//------------------------------//
// Welcome to Mareami 
// Story: Friendship is Epic - Book 2: Dat Mareami Heat 
// by FlareGun45 
//------------------------------//

It was colder today than any other day; the snow wasn’t falling that much, but it was as cold as the Crystal Mountains today! Fluttershy and Rarity decided to walk over to my shop for breakfast. It’s not often that ponies come over to my shop for breakfast. Then again….. breakfast pizzas! They eventually arrived in front of my shop to find Lyra, Bonnie, and Crèmepop sitting outside.  Lyra and Bon Bon were playing Uno as Crème rolled on the ground, holding onto her legs, all freaked out.

“HA! DRAW TWO!” Lyra yelled at Bonnie. “IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR FACE!”

Bon Bon just smirked at her. “DRAW FOUR WILD, YELLOW!” 

“What?! I have no yellows!” Lyra complained.

“And that’s why I used the color.” Bon Bon chuckled.

“Good morning, dears! What are you doing out here in this cold?” Rarity asked them.

“Playing Uno!” Lyra said.

“Besides the obvious.” Rarity added.

“We’re waiting for Flare, this is the 8th time this week he’s opened late.” Bon Bon said.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that.” Fluttershy said.

“But wait, how can it be 8 times this week he hasn’t opened, when he only opens 7 times a week?” Rarity asked confusingly. Lyra and Bon Bon just looked at eachother confusingly. “What seems to be Crèmepop’s problem?”

“She always does that when Flare comes late. She always thinks Flare’s not gonna show up.” Lyra said.

“He will! Yeah…. Yeah he will! What makes you think he won’t?” Crème asked in denial, with a psycho look on her face, and her eye twitches. Rarity and Fluttershy looked at eachother weirdly. “SHUT UP!” Crème yelled.

“Goodness! I wonder why Flare has been opening his shop so late. This isn’t like him.” Fluttershy said worriedly.

“Nonsense, Fluttershy! He’ll be here eventually!” Rarity said. Two hours later…… “Or, maybe not.”

Crème squeed with a very big smile on her face. “THERE HE IS!” she yelled in excitement. I ran over to the door, panting, and catching my breath. 

“Sorry I’m late, sistas. I overslept….. again.” I said as I attempted to unlock my shop.

“Again?” Fluttershy asked.

“He’s been doing that a lot lately.” Bonnie said.

I yawned. “It’s no big deal. Nopony comes for breakfast anyway.”

“Actually, darling, we’re here for breakfast.” Rarity corrected me.

“But it’s okay that you’re late. I oversleep sometimes too.” Flutters said.

“No, it’s not ok.” I said. “I shouldn’t be oversleeping so much.” I then walked inside and turn off my alarm. “I’ve been working so hard lately! It’s not easy running TWO pizza shops! I shouldn’ve bit off more than I can eat.” I took a big bite from my bagel in my hoof and then I started choking. Crème freaked out and then she ran behind me and squeezed my stomach until I spit my bagel out.

“Eww!” Rarity said, as the other ponies were also grossed out by the bagel in the middle of the floor.

“I apologize deeply! I didn’t even have breakfast this morning; I was really in a hurry to come here! I didn’t even have time to shower, shave, or even feed my fish!” 

A cutaway shows my fish back at home were waiting for their meal. Dorthey looked at her watch impatiently, and Yoyo started nibbling on the rocks on the bottom with a psycho look on his face.  “We need to learn to start feeding ourselves.” Rainbow said. The cutaway ends.

Back at my shop, I walked into the kitchen to get everything ready. “So, yeah, this isn’t really my week. I mean  I have so many bills to pay, I have to get my apples from Applelossa now since it’s snowing at Sweet Apple Acers, I’m helping my sister get used to things in the Canterlot shop until I can find proper management there, THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SO DARN STRESSFUL FOR ME, I DON’T EVEN FALL ASLEEP UNTIL 4 IN THE MORNING!” I yelled.

“Oh, dear, well….. if you need any help….” Fluttershy started.

“WHO ASKED YOU?!” I yelled out Flutters. “WHO ASKED YOU, HUH?!” 

Fluttershy started squeaking. “Eep! I’m sorry, Flare.” 

I took a deep breath and calmed down. “I’m sorry, Flutters. I’m just so stressed out right now! Being a restaurant owner isn’t as easy as it seems, you know? I might’ve had lots of bullies back in Mareami picking on me, but at least I didn’t overwork. It seems I can’t get rid of my stress! Sigh, I also miss my family. I haven’t seen them in ages; except for that one time my mom came down for Mother’s Day and my sister lives in my guest bedroom, but….. I’m sorry, sistas, I need some time.” So I walked into my office and closed the door.

“Gosh, I didn’t know Flare has been going through a lot.” Flutters said.

“He’s been like this all week. We keep telling him he should rest it out, but he says it’ll just be more work later. He keeps saying he also needs the money.” Bonnie explained.

“I thought he was loaded?” Rarity asked.

“He blew half of it by making his expansion, not to mention his business trips.” Bonnie said.

“Flare needs to rest it out. I can take over the shop until he comes back.” Crème said.

“Flare needs a vacation/ We must take him on vacation!” Rarity swore.

“We tried telling Flare that, but he said he doesn’t have the money and time right now. It just goes to show…..” Lyra started, but she stopped there. Everypony was silent for a sec.

“What goes to show what?” Bonnie asked.

“Nothing, that’s it.” Lyra said. 

Meanwhile, I was in my office checking my mail with a tired look on my face.
I went through my mail, just throwing them aside. “Bill, bill, bill, bill, fashion magazine, bill, fashion magazine, advertisement, coupons, bill, fashion magazine- What was with these fashion magazines? Is this Rarity’s mail? Bill, bill, nomination for the awards, bill, fashion magazine, coupons, fashion magazine- I’M SO TIRED OF THESE FASHION MAGAZINES! I’M GOOD OF WHAT I’M WEARING! FOR WIZARD OF HOPE’S SAKE!” I yelled as I grabbed my hair and started throwing my stuff around. Just then, an anger difficulties sign pops up in the scene, showing a picture of me grunting in anger and with two hulk fists in the air, and the music in the background was pretty relaxing; same music as the puppy moments from chapter 17. 

The scene comes back with me sitting in my office in silence for a few moments, but then I started screaming again, “GAAAAAAAAA-!” the scene suddenly changes back to that anger difficulties sign again with the same music, but the picture of me was different – I was screaming instead of grunting, and the background was flashing yellow, and I had THREE hulk fists in the air.

Fluttershy and Rarity knocked on my office door and opened it slightly.
“Flare? Dear, are you okay?” Rarity asked. I started barking like a dog at them. They got startled a bit and closed the door. I crawled around in a circle and then I laid on the rug in front of my desk and started chewing on my Jeff Gorspeed bobble head, which was already ruined before. Rarity and Flutters opened the door slightly again.

“Flare, I know this isn’t a good time, but….” Rarity said but she got startled again by my barking.

“Maybe, I should try.” Flutters suggested. “Flare, I know this isn’t a good time, but…. Please may we talk to you?” Flutters asked nicely.

“What is it Flutters?” I asked.

“How come it worked when you did it?” Rarity asked.

“Flare’s acting like an animal, and…. You know I’m good with animals.” Flutters said. They opened the door and they both walked inside.

“Flare, deary…..” Rarity said, but I started growling at her when she went close to me, and then she backed off. I then continued chewing on my bobble head. Every time she goes close, I growl, and when she backs off and I chew on the bobble head. She keeps coming forward and backwards in an order like…. Well…. Think of on Family Guy when Brian was chewing on that cross and Meg was trying to grab it, and Brian growled at her so she can back away. Yeah, this was exactly like that. Flutters glided over to me and rubbed my back.

“There, there, Flare. It’s okay. We all get angry sometimes.” Flutters said.

“Aw c’mon! Why isn’t he growling at you?” Rarity asked.

“Shhh!” Flutters shushed Rarity. “Look, I know you’re working hard, but you need a vacation, Flare. You’re working too hard and you need your rest.”

“But what can I do, Mama Flutters?” I asked. “I can’t leave the shop! I can’t afford a vacation right now!”

“How much money do you have in your bank right now?” Flutters asked.

“Approximately 48,000 bits.” I said.

“That’s more than enough!” Flutters said.

“But if I’m this low, I need to use it in case something happens. I have my bills, my insurance payments, food, THIS IS JUST CRAZY!” I said.

“Like you?” Lyra asked by the door.

“SHUT UP, LYRA! Nopony asked for your onion!” I yelled.

“Onion?” Rarity asked.

“Shut up, I’m not explaining it again.” I said angrily. “Look, I appreciate all you’re doing, but no. I can’t go on vacation.”

“Well…. I can at least help sort your mail.” Flutters offered as she started looking through my mail.

“It’s nothing really; just a lot of bills, some fashion magazines, some coupons, and a nomination for awards.” I said.

“WAIT!” Rarity yelled. “I’ll take these fashion magazines off your hooves!” she gathers my fashion magazines.

“Wait, what about this nomination awards letter, Flare?” Flutters asked.

“Huh? Wait, a minute, a nomination awards letter? Let me see that.” I quickly grabbed the letter and looked at it. “It’s for me! What did I get nominated for? I never get nominated for anything.”

“You never got nominated for anything, Flare?” Flutters asked.

“Uhh, did I just say that?” I asked rudely.

“Oh, sorry, Flare.” Flutters said.

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. Well, this was this one time I was nominated for the biggest weirdo in high school.” I said.

“Did you win?” Rarity asked.

“RUDE!” I said angrily.

“Well, at least you’d win something, darling!” Rarity attempted to comfort me.

“No. I lost at the one thing everypony thought I was good in. I was the only nominated one, and I still lost! I mean, how is that possible?” I asked.

“Ponies are harsh sometimes, Flare. You just need to accept that.” Flutters said, putting her arm around me.

“Pew, pew, pew!” I said, firing my little laser pointer pen at her.

“Well, what are you waiting for, dear? Read the nomination letter!” Rarity instructed me.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” I yelled angrily at her, but then I started reading it anyway. “Dear Crimson Flare Gun, you are hereby nominated for the award having the best pizza restaurant in all of Equestria. Oh, I thought it was an award for having the most epic collection of hoof-nails. We’re having the award ceremony on Saturday December 7th at the Hoof Point stadium in…’" I gasped. "MAREAMI?!” I yelled.

"Your hometown?" Rarity asked.

"Nooooooo, my junky playground, what do you think Rarity?" I said to her sarcastically.

"But, dear, I thought you loved Mareami?" Rarity asked.

"I do, but do you remember the reason why I moved to Ponyville? Laugh out loud remember, Rarity?" I asked.

"I somewhat do." Rarity said.

"But you're nominated for awards, Flare. Isn't that great?" Fluttershy asked excitedly.

"Well yeah, but.... it's Mareami!" I said. "I don't think I want to experience the risks of humiliation again!"

"Maybe we should go tell the others and maybe we can give some advice!" Fluttershy suggested.

"That's a great idea, Flutters! Tell the girls, I'll tell the Nobles to come meet us at Twilight's House, at 6 PM tonight. Kay?" I asked.

"Sounds good, Flare! See ya at 6!" Fluttershy said. 

6:01 PM, at Twilight's House, everypony was talking to eachother, waiting for me to show up. I slowly walked inside, looking tired, and I stood up in front of everypony. "Sorry I'm tardy, brahs and sistas. Last minute customers." I said.

"Yeah whatever we're doin’ here, it better be good. Ah wasn't done building a new device." Engie complained.

