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// Fall Weather Friends 
// Story: The Everlasting Hope 
// by Plasmadon 
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Chapter 13: Fall Weather Friends

A/N
Hey, everypony! Plasma here. Before we start the story, I'd like to give  a big thank you to my little sister, and now co-author and editor, Sync. That is all.

I woke up to shouting. Lots of shouting.
You know, I’m starting to wonder why I even sleep. It seems like nearly every time I try, something bad happens. Oh well, I guess I had better settle this dispute between AJ and whatever pony was unfortunate enough to cross her path. I trotted out the door of the house, surprised at the change in color. All of the green apple trees had changed to mottles of rust, orange, gold and mahogany. Seriously? It was winter just two freaking weeks ago, and suddenly it’s autumn again? This world continues to amaze me.
AJ and Rainbow were yelling at each other from beside a horseshoes peg. Horses playing horseshoes? I see what you did there, universe. I approached calmly.
“Ladies, please,” I said. “I know I’m amazing, but there’s more than enough of me for the both of you.”
They both grinned and punched me.
“Alright, I guess I deserved that,” I said, getting up from the tree they smashed me through. I coughed up a little blood and continued. “Alright, what are you two fighting about this time?” That’s right. Andrew Gillen, median extraordinaire. 
“AJ thinks she’s the most athletic pony in Equestria, when it’s obviously me!” Rainbow exclaimed, puffing her chest out.
“Well, judging by the color of your house, I’d certainly agree,” I said, remembering the events of three days ago. Rainbow blushed. “Besides, I live with AJ, so I’m inclined to agree with her. We need somepony with absolutely no bias. How about… Twilight!”
“Fair enough,” Twilight said from behind me. I brohoofed Spike, who tossed me a juicy apple. I bit into it, waiting for AJ and Rainbow to start arguing again. 
“You know what?!” Rainbow yelled after ten minutes of pointless bickering. “Why don’t we have a contest to see who’s better?”
“Ah’m fine with that,” AJ said, lowering her Stetson. 
“Twilight, what have we gotten ourselves into?” I murmured from the corner of my mouth. She shook her head.
“Whatever it is, it most definitely isn’t good.”

