Connor
Connor sighed in relief as he walked through the crowds of the vendor's section. The match had been more draining than he imagined; he could still feel the adrenaline slowly fading from his sore muscles. But, he was glad to get out the public eye for a bit; he really didn’t feel comfortable there, being stared at by everyone, even if it was for praising his victory. He stashed his goggles resting on top of his forehead in his saddle bags hoping to regain some anonymity, like he was another spectator there to watch.
“Speaking of the goggles,” he remembered, “I really need to find some way to get some tinted lenses for these things; that sun was really giving me problems. Actually, I wonder if they do make tinted lenses?”
He rolled the idea around in his head while he continued walking around the vendors hoping to catch a glimpse of somepony he might know. It was a bit of a long shot of running into somepony he knew down here, but he hoped luck would be on his side this time. He walked around for a few more minutes glancing this way and that until a voice called out.
“Yoo-hoo, Connor! Over here!”
Connor’s ears stuck up and swiveled around as he searched for the source of the voice. A quick scan revealed Rarity wearing one of her overly fancy, white hat (as usual) and Fluttershy not too far away at a caramel-apple-on-a-stick stand. He brightened at finally finding somepony and trotted over to meet them.
He smiled as he got within speaking range. “Ah, there you guys are! I was wondering where I could find somepony I knew.”
“Well, we were actually looking for you when you finished,” Rarity stated, “But we decided to get a little snack while Fluttershy and I were looking.”
Fluttershy smiled, “You did a really good job during your match!”
“Yes, you did a marvelous job flying!” Rarity added, “Everypony in the stands were practically on their hooves when you managed to turn the tides against that Sour Patch pony; you made it look so elegant as you made those daring moves over the canyon wall!”
“Oh, I just hope he’s alright,” Fluttershy interjected meekly, “It sounded like he landed really hard when he got hit.”
Connor grinned, “Thanks Rarity, though, it definitely didn’t feel elegant. It felt more like I was just trying to survive the match than win it more than anything else. And Sour Patch should be fine; he’s tough.” He added the last bit trying to brush off Fluttershy’s worry.
“Well, I have to say it was definitely more exciting than the Hoofball games my father used to make me sit through when I was a filly,” Rarity rolled her eyes, “He would always try to impress me with outrageous throws and liked to call himself the ‘Star player of the team’ when he still played.”
“Wait a minute, Hoofball?” Connor cocked a perplexed look as the gears turned in his head, “Hoofball? Hoof- oh, I see what you mean; Football…” Connor rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I wasn’t much in to the regular sports as well. I really only tried baseball when I was really young, but that’s about it; still enjoyed it though.”
“Ugh, baseball is just as boring as hoofball, if not more,” Rarity scoffed, “All that waiting around just to hit a ball for other ponies to catch and not to mention the grass stains and,” she made an ick face, “Dirt.”
“Wait, if you are so bored with sports in general and hate dirt that much, then what did you even come out here for if you were so afraid of getting dirty like some high class prep pony?” Connor asked dejectedly.
“Um, I don’t mind watching sports or dirt,” Fluttershy tried to step back into the conversation.
“See? Even Fluttershy doesn’t mind it here.” Connor pointed out.
“It's not that I don’t mind being here or getting dirty if I have to; I am more capable than most ‘High class prep ponies’ you talk about,” she dignified, “I was just going to say that I came out here to support Rainbow Dash since she is one of my close friends after all,” Rarity paused for a moment before adding, “And to support you as well, I suppose.”
Connor raised another eyebrow, “wow; thanks Rarity. That makes me feel so special and appreciated right now.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean in that way, dear,” Rarity quipped.
“Uh-huh, suuure.”
GGRRRRRWWWuwwwRRRRGLLLLLL!!!
Everypony took a step back in surprise at the roar coming from Connor’s belly, including Connor. The match with Sour Patch must have really drained him if his stomach was making this much noise. A caramel covered apple floated in front of his face as Rarity offered the treat. He smiled sheepishly and gratefully took the food.
“Well then, I suppose we should head back up to rejoin everypony else in the stand. Shall we?”
“I guess,” Connor crunched down on another bite from his apple and covered his mouth, “But, I was wondering if they might sell tinted lenses for flight goggles here; that sun was really getting in my way.”
“They do,” Fluttershy piped in, “There’s a shop not far that was selling different lenses for flight goggles near the shop that was selling sport hats.”
Connor’s eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. “What?! Are you serious?! Ponies can actually make tinted lenses too?”
It was Fluttershy’s turn to give Connor a weird look. “Well, yes; its not that special, really.”
