//------------------------------// // These New Feelings // Story: My Little Pony: Return of the Primal Fear // by Lizardsareradical //------------------------------// Chapter 19: These New Feelings "There you go Mr. and Mrs. Tweetums." Fluttershy said as she gave two little swallows their supper of birdseeds. She was sitting in front of the courtyard pond, which was circular roughly 5 meters. There were flowers such as roses and daisies around the pond, which were in lovely shades of red, orange and yellow. But the yellow mare was sort of bored at the party. The techno music was too loud and not her kind of music, to her it was just loud annoying beats. The other guests she didn't know very well and many were not very kind and quite snobby. The animals were the highlight of the evening so far, but since it was about nine o'clock, many of the animals were starting to fall asleep, and Fluttershy didn't dare try to wake them up. She sighed as she lied down on her stomach, looking into the water, which was reflecting the light of the full moon. She heard the sound of something landing behind her and quickly got up to see what it was, expecting some sort of waterfowl that needed tending. But when she turned around, she was caught by surprise. It was Paramail. The one thing that came into her mind was to hide behind her mane to cover her blushing. The stallion appeared to not notice as he moved beside her, taking a good look at the beautiful pond. "So…uh?" He looked at his recently sprained forehoof, now in much better condition. "Thanks to you, my leg feels better. I owe you one." "Thanks." She whispered under her mane. The teal stallion rubbed the back of his neck, obviously nervous. "So anyways, why are you out here all alone? The party's inside." Fluttershy softly spoke up. "Well…I'm not really too into the music…and it's really loud…and the animals are really cute. Like the squirrels, the ducks, the moths, the koi, you…" She made a small squeak. "What was that?" She could tell that her face was getting redder. "Y-you-you…you're late for the party. What happened? I…I mean we were waiting for you to show up." She mentally congratulated herself for that recovery. The mailpony passively shrugged with a light smile. "Well turns out that being the Element of Caring, saving children from nightmare creatures and being invited to a royal party doesn't qualify for getting out of work early." The two pegasi both let out a chuckle, considering how ridiculous somepony's boss must be to refuse something like that. Paramail then continued to talk. "But anyways, didn't expect the party to be like this." He pointed to back inside, where there were still technobeats irritating both ponies. Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement, loosening up a bit and speaking louder. "Yeah. I understand every bit of it. This isn't music, it's just some random sound effects put together to sound like music." She gently stomped her hoof to emphasize her dislike for it. Paramail completely agreed about what she was talking about. "I completely get your view on this "genre" of "new age music". They'll never compete with what we grew up with." He broke into a mocking laugh as he lifted his forehooves into the air. "Who was the pony who thought making sounds like "WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB" and stuff?" Fluttershy openly giggled at the comment. "That is a horrible sound. Sounds like the toads from "Butterfly Blaster III", and that sounded better." Paramail looked at her in joyous surprise. "You play video games too?" He considered patting her on the back but didn't want to intrude. Fluttershy looked down, making a little circle in the dirt with a hoof. She then looked upwards and admitted with a smile. "Yeah. When I'm done with my animal friends and the others are busy, I like to visit the arcade once in a while. It's relaxing to say the least." This was the first pony who she ever told about her arcade visits. The teal stallion had a warm look on his face and with some hesitation, walked a little closer to her. She did not move away, but felt her legs tremble a bit. "I love the Ponyville Arcade, especially the new "Mare-Do-Well: The Troubling Twelve" game." He reminisced about playing the relatively bit devouring game. "Can never beat Bile the Bog Belcher though. Level's unforgiving. Have you though?" Fluttershy never even heard of that game. But due to her past identity as one of many "Mare-Do-Wells, she put that on her mental to-do-list. "I'm afraid I never played it." But then she made a playful boast. "But I do have the high score in all three games in the "Butterfly Blaster" trilogy." She sighed as she remembered the amazing ending of the series as she scooted a little closer. She was feeling really comfortable about talking to Paramail about this, and as far she could tell, he was too. She then remembered the little message he gave to the two bunnies. She remembered he explicitly stated that he "liked" her, and from what she could feel, she felt the same for him. She just hoped that this was the "like, like" not just "like" like a friend. She saw the