"Now, I have an important announcement to make." I said.

"We know! Why else do you think we're here?" Crystal asked sarcastically.

"The Food Awards is going to take place on Saturday, and..... I've been nominated for the best pizza restaurant in all of Equestria." I said.

"That's great, Flare!" Blaze said.

"Yeah, mate, but why feel so down in the dumps about it?" Aqua asked.

"Well, the thing is..... its… taking place back in my hometown of Mareami." I said.

"How many times do you have to say HOMETOWN before Mareami. We all know already that it's your hometown, you don't need to brag about it!" Crystal complained.

"So yeah, I'm going over there tomorrow morning with my sister Water." I said.

"That's another thing, you keep saying 'your sister Water'; we all know that's your sister." Crystal added.

"Crystal, shut it." Psyche demanded to her.

"Hey you can't tell her what to do, Psyche!" I yelled out at him.

"Yeah, Psyche!" Crystal mimicked.

"Shut it, Crystal." I demanded.

"So why did you gather us here then?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I need some advice into avoiding those who made me suffer while I was living there. Twilight, you might have a solution." I said.

"Just ignore them or try to make peace!" Twilight suggested.

"Well, they won't listen to me!" I said.

"You'll never know unless you try!" Twilight said.

"I did try." I said.

"OOO, OOO! I KNOW, I KNOW!" Pinkie yelled. "How about you shoot yourself out of cannon into a plastic cup, wearing this mustache?"

"We're seriously goin’ through that again, Pinkie?" AppleJack asked.

"Well, duh! Aren't mustaches the coolest?" Pinkie asked. “Besides, I’m his special somepony! He’ll listen to me! Right, coltfriend?”

"She's got a point there, you know." I nodded.

"Look the answer is quite simple, we should go with ya!" AppleJack suggested.

"Well… I can’t really afford plane tickets for all of you. I only got two plane tickets, and I already said to Water that she can go." I said, showing everypony the tickets.

"Why choose Water out of me, Flare? We have something special!" Pinkie said sadly, staring at me real closely.

"I understand that, Pinks, but Water is my sister. She hasn't seen our family longer than I have." I said.

"PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE, FLARE! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE LET ME GO!" Pinkie begged. "I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING YOU WANT!"

"Sigh.... I'm sorry, Pinks, but no." I shook my head.

"Okee dokee lokey!" Pinkie said happily.

"Any other advice?" I asked.

"Give me a phone call, maybe I can help you then." Twilight suggested.

"I dunno, Twilight. Long distance." I said.

"Well, then..... just have fun! Have a safe flight! Win those awards! We'll see you on TV!" Twilight said.

"Sounds good to me! I'll see you all on Monday." I said as I tiredly walked out.

"You know, Flare needs to learn to wipe his hooves before coming inside the house." Spike complained.

"Spike, take a letter for the princess!" Twilight instructed him, and then Spike takes out a piece of paper and a quill. 

"Twilight, what are ya'll doin?" AppleJack asked.

"Dear Princess Celestia...." Twilight began. "We'll need 12 tickets for a flight to Mareami."

"Wait, what are you doing, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"You see, our friend Flare thinks he's going to suffer from bullies again while going to Mareami for an important trip, and it's our job as his friends to help him out in this situation." Twilight continued. "We'll help Flare make his peace and he'll never be afraid of going to Mareami again. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike rolled up the letter and blew it to the princess.

"What are ya doin, Twilight? What makes ya think the princess will give ya the tickets?" Aqua asked.

"I wrote down that our 'FRIEND' Flare needs help, and she'll know that it's a friendship lesson, and she'll give us the tickets!" Twilight explained.

"Sounds like a good plan! I just hope when we get to the hotel, I don't get the room next to the noisy ice machine." Psyche said. Spike suddenly burped up a letter with the tickets inside.

"See? I knew she would do it!" Twilight said.

"But Twilight, there's 16 tickets in here, not 12." Spike said.

"Hmm, I guess the princess either made a mistake, or wants other ponies to go." Blaze said.

"Who do you think should go?" Rainbow asked.

"Apple Bloom always wanted to try out the theme parks they have in Mareami. Maybe we can take her." AppleJack suggested.

"Sweetie Belle keeps bragging about their mall they have over there!" Rarity said in an annoyed tone. "Then again.... I KEEP BRAGGING ABOUT THE MALL THEY HAVE OVER THERE!" she said excitingly.

"Since they're going, we might as well take Scootaloo and Candy Cotton with us." Blaze suggested.

"Aww, I wanted to take Thundy with me!" Crystal complained.

"Sorry, Crystal. So let's pack our things! We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, everypony!" Twilight said.

"I'm telling ya, if I get that room next to the noisy ice machine, I'm going to kick a house keeping cart!" Psyche swore. 

The next day came, and I was just packing up for my trip to Mareami with Water.
"C'mon, Water! If we get a head start to the airport, I believe we won't have that large of a line at the security checkpoint!" I yelled from across the trailer.

"Just a minute! I'm trying to put on some make-up!" Water yelled back.

"Sis, you can put on make-up on the plane! I mean, you don't really need the makeup until we get to the ceremony!" I reminded her as I walked into the room Water's in.

"Hey! You're not a mare, you wouldn't understand, bro!" Water pointed out, and to me it looks like she overdid the make up on her face.

"Hey, Water? How about a little bit of face with your make-up?" I teased.

"Very funny, Flare." Water said sarcastically throwing one of her lipsticks at me. "Will you pick that up?"

So I picked up the lipstick she threw at me and gave it back to her. "I dunno why you're so happy going back there?"

"Flare, Mareami is our home! We can't abandon it!" Water said.

"But.... Herb… and Swinebutt!" I reminded her.

"Swinebutt already followed you here. Herb.... maybe he changed." Water assumed as she placed her hoof on my shoulder.

"I dunno, sis. Herb seemed to despise me." I said.

"Just relax! You're not going to a high school reunion or nothing." Water said rolling her eyes.

"Well, at least we're going there for only the weekend." I said with a positive attitude.

"Exactly! That's the spirit, and we'll be seeing family too!" Water said.

"Yeah, that's true. Oh we rhymed!" I pointed out.

"Don't forget to install the fish feeder, bro." Water reminded me.

"I never forget about the fishies, sis." I said smiling at her.

I walked over to the fish tank to check up on them. “Oh no, it’s Flare! Quick act like a fish! ACT LIKE A FISH!” Darrel freaked out.

“OW! Right in my ear, Darrel!” Yoyo complained, holding his ear.

“Well, I’m going back home to Mareami! I wish I could take you with me.” I said.

“And why can’t you?” Dorthey asked.

“I can’t take you with me, because…. Well….. can fish survive being in airplanes?” I asked.

“Did he just understood what I said?” Dorthey asked.

“I’m assuming he just assumed.” Pearl assumed.

“I’ll install the fish feeder. I’ll be back Monday night, and of course Rainbow is in charge.” I said.

“YES!” Rainbow said excitedly to himself.

“Why would you be surprised? You’re always in charge.” Dorthey said.

“And that’s why I’m superior, always will!” Rainbow said mischievously.

“Don’t let us end up of what Chuck did when Spot was around.” Dorthey warned him.

“None of us were around then.” Piddles reminded her.

“Water are you ready yet?!” I yelled out.

“In a minute! I’m looking for my eyeliner!” Water yelled back.

“Water, our flight leaves in 3 hours! That security checkpoint line is gonna fill up like mad!” I reminded her.

“I found it! Did you install the fish feeder yet?” Water asked.

“Just finished!” I said to her, and then I said to the fishies; “Well, have fun! I’ll miss you all so much. Just…. Don’t get to upset.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t.” Yoyo said, chuckling and elbowing Dorthey.

“Quit doing that!” Dorthey said to Yoyo, moving away from his elbow. Darrel starts weeping and swimming in front of the tank.

“PLEEEEEEASE DON’T GO! TAKE US WITH YOU!” Darrel cried out. I waved to them and I walked out of my bedroom with my luggage.

“It’s too late, Darrel. He’s gone.” Piddles said, patting his shoulder.

“Ehh, whatever! We’re gonna make our own vacation!  With Blackjack, and chicks! In fact, forget the vacation!” Darrel said. I went outside with my sister, who was carrying out four big suitcases.

“Water, what’s in those suitcases?” I asked.

“I need to know which dress to take to the awards.” Water said.

“You’re only going to use one dress!” I reminded her.

“But I don’t know which one to use! What if one was stained?” Water asked.

“I can never understand you mares sometimes!” I complained.

“Quit your complaining, Flare! If you were a mare, you’d understand.” Water said.

“Hey, I’m already nervous about those bullies back in Mareami.” I said.

“Flare, don’t worry about them. We’re gonna see mommy and daddy again, right?” Water asked.

“Look at you Water! You’re 28 years old, and you still call our parents that!” I said.

“I’m still their baby!” Water said.

“You are a baby.” I teased.

“Oh, shut up, bro!” Water complained, whacking my head with her purse playfully.

“FLAREY!” Pinkie cried out, tackle hugging me. I lost balance and fell over.

“Oh, Pinkie! I swear was going to kiss you good-bye right before I leave.” I lied.

“Oh that’s ok, Flarey! No need!” Pinkie said, carrying a couple of suitcases and her party cannon.

“Why you all packed up for?” I asked.

“We’re going with you, bro! We’re coming with you on your trip to Mareami!” Blaze said, helping me up.

“It’s gonna be totally rad! I can tell!” Rainbow Dash said.

“All of you? All of you are coming?” I asked.

“Well…. If you don’t want us to. We can stay.” Flutters said.

“No, no. It’s cool! But…. How did you get tickets?” I asked.

“I gave a letter to the princess saying this is a friendship trip, so she gave us all tickets so we can come with you, and settle your problem!” Twilight said.

“Which princess? It’s not Cadance right? I’m still mad at her.” I asked/

“Oh get a rest with you being mad at Cadance already, Flare!” Psyche advised me.

“C’mon, partner! Ya ready to go home?” Engie asked.

“Perhaps, but are you sure you all want to go?” I asked.

“C’mon, Flare! Is there anything we couldn’t handle before?” Rainbow asked with her hoof around me.

“Yes, lots. I can name 20.” I said.

“Oh yeah? Let’s hear it!” Rainbow dared me.

“We don’t have time for this. We have a flight to catch.” Aqua reminded us.

“Aqua’s right. You know how long the lines are at those airports? Trust me, Psyche and I experienced it.” I said.

“Tis true.” Psyche said, shrugging.

“THEN LET’S PARTY!” Pinkie cried out. “Or we can just go to the airport. It’ll help save time and we can do the party later. Maybe party on the plane!”  So we all marched on to the Airport, and were passing through the security checkpoint.  Crystal was playing around with the security guards, making fake beeping sounds, but then the security guards came and pushed her on the ground.

“AAAAH! HELP!  I WAS JOKING, CALM DOWN! YOU MAD, BROS?!” Crystal yelled out.

“Aww, just like Crystal stealing my lines.” I complained.

“You have way too many lines, Flare. How about sharin’ them?” AppleJack asked. 

“Trust me, AppleJack. I wanted the jelly-baby one, but Psyche already took that.” I explained.

“Tis true again.” Psyche said as he was chewing on some jelly-babies.

Shortly after, we went over to the terminal and waited for our flight. “Hang on a second, when does our flight leave?” Aqua asked.

“2 in a half hours.” I said.

“Sooo, why were we in a such a hurry to go?” Scootaloo asked.

