//------------------------------// // Welcome To The City // Story: Never Dream // by Ximer //------------------------------// "So, this is Las Pegasus." I said aloud as my eyes danced from building to building. The differences between my new temporary residence, and Ponyville, were staggering. It was much busier here and the streets were far less social than Ponyville's. Here it was mostly business, nopony stopped to talk to you, or say hi. Isabella was right about leaving my comfort zone. The city had several sky scrapers, a feat I found impressive for these ponies to accomplish. The small businesses that filled the street’s shops were interesting to look at through the large windows that displayed various odds and ends. The occasional pet shop had a few puppies on display, their adorable little faces tempting me to walk away with one. Everything was mostly grey in color, making the multicolored ponies stand out a bit brighter against the cold colored buildings. In Ponyville, everything was bright and sunny; their personality set its inhabitants apart more so than their colorful coats. Despite the diversity of ponies and the occasional griffon, Las Pegasus just couldn’t compete due to its cold nature. One thing Las Pegasus did have that Ponyville lacked, was a beach. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of spending a little time near the ocean. Florida had been a favorite vacation spot when I called Earth home, getting to see a beach after so long was exciting. "What'd I tell you? This is the real world kid, prove you got some muscle behind those good looks and you'll go farther than you ever could in Ponyville." Track Pace said. My wings fidgeted involuntarily, it only happened when I was nervous and I couldn't really control it. It was a trait I had developed the longer I remained a pegasus. It made me wonder what else I'd have to adjust to. "I can't say I'm impressed with the locals, current company excluded." I mumbled. "Yeah, things are a little business oriented here, but you'll get used to it. Just don't let ponies take advantage of that southern hospitality." Track Pace chuckled. "Southern hospitality?" I cocked an eyebrow at his remark. "Yeah, come on, who are you trying to fool? You've got a little hint of the south in your voice, maybe not to the degree of some, where you use words like "ain't" or "reckon", but it's there." Track Pace said. He didn’t have room to talk; his voice reminded me of Vinny. "I'd like to think I'm the best of both worlds really. My dad was from the country, while my mom was from the city. Can't go wrong if you've got a little of both in your blood, if you ask me." I mused. "You see? Nopony around here talks like that. Stick with me, and I'll make sure this steel jungle doesn't overwhelm you." Track Pace said, draping a foreleg over me. "I've been to steel jungles before; I worked in one once upon a time. I made a pretty decent living, but that's all I was doing, living. My life here has been a rollercoaster ride, an interesting one mind you." I said. "You mentioned a sister yesterday; you got any other family in this crazy, mixed up world?" Track Pace asked, removing his leg as we continued towards our destination. "No, all of that was left behind in my world. It's kind of weird thinking about it now, I miss them, but I've had some pretty good friends to help me get over being home sick. My old home was polluted with war, strife, and hate. Humans aren't fond of forgiving each other." I replied. "Sheesh, that's kind of depressing..." Track Pace mumbled. "Yeah, what about you? Do you have any family?" I asked. "I've got a wife and colt. A bit of warning, he might get under hoof at times. He likes to be there when we start training new racers." Track Pace warned. "I guess you guys try to find a new racer every season then?" I wanted to know as much about this organization as I could, if I was supposed to impress others. "Not at all, our previous racer just aged out. There are some occupational hazards that can lead to an early retirement though, if you catch my drift. Those will be covered later, that same racer is going to be the one to train you." Track Pace replied. "What's he like then?" I asked. "He's...real traditional, kind of stuck in his ways about things. You know the type." Track Pace shrugged. "Great, that's going to give me peace of mind tonight." I groaned. "About that, I recommend going to bed a little early, no mares over or anything." Track Pace said. "I've only got eyes for one, but she's pretty mad at me right now." I sighed. "I've been married for ten years; I can tell you that mares are the most complex, frustratingly beautiful thing in this world. That whole happily ever after thing from stories never happens, my wife gets mad at me once a week." Track Pace