We drove into Phoenix, I looked around. It has been a while since I've been here, last time I spent any amount of time here was summer. But that was only really stopping for gas or eating at a restaurant and then driving on, I haven't really gotten to walk around or just hang out in phoenix. I could go for a good walk anyways, maybe we'll get some time to just stretch our legs at the park. We drove along the highway and I looked out the windows, I rolled it down and could feel the rush of wind in my mane. Feeling the wind like that gave me a comfortable chill down my spine, I sucked in the fresh air from outside of our confined space.
“I'm guessing you don't do well on long trips?” he laughed at my display of affection for the outside world.
“no I handle long trips quite well, I just like the feel of the wind in my mane. The fresh air that isn't tainted by your smell is a nice touch too,” I turned to him with a grin and he relented.
“okay, I get it. Don't mock your odd habits, you don't have to be so harsh,” we both laughed at his mock surrender as he pulled his hands from the wheel for a second.
“jeez, your gonna get us killed. Keep your hands on the wheel,” I snickered as I turned to the window.
“so, where do you suggest we dine?” he was looking at the exit signs to make sure we didn't miss ours.
“well I guess that depends on what's in Gilbert. But I have to say that fast-food is a no. I need sustenance, not junk,” he nodded his head in agreement.
“you trying to watch your weight?” he chuckled at my word choice.
I glared at him, “do you think I need to?” I didn't ease on my glare.
“whoa, calm down. It was a joke, easy. No, I don't think you need to, lighten up,” I could hear the falter in his voice, I had obviously gotten to him.
I turned back to looking out of the window, “wise answer, and no. I am not watching my weight, I'm just not a fan of fast-food on road-trips. It just makes you feel lazy and fat and you can't work it out of your system. That and the fact that almost every fast-food place puts meat or similar in everything. I'm a vegetarian now, so that doesn't sit well with me. If you want to waste away on greasy junk, by all means go ahead. But I will find alternative forms of nourishment if you choose to do so.” I could hear him sigh.
“Your too serious about this stuff, you know I didn't mean to offend you. We'll pick somewhere that's not fast-food, so will you please not be such a mood-killer?” I turned to look at him.
“yeah sure, but only cause your my ride,” I laughed and he smiled. “sorry, I think it's just nerve's that are getting to me,” my stomach growled. “or I could just be hungry, my mom always talks about how she gets aggravated easier when she's hungry. Maybe I just take after her,” we both laughed together. We were so busy laughing we almost missed our exit, Ron pulled the car into the exit and off of the highway onto south Val Vista drive. We were getting closer and closer to our destination. It wasn't much longer till we got a decent ways up south Val Vista and we found some places to eat.
We pulled into a lot that had signs reading for numerous places to eat. One place in particular caught my eye, I pointed it out to Ron and he smiled. It was a Chinese restaurant called taste of china, I figured they would probably have some vegetarian meals. We pulled into the lot, it wasn't empty, but it was pretty barren. It was only about half filled, I kind of expected more cars for a parking lot this big. We pulled into a parking space easily though, if the lot was filled then we wouldn't be able to do that as easy, so I guess not being famous has it's advantages.
We got out of the car and looked around, I didn't see anyone. Of course this is just the lot, so they could all be inside. I bet inside is nice and warm, it is quite cold out here. It's not too cold, because only my ears are getting cold. It's only about halfway through November, but it's starting to get darker earlier and the temperature is dropping, it's only going to get worst. Good thing I have a thick coat, and I brought my scarf just in case, I'm also wearing my jacket. But as I said before, only my ears are cold, and that's only because they are less cold resistant than the rest of my body.
We walked into the Chinese restaurant and were greeted with many shocked stares, the place was surprisingly busy in such a seemingly unpopular place. We waited calmly to be seated, when one of the waitresses came out to find the whole shop silent she looked around. The first time she swept the room she didn't see me and just gazed at all the customers, the second sweep she traced the stares and saw me. She too was shocked first, then she was a little excited. She composed herself before coming up to us and welcoming us.
“welcome to Taste of China!” she cheerily greeted us, her voice was a little excited. She took a moment to calm her voice and continued, “this way please,” she directed us to a booth. She stood aside and showed us our table, we sat down. I noticed she was looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned to look at her she averted her gaze. “what would you like to drink?” she asked pulling out a notepad to take our requests. I looked at the menu and ordered tea, orange spice tea. Ron ordered a coke, the waitress nodded and left hastily. I had a creeping feeling the cooks and managers were about to learn of my presence.
I looked over the menu, there were some nice sounding meat dishes, but I knew I couldn't stomach them. I didn't think that becoming vegetarian made you hate the smell, but I think that's just a side effect from the one time it happened to me before. I didn't become a pony but I couldn't stand meat, it was weird. One day I just woke up and tried to avoid meat, the thought of eating it made my stomach turn. I even didn't finish my bratwurst for dinner, it was only one, and I always finish my food; always. I got over it after a day or two, but apparently the effects lingered in my mind. As I looked over the menu I settled on a dish called `Chippies Family Style Tofu`, it was bean curd lightly deep-fried with assorted vegetables sauteed with a brown sauce.
