//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 - Har-Fest part 1 
// Story: Strange Town 
// by general_bad 
//------------------------------//

Strange Town 006 part 1


Chapter 6 - Har-Fest (part 1)


"FIIIIRE!!!"

I'm suddenly awoken as my bedroom door swings open. My Mother who looks like Hell with her disheveled hair and clothes had burst into my room and began shouting.

"FIIIIIIIIIRE" she quickly screamed again before running out of my room. 

I quickly jump out of bed in just a pair of shorts as I bolt through the door. I didn't even have time to think about what I was supposed to do as instinct had taken over. I groggly race towards the kitchen down stairs in search of the fire extinguisher under the sink.
In a panic I trip down the last few steps and painfully roll the last two meters before crashing into the floor. Luckily my body is full of adrenaline as I ignored the pain and dash into the kitchen.

I pass my father who's sitting at the table as I make a mad sprint to the cupboard under the sink. Unfortunately I was going too fast as I soon found I couldn't stop, trying to lean down to the cupboard under the sink turns into me painfully falling face first into the small wooden cupboard doors.
Luckily I'm still driven by instincts and adrenaline as I ignore my pain and grab the fire extinguisher.
But as I quickly make my way back to the dining table I stop, realizing I don't actually know where the fire is as I jog in place as I frantically look around for any signs of fire. However... The only thing I noticed was the odd look my father was giving me. He sat their with an eyebrow raised, halfway through his toast, his doctors jacket covering most of his body.

Still panicked and slightly confused I ask. "...Where is the fire!?"

With the same confused expression he had this whole time he calmly replied. "...I was about to ask you the same thing?" he then turned his attention back to his toast, ignoring the situation.

Before I could berate him for his lack of concern my mother's voice interrupted me. "oh! Both of you are already up, good!"
She calmly walked down stairs, her hair and clothes neat. Any sign of panic or disorder from when she had burst into my room were now gone.

Looking around confused for a moment I turn to my mother. "...but...The fire?..."

"Fire?" She innocently questioned. "I don't have the slightest idea of what your talking about. But its a good thing your up, usually on weekends you sleep past 3 o'clock. You would've missed Har-Fest if you slept in that late."

"...Har...Fest?" I slowly questioned as things suddenly made sense. I had forgotten all about it after yesterday's incident. There was no fire, mum just wanted me up early so I could go and attend the farmer gathering she had been planning all month.

My heart rate slowed down as my panic and confusion soon turned into annoyance.
"That's why you burst into my room. For a back water farmer convention!... I fell down the darm stairs!... I smashed my face into the sink cupboard!"

"Why did you do that?" My father questioned with a raised eyebrow, not sure what either me or mum were talking about.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" I snapped. As the adrenaline left me my face began to sting.

"Just try to be more careful." Mum suggested as she shrugged her shoulders.

"That's not the point!" I snapped again, but I knew arguing with them was pointless. Instead I sat at the table and used a glass's reflection to see the damage as I rubbed my face. I didn't have the lighter with me so the pain wasn't being healed.
"Darm... I might end up with a bruise."

"...Is that really an issue?" My father questioned as he motioned to my body.

Turning my attention to were he was looking I saw his point. "oh!... Right!"
My torso and arms were covered in bruises and I had claw marks on my left chest from yesterday. Scree really gave me a beating, and for whatever reason the lighter hadn't healed me. I had even held it while I slept, but for whatever reason I wasn't at 100%... infact, the damage still looked new. 
"I got into a bit of a fight yesterday."

"Meh... I've had worse." Mum unconcerningly says as she passes me and begins making coffee.

"...What?" I breifly question.

"Were not gonna be seeing police about this are we?" Dad questioned me, a bit of concern present in his tone.

"No. I'm pretty sure the authorities won't be getting involved." I replied as I examined some of the bruises.

"You worry too much." Mum said to dad. "Remember how much trouble you use to get into back when you where his age. If the cops come around we'll just do what we did back then."

"I distinctly remember trying to avoid trouble." dad replied. "You were the one who always got into fights back then. And times have changed, you can't do that to a police officer... Actually, even back then it wasn't alright."

I had no idea what they were talking about. But since it was my family it was probably illegal, or at least morally wrong.

"Speaking of times changing." My mother began, ignoring the topic entirely. "You better get dressed Drifting, you wouldn't want to miss a moment of Har-Fest... Not after all the work I put into it!" She suggested. Although the last bit sounded more like a threat than a suggestion.