The “Iron Pony Competition” was held about a day later. Fluttershy was going to be keeping score, while Spike, Twilight and I were judges. Spike was lazily flipping a bit in his hand while Twilight sat with rapt attention. Considering my not-so-much-existing attention span, I had taken to juggling apples with magic, throwing nine or ten of them around at a time. Twilight glanced over irritably.
“Don’t you guys have any attention span?” she asked. Spike and I shook our heads.
“Twilight, you’re talking to one of the most imaginative creatures in existence, with a talent for magic and a case of ADD so strong it might kill an ordinary person,” I deadpanned. She raised an eyebrow.
“Nopony has ADD that strong,” she said in an incredulous tone.
“Twilight, right now I’m envisioning four hundred and twenty seven romantic situations that could come out of this, two hundred and five of which result in one of our deaths, and only ninety seven of them involving the two of us. That’s how diverse my mind is.”
She gaped for a moment, then manually shut her mouth with her hoof and started shivering. Situation two hundred and nine, right there. But that wasn’t the point. The point was…
You know what? I don’t even know anymore.
“Alright, let’s get this started!” I shouted. “Pinkie, you’re up!” 
“Welcome, everypony, to the first annual Iron Pony Competition!” she said into a bullhorn.
“Uh, who’s she talking to?” Spike asked. I shrugged.
“Probably Marik. Whatever you do, do not accept a hug from that guy.” The two of them just stared at me for a second before sighing and turning away.
“Did I hear somepony say hugs?”
I whirled around, my Keyblade glimmering to life as I pressed the near-nonexistent tip towards the speaker’s throat. I’m serious. This guy scared the hell out of me. In front of the Keyblade was a snow-white pegasus with alternating lime and electric blue stripes in his mane. I relaxed slightly. He had a weird guitar case strapped to his back; it looked like it could carry both an acoustic and an electric at the same time.
“Jesus, man,” I muttered. He cocked his head.
“Who’s Jesus?” he asked. I waved off the question.
“Who are you, anyway?” I asked him.
“Name’s Spark. I’m a traveling musician. I noticed a blue box on the side of the road a few minutes ago and went inside. There was this pony going around and around in circles. I don’t think he ever noticed me. The box started shaking, and BOOM! I’m here.”
“Don’t worry. I think I can send you back to wherever you’re from.” I whistled as loud as I could. “PINKIEEEEEEE!” I screamed. She was there in a flash.
“Get the Doctor and his blue box, please.” She saluted and zoomed off, reappearing only moment later with an angry Doctor and a TARDIS.
“Andrew, what is the meaning of this?” he said hotly. I pointed to Spark.
“Take him back.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
“Take him back to his own dimension, or else I will turn the brakes off every time you land that box.” Not many people know this, but the TARDIS’ iconic sound is actually made by the Doctor leaving the brakes on. It does horrors to the transmission, too.
“Fine, fine,” the Doctor said irritably. He trotted over to the TARDIS and opened the doors, beckoning Spark inside. I waved him goodbye and returned my focus to the competition. They were already on the fourth event. Time really does fly when you’re yelling at an alien.
The events passed fairly quickly, with Rainbow winning over half of them. I did notice, however, that she used her wings to win them. 
“Judge!” I shouted when the games were over. “I call foul play!” everypony gasped.
“Rainbow Dash used her wings to win over half of those contests,” I continued.
“How is that foul play?” an angry Rainbow Dash asked from the air.
“Well, Colors, AJ here has no such amenity to help her. That gives you an unfair advantage.” Rainbow tried to think of flaws in my argument for a few seconds, but stopped after she appeared to get a headache.
“Now, I have a better idea to see who’s the best athlete,” Twilight said from my side. “Tomorrow is the annual Running of the Leaves. You two will race, on foot, to see who’s the winner.”
“And,” I added, “to make sure you don’t use your wings, I will temporarily remove them, Colors.” Rainbow gaped at me. Grumbling, she resigned herself to the inevitable. Alright, now let’s timelapse to the next day. I’m getting tired of all these contests.

