//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: A Long Shot // by Near Miss //------------------------------// Long Shot, Near Miss and Spleens had barely exited the CASTLE OF FRIENDSHIP when a pink blur sped by, leaving all three girls with bright pink envelopes in their hooves. Inside each envelope was an invitation reading: You're invited to Ponyville's official Thank you for fixing Wren's Anomaly party to celebrate Near Miss, Long Shot and Spleens fixing Wren's Anomaly. The party will be held around town hall tonight starting at 5:00 PM "Guess word moves fast around here," Near Miss commented as she crumpled up the invite in her magic before poofing it away. "With that out of the way, we should really get going if we want to get to..." Near trailed off as she looked at her friends to see two sets of perfect puppy dog eyes. "Ugh, FINE, we can stay for the party." "Fillies and Gentlecolts," Mayor Mare announced, "I'd like to welcome tonight's guests of honor, Near Miss, Long Shot and Spleens, the three of whom resolved Wren's Anomaly and opened a new way to get into Jackie's Holes." A spotlight suddenly illuminated Near, Long, and Spleens, who were waving lazily, enthusiastically, and shyly, respectively. "But that's enough of that," Pinkie Pie shouted, having stolen the microphone from Mayor Mare, "LET'S PARTY!" The party within the town hall was, by Pinkie Pie standards, relatively calm. Most of Ponyville was in attendance, and there were many different activities set up, with ponies dancing, playing darts and enjoying a massive snack table to name only a few. The party started out rather well, with Spleens hovering around the snack table looking for spicy treats, as Long Shot played darts, while Near Miss was surrounded by a small group of unicorns as she explained the finer points of creating magical explosions. A huge white pegasus stallion with tiny wings, known to most as Snowflake, had noticed Spleens's interest in the spicier snacks. "I SEE YOU LIKE SPICY FOOD! WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN A CHALLENGE?" Snowflake boomed. "Um, what kind a challenge?" Spleens asked, more curious than anything else. "WHY, A SPICY FOOD CHALLENGE, OF COURSE! WHOEVER CAN EAT THE SPICIEST THING WINS." Snowflake explained, "ARE YOU IN?" Spleens eagerly nodded her head, her eyes wide and excited. Snowflake waved Pinkie Pie over. Long Shot was having a lot of fun playing darts with other ponies. She had been winning with bullseye after bullseye, and her cutie mark was gently glowing. "Not quite," Near Miss corrected a nearby unicorn, "While you can summon in or construct an explosive chemical, it's usually easier, at least on the small scale, to exploit adiabatic compression and subsequent expansion unless, of course, you can command enough magic to create an explosion from the magic itself." Spleens and Snowflake had started slowly, with Pinkie's jalapeno velvet cupcakes, but neither were even phased. Moving on, Pinkie had presented both competitors with small samples of her 'double' habanero chili. Spleens thought it was delicious, although she wished it were more spicy. Snowflake started to sweat slightly. Long Shot had won her 9th straight straight game of darts, and was starting to get cocky, and was now starting to win 'trick' games, such as only throwing with her weak wing, her tail, or one of her ears. Snowflake was doing poorly. The strange changeling he had challenged to eating spicy foods seemed somehow immune to spicy foods, whereas Snowflake was suffering more and more with each increase in spiciness level. Pinkie brought out the last spicy food- Dragon Peppers, the spiciest thing known to ponykind, which glowed brightly with some kind of internal heat. The moment Pinkie Pie placed the plates before the contestants, both Spleens and Snowflake dug in, Spleens with great enthusiasm, and Snowflake with great dread. "Finally!" Spleens exclaimed with a hoof in the air, "Something spicy enough for me!" Nearby, Snowflake screamed in spicy pain and, after downing an entire punch bowl in an effort to stop the burning in his mouth, to no effect, he sprinted for the exit. "I should probably go help him," Spleens said, as she ran after her erstwhile competition. "Feast your eyes on The Great and Powerful Trixie's latest trick- Trixie is now in command of time itself and can stop or start it at will!" With that Trixie lit up her horn, and suddenly her entire body went stiff before she slowly fell over. "Trixie, we've been over this before." Starlight Glimmer said, exasperated, "That spell doesn't stop time for anypony else, it just stops it for you." Starlight Glimmer then politely apologized for leaving the party early before proceeding to use her magic to drag Trixie back home. "No no no!" Near almost shouted, "Only the most powerful and learned unicorns can create usefully large explosions with magical energy alone. I've been studying it for years and this is the best I can do." An explosion from across the room almost threw off Long Shot's aim, but she still managed to nail her dart shot- tossing the dart from her nose before propelling it straight into the bullseye with a loud fart. "OK, no, I don't know how, but you're clearly cheating somehow. You need to leave." Declared a nearby earth pony mare. Hanging her head slightly, Long trudged out the door, only to find outside Near Miss, having just been thrown out onto her rump, and Spleens using her magic to try to calm down a large white pegasus who was desperately shoveling snow into his mouth. "So," Long Shot said awkwardly, "Do you guys wanna see if we can crash at the CASTLE OF FRIENDSHIP for the night?"