he doesn't know that we're bullshitting him." Ryan shrugged and walked back to his car, "Come on ladies. Let me introduce you to some human music." "Awesome!" "Yay." Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed him, both looking somewhat excited to hear more human music as neither of them got enough of it yesterday and were looking forward to hearing more. Carl sighed and looked at the other four girls, who were all standing around his Ryan's car. "Well great, now I'm stuck alone in a situation where I'm surrounded by girls." Carl groaned as he realized that his and Ryan's plan didn't do anything but minimize the number of ponies who were walking into the mall. It was still a 4:1 ratio of girls to guys. Normally being surrounded by this many girls would make Carl ecstatic, but thinking in the problems that Ryan talked about earlier made him re-think it. After all, it was true that a guy not really known for being a "playa" would get the reputation of being gay if he was the only guy in a group of girls. But Carl didn't feel like thinking about what to do anymore, so he accepted it and decided to go with his motto of "fuck what society thinks" that he usually tried to follow. "Hey Carl are you ready? I want to check out this mall!" Pinkie Pie said jumping up and down excitedly. Carl nodded and let out a deep sigh and thought "Twilight your spell better be as effective as it was last night." As they approached the mall, Pinkie Pie saw the carousel and immediately began to show her excitement. "Oh! Is that a carousel? I absolutely love carousels, except when they go too fast and give me tummy aches. Like, one time, I went on one after eating waaayyyy too many cupcakes and..." "Maybe physical appearance won't be our only issue." Carl thought with a groan. Food Court James rested his head on the black, steel table he sat at. He was still recovering from the last bit of his hangover. He was still seething at all of the praise his brother got over him, stirring the straw in his drink for no reason other than to relieve some of his stress. He was just thankful that he had enough strength not to stab the straw through the bottom of the cup and cause the drink to spill out. "Oh Patrick is so smart, Patrick is so special, Patrick is Jesus Christ himself! What a crock of shit." He lifted his head up off of the table-top and took a sip of the soda that he got from one of the fast food places that lined both sides of the food court. James looked at his phone and began to surf the web when he felt somebody tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see his friend Alex Franco standing behind him. Alex had curly blonde hair that was hidden under a white Dallas Cowboys hat that he was wearing backwards. He had some freckles, green eyes and a cheerful face that reflected his "southern gentleman" self. He also looked somewhat muscular, far more athletic looking than Carl, James or Ryan. He was generally an optimistic kid even though his life was far from perfect, and he was by far the most athletic friend that was in the group. He also had some scars on his face from some past hardships, as well as current ones. "Hey Alex." James mumbled with the biggest smile he could muster, which wasn't much at all. His weakness was still apparent. "Hey James, what are you doing here?" Alex asked pulling out a chair that was next to James and plopping himself down in it. James let out a yawn before he replied, "Well, I'm supposed to meet Ryan and Carl, but they haven't shown up yet." "That's typical of them." Alex asked with a chuckle and James nodded. Alex adjusted the hat on his head so the Cowboy's logo and brim was facing forward. "Yeah, and I hope they get here soon. I need to get over to Caroline's house before work." "Mr. Courtie?" James nodded. "So," Alex leaned forward on his elbows, which were pressed onto the table, "how was the party? By the looks of it I guess you went all out?" "That would be the understatement of the millennium." James muttered. "Have fun?" "Don't really remember," James said, thinking back to the night before, "but yeah I did." "Ah, but how can you be sure if you don't remember?" Alex asked with a know-it-all smile. "To steal a quote from the "Hangover", if you don't remember it, I had a fucking awesome time." James said before taking another sip of soda. He chuckled a bit to hide his stress from Alex, who was usually good at knowing when someone wasn't being open about their emotions, like a human lie detector. Fortunately, if Alex did notice James' anxious behavior, he didn't bring it up. Alex leaned back against the chair, a smile on his face, and put his hands behind his head like he was chilling out. "I hear ya man, I hear ya." Just then Carl, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie all went over to James and Alex. Of course, they only saw Carl and four human girls with interesting physical traits walking up to him. For instance, Applejack looked like the typical blonde southern girl with a cowboy hat and a brown, leather jacket. Rarity appeared to wear a very nice t-shirt with sparkles on it, and her hair was so nice that it seemed like she