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

Strange Town 006 part 6


Chapter 6 - Har-Fest (part 6)

I now found myself with another odd problem as I walked throughout Har-Fest. I was looking for Valkyrie and Slow Dancer but that wasn't the problem. The issue was I had gotten Big Mac to agree to let me do physical work on his farm with the condition that both Valkyrie and Slow Dancer also helped... Something I promised they would do without their consent or knowledge. So now I had to come up with a way to convince them to waste their Sunday on a farm working for free.

(My go to move would usually be to threaten violence. But thanks our stupid deal I can't actually do that to force them to get what I want... Maybe I could pay them? No, my funds are finite. If this becomes a regular thing I will quickly run out of funds. The best thing would be to convince them that it's their idea or at least in their best interest... But how the hell would I even go about doing that? ...Valkyrie does get bullied, so maybe I could convince him that this is to put on some muscle and-)
Suddenly my chain of thought is interrupted as I get a bad feeling. 

My instincts scream at me to jump back as I get the sudden feeling in my gut that I'm in danger. The lighter wasn't heating up or reacting in anyway so I knew this danger wasn't magical in nature. before I can even think about it my body reacts on my instincts and I jump back by a meter.
Suddenly strands of blond hair rush past me, it was a person. They kept going for about a meter before hitting the ground, the form of their body looked as if they had just tried to tackle me. They quickly recover and get back to their feet before giving me a murderous glare. The crowd of people surroundings us realise something is off as they make room, forming a circle of empty space around us as the crowd quickly become onlookers who curiously watch the commotion as it begins.

"CROSS!!!" The blonde person who tried to tackle me shouts. It took me a moment but I soon realise who it is. It's the country bumpkin from school, Applejack, and she looked pissed... Although this wasn't anything new to me, as far as I know she always looked like that.

"...Farmer Barbie..." I lazily replied with zero enthusiasm. Usually one to welcome a hostile conflict I just didn't care for it right now, I was busy.

My uninterested demeanor only seemed to piss her off more as her glare intensified.
"WHERE IS APPLEBLLOM!?"

"Applebloom?... The short country red haired girl?" With a raised eyebrow I replied before looking around. I had no idea where this was coming from, as far as I could tell the only connection between the two is that like a few others such as Valkyrie, Big Mac, and other unnamed kids at my school that I didn't care about, they lived outside of town and are what I refer to as back water red necks.
"What's up with country bumpkin all wanting Applebloom?... Is she some kinda prophesied red neck that will bring about a new age of marrying your own cousins?" I mocked.

"I won't ask again! Where is she!?" Applejack demanded to know, ignoring my words as she then looked like she was ready to fight.

I just rolled my eyes, to say I didn't care was an understatement. "I don't really care why your suddenly gunning for me, but I guess I can answer your question. I don't know where Applebloom is."

Applejack was hesitating. While I'm not really a trustworthy person she seemed to believe me somewhat. "...You... You serious!? You really don't have her?"

Shrugging I reply. "You clearly don't have a brain but you do have two eyes. How about you start using those."

She once again ignored my insult as she looks around, soon her guard begins to drop. "You don't have her?... Then where is she?"

"The hell would I know. Har-Fest is huge, she could be anywhere, and that's assuming she even stuck around... Although I guess to a farm girl like her this is probably like Christmas." I replied.

Seeing how little I cared Applejack completely dropped her guard. Even the crowd had lost interest earlier and moved on. Soon a familiar country jingle begins as a frantic Applejack pulls out a mobile phone and answers it.
"Sis!?... Where are ya?.... You are!... What 'bout that text ya sent me?... Do you have any idea how much trouble ya caused?... Stay put! I'll come ta ya."
She then shot another glare my way. "...maybe I was a bit hasty... But I don't apologise."

"Apologies?... For what? Stumbling around and tackling the floor?" I replied.

That seemed to annoy her, whatever this was she hated that I wasn't taking her seriously. She even looked as if she felt stupid before she quickly straightened herself up before quickly walking off as she made sure to avoid eye contact.

For a situation that quickly escalated, it quickly fizzled out even faster. I just stood their for a moment as I wondered if it had even happened. ...I was confused. Annoyed, but confused.

"THAT'S HIM! HE'S THE ONE!" came another familiar voice from behind.

Turning around I quickly find myself in another situation. There was some disgruntled guy in a green shirt pointing to me... Which wasn't an issue. However, besides him was the one who was in charge of and even planned Har-Fest... My mother.