The waiter came back, all of the eyes on the restaurant were dead set on us, I tried to ignore them as much as I could. “are you ready to order?” I looked over to Ron and he nodded.
“yes, I will have the Chippies Family Style Tofu,” I floated her the menu and she grabbed it eagerly. I rolled my eyes at how much she showed her affection towards the menu I used, it was just a menu after all.
“I'll have the Home Made Spicy Chicken Noodle and the Shrimp & Lobster Sauce,” he handed her the menu and she grabbed it as enthusiastically as she grabbed mine. Maybe she isn't showing affection towards my menu, not any more than she does to all the other menus at least. I found her enthusiasm towards the job a little funny, it raised my spirits a little. I tried to smile, but I just continued with my bored look. I knew that deep down I felt happy, but at the surface I was bored. I must just be hungry, I need to get that food into my stomach quick.
“sure thing! Your food will be out shortly, your drinks should also be out right... about... now.” as if on cue another waiter walked out of the kitchen with our drinks in hand. He walked over to the table with a scowl on his face, he walked over to us. He gave Ron his drink and just placed mine down on the table in front of me, he turned to our waiter. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded, she kept her cheery attitude the whole time and the man scowled at me one more time before going back to the kitchen. Even if she did keep her cheery attitude she was obviously concerned about something, “I need to go take care of something, If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask any of the waiters. If any of them give you a problem,” she picked up my drink and moved it closer to me, “be sure to tell me,” she gave me a wink and I nodded graciously.
“thanks,” she retreated back into the kitchen, I looked over to Ron and he had an annoyed look on his face. “what's up?” he looked at me as if I had grown a second head.
“that guy! Did you see how he was looking at you? He was just being a douche!” he looked ready to blow up any second. I could see the fire in his eyes as he looked towards the kitchen, he looked ready to fight.
“Language, there might be kids in the shop,” I turned to see if there were, I couldn't find any. “and calm down. That guy didn't do anything, were lucky he's not crazy. Besides, why are you getting defensive over me? I can fight my own battles you know,” he looked at me incredulously.
“what do you mean were lucky? Are there crazy ones out there?” he looked like I had told him he was about to die in one hour.
“you don't know what these guys are capable of, this guy was tame. The whole P.A.P.A. Organization is crazy, we don't want to run in with them.” I was saying this as casually as if I was talking about my neighbor. I didn't have to act casual, it was casual. Ron on the other hand was freaking out.
“P.A.P.A?” he finally asked, he was obviously out of the loop about this whole pony hate group thing.
“People Against Ponies Association, a bad bunch they are,” I took a sip of my tea, it warmed my throat. The spices burned in the back of my throat in that pleasant way that doesn't hurt. It's that feeling that's like if you touch an electric fence, it hurts, but only for a second; after the pain you remember that buzz and want to feel it again, except this buzz is toned down a little.
“and you know what they're capable of?” he looked at me confused, “you just became a pony and haven't had any interactions with these guys. How do you know they aren't peaceful? Is this more of your weird mind powers at work?” he was genuinely confused.
I laughed at his assumption, “no, it's not my mind powers. It's just that I've read about them, but they are much worse in real life. There are some peaceful ones, but there is always a crazy bunch to even out the rest. You'll see, not long from now, we'll start seeing news about them.” I took another sip of my tea, “but lets drop this topic okay? I don't want to be stressed out more thinking about the people trying to murder me,” I watched him struggle to drop the conversation. I could see he had a lot more questions on his mind. Finally he won the internal struggle and decided to leave that conversation for later.
We waited in silence, well it was silent for us. I could hear all the other people that had been staring and listening to us talking were now talking about us. I pulled out my tablet to find an open internet source from the safe-way next to us. I pulled open Facebook, “Hey Pixel! Were close to the park, we've stopped to eat and will be there in about a half an hour. If we don't run into trouble that is, hope to see you soon!” I sent the message an turned off my tablet. I decided it would be a good idea to try and hear what everyone was saying about us.
I started to listen to the people closest to us, “why are they here? Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask them? Maybe I will!” they were whispering to each-other.
“sorry to interrupt, but I thought I'd put your minds at ease. Were here to eat, I thought it was pretty obvious, but apparently not,” I turned back to them and they jumped up. “any more questions?” they looked at each-other and one raise a hand. I picked on the skinny one, he was tall with black hair.
“what we meant by here is on earth, why are you on earth?” he looked at me nervously.
“oh, I've always been on earth, I was human. I just woke up as a pony, so I guess I'm here for the same reason you are,” I could see them look incredulously at me. I picked the other one this time, he had blond hair and was thicker with muscle.
“you were human? How did you change? Can you change back?” these were all valid questions, but I didn't know the answer to most.
“yes, I was human. I don't know how I changed, or if I can change back, but that's why were going to find out.” I looked at them both raise their hands again, I picked the skinny one.
