//------------------------------// // Chapter 47: Equestria's Got Talent, Part 1 // Story: Balance of the Mind and Body // by Swift Blaze //------------------------------// Blaze walked into his room after having dinner with the Princesses and Twilight Sparkle. The Alicorns teleported him home afterwards. When he turned on the lights to his room, he was shocked to see who was in his bed. The colt shouted, "GET OUT OF MY BED!" The character in question shot up in the bed with a startled look on their face, wondering who was shouting. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY BED!" "Dude, turn the voice down. Everyone is trying to sleep," Al said. "I WILL NOT STOP SHOUTING UNTIL YOU EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE IN MY BED! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN BEDROOM!" "I offered my bed to our friends as they don't have a place to stay while they are here. I didn’t know if you were going to come back tonight, so I took your bed." "Well I’m back, so get up and out. I have school in the morning." "Where do you expect to sleep? The couch is also taken." "Go sleep on the bed of nails you fell asleep on earlier this week." "Oh! Good idea. Night Blaze, see you in the morning. I’m going to make some Belgian waffles for breakfast." The colt just waved at the human to leave. Al walked out and closed the door behind him. Blaze scuffled to his bed and just crashed as he lay down. No meditation tonight after exhausting his ki from racing Rainbow Dash. The next morning, the green Earth pony managed to get up before dawn to begin his training regiment. He cleaned up beforehand as he still had some marble and wood debris in his mane. He had no problem sneaking downstairs and outside. When the colt stepped outside, a good chill went down his spine from the cool morning air. "Same weather conditions here as to where I lived on Earth for this time of the year. I need to get Rarity to make some winter clothing and coats for me and Al. That fur coat from the Manticore will make a good liner,” Blaze said to himself. He started his jog after increasing the weight again. It was a quiet morning as all the ponies and animals were still sleeping. The one time he can enjoy the beauty of this world without distractions. There was a low fog over the fields as he ran to town. Showing the signs that the seasons will be changing soon. He did a lap around the empty town square before heading back. Blaze made it back in time to watch the moon set and the sun rise from the horizon. Just before he started his exercise routine, several other ponies and a human came out of the house. "What, you could have not waited for us to join you?" Al asked. "Morning everyone,” the colt replied. “I didn’t think that you all were still doing this." "Even though we’re no longer in the training course, we still like to keep fit,” said Lighting Trails. “You’re stuck in that colt body, yet you were able to beat us one after another. It proved that we cannot slack if we ever want to beat you." "Plus, this exercise regimen you taught us has improved how we fight by agility and dexterity. You don't need full strength to beat your opponent," Star Dust said. "You need a calm mind to outthink your opponent. Charging in with no plan will likely make you lose the battle," Al said. "Unless you're someone who thinks of strange methods that no one expected their opponent to do,” said the black Pegasus. “You just have to tell us where you came up with those fighting styles." Blaze just smiled as he replied, "There are some things I can't reveal where I came up with those. This world isn’t ready for that kind of teaching." "What teaching, you ripped some of those moves off of TV shows and movies," the human said quickly. "TV shows?" Star Dust asked with a confused look. "Human entertainment coming from a magic box. Too much to go over to really explain it," the colt said. "Let's get the exercise over with. A certain human promised to make breakfast this morning. Hope you have enough ingredients to feed an army." The other ponies laughed. The laughter soon ended as they started the routine. Once it was done, Al headed to the kitchen to get breakfast going. Blaze headed to the bathroom to freshen up. When he stepped out, he smelled the recognizable smell of Belgian waffles. As he got downstairs, he saw Star Dust and Lightning Trails were putting on their armor. "You two off to work?" the green Earth pony asked. "Someone has to watch the town. By the way, what was with the screaming last night?" the Unicorn stallion asked. "I came home late after being chased around Ponyville and Canterlot castle. How was I supposed to react when I see someone in my bed," Blaze replied. "You could have not screamed and woken the rest of us up," the Pegasus stallion said. "You’re right. I could have actually teleported him back to his bed without him noticing. Although, there would have probably been a couple of screams in the morning, now thinking about it." Star Dust was laughing as Lightning Trails was coughing pretty hard. "Yes, um, thanks for not doing that. I don't think Star Dust could have handled it," the Pegasus said after he cleared his throat. "HAY! I slept on the couch while you took Al's bed. Something about your wings would be cramped if you had to sleep like that," the Unicorn replied. From the kitchen, Al shouted,  “Hey, I don’t mind where I sleep. I slept on a spike bed in hell. Waking