said, opening the door to a rather prestigious looking building. The interior reminded me of a bank, minus the teller booths with panic switches on the floor. Several maps and other posters lined the hallways that I could see from the lobby, which was host to four large, stone columns. "Careful when you're speaking to Sky Mark, the stallion likes to think he owns you sometimes." Track Pace whispered. "Thanks for that comforting thought." I said flatly. Already I had grown pretty close to Track Pace, but I wasn't given much choice. In terms of ponies I knew from Las Pegasus, he was the only one, and I had subconsciously latched onto him for guidance in unfamiliar territory. It was an unsettling thought, I was vulnerable here, for all I knew this could be some sort of pony mafia cover up. “ Hello Mr.Pace...and who’s this?” the receptionist asked as we walked by. Ugh, not this again! I thought to myself, I couldn’t help but pick up the underlying interest to her question. A few showers and two weeks apart had practically removed Cloudchaser’s scent from my body, giving others the impression I wasn’t spoken for, technically I wasn’t. Ponies were clingy and cuddly by nature, ensuring that wasn’t a problem for couples, unless they were fighting or had…otherworldly disagreements. “He’s the new guy, see you around.” Track Pace said, picking up the pace to a trot. “What’s that about?” I asked, matching his speed. “Keeping you out of trouble with this lady friend you talked about. You’ll thank me later.” Track Pace replied quietly. We stopped in front of a large set of double doors after ascending a flight of stairs. The door knobs appeared to be crafted in the shape of a family crest, a sure sign of a pony with upper class status that could rival that of Canterlot nobles, assuming this individual wasn’t one himself. Track Pace knocked on the door twice, waiting patiently for a response. He looked over to me, giving me a small nudge to presumably try and relax, act casual. Such a task was better left to my sister, so far Celestia had been the only celebrity to make her nervous, and she was practically a goddess. “Enter.” came an authoritative voice from the other side of the door. Track Pace pushed on the door in front of him, revealing an impressively decorated office. I nervously followed behind the tan unicorn, an overwhelming sense of fear rising up within me. This feeling was only magnified when I laid eyes on the baby blue pegasus sitting in the office chair at the back of the room, who I assumed was Sky Mark. Shelves lined with trophies and awards seemed to occupy most of the space on the walls. A large window allowed sunlight from the outside world to stream in. “Well, let’s see what you brought.” Sky Mark said, slowly climbing out of his chair. He was an older pony, possibly in his early sixties by human standards. I felt my legs lock involuntarily as he circled me, almost shark like. I tried not to shake, and did my best to remind myself why I had ventured all the way out to this busy city. The stallion’s cold eyes seemed to push away what little bravery I had mustered up, as quickly as it had been summoned. “Hmm…wings out.” Sky Mark ordered. As if under some sort of spell, my wings unfurled faster than I thought they could. Over the past two weeks I had grown quite attached to them, and was very proud of the two extra limbs I now possessed. Being indoors and opening them however, felt a bit silly. The need to fly kicked in, but I mentally snuffed it out. Sky Mark grinned when he saw my expression shift, a pleased chuckle escaping the pegasus. “You just might keep your job Pace. Damn…I haven’t seen wings like these walk into my office in a long time,” Sky Mark said poking the lower joint of my left wing, causing my body to tense up. “What was your name son? Danvy?” “Daniel, sir.” I replied quickly. “Same thing, Pace you’ll have to work on the name. It’s kind of boring, won’t sell to the crowds…well, put your wings down, I don’t want to see them all day, and stop shaking like a damn leaf in the wind.” Sky Mark said walking back to his desk. “I’m not going to give some boring spill about how long I’ve been in this business, like a few other bastards I know would. That’s my concern, not yours; your single concern right now is to be the fastest.” Sky Mark said while lighting a cigar. My first thought was to tell him that Rainbow Dash was the fastest, but I held my peace. I settled on giving him a silent nod. Sky Mark raised an eyebrow at me, as if expecting me to ask or say something, but shrugged when I didn’t take the opportunity. “It’ll be Lean Streak’s job to train you,” Sky Mark said taking a draw of his cigar, before blowing a perfect smoke ring. “You’re Track Pace’s project until you win. I’m a rather blunt stallion