fireflies glowing, the moon and stars shining and the flowers in full bloom. All that was needed to make this feel just right was some nice, romantic music instead of that vile "New Age" stuff. Somepony must have been reading her thoughts. The techno beat suddenly stopped at the end of the "song". Both her and Paramail had no idea what was going on inside. But suddenly, they both heard the soft, lovely tune of a wind chime. Following it were the soft sounds of a piano, which gently increased in volume. Then other instruments such as cellos, violins and percussions, making the music a full blown orchestra. Then the soft, soothing voice of a stallion began to sing. "Now here we are, under a sky full of stars. You stand right by my side with an idea on your mind." Paramail immediately knew that this was the work of Fancy Pants, to improve the atmosphere of this encounter. Not that he ever did this before, but the stallion was smart enough to know that a dance was due. But if only he could get the courage to ask her. Fluttershy looked at him intently, remembering the advice Spike told him earlier that day. Her legs were shaking, but she felt extremely excited for such a moment. She did her best to keep her cool. "But you're too scared to say it. Don't know what to do. But you've known one another for the longest time…" The stallion opened his mouth, about to say something but took it back. But after a deep breath, he reached out a hoof to her, profusely blushing. Fluttershy looked at the hoof for a moment and slowly took a hold of it. The two ponies then began to dance ballroom style as both of them stood on their hind legs. Fluttershy placed her spare forehoof on Paramail's neck while he placed his spare forehoof around his dance partner's waist. Both ponies felt slightly awkward about the new experience as they moved to the music, slowly spinning and swaying back and forth, unsure who was leading as they stared into each other's eyes. "So now it is the time to decide what is right! Will you stand idly by or will you let your heart FLY?" Both of them flapped their wings to ascended several feet into the air, still rhythmically dancing to the song. As the musical instruments began to play louder, both ponies began to even their tempo. On instinct, Paramail dipped Fluttershy, here mane almost touching the ground. Both dancers looked into one another's eyes, with a new surge of confidence in their half closed eyes. Neither of them couldn't believe this moment was actually happening. But they didn't care, they just reveled in the music as Paramail brought her back up and they danced towards the pond. "Now that we're together everything is much better! I can't describe the feel but it just feels SO REAL!" They softly danced on top of the water, their wings supporting them. The pegasi created small ripples in the pond every time they took a step. Various animals began to watch the couple as the he twirled her gently. One squirrel let out a sigh while a buzzard was visibly tearing up. "Great time for you and I! So happy I can cry. My only regret was the amount of time. I am lost in your eyes. We are flying like birds." Fluttershy nodded to Paramail, ready for the next move. Paramail gently tossed her up into the air. She gracefully twirled around in the air, her wings folded together. "There are now JUST NO WORDS!" A pair of Cymbals hit together in the soundtrack, followed by the string instruments playing their notes twenty percent louder. Fluttershy quickly opened her wings at the highest point of her spin, which covered the bright full moon. Paramail quickly swooped over and caught her in his forehooves. As the music became a full blown instrumental, he took her to the top of Blueblood's mansion. The middle of the room was flat and big enough to be its own ballroom and the stained glass pictures of the prince let out colorful rays of light, making the roof stop as colorful as a rainbow. The two stepped, twirled and dipped in their own private ballroom as they were lost in their own little world together as they danced to the minute long instrumental part. The song began to slightly soften as the instrumental ended and the singing return. "Fly! Fly! Fly way up high! Let your wings be still but let your souls be filled!" Both ponies once again began to ascend into the air, close enough that their noses were touching. They smiled lovingly to each other as they danced to the chorus. "We will do what feels right! We will stay side by side! We are letting our hearts reach the sky! We will what feels right! We will stay side by side We are letting our hearts reach the sky!" Both pegasi stopped dancing as they descended down to the top of the roof on all fours. Neither pony had to say how elated they were with one another. They just gave one another an affectionate nuzzle. "Now we're both alright with our hearts now alight. Now let us remember…" Fluttershy put her head under his chin with her eyes closed and a wide smile on her face. Paramail accepted the warm embrace, feeling perfectly content and without a care for anything else in the world. Both were making soft, affectionate whinnies towards one another. Both ponies thought that they were the luckiest pony in the world at that moment. Finally finding their special somepony. "…Tonight." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You're not going to get away with this!" A guard of Celestia shouted in anger as he was getting tied up to a tree by a Mara. His fellow guards were also tied up to other trees and they were surrounded by many of these things. Suddenly, he saw a giant metal alicorn fly down and look at him with a sadistic grin. "Aw come on featherflank!" Anvillain insulted the guard with a cruel laugh as he close to the stallion's face. "Is that the best thing you can say about getting tied up to a tree by the bringers of a New Age of rulers? A little…cliché of you to say the least." The guard just spat in the golem's face. Anvillain slowly wiped the spit off his face and felt its fury increase. He had half a mind to crush the guard, but he was just as content with hitting him upside the head, knocking him out. The iron equine then looked at all the Mara at his disposal. There were sixty-three in all since there were stragglers from the last skirmish. It then began to command them. "Alright all of you! Surround the mansion and don't let anypony leave! I've got to find this "One pure of Heart" and then we'll be good!" It then hesitated to itself as the construct put a hoof to its chin. "But first, I'm gonna need to find one pure of heart." It pondered to itself. "Now where am I gonna find that?" A Mara poked Anvillain and signaled him to look upwards. Anivllian looked up and hit his hooves together with a clanging sound as he saw a familiar aura emanating from the roof. "Bingo." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Wake up Mara." No answer to Screameater's borderline affectionate telepathic call. "Wake up." Still no response. "Come on this is ridiculous. Upsy Daisy now!" Once again unheard. "…" The baby dragon made an obnoxiously loud snoring sound. "WAKE UP YOU DIM WITTED DRAGON DOPPLEGANGER!" "Spike" quickly opened its eyes, revealing pure orange Mara eyes. Another blink turned them back to the dragon like green eyes. It got ready to pay attention to its master's mental orders. "Glad you're up little one!" Screameater told the Mara with a huge hint of insincerity. "I have something for you to do. Do you want to guess?" When "Spike" only yawned again, the imprisoned prince only grumbled. "Fine! Be lazy about it! But just get rid of the Element of Magic." The alicorn used his magic to look through the dragon's eyes for a second, seeing a purple unicorn mare reading a book on his former wife Evening Star. Screameater felt pity for his beautiful wife. To him, her only contribution to this world was bringing an incompetent prince to this world. Though to be fair, he was imprisoned only a year after his son's birth and they were usually much too busy to speak very much. But as he spaced out about his wife, Screameater senses alerted him of a light blue aura around the mare. Screameater would love to have order the capture of the studious unicorn, but Anvillain already alerted him of two Pure of Hearts. He turned off the sight spell and spoke back to "Spike". "Alright little lizard. I want you to "get rid" of that Element in front of you. Personal tip for you…" The alicorn made a dark, demonic laugh. "…you're in a room with many flammable objects and unicorns get hurt by fire. Be creative." The voice in the Mara's head then left. "Spike" tried to get up, but realized that it was wrapped in a blanket. It wasn't hard to realize for the dragon that one of the two unicorns did this to keep him comfortable. It slowly got out of the blanket. It then remembered the white unicorn from yesterday. "Yoo-Hoo! Spike Darling! How are you doing?" The Mara scoffed at the idea of that mare treating him like a little nephew. It then slowly and silently walked behind the busy pony, who was too busy reading. It then heard the yellow pegasus mare's voice. "Where have you been Spike? We were looking for you?" "Spike" shook his head to get the memory of that animal loving pegasus out of its mind. But it did wonder how she was doing at the party right now. Perhaps she did follow the advice the Mara gave her. The dragon spat out a slight flicker to get ready to burn her to ashes as he stopped only two feet from her. But it then had one last memory. In it, both the purple and the green unicorns ran towards it calling out his false name. They then both embraced him as they were both visibly tearing up. It froze up completely, not moving a muscle. It thought about how much they must have missed the real Spike. Now it was going to incinerate this dragon's closest thing to family and she wouldn't know it was a fake. It contemplated where such a virtuous pony would go during death but it knew too little from the dreams he's seen and ruined. It then remembered how many ponies, dragons, griffons, minotaurs and other creatures dreams it has turned to nightmares and the sheer terror on their faces. Sure that was fun and it never truly harmed them, but this was different. This Mara was about