//------------------------------// // Chapter 37 One Crazy Episode // Story: The Slow Mo Stallions // by gamershot //------------------------------// Ray and Michael were seated in their chairs at the Achievement Hunter office. They were both feeling on edge; how could they feel right when there was an empty chair in the room? "Ray?" said Michael, getting the Puerto Rican's attention. "Yeah?" Ray replied quietly. "Where do you think Gavin is?" Michael asked quietly. Gavin had been missing for three days now; there was no sign of him anywhere in America, or in England. They knew he was probably safe and sound, but everyone at Rooster Teeth was concerned. Ray looked over at Michael and tried to smile. Their best friend was gone. He was like a brother to them and the office sounded way too quiet without his screaming and laughing in his joyful tone. Geoff and Caleb even missed him screaming "WHAT IS GAME NIGHT?!" "I don't know Michael," shrugged Ray with a frown, "but we have to take our minds off him. He'll turn up safe. He survived a stroke and a twisted testicle just fine." he added making them both laugh slightly. "Yeah, good point Ray." agreed Michael with a weak smile, "You wanna watch some MLP to cheer up? I recorded the latest episode." Michael asked. Ray's smile widened slightly, it had been a while since he'd seen his pony friends. "Yeah, sounds cool man." Ray answered, looking to the mini Applejack toy stood upon his desk. ......................... Michael’s apartment was well furnished and nice, quite large too. Since Lindsay was out, the only thing they heard when they walked in was the sound of the AC, straining to overpower the hot Texas sun. "Just sit wherever, I'll go get some chips." said Michael, walking over to the kitchen. Ray nodded and took off his shoes, before heading to the sofa and jumping onto it. "You nearly done Michael?" asked Ray, feeling awkward sitting alone staring at a black screen. "Yeah, coming." he heard Michael answer from the kitchen, his voice echoing through the apartment. Michael soon walked over to sit with Ray, holding a large bowl full of chips (crisps!). "Alright let's get this party started!" chuckled Michael as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Ray nibbled on a few potato chips whilst his friend quickly scrolled through his recordings to find My Little Pony. With a push of a button, the TV displayed the show to Michael and Ray, both of them half singing along to the familiar theme tune. "God I haven't watched this in ages man." said Ray, interrupting the song. "Me neither," agreed Michael, "now shut the fuck up and watch." The title sequence ended and faded away, Ray and Michael sharing a smile before it started. When the show did start however, it wasn't what they expected. Of the four ponies on-screen, they only recognized one. Rainbow Dash was standing with her foreleg over an unknown, light brown pegasus stallion, while a chestnut unicorn stallion carried a ash grey pegasus stallion on his back. "Dude, who're those guys?" asked Michael, looking over towards Ray. "I dunno." replied Ray, "Although I'm pretty sure I've seen the dark grey one as a background pony before." he added with a shrug. Michael narrowed his eyes and looked back to his TV. Three of the ponies were walking forwards, and the other stallion was wriggling about on the chestnut stallion's back. "Blimey Long Shot stop it!" yelled the unicorn as he looked back to the pegasus on his back. "Long Shot?" questioned Michael. "Never mind Long Shot, does that voice sound familiar to you?" asked Ray. "Yeah..." replied the other man. The chestnut stallion then bucked Long Shot from his back, chuckling whilst he did so. "I did warn you, Long Shot." he laughed. "What the buck?" grunted Long Shot. Ray and Michael looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Long Shot’s dropping B-bombs?" scoffed Ray. "No seriously, what the hell is going on here?!" shouted Michael, clearly very confused. The other, lighter, pegasus stallion then trotted over to Long Shot. "You should not mess with Dan." Laughed the stallion warmly. The two men looked at each other, eyes wide. "Dan! That's it!" yelled Ray. "HOLY SHIT!" screamed Michael, "That is Dan! And that... Is that..." "Gavin?!" they both said at once. "Look at the cutie mark!" yelled Ray. "A creeper!" "He even has a wonky muzzle!" "Let me rewind it; I need to hear that again." As Michael rewound the show to hear the tan stallion's line again, the two men look at each other in disbelief. "It can't be though..." muttered Ray. "Maybe that's where he is?" suggested Michael, "Doing voice acting at Hasbro?" "But... Why does is look like him?" asked Ray. "Maybe he won a contest or something..." "But.., why?!" yelled Ray, mind thoroughly boggled. They looked back at the TV to see the four ponies talking in a group. "I can't handle this, we gotta be goin' crazy man." said Ray flatly. "Yeah. I'm gonna go get drunk. agreed Michael, "You coming?" "Yeah, I'll have a coke or something" said Ray. Michael turned off the TV and stood up. Ray followed him from the sofa to the door, glancing back at the TV before they left. "That was fucking weird." grunted Michael. "Yep" ....................... Long Shot laughed a bit and trotted forward, "Let’s go to the park, we can talk there." he said with a smile as he pointed a wing in the appropriate direction. The three other ponies shrugged and started to trot forwards, following the slightly limping stallion. "So, what do you two do for a living?" asked Long Shot, secretly trying to find out more about the odd stallions. "Uhm..." mumbled Gavin looking at Dan for help. "Well..." Dan added in support. "Uhh..." continued Gavin. Before either of the stallions could answer, they heard somepony shout from their far right. "HEY!" they heard the female voice yell, "Hey Shottie! Dashie!" she laughed, galloping over to them. She was a light blue pegasus with a wavy brown mane and tail. She had bright green eyes and a small band around each of her lower forelegs. She trotted the last few metres before hoof bumping Rainbow and a very confused Long Shot. "Who's this?" asked Gavin with a half smile. "Oh hey!" she said looking at Gavin and Dan, "I'm Lou, who are you?" she greeted happily. "My name’s Gavin!" he replied with a happy smile. "And I am Dan." added his unicorn friend. "That's cool, nice accents." she complimented with a nod of her head. “Oh, heya Lou. What’re you doing here?” Long Shot managed after shaking off his initial surprise. "Oh, I just got back from Trottingham and when I saw you I thought I’d stop and say hi." she answered happily whilst she fluttered her wings. “Hey, we’re headed to the park, wanna come?” Rainbow offered. "Nah, it was long flight back, I think I’ll just head home and crash.” She then kissed Long Shot's cheek. “See ya!" yelled Lou as she flew into the air, "Oh, and I wanna meet these two better some time." she added before darting off. Long Shot looked at the three friends in front of him and smiled sheepishly. "Don't mind her, she's just a... old friend." he said slowly, narrowing his eyes. “And if you say what you’re going to say, I will bucking kill all four of us right now.” The trio collectively decided to tease him later and instead continue on to the park. “So just how rich are you?” Dan asked after trotting over to Long Shot, who promptly facehoofed.