in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t like wasting my time or the time of others so if you want to back out, now’s the time.” Sky Mark offered. I didn’t budge, so far this pegasus had been invasive and rude. I couldn’t help but feel a little misled by Track Pace though. He had made it sound like this stallion wanted me, now I was being told I wasn’t worth his time unless I earned it. It made me more than a little hot under the hood. “You’re angry, good, you might get somewhere. Save it for the other racers though, any other businesspony might take it the wrong way. Now beat it, and be at the track by five, Pace will show you where it’s at.” Sky Mark said, spinning his chair around, waving a hoof dismissively at us. --- It had only been a day and already Isabella was isolating herself from the others. Her brother she had thought to be dead was alive, and they had only spent a few months together before the winds of fate had pulled them apart again. The next two months couldn’t pass fast enough. Books lay scattered across the floor, some propped up like miniature houses by their pages. Isabella had tried her hardest to work up the dedication to study, but a large part of what had been keeping her together had been taken away. She had told him to go of course, but only because it would have been selfish for her to ask him to stay. Isabella pulled her legs against her chest, wrapping her arms around them. The room was slowly growing darker as Celestia lowered the sun. It was unsettlingly placid, until a knock at the door ruined the silence. "Isabella, are you okay in there?" it was Rarity's voice calling out for her. Isabella slowly stood up to answer the door, putting on the best fake smile she could muster. She couldn't let Rarity see her like this, the floor could be dismissed as cramming for the upcoming test, she'd buy it...hopefully. "Hey Rarity...and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." Isabella addressed the last two with a bit of confusion. "Just fulfilling my promise." Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle marched past her. "She seems to be under the impression that you're some fair maiden in distress. I tried to convince her that Daniel didn't mean for her to actually come over and stay under hoof, but there was no talking the filly out of it." Rarity sighed. "It's fine, I don't mind the company, but what brings you here?" Isabella asked. "Well to fetch you of course. You don't expect me to undertake such a design without knowing how long to make it now do you?" Rarity asked rhetorically in return. "It's kind of late, isn't it?" Isabella asked looking up at the sky. "That's the idea dear, I want this to be my secret project for the time being. I haven't had a good challenge in a long time, not since your brother first arrived anyways." Rarity replied. "Fair enough I guess...out of curiosity, what DID he ask for?" Isabella asked as she made sure everything in the house was turned off before accompanying Rarity to her house. "He called them...jeans, if I remember correctly." Rarity said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hah!" Isabella laughed in response. "What's so funny?" Rarity came to a sudden halt, confused by the woman's outburst. "Nothing, he's just predictable, that's all." Isabella replied. "So why did Daniel have to leave? Did he not like it in Ponyville?" Sweetie Belle asked as the two fillies tailed the adults. "Sweetie Belle! I told you not to talk about that!" Rarity scolded. “It’s fine Rarity, I don’t mind. He didn’t leave because he didn’t like it here, he was offered a job and I talked him into pursuing it. He wanted to stay, but there were some…conflicting interest that brought about indecisiveness.” Isabella said glancing down at Rarity, who nodded knowingly. “What kind of conflicting interest?” the unicorn filly’s question spurred on by childhood curiosity. “Um, the kind that only adults would understand.” Isabella laughed nervously. “Pfft, that’s lame.” Scootaloo said. “But I wanna knooow! Why do grownups get to keep all the stupid secrets?” Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked slightly as she whined. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s a good secret.” Isabella offered. “So why would a good secret do something bad, like send somepony away?” Sweetie Belle asked. Isabella felt trapped now, not only that, but a bit dense for letting a child back her into a corner. She could hardly believe a little talking horse had just out witted her due to some simple, childish questions. This little filly would make a good lawyer someday, if that’s what her butt picture told her she was supposed to be. “Sweetie Belle, I think that’s enough pestering Isabella.” Rarity chided. The rest of the trip to the Carousel Boutique was quiet. With only the occasional small talk breaking the silence between the small party. Scootaloo eventually broke off from the group to head home, or what she called home anyways. Rarity ushered Sweetie Belle up to the room she stayed in when she spent the night with Rarity. The filly was anything but tired however; and wanted answers to her question. Dismissing it as a secret for adults wasn’t good enough for her, and how could a secret be good if it made somepony go away? Things just didn’t add up. As quietly as she could, Sweetie Belle got out of bed and slowly opened her door. She could hear the adults downstairs talking about something, but the wall obscuring the view muffled and distorted the words into undistinguishable murmurs. Sweetie Belle crept closer to the stairs, past the wall where the wooden beams that supported the guard rail were. Taking a quick peek, she could see Rarity measuring Isabella’s fore legs and hind legs, though the filly was certain Rarity had called them something else, arms, if her memory was right. With nothing between them, their conversation became much clearer as her sister circled the human with a pencil and note pad. “The first day is always the hardest, but it gets easier. I’m speaking from the opposite end of the spectrum of course, I left home to found my own business. So I suppose I relate more with what your brother is feeling.” Rarity said. “I get what you’re saying, it goes both ways. To be honest I did this to him once before. I left home to chase a dream, and it was worth it, but it came at a heavy price like dreams often do.” Isabella sighed. Sweetie Belle was now very confused, dreams were supposed to be sweet. How could they come at a price? What did they mean by a price? Did they mean bits? Adults made no sense sometimes. “I know your brother made the right choice. Especially if what you say is true, heaven knows she’s been alone a great deal of her life now. I didn’t notice it until yesterday, but the two do seem to fit together. I know he’d take care of her.” Rarity said. “Yeah, the only thing I’m worried about is if he puts himself through all this punishment, just for her to get snatched up by another family. I don’t want to imagine how he’d react to that.” Isabella held her arms out as Rarity took unusually brief measurements. “I don’t think he has to worry about that, the poor dear has been there longer than any of the other current orphans, most don’t stay there too long. Just to be on the safe side though…I might have mentioned something to the caretaker there.” Rarity giggled. “Rarity! You Pinkie Promised!” Isabella exclaimed. “You simply said not to tell, you never added anypony to the end of it.” the unicorn winked. “You know what I meant, noPONY else, got it?” Isabella asked. “Yes dear, nopony else, I swear. As I said before, I’ve been there for your brother since the beginning, if I can help even the teeniest bit, I will.” Rarity replied. Sweetie Belle retreated back behind the wall that obscured her view of downstairs. She could hardly believe what she had just heard. The same conclusion kept coming into her mind the more she thought about what they had been discussing, one word always stood out, adoption. Though a name was never mentioned, only one pony came to mind that brought everything together. “Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle whispered with a smile. --- “I have to run this?!” I asked in disbelief as I observed the track, which was an intimidating sight even from the seats. “Fly actually, it has to be big, otherwise it’d be over too quickly. You should see the one being built in the Crystal Empire.” Track Pace chuckled. When I had first heard the word “track” I had assumed that it was something similar to those of a college or high school. This, much to my dismay, was not the case. The “track” was roughly the size of a small oval lake that put actual tracks from Earth to shame. There was a decent amount of space between the track itself and the stadium seats, I assumed this was in the event of a crash. There was also a line along the wall that stopped just short of the guard rail built to keep on lookers from falling over on accident. The lanes were separated from the center with a fence, and what looked like a tower in the center of the field. The field itself was covered in grass, and sported a sign that read “GOLDLUCK CIRCUIT” in bold blue letters. “Not what you were expecting huh?” Track Pace asked, nudging me as he led me down a corridor that was built at an incline down towards the track itself. It reminded me of what a football stadium or basketball arena might have, minus the golf carts carrying security officers and beer kegs back and forth of course. “It’s kind of familiar, I say that lightly though. Back home we