just got back from a professional stylist. Pinkie Pie had really huge, pink hair and an all-pink outfit. Now, this was what everyone saw except for Carl, who was hoping that the spell was working well. Alex looked up at them and smiled. "Oh shit, it looks like we've got a playa here." Alex walked over and shook Carl's hand. "What's up Alex?" Carl asked as eh returned the shake. "Not much. I just stopped by to pick up some glassware. Some of ours broke last night." Twilight looked over at James and pointed her hoof at him, though to Alex and James, it appeared that she was pointing a finger with a purple fingernail. "Hey, you're that boy that I met at the party last night." James looked at Tara as his memory slowly came back. "Oh yeah, you're that girl that came up to us, what was your name again, Tina? Terry?" "Tara." Twilight said with a small smile. "Yeah guys this is Tara, and these are her friends..." Carl was about to say their real names when he stopped himself. He gulped, as he knew that he had to improvise some names off of the top of his head. The issue was that he was never the most creative person when it came to that so he just gave them girl names that started with the same letter as their actual names. "This is Anna, Penelope, and...Raquel." Carl grimaced at the last name, knowing how odd of a choice it was. "Raquel, that's an interesting name." James said, looking at Rarity. Rarity gave James an accusing look, "And what is that supposed to mean exactly?" James held up his hands in defense, "Nothing, you just don't look like a "Raquel". I think Bella or Alexandra would be more fitting. Something that sounds like it comes from Victorian Literature." "Victorian Literature? Oh, what's that, sounds awesome!" Pinkie Pie asked, thankfully saying "person" instead of "pony". "It's not. It's a genre of literature that's used to make High School students' lives hell, and make college students feel more enlightened than they actually are." James said with a snarky smirk. "So you're James, huh?" Applejack asked James, her southern drawl grabbed Alex's attention. "Yeah, that's me." Applejack then pointed at Alex, "And you are?" "Alex. You're Anna, right?" "Yessir." Applejack said with a small tip of her Stetson hat. "That's a nice accent you've got there. Where are you from?" Alex asked. "Pony..." She managed to get out before Carl stepped in quickly to save their cover. "Tennessee! She's from Tennessee." "Tennessee? That's really neat," Alex said with a flirty smile, "I'm actually from Texas." He pointed to his Cowboys hat to show her, which she looked at confused, not sure exactly what the blue star was supposed to be, unless it meant Alex was a sheriff, which she doubted. "So are you a Titans fan?" Alex asked. Applejack's eye-brow went up and her face became a portrait of utter bewilderment, "A what-tans fan?" "Okay, I think that's enough introductions for now. James, you want to head out to see Ryan." James nodded. Carl turned to Alex, "Alex, you want to?" Alex shook his head. "No man I still need to get the glassware I came here for." Alex stood up and adjusted the hat on his head so it was facing backwards again, "I'll talk to you guys later, and it was nice meeting you four girls." He turned and smiled at Applejack and gave her a flirtatious wink, "Especially you." Applejack blushed a bit and returned the smile. "Pleasure ta meet y'all partner." Carl bit his lip anxiously as Alex walked away with a beaming smile on his face, as well as a reddish tint to his cheeks from the blush he had after talking to the southern belle, who he didn't suspect was really an orange, cartoon pony. "What the hell took you so long to get here?" James hissed at Carl. "Sorry, I got side-tracked." "And where the hell is Ryan again?" "Back at the car," Carl said, "He's with two of Tara's friends that felt sick." James looked at Carl in shock, "There are two more?" Carl nodded and James just chuckled, "All right, I'm confused, but I'll go along with this. Especially with six girls in the picture." Just like that, all six began to leave the food court. Ryan's Car Back in his car, Ryan was with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash listening to some of the music on Ryan's iPod, which he plugged into the adapter that allowed the music to play over the radio. "Oh this song is so beautiful, what's it called? Fluttershy asked, resting her head against the back of her seat. "Um, it's "One Day" by Matisyahu." Ryan said with a sigh, letting the music enter one ear and exit the other, leaving him with a feeling of bliss. He loved the way this song brought him to a place of peace and tranquility that most songs couldn't. "Eh, it's pretty good I guess. But do you have anything...you know...cooler?" Rainbow Dash asked. Ryan chuckled, thinking of how typical it was of her to act like that, which was why she won him over so much as his favorite pony. "Thought you'd never ask." He flipped through his playlist to find a song that he knew Rainbow Dash would like. At the same time, he hoped that it wouldn't be too hardcore for Fluttershy. He pressed play and waited to rock out with the two