to destroy one of the few beings that ever cared for it right behind her back. These ponies felt so benevolent and looked like they would never intentionally harm anything. How would they feel if they found what it did to this pony? How would it feel about it? It went to its knees and broke out in tears. "I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T DO IT!" It desperately tried to cover his eyes. Twilight quickly turned around and looked at Spike concerned about any possible problems. She kneeled down to his level. "What's the matter Spike are you all right?" "No" was the only answer "Spike" can choke out. "What is it then? You can tell me anything." Twilight put a comforting hoof on the crying monster's shoulder. "I'm here for you." The Mara took two seconds to control his tears. It then slowly got up and uncovered his eyes. Twilight gasped at the recognizable pure orange eyes and began to move away. She almost shrieked when she saw the dragon she thought she knew turn into a Mara twisted into the mockery of an Earth pony without a mouth. She might not have trusted this…thing, but from the flood of tears its eyes, it seemed genuinely remorseful and ashamed of itself. Twilight took a long breath then spoke up with a hard expression on her face. "Tell me everything you know. And don't you dare spare details." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy and Paramail were still on top of Prince Blueblood's manor and were admiring the starry night and the great full moon. They were sitting down close to one another, both enjoying the presence of their special other as they talk about one another's lives. I was no surprise that the mare had the more exciting experiences. Fluttershy cuddled next to her first coltfriend and softly spoke up. "Paramail." "Yeah?" "I…I have a question for you." Paramail was glad to answer any question for his new marefriend. "Sure what is it?" The animal enthusiast looked away from the sky and into the stallion's eyes. "How long did you have these feelings for me?" Paramail was slightly taken aback and slightly surprised at such a question but answered nonetheless. "Well…I remember seeing you first as a little colt in our first year of flight school." He let out a slight chuckle. "I still remember I had a full mane on my head. But anyways, at that time I wanted to fly just as badly as RD. You know be the best." "What happened?" Fluttershy asked curious what this had to do with her really. She was too nice to stop him from rambling on. "Baldy" took a deep breath. "Alright then. It's the first day of flight school and most of us are really hyped up about learning to fly, especially me and RD. We wagered an entire bag of candy on who would be the better flyer by the end of the quarter. That was the first day I met you in the corner of the cloud. You looked kind of lonely so I went to your cloud to strike up a conversation…" Fluttershy began to remember those first few days at flight school. She never really acknowledged it too much, but now she fully remembered. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her parents insisted that she go to flight school, but she didn't really want to go. They wanted her to go not just because flying was virtually a necessity for residents of Cloudsdale, but also to make some friends. Not wanting to hurt her parent's feelings, she went every day after school. On the first day of flight school, she recognized many of the fillies and colts around from her class. She remembered that many of them also have teased her numerous times. Not wanting to bring attention to herself, she isolated herself from her environment, doing her homework. During a break from some wing exercises, she watched all the other ponies playing with each other, hardly paying attention to her. Then she saw a little teal colt leave the crowd. He had a long navy blue mane that covered most of his maroon eyes and his flank was blank. He walked towards her and casually stretched out a hoof with a smile. "Hi there! My name's Paramail!" She remembered flinching at the loud volume of his introduction. But she saw that he was trying to be genuinely friendly, so tried to be nice and gently shook his hoof. She then barely audibly said her name. It was hard enough speaking to anypony else but her parents, but any colt enhanced that social phobia by five. For some reason this didn't bother the colt too much and he began talking about his excitement for his first day, how droll school was, his boring mailpony family and how he wanted to one day be a Wonderbolt. She just smiled and nodded, pretending to pay full attention and mentally groaning at his lame puns he sprinkled into the conversation. She then heard the loud whistle of the coach who called for the first volunteer through a couple of "pipsqueak level" rings. The teal colt and a rainbow maned filly were the first to volunteer. The coach picked Paramail and he jumped out to fly. He began to flap his wings and started to go through all of the holes and dodged all of the poles, making it to the other side. The coach congratulated him and told him to come back through the