The night plays tricks on those that seek their answers. Cobrajet wasn’t looking for answers, he was looking for sleep. But tonight the thoughts he had brought about a dream he hadn’t had in a long time. He stood in his parent’s room watching the rise and fall of his mother’s chest. He was no more than a few years old at this time, and much to his comfort, his mother turned to him and began to speak.
“Hunny, its way too early in the morning for this,” she spoke wiping the sleep from her eyes.
“Mom, its ten o’clock in the morning,” He answered back a little confused at his mother’s reaction, but before his mother could reply he continued on, “You promised we could visit dad today.”
His mother blinked a few times and she yawned, “Yes dear I know, but they won’t open til noon, so can you let your mother sleep a few more minutes, she worked late last night.”
CobraJet looked at her and sighed, “Ok, I guess.”
“Thank you dear,” she answered back as she laid her head on the pillow and swiftly fell asleep.
Later that day
The two pegasi flew high over the land, surveying the plains below, both heading for the coliseum that stood in the center of town. Crowds lined the grounds, all in anticipation of the upcoming Wonderbolts air show happening today. As the two landed a voice came thundering from across the crowd.
“CobraJet, Mrs. Block, over here,” The white Pegasus yelled as he waved his hoof to get their attention. The two walked over to him and followed him through the VIP access gate.
In front of the Lounge area stood a tall stallion, as blue as the sky, and smiling from ear to ear.
“You both made it,” He spoke as the two of them entered the area.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mrs. Block spoke as she hugged her husband. After a short hug, the stallion knelt down and took the young CobraJet into his hooves and hugged him.
“It’s good to see you, my boy,” he spoke as he looked him over.
“It’s good to see you too dad, how has work been going,” he asked as he looked around. His father’s words were heard, but none of them stuck in his mind, because his looking around the room had landed him on a couch in the lounge. Cobrajet rubbed his eyes, not believing what they were seeing. On the couch was the most beautiful Colt he had ever seen.
The Colt sat next to another member of the squad, a Gold Pegasus pony, and looked as bored as can be. He scanned the room and after a look around, his eye’s stopped on the Colt that was staring at him.
“Dear Celestia, he saw me, oh no he’s walking toward me, oh pony feathers,” Cobrajet thought as the small colt made her way to him.
He stopped in front of him and extended a hoof, “Hello, I’m ...”
The sun broke through the curtains the mansion, beams hitting all over the outstretched body of the Pegasus, and finally one found his face, forcing him to awaken. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he didn’t see him, or his parents anymore and he only say the empty bed chamber and the sun coming into it.
“Been a long time since I had that dream,” He spoke to himself, turning to the door in his room and opening it. The smell of the pancakes was lovely and the laughter that came out of the kitchen told him that StoveBolt and Gold Comet were both up.
“Hey that’s not fair, why do you get the big one and I get the small one,” Stovebolt cried as he fought the older stallion for it. A Snicker from the doorway brought them both to look and smile.
“Good morning Sir, Sleep well,” The Butler spoke as he relinquished control of the pancake.
“Yes quite well,” he replied before walking over to his brother and kissed him on the forehead, “and what about you Stovebolt, did you sleep well?” His brother looked up at him and smiled.
“Perfect,” Cobrajet thought as he slipped his hoof beneath the gaze of his brother and stole the plate that held the biggest pancake of the batch. Before StoveBolt could react, his brother had stolen his plate and was already eating the pancake he had fought for. A frown appeared on his face, and tears began to fall.
CobraJet looked and felt sorry for him, “Hey, it’s just a pancake; there is no need to cry.”
StoveBolt mumbled something incomprehensible causing Cobrajet to move in closer to hear him, “what,” he asked as his brother continued to cry.
“Got Ya” Stovebolt said as a smile graced his face.
Wham!!!
The plate was pushed up and onto Cobrajet’s face, smeared around and then let go from behind. When he could see again, he saw his brother laughing so hard he was already on the floor.
He smiled a wicked smile and spoke, “Oh, it is so ON!”