up to something soft and warm would be a nice change.” Upon hearing this, Lightning Trail’s wings popped straight out. Star Dust laughed some more after seeing this. Blaze joined in the laughing. "I didn’t think you swung that way!" the blue stallion said in between laughs "I DON'T! Al's comment just surprised me!" the black stallion said as he worked on getting his wings back under control. "Alright everyone, come and get breakfast before it gets cold," said the human. They headed to the dining room and chowed down. Blaze snagged a dozen waffles and applied plenty of strawberries and whipped cream to the stack. The others just snagged two. As they were eating, the front door opened, and entered Cancer and Dragon. "Morning everyone. What smells so good?" Cancer said as he walked into the dining room. "Mmhmm, Belgian waffles Al made. Very good," the colt replied with his mouth stuffed. Star Dust finished chewing the food in his mouth before speaking. "They’re very good. Why are they called that?" "The actual name for them is Lie`ge Waffles. It’s another recipe from our planet. Very popular in the country of Belgium as that is where it came from," Al said. "How were you able to remember the recipe?" Dragon asked. "I didn't. It was on Blaze's device where he has the other recipes that he likes." "And where did you have time to go through my iPad?" Blaze asked with no food in his mouth. "You left it on your nightstand. I wonder what you read some nights before you go to bed. Nice collection by the way." The green Earth pony placed his hooves together and did a jutsu to teleport the device back into his human devices vault in the basement. "Thanks for reminding me where it was so I can re-secure it again." "What’s this contraption you two are speaking of? Just sounds like a book or journal to me," Lightning Trails questioned. "Human technology that I brought with me. The rest of it is classified. Well, I’m off to school, see you this afternoon," the colt said. He grabbed his saddlebag and quickly headed out the door. After a few moments of silence, Al broke it by saying, "So, Cancer and Dragon, how was your visit with Zecora?" "How did you know we went to see her?" replied the Zebra with red stripes. "When Blaze mentioned he ran into another Zebra, you two and your big sister, Fang, all went big eyes and surprised. It was for either hearing about another Zebra or you actually knew Zecora from your homeland. So, which is it?" Both Zebras looked a little sheepish for hiding their plan from their friends. "It’s the latter," Dragon said with his face looking towards the floor. "You two and Colorful Sparks owe me five bits each for our bet," the human said as he looked at the stallions at the table. They dug the money out of pouches that were underneath the armor and tossed them to Al on the table. "Wait, you all placed a bet as to the reason why we left the library so quickly?" Cancer asked. "It was placed during dinner as you three did not show up for it. We figured Fang joined Colorful Sparks on patrol and you two went to the guardhouse," Star Dust said. Lightning Trails said, "Three of us thought you just wanted to see this other Zebra. The odds were slim of you actually knew her." "And you three lost the bet. I’ll collect from Colorful Sparks later. For now, join us for breakfast before you hit the sack for some needed sleep." The Zebra stallions nodded before taking a seat at the table. When they took a bite of the waffle, they too really enjoyed the flavors of them. ------Meanwhile------ As Blaze was walking to the School, he heard several tiny hooves running up behind him. He jumped into the air before he was going to be tackled by three fillies. He landed and saw Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were lying across one another. "Why were you trying to tackle me?" the colt asked. "We wanted to see if it was really you, or an illusion," the white filly said as she pulled herself off the pile. The yellow filly was the next to get out of the pile. She said, "We didn’t know what happened to you after you were being chased by Twilight." "Plus, we wanted to see if you could detect us coming up from behind you," the orange filly added. "Yes, it’s the real me. Twilight chased me all the way to Canterlot castle, but never caught me. I heard your hooves several yards back so I didn’t need to use my ability to track you," the green Earth pony replied to all. Just then, Pinkie Pie came walking up in her cheerful mood. "Morning girls. Morning Rocky. I have your lunch here for you," she said. Blaze took the lunch and placed it in his saddlebag. As they continued the walk to the school, the colt said, "Pinkie, they know it’s actually me." "We found out about it when he sparred against some of his friends from his Royal Guard training," Apple Bloom said. "We saw him buck their flanks with no problem," Scootaloo said in an excited tone. "Girls! You should never use fighting to prove you’re better than another pony,” said Blaze. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. The magic buildup I had was affecting me pretty badly. It was making me act like an athlete on steroids," he said in a remorseful tone. "What are steroids?" Sweetie Belle asked. "It’s a drug enhancer back on Earth to improve one's body. It has some serious side effects. One is making the user more aggressive. I hope to never see that drug come here." "Oh, Rocky, why didn't you tell me you had magic build up yesterday?" Pinkie Pie asked in her worried tone. "I thought it was only a headache. It was only slight in the morning but got worse as the day went on. Twilight did help me get rid of the build-up. She then chased me for the rest of the afternoon wanting to teach me magic." "I really thought I got her mind off of it when she wanted to understand my Pinkie Sense." The pink mare then got a combo again of new ponies in Ponyville. "Oh, where are those Zebras I have yet to meet. My senses have been going off since yesterday. You would think it would not be hard to find them with the stripes on their bodies." "That’s racist profiling! They can't help it as they are born with it. Pinkie, of all the ponies, I would have never expected you to say that," Blaze said in a harsh tone. The pink Earth pony’s hair deflated all the way to her flat look. She sat down on her flank and put on her sad face. The CMC and Blaze stopped and turned towards her. The colt knew she probably didn’t mean it. So, he now had to somehow cheer her back up. He walked up to Pinkie and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I said that. It’s another human thing we have. Some of my kind doesn’t like the way some others look. Mostly it’s the skin color. We humans are not as colorful as you ponies are. The skin color varies from light tan to a pink range and from light to dark brown.  We can dye our hair and put tattoos on our bodies to make ourselves more unique. It’s still the skin color from where we migrated from different countries on our world centuries ago and the human history itself that has brought that up. I hate the ones who hated others because of their skin color and where they grew up.” Pinkie turned her head towards the colt. Several tears have fallen from her eyes. She sniffs her nose a bit before saying, “The human race is really that bad? They just can’t get along like you and Al?” “Majority is still like that. It’s been decreasing over the past century, but it’s the parents teaching their kids this by expressing how they feel. The child can either follow the parent’s method towards others or reject it. I rejected my father after what he did to my mother and me. I never wanted to act like that to anyone. Now then, how about you turn that frown upside down and I’ll tell you why you didn’t see them.” Pinkie wiped away her tears and started to smile. “They are part of the Royal Guard, so they had their armor on. It was probably hiding their stripes. If you hurry, you will find two of them back at my place.” In an instant, her mane returned to normal. Pinkie Pie bolted down the path to Blaze’s house, leaving a fire line in her wake. “When she wants to meet a new friend, nothing will stop her,” Blaze said. The Crusaders and Blaze continued off to school, hoping it will be normal, for once. --------Back at Blaze’s House------- The Zebra brothers had taken off their armor and just finished eating their breakfast. Star Dust and Lightning Trails had left for work. Al was in the kitchen, cleaning up and doing the dishes. “Wow, those waffles you made Al were very yummy. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this full,” Cancer said. “I can’t wait for the next dish you’re going to make from your world,” Dragon said as he patted his stomach bulge. “I’m no chef, but I can follow instructions for the dish with no problem. Just don’t expect me to cook each meal. There will be some that are for humans only,” Al said as he continued to scrub the plates. “Why’s that?” Cancer asked. “It’s because it’ll contain meat, you doofus,” Dragon replied. “Hay! I was just asking. I know he eats meat. He explained it before he butchered up that dead Manticore,” the brother said in a louder voice. “Then don’t ask stupid questions that you know the answer to, little brother!” the older brother said, now shouting. Both brothers were now staring each other down. They looked like they were about to start fighting right in the dining room. Cancer and Dragon now turned their bodies so they faced each other. Each one began to stomp a hoof as if they were getting ready to charge. The human heard the stomping and quickly turned around to see what was going on. Just as the Zebras started to charge, Al activated his gravity powers and forced them to the ground, one foot from each other. “THAT’S ENOUGH! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU START FIGHTING IN BLAZE’S HOUSE! IF YOU WANT TO BEAT EACH OTHER TO A BLOODY PULP, TAKE IT TO THE ARENA OUTSIDE!” he shouted at the top of his voice. “So, what’s your decision? Stop fighting or take it outside.” The Zebra Unicorn stallions looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking. At the same time, they both said, “Outside.” “Now then, I’ll allow you to get up and head out. If so much as start fighting before you’re out there and break something, not only you will have to deal with me, but Blaze as well. I don’t even want to know what he will do if someone breaks something.” The human released the gravity hold he had on them. They got up and were making their way to the front door. Cancer was in front and used his magic to open the door. Once he opened the door and looked outside, he saw a pink blur coming up to the house fast. He activated his ability in time to dodge being slammed by the object. Just as the stallion moved out the way, Dragon activated his to capture the speeding object. Now, suspended