"Huh?... Why just me? What about dad?" I questioned.

Overly proud, Dad answered before mum had a chance. "I would love to go the back wat-... I mean, Har-Fest. But unfortunately I have work." He wasn't trying very hard to hide his joy of not having to go. 

Rolling my eyes I turned my attention back to mum. "Is there any chance I could not go?"
Besides my hectic week, I just didn't want to go to some farmer celebration. I had been to Sweet Apple Aches twice this week already which was more than enough of the farm experience for my liking... Twice more than my liking to be exact.

"That depends." Mum replied as she grabbed a cup of coffee. "What are the chances of your cars breaks suddenly failing!"
I was right... It was a threat.

"Okay, I get it." I begrudgingly replied. When it came to mum I wasn't gonna put it passed her to make good on her threats. She had worked hard on making Har-Fest happen, although I don't know why. She was gonna be too busy running it to even enjoy it.
"...So what time does it start?" I asked, devoid of enthusiasm.

"Well, technically it starts at 6. Although it probably won't start getting crowded until 8... So we have plenty of time." Mum replied.

"Plenty of time?.." I questioned as I looked to the clock. To my surprise it was only 5:35.
"It's 5 in the morning!... I didn't even know there was a 5 in the morning!"

Mum ignored my complaint as she continued. "Well I'm gonna head off. Even if I'm not needed this early in, I don't trust them to handle things without my constant guidance... And Drifting, you don't have to come right away but you better not show up late either. I have eyes and ears everywhere so I'll know everything you do." With those last words mum left.

After a moment of silence I turned to my dad. "Late?... That wasn't exactly a specified time frame. What time do you think would be considered late... Like 12 ish?"

"I think it depends on the individuals perspective. So given it's my wife, Charity, you should probably just go as soon as possible. You wouldn't want to risk it. She has had many sleepless nights in the last few weeks leading up to this... I'm worried the lack of sleep is effecting her mental state." He replied as he finished his toast.

"You got a point." I said as I recalled how mum can be. It's very likely where I get my attitude from. "Your lucky. Sure work probably isn't great, but it's also probably better than this backwater country bumpkin gathering."

"Work?... I don't have work." He replied, taking off his Doctor's jacket that had covered his body to reveal he had his pajamas on. Tossing his jacket over a chair he then went back up stairs and to bed.

(Darm it!... Why didn't I think of doing something like that? I had a whole week to think of an excuse.) I annoyingly thought as I then headed to my room to get changed.

Once in my room I began to get changed. I had only put on a pair of long black tracksuit pants with a long red stripe running down the sides, when suddenly a strange jingle began to play.

'DO-DO-DO-DOOO!...DIDIDODO' came a jingle that would repeat.

(THE HELL IS THAT?) I thought, surprised by the sudden musical jingle.
A moment later I figured out what it was. It was my mobile phone on my desk next to my bed, the same phone Blueblood had given me earlier this week.

(...The hell does Blueblood want?) I thought as I picked up the mobile phone. Not being to familiar with the device as I haven't really used it... or any mobile phone. It took me a moment to figure out how to answer... It was the button of the little green phone.
"Yo!... What do you want?" I answered.

"...Cross, oh good, your up!" replied a voice on the phone. It didn't sound like Blueblood, however it was familiar... But I couldn't place it. Being cautious I remained quiet.
"...hey, you still there?... It's me!... Valkyrie!..."

"...How did you get this number!" I demanded, glad I hadn't mentioned Blueblood's name when I answered the phone.

"huh?... I got it from Pinky Pie." Valkyrie stated.

"oh, I see..." I calmly replied as I began to reach for a shirt... Before suddenly stopping. "WAIT! NO I DON'T!... Who the Hell is Pinky Pie?... Why does she know my number?... I don't even know my Number!"
(Pinky Pie?... That names familiar, was she that plump baker girl who worked at Sugar Cube Corner?... I'm not 100% sure but that might be her. She also might be connected to Twilight if I remember correctly... Although when it comes to remembering people I don't fully trust myself.)

"I don't really know why she knows your number... But don't worry about that." Valkyrie replied. "More importantly, you going to Har-Fest?"

"Har-Fest?... Yeah. I'm just getting ready to go.... Why?" I answered, putting the Pinky Pie situation to the side for now.

"I guess it wouldn't really matter if you weren't... But I'm calling to cash in on my side of our deal. I need a lift to Har-Fest." He replied.