“Security checkpoint lines.” Water said.

“You lazy impatient idiot! We’re going to be waiting for our flight anyway! You too lazy to wait in a stupid line?” Candy Cotton asked.

“At least we’ll be sittin’ down.” Apple Bloom said.

“You punks are lazy, you know that?” Candy insulted them.

“Yeah you go girl!” Scoots said to her, leaving a hoof up for a bump.

“Put your hoof down filly, I ain’t touching that.” Candy said to Scoots.

“Wow, what a meanie.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Look, let’s just sit down, relax, and we’ll wait for our flight to be ready, and we’ll fly on over to Mareami, alright?” Blaze asked.

“Who made you in charge?” Crystal asked him.

“I’m not in charge, I’m just saying-” Blaze said but gets cut off.

“You’re just saying garbage. That’s what you’re saying Blaze.” Crystal complained. Blaze just sighed.

“So, Flare, tell us a bit about Mareami. Tell us what it’s like.” AppleJack requested.

“It’s full of mean ponies.” I said.

“Besides that.” AppleJack added.

“She’s talking about the environment and such.” Psyche said.

“Well…. Mareami is very pretty! I lived over at Hoofington Beach with Water, my parents, and my fish.” I explained. “Ocean Drive is a very pretty place full of neon lights, and shops, and restaurants that face the beach; I know of a place full of cool t-shirts and souvenirs, even some post cards with palm trees in them that say ‘Greetings from Mareami’, and ‘Life’s a Beach’ and all that.”

“Wait… life’s a what?” Crystal asked, feeling a little insulted.

“Oh I need to get my hooves on one of those snowglobes.” Sweetie Belle said nodding.

“That reminds me, Scoots you’ll love the lighthouse! It shows a great view of the city, and you can see all the cruise ships come into port!” I said.

“Sounds awesome! Is that the highest point in the whole city?” Scoots asked.

“No, the highest point in the whole city is the Bank of Equestria building in Downtown. Has over 40 floors!” I said.

“WHOA! 40 floors?!” Scoots asked.

“Sounds awesome!” Candy shouted.

“Hey, Flare? What sort of super fun places do they have over there?” Pinkie asked.

“If you wanna go partying, I suggest going to the West Palm Night Club over at Hoof Point. I used to sneak into my school parties at that place!” I said.

“Woo wee! I bet Vinyl would love goin’ there!” AppleJack said.

“Also, Pinkie, if you want fun as in theme park rides, there are three theme parks! Candy Kingdom, where it’s a candy themed park; Magic World, where your dreams come true; and Galactic Studios which also has actual movie sets and such.” I explained/

“WHOA!  Ah’ve always wanted to go to a real live theme park!” Apple Bloom said excitedly.

“Rarity, can we go to the theme parks? Please, please, please?” Sweetie begged to her sister.

“Perhaps, deary. Maybe if Flare wants to take you.” Rarity said.

“So I heard Mareami as a space center, is that true?” Psyche asked.

“Sure is, sista! The Lunar Space Center in Cape Canvill!” I said to him.

“Sista? I’m a stallion!” Psyche corrected me.

“You look like a mare though, you know that Psyche?” I asked.

Pinkie giggled. “He’s right, Psyche! You do look like a mare!” she said, putting her arm around his neck. After some time went by, our flight came in, and we were called to the booth where we showed them our tickets, but then Crystal made some beeping sounds like at the security checkpoint, and then the airport guards pushed her down again and searched her.

“Awww come on!” Crystal complained. We eventually went inside the plane; we all sat down in our seats and got ready for our flight.

“Wow! Ah never been on a real airplane before! This is pretty swell!” Apple Bloom said.

“And I’m going to be actually flying! WOO HOO!” Scoots cheered.

“Shhhh!” one of the passengers shushed her.

“YOU SHHHH!” Scoots shushed the passenger back.

“I don’t know why we’re taking a plane. I can fly there in 10 seconds flat, no problem!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Is that a bet?” Blaze asked.

“What? You want me to do it, Blaze?” Rainbow asked.

“Do what you want! It’s one extra plane ticket!” Blaze said. Rainbow was silent for a second, and then she walked over to one of the flight attendance and tapped on her shoulder.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Rainbow asked her. “What movie are you going to be playing for the trip?”

“Any movie you want! Each seat has its own little television.” The mare said.

“What? When was there a television at every seat?” Rainbow asked.

“You must’ve not seen it.” Blaze assumed. “Besides, you’re in first class!”

“We’re in first class?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, Princess Celestia gave us first-class tickets!” Twilight said.

“And the food’s free!” Engie added.

“WHOA! THIS IS SO AWESOME- I mean…. Sure, I guess I’ll stay for the flight. Not that I need help flying.” Rainbow said sounding calm, but hiding her excitement.

“I could really use some salted peanuts right now.” AppleJack said. 

“Oh wait, I almost forgot! Everypony might need these.” Psyche said, passing out some gum.

“Gum? What do we need gum for?” Spike asked.

“The altitude of the plane causes your ears to react strangely.” Twilight said.

“Like how?” Spike asked.

“They pop.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.  Dragon ears aren’t like pony ears.” Spike said, putting his arms behind his head and relaxing. 

A few minutes went by, and the flight attendances were giving us a few drills and safety features, Engie just facehoofed himself and mumbled; “Ah know these rules already. Besides, what are the odds of having a plane crash? And what are the odds bein’ over water? We’re flyin’ across land the whole way!”

“Hey, Flarey! Check this out!” Pinkie said with an oxygen mask on her head. “Party hats!”

“Those aren’t party hats, babe. Those are oxygen masks. You put them over your mouth so you can breathe better.” I informed her.

“Actually, those are party hats.” A flight attendant said. “The oxygen masks have straps on the side, and these things don- Oh wait, these are the oxygen masks.” Just then, the seat belt light comes on, and we all buckled up our seat belts as the plane starts riding along the airstrip. Scoots was feeling really excited, but Aqua was breathing on one of the oxygen masks because he was really nervous.

“What’s wrong, Aqua?” AppleJack asked.

“I… never flown on a plane before.” Aqua said very nervously.

“A’right, a’right, shhhhh.” AppleJack advised him, holding him and trying to calm him down. “Everythin’ will be fine. Alright? Everythin’ will be fine.”

“I hope so. If we crash…… I dunno what I’ll do.” Aqua said.

“WE’RE GONNA CRASH?!” Crystal screamed, and then the whole plane started freaking out. 

One of the flight attendances blown their whistle and said; “Calm down, everypony! Calm down!” everypony got quiet. “There will be no plane crashes. So relax! Enjoy the flight! Snacks are available now if you’re hungry.”

“Some Salt and Vinegar Lay’s for Psyche!” I said.

“Shut up, Flare.” Psyche instructed him.

“You shut up!” I said to him.

“Ah wonder if ah can build speed boosters on the engines to make them go faster?” Engie asked.

“Why you ask?” Flutters asked.

“Ah’m alreadeh getting bored, Fluttershy.” Engie said.

“But…. We didn’t even leave yet.” Flutters said.

“Exactly! But it feels like we’ve been flyin’ for hours!” Engie said impatiently.

“Oh lookie here! Here comes the ramp!” Sweetie pointed out. Aqua kept breathing faster in the mask and AppleJack was stil trying to calm him down.

“Here we go! 10…. 9….. 8….. 7…..” Rainbow started counting down, but before she could finish, we already started flying. “Awww. Started too late, but still, WOOOOOO HOOOOO!”

“This is soooo awesome!” Scoots cried out.

“OW MY EARS!” Spike cried. Then he took out the gum that Psyche given him, and put it in his mouth. “IT’S NOT WORKING, TWILIGHT!”

“Chew and swallow, chew and swallow.” Twilight instructed him. Spike did so.

“OW MY EARS!” Spike cried again. Just then, we heard a baby crying in the background.

“Every….. single….. plane.” I complained, facehooving myself. “Always a crying baby!” Just then, the crying baby threw a raddle at my head. “Ow!” I shouted, and the baby started laughing. Time went by, and we finally made it to our target altitude. The first hour went by, Engie was trying to hack his cell phone app, Spike was playing on my DS, Twilight was reading (of course), Pinkie was dancing in her seat to her tunes on her MP3 player, the CMCs used their pillows to make a fort on their seats, and the rest of us were either sleeping or using the TV. I was looking out the window, thinking about what’s going to happen once we reach Mareami. Is everypony going to avoid me? Is everypony going to throw eggs at me? What about my friends? Just because they’re my friends, will they end up with the same fate as me? Or worse…. Will they betray me for THEM?! Nah, not that last part. But still, I’m really nervous. I couldn’t stop thinking about why I left that city in the first place. I really need to think about the fun we’re going to have, and how happy I’ll be seeing my family again. But my heart was beating fast, and my sister tried to help me feel better, which sort of helped. I needed to get these images out of my head, so I decided to watch a movie, and eat a spinach leaf sandwich with some Chex Mix until we finally arrived. The plane started descending towards Mareami International Airport, as Spike kept screaming because his ears were starting to hurt again. We just got out of the plane and into the terminal. Nopony was throwing eggs at me or nothing. Everypony thought I was just a random traveler. Did I change that much? I was only living in Ponyville for almost a year.

“Wow! This is Mareami International Airport! Looks very nice!” Twilight said.

“Way better than the Airport in Trottingham.” Psyche said nodding.

“Well thank goodness THAT’S over. So what do we do first? We get a cab or something?” Aqua asked.

“Forget a cab! Princess Celestia ordered us a limo to take us to the hotel of our choice!” Twilight said.

“I recommend Embacy Suites! It’s the nicest hotel in the whole city! None of this Holiday Inn nonsense!” I said. “They also have free breakfast and snacks around 4 PM.”

“I thought we were going home?” Water asked.

“We’ll be going home, sis, no problem!” I said, patting her back.

“Well let’s go get our luggage, and wait outside for our ride!” Engie suggested.

“Got it!” Blaze said as we went down the escalator to the bottom floor, and went to the conveyor belt to wait for our luggage. We had to wait 20 whole minutes for all of Rarity’s and Water’s junk, and then we went outside to wait for our limo. Our limo guy was already waiting outside, holding up a big poster that says; ‘Twilight Sparkle’.

“You had to use your own name, huh Twilight?” Crystal complained.

“The princess ordered this limo for us, and she probably thought it was better to use my name.” Twilight said.

“Excuse me? Are you Twilight Sparkle?” the limo driver with the Latin accent asked.

“I sure am! I also have my friends here!” Twilight said.

“Good! Where do you all want to go?” the driver asked.

“Embacy suites!” Rarity answered. “I heard it’s quite lovely there!”

“Ok, which one?” the driver asked.

“Excuse me?” Rarity asked confusingly.

“Which one. There’s two of them.” The driver said.

“The one on East beach, please!” I said.

“Ok, let me take your luggage in the trunk, and we’ll head over there!” the driver said, as we all went into the limo.

“Wow! Ah’ve never been in a real limo before!” Apple Bloom said excitedly.

“There are so many vehicles you haven’t been in, huh Apple Bloom?” Sweetie asked.

“There aren’t many vehicles back in Ponyville.” Apple Bloom said. Eventually, after the limo driver had a hard time putting all of Rarity’s and Water’s heavy junk in the trunk, the limo driver went attached himself on the limo carriage and started to trot on to the hotel.

“There are ciders in the cabinet if you all want any.” The driver said.

“AWESOME! I’m starting to love Mareami!” Rainbow Dash said, taking out a bottle of apple cider from the cabinet. “I don’t know why you left this city, Flare. So far, it’s amazing!”