in midair by time, was Pinkie Pike. Her body was slowly moving as if she was trying to put on the breaks from running. Both Cancer and Dragon looked at the strange mare, wondering why it was running so fast to get here. Without warning, Pinkie started to say, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. You must be the Zebras I have been looking for. You were very good at hiding yesterday. I’m so happy Blaze told me where you were so I can meet you and become your friends. Oh, this is so great to finally find two more friends. Wow, this is weird. I’m talking way faster than my body is moving. Weeeeee! I’m flying!" "Hold up. How are you able to talk? My brother has his speed down active on you. Your whole body should be affected," Cancer said. "Don't know. But it’s really fun to be in the air like this. Weeeeeee!" "Guys, let her down,” said Al, while still in the kitchen. “When she meets new ponies or a human in my case, she normally talks so fast that you can't understand her. For once I was able to since you did that." Dragon slowly released the spell so the pink Earth pony would easily land on her hooves. Once the mare was standing on them, Dragon said, "Well, it’s nice to meet you Pinkie Pie. My name is Dragon and this here is Cancer, my little brother." Now talking normally, Pinkie said, "Wow you two look almost alike, except for the stripe colors. Oops! I didn't mean to talk bad about them! They are nice and unique. Oh! I did it again. What I mean . . . mph." A hoof from Cancer got shoved into Pinkie's mouth to stop her from saying anything else. "We get what you were trying to say Pinkie Pie. You don't need to be careful about what you say to us. Just as long as you don't diss us, we would be happy with what you are saying," he said in a compassionate voice. "The reason we look the same as we are twins. Clearly not identical. We would also like to say that we would gladly accept to be your friends. Just from now on, don't run at super speed. If we had not opened the door, you would have probably broken it," Dragon said in a concerned tone. Pinkie nodded her head. She then grabbed both of them into a great big hug. Any tighter, the Zebra's eyes would have popped out. She released the hug and allowed them to catch their breath. Al walked into the entryway and was finishing drying his hands with a towel. "Pinkie, it’s not like you to be concerned with what you say to others. We know what you normally say is nothing bad. So, why now?" Al asked. The pink mare told what happened a few minutes ago when she was talking to Blaze and the Crusaders. Once she was done, Pinkie said, "I never knew you humans had so much hate for one another. Why couldn't they all be friends?" Al just pinched the brow of his nose before he spoke. "I don't know Pinkie. I think Blaze's colt form is affecting his mind. He knows you didn’t mean what you said. So try and forget what he told you about our world. You ponies are nothing like the humans back on Earth." Pinkie smiled and nodded. Her Pinkie Senses went off as she still had another new friend to friend. "Goodie! I have another friend to find. Wonder where I will find them," the mare said, sounding all excited. "Have you met our big sister, Fang? She too is a Zebra," Dragon said. "No, I haven't! That must be the new friend I need to find!" Pinkie Pie quickly turned around and was about to run out the door, if Cancer didn’t grab her tail with his mouth to stop her. "WAIT! If you do see her, do not charge straight to her or sneak up. You’ll be asking to get hurt as she can pop out blades out of her body from any location," the stallion said while her tail was still in his mouth. "Okie Dokie Lokie." Pinkie pulled her tail away and still ran out the door. The twin brothers were still confused about how Pinkie Pie could do the things she was able to. Then again, they were Zebra with horns. They stood there for a few minutes. Then Cancer asked, "What were we about to do?" Dragon shrugged his shoulders as he said, "I can't remember. Do you remember, Al?" Not wanting them to fight, Al quickly said, "You heard something coming, so that is why you opened the door. Now then, you have three choices of where to sleep, my bed, the couch, or on a bed of nails on the back deck." "I think we’ll take the bed and couch." Cancer replied for them. "Why did you offer us to sleep on the nail bed? That just sounds painful!" Dragon exclaimed. "It was an offer. I slept on it last night and had no issue. Though, it could because that is what the bed was when I was in hell." The Zebra brothers both put on a strange look on their face after hearing that. They soon both yawn and just headed off to one of the choices to sleep. Dragon took the couch and Cancer headed upstairs to Al's bed. The human headed off to the backyard to continue his training and control over his anger. --------At Twilight’s house/Ponyville Library--------- Twilight was going through several books at one time. She was putting them away this time when she was done with them.  