'...sigh...' I loudly sighed, sounding as disgusted as possible before remembering he lived outside of town.
"...Hold on, you live outside of town, right. "I replied seeing a silver lining. It wasn't much, but the time it took to get him would mean less time at Har-Fest... Although it also meant I would be around him.

"Yeah, I live outside of town. Do you know where Northstar Ranch is?" He asked. After a moment he continued, taking the silence to mean no. "It's out in the same direction as Sweet Apple Acres... Although you probably don't know where that is either... I know! Just search for it on your phone, there should be a map."

(Search for it on my phone?... What's he talking about?... Can my phone actually do that?) I confusingly thought as I wasn't really sure what my phone could do. I hadn't used a mobile phone before as I simply never had a need for one.

Not wanting to sound like I had no idea what he was talking about I lied. "...of course that's what I'll do! I know how to do... Maps..."
It wasn't a very convincing lie, but he wasn't going to argue it.

"...Yeah, sure.... Anyway, it'll probably take you awhile to get here so I'll go get ready. See you in a bit." Valkyrie finished before hanging up.

(Darm... I planned to avoid giving him my number for awhile so I wouldn't have to taxi him... The Hell did this Pinkie Pie girl know it... I don't even know it.) I thought as I continued getting dressed.

I put on a bright yellow shirt with the letter WWF printed on it followed by the picture of a panda hitting another panda with a chair. It was play on 'world wrestling federation' and 'world wildlife federation'.
I also put on my shoes before I went for my jacket, only to remember it was being repaired at the Carousel Boutique... Again. I would need to go there sometime today, although right now was far too early.

It took a moment to locate my lighter which was now on the floor of my bedroom where I had dropped it when I jumped out of bed in a panic. I had slept with it in my hand last night hoping it would heal my remaining wounds from Yesterday. However it apparently hadn't as I could plainly see, the bruises even looked as new as they did when I got them weirdly enough... Although that might just be in my head.

After grabbing my wallet and keys I went to the bathroom to slick my hair back as I would most mornings. My long black hair would normally fall forwards and cover most of my face, making it hard for me to see if I didn't slick it back. A hat probably would work just as well, but this gave me a dangerous 60's gangster look which made people more hesitant to approach me. Being anti-social I preferred this, even if gel was kinda pricey.

Once I was ready I went to my car and began to fiddle with my phone. (Okay... How the Hell do I bring up maps?) I thought as I randomly pushed buttons. I wasn't sure what I needed to do and after awhile I became frustrated as I got stuck on what seemed to be the game 'snakes', so I decided to give up and fall back on what I knew.
In my glove compartment was a map book of the surrounding area. I don't usually travel outside of Ponyville but Dad had given me this book when I first got my license to lessen the possibility of me getting lost.

It didn't take too long to find Northstar Ranch. It was kind in the same direction as Sweet Apple Acres but there was a lot of distance still between them. Also, with the weird way the roads were designed I would have to take a completely different set of roads.
With that I began on my way.

The trip was quiet and uneventful. At one point I had turned on the radio only to switch it off moments later. All local radio stations were playing nothing but Country music due to today's special event... I use the term 'special event' lightly.
But after some time what appears to be Northstar ranch comes into view as a wooden fence began to run parallel to the road, marking the borders of their land.

(Northstar Ranch... With a name like that it probably has some connection to the company owned by Blueblood's family.) I speculate as I look for an entrance.

Before long a few buildings can been seen as I draw closer. The closest building seems to be a house while the one furthest in the back is a stable. There are two more buildings but I'm not familiar enough with ranches to even guess what they're for. Besides the buildings, there is lots of flat open land and what appears to be a large oval race track.
While I'm still kinda far I can tell this place has been better maintained then Sweet Apple Acress. The buildings seem more modern and even the wooden fence is more fancier and maintained.

Eventually I spot what seems to be the entrance, a large wooden sign sitting just before it that reads 'Northstar Ranch'. However what catches my attention most is what appears to be someone who is dressed like a sheriff, one you would see in old western movies, they were currently leaning against the sign. He looked out of place, silly even... But I figured he could inform me if it was fine to drive in or not, perhaps he even knew were abouts to find Valkyrie.

Driving past him I do a u-turn and pull up beside the entrance so that once I grab Valkyrie I can head back to town. I then looked out the window to address the stupid looking Sheriff. "Hey Sheriff Woody! I'm looking for-... You've gotta be kidding me?"
To my surpr... Disappointment, the jackass who looked like a sheriff was actually Valkyrie... Who looked like a jackass.