pegasi. Outside in the parking lot, Carl and James were heading over to Ryan and Carl's cars and talking to each other, as well as Twilight and the others. They were so focused on talking that they didn't even see a boy heading right at them, his own eyes looking down and away from the group of kids heading his way. James bumped into him, knocking the smaller boy to the ground, leaving him dazed. "Ah, sorry man." James apologized as he reached down to help up the boy. He looked like he was two to three years younger than Carl, James or Ryan. In reality, though, he was the same age. He was just short and thin, even more so than Ryan. He had messy brown hair and sad-looking blue eyes, which were almost completely hidden behind his bangs. As James helped him up, the boy didn't even utter "oomph", he was that quiet. "Kid you okay?" Carl asked. The boy didn't say anything. It was then that he knew who the quiet boy was. "Wait, aren't you Pete Reynolds?" The boy didn't answer; he just looked down at his feet and gave a small nod. It was well known that Pete Reynolds was the number one target for bullying, even more so than Ryan. People also spread rumors about him like crazy. You see, he used to be one of the most talkative and outgoing kids in school, but one day he just stopped and became quiet, like someone tore out his voice box while simultaneously taking his spirit. No one really knows why, so naturally ideas spread from student to student about possible reasons, mostly about him being a weirdo. "Pete, are you okay?" Pete nodded again and slowly started to walk by the group when Pinkie Pie stepped into his path with a big smile on her face. "Oh dear God no." Carl thought, "Pink...er I mean Penelope what are you doing?" Rarity hissed. Pinkie didn't even seem to notice Carl's question as she was too determined to introduce herself to Pete. "Hi, I'm Penelope!" Pete stopped and looked up at the mare, but what he saw was a girl with really big, pink hair and large, expressive blue eyes. As his eye caught Pinkie's, his expression seemed to relax and he seemed to perk up a bit. "I'm...I'm Pete." He said with a shy smile, his eyes averted soon after he said it. "Nice to meet you!" she said. Carl mentally had a "thank you God" moment at the fact that she remembered her assigned name, as he felt that if anyone forgot to use his or her fake name, it would be her. What he didn't see was Pete suddenly smiling more than he had in a long time. It still wasn't a lot, but it was a significant improvement. "Hi," he said quietly before biting his lip anxiously at the fact that he was having a conversation with someone. He was not used to this. "Listen I need to go now, but it was nice to...to meet you and...stuff." With that, he walked away. "Okie dokey, see you later Petey-weety!" Pinkie said in her usual peppy, friendly voice that would make the most reclusive individual want to come out of his shell and socialize with others. Pete gave her a quick smile before he headed off in a happier mood than he was in before colliding with James. James' mouth hung open, "Holy shit dude, she got Pete Reynolds to talk. He never talks." Carl shrugged, "What can I say, she's great with meeting people." Pinkie Pie was still waving to Pete when Twilight trotted over and pulled her pink hoof down. "Come on Pinkie." Pinkie Pie giggled, "Sorry Twi, he was just so sweet." Twilight smiled when she and Pinkie trotted over to Carl and the others. As she approached her partner and his friend, she suddenly thought of something. Her eyes widened and a small smile spread across her face when she finally reached Carl. She tapped him on the waist, which looked like the shoulder to James. Again, the spell was very manipulative. "Carl, can we get back to Ryan and the others?" she asked, "I need to check James for something." "For what?" "I'll show you soon, but can we please go back to your house so we don't have to worry about people hearing us?" Carl nodded, though he was still confused. With that, the group continued on its trek back to Ryan's car. They didn't notice as, behind them, Lawrence and two of his cronies, Sean and Lance, began to surround a frightened Pete. Meanwhile, in Ryan's truck, some of the most badass lyrics ever written were being blared: Ryan's Car "A-ah-ahh-ah, ah-ah-ahh-ah We come from the land of the ice and snow from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands To fight the horde and sing and cry, Valhalla, I am coming On we sweep with, with threshing oar Our only goal will be the western shore!" Yes, they were listening to the 2011 cover of "Immigrant Song" by Karen O., Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Ryan and Rainbow Dash were both wearing pairs of sunglasses and singing along with the song. Even Fluttershy was enjoying the music, which was surprising, as Ryan didn't see her as someone who'd like heavy metal. Either way, Ryan found himself having the time of his life with the cyan mare that he loved, even if only in secret. She rocked the song like she was a guitarist from the 1980's. She also looked like a complete badass in her sunglasses; Ryan kept imagining the words "deal with it" appearing under her like the meme that he had seen so often. For some reason, with the song playing and her rocking out to it, it seemed like that saying was even more applicable than it was on just the picture. "Ryan, this song is so AWESOME! You've got to let me take this back to Equestria so I can use it during my flight routines!" she said, lowering her glasses slightly towards the edge of her muzzle so her red eyes looked into Ryan's frames as he looked back at her. "Dash, not only do I want you to use this song when you fly, I want to see you do a sonic rainboom to it!" "I will! Oh hang on, let me rock out to this some more!" she shouted happily over the blaring music just before she began to do play the air-guitar. "Hey Fluttershy, this song too much metal for you?" Ryan asked, turning his attention to the pony in the back-seat, who was not rocking out, rather she was just laying on the seat, listening. But, surprisingly, she didn't mind the song at all. "Oh no, this song is neat. I actually like it, even if it is a wee bit loud." Fluttershy said before her eyes opening, "Oh I hope I didn't insult your taste in music Ryan." "Not at all Fluttershy!" Ryan said. They kept singing as they heard a knock at the window. Ryan turned to see Carl, James and the four girls. Carl had an expression on his face that screamed "are you fucking kidding me?" Ryan turned the music down and lowered the window, "Hey, welcome to the Hard Rock Café in Wilmont. A.K.A, my Tahoe." Ryan gestured to his truck with a smile on his face. Carl rolled his eyes as James looked into the car at the two girls. "Hey, who are these two babes you've got here?" James asked, looking at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, both of whom looked like human girls to him. Rainbow Dash wearing a cyan t-shirt and athletic shorts while Fluttershy looked like she was wearing a lightweight, yellow zip-up hoodie, proving that she still had the d'awww factor even when people saw her as a human. "James," Ryan said, "I'd like to introduce you to Thelma..." Ryan pointed back at Fluttershy, who waved at James shyly, a small blush on her face, "...and Louise." He then pointed to Rainbow Dash, who had her forelegs crossed and a cocky smile on her face. Just then Ryan's smile faded as he looked past Carl and James. He pulled his sunglasses off, his eyes squinting like he was looking at something. "What the hell." Carl, James and everypony all turned to see what Ryan was looking at. About fifty feet away, Pete was laying face-up on the pavement as Lawrence, Sean and Lance surrounded him. The bloodied Pete tried to push himself back up to his feet. That's when Lawrence raised his foot above Pete's back and brought it down hard, sending the timid boy back to the pavement, this time face-down. Pete was even quiet when he was getting beat up. He didn't utter a scream, or a yelp, or a groan or a sob, he just cried silently, tears rolling down his cheeks and landing on the pavement along with the blood from his nose, and a cut on his cheek. Carl and the others were frozen in place; they didn't know what to do. So they all watched stupidly until Ryan, being the loyal person that he was, jumped out of his truck, angrily slammed the door, and ran over to the scene. "Hey! Lawrence, you ass-hole!" Lawrence turned away from the smaller, helpless boy and to Ryan. He had an evil smile. "You stay out of this Ryan; you aren't scheduled for another beating until Tuesday." Lawrence sneered. "You know, I'd say that you should pick on someone your own size, but that would require finding a fucking sumo wrestler." Ryan hissed, "Leave Pete alone." "Why the hell should we?" he asked as he took a step towards Ryan, who started to look nervous, "You can't stop us, and when you try, it doesn't work out well for you now does it? How are your eyes by the way?"" Ryan put his hand up to his more recently bruised eye and rubbed it, "Never better. You'd be surprised how much of a chick magnet black eyes can be." "How would you know? You've never even kissed a girl you faggot." Sean hissed with a smile that most sociopaths would fear. He was the loose cannon of the group and, as nervous as Lawrence made him, Ryan always felt his stomach to a flip whenever Sean said anything. "Well, I see you have an audience today." Lawrence said, gesturing over towards the girls, Carl and James, who were all watching him.   