"Given your story I suspect it must have been this guy." My mother, Charity, said to him. Her tone was much calmer than his. "This trouble maker has gotten a bit of a reputation for being disruptive."

"Disruptive?... Trouble maker?..." I questioned. "I feel like your underselling me if those are the words used to describe me."

The stranger had a smug grin on his face as he got in mine. "You probably thought I was just gonna let it go!? That you could just push me around and get off Scot free!? ...Well guess what, that's not happening because I did just what I said I would do! I found the most important person here and I told on you!"
...It probably sounded tougher in his head.

My reaction wasn't what he was expecting. For a solid moment I just blankly stared at him before then clutching my chin in thought. "...hmmmm?..."

Still excited he continued. "Well! Don't you have anything to say! Aren't you sorry you messed with me! Regret any life decisions recently!"

"...should I know you?" I blankly question.

He's speechless as he stood there with his mouth open. His smug look becomes one filled with anger.
"Don't try and play dumb! There's no way your getting out of this!"

Suddenly my expression changes to one of shock which seemed to delight him. "I know you! Your that super whinny annoying guy I manhandled in front of  his girlfriend!"
I was glad to now realise what was going on, that confusing situation with Applejack just moments ago had me feeling kinda lost.

That only pissed him off. He could see I wasn't threatened or intimidated at all by him finding the highest authority he could and tattling on me. Also he was pissed that I really hadn't recognised him.
He then turned to Charity. "You gotta do something! This... Thug! He Assaulted and kidnapped me, dragging me all over the place for a simple cupcake! ... clearly his insane!"

Looking between me and he disgruntled man, charity had a look of confusion. "This kid? Are you absolutely certain?"

"OF COURSE I EM!" He shouted.

Still confused, charity replied. "but his only a kid... And can you really call it kidnapping if the one doing it is a kid?"

There was a long silent look from the man before he responded. "......YES!"

"Well, alright.... I guess I'll have t take care of this. This is why we hire security, for situations like this." She continued as she pulled out a walkee talkee.

"Ha! Hear that you little brat!" He gloated. "Looks like your ass is out of here!"

I just rolled my eyes.

"Hey we got a bit of a problem over by the home made soaps and honey's" Charity said as she began waving a hand in the air. "You see me?!... Good!...  Anyway, we got a disruptive guest who's ruining it for everyone and needs to be removed... immediately!"

Suddenly security began moving in from every direction, their blue vests and sunglasses easy to see as they were weaving through the crowd. All of them were pretty big guys who looked like they started more fights then they stopped.
The jack ass in the green shirt looked as excited as a kid in a candy store at the prospect of seeing me get tossed out.

"Make sure not to disrupt any of the other guests." charity Continued to give orders over he walkee talkee. "This guy's been a huge pain in the ass, so don't be afraid to get ruff with him. I want this green shirted weirdo out of here. his harassing my son!"

"This is what happens when a kid like you messes with adults! You get... Wait?... Son?!" Suddenly he realises what my mother Charity had said. The security wasn't coming for me, they were here for him.
Suddenly a look of panic is present on his face. Once again he was having a bad time.
"This brat is your son!? That's unfair! You can't just-! You can't-!" YOU BITCH!!!" in his panic with the closing in security, he turned to my mum and pulled back his fist to strike her.

Seeing this I quickly get ready to step in and take him down from the side.

But before he even begins to throw his punch he freezes for a moment, then all of a sudden he stumbles back a few meters. Something was off, there was something red coming out if his nose.... blood. The look on his face wasn't anger or panic anymore, instead he looked dizzy and disoriented.
"AHHHHH!!!" He suddenly began to scream as even more blood shit from his nose.

"Wha...? Is your nose broken?" I questioned out loud.

"Awwww, darm it!" Mum complained from beside me as I then turned to face her. She was looking at the her sleeve, around her elbow there was a red splotch on her white sleeve. "I thought I would be fast enough... Why does this always happens when I wear my favourite clothes! And I just had to wear white today!"

Her complaint sounded way to relatable. But more importantly I figured out what happened, before he could even throw a single punch mum had quickly brought her elbow up and caught him right in the face. ...but I didn't even notice because of how fast she was. She had even completely hidden her intent to do so. I was amazed... It had been awhile since I had seen her get physical with someone.

Suddenly three security guards jump the guy and quickly take him down. They then bring him back up and restrain him. 