course. The colt just cockily nodded. But as young Paramail got near his destination, he began to fly erratically. He called out something about his mane getting into his eyes and before anyone knew it, he hit the soft cloud ground and tumbled headfirst into a metal light post. Nobody made a sound as the coach quickly flew up to the hurt foal. He then called the nurse and she flew down to take the now crying little pegasus. Fluttershy felt bad for the colt and asked the coach at the end of the day how Paramail was doing. The coach knelt down to her. "Don't worry. Your friend is okay. He just has some bruises and a bump on his head. But if I had to say so his pride is absolutely demolished. He had to go home, but he'll be good by next week." He then pointed to behind the little filly. "Come on now. You're parents are here. See you next week." He then flew off as Fluttershy went to see her parents. During the week, she noticed that the rainbow maned filly and the teal colored colt were in her school. Fluttershy saw that while the filly was still full of pep, the colt was now much less energetic now. She also saw that he shaved his mane, getting the nickname "Baldy". Somehow after years this became his more common school name, to the point that Fluttershy even forgot his name. As flight school went on, she befriended the filly named Rainbow Dash, got her cutie mark and made a bond with various animals. But other than extremely scattered (almost once or twice a year) conversations, she never really remembered Paramail's existence again. She now felt quite ashamed about it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And that's when I decided that a pony like me would never be a Wonderbolt. So I got my grades up, made a new clique of friends and started to learn my family's trade." Paramail summed up, looking down in shame. After a deep groan, he then looked back up to her. "That's why I like you." Fluttershy didn't really understand what he meant. Sure she was too busy having a flashback, but from what she heard him say, it sounded a little like speaking about his past failure, giving up on his dreams and other…angsty stuff like that. What did this have to do with her? But before she could ask he started speaking again. "I mean, you're kind, smart and beautiful." Fluttershy started to blush a little. "But…but I think I admire you're courage the most." Fluttershy was befuddled. "B-but I'm such a scaredy cat. I was once startled by my own sha…" Paramail gently place a hoof on her lips, causing her to stop speaking. "That's not true Fluttershy. In my eyes, you're quite the opposite. And I'm not just talking about you saving Equestria." He took one of her forehooves and held it between his two hands as he looked into her deep blue eyes. "You had the guts to follow your dream. To be with the animals and help them out. You ignored the norms of pegasi society and made your own path in this world. Most ponies do what their family did and on and on and on. But you…you did what you wanted to do without a hint of regret. That takes guts; and I wish I had those kinds of guts. I've been attracted to you for that quality since foalhood." Paramail gently nuzzled her. "In a way I…I think y-you…you…complete me." Fluttershy was almost overwhelmed by what he said. But then she realized it was pretty much true. She chose her life, he was pressured into his. She was quiet, he was talkative. She just went with the flow, he always tried to be a few steps ahead. She loved every moment of her work, he begrudgingly did his work. She had a long, pink, flowing mane while he had only a navy blue line going down the back of his head and neck. The list went on. All Fluttershy did to agree was look away and blush harder. She then began to speak up. "Paramail." "Yes?" "I-I never…" She said the rest of the sentence so softly, even be right next to her didn't help. Paramail looked around confused. "Never really what? Sorry didn't hear you." Fluttershy took a few seconds to keep her cool and then quickly spoke up. "Ineverkissedanyponybefore." Paramail processed what she said in his mind and he immediately blushed too. He looked away a bit as he gently put down her hoof. "Well…uh? Neither have I…actually." "Will…will you be my first?" Fluttershy asked him a little awkwardly, getting her mane out of her face. The teal stallion only nodded as they smiled to one another lovingly. Both ponies then closed their eyes and puckered their lips. Both ponies wanted to make this moment as memorable and romantic as possible. Paramail's mind was running with thoughts. "This is finally happening! Tonight I declare myself the luckiest stallion on the face of Equestria!" Fluttershy's thoughts were also trailing as their lips came closer together. "I can't believe this is finally happening! My only regret is that this didn't happen sooner! I wonder how a kiss…" "EEEP!" Paramail immediately opened his eyes only to see his new marefriend struggling under a net of what appeared to be chainmail. His reacted to his first instincts, to try to get her out. But when he just touched the net, he felt himself getting slammed to