He jumped forwards, grabbed hold of his brother and began to tickle the young colt, causing him to squirm and call for a truce, but to no avail, CobraJet was really on him today.
The tickle fight lasted a few minutes, and after both parties were tired out, they stood up and returned to eat their breakfasts.
Soon, the clock on the wall struck 10 o’clock, noting that Stovebolt needed to go so he wouldn’t be late to school. Stovebolt ran down the stairs, his satchel strung over his back, and he stopped in front of the door. Cobrajet stood in front of the door waiting for him, his robe placed over his shoulders.
“Come on, or you’re going to be late,” the Pegasus spoke as he opened the door.
“Why isn’t Comet walking me today,” The unicorn asked back as he walked outside.
“I need to run some errands, so I figured I’d walk you to school today, that and I’d like to see that teacher of your again,” Cobra said as he began the trek to school.
The walk there lasted only a short while and as the school house came into view, so did the other ponies he went to school with, including Rarity and her sister, Sweetie Belle. The two adults waved to each other, and after saying hello to Miss Cheerilee, Cobra and Rarity set off, and began to talk as they walked back to Rarity’s shop.
The inside of the school house was decorated in artwork by the other colts and fillies in his class. Crayon in all different colors, markers and paint decorated pictures of the students and their families, all of which made Stovebolt very sad. He knew he couldn’t draw a picture of that, as he no longer had one. The lessons started with a small talk on saying sorry and helping ponies in need.
“Convenient,” he thought as he began to stare out the window. Soon the lunch bell tolled and he set off for his normal spot to eat.
The swing he sat on moved back and forth slowly as Stovebolt kicked the ground. The sandwiches Comet made, peanut butter and apples was today’s flavor, were always the best and the little puddings he left in were the icing on the cake for him. He looked at the way it was made and began to dissect the art of making the perfect sandwich. He was so wrapped up in his eating and thoughts on its construction that he didn’t notice a white unicorn sit in the swing next to him.
“Hello,” she said as she sat down.
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Cobrajet and Rarity laughed as they approached the shop.
“Ok, I have another one. So there are these two ponies in Appleloosa, driving a stagecoach into town. They go over a bump in the road, causing one of the ponies to lift his head up, turn, and tell the other that he’ll never guess what he was dreaming about. The pony sitting next to him gives him a look of shock and says “You know you’re driving, right?”” Cobrajet said as his laughter gets the better of him.
“Oh Mr. Cobrajet, you know the best jokes I’ve ever heard,” Rarity laughed as she pushed the door of the boutique open and walked inside.
Cobrajet accompanied her in and after the laughter settled down, he spoke to her again. “Miss Rarity, I simply must thank you for the help you gave me and my brother yesterday, I don’t know what I would have done if this had happened anywhere else. I hate to impose on you, but your abilities as a seamstress are well earned, and I was hoping you could help me with something?”
Rarity turned to the Pegasus and smiled, “I would be happy to help.”
A couple of minutes later, a knock came from the boutique’s front door, and after a minute of waiting, a purple unicorn stuck her head into the shop.
“Rarity, are you here,” Twilight Sparkle spoke as she scanned the empty shop for her friend. The front of the shop was deserted, causing Twilight to investigate deeper. She walked into the shop, using her magic to close the door softly. “Maybe she isn’t awake” she thought, but as she cantered deeper into the shop, from behind the door to her design studio, she began to hear voices.
“Oh, Miss Rarity, I don’t bend that way,” a male voice spoke first, piquing Twilight’s interest.
“Nonsense dear, those legs of yours can do all sorts of things,” Rarity’s voice came next, surprising the unicorn in the hall. What was she doing in there, and more importantly, when did she meet a stallion? Twilight placed her ear to the door and continued to listen.
“I never worked with something like this before, am I doing it right,” Rarity spoke as something began to start up.
“You’re doing well so far, now let’s move to the next step,” the male voice answered as the machine fully came to life.
“I need you to move and bring it up again, so I can get it just right,” Rarity said as sounds of movement came from behind the door.
“Ow, my wings definitely don’t bend that way,” the male voice spoke as gears ground and electricity crackled, causing the already curious pony to press her ear harder to hear the reaction.
“Oh come on, it’s not like you haven’t done this before, how did you do it last time,” Rarity questioned, as the noises in the background ceased.
This statement caused Twilight to gasp and bring her head away from the door. She’s not doing what I think she’s doing, and in the middle of the day, as Rarity herself would have put it if she were the one listening, how scandalous. Twilight’s curiosity was fully piqued and she pressed her ear against the door again, but this time she heard a different sound, the sound of the door opening.
Rarity and CobraJet both jumped as the door to the studio swung open and a purple unicorn fell into the room. After regaining her composure, Rarity looked at the fallen unicorn and quickly ran to her.
“Oh my darling, are you alright,” she asked as she helped her friend back to her feet.
“I’m fine Rarity, just a little accident; I hope I wasn’t interrupting something important,” Twilight spoke as she began to blush. Busted she thought as she quickly scanned the room around her. Cobrajet stood on a platform, a striped suit on his body, and a look of pain on his face.
“I was just helping a new customer with a suit request, when you stumbled into the door giving us quite a scare. And unfortunately that also caused me to poke him in his hind quarters,” Rarity spoke as he went back to the stallion’s side. “I’m terribly sorry,” She said looking at him. CobraJet smiled as tears flowed from his eyes.
“It’s OK,” he said as he began to wipe the tears away, “But can we take a break for a bit.” Rarity frowned, wanting to get this done quickly, but she knew that he was hurt and relented.
“OK, let’s take a lunch break, Twilight will you be joining us,” Rarity asked as she walked him over to a sofa and helped him sit down.
“Yes, I think I will,” Twilight answered, still quite embarrassed, as she walked over to the pair and smiled.
Lunch lasted an hour, and the conversations they were having helped pass the time. CobraJet learned that the unicorn that entered the room so dramatically was Twilight Sparkle, the town’s Librarian and according to Rarity, the leading authority on the magic of friendship. He also learned that Twilight was quite the prevy pony.
“So wait, you thought her and I were…” he spoke, laughter clearly in his voice. Twilights cheeks lit up red and she quickly began to look for a place to hide.
Upon finding no place she could she looked back at him and weakly smiled, “Shows what happens when you jump to conclusions,” she said as her blush deepened.
Rarity and Cobrajet laughed at the circumstances and after a little while, they were all talking over the tea Rarity had poured. The day progressed as normal, the suit fitting continued after lunch was eaten, and after several more apologies from Twilight, the affair was quickly forgotten and a new one took its place. The suit Rarity had designed was stunning to say the least, Black cloth sewn with an inside seam, with small white stripes running through, breaking up the lines that were the contours of the mechanics he hid underneath. Twilight had seen the mechanics and the damage to the rest of him during the fitting, and strangely to him, she didn’t so much as bat an eye.
“Well, I must say miss Rarity, this suit is by far the best one I’ve ever had made," CobraJet complimented as he looked himself over in the mirror, “I simply must have you do a few more for me, that is if you can fit me into your schedule?” Rarity looked at her happy customer and smiled deviously. She knew that the spring line was already shipped, and she had a few more weeks until she had to start on the summer line, but he didn’t.
“I don’t know, I mean I do have a lot of orders to fill,” she said as she looked into her appointment book. Cobrajet looked at her and frowned,
“Well is there any way I could get these done in the next few days, I am willing to pay more if that would help,” He said as he looked her over. Rarity smiled as he fell into her trap.
“Well I suppose I could move some of the other projects I have around for you,” she said as she looked again at her empty appointment book, “Will you be able to come in tomorrow?”
“If this party I’m invited to doesn’t knock me out, I should be able to do it tomorrow,” he answered, a smile came across his face, “I’ll walk Stove to school tomorrow and we can talk about it then.”
The Pegasus thanked the unicorn for the help she rendered today, paid for the suit, and began to walk out of the shop, with Twilight walking out just behind him. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, he asked her to follow him to the school so she could meet his brother, saying that he would definitely want to make the acquaintance of the librarian of the town. She gladly accepted the invitation, noting that it was nice for someone else to take reading into his heart. And so they continued on to the school house at the end of town. As they approached, they could see the other families there to pick up the students. Stovebolt stood by the corner of the playground, his mind currently occupied by something else. “Hey bro, how was school today,” Cobra asked Stove as he and Twilight got closer.
Stovebolt was knocked out of his thought process as his brother and another pony walked towards him. “My day was ok, I made some new friends today,” he said as he met his brother halfway.
“Really, and who are they,” he asked, but before Stovebolt could answer, the ponies in question did it for him.
“Hey StoveBolt, are we going over,” A white unicorn filly called as she made her way to him.
“Actually, my brother is here so we don’t have to go find him,” he said as noticed the white unicorn was flanked by two others.
“Ah, shoot, ah was hopin’ we could see this house of yer’s,” a pale yellow earth filly spoke as they drew near.
“Yeah, you made it sound so awesome,” said the orange Pegasus on the unicorn’s right. All three fillies came to a stop and smiled as they noticed the purple unicorn next to Stove’s brother, “Hi Twilight,” they all said in unison.
“Good afternoon girls, how was your day,” Twilight answered back, a smile on her face.
The conversation continued as other ponies came and went; they discussed their days, from the picking on of Stove by Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon, the cutie mark crusaders saving the day and all that. They laughed as they walked, stopping at each of their houses, meeting all of the family that they came across. They meet Applejack and Big Macintosh at Sweet Apple Acres as they dropped off Applebloom, talked to Rarity about getting a suit made for Stovebolt, when dropping off Sweetie Belle, and meet Scootaloo’s parents, much to her chagrin. They continued until they arrived at the library’s entrance. Twilight turned to the two ponies that had accompanied her and smiled, “well, this is the library,” she spoke as she turned the doorknob and entered.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The shelves that lined the walls were covered in books. There were lots of books, with such a variety of topics that StoveBolt couldn’t contain himself. He began to run around the library, marveling at the sheer volume of knowledge he could obtain. He continued to look while the two older ponies walked to the table at the center of the room and sat down.
“Wow, he seems pleased,” Twilight said as she stared at the colt running around. “That he is,” he said back as he looked the same way. They talked for an hour, about life here and instructions to finding the house for the party going on later, but slowly the conversation began to die as it began to grow late.
Cobrajet looked up at the clock, turned to the young colt and said, “Stovebolt its time to go and get ready.”
“OK” he answered as he picked up a book and walked it over to Twilight. “I’d like to check this book out if I can,” he asked as he laid the book down on the counter.
Twilight looked at the title of the book and grinned. Zen and the Art of Chariot Repair was emblazoned in gold on the cover, a favorite of Twilight to read, even if she did nothing in the book.
“Certainly, just have it back by the end of the month,” she said, stamping the book and handing it back to him. And with a smile and thanks, the two made their way back home to get ready for the party.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
They walked the short path to the front of the Sugercube Corner, and after knocking on the door a pink pony greeted them with a smile.
“Hello, you must be the ponies I haven’t met yet,” Pinkie Pie yelled over the music that was coming from inside the store.
“Yes, Thank you for inviting us,” CobraJet said loudly, trying to fight the music for precedence. “This is Stovebolt, my brother,” he spoke as he waved his hoof at the young colt. “That is Gold Comet, my butler,” He waved behind him to the butler that stood quietly. “And my name is CobraJet,” he finished as he pointed to himself. Pinkie Pie waved to the lot of them and invited them in for what turned out to be the biggest party they had ever been to.
Several hours later
The door to the shop swung open as several ponies stepped out into the cool night. CobraJet had StoveBolt by his side, the both of them looking rather tired. None the less, CobraJet turned back to his host and smiled.
“Clearly you know how to party out here," He said as he laughed at the amount of fun he had just had. From pin the tail on the pony, to the apple bob, and even the treats that had been made for their welcoming, and StoveBolt had enjoyed the party with his friends he had made. Pinkie smiled at a successful party pulled off, and turned back to talk to the departing guests.
“Yep-yep-yep, we sure do,” she answered “And might I say that was the best one I have ever thrown.” Pinkie’s smile told him that she had said that before, but smiled back to be nice.
While the guests of honor were leaving, a voice from earlier asked a question to the host.
“Pinkie Pie, is it OK if Rarity stays here tonight, she had a bit too much to drink,” Sweetie Belle asked as they turned to her and saw the situation. Rarity was passed out on the floor covered in a tablecloth, her hair splayed haphazardly across the floor.
“Oh ponyfeathers, that’s the second time in as many parties she has over done it,” Pinkie said as she walked up to her friend. Applebloom and Scootaloo stood next to Sweetie’s passed out sister and laughed. The hand gestures being made showed her grabbing the table to stabilize her, missing on the tablecloth and falling over before she passed out. Sweetie wasn’t so carefree, she had no pony to take her home, and her friends were going to have another sleepover tonight.
Pinkie Pie picked up Rarity and heaved her onto an unoccupied couch, tossed a blanket on her and walked back to her leaving guests.
Pinkie Pie made her way back to Sweetie Belle with a smile. "Sweetie Belle, your welcome to stay here tonight, since your sister is in no shape to take you home," Pinkie Pie offered, but the frown of Sweetie Belle's face told Pinkie there was more to it then her sister passing out.
“But Rarity was supposed to take me to her house tonight, we had a sleep over to do,” Sweetie Belle said as she frowned.
“I’m sorry Sweetie, but only you can stay here tonight, I only have room for you,” Pinkie said, much to the dismay of the other ponies.
"Can't you make some room for us Pinkie, We promise to be good," AppleBloom and Scootaloo said in unison, puppy dog eyes in full effect.
“I'm truly sorry girls, but I just don’t have the room to do that tonight,” Pinkie said as a frown started across her face. She looked like she truly was sorry, but it was true she didn’t have the room of the lot of them. Boy she wishes she had a solution to this problem.
“They could stay with us tonight,” StoveBolt yawned, causing the focus of the conversation to shift to him. Pinkie Pie’s smile grow back on her face, "That sounds like a great idea," she yelled, her festive self back in full form. Cobrajet didn't quite share her enthusiasm.
“Stovebolt, We can’t do that, the house is a mess, and with school and everything it's not a good night to do this,” CobraJet said as he turned to his brother.
Stove looked his brother in the eyes and spoke firmly, “Brother I talked about having them over someday for such a thing, it just so happens that that day is tonight. Besides, we don’t have school tomorrow, so why is it a problem?”
Cobrajet looked at his brother and sighed, knowing the logic he used was sound. Still didn’t mean he had to like it.
“OK,” he said, causing the young ponies to shout. “But” his voice spoke over all of them, “You all need your parents’ permission and when we do reach the house, we will be setting up ground rules.”
A few minutes later, Cobra, Stove, Gold, and the whole of the so called Cutie Mark Crusaders were walking towards the mansion, in silence.
The white unicorn was the first to speak, “thank you for letting us stay the night Mr. Cobrajet,” Sweetie Belle said as they approached the door.
“It’s not a problem, earlier warning would have been better, but C'est la vie,” Cobrajet said as they all filed into the house, and he closed the door behind them.
The insides of the mansion stunned the CMC, and they all began to spread out to search the halls.
A voice stopped them quickly, and as they all turned Cobrajet was eyeing them all.
“OK Kids, ground rules. You are to follow Stovebolt up to his room, we will be bringing beds up. You are to start settling down, but you can sleep when you want to. In 15 minutes there will be hot chocolate, I want you all there and after words you may do as you please. All I ask in return is a promise, a promise that you will not go down to the basement for the night, I need to clean it up before you can come down.”
He stopped to see the reactions then began to speak again, “Now do we have a deal?”
The CMC looked up at the Pegasus and smiled, “We pinkie promise,” they answered as they went through the strangest motions for a promise he had ever seen.
“Ok…” he said a bit confused, but quickly he smiled and spoke again, “then, I wish to welcome you to our home, please have fun tonight.”