"Howdy." He over confidently greeted me without any shame at what he was wearing. Which was a brown jacket with tassels along the arm over a dark blue flannel shirt. Ass-less chaps over a pair of blue jeans. Brown boots with whatever those little metal star things on the bottom are called, cowboys wear them for riding or something. And the cherry on top of this whole thing... Or his head at least, was a Stetson hat. The most stereotypical thing a cowboy could wear.

"Please tell me this is a one time thing and this isn't what you consider casual?" I asked full of regret as I looked him up and down trying to decide which part of his outfit was the dumbest... I eventually settled on what was under it.

"What are you talking about." He confidently replied as he shrugged off my comment. "I'm dressed to impress... The ladies that is."

"If by ladies you mean slack jawed inbred yokels, then yes, yes you are." I replied.

However he once again ignored my negativity as some sparkle of hope in his eye made him blind to reality. "Although, there's only one girl I'm looking to impress today. I know she'll like it... But honest opinion, what do you think?" With that he did the most feminine twirl I had ever seen.

Of course I answered how anyone else would had in my situation. "...You look... Great." It was a lie, but I felt better knowing things weren't gonna go well for him.

"Great!" He gleefully replied as he went around the car and got into the passengers seat. "Oh, by the way, before we head to Har-Fest we need to make a little detour."

"Detour?... The Hell are you talking about? This is the detour." I disgruntly replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry, it's not too far. We just gotta pick Slow Dancer up." Valkyrie replied with much more confidence then I liked.

With a stern look I replied. "The Hell I do!... Our deal only covers me to taxi you."

With a smug knowing look he replied. "You know... Living out here does make getting to school everyday kinda hard. If only I knew someone with a car?..."

"...Fine... But if and when our little deal falls apart, you know I'm gonna kick your ass!" I Begrudgingly agreed, Getting where he was going with this.
"So then, where does Slow Dancer live then?"

"You got your phone?" He asked.

"huh?... Uh, yeah." I slowly reply as I fished my phone out of my pocket. The moment I held it out he snatched it.

"hmmm, Retro. I'll bring up a map. I'ld use mine but these jeans are a little to tight, can't really get my phone out my pocket... I'll deal with it when needed." He replied as he turned to my phone, only to look back to me a moment later with a look of confusion.
"Hey, are you in the middle of a game of snakes right now?"

"What?" I questioned as he showed me my phone which was still stuck in the snake game. "oh, actually my phones playing up, it's stuck in that game with no way to quit."

With a raised eyebrow he continued. "Did you try pushing cancel?"

With a dead stare I replied. "Of course I tried that!" I lied not sure what he was referring to. "You think that wasn't my first guess. It's busted!"

However the moment I said that he pushed a button of a red phone with an X through it and the game of snakes closed. I hadn't tried that button as I assumed it was used to hang up phone calls... And I still assume it does.

I could see he was about to say something smart assed, but before he could I snatched my phone out of his hand and slammed the book of maps into his chest. 
"Like I said, where does Slow Dancer live?" I repeated, ignoring the last few seconds as he gave the book a confused look. It seemed he was about to ask for the phone back, but an angry look from me made him rethink his idea as he began going through the book.

'tink tink tink'

Came a knock at the window before Valkyrie had made it far into the book. Looking out the window we saw Slow Dancer just standing outside the car on the side of the road.

"Slow Dancer?" Valkyrie questioned as he saw his friend. "What are you doing here? I told you me and Cross would swing by your place."

With a simular look of confusion Slow Dancer replied. "Well I didn't beleive you... So I was gonna catch a bus to Har-Fest. But why's Cross here?"

"Catch a bus?" I questioned. "There's a bus stop all the way out here?"

Looking down the road towards town, Slow Dancer answered. "...Not exactly."

"Forget the bus." Valkyrie interrupted. "Were riding in style today. Cross is giving us a lift."

"...But why?" Slow Dancer skeptically questioned.

"Because it's too early for me to make concious decisions." I replied, still grumpy I was giving these two a lift. "So get into the darm car before you end up under it!" 

With no verbal complaints, Slow Dancer got in the back of my car.

"ehhhhhhh!... That was the worst detour ever." I complained as I began the long drive back to town.

With a confused look Valkyrie began to reply. "But... Slow Dancer came to us, we didn't even need to-"

"WORST, DETOUR, EVER!" I loudly interrupted.

"So..." Slow Dancer chimed in. "What with the... Whatever this is?" he questioned as he motioned to Valkyrie's attire.

"What do you think?" Valkyrie proudly questioned back. "Am I dressed to impress or what."

After a brief pause Slow Dancer answered. "Yeah... You look... Great..." It had been the same lie I had given, even down to the way it was delivered. Guess he was fine knowing Valkyrie was making an ass of himself too.

"Speaking of attire" Valkyrie continued, as if this conversation needed to go longer than it already had. "What's going on with you Cross? I don't usually see you without your signature jacket."

Not caring much for the conversation I kept my reply short. "It was destroyed in a fire."
At least his question reminded me I would need to pick it up some time today.

Hesitantly Valkyrie replied. "...Great... Probably better off not knowing the details to that story."

For a while the drive was uneventful. It's not that we drove in silence, in fact it was the exact opposite. Slow Dancer wasn't very talkative, but Valkyrie kept going on and on about some girl he was looking to impress. I didn't catch who cause I was trying to tune him out, which was only partially a success as I still caught the gist of it.... It also helped that I didn't care.
He continued to ramble on and on to my annoyance, but no matter how many times I told him to shut up he would soon begin once again. Slow Dancer didn't seem bothered at all as I watched him through my rearview mirror, he seemed to be lazily reading a magazine in the back which was curious as he didn't have one with him when he showed up. But I soon recognized the magazine was an Issue of Vanity, a fairly popular fashion magazine. The same one I had stolen from Merry Go-Round, Cityhalls receptionist/mums assistant, a few days ago. I had forgotten I had dumped it under the seat before heading to Sweet Apple Achres, It must had slid to the back seat.

After what seemed like an eternity we arrived in town, and it wasn't long after that we finally arrived at Town Square where Har-Fest was taking place. A huge stage was placed before the steps leading up to City hall while many make shift stores had been opened up throughout the park that was Town Square. Most stores seemed to be selling food like products such as vegetable, fruits, jams, honey, meats, just about anything you could grow naturally. I even spotted what seemed to be a petting zoo... I hoped, ether that or someone's farm animals had gotten loose and taken over a small section of the event grounds. There were even a few carnival like rides and games spread about to help turn this into more of an event and less like a market place.

Unfortunately for us however, the roads had been blocked off and used to set up more pop up stores, this forced me to have to park a bit further away then I had liked. But I decided to use this to my advantage and parked at Natures Muse. It wasn't to far from Town Square and I could easily find my way back at anytime, but the main reasons for parking outside Nature's muse was for what stood across the road from it, Sugar Cube Corner.
I wasn't looking to buy something but was looking for someone instead. Pinky Pie I beleive was her name, she was the person Valkyrie got my phone number from... Supposedly. Honestly I'm not great with names and faces so I could be mistaken in thinking the girl who works there is Pinky Pie.

Getting out of the car I made my way across the street and towards Sugar Cube Corner. "Hold up a sec!" I called out to Valkyrie and Slow Dancer. "I gotta take care of something before we can... Actually, Just go. I don't care what you people do."

With no complaints the two went ahead.

But as I reached the door I soon realised it to be locked, the store was closed. A look through the window should've tipped me off to this but I'm not exactly the most observant person at times. What I did notice however was a sign hanging on the door.

It read:

[We apologise to Customers for the inconvenience, however Sugar Cube Corner store premises will be closed for the duration of Har-Fest.
Do not be to discouraged as we have opened a small store within the Har-Fest grounds where most our proceeds from today will go towards the funds being raised to support struggling farmers.
Expect the store to be re-opened Tommorow.]

(Well, I was heading over there anyway.) I thought as I began to walk towards Town Square. The venue for Har-Fest.

Even though Valkyrie and Slow Dancer had only a minute or two of a head start I couldn't see them on my walk to Town Square. I assumed it was due to Valkyrie racing on ahead and dragging Slow Dancer along... Although my unenthusiasticly slow pace may have helped.
Oh well,  I didn't expect to have to be around them and hoped they would do their own thing. We both understood we were using each other to get what we wanted.

It wasn't long before the stench of poverty filled the air as I finally arrived at Har-Fest. I may not had wanted to be here but even if I wasn't forced to I would have showed up... Eventually... Only for a minute..
Last night I had made a decision of what I would do, there was a reason to be here. And while I may have been looking for Sugar Cube Corners stall, there was someone I needed to see more urgently... Granny Smith.