the side of one of the roof's domes, getting pinned by a large hoof. As he got to his senses, he saw the same metal pony that he saw yesterday, but this time with wings and a horn. It smiled sadistically as it pointed its sharp horn at him. Paramail shut his eyes when he saw the golem thrust the horn. When he didn't feel anything, he opened his eyes to see that the metal alicorn stabbed the wall just a few inches to the right of the pegasus's neck. The construct then took his hoof off of him, causing Paramail to fall on his flank to the floor. He then watched in horror as the artificial steed flew to the helpless Fluttershy, grabbing her and the net with a hoof. Anvillain then began to mockingly laugh. "I've been waiting to block that almost kiss for like forever! It was totally worth it! Priceless!" Paramail snorted as he resisted the urge to tackle him, seeing as Anvillain was in full control. He then noticed a familiar blue mare teleport next to the golem. "Trixie Lullamoon?" Paramail guessed still on the defensive as he saw several pegasus Mara surrounding him. "How'd you know?" The pony asked as she threw of her wig and used her amulet to change back to her normal form. "That it was Trixie?" She then gave him a quizzical look. "And how did you know my last name?" "I saw a poster of your show." Paramail growled stomping a hoof with Trixie nodding in reason. "And I had tickets to go watch it next week." He then pointed to the weeping Fluttershy. "Now let her go!" Anvillain let out another cruel laugh as it placed a sharp steel wing under the yellow mare's throat. "We don't think so! This lass is a "Pure of Heart", soon to be part of the ritual for master. You should be glad I didn't choose you." Fluttershy tried to get free, but it brought its wing closer to her throat. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't move or I'll slice you like a chicken on a farm." It laughed again. "WHO KNOWS! MAYBE YOU'LL RUN AROUND A BIT!" She kept still after that threat. Paramail clenched began to feel relatively helpless as all of the Mara got closer to him. He then realized what Anvillain said. I was a longshot, but it was his only chance to save his marefriend. "Wait one minute." He pointed towards the golem. "You said something about choosing me?" Anvillain didn't know what he was talking about. "Yes? So?" Paramail knelt to the ground with his head down. This act was not of servitude, but of tribute. "If I'm worthy of the ritual, then can you take me instead?" He looked back up to Anvillain and Trixie. "Just let her go." He then closed his eyes, ready to be taken. Trixie and Fluttershy couldn't believe what this pony was doing. He was virtually writing "absorb me" all over himself. Fluttershy looked at him as if to say "Don't do this. It's not worth it." "Trixie…" the unicorn said to him befuddled and almost sympathetic. "…Trixie thinks you lost your mind. Sacrificing yourself to be used as a ritual, thus being the one responsible for our new king's rise. Do you want that to be in your mind for all eternity?" Paramail began to feel slightly pathetic. "If it keeps her safe. She has animals to care and such. What will they do without her?" He then lowered his head, waiting to be taken. He then heard that same metallic laugh. Looking up again, he saw Anvillain shaking it head before strictly saying "No." Paramail felt even weaker than before as he got up. "But…why? I'm offering myself to be a snack and you're refusing?" Anvillain cherished the taste of its domination, walking up to the teal pegasus, holding his head with a hoof and looked at him with its ocular rubies. It then slowly spoke to the pathetic stallion. "Because…it…will…make…you…that much…happier." He then pushed the pony to the ground and signaled the Mara to get ready. But Trixie stopped the Mara before they were about to pounce on the now crying stallion. "Enough!" She then spoke to Anvillain with authority. "We need all the Mara we can get to take Celestia. Leave him be." She then spoke to Paramail not even looking at him. "Just…just leave. Go home." "GET THE RAINCLOUDS!" Anvillain cried out to the Mara reveling in this moment. The Mara quickly got some clouds, kicked them and made a downpour over the mailpony. Anvillain began to laugh even harder as Trixie just watched. Even the Mara took part in the mocking, pointing their hooves at the drenched stallion. Paramail looked around to see that no help was going to come. He knew that if he even tried to fight back, either he or Fluttershy could get seriously injured. So he looked towards his mare with an apologetic look. Both pegasi were softly sobbing, knowing that this was the last time they'd meet as they slowly waved goodbye to one another. Before Paramail could feel any more emotional pain, he slowly turned away to head back to Ponyville. He gave one more glance and then flew away in shame. "Well that's our job done." Anvillain cried out as it shook the net with Fluttershy in it. She gave up struggling, and softly weeped into her forehooves. Trixie just signaled the Mara to get ready and they then teleported back to Phobos with the sobbing pony.