had close to the same thing, we kept our feet to the ground.” I replied as light, and the smell of fresh grass greeted us at the end of the long tunnel. “Feet?” Track Pace looked back at me confused. “Human for hooves.” I replied. “Ah, more weird jargon. Heh, you’re an odd character.” Track Pace mused. On the track were three other stallions. Two earth ponies, one red, the other green, and an orange pegasus who’s brown mane was starting to fade slightly in color. The two earth ponies seemed to be arguing about something, a clipboard was held in the green pony’s hooves. The red one was busy moving a large contraption that served an unknown purpose, though given the location I could only imagine it involved some sort of work out. “Daniel, meet the twins Mike, and his brother, Ike. They’ll be assisting with the basics today.” Track Pace explained as he introduced the two siblings. Mike being the green earth Pony, Ike being the red. “Hey, how’s it going?” Mike and Ike asked, dropping whatever discrepancy they had between them for the moment. “Wait, time out, your names are really Mike and Ike?” I asked, astounded by the coincidence. The brothers looked at each other quizzically before turning back to me with a nod of confirmation. I found it a bit of a stretch that these two would be named after a candy, especially since the ponies found my name odd. “And you gave me hell over my name?” I grumbled looking at Track Pace. “What’s hell?” all three asked in unison. “Never mind…I give up.” I sighed. "So this is the new guy?" came a voice that made me shiver, it reminded me of my father, which was never a good thing given his strict personality. "Yeah, this is Daniel. Odd stallion, but you tw-" Track Pace started to say. "I think he can talk for himself, Pace...where'd you find this runt of the litter any ways?" the pegasus asked, who I could only guess was Lean Streak. "I'm from Ponyville." I replied quickly. "Ponyville? You brought a pegasus from Ponyville? Shit, you could have brought me worm stool and wrote it off as your entry if this is all you could find." Lean Streak laughed. "Do I need to tell Sky Mark to cut your pay?" Track Pace threatened, clearly not in the mood for this pegasus' lip. "He'll deck yours as well, so don't go throwing threats that can't hold water....Mike, Ike, did you finish setting up? So we can at least gauge how far behind first this stallion will be?" Lean Streak asked. "Aye, we did." Mike replied. "You sat looking at stupid figures while I did all the hard stuff! Don't attach your name to the labor if you didn't do it!" Ike snapped. "Can it, both of you...so Daniel, how fast can you fly?" Lean Streak asked. "Well, I've never really measured it. Truth is I ha-" I tried explaining. "See that line? Let’s start off with something a pegasus from Ponyville can manage, try not to fly below it. Go!" Lean Streak ordered. I stood there like an idiot for about three seconds until it clicked in my brain that I needed to go, now. There was something about rude, intimidating people, ponies as the case was now, that made me act a bit...stupid. I never understood why that combination made me clam up. I was off to a good start, but as I started to round the first corner, which was much farther away than I previously thought, I started to feel tired. I did my best to keep going, determined not to seem weak in front of Streak. "I said above the line!" Lean Streak shouted. The volume of his voice was impressively loud. I looked at the wall and noticed I was almost eye level with it. I flapped my wings harder, gaining altitude at the cost of speed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do both. By the time I reach the final turn I was exhausted and was struggling to stay above that stupid line. "Land!" Lean Streak shouted in a rather board tone of voice. I didn't question it and landed on the soft ground, my wings trembling from what had to be the worst form of torture imaginable. Folding them against my sides stung, as I slowly approached the group that was watching my every move. "Wings out." Lean Streak ordered. "Lean Streak, I doubt his wings can take much more without goi-" Ike started, until a sharp glare from the orange pegasus silenced his protest. "Got it, shutting up now." I spread my wings as fast as I could, which was a mistake. Pain raced through the sensitive nerve endings, nearly making me cry out from the shock. I was fortunate that I was able to bite back my cry of pain as I held the trembling wings out for Lean Streak. "One lap...you couldn't even give me that without nearly killing yourself. Are you a griffon or a pegasus?" Lean Streak asked coldly. "I'm a hu-" "A human, I know. Track Pace told me about your former life. What I can't understand is why you came all the way out here to fail?" Lean