"...y-you can't... Do this!... I-it's, poli-ce brutality!..." He struggled to complain.

One of the security members chuckle's. "Police?... We ain't cops. We're a local private security force hired for events like this. You can complain to our boss but I doubt that will do any good, as far as were concerned, our boss is who ever pays our checks. Speaking of which, we were small time before we started receiving gigs like this, our growth was also helped by certain donations received from a certain member at City Hall." He finished with a nudge from his head directed at mum.

"What can I say, I worry about public safety." Charity said as she rubbed saliva against the blood splotch to remove it, to no avail.
They then cuff him as charity approaches him, annoyed that the stain is not coming out. "It was dumb of you to try and attack a worker of City Hall... But not as dumb as what you did right after being restrained. You attempted to break free in the Ally between the I.T. store and that new frozen yogurt place, You seemed like a mad man so security had to get rough with you... Really left a lot of bruises!"

I noticed one of the security guards nod to another when she said that.

"..wha... What are you talking abou_!!!" He didn't finish his sentence as he was then gagged with a baton. As they then began dragging him off he realised it just happened to be towards the I.T. and frozen yogurt place she mentioned. The last thing I saw of him was this look of realisation filled with dread.

Once they are gone Mum turns to me. "Someone's having an unusually eventful day!"

"...Are you talking about me or that guy who's about to get his ass kicked?" I ask, genuinely not sure.

"You of course." Mum replied. "Usually at events like this you just show up and stick to some quiet corner until it's all over."

"Me?... Eventful? If by that you mean that some guy was complaining about me then I think you'll find your mistaken. I'm always getting people coming to me with their petty complaints when I do something they don't like." I argued.

"Oh!" Mum replied in a tone that said it was I who was mistaken. "I wasn't talking about just one small event... But it sounds like you consider today to be just as any other, so if that's the case why don't we see just how your days usually go?"
She then pulled out a notepad before continuing. "This morning you arrived with 2 other boys, however your part ways instantly and you head to a bakery, Sugar Cube Corner. It's closed so you then head to Har-Fest where you aimlessly wandered around until you force another attendant to show you where the stall for Sugar Cube Corner is located. Speaking with the boss of the stall seems to cause him to become enthusiastic as he and his wife later watch you from afar as you have a conversation with his young female employee. At a point in the conversation you leave only to come back moments latter, this brought joy to the stores boss and his wife. Upon ending the conversation for good with the young female employee you are approached by her bosses which you shoo off before then moving on to a child watch area run by Granny Smith who you thnn converse with. From there you then locate the store set up by Sweet apple acres and meet with her Grandson Big Mac. Next you appeared to leave the fair grounds only to come back later with three young girls, one of which was Big Macs little sister and a Jacket that appears to have been put together by a child. You meet with Big Mac once more and are soon confronted by-"

"Okay, stop!... I get it" I interrupted. "But more importantly, What was all that! Have you been spying on me?"

"Of course I have." She plainly stated. "I already told you this morning, I have eyes and ears everywhere."

"...okay...  But why?" I questioned.

"Isn't that obvious. Because I worry about you." She once again plainly stated. "I always keep an eye on you, didn't you know? ... anyway, the only reason I'm bringing it up this time is... Well, it's unusual. All of a sudden your more social then you've ever been. Your not shy and have never had an issue talking to some one... But it's never been the same person twice, And only one guy tried to get you thrown out. Something's changed."

"Your over analysing it." I somewhat lied. Sure things had been weird the last few days but I was done with that... Although most of today's events were unrelated to demon bugs.

"Maybe... But no." Mum said as she moved her face closer to mine. "Something's different... But it's nothing big. Your eyes... They have a different look. What you have found isn't something you had in a while.... A goal?"

"A goal?... Your not making any sense. You have been getting enough sleep recently, right?" A asked her with general concern.

Mum moved back a bit.
"Well, either way, your moving forward once again. And I'm sure your dad's gonna be happy to hear your talking to girls... Even the the ones who try to fight you." She jokingly said as she began to walk off.
"And make sure to eat something, I noticed you haven't had anything since you got here."

"DON'T TELL DAD ANYTHING!" I called to her as she disappeared into the crowd. I was positive that would only lead to more bad advice from my father. Also, While I didn't entirely agree with what mum said she did make some sense... I hadn't eaten in a while.

Moving through crowds once again I manage to find where the majority of food stalls are set up. There were plenty of stalls to choose from and while deciding I noticed Sugar Cube corners stall was here, it annoyed me of how easy it was to find now that I wasn't looking for it. However before I could make up my mind on what to get I spotted Valkyrie and Slow Dancer at one of the many tables scattered about.

I headed towards them with the intent to convince them to somehow work on Sweet Apple Acres... On a Sunday... And for no pay or any incentive. I absolutely had no idea how I was gonna do this but I felt like getting it out of he way as soon as possible.

As I got closer I noticed Slow Dancer had a box of hot chips, so I decided to make use of one of the perks of friendship I had seen in the school cafeteria, I took a hand full of his chips.
"Yo! What's the normal thing friends do when one requires the other to do unpaid time consuming manual labour in the hot sun with no incentives what so ever?"

"THE HELL!? Darm it, you can't just stick your dirty hand in my food! I don't know what diseases your carr-!" Slow Dancer angrily began shouting at me uncharacteristically. But he stopped suddenly before giving me a closer look.
"Cross?"

"Huh?... Yeah it's me, who else did you think I was!" I replied.

He gave an intense look at my new jacked for a solid moment before replying. "Honestly, with that worn out jacket I thought you were just some homeless guy. ...well, either way I don't want you grabbing my food. These sweet potato chips were pricey, so get your own!... But seriously, what's with the homeless guy jacket? I know you didn't have your jacket this morning but don't tell me you wanted one so bad you mugged a homeless guy?"

"Mugged a homeless guy? You mean recently... Then no. My jacket was gotten elsewhere but I'm not at liberty to say. And don't be so stingy about the chips, friends let friends bum off their lunch all the time." I answered.

"Not at liberty? Sounds like you did get it from some homeless guy." Slow Dancer responded. "And even if friends do do that, I don't consider you a friend.. also they take like one, not a whole hand full!" 

"You don't consider us friends, Huh?... You know what?... Neither do I!" I replied as I grabbed another chip from him in spite.
"Besides, you can think what you want but Valkyries got my back on his one, right Valky-!" I suddenly stop as I turned and faced Valkyrie.

I hadn't noticed as I walked over earlier but Valkyrie wasn't his usual chipper optimistic self... He also wasn't in the same healthy neatly dressed condition I had last seen him in this morning. He was slouched over the table with what appeared to be an ice cream in it's wrapper held against a black eye. His dumbass cowboy hat had appeared to have been roughed up and his brown cowboy jacket with tassels on the arms was torn around the collar and a sleeve was missing. I had been so focused on my own problem I hadn't noticed him until now.

"What happened here?" I asked out of curiosity rather then concern.

"I was right." Slow Dancer simply stated. However, seeing my look of confusion he elaborated. "I told him trying to use you was a bad idea that could only backfire, it's just common sense."

"Well obviously. But that doesn't explain, well, this... And that... Also that."I replied as I pointed out Valkyries damages, Valkyrie would shy away as I did.

Slow Dancer seemed more than happy to explain the details further. "Recently Valkyrie has developed a bit of a thing for a country girl, it's the whole reason he came dressed like a sheriff who enjoys musicals. He had a plan, an unreasonable one, but a plan non the less. Despite her subtle and... direct ways of telling him she's just not interested he followed her around all day trying to woo her in attempts that ended in much humor for me... Despite his well meaning yet absolute annoying courtship she always politely turned him away..."

"Is this story gonna be much longer cause I was actually hoping to grab something to eat." I impatiently replied.

Rolling his eyes Slow Dancer continued. "Anyway, recently you struck that stupid deal with Valkyrie to pretend to be friends and he wasted no time spreading that rumor. The fact that you saved his ass from spear wing also helped make it sound real. This next part is a little light on details because I was getting my order of chips as it happened, but, next thing I know the girl pulls out her phone. A few seconds later she asks Valkyrie if he really is friends with you which he more than gladly brags about, then she's kicking his ass before she takes off. ...that's all I know, the moment you were brought up she became hostile."

"Yeah, I have that effect on most people." I simply reply

"But now we're at what I'm sure will be my favourite part." A more than happy Slow Dancer continued.

Hesitantly Valkyrie turned to me. "...Cross?... I was thinking... About our deal, can-... Can we call it off? ...Slow was right. This was a bad idea, this was never going to work. This was my one chance to be around her, my chance to get to know her... And now it's gone."

I noticed just how happy Slow Dancer was to hear that as he took a satisfying bite from a chip. He watched me intensely, awaiting my annoyance.
I didn't take long to think, there was only one answer I could give

"K..." I simply stated.

