//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Something New // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// After eating at a packed restaurant, the group walked around Fillydelphia for the remainder of the day. Winter showed them the public library and parts of Fillydelphia University. They decided to see a movie at the local cinema but were slightly disappointed by the end. The popular thing to complain about was why the mare ended up with the hunky stallion when she clearly loved the nerdy one more. They'll never fully understand Applewood producers. At the end of the day, the four ponies found a nice hotel to spend the night in. Unfortunately, even though it was nighttime, none of them were tired. Luckily, Rainbow had an idea to pass the time. She rummaged through her saddlebags then pulled out a deck of cards. Everyone began playing Prodder; Shayden had to learn how to play. The last few hours of the night were spent sitting at the circular table in their apartment, playing card games. The apartment was nice and fairly spacious. From the entrance, there was a small kitchen area in the left corner and a living room area on the left side as well. There was a single blue couch and a matching chair on both sides which faced each other from across the couch. The couch faced two doors leading into separate bedrooms. Both rooms had queen sized beds, a nightstand next to said beds, and a bathroom that was actually in between both bedrooms. The bathroom connected the bedrooms, and it only had a shower instead of both a bath and a shower. Once their Prodder night was over, the couples cleaned up any mess they made, said their goodnights, then entered a bedroom. Soren and Rainbow took the one on the left, and Shayden and Winter took the one on the right. As Soren and Rainbow became comfy and faced each other in bed, Rainbow wanted to ask an interesting question before attempting to sleep. "Do you think they'll...you know?" she asked while keeping her eyes closed. Soren knew exactly what she was referring to. He responded while also having closed eyes. "Knowing Shayden, no. We don't even know if they have done it before. They haven't been dating that long." "Yeah. Also, he's too serious and polite for fun." "Nooo...he's too serious and polite to do it with other ponies in the apartment." Rainbow laughed softly then proceeded to sleep, as did Soren. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------- The Everfree Forest ----------------- "...and that was only the first stop," Soren explained to his friends around the fire. "Tomorrow I'll continue the story. We've had enough storytelling for one night." Pinkie and Nyra aww'd in disappointment. "I agree," Twilight said. "It's getting late, and I for one am getting..." She yawned. "Tired." A few other ponies also wanted to sleep, so they made their way to their tents. Pairs of two shared tents to lessen the carrying weight of everything. Twilight Sparkle was with Applejack, Rainbow Dash was with Soren, Pinkie Pie was with Nyra, and Chroma was with Shayden. Most everyone slept fairly well that. Shayden had a nightmare of an exploding building and a now-sooty filly watching it. Soren merely had a troubling dream that made him shift now and again, but Rainbow calmed him by turning around to hold him. Twilight and Applejack were the first to fall asleep, and Pinkie and Nyra were by far the last. The hyper pink pony and happy bat pony stayed up a bit longer conversing about various and random things, like sweets, holidays, pranks, and certain ponies. The next morning, Twilight suggested that they all remain in their current campsite in order to walk back to Ponyville after Soren finished his story. Everyone agreed, ate their packed breakfast, and continued to listen to Soren's tale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the next morning after the two couples found their hotel, they gathered around the table to eat breakfast. No one really said anything until everyone was done eating. Soren looked to Shayden. "So...did you two do it?" Shayden's eyebrow flinched a bit from the sudden question. "Did you hear a noise last night?" "No." "There you go. Have you ever heard of a soundproofing spell?" "I think Vinyl might know one. Why do you ask?" "Because I know the spell, and you should have used it on that one night you were with four mares." Winter giggled, but her expression changed to slight shock upon entirely comprehending what Shayden said. Soren was with four mares? "My night with Luna, Rainbow, Nyra, and Pinkamena?" "Yes. Also, that sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. A bat pony, a lunar princess, an alicorn Time Lord, a cocky pegasus, and a psychopath enter the same bedroom and try to tell each other that they're normal." Everyone but Shayden laughed. "So you CAN make jokes!" Rainbow exclaimed in between laughs. "What made you think I couldn't?" "Uhh..." Rainbow stopped laughing and embarrassingly rubbed the back of her head. She then realized something. "Wait, so does that mean you and her actually...?" "No comment," the unicorn answered. "Mhm. We did," Winter nodded, smiled, and blushed. Shayden looked at her. "You were very quick to admit that." "What? It's true. Why hide it? We're all friends here." "Also, you two can put your wings down," Shayden commented, looking at the other couple. Soren and Rainbow looked at each other's wings then shrugged. They weren't in public, so it didn't really matter to them. "We'll just show off our wingspan to you two," Soren joked. "I hear it's a good way to impress the ladies." "Only for pegasi," Winter countered, "but I'm sure you knew that. I must say that alicorn wingspans are rather impressive though. Soren, your wings are slightly bigger than a grown stallion's. How strong are they?" Soren slightly blushed from the praise. "I don't know. Back before the Battle of the Nyrs, Rainbow Dash was helping me strengthen them with workouts, but I stopped after the battle. I just use them to fly and race Rainbow now." "You can match Rainbow's speed?" "Only on a good day." "Winter, don't get him started on bragging again, please," Shayden interjected. "He shows off enough on stage." "Hey, if I have the skills to back up, why wouldn't I show off a little? Plus, the crowd loves it." Shayden couldn't argue with that. The conversations became more general from there. They talked about what kind of cool things were in the music store, the other stops they made in town, and what they expected to find in Manehattan. When noon came around, the four gathered their belongings and left the hotel. They waited for the next carriage going to Manehattan. Soren and Shayden were pretty impressed by the strength of the two stallions pulling the four of them at decent speed. They would be sure to tip them nicely. The trip itself wasn't that bad. A cool breeze swept into the carriage through a slightly open window, the road wasn't too rocky but had a bump here and there, and Rainbow managed to get the working stallions to converse with them for a few minutes. Obviously they had to take two breaks on the long run. Manehattan was easily half a day away by carriage. After reaching a literal fork in the road, the four ponies stepped off of the carriage, thanked the two stallions, then gave them a tip. The two nodded and trotted away back to Fillydelphia. Shayden did not envy a job that required one to run back and forth between cities. He was jealous of their endurance though. As the group walked the remaining distance to Manehattan, they enjoyed the view of the landscape and the cool, sunny weather. Rolling hills and farmland populated most of land between the two cities. The group even managed to receive a small sample of the produce from the farmers that they passed. All of them agreed that this trip already felt very nice, even if Shayden refused to admit it out loud. Soren decreased his walking speed so Winter and Rainbow could speak with each other while he spoke with Shayden. "How are you liking the trip? Admit it, you're having fun." The unicorn shook his head with a small smile. "I won't say the trip is boring, but I am enjoying time with Winter and you." "Not Rainbow?" "With her, I'm having as much fun as one could have with the pony that mocks them a lot." "She does that to get a reaction from you. She wants you to open up and to not be a statue or a wannabe Royal Guard. I can get her to stop teasing you if you want." Shayden looked at the two mares chatting happily in front of him. "If Winter can have fun with her, I can at least forgive her for the teasing." He paused then looked at the grinning Soren. "Don't you dare twist the meaning of 'having fun.'" "Shayden, you know me well enough that what you're requesting isn't possible." The two actually shared a small laugh. "You have to admit though...you came a long way from when I first met you." "I was thinking about that myself actually." He looked toward the horizon; the sun was beginning its descent. Manehattan was also in the distance. "I can't thank you enough for this. My Equestria was my born home, but it can't compare to my home now." "I was just doing what was right, even if I went a little crazy to get us out of that mess." "Excuse me, Shayden, did I hear that correctly?" The two looked at Winter and Rainbow staring at them, a raised eyebrow etched on the former's face. "Your Equestria as opposed to our Equestria?" Soren and Shayden gulped nervously. "What do you mean by that?" "Do you want to tell her alone?" Soren whispered in his ear. "Rainbow and I will walk ahead of you two." Shayden wasn't sure. He knew he would have to tell her at some point, but now he had a feeling that she's going to think he's either crazy or lying. "I'm here for confirmation of your story. She can't disbelieve it if both of us have the same story, especially if we didn't plan out the story before you told her." Shayden nodded then Soren trotted up to Rainbow while Winter walked alongside Shayden. The remainder of the walk consisted of the sunset in the background, Shayden revising the story of his past and why he said he's from a different Equestria, and Soren and Rainbow leaning against each other while enjoying the view. Although she trusted Shayden, Winter still wanted to ask Soren a few questions about the story to make sure it was legitimate. When she knew Shayden was telling the truth, she hugged him tightly, shed a few tears, and apologized that he had to go through all of that. Shayden of course hugged her back, then the two rejoined Soren and Rainbow for the remainder of the trip.