“Darling, of course it is!” Rarity flipped her hair, “How else do you think a pony is supposed to get sun glasses that look this good?” A pair of pointlessly, prominent, pink shades with rose red lenses levitated off the top of her hat and placed themselves in front of Rarity’s eyes.
Connor stared at the sun glasses with a mixture of bafflement and a gift from above. How did he not see those huge things sitting on top of her hat before? He dismissed that mistake and quickly turned back to Fluttershy. “Do you know where the store is?” His eagerness barely contained.
“yes, its over that way-” Fluttershy tried to say before Connor almost bolted in the direction of where she pointed. She waited a few seconds before Connor paused and walked back.
“Um, do you think you could lead me to where it is, Fluttershy?” He admitted embarrassed.
She smiled warmly and nodded.
~~~
A couple of minutes later, the three of them were walking in a different section of vendor stalls and tents. The products being sold quickly changed from food and drinks to merchandise and trinkets as they moved. Connor felt like a kid with trying to crane his neck over the crowds desperately searching for the one thing that would be his saving grace against the harsh sun rays. He nearly jumped for joy when he finally spotted the fabled vendor stand next to a stand selling sport hats.
Connor broke off from the group to run ahead and be the first one there. He skidded slightly before stopping in front of the shaded tent with tables and with racks upon racks of sunglasses, goggles, and different lenses with varying shades of tint and colors. He stared around at the displays like a kid in a candy store as he perused the available selection while wearing a goofy grin on his face.
“Greetin's there, son!” Connor looked up to find a red color unicorn pony with an impressive mustache behind a table with even more lenses available, “How can I help you? Are you looking for any particular or are ya just browsing?”
Connor didn’t even know where to start with answering his question. He had so many different ideas buzzing in his head that he didn’t even know what to pick. he could go with just normal smoked lenses, or, should he try something different with colored lenses? He could try some angry metallic red shades to scare off other ponies, or maybe he could use some cool blues to look cool, calm, and collected; so many options to choose from! It all felt similar to trying to pick out a new visor for his motorcycle helmet back home.
“Mmmmm, good memories...!” he hummed gleefully.
“Connor,” Rarity and Fluttershy finally stepped under the shaded tent, “Shouldn’t you ask if your goggles can even take new lenses first?”
Connor paused, “Oh, cran, your right,” He pulled out his goggles from his saddle bags and placed them on the table in front of the salespony, “Can you see if these can be replaced with different lenses?”
The salespony picked up the goggles and made a humming noise. “These goggles look like they’re second gen. It may be possible, but we haven’t been using these things for a several years now since they released the fifth version of flight goggles.”
He rotated the goggles over several times as he inspected it. after a few tense moments for Connor the sales pony went, “Ah-hah!” and popped the goggles apart. He laid everything out on the table in the order of how it would be reassembled and smiled; “No worries kid, we have plenty of different lenses we can get you for these goggles! So what can I getcha?”
Connor was clapping for joy in his head at hearing the good news. He took one last glance around the selection before deciding on what he wanted. “I’ll take two sets of lightly smoked lenses, two dark smoked, and one extra clear lens, please!”
“Sure thing!” The vendor got up from behind his table and collected five small boxes in his magic before setting them down on the table, “Lets see, each of these cost about 45 per set of lenses and since we have five pairs of lenses your total comes out to,” he paused to make quick calculations, “225 bits, son!”
Connor’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “225 bits for five lenses?!? I don’t think they even cost that much for new visors for motorcycle helmets back home!”
“Now don’t worry too much there,” the salespony sang with a happy note, “Since you are being such a big customer to me right now (which I greatly appreciate), I’ll give you a discount! I’ll knock about ten percent off each pair of lenses for you which would bring you down to only 200 bits!”
Even with the ‘Generous’ discount from the salespony, 200 bits still sounded a lot to him. he looked at the stack of lenses on the table next to his disassembled goggles and started weighing pros and cons to himself. But he knew within a couple of seconds, the pro of not having to deal with sun glare greatly outweighed the exorbitant price the vendor was asking for; especially since he was getting into a competitive sport where any little advantage to him could mean winning and losing.
He reached back into his saddle bags and fished around in them for a few seconds when he realized something.
“Aw man, I forgot I left my money bag back at the Inn; fam it!” He glanced over his right shoulder and the first pony he spotted standing there was Fluttershy. “Um, hey Fluttershy, I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could lend me the money right now and I could pay you back later?”
She blinked once before putting on an apologetic face, “Um, I’m sorry Connor, but I don’t have that much money with me right now. I only brought enough to get a few snacks,” she dropped her head slightly, “I’m sorry; please don’t be upset!”