It’s the next day!
AJ and Rainbow were stretching at the starting line when Twi and I approached. They stared at us for a few seconds, completely uncomprehending.
“Uh, what are you two doing here?” Rainbow asked.
“We’re here to race,” I said. “Oh, and this.” I zapped Rainbow’s wings with a flash of gold light, making them vanish. She didn’t notice, however, because she was too busy laughing at us.
“A race? You two? Bahahahahaha!” Rainbow barked a laugh.
“Ah gotta agree with Rainbow Dash here, sugarcubes,” AJ said from beside her. “Twi, yer not really the athletic type. And even though ya are well built, Andrew, yah just don’t got enough stamina to win a race this long.” I smirked.
“Oh yeah?” I asked. I’m gonna let my ego intercept this one. “I’ll bet you both thirty bits I’ll finish first!” I spit in my hoof, and AJ shook it.
“Yer on,” AJ said. I took my place at the starting line and tried to limber up the best I could. The Doctor popped up next to me.
“You’re racing too?” I asked. He nodded.
“There was a time back on Gallifrey when the Time Lord children used to do something similar. Of course, our leaves were much more beautiful than any they have here,” he explained. Time Lord culture. File that under important, brain.
“Welcome, everypony, to the annual Running of the Leaves!” The voice in the balloon seemed oddly familiar. A blue eye poked out.
“I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’ll be your Pie-in-the-sky announcer! And co-reporting with me is Spike the dragon!”
“Hello there, everypony!” Spike said from beside Pinkie. “Now, it’s time to start the Running of the Leaves. On your mark!”
“Get set!” Pinkie squealed.
“GO!” they both shouted. I began a light jog. Boring, right? Well, this was actually a secret plan. See, everypony will tire themselves out. Then, Twi and I sprint to the finish and win. Not much of a plan in terms of elaboration, but it would supposedly work well.
So Twilight and I trotted along at a brisk pace, keeping just behind the pony crowd so we could see the scenery. It was really quite breathtaking. Every now and then, I’d turn a tree’s leaves silver. Just a little gift for the Doctor. At about the halfway point, AJ and Rainbow Dash kept falling behind at intervals, blaming the other on clearly visible obstacles.
“AJ, look behind you,” I said irritably as she fell behind for the fourth time. “There’s a massive rock sitting right there, and you’re telling me you didn’t notice it?” she gritted her teeth.
“That cheater Rainbow must’ve put it in mah way,” she snarled.
“Calm down, Applejack,” Twilight said slowly. “Getting angry won’t help you at all.”
“Don’t tell me ta calm down, Twilight!” she yelled before dashing ahead. I rolled my eyes.
“Give a round of applause for the most stubborn pony in Equestria,” I said sarcastically. Twilight giggled and returned to the race. Nature is a beautiful thing, is it not? Especially when you can view it on your TV instead of taking a walk.
AJ and Rainbow fell behind again and again, only to get back up again and run. Eventually, they started cheating; flipping signs, knocking each other over, things like that. It got to the point where they didn’t even realize they were in last place. Finally, I saw my chance. Once everypony else was gasping for air, I dashed ahead as fast as I could. Twilight and I overtook all of them, though she was lagging considerably. We crossed the finish line to an explosion of cheers. Somepony put an olive branch crown on my head. Hail Caesar! I reclined against a fence and waited for all the other racers. After maybe fifteen minutes AJ and Rainbow rolled to the finish.
“Ha!” Rainbow cheered. “I won!”
“No, ah won,” AJ retorted.
“Well, technically you both lost,” I said as Twilight and I trotted over.
“What?” they asked simultaneously. I showed them my crown, as well as Twilight’s silver medal.
“First and second place, baby,” I said, smirking. My expression softened slightly when I saw their distraught faces. “Hey. You’re both great athletes. Sometimes, it just makes you headstrong and overcompetitive. Learn to control your impulsivity and you’ll be just fine.”
“As much as I dislike Andrew, I must agree with him on this case,” a soft voice said behind me. Princess Celestia was standing tall, her mane flowing in an unfelt breeze. Everypony but me dropped to their knees. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“No,” I said. “Three things, Celly. One: I’m not a citizen of your kingdom, and therefore not one of your subjects. Two: To be brutally honest, I have to say I respect Luna more than you. Three: there is no way in hell I’m bowing to you after you almost raped me three days ago.” Everypony gasped.
“Well, I can’t argue with points one and three, but why do you respect Luna more than I?”
“Simple. She’s been way nicer to me, and with the magic you used to make her grow to her normal size, she is definitely hotter than you.” At this, both AJ and Celestia bristled in protest. I smirked. “Ladies, calm down. Like I said before, there’s more than enough of me to go around.” Some of the ponies in the background swooned, but my main focus was the pair of nicely toned orange legs heading straight for my chest.
“Alright, I deserved that one too,” I groaned, picking myself up from the smoking trail of dirt AJ sent me into. There was a burst of pain in my lower chest area, and blood blossomed on my fur.
“Although I don’t think I deserved a broken rib.” I trotted back over to the group, trying to ignore the agony my body was sending my brain. Celestia touched her horn to the damaged area, and the bone knitted back together.
“Alright, Celestia is now even in my book,” I said. “Now, I believe I’ll head back to the farm before I sustain any more unnecessary injuries this week.” And cue the teleport. Have I ever told you guys just how much I LOVE magic?
After doing a few quick chores, one of which involving tying the CMC together with chains and a lock and throwing away the key, I tried to sleep. Dozing off, I thought about just how much I’d been injured since I got here. Let’s see… I died at least once, got a concussion or two, and many broken ribs. That about does it. After that painful reminiscence, I fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of crying. It was a familiar voice, but I couldn’t tell who. I opened the barn to and was faced with a sobbing Pinkie Pie walking down the road. I closed in on her quickly. Her mane and tail were hanging flat, like somepony had squeezed the life out of them.
“Pinkie, what’s wrong?” I asked. She looked up at me with teary eyes.
“Oh… hi, Andy.” She sounded like she was holding back full-on wails. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing my ass. Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s too cold out here for you to be walking around.” I led her up to the house and quietly opened the door. Once we were both inside, I settled her on the hearthrug and made us some hot chocolate. She sipped at it gratefully.
“Pinkie, what’s wrong? I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Well,” she began, “I was having some really good dreams, where me and you and all of our friends were playing together. Then, the dream changed. It was a really… a really horrible nightmare. I woke up shivering and shaking, and I couldn’t get my mind off the dream.” She tried to continue, but broke down into more sobs. I gently patted her on the head.
“Pinkie, do you want me to see it, so you don’t have to explain?” I asked. She nodded a bit, her mane swishing in the air. I charged up a spell and touched my horn to Pinkie’s forehead.