“You don’t know the half of it!” I said smiling. “Hey, James? How about opening the sun roof?”

“Yes, sir! Oh, and the name is not James, its Pedro.” The driver corrected me.

“Whatever you say, James.” I said. The driver opened up the roof of the limo, and as we were driving out of the Airport terminal, we started to have a good view of the city, as the Welcome to Mareami song started playing instrumentally in the background.

“Whoa!” Aqua cried out, breathing into the oxygen mask again.

“You brought that thing with you?” Engie asked.

“I thought they’d allow it. Pinkie still has her’s.” Aqua said, pointing to Pinkie who was still wearing her ‘party hat’ on her head.

“Wow! It looks like Manehatten over there, but the buildings are not as tall, and it  feels hotter, and there’s less fog.” AppleJack said.

“Because this ain’t Manehatten, AppleJack!” I said. “Welcome…… to Mareami!” Everypony saw the view of Mareami, and most of them were impressed by how it all looked. “Mareami! South beach, feeling da heat!” I said. “Can ya’ll feel that? Can ya’ll feel that? Oh! Jig it out!” I started rapping a parody of Welcome to Miami by Will Smith as we were driving along the streets. “Here I am in the place where I got stressed out-Mareami the ponies I feel left out. But the place is cool I guarantee - We don't have out houses to go pee pee. So we dance all night at the night clubs, we have fresh cider at the town pubs. We got three theme parks which is lots of fun, we got the pretty mares that say….”

One of the pretty mares from the side of the street said in a squeaky voice, “Hi, Flare Gun!”

I continued to sing, “Ya'll feel me. All ponies and phonies, Salvatore Leones, ice cream conies. All advanced technology you'll find right here, we got a big leet mall right over here! The city is connected to the Gatorglades, all the cool ponies can wear fantastic shades. Don't be shy just come on down, to the number one city that's the best around! Party in the city where the heat is on. All night at the beach till the break of dawn!”

“Welcome to Mareami! Binevenido a Mareami!” some mares on the road sang.

“Hey get outta the way, amigas!” the limo driver complained.

I continued to sing again, “Ridin’ in the buggies that bounce around, keep losing your phones in the city canal. I'm going to Mareami!”

“Oooooh I get it!” Pinkie nodded and laughed.

“Welcome to Mareami!” the mares sang.

“Wait, hang on a second, Flare. Did you say….. a mall?” Rarity asked.

“Oh here we go!” AppleJack said feeling annoyed.

“Rarity? What’s a mall?” Sweetie asked.

“A mall is a wonderful place with all these fabulous shops, there’s just so much to see! EEEEEEE!” Rarity squeed.

“Whoa nelly! What’s so good about these fancy malls anyway?” AppleJack asked.

“The food court.” Crystal said.

“Exactly! But the Hoof Point Mall has everything! They have JCPenny, Sears, Macy’s, there’s even a Target near it! Ponyville is missing out on so, so much, you know?” I asked.

“Ah can tell.” AppleJack said.

“I WANNA GO TO THE MALL!” Rarity whined.

“Hang on, let’s check into our hotel first!” Sweetie said.

“Exactly! I wanna work on getting a suntan.” Spike said. “OW! Also, I’d like some medication for my ears.”

“Everywhere in town there’s a CBS Pharmacy or a Walgreens! You can’t get away from these pharmacy’s you know.” I said.

“FLARE! I wanna know more about Mareami!” Pinkie shouted.

“Good call, Pinks!” I said, and continued rapping:

“Yo we get alot of rain to mess the place up, but we ain't got events like Winter Wrap-Up. We get ready for the northern birds, and we got the jerks to get you hurt. Little Hoovana isn't a place, to hang around to take a taste We're most famous for the Lunar Space Center, watch out for the signs that say 'DO NOT ENTER'. Check out the stadium which is awesome of course, we got sports events like racing in Nashorse. All the neon lights all the food and shops, Seastar Island, fancy stops! Party in the city where the heat is on. All night on the beach till the break of dawn.”

A thug in a deep voice then sang, “Welcome to Mareami, something something Mareami.”

“Jumpin’ to the skies just bring it on, no need to get lost just follow along.
I'm going to Mareami!” I sang.

“Welcome to Mareami!” the deep voiced thug sang as he steals an old mare’s purse.

“Also yeah, there are a lot of old ponies around here.” I added.

“Y’all don’t have Winter Wrap-Up?” Apple Bloom asked.

“How come? Winter Wrap-Up’s fun!” Sweetie said.

“Have you noticed there are lots and lots of birds around?” Water asked.

“Oh yes! That’s what I was really paying attention to.” Flutters said. “I recognize a lot of these birds! Some of them are in my choras!” A couple of the bluejays start singing in front of Fluttershy.

“That’s because this is one of the cities that those birds go to while its winter up in Ponyville. We get a lot of rain during the summer though. It’s a good thing we came during the winter time. Summer is REALLY hot here. Maybe even hotter than Applelossa.” Water said.

“Whah stay away from Little Hoovana?” Engie asked.

“Thugs, lots and lots of thugs. Refugees too from the islands nearby. It’s not really a tourist attraction place.” I said. “Don’t worry you’ll know where a tourist attraction spot is, and which isn’t.”

“The mall!” Rarity said.

“Yes, the mall is a good tourist spot.” I said and then I continued rapping; “This isn't Ponyville or Canterlot, this isn't even Manehatten whatcha talkin about?
We got palm trees like Los Pegasus, maybe not as much neon lights as Las Haygus. But it's much much cleaner than Trottingham, you better have brought a video cam. Because once you leave you'll really miss out, on the 10 story parking lot! This place is real leet, be real beat, smell my feet, feel dat Mareami heat!
Get a ride on the jet skis in the open seas, go fishing using rotton swiss cheese! We got three theme parks like Magic World, Galactic Studios, and Candy World. Beware the Seagulls, that can poo on you, we got great videos games like Far Cry 2. We got pet stores, and the Hoof Point Mall, we got lotsa apples, we got dem all! In this place, Twilight, you'll be called a nerd, and our favorite song is (Surrrfin’ Bird). Party in the city where the heat is on, all night on the beach till the break of dawn!”

“Welcome to Mareami, bienvenido....” the mares from before sang but began coughing at that last part.

“Flyin to the trees to feel the breeze, this ain't the place to feel the freeze.
I'm going to Mareami!” I sang.

“Welcome to Mareami!” the mares on the street sang.

“Dancin in the boulevard the night away, Flare Gun is here to make your day!” I sang.

“Welcome to Mareami, a.... oh Celestia I forgot my line.” The mares sang.

“Jumpin’ at sea just look at this, win first prize in the surfing contest! I’m going to Mareami!” I sang.

“Uhh, what was my line again?” the mare asked.

“Party in the city where the heat is on- UGH! Ow, my chest!” I said while holding my chest in pain after I said ‘UGH’. Eventually the limo stopped over at Embacy Suites. We all left the limo and it was Blaze who had to pay the tip, since he was the last one out.

“Wasting my Fighting is Magic money.” Blaze complained and sighed. We took our belongings, and I went over to the front counter with Twilight so we can get our rooms ready as the others were waiting over at the tables in the middle of the lobby.

“Wow, Flare’s right! This place is lovely!” Rarity said.

“Rainbow? Are we going Downtown any time soon?” Candy asked.

“Sure! We’ll go later. We have to check in first.” Rainbow said.

“You know, I preformed over at the stadium before with the Wonderbolts.” Blaze said as Twilight and I walked over to the others with our room keys.

“Alright everypony, we have our rooms ready! We’re staying at the sixth floor.” Twilight said, giving everypony their room keys. “Blaze, Rainbow Dash, Candy, and Scootaloo are in room 621. AppleJack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle will be in room 622.”

“Aww, why can’t I stay with you guys?” Scoots complained to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

“Engineer, Aqua, Psyche, Spike, and Flare will be staying in room 623.” Twilight continued. “And finally; Pinkie, Water, Crystal, Fluttershy, and I will be staying in room 624.”

“How many beds are there in each room?” Aqua asked.

“There’s four beds in each room and there’s the couch.  So the fifth pony will be sleeping on the couch.” Twilight said.

“I’m not sleeping on the couch. Psyche, you sleep on the couch.” I said.

“You automatically pick me?” Psyche asked.

“I agree.” Spike said.

“I second that.” Aqua said.

“Dibs.” Engie said. Psyche sighed, and shook his head.

“I’ll be fine in sleeping on the couch in our room, Twilight.” Fluttershy said.

“No need, Fluttershy! I’m going to be sleeping in the day. I hear all the cool stuff happens at night!” Crystal said.

“Oh, okay Crystal.” Flutters said.

“Alright, let’s head to our rooms; then we can go see our parents!” Water said.

“Right. Did you call mom?” I asked her.

“Yes. I told her that we’ll see her right after we settle things here.” Water said. So we went up the glass elevators, which took a long time to come down, and we went over to our rooms which were in the northeast corner of the sixth floor.

“Oh lookie here, Psyche!” Engie pointed out.

“What is that?” Psyche asked. He looked over and saw the ice machine was right near our room. “DARN IT! I did not want to stay near the noisy ice machine!” Psyche looks around, and then he runs to a housekeeping cart and knocks it over. A Hispanic maid named Consuela comes out, and starts whacking Psyche on the head with a broom.

“NO, NO! NO! NO, NO!” Consuela repeated herself.

“OW! Quit it!” Psyche yelled.

“So Consuela works for Filthy Rich, the princesses, and she works at this Embacy Suites.” Spike said curiously. “How many jobs does this maid have?” 

Consuela then pulls on Psyche’s ear and throws him into his room. Psyche tries to come out as he started rubbing his head. “No, no. You stay. You in time out.” Consuela said.

“What?” Psyche asked.

“You in time out. You stay in room.” Consuela said.

“But I have places to be!” Psyche complained.

“No, no.” Consuela said, tying him on the couch. “You stay.”

“Darn it!” Psyche yelled. “A little help guys?”

“Well, we’d be glad to help ya, Psyche! But ya seemed to be a little…. ‘tied up’ at the moment.” Engie teased and we all laughed.

“That’s an old joke, Engie.” Psyche said.

“I’m not laughing at the joke, I’m just laughing because everypony else is.” Spike said.

“Wow, this room is nice! Doesn’t beat sleeping on a cloud, but still nice!” Blaze said.

“I’d rather sleep in the room where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are.” Scoots complained.

“Hey, I’m here right? Aren’t you happy for that at least?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh right! You’re in here Rainbow Dash! Mind if I sleep on your bed?” Scoots asked.

“No problem kiddo!” Rainbow said, patting her head.

“I’m not sleeping with Blaze!” Candy complained.

“I was actually thinking of Rainbow and I on one bed, and the fillies on the other one.” Blaze suggested.

“I know that’s what I was going with, but still Scoots wants to be near me, so I’ll sleep on the right side of our bed, and Scoots will sleep on the left side of hers.” Rainbow suggested.

“Want me to sleep with this loser that can’t even fly?” Candy asked.

“CANDY COTTON!” Rainbow shouted at her.

“What?! It’s true.” Candy said.

“Ehh, it’s cool, Rainbow Dash!” Scoots said. “I’ll get used to your sister, right?” she asked, putting her hoof around Candy.

“Don’t touch me.” Candy said to her angrily.

“By the way, Rainbow. You have to lay off on the Cheetos or something. You’re really starting to let yourself go.” Scoots pointed out.