Ryan bit his lip and Lawrence gave his own, classic, sadistic smile. "Not to mention a few girls. Here's your chance to impress them, hit me." He said, leaning towards Ryan with a smug smile. Ryan didn't move, too afraid of the consequences of a fight. He was in no way a pacifist, but he never could bring himself to try to physically hurt someone. He would if Pete was being beaten at the moment, but right now it was just he and he'd only physically hurt someone else if they were going after someone else at that time. Especially with Rainbow Dash and the other girls watching, he didn't want to scare them by fighting, not when they were so innocent. A few seconds later Sean laughed, "Yo man he's too much of a pussy!" Lawrence smiled, looking over as Carl and the other started over to them. "Well, I guess I have to take the reins on this." Lawrence grabbed Ryan by the collar, reared his right hand back and punched Ryan in the nose. He put his hands to his bloody face as he fell to the pavement. "Ryan!" he heard a familiar, raspy female voice shout out. Ryan felt Lawrence kick him in the side, right where his ribs were. Ryan rolled over onto his other side, clutching his hurt rib cage. Lawrence brought his fist into his stomach, causing him to lurch in pain. Everyone's attention was on the fight, that they didn't notice a cyan mare use her teeth to open the car door and push her way out. "Get up!" Lawrence demanded before kicking Ryan again. "Hang on Ryan, I'm coming!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she made a b-line towards Lawrence. All of a sudden, Ryan saw a flash of blue with rainbow streaks smash into Lawrence at near supersonic speed, sending him flying about fifteen feet into the side of a pick-up truck. The glass in the side door shattered and fell around Lawrence, as he lay dazed on the pavement. Luckily the car alarm on the truck didn't go off since it was an older model vehicle. Thus, only the three bullies, Pete, Ryan, Rainbow Dash, James, Carl and the other ponies were witnesses to the attack. Regardless, Sean and Lance looked at Rainbow Dash in astonishment. Now to Carl and Ryan, it didn't look un-natural to see Rainbow Dash fly at such a speed, but to James and the others, it looked like a teenage girl sprinted at an impossible speed impossible for a human, and sucker punched Lawrence so hard that he flew into a truck with a force that damaged the truck itself. Understandably, James and the others were too stunned to speak after witnessing such a strange event. Sean and Lance turned and ran over to help Lawrence up, as he was still confused. Eventually, he got his bearings and ran off towards his own car, Sean and Lance following him. All three boys had nervous looks on their faces. "Yeah, you'd better run! Jerks." Rainbow Dash spat before turning her attention to the bleeding Ryan. Ryan looked up at the mare, whose face showed great concern. He realized that she genuinely cared about him, as if saving him wasn't enough. "Ryan? Are you okay?" Without hesitation, Ryan put his arms around Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly. This impulsive act of affection surprised the mare, whose eyes went wide and cheeks went red as she tentatively hugged Ryan back. "Thank you Dashie! Thank you!" He didn't realize how intimate the situation got until he already did it. He was just so happy that someone, or in this case somepony, stood up for him that he didn't care how it looked. He was usually able to handle himself and stay stoic when being beaten up, but he was so emotionally touched by what she did for him, her loyalty, that he couldn't hold back. He didn't sob, but he had to try with every fiber of his being, to prevent tears from filling his eyes from the gratitude he felt. She was as loyal as he always knew she'd be. As Ryan continued to hug her, Rainbow Dash was stunned; her blush proof of her mixed feelings. But she pretended to brush it off as just his reaction to being helped so she just chuckled. "He-he, don't worry about it." "I'm just happy someone finally stood up for me." He whispered to her so no one else heard it. After all, he really didn't want James or Carl to be insulted even though Ryan did feel that they played the bystander too much when he got the shit kicked out of him. "Why did you call her Dashie?" James asked, "I thought her name was Louise." "It is," Ryan, said as he broke the hug and wiped from blood off of his nose, "Dashie is her nickname. After all, you saw how fast she was." Ryan gave Rainbow Dash a small wink as he covered for his mistake. She blushed at the compliment and smiled back at Ryan. James nodded, accepting the reason, but in his mind he was still confused over Ryan's reaction. And he wasn't the only one. Carl was shocked, not only at how far Rainbow Dash managed to smash Lawrence, but how Ryan reacted to it. Was he that thankful for her loyalty, or was it something more? It certainly got him thinking, even if for only a few seconds. In fact, only one who wasn't taken aback by Ryan's reaction was Applejack, and that was because of what Ryan told her the night before. "Uh Pinkie," Applejack whispered so that no one could hear her real name, "why don't ya go see if that boy over there is okay." She pointed to Pete, who was sitting on the ground with a bloody nose and lip. His eyes looking down at the ground, his face still showing sadness. "Oh! Okay!" she said happily before bouncing over to Pete. Yes, she bounced, and James was now even more confused. "What drugs is that girl on...and where can I get some?" Carl tapped James on the shoulder and motioned for him to go over to Ryan. Both boys did so and helped their friend up. Meanwhile, Pinkie was standing by a frightened looking Pete. "Hey there, are you okay?  