Ugh, where am I?
I opened my eyes to a brightly lit Sugarcube Corner. Oh, this must be Pinkie’s dream. But why Sugarcube Corner…?
A grounded rainbow caught my attention. Oh, Rainbow must be in this, too. Pinkie walked out the door of the sweet shop and started talking to her. She handed Dash a rainbow colored cupcake. The pegasus bit into it cheerfully. She started to talk again, but fell over, unconscious. The background fell blank for a minute, then reappeared.
They were in a room filled with sadistic torture stuffs and disturbing trinkets: a necklace strung up with unicorn horns, a stretching table, the heads of victims mounted on plaques. If I hadn’t had a long and eventful past (still not getting anything out of me), I wouldn’t either passed out or vomited on the spot. Pinkie was illuminated in one corner, twirling a knife expertly in one hoof. She then proceeded to slowly cut Rainbow Dash to slivers; no anesthesia involved. I could see Dash screaming in pain, but for some reason, I couldn’t hear her agony. I suppose Pinkie edited that part out, to keep what semblance of sanity she has left.
Soon Rainbow’s body was covered in blood, with dozens of cuts, a missing cutie mark, hacked-off wings, and several broken bones. She had passed out twice due to sheer nerve overload, and she looked like she was approaching a third. Poor Dash. I didn’t like her as much as my other friends, but nopony deserves this brutality. What did Pinks do to dream this grotesque universe up?

Then the dream abruptly ended. I returned to reality with a sort of tunnel vision effect. Pinkie was on the ground in front of me, shivering, her eyes pinpricks as a tormented expression covered her face. I pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring the hot stream of tears.
“Shhh. It’ll be alright, Pinks,” I cooed. She dug her face into my shoulder, sobbing harder than before. We sat there for a while, me comforting a friend in a time of grief. Just like back at home. At some point, AJ came down and checked on us. I told her what happened. She gave Pinkie a look of sympathy, then trotted out the door for unknown reasons. Several minutes later, she came back with Rainbow. Pinkie wouldn’t meet her eyes, but I turned her head in the pegasus’ general direction. Dash immediately embraced her in a bear hug, and Pinkie cried anew. 
After another short while, Pinkie stopped crying. I smiled.
“Pinkie, how about this? Tomorrow, we’ll plan the biggest, bestest, super-duper awesomest party in all of Equestria. That’ll cheer you up.” Pinkie got a huge smile on her face, and the mood changed with a nearly-audible bang as her mane and tail puffed up again. She tackled the three of us to the ground, giving me the most painful, heartfelt hug of my life. I smiled and laughed as she jumped around repeatedly, saying how fun it’d be.
Dash offered to fly Pinkie home. When they were both out the door, AJ trotted up and nuzzled my cheek. “You might be the sweetest stallion ah’ve ever met,” she said softly. I chuckled.
“That compliment is definitely new,” I said. “But, I appreciate it nonetheless.” I gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before teleporting up to the little area I’d claimed on the roof of the barn. With the news of Pinkie’s party gradually fading in my mind, I drifted off to sleep again.

A/N

Hey, everypony! Sync here. I’m Plasma’s little sis, editor, and co-author. The only reason I’m writing this author’s note is because there’s been an idea for an OCxRD or OCxPinkie floating around in my head for days now. Since Plasma just introduced Spark, I was wondering if you guys wanted a story based on his adventures in Equestria. That’s all folks, and see you next time on: The Everlasting Hope!