Rainbow looked at her stomach and then yelled, “FOR THE LAST TIME! I’M NOT EATING TOO MUCH! I don’t know how this is happening!”

“We should hit the gym later, babe. Gotta lose some pounds. You’re gaining more and more each week!” Blaze said, poking her stomach.

“Shut up, Blaze!” Rainbow demanded, pushing him over.

“Ow! I was kidding, gosh!” Blaze whined as he rubbed his head in pain. After a little while later, Water, Pinkie and I went out of our rooms and started walking towards the elevators.

“Hey, wait! Where you guys going?” Blaze asked, running out of his room.

“We’re going to go see our parents.” I said.

“YOUR parents, silly Flare!” Pinkie reminded me. “Not mine!”

“Mind if I come to?” Blaze asked.

“Not at all! I think they’d like to meet you!” Blaze said excitedly.

“Awesome!” Blaze said.

“Where you four going?” Twilight asked.

“Off to see Flare’s parents!” Pinkie said.

“Mine too you know, don’t forget me.” Water added.

“I’ll come too.” Twilight insisted.

“Alright, can you tell the others that we’ll be back around 5?” I asked.

“Sure!” Twilight nodded.

“Tell them to call me if they’re going anywhere.” I advised.

“Rarity, Fluttershy, and AppleJack already went to the mall.” Twilight said.

“By themselves?!” I shouted.

“They’ll be fine, right?” Twilight asked.

“They don’t even know this town! I hope they know their way back.” Water said.

“How about Spike?” I asked.

“He went to the beach with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Candy Cotton, and Rainbow Dash.” Twilight answered.

“Ah, I less then three the beach!” I said. “I hope Spike goes well on his suntan! How about Crystal?” I asked as we walked inside the elevator.

“Crystal’s napping.” Twilight said.

“That’s cool!” Water nodded. “Aqua and Psyche went to the pool, and Engie’s getting a snack downstairs.”

“So where do your parents live?” Blaze asked. Before we walked out of the hotel, we saw Consuela grabbing Psyche by the ear at the pool and taking him back to the room.

“They live in an apartment luxury complex over at Hoofington Beach. Can’t wait to see them again!” I said excitedly.

“Luxury? You’re rich?” Twilight asked. “I mean… you were rich before moving to Ponyville?”

“Well not LOADED. I mean just enough. The Guns were among the first around Mareami. We were the third family to live on this land.” I said. “I mean I have other family members that are LOADED though. Some that live in Seastar Island. That’s where the rich ponies live!”

“Wow! I’m dating a rich pony!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Is that the only reason you’re dating me, Pinks? For my money?” I asked as I smirked at her.

“No, silly! I’m dating you because you’re rich! Your rich chocolatey taste.” Pinkie said as she licked her lips.

“Ok let’s not get carried away. Now how about we see my family?” I asked.

So we walked down Ocean Drive over to my parent’s house, but on the way, I had the feeling I was being watched. I wasn’t bullied at all yet, but I had the feeling I was about to. We went over to my parent’s apartment, and I turned the key and opened the door. “DING DONG!” I yelled out. “Burgle, burgle! We’re burglars! Here to steal all your junk!”

“FLAREY! WATER!” my mom Bow Gun yelled out, and gave us a big hug.

“Hey mom!” Water said.

“Hey best friend pookie face!” I said.

“I missed you both so much! How are you?” my mom asked.

“Great! Great! Where’s dad?” I asked.

“Where do you think he is?!” my mom complained.

“At work?” Water and I both asked at the same time.

“Jinx!” Water, Pinkie, and I all said at the same time.

“I like joining in stuff!” Pinkie said.

“Man, he works too much! I guess that’s why he never came down on Daddy’s Day.” I said upsettingly.

“And you have a problem with me calling him ‘daddy’.” Water teased and gave me a shove.

“Hey Twilight! Hey Pinkie!” mom greeted them and gave them a hug.

“Hi, Mrs. Gun!” Twilight said.

“HI, MOMMY IN LAW!” Pinkie cried out and tackle hugged her.

“Whoa, Pinkie!” I yelled out, trying to get her off. “That’s my mom!”

“And my in law!” Pinkie said.

“In law? Did you marry her?” mom asked. “I mean I know you’re going out, but married?”

“No, no, nothing like that! Not now!” I said.

“It’s quite alright.” mom said. “Hey Blaze!”

“Hey Bow! Good to see you again!” Blaze said excitedly.

“Likewise, Blaze! Last time we met, Flare thought you and his friends were stealing me from him.” Mom reminded us and chuckled.

Blaze chuckled along. “Yeah that was a crazy time, wasn’t it?”

“So where’s the rest of the Noble Six, Flarey?” mom asked.

“Around, but they’re all here, including the Mane Six, and those little crusader fillies.” I said.

“Did you bring the whole town with you, Flare?” mom asked. “You didn’t pay for their tickets did you?”

“Mom, clam down! That’s right, I said clam. Princess Celestia bought the tickets for the rest of them because it turns out this is a friendship lesson.” I explained. “Twilight wants to help me out with the problems Herb has been getting me into.”

“Did you see him lately?” mom asked.

“No I haven’t, thank Wizard of Feelings for that… or Hope, or Strength, I dunno. I don’t want one of them to get jealous.” I said. “But I have been seeing a lot of Swinebutt lately. He’s not bothering you, is he?”

“No, why?” mom asked.

“Just asking.” I said.

“Flare, can you please tell me?” mom asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” I said.

“Yeah, fine, whatever.” Mom complained. “So how are you all enjoying Mareami?”

“IT’S SUPER DOOPER HOT AND BEAUTIFUL!” Pinkie cried out, and hopped in place.

“I KNOW, RIGHT?! IT’S SO AWESOME!” my mom yelled out and hopped along, then Water and I hopped along too. Blaze and Twilight just looked at eachother confusingly. “How about the fishies, Flare? How’s my little Darrel?” 

“He’s doing great!” I said.

“I don’t know why you had to steal the fishies from me, Flare. Why?” mom asked.

“I couldn’t go to Ponyville alone! I needed to bring some family with me!” I said.

“But…. I’m there.” Water said.

Just then I had myself a little idea. “Hey mom, you want to meet some of my other friends?”

“Sure!” mom said.

“That’s awesome! Why don’t we all meet at Cheesecake Factory for dinner! Bring some family members along too!” I suggested.

“Good idea, Flare!” mom nodded.

“Yeah, I haven’t been at Cheesecake Factory in ages!” Water said.

“CHEESECAKE FACTORY! CHEESECAKE FACTORY!” Pinkie shouted and hopped. “Wait, what’s cheesecake factory?”

“It’s a great restaurant that serves great meals; and do you know what they serve for dinner?” I asked and winked.

“CHEESECAKE!” Pinkie yelled.

“I was actually going to say peanut butter pie, but yeah, they do serve cheesecake too!” I nodded.

“Sounds delicious, Flare!” Twilight said.

“When she we meet?” Blaze asked.

“Around 5. You know grandma doesn’t like to eat late.” Mom suggested.

“Good idea!” I said. “AM or PM?” My mom smirked at me, and gave me a playful push. “I’m serious! AM or PM?” I asked. So we went back to the hotel to pick up the others, and get ready so we can head over to the factory. Psyche had trouble getting out of the room,because Consuela kept putting him back in time out. I eventually distracted her by giving her a job to unclog the toilet because Spike took a giant dragon doo. Spike didn’t like the idea, but I did it anyway. I rented us a carriage and I drove us over to the cheesecake factory. We went out, and I saw my family just up ahead.

“Dad! Grandma Carbine! Everypony else I our family!” Water and I both said at the same time, and we given them hugs.

“Wow, y’all have a large family, Flare ‘n Water!” AppleJack said.

“Look who’s talking!” Rainbow Dash teased her.

“I would like you all to meet my family!” I said, introducing them. “My dad Sub-Machine Gun, my grandma Carbine Gun; my cousins Deagle Gun, Glock Gun, and Tazer Gun; my aunts Beretta Gun, and Shot Gun; my uncle AK Gun, my other uncle M4 Gun, but he’s not here right now; my grandpa Machine Gun the third who is here in spirit, and I got my other grandparents Kar Cannon, my nana, Colt Cannon who is also here in spirit, and the rest of the Cannon family live in Manehatten.” Then I whispered; “The Jersey side.”

“Eww! The Jersey side!” Rarity said in a digusted tone.

“So you used to be Bow Cannon?” Twilight asked my mom.

“That’s right, Twilight!” my mom said.

“And family, these are our friends; Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Blaze Goldheart, our beautiful mare Psyche Illusion, Crystal Iceblast, Aquatic Armor, Candy Cotton, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and….. that’s Kyle over there.” I said.

“Kyle?” Engie commented. “No, mah name is Red Engineer!”

“Really? Because you look like a Kyle to me.” I said to him.

“Come along Kyle, and the rest of Flare’s friends! Let’s head inside and have a nutritious meal!” aunt Beretta said as we started walking inside. So we ordered ourselves a table and sat down.

“Wow. This place is so fancy. Looks a lot more different than the Big Bang Theory’s version of the restaurant.” Aqua said.

“Yeah, I don’t really get that either.” My dad said.

“So Tazer, I had the feeling we met before.” Twilight said.

“We did! I went to Celestia’s school with you!” my cousin Tazer said.

“We did? How come I don’t remember?” Twilight asked.

“You were probably too busy on your studies to notice. You used to study a lot I know.” Tazer said.

“How come I didn’t see you at the high school reunion?” I asked.

“Why would you be there, Flarey? You weren’t at Celestia’s school.” Tazer reminded me.

“Oh, well you see, Twilight was sick one time, and I had to take over for her because she couldn’t go to her school reunion, so I filled in.” I said.

“Oh, so you were the Twilight that was rapping, huh?” Tazer asked.

“Pretty much.” I shrugged.

“Hey Deagle, I see you have an airplane as a cutie mark. You into flying too?” Rainbow Dash asked my other cousin.

“Sure am! It’s awesome, sista! I fly planes and balloons all the time. I even helped fly that Equestrian Airlines plane that flown into town at noon today.” Deagle said.

“Oh, that was the plane we were on!” Psyche said.

“Really? How come I didn’t notice you guys?” Deagle asked.

“Probably too busy flyin’?” Aqua asked. “Gettin’ air sickness?”

“I don’t fly, I’m not a Pegasus. What’s wrong with you?” Deagle asked and laughed.

“Wow, does your whole family have a sense of humor, Flare?” Aqua asked.

“LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL!” my whole family said. Most of the ponies in the table were shocked after they heard that.

“Great, I’m surrounded by Flares!” Psyche complained, facehooving himself. “As if one Flare wasn’t bad enough.”

“What are you talking about Psyche? THIS IS AWESOME!” Pinkie yelled. “I love Flare’s family!”

“I’m sure Flare’s family love you too, Fluttershy!” my dad said.

Pinkie giggled. “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Really? Wow, there’s so many of you. I’m not good with names.” Dad said.

“Yeah, I’m Fluttershy actually.” Flutters said.

“You look really cute, Fluttershy!” my dad said. Fluttershy started to blush, and hid her face. Then my mom whacked my dad at the back of the head. “Ow!”

“I’m right here you know!” mom complained.

“What?! I wasn’t hitting on her or nothing!” dad complained. “I mean it is really nice to finally meet the Mama Fluttershy Flare kept talking about.”

“Some things just never change around here.” Water rolled her eyes and giggled.

“Wait, so that’s THEE Mama Fluttershy, huh?” Deagle asked.