“where are you going?” should I tell him? I don't see why not, I'm sure Celestia will if she already hasn't announced that the elements need to meet up in New York.
“New York, I'm sure Celestia will announce how all the element users need to go to New York.” I looked at the two of them as they put their hands down, they were thinking on a question, I heard a man clear his throat. I looked across the room to see a man smiling with his hand up. “yes?” I asked him.
“are these element users important?” he asked, he obviously wasn't a Brony.
“yeah, They are the ponies we need,” I answered, “only they can use the elements of harmony, those elements are powerful and may be just what we need,” he looked very thoughtful for a second.
“are you one of the elements that is going?” I see how one could surmise that.
“no, I'm going to help though,” he looked a little disappointed a this, he turned to his friends and I looked around the shop. No one had any more questions, they were all contemplating my words. I saw the one man who had asked the last questions huddled with his buddy's, I couldn't hear what they were saying. I turned back to Ron and saw he was looking at me.
“do you just answer any question?” he was obviously just making conversation, we were still waiting for our food.
“I figure that it would ease some of their worries,” I replied, I could see a waitress carrying food out of the kitchen, she directed herself to our table. She smiled as she gave us our food, we thanked her and she walked back to the kitchen. I looked at my food eagerly, I floated my fork and stabbed it through a couple of vegetables. I shove the fork into my mouth hungrily and my taste-buds are over-whelmed by the flavor. The brown sauce was savory and sweet, the tofu soaked up the savory flavor and added it's weird texture to the mix. I could taste the variety of vegetables in there, I could even taste water chestnuts. I love water chestnuts, they feel cool when you bite into them. The whole dish together tasted great, you could taste all the individual tastes and at the same time all the tastes blended into a tasty dish full of flavor.
I saw Ron was enjoying his dish just as much as I was mine, we finished both of our dishes up. We both sat back, we were full. I saw the man from earlier eyeing me out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and he turned away, as soon as I turned away I could feel his glare on me again. I called over the waitress for our bill, I payed it and the waitress started to clean our table. Me and Ron got up, I could see the man still watching us, we headed towards the door and his group wasn't that far behind us.
As we got out the door I turned to Ron, “you go to the car, I have some business to take care of. I'll be in the car soon,” I turned and walked down the sidewalk towards an alley. The men followed me, I saw one of them go the opposite direction, but he wasn't pursuing Ron. I turned into the alley and walked down to he end, I sat there and waited for them. They turned the corner and pulled out some weapons, they all wielded knives. I looked at each one in turn, they were obviously untrained. I wasn't trained myself, but I wasn't worried. I felt my anger rise as I looked at them, I kept it in check and sat there calmly.
I felt the urge to beat the crap out of them enveloping me, but I just sat there. The man who had asked the questions before stepped forward, “we have you surrounded freak,” he spat the last word. I inspected him, he wasn't much, he wasn't even well built or anything. I looked at the rest of his group and saw the same thing.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” my anger was about to burst, I stayed calm though. It was a miracle I wasn't weaker, I probably would have gotten myself killed by rushing at them.
“oh yeah? And why not?” he obviously wasn't intimidated. Time to remedy that.
“because it won't look good for you, attacking an innocent. You'll give your group a bad name. That and you can't win, I have magic, you have knives” I looked at the puny blades with distaste, “plus, I don't want to hurt you, so just let me go and no one gets hurt,” he looked furious.
“B**** you're just some animal! I'll teach you to talk down to us!” he lunged at me and I stepped out of the way, I let out my hoof and he tripped.
“pathetic, really...” I shook my head as he hit the ground hard. His buddy's came to join in the struggle, one of them leaped at me and I gripped him in my magic, I set him down on top of his friend and he got up, he was pissed. I looked over to see the other guy ready to attack, I ducked back. His knife nicked my shoulder, I felt the knife slice the flesh. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and looked at all three of them. The two had gotten up from their pile an were coming to join in the brawl. I picked up a trash can lid and slammed it into one of the guys, it barreled him over and the other two leaped at me. I teleported out of the way and they both landed with a thud, I had only teleported back a foot or so.
I grabbed their knives in my telekinetic grip, I tossed them into the trash can. I saw them both get up and look around frantically, I bucked one of them in the stomach and he keeled over. His friend socked me in the side and I stagger for a second. Only for a second, I picked up a rock by my foot and launched it towards him, it hit him straight in the chest. He clenched the wound and fell to the floor trying to get his breath. I turned to the man who had asked the question, he was getting up dazed from the trash can lid. I pulled his knife out of his hand and he watched in horror as I bent the blade in my grip and tossed it back to him. He looked at his friends and looked at me scared, I looked at him bored.
My business was finished, they shouldn't fight me anymore. I turned around to leave and felt a rock hit the back of my head. I turned around to the man with an annoyed look on my face. I take it back, this was no man. This is a coward, a weak coward, he tried to outnumber and attack an innocent and only got in a shot when their back was turned. I turned away from him, he wasn't worth my time. I walked back to the car, I would be lucky if every P.A.P.A. member was this easy to deal with.