Her face looked like that of a concerned pony for a friend. Spike walked in carrying a platter with a tea kettle and a tea cup. He placed it near Twilight after avoiding being hit by a flying book. "What’s this latest research project you are working on Twi?" the dragon asked. "It’s nothing Spike," Twilight said, trying not to sound concerned. "I know you better than you know yourself. The last time you did this level of book reading was when you were trying to find what caused your horn to go all floppy." "Am I that easy to read?" "Let's just say you don't know how to hide what you are trying to do. So, what has made you so worried?" The Unicorn gave out a sigh. "I guess I should tell you so you can maybe help me." Twilight set down the books in her magical grasp. She poured herself a cup of tea and took a quick sip. "Well, before Blaze and I were teleported back home by the Princesses, Princess Luna walked up to him. She said my brother informed them of a strange dream Blaze told Shining. When he is ready, she wants to help him understand what that dream is telling him." "Sounds like they will have it under control. So why do you worry about it?" "He didn’t mention it to any of us. That’s what is worrying me. What kind of a dream can be so bad that he needed to see the Princesses? Dreams are just a fantasy our subconscious creates to play out our desires from what I read.” "Maybe it was not a dream, but a nightmare!" "Nightmares only happen if something is really bothering the creature. You can't get hurt in them. Once you feel pain, that would cause the dreamer to wake up." "Well, he was changed into a colt without his permission. That might have caused whatever he had to occur. I think you worry a little too much, Twilight." "Maybe you're right. It’s just that he came from his world, where most of his kind went violent and failed the test that his God has placed. I don't know how he’s coping with it so well. To lose all your friends and family like that, I would probably close myself off if I lost any of my friends. I just learned how wonderful it’s to have them. I want to be there for him with whatever I can do to help him." "I suggest you let him decide when to share his dream with us when he feels like it. He would take it badly if you decide to poke around his head without his permission." "Again, you are right Spike. But I’m still going to prepare to help when he does ask." Twilight dove back into her books. Spike whispered to himself, "At least Blaze is no longer being chased by you to learn magic." --------Several hours later-------- At the schoolhouse “It was so cool for Miss. Cheerilee to give us tomorrow off from school so we can work on what we’re going to do for the talent show on Saturday,” Apple Bloom said. Blaze, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were hanging outside the schoolhouse. The three girls were discussing the items they are going to be needing for the musical number. The colt just listened as they went over what they needed to make the scenery and the costumes. The white filly turned her head towards the green Earth pony and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to be part of our skit, Rocky? We could really use your abilities to take it to the top and win.” “I’m sorry girls, but you should do this without me,” he replied. “If I help you with it, then more than likely you won’t get your cutie mark. You need to do this one just you three. I’ll be doing something for the show, but I will still cheer you on.” “Oh! What are you going to do? Some mad skill with your ability over rocks?” Scootaloo asked with excitement in her voice. “I’m not going to share exactly what, but it will be a show stopper of a performance,” Blaze said with a big smile on his face. “Now then, if you would excuse me, I have a Zebra I need to see about something.” The colt jumped up and did a backflip in the air. As he was heading back down, he performed a jutsu to pass right through the ground without disturbing it. Once in the ground, he teleported to Zecora’s to check on the poison joke cure. Hoping it will be ready on time for the show. The Crusaders were impressed with how he made himself head off without disturbing the ground. They all looked at each other and began to wonder what Blaze’s act was going to be. “What do you think he is going to do?” the yellow filly asked. The white filly replied, “I don’t know, but it’ll have to be something with water as he’s heading to Zecora to check on the potion.” “How’s taking a dip in the water going to be exciting?” the orange filly asked, “We’re going to be on stage. There’s no watering hole nearby.” “Whatever he’s planning, he did say it would be a show stopper,” Apple Bloom said. The Crusaders laughed as they headed off to get the supplies. Off in the bushes by the woods, two fillies were crouched as they were watching them. "This is boring. Why are we wasting time keeping an eye on these Blank Flanks," Silver Spoon whispered. "I’m more interested in that new colt friend of theirs,” Diamond Tiara whispered back. “Something seems familiar to him. I also wanted to know how he was able to get out of jail so quickly. No pony could have gotten out of jail without help." "He did ask those Blank Flanks to get some other ponies. Maybe they are the ones who managed to get him to be released." "You need wealth and leverage to pull something like that. A little colt from Dodge Junction doesn’t have either of those. My daddy had to pay a big fine for bribing those guards. Luckily, he’s able to make that money up in a week." "I don't know. If he’s able to do that, who knows what else that colt can do." "Just shut up and do what I say. Come on, we need to follow those Blank Flanks so we can see if they will meet up with that colt later." They crept out of their hiding spot and began to follow the Crusaders.