“You really helped Flare out in those hard times, huh? That is very nice of you, Fluttershy!” Aunt Beretta said.

“Wow, Flare. I… I di-didn’t know I was so popular in your family.” Flutters said shyly.

“You’re like a mom to us, Mama Flutters! You’re our mom when our mom wasn’t around.” Water said

“I… I didn’t think I was a mom to you too, Water.” Flutters said.

”If Flare thinks so, then I think so too!” Water said.

“Ugh! Where’s our food!” Candy complained.

“We didn’t order yet.” Apple Bloom said.

My Uncle AK Gun chuckled. “I remember the ol Flare boy used to complain a lot about when the food will be here! I never forget!” grandpa said.

“Oh hush, Uncle AK. It runs in the family. Boop-boop-be-doop.” I said.

“It’s true! I never forget, Flarey-boy!” Uncle AK said. “I’m not old yet. I’m only 47 years old.”

“So Machine Gun, ah heard ya like to install stereos and alarms. Is that true?” Engie asked.

“Please, Engie. Machine Gun is my father. I’m Sub-Machine Gun.” My dad corrected him.

“Right, ah forgot the sub.” Engie said.

“They don’t serve subs here, Kyle.” Glock teased.

“Mah name ain’t Kyle!” Engie complained.

“I miss having you around, Flare! What do you do in Ponyville?” my aunt Shot Gun asked.

“I run a pizza parlor for a living!” I said.

“Oh that’s right! You couldn’t find a more original name for your shop?” Shot asked.

“I couldn’t think of a better name! Somepony already took Papa John’s!” I complained.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to meet a real live dinosaur!” Uncle AK said looking at Spike.

“Why does everypony in Flare’s family think I’m a dinosaur?” Spike asked. “I’m a dragon!”

“Really? Cause you look a lot like Barney.” Uncle AK said. “Well, I’ve always wanted to meet a real life dragon too, brah.”

“I’m pretty much the only dragon you’ll ever see!” Spike said.

“Don’t be too sure about that Spike! I’m right here!” Blaze reminded him.

“Yeah, but you’re a draconian. A half-pony, half-dragon. I’m full dragon!” Spike said. Pinkie spit out her food.

“Blaze is half dragon?!” Pinkie yelled.

“You didn’t know that?” Blaze asked. We all continued talking for a little bit, but then I saw something outside looking at me. It was pretty suspicious, and I wanted to be careful. But it couldn’t get me here, with all my family members and friends here. Aunt Beretta kept calling my name, but I was too distracted of the figure looking at me.

“Flare? Flare? FLARE?!” Beretta called out.

“Whoa! What?” I asked.

“I just wanted to ask, do you like living in Ponyville?” Beretta asked.

“I less then three it!” I said. “I mean, nothing can ever replace Mareami! I loved it here! It was just time for me to move on to a more peaceful place. Look how happy I am with my new friends.” I said.

“I understand.” Beretta said.

“But we miss you so much!” grandma said.

“I miss you too, Grandma! I miss going to your house to play Uno, and drink some of your delicious Strawberry, Banana, Orange Juice smoothies!” I said.

“Oh yeah, Flare sells some of those at his shop!” Crystal said.

“Oh you did, did you?” my grandma asked angrily. “I should sue you for stealing my recipe!”

“Look, grandma, I thought you would be cool with it?” I asked.

“As punishment for your thieving, you’ll have 20 kisses when we get home!” grandma said mischievously.

“Nooooo! Not the kisses!” I playfully freaked out.

“So sonny, you have yourself a special somepony I hear.” Uncle AK said, winking at me. I blushed.

“Well….. yeah.” I said.

“I AM!” Pinkie yelled out.

“You seem to be really cute and very active! You remind me of myself when I was younger!” aunt Shotty said.

“You were living in a rock farm?” Pinkie asked.

“No, of course not! I was just random like you!” Shotty said.

“You were? You mean you ‘still are’!” uncle AK said. Shotty playfully pushed AK in embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s alright AK! We all have our crazy times.” Twilight said.

“Like that one time you were freaking out for not getting the letter in time for Celestia?” Spike reminded her.

“That only happened one time!” Twilight shouted at him. Everypony laughed.

“I love your friends, Flare! They crack me up!” Deagle said.

“Yeah, I guess you made the right choice in moving to Ponyville, huh?” Glock asked.

“Oh what? You didn’t want me here? You liked it when I moved to Ponyville?” I asked, feeling insulted.

“No, no! Don’t take it like that!” Glock said. “It’s just that-“

“I know what you meant, Glock!” I teased and chuckled.

“Heh! Yer family cracks me up too, Flare!” AppleJack said. So we all had our meals, and we eventually walked out. We said our goodbyes, and I drove us back to the hotel. I felt like going for a walk, so I went out and did so. I was just about to head out, but then Twilight chased after me.

“Flare! Flare!” Twilight called out.

“Sup sista?” I asked.

“Where you going?” Twilight asked.

“Just for a walk around memory lane! Wanna join?” I asked.

“Sure! I have nothing better to do!” she said and smiled.

“Alright, sounds like a plan!” I said. “But Mareami streets are different than Ponyville streets. There are cracks in the sidewalk so be sure not to trip.”

“Flare, don’t worry about it, I’ll be fi- WHOA!” Twilight yelled as she tripped over. “That felt a little big to be a crack.”

“That was a sewage drain actually.” I corrected her. So we both started walking around East beach. We were eventually walking around the beach, and I was looking up at the moon.

“So this is where you went to talk to Luna, huh?” Twilight asked.

“Yeppers!” I said. “I used to walk around this beach every night when it’s not raining so I can talk to her.”

“I’m learning so much about your life, Flare! It’s really interesting!” Twilight said.

“Ehh, you still don’t know the half of it.” I said.

“So what are we going to do tomorrow, Flare?” Twilight asked.

“The same thing we do every night, Twilight. TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!” I yelled out, and laughed evilly.

“Oooook.” Twilight said confusingly.

“I’m going to get ready for the award ceremony.” I said.

“Oh that’s awesome, Flare!  Good luck!” Twilight said.

“I say you and the others should go over to the theme parks tomorrow! All three theme parks are right near eachother!” I suggested.

“Actually, I was thinking of going to the Lunar Space Center with Psyche!” Twilight said.

“Or you can do that! I’m sure the kiddies, Pinkie, and Crystal would like to go over to the theme parks and play over there. Trust me! They’re really fun!” I said.

“I’ll take your word for it!” Twilight said. Just then, I had the feeling I was being watched again. “What’s wrong, Flare?”

“I keep having the feeling that I’m being watched!” I said as I looked around.

“You’re over reacting, Flare.” Twilight said.

“No I’m not.” I said. “Come on. We should head to a more populated area. Maybe I can show you the West Palm Night Club!”

“That’s pretty cool! Alright, let’s go!” Twilight said. So we walked over to the night club, but the whole way there, I was being followed by a strange figure. It wasn’t Swinebutt, I knew that for sure. This figure was too tall to be Swinebutt. I walked on over to the night club with Twilight, and we took a seat. We ordered ourselves some drinks. “So Flare, you did mention something in the song you sang before about the Gatorglades.” Twilight said.

“The Gatorglades is a swamp near here. Alligators roam that place. On field trips, I used to go there with my class, we go on airboats and ride around the sawgrass areas, and observe everything!” I explained. “We also had a fun activity! Every time the tour guides said ‘blue’, we had to say ‘beautiful water’! Everytime they said ‘red’, we say ‘sugarcane’! And everytime they said ‘green’, we say ‘cattail’!”

“I used to go on some interesting field trips with Princess Celestia, but we never did fun activities like that.” Twilight said.

“Well you should’ve.” I said. “We used to take lots of cool field trips! We used to go to the Lunar Space Center, Lighthouse Point, and the museums; there’s a science museum nearby if you want to see!”

“I’d be delighted!” Twilight said. Just then, a couple of ponies in tuxedos and sunglasses started walking towards me. 

They grabbed my shoulder, and one said; “Crimson Flare Gun? You’re coming with us.”

“LAWL WHAT?!” I yelled out. Twilight suddenly preformed a blast spell to blast them away from me.

“Who are those stallions?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not sure! By the looks of things, they’re part of a mafia!” I said.

“Crimson, you need to come with us.” One of them said.

“Over Twilight’s dead body!” I yelled, activating my hornsaber. 

“Wow….. really?” Twilight glared at me. They started walking towards me, and I whacked them with my hornsaber, knocking them out. Just as I feeling relieved, more mafia stallions showed up and started shooting stun spells at me. Twilight pushed me over and we both took cover. “We have to get out of here!” Twilight yelled.

“No need to axe twice!” I said. “Woowoowoowooowoowoowoowoowoowoowoo!” I activated my SHOOP DA WHOOP, and shot it at a support beam which nearly fell on them. All the mafia ponies jumped out of the way over falling support beam, which slowed them down but they were not out. Twilight and I started running towards the door where a couple of mafia ponies were guarding. I used water squirter on them, laughed like Peter Griffin, and I ran outside. We started running back to our hotel, but they were chasing us. Twilight and I started shooting laser blast spells at them. We then ran behind a dark alley and climbed up a letter to the roof of a building. I found a couple of cardboard boxes up there, and threw them down at the mafia ponies. We were running around the rooftops, and but we soon had no more roof to jump to. The next roof was too far away. We looked back and we saw some of the mafia ponies running towards us. Twilight and my horns started glowing, and we were ready to defend ourselves against anything that was about to get in our way. Just then, Blaze and Rainbow Dash came to protect us. Rainbow Dash started spinning around the mafia ponies, and Blaze was about to breathe fire on them, but before he can, they ran away. Twilight and I collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

“DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY!” Rainbow yelled.

“Let them go, babe. We saved Twilight and Flare.” Blaze said to her. He then looked over at us and asked, “Are you two alright?”

“I guess so. Thanks for saving us, you guys!” Twilight said.

“What were those?” Rainbow asked.

“Mafia ponies. They’re out to get me for some reason. I don’t know why though!” I said. “This is what I was afraid of coming back here. Somepony STILL has a grudge on me. Probably Herb.” 

“We better get you two back to the hotel.” Blaze insisted. So Blaze and Rainbow took us both back to the hotel, and we stayed there for the rest of the night. The next morning came, and we were having breakfast downstairs.

“Are ya sure ya don’t want to come, Flare?” AppleJack asked.

“I have to get ready for the award ceremony. Go ahead AppleJack! The fillies need this!” I insisted.

“Ya want me to take them to the theme parks? What if we miss the award show?”  AppleJack asked.

“You won’t, don’t worry.” I said.

“I got Celestia to give us tickets, and fast passes. We can skip the lines if we want.” Twilight said.

“This is going to be sooooo cool!” Sweetie Belle yelled in excitement.

“Can’t wait to try out an actual rollercoaster!” Scootaloo said excitedly.

“Ah hope they have caramel apples there!” Apple Bloom said.

“THEME PARK! I wanna go to Candy Kingdom first!” Pinkie yelled in excitement.

“A’right! A’right!” AppleJack said.

“I can’t wait to get there! But it’s all the way across town though.” Crystal said.

“Just catch the 10:30 bus. It drives all around town! You should be able to go over to the theme parks using that.” Water explained.

“Thanks, Water!” AppleJack said.

“But AppleJack?” I started to whisper in her ear. “If you see anypony wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses that look suspicious, get away from them, alright?”

“Ya got it sugarcube!” AppleJack winked.

“You all have fun now!” I said. “Try every ride at least once!”