It wasn't nice what those meany-weenies did to you. Do you need a hoof...er I mean hand?" Pete was frozen for a second, face turning bright red as Pinkie stood over him. Suddenly, tears began to fill his eyes and flow down his cheeks in a mix of embarrassment and misery. He quickly stood up and bolted off, leaving a very confused Pinkie in his wake. "Hey wait!" she shouted, but Pete kept running. "Where are you going? "Pinkie Pie? What in the name of Equestria did you do?" Rarity asked, walking over to Pinkie. "I didn't do anything, he was just upset." Pinkie Pie said before looking in the direction Pete ran off in. She let out a depressed sigh, "Poor Petey." While all of this was happening, Twilight and Applejack were staring at the three boys, Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof as she pondered. "Um Twilight, what are ya thinking about?" Applejack asked, realizing that Twilight had her violet eyes on James. "Just a hunch, like I had with Ryan." She walked over to James and tapped him on the shoulder. "Huh?" James asked, turning around to see Twilight, or Tara as he thought. He smiled, "Oh hey Tara, what's up?" "James, can you hold still for a moment? I need to check something." Twilight asked with a kind, yet pleading, smile. James nodded and Twilight leaned her head into James' heart, making him jump back. Twilight looked up at him with an annoyed expression. "Stay still I need to check something." "And what can you find out by pressing your head against my chest?" James asked with a hint of irritation in his voice. "More than you think, now if I may." She leaned forward again and did the same thing she did with Ryan the night before. After a few seconds of James looking down at Twilight in confusion, she stepped back, smiled at him, and walked over to Carl. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to see her. "Hey Tara, what's up?" Twilight motioned for Carl to bend down to her level. He did. "What is it?" Carl asked. Twilight smiled and whispered into Carl's ear. "Your friend James is the Element of Kindness." Carl was in shock as the words left Twilight's mouth. He turned to see James talking with Ryan and Rainbow Dash, Ryan still had some blood on his face, but he seemed to have recovered from Lawrence's wrath, for the most part. "Should we tell him now?" Carl asked Twilight shook her head; "No, we should probably show him what we really look like first so he doesn't think that we're crazy. Let's take him back to your house." Carl nodded when Fluttershy spoke up, "If you...um..don't mind me asking. Is your friend a "brony" too?" Carl shook his head, "I seriously doubt it. If he is, he never told us. But I guess he'll learn to be one, especially with you as his partner." He said, smiling at Fluttershy, "You could convert the most adamant haters into bronies just by having them look at you." Fluttershy shyly backed when Carl looked at her, a blush growing in her cheeks. "Do you want to talk to him now?" Carl asked Fluttershy, who responded by shaking her head. Carl nodded. He then let out a sigh and walked over to James. "James, listen can you come over to my house now?" James looked at Carl and shook his head, "No, I have to go see Caroline, then I'm off to work." "Oh that's right, with Mr. Courtie right?" Carl asked. James nodded. "I still can't believe that out of all of us, you're the one to work in a magic shop. I mean, you don't even believe in God." "I'm an agnostic Carl, not an atheist. I don't say if there is or isn't a God because no one knows. And I know magic doesn't exist either, it's just a good part-time job to have. Besides, it reminds me of a simpler time in my life." James said with a hint of nostalgic longing in his voice, for the time when he was a child, and the world wasn't such a cruel place in his mind. "But you've never believed in magic." Carl said flatly. "In fact whenever Mr. Courtie showed us a trick you'd say it was all "garbage eye-candy"." "I did believe in magic, just not when working for Mr. Courtie." James corrected with a small smile. "When I was really young I believed in fairies, wizards and the like. I mean, didn't we all." "True." Carl nodded, "Well, Ryan and I will stop by tonight and pick you up if you'd like." James nodded. "Yeah sure, come by around six. I should be done then." James then looked at his watch, "Oh shit, listen my Aunt is picking me up in a few minutes, so I've gotta scoot." And with that, James walked back towards the entrance of the mall. He was curious, as well as confused, by Tara's strange behavior. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of it all, but he knew that every moment spent away from his patronizing parents and "goody-goody" brother was the next best moment in his life, so going over to Carl's house to hang out after work wasn't an unwelcome idea. But there was something else, something nagging at James' mind. He felt like he's met all six of those girls before, but for the life of him he couldn't place a finger on where or when.  But he knew that he had, he just had to of, they were all so familiar, especially that Thelma, with her beautiful pink hair and sweet, crystalline teal eyes. There was something about her  especially, something good, that James felt after meeting her.