A surprised Slow Dancer was quick to respond. "Huh! ...What?! that's all you have to say?" It now seemed Slow Dancer was the one annoyed

"Yeah, I mean, obviously." I once again simply responded. "I mean, if you look at my track record with having friends than you will clearly see it was 0 seconds. ...The fact that it didn't fall apart within he first 5 minutes was already a miracle in it's self, but for this to continue I was gonna need to somehow pull off an even bigger one. I say we cut ties here and save me gas money from having to drive you two home."

"I guess that makes sense.... In a backwards kinda way." Slow replied.

"...What do you mean by, you were gonna need a bigger miracle?" Valkyries asked out of pure curiosity. Seeing how little I cared about us ending our deal he gained some confidence. "And what was all that stuff about unpaid work and manual labour?"

"Huh? Oh that." I began to reply. "I won't go into too much detail but recently I realised I've kinda lost my edge. Long story short I know this guy, kinda. Big Mac, he runs a farm, Sweet Apple Acres, and for reasons I offered to give a hand and work there unpaid in my free time. Their is a gain but it's one of self improvement. Problem is he know I'm an ass so he only agreed if I could get more people to help. That was where you two came in but I had no idea how I was gonna convince you. It would've been long hours of manual labour in the hot son for no pay... But I would have needed a miracle to convince you to do it and theirs no way I was gonna make that happen."

"OF COURSE WE WILL HELP! THAT'S JUS WHAT FRIENDS DO!" an overly excited Valkyrie happily shouted.

"............huh?" Was my response. "....wait, what just happened? Did I just slip into an alternate reality where my situation was reversed?"

"Darm it!..... No! How?!" Slow Dancer complained. He seemed to know more about this than me.

"...okay... So what's going on here?" I ask the two.

With an annoyed look Slow Dancer continued. "The girl Valkyries into... She lives at Sweet Apple Acres. ...How the hell do you even know Big Mac? I thought your supposed to be anti-social!"

(A girl that lives a Sweet Apple Acres? ...Applebloom! Appleblooms kicked his ass? Well he is kinda a push over.) I thought to myself.

"Now I can be around her all day!" An excited Valkyrie told himself. "She may not like me now but if she sees me enough I can break her down!"

"...Okay, that was surprisingly easy." I stated out loud more to myself then the others. "....I guess I got my miracle and annoyed Slow Dancer. I don't know how I feel about this, but if this feeling is happiness then I think I'm feeling genuine happiness for the first time in, well, a year. ...lets keep this going, quick! what else does Slow Dancer hate?"

"He hates home made soaps!" An excited Valkyrie replied to Slow Dancers annoyance.

"Then let's go buy a bunch of handmade soap's!" I replied... Actually enjoying myself... Which was weird

After that I stuck with the two, I didn't particularly have any interest in Har-Fest but it wasn't like I could just go home, Mum wanted me here. It was also around this time I started to notice  something strange happening, unlike earlier in the day Time began to fly by. I just did what I usually did like making fun of the rednecks and the majority of Har-Fest, but it was somehow different with others... I mean, they weren't exactly with me on my ideals, except for Slow Dancer... But it was a different experience. Having them around also meant I could try more different food as we shared, even though they were against sharing food at first... And at the end.
We even ended up watching Applebloom and her little friends play about the founding of Ponyville... Which was full of may historical inaccuracies from what I could remember from Granny Smith telling me how it went. Neither Valkyrie or Slow seemed to appreciate me pointing out the errors either, although they seemed surprised that I knew at all... Until Slow suggested I was lying to mess with them, which sounds like something I would do so I don't fault him. I was a little surprised at how Valkyrie didn't seem to care when Applebloom started performing considering how much of a deal he made about her all day.

before I knew it the sun had set and Har-Fest was coming to an end as stores slowly began to pack up, disappearing one by one. As part of our agreement I drove Valkyrie back home, Slow Dancer decided to walk from Valkyries, saying something about him rather not wanting me to know where he lives... Like I cared.

Soon I was home, surprisingly exhausted. I set an alarm for really early in the morning before laying in bed and contemplating my day. It was... Different, yet very similar to how things had recently been. I don't know if I actually enjoyed myself at Har-Fest or if doing something different was just the sorta change I needed to take my mind off some things... But perhaps mum was right, I did now have some thing I was lacking, a goal...? Maybe?... At least I felt I was moving forward.