Connor stared blankly at her as the gears turned in his head processing what Fluttershy said and trying to come up with a new plan.
“If you want to go grab some extra bits, I wont stop you; but you need to do it quickly because there's a long line forming behind you!” the salespony called from behind.
Connor glanced over his shoulder again at the salespony just as another single pony stepped under the tent to browse. He raised a serious eyebrow at the 'Long line' forming behind him. He knew the salespony was pressuring him to buy right now and Connor really wanted to, but he needed the money first. He refocused his gaze back in front of him in concentration. He needed another pony that may have the bits he needed right now to make the buy and could pay back later. a glimpse of ivory white caught his peripheral vision and he traced it back to Rarity standing there.
“Heeey, Rarity!” he forced a smile, “Do you think you could possibly…”
Rarity blinked once at him in astonishment before turning her nose up at him. “Aw! Absolutely not! I will not pay for something so small and overpriced like that! why can't you pay for it with your own bits?”
Connor’s smile twitched, “Well, I didn’t pack them in my bags because I didn’t want to be carrying around extra weight while I was flying; so I left it in my room.”
“Not to rush, but I have other customers waiting!” the vendor piped in again from behind. Connor was running out of time; he needed to switch approaches. He dropped the smile completely; “Listen, I really would like to get this but I need help buying them. I promise to pay you back completely as soon as we get back to the Inn, I swear!”
Rarity cracked open an eyelid to look Connor up and down and gauge him. He hoped that his face was expressing the most pleading look it could make without looking like he was begging. She stared at him with one eye and a frown for a few seconds before a mischievous grin stretched her mouth.
“Hmm, I suppose I could work out a better deal to make such a purchase,” she nonchalantly glanced back at her saddle bags while Connor’s ears and eyes perked up, “And I may be willing to part with a few bits,” she paused again and directly eyed Connor like a prankster ready to spring her trap, “But I want something in return.”
“Okay, sure,” Connor was on pins and needles, “I can pay you back plus extra as soon as we get back!”
“Not just bits, darling,” Rarity added a little extra honey to her voice, “I want you to compliment me.”
He did a double take, “Compliment you?”
“Yes, I want you to compliment me for a full minute and apologize for every mean thing you said to me!”
“For what!?” Connor was racking his brain trying to figure out this strange request from Rarity.
“Oh, perhaps the time you called me a Drama Queen? What about the time where you so rudely called me a ‘Suck up’? And lets not forget the time you didn’t let me finish explaining how to give a proper bow to a princess?”
“Rarity, he didn’t really mean those things when he said them!” Fluttershy looked ashamed by Rarity. “Can't you make just this one exception and let him buy the lenses?”
“Drama quee-, ‘Suck up’? Really? I thought we had already gotten over those-!”
“If Connor would like to buy them, these are my terms,” she stated flatly.
Connor was astounded and outraged by Rarity's demands. How could she be holding onto something so small that happened so far in the past that even he barely remembered the supposed offenses. He readied his retort, but one look back at the salespony with the stack of boxes sitting on the table forced him to bite his tongue. “Alright, Fine! I’ll do it!”
Rarity smiled devilishly and she flipped her hair confidently, “I’m waiting, then~!” she sang.
Connor growled under his breath wanting to fight back, but the little voice in his head said he might not get another chance at having these lenses while in this world. He faced down the fashionista with an angry glare and forced a grating smile; He was going to hate himself for this later. Connor sucked in air to try and say something nice, but his mind stalled.
“Come on! Think of something! There has to be something nice I can say right now!” His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he dug around his brain for things to say. “Uuuuhhh, I’m sorry for saying such things…”
“Like~…!” Rarity egged him on enjoying the show.
“Uh, I’m sorry for calling you a drama queen and a ‘Suck up’; you, are really, ahmm…” he frantically searched his vocabulary for something that would earn him a few points, “Good at what you do and, have a really nice, mane?”
This was so embarrassing to him. it felt like he was trying to sing in public and was only receiving snickers and pointing. His mind, for some reason, just could not come up with anything really flattering at that exact moment in time. He ground his teeth and glanced anywhere that wasn’t Rarity’s smug face. He tried taking a few more stabs at kissing her hooves before he bailed on the whole thing and just left out of sheer embarrassment.
“Uum, you are a really spectacular, clothes maker-”
“A clothes maker?!” Rarity jabbed at him.
“Uah, fashion designer!” he choked out desperately, “You’re a really good fashion designer! And all of your outfits are, fascinating and, uhh, interesting and, unique! Yeah, that’s it! and-!”
Connor was cut short when Rarity couldn’t hold back her laughter and started giggling and chortling uncontrollably; she had to cling to Fