"Ello AJ." slurred Gavin, as he stumbled up to the cart.
"What 'n tarnation are you doing?" she asked sternly, seeing Gavin and Dan staggering up to her.
"We... Had the bevs." replied Dan, smiling happily.
"Bevs?" she questioned "Ah didn't think the punch was that strong..."
Gavin and Dan looked at each other and smiled sneakily.
"She thinks we had the punch!" giggled Gavin.
"She does!" laughed Dan. Applejack trotted over to them and put her hoof on Gavin's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
"AHHH!" he screamed jumping backwards, "It's got me!" he yelled. Dan laughed loudly as Gavin fumbled around, crawling away from the orange mare.
"Stop that right now!" Applejack yelled at Gavin, still trying to calm him.
"Ahhhhh!!!! It can talk!" he screamed as Applejack walked up to him, "It's looking at me, Dan!"
"Gavin, run!" shouted Dan, as he started to run away.
"No!" yelled Applejack, but it was too late. Gavin and Dan had already put some distance between them and she knew that they were just going to cause trouble.
"Celestia help me..." she muttered to herself as she set off galloping after Gavin.
"Leave me alone horsey!" Gavin shouted as Applejack chased him around the grounds.
"Ya'll better get back here now, mister!" she yelled in response, getting closer and closer to him. Gavin then got a brilliant idea, she couldn't fly. He spread his wings and with a few powerful flaps he was (sort of) flying above her.
"Muhahhahaha!" he shouted childishly, knowing he was out of her reach.
"Oh you asked fer it now!" grunted the mare. Luckily there was an apple tree next to her, so she bucked it harshly causing a few apples to fall. Just as one was about to hit the ground, she flicked it up with one of her fore hooves. She waited until it was in the perfect position before belting it as hard as she could with her hind legs. The apple hurtled towards Gavin and hit him square in the muzzle before he had chance to move.
He dropped like a stone and landed with a loud thud. His eyes were closed and his muzzle was... wonky. She trotted over to the injured stallion and tutted.
"Ah shouldn’t have done that." she mumbled, kneeling down next to him.
She picked him up and placed him onto her back gently.
"Ah need to get him to a bed on the double." she mumbled to herself. She trotted over to her stall and closed it, not that she was getting much business anyway. She started walking towards the hall; the Princess would probably have somewhere he could rest.
= = =
Dan was still running. He ran in a completely random direction, which turned out to be towards the fountain.
"Is she gone?" he asked, turning around to look for Applejack. "Phew!" he sighed, relieved that she wasn't there.
There was nopony else around the fountain. Dan was alone. He slumped down onto the ground and rested his head back against the stone. He rubbed his head, feeling a huge headache coming on.
"Argh..." he grunted, shaking his head, "pony headaches are way worse than normal ones"
He looked around to take his mind off of it, there were statues everywhere. Some were normal ponies, some were really tall and cool looking, but there was one that caught his eye.
"Hmmm..." he mumbled as he stood up to get a closer look.
It was an odd creature, a dragon mixed with lots of other animals like a goat, a deer and an eagle.
"That's so ugly." Dan chuckled to himself as he poked it with his hoof. As soon as he did, the statue seemed to flash red, the ground shook and a random bolt of lightning shot from the sky. The pegasus stumbled backwards in shock, tripping into the fountain as a result.
He was submerged for a few seconds, not fully realizing what had just happened. He lifted his head above the water hastily, his mane throwing water behind him. He splashed round struggling to get out of the water for a while. Eventually he hoisted himself out and fell onto the ground in a heap.
"Bloody hell!" he gasped, running his hoof through his mane.
He stood up and shook himself, sending water flying everywhere. That had thoroughly sobered him up; the water was cold and refreshing. He shook once more to get himself as dry as possible before setting off trotting towards the main hall.
As he was making his way there he heard a familiar voice talking to someone. He couldn't help but listen in. He tip-hoofed to the corner of the tall hedge and peeked around. It was Rarity talking to a white unicorn stallion with a blonde mane and tail. They were just walking along a path in the moonlight.
"Awww." said Dan happily.
Rarity looked so happy with him; he looked a bit douchey though.
"Oh I do love walking in the moonlight." sighed Rarity happily.
"Yes, quite." replied the stallion with a small smile.
"You look quite handsome tonight I must say." giggled Rarity.
"I do don't I." agreed the unicorn making Rarity frown slightly.
All of a sudden they stopped. Dan saw that there was a puddle in front of them on the floor.
"Oh my, I'd hate to get my hooficure wet and dirty..." hinted the mare, looking to the stallion.
"You would?" he remarked sarcastically, "Your hooficure is average at best, mine is fabulous! I simply can't stand for this nonsense." he grumbled, lifting his head and pointing at the puddle.
After about ten seconds Rarity spoke.
"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" she asked sweetly batting her eyelids.
"Me? Ha, no, but you will." he grunted with a smug smile. Rarity looked up desperately. He was her dream stallion. She had to do this for him. A lone tear trickled down her cheek as she took off her cloak and held it in her mouth. She looked up to him once more out of sheer hope that he was joking.
He just stared upwards with the 'I only care about myself' expression he always had. Just as she was about the lower her cloak onto the puddle, Dan marched around the bush.
"Dan?" questioned Rarity, "Whatever are you doing here?"
"Helping you out with this prick." he replied sternly, determination on his face.
Rarity stepped in front of the other stallion, smiling sheepishly.
"Dan, this is Prince Blueblood, say hello would you?"
"Hello bluetard." he grunted, gently moving Rarity out of the way.
"My my, who is this common plebeian." he laughed.
"Dan."
"That's the strangest name I've ever heard. Almost as strange as Riches or whatever your name is," he chuckled to Rarity. "Dan what?" he asked.
"It's Dan the Man, bitch." Dan stated before punching him hard in the face.
"Ahh!" Blueblood screamed, blood pouring from his nostrils as he backed away from the unicorn.
"Get outta here!" yelled Dan loudly as Blueblood galloped away "Hey look, your blood isn't blue after all!"
"Leave me alone you mongrel!" cried the unicorn from the distance.
Rarity didn't know whether to be thankful or angry. He'd had good intentions, but she didn't want him to ruin her chances with the stallion of her dreams.
"Dan?!" was all she could shout.