“Don’t worry, we will!” Candy said.

“Absolutely! Except for the Tower of Terrible though. Complete waste of a ride.” Crystal said. And so the CMCs, AppleJack, Candy, Pinkie, and Crystal all left for the theme parks.

“Well, Twilight and I are heading for the Lunar Space Center!” Psyche said.

“Have fun, sista!” I said.

Psyche sighed. “For the last time, Flare! I’m not a mare!”
“Hey you rhymed!” I pointed out.

“You sure you’ll be alright?” Twilight asked.

“Of course! Blaze and Water will stick by me the whole time!” I said.

“We’re going back to the mall!” Rarity said excitedly.

“You all need anything?” Flutters asked.

“No thanks. Actually, if you find any of that Italian chocolate, my mom loves those! Can you get some for her?” I asked.

“Of course!” Flutters said.

“And get some of the Irish brew for me.” Water requested.

“See you at the awards ceremony, Flare!” Rarity said. Then Rarity and Flutters left for the mall.

“Alright, so Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Aquaman went to the beach, and Engie went to see my dad and learn about his stereo and alarm business. So we better get to the stadium, and go check ourselves in!” I said.

“You think those mafia ponies will be coming after you again?” Water asked.

“Hope not. The stadium has tight security though, so I don’t think they’ll be trying anything that big.” I said. So we took the rented carriage over to the stadium to check ourselves in. Meanwhile, the ponies that went to the theme parks made it to Candy Kingdom.

“WHOA! This is sooooo cool!” Apple Bloom said excitedly.

“CANDY KINGDOM! CANDY KINGDOM!” Pinkie yelled, and then she ran over to the ticket booth to get a ticket. “Hello! Seven tickets for Candy Kingdom please!”

“You’ll have to wait in line like everypony else.” The pony in the booth said.

“But I got a fast pass! I skip the lines.” Pinkie said.

“You only skip the lines inside the park.” The booth pony corrected her.

“Pinkie, we already have our tickets!” AppleJack reminded her.

“Oh right.” Pinkie giggled as they all waited in line to get inside the park. They slid their tickets in, placed their hoof prints on the scanner, but Crystal made beeping sounds yet again and as she was doing so, security came and pinned her down again.

“AWW C’MON!” Crystal yelled.

“Sheesh, you seem really suspicious this weekend, Crystal.” Candy said. Back at the stadium, I went to check myself in for the award ceremony, but before I went inside, a mysterious figure started shooting with a stun gun at me. Luckily for us, the stadium’s security showed up and chased him away.

“They followed you here!” Water said.

“I’ll take care of this!” Blaze said, about to fly after them.

“No, I need you to stay with me, Blaze. I need you to defend me, not attack them. This is a defending mission.” I explained.

Blaze sighed. “Fine, but I really wanted some action!”

“You’ll get your action, I promise. For now, I have to check myself in, and then I have to go back to the hotel and change for the red carpet, and then come back here.” I explained.

“Why couldn’t you change now and get it out of the way?” Blaze asked.

“I don’t want to get my tux sweaty. Mareami’s a hot place, brah.” I informed him.

“Right.” He said. “You know what I just figured out, man? Your entire family wears a vest.”

“No they don’t; they don’t all share one vest.” I reminded him.

“Yeah, Blaze!” Water said.

“That’s not what I meant.” Blaze corrected me.

“I know what you mean, brah! Have you just met me recently?” I asked. “Yes, they all wear vests. It’s a Gun thing. We all wear different colored vests, or sometimes the same color, and we all wear shoes on our hind hooves.”

“Right.” Blaze said. So, the day went by pretty fast. Psyche and Twilight were really enjoying the Lunar Space Center, learning all about the awesome space travels they made, one small step for ponykind! Engie was having fun, learning all that my dad knows at his store. Rarity and Flutters were at the mall with my mom, and my mare cousins; and Aqua, Spike, and Rainbow were relaxing down at the beach. Spike was really working on his sun tan; working a little too much if you ask me. Over at the theme parks, the ponies that went there were trying out any ride they can! The CMCs had problems getting in the rides where they weren’t tall enough in. Candy kept complaining about why it matters about size, Pinkie too, but she was tall enough for the rollercoaster. Candy eventually had an idea and just flew up to the spot where she had to be the size to go on the ride. 
“If my head reaches this thing, I go in right?” Candy asked. The pony just shrugged and let her in. The rest of the CMCs were wearing a tall disguise so they can go in the ride. As soon as they were done at Candy Kingdom, they moved over to the Magic World theme park. There were a lot of robots guarding the place that had a big black circle with a red S on them. AppleJack knew something was wrong; she had the feeling they were Swinebots, which they were, but the robots had no interests in them; it was the mafia ponies AppleJack had to be aware of. Aqua and Rainbow Dash went to check out the view over at the Lighthouse, and they really enjoyed it! Well…. Rainbow did. Aqua wasn’t a big fan of heights and he started breathing heavily in the breathing mask he took from the plane. After a while, it was 2 PM, so I wanted to get ready back at the hotel to get ready. I checked myself in and such, but before we could leave though, we had to make a pit-stop.

“Oh wait, I have to use the restroom.” Blaze said.

“Can it wait until we get to the hotel?” I asked.

“No.” Blaze said, dancing around.

“Alright, but only if you have to go number 1.” I said.

“Yes.” Blaze said.

“Fine. Make it quick.” I instructed him. Blaze ran over to the bathroom to relieve himself, and we were waiting near the carriage for him. We were waiting there for 20 minutes; I was wondering what took him so long. I had the feeling he had to poop, so I gave him a phone call seeing what took him so long, but he didn’t answer. I left him 3 messages in his voice mail, I knew something wasn’t right. Water and I went back inside the stadium to see where Blaze is. I told Water to wait outside, so I went inside the restroom, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I kept hearing slams in the broom closet door though, so I opened it (not the best idea I ever had), and I saw Blaze all tied up in there.

“Well Blaze, you seemed to be a little tied up at the moment. LAWL!” I teased. 

I removed the handkerchief in his mouth, and he said; “Ok first off, that joke was already made yesterday, and second… It’s a trap!”

“You’re not Admiral Ackbar.” I corrected him. Just then I was whacked in the head with a pipe. “OW! What the hay?”

“Hello, Crimson! Remember me?” a familiar voice asked.

“NO! Why don’t you go away?! LEAVE ME ALONE, HERB!” I yelled.

“Junior or senior?” the voice asked.

“I dunno, junior?” I asked.

“You think I’m a traitor and a poor excuse for a son? Nooooo.” The voice said. His face comes out of the shadows and I saw it was Herb Leafhorn Senior, my elementary school principle.

“Principle Herb Leaforn, Senior.  I knew it had to be you OR your son.” I said.

“That’s right! You’re a fool to come back here, Crimson. You should’ve never come back!” he said.

“See Blaze? SEE?! I knew this was gonna happen! I just knew it!” I said.

“Me and the Sharks mafia were coming after you.” Herb Senior said.

“The sharks?!” I yelled. “That gang that lives in Gangsville?”

“Yes!” Herb said.

“Why are you coming after me?” I asked.

“Because, I loathe your family! What your family did to mine centuries ago! Colonel Machine Gun murdered Weed Leafhorn, and your family will pay! If my son can’t do anything about it, THEN I WILL!”

“That was years ago, brah! Get over it!” I yelled.

“No… not until I ruin your family or run you ALL out of town! I could’ve gotten you at the Cheesecake Factory, but we were outnumbered and it was too much of a public place, but now that I got you right where I want you, time to make sure you leave town AGAIN!” Herb Senior said mischievously.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Blaze said.

“Quiet you freak of nature!” Herb shouted at him.

“HEY! Leave Blaze alone!” I demanded.

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?” Herb asked mischievously. “I have some of my brothers hunting down your sister right now.”

“IF YOU DARE LEAVE A HOOF ON HER-!” I yelled.

“How about do as I say and she doesn’t get hurt, huh?” Herb Senior suggested. I knew I was screwed, and I knew from the start that Herb Senior was part of a mob! I just knew it! He still has a grudge on me, but what did he mean before that his son is a traitor and poor excuse for a son? What does he mean by that? The minute I thought I was done for, it was the same time a couple of more goons showed up and aimed water guns against Herb Senior’s head.

“Not if we have anything to say about it.” The goons said.



“The Friendship Mafia! GET OUT OF HERE!” Herb yelled at them.

“Step away from the ponies! That red pony is coming with us!” one of the mafia ponies said.

“I am so confused right now. Weren’t those the same mafia ponies they went after us?” I asked.

“Why are they against Herb?” Blaze asked.

“Because the Sharks gang and the Friendship Mafia gang are rivals!” Herb Senior said. “My poor excuse for a son has discovered harmony and has joined them! I will get my revenge on him soon enough! I will return for you Crimson Flare Gun, you and your whole family!” Herb Senior then ran off as fast he could.

“What is going on here?” I asked. Just then, the mafia ponies shoved a giant sack over my head. This was about the time that AppleJack and the others finished up at Magic World and went to Galactic Studios, and Psyche and Twilight decided to tour the Gatorglades after they were done at the space center. A half hour went by, the mafia ponies removed the sack from my head, but I wasn’t tied up or nothing. I was standing in the middle of what looked like a briefing room. “Wow, this place is filthy! Smells like dead rat in here!”

“We got those a lot.” A mafia pony said.

“Hello, Flare Gun!” a familiar voice said. “Or should I say, ‘butthead’? Heh, I’m jokin’ with you, buddy. I’ve been quite clever lately after I shoved my bulliness aside.”

“Who… who are you?” I asked.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” the voice said as he walked out of the shadows and revealed himself to me. “Hello, Flare Gun! It’s been a long time!”



“Herb Leafhorn, Jr. My old school bully. The one that got me to go out with Blueberry Pie and made me befriend Swinebutt, and then has forced them to betray me.” I said.

“I know, I know, I have a lot of explaining to do.” Herb Jr. said.

“YOU’RE DARN RIGHT YOU DO! You really got some nerve to kidnap me! I got friends in high places now that’ll kick your flank!” I yelled.

“Flare, listen!” Herb attempted to get my attention.

“NO, YOU LISTEN! You made Swinebutt betray me; you made my life miserable at school!” I yelled.

“FLARE! LISTEN TO ME!” Herb yelled and slammed on the table.

“Why are you calling me Flare? Why don’t you call me Crimson like you always do?” I asked. “You know I hate it.”

“That’s why I’m not calling you it!” Herb said. “Look, Flare. I’m really sorry, alright? My pop made me bully you! He persuaded me to hate Guns and made me think your ancestors murdered one of mine and declared war on them, until I found out later that it was all a lie. A big fat lie!”

“You have to believe me, man. He didn’t mean any of this to happen, man.” Herb’s friend Angel Heartstrings said to me.

“Angel Heartstrings. Wow… you haven’t changed a bit.” I said as I observed him.

“It was wrong for us to bully you like that, Flare. We owe you our sincere apologies.” Herb’s other friend Annabelle said.

“Annabelle too. What’s going on here, Herb?” I asked.

“I want to make peace with you, Flare! I’m a good guy. You have it all wrong, man.” Herb said. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for ages. I wanted to go to Ponyville to look for you, but you wouldn’t believe me, so I had to prove it somehow. When I found out that my pop was hunting you down, I couldn’t just let him get away with it.”

I couldn’t believe it. My biggest enemy of my past wants to befriend me. I had the strangest feeling though, but… it had to be true. His dad said so. “You know what, I actually believe you.” I said.

“You do? Did my dad tell you?” Herb asked.

“He did. That’s pretty much why I believe you. I had the feeling you were too easy on me. I saw by the look of your eyes that you didn’t like it. I do want to make peace with you too, Herb. I don’t let the past bother me. That’s why I moved to Ponyville. I was afraid to come back because then you’d try to get me to leave again if I returned, but it turns out that you want what I want.” I said.

“It is true.” Herb nodded. “Flare, I feel so guilty about picking on you, and beating you up at school, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you! After I saw Swinebutt betray you like that, I felt…. I felt that all this hate in the world, I mean…. Look nopony wants hate, and I know that for sure. My dad’s a leader of the Shark gang mafia. They like to do anything to keep them on top, make them rich, selfish. So in hoping to fix my mistakes, I joined the Friendship Mafia gang here in Little Hoovana. My friend, the don, Poni Cipriani, created this gang to keep the peace, keep friendship flowing along! I know how much you wanted that, so I thought if I were to join this gang, I thought you’d be happier, but I was too late, you ran away. Until I found out you moved to Ponyville, I felt so bad that you might’ve not liked it. So I wanted to make sure nopony else suffers the same fate as you!”

I was really confused there for a second. “Forty-five degree angle mouth face.” I said. “So…. You never really hated me?”

“Your jokes were a little annoying, but no I didn’t hate you. I was young, stupid, and now I’m old enough to make my own decisions. My dad cannot control me anymore.” Herb explained. “After what my dad did to you,and all the other ponies he hated….. I hated him for that. So I must do all I can to destroy his gang, and restore peace to the city!”

“Wow…. I… I never thought you felt that way.” I said surprisingly.

“I will not stand by and see other ponies suffer hate, conflicts, suffering, anger, selfishness. It’s so unbearable, Flare!” Herb said.

“My teddy is unbearable.” I teased and laughed.

“Funny.” Herb said. “So, if you want to punch me in the face right now, and beat me up, so we can be even, then by all means do so!”

“But….. NO!” I said.

“Why not? You know you want to!” Herb said. “It’s ok! I promise I won’t get my gang to stop you.”

“Herb, you apologized, you learned your lesson, and you were only trying to protect yourself. I might’ve done the same thing. But you know what? Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three rights make a left though.” I said. “But my point is… beating you up will not solve my problems, but you making Mareami peaceful for me, well…… that means a lot to me, Herb.” I held my hoof out, so I can have a bro-hoof, and he did so.

“So we cool now?” Herb asked.

“No, of course not! I just bro-hoofed you, and said that you did something that meant a lot to me, so no we’re not cool.” I said sarcastically. 

“Nice, I see you learned sarcasm!” Herb said and chuckled.

“Learn new stuff everyday, my friend! Learn new stuff everyday!” I said and nodded. “But I’ll need all the lunch money back that you stole from me.

“Of course!” Herb said.

“And one more thing: Swinebutt is coming after me.” I said.

“I figured.” Herb said. “He betrayed me too after I failed a mission he gave me.”

“Looks like Swinebutt is both of our to-do list’s, huh?” I asked.

“My gang will do all they can, if they see him around these parts, we’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget!” Herb said. “But mainly, I’m keeping watch of my pop. He’s our gang’s main problem.”

“Thanks, Herb! You’re really an unexpecting ally, you know that?” I asked.

“Sometimes if you think somepony is mean to you, they always have a reason. Maybe they might be a trusted ally someday.” Herb said. “Do all bullies really want to be bullies? Or are they only that way because of a stupid reason?”

“That will be a letter for Princess Luna!” I said.

“Oh, you know Luna?” Herb asked.

“Yeppers!” I said. “Now listen, I better get back to hotel and get ready for the award ceremony!”

“Oh yeah, you were nominated for best pizza restaurant! Congratulations, Flare! I see your life outside of Mareami really paid off!” Herb said.

“I’ll need a ride though, and protection from the Sharks.” I said.

“At your service! Would you like to meet the leader of our gang?” Herb asked.

“Sure.’ I said.

“I’m actually a co-leader, I run this gang along with our founder. Poni?” Herb yelled out. A fat blue pony with a tuxedo came in, and he had an Italian accent.



“Yeah, yeah, what is it Leafhorn?” the mafia don asked.

“Flare, this is our don, Poni Cipriani!” Herb said.

“Hey I’m Poni Cipriani!” Poni said and nodded.

“Heheh! GTA reference!” I chuckled.

“Oh, wiseguy, huh?” Poni asked, taking off his sunglasses.

“Sure am!” I said.

“Ah, capieche!” Poni nodded. “I like wiseguys. I tolerate them. Wiseguys make the world go ‘round, know what I mean?”

“Anyways, I better get ready for the awards.” I said. So Herb and Poni took me back to the hotel so I can get ready for the award ceremony. I went over to the awards ceremony and took a walk on the red carpet where ponies were taking pictures of the nominees! 

“Hello! Grass Marks here with the nominees of this year’s Food Choice Awards! We’re here with mister Flare Gun, founder and owner of Flare’s Pizza Parlor!” Grass Marks the news anchor said. “How are you, mister Gun?”

“Doing great, brah! I never been nominated in anything that didn’t have to do with having the best black and blue face!” I said.

“Well it’s nice that you got nominated for something decent! Now is it true that you were from this city?” Grass Marks asked.

“I got a better question for you, Grass! If life gives you lemons, replace them with garlic rolls to shove in their mouths!” I said.

“Uhh, that wasn’t a question.” Grass corrected me.

“No, that wasn’t the question. The question is: To be or not to be?” I said.

“Ooook then, well good luck to you, Mr. Gun!” Grass said.

“Your welcome!” I said, shoving a garlic roll in his mouth and walking inside. I took a seat next to my friends and family, and was getting ready for them to announce the awards.  For the pre-show’s musical number, we had Slim Haydey do a rap for us. The awards were announced, we had the best food services, best fruit, best bakery (which by the way, the Cakes won that one, and I had no idea they were there), and we came on down to the best pizza restaurant. The nominees were, Pizza Pie, Boorlie Pomodoro, and me. The winner was…… Boorlie Pomodoro.

“LAWL WHAT?!” I yelled.

“HA! In your face, Flare Gun! For once, I’m the better restaurant!” Boorlie taunted me.

“You don’t even run a pizza shop anymore. You run Swinebutt’s BBQ now.” I corrected him. As soon as they heard that, Boorlie was disqualified and I was the automatic winner! I was actually pretty shocked; I didn’t know I was going to win to be honest. I was really really happy! All my friends hugged me as I walked on stage to collect my award. 

I went and did my speech right after; “Thank you! Thank you all, brahs and sistas! I really didn’t expect this! I will like to thank all my friends for helping me get this far, my grandma Carbine for teaching me how to be a great chef, the Chef’s University of Mareami, and of course all of my employees! I couldn’ve gone this far without you all! Happy face!” I said. So everypony was cheering at me, but I had the feeling somepony was missing in the crowd. It was actually Blaze who was missing; he was still tied up in the closet in the bathroom. 

“Hello? HELLLLOOOOOO?!” Blaze yelled out. “Is anypony going to let me out anytime soon? I really need to be pee!” And so, I won my award, and then the next day I did some activities around the city with my friends, and spend a lot of time with my family! Candy got to fly off the Bank of Equestria building Downtown; she sure felt dat Mareami heat! They all did! Got to spend some time at the theme parks, totally unaware of the robots that were guarding Magic World, and we sure had a fantastic vacation! The day after, we all packed up our stuff, and put them on the limo for our trip back to Ponyville. Spike was burning red, since he was suntanned too much.

“I’ll tell you something , Twilight. My tanning days are over!” Spike said.

“No kidding!” Twilight said and giggled.

“Don’t peel off any skin in the limo, eh?” the limo driver advised him.
.
“I can’t believe you’re already leaving.” My mom said very sadly to me.

“Hey, we’ll be back very soon, mom! I promise!” Water said.

“Now that I know I have friends here, and I’ll be safe from harm, I should be coming back a lot more often now!” I said.

“I’m just…. It’s like you JUST got here.” Mom said.

“Mom….” Water said in a comforting tone and then we both hugged her.

“We’ll call you everyday! Just…. Be strong!” I said.

“I’ll be fine, Flarey. It’s you I’m worried about.” Mom said.

“I’ll be fine, mom! I promise!” I said.

“You better not break that promise! Or you’re dead!” mom threatened.

“I love you too, mom!” I said smiling at her.

“I love you so much, just checking, poke.” My mom said with her hoof out.

“I love you so much, just checking, poke too.” I said as I poked my mom’s hoof.

“Be safe, son! Keep that shop alive!” dad said.

“Don’t worry, dad! I even expanded! I’ll expand here too! Don’t you worry!” I said.

“Are you sure you wanna go, Flare? You don’t have to. We’ll make sure you stay safe! You can join our gang, and keep the peace!” Herb suggested to me.

“We’re always open for new members!” Poni said.

“Thanks, brahs,but…. Mareami will always be my home! I would never abandon it! Mareami will always be my motherland!” I said.

“Listen to him, he sounds Russian.” Crystal chuckled.

“But you see, Ponyville’s my home now, and I made a lot of friends already! I can’t just leave them!” I said.

“You can’t just leave us either you know!” mom said.

“She’s got a point there.” Herb nodded.

“I know, but I already set up everything there. but I promise, Pinkie promise, that’ll be back!” I said, crossing my heart and sticking a cupcake in my eye.

“Pinkie promise?” Poni asked.

“I MADE THAT UP!” Pinkie said, hopping.

“I see.” Poni said.

“Alright, Flare, but remember, if you need us, we’ll be here…. Waiting for ya!” Herb said as he winked at me.

“Thanks, Herb! Kick your dad’s flank!” I advised him.

“HEY! Don’t talk about my dad that way!” Herb yelled at me.

“What?” I asked.

Herb then laughed. “I’m messing with ya, c’mon!”

“HA! You got me, man!” I chuckled.

"Well Flare, how about you make like a tree, and get outta here?" he asked.

"How many times do I have to remind you? It's 'make like a tree' and 'LEAVE'!" I corrected him.

"I don't get it!" Herb yelled.

"Leave sounds like 'leaf', and trees have leaves." I informed him.

"Oooooooh! Makes much more sense now." he said and chuckled.

"Really, Herb? Does it?" I asked sarcastically.

"Perhaps." he said. I just stared at him, gave him and a look, and then I let out those two dog pant laughs I occasionally do. “See ya around, Flare!” Herb said.

“Don’t be a stranger now.” Poni said.

“Be safe!” mom said, hugging me.

“I’ll be great! Very great!” I promised.

“Not correct grammar, Flare.” Twilight corrected me.

“Don’t ruin the moment Twilight.” I instructed her.

“Well…. Catch you all on the flipside! Kay thanks bye!” I said as I stepped into the limo and took a seat.

“Remember: the Friendship Mafia will always be there to accept any favors, if you ever need us.” Herb said to me.

“WAIT UP!” Psyche yelled, hoping into the limo, being chased by Consuela.

“NO, NO! TIME OUT, NOW!” Consuela yelled out.

“GET US OUT OF HERE! NOW!” Psyche yelled. So the limo started driving back to Mareami International Airport. My family, Herb, and Poni all waved goodbye as the limo drove to the Airport. On the way there though, the Shark mafia was keeping watch of us as we drove by.

“I’ll get you, Flare Gun! You just wait!” Herb senior swore. So we headed to the airport and flown back home to Ponyville, which the plane ride was pretty much the same as when we were flying up.