Streak asked. "I don't have a choice..." I said in between breaths. "Everypony has a choice, you had the option to leave," Lean Streak said looking at my wings. "I asked for a decent stallion to work with, and all I got was you. You are not racer material...you're lucky the bits are the reason I'm agreeing to waste my time with you tomorrow." I could feel my anger starting to build in me. So far, most of the ponies in Las Pegasus were rude and obnoxious. I gritted my teeth, biting back what I really wanted to say to him. I settled on filtering my words. "I'll prove you wrong." I said. "You might have impressive wings, but without endurance the only thing you're proving is how right I am about you. You don't even know what being a stallion, for that matter a pegasus, is all about. Maybe you should have started with step one, before jumping to step forty two." Lean Streak snorted. There was no winning this argument, as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I knew nothing about the inner workings of society through their eyes. Sure I had studied the basics and passed a test that said I knew enough about their culture to be a citizen, but I had no idea how to literally be one of them. "You've got fifteen minutes to get some energy back into those paper kites you call wings. You want to prove me wrong? Then we're starting from the ground up." Lean Streak said, motioning with his head for Track Pace to follow him. --- “Care to explain why you brought some muddy pegasus from Ponyville to the big city? You had better have more than just than just his wings as a selling point. Sure they’re nice, but he’s got almost no endurance, that was a simple task.” Lean Streak said once the two were out of ear shot from the others. “I know he can go fast, I brought him here to work on his endurance. He just needs a little help is all. Please, just give him a chance, I know he won’t let you down.” Track Pace said. “You and I both know Ponyville has never produced a winning racer, ever. Now you’re asking me to train this stallion that just barely qualifies under a technicality, who calls Ponyville home. He’s better of being left for the Wonderbolts to pick up and train.” Lean Streak snorted. “Could you look me in the eyes and tell me that you could do everything you can now on day one? You deal with making sure he doesn’t kill himself, I’ll see to the other half.” Track Pace said defensively. “I can’t guarantee I can make him into something presentable…but you’ve got my attention and focus for two months. Let’s hope whatever you see in him comes forward before then.” Lean Streak said, leaving Track Pace to his thoughts. --- After the first day was over, I was seriously beginning to consider trying to find some other line of work. My pride wouldn’t let me though, and I wasn’t about to just give up on Scootaloo. “I feel like shit…” I moaned, slowly lying down on the bed of my new apartment. “Eh you look like shit, Lean Streak will do that to you though. You’re going to want to put something warm on those wings of yours before you go to sleep.” Track Pace advised. “Thanks…for not leaving me back there.” I said, slowly stretching my sore wings out. “I couldn’t let you get mugged. As tired as you are, you’ll be lucky if your wings want to work at all in the morning.” Track Pace laughed. If I wasn’t so sore, I might have shared in the humor. Wingups, sit ups, pushups, and any kind of exercise that included the word “up” in it was now on my shit list. Lean Streak was a monster with his training methods. I was absolutely exhausted after the warm up, how in the world was I going to keep up with other pegasi? “Do you really think I can do this Pace?” I asked. “I think you can. Here, I brought you these to skim over during your downtime. After you gave Lean Streak that stupid look, I couldn’t help but feel bad for you.” Track Pace replied, as three books levitated onto the bed beside me. Two of the books pertained to racing, its origins and rules. The other book had a simple picture of a pegasus on it. I flipped the book with a pegasus cover over and read the back’s description to get an idea what it was about. I gave Track Pace a deadpan glare. “What?” Track Pace asked, his voice breaking with laughter. “Really? You brought a book about pegasi...basic flight, behavior, and...I can't even pronounce that last word.” I read the description aloud for him. “Hey come on, it’s not all bad. I heard they threw in a few pointers on how to make your evenings special with your marefriend. They even have a few pictur-pfft hahaha!” Track Pace couldn’t contain his laughter. “Man fuck you!” I laughed throwing a pillow at him, too tired to do anything that might be permanent. So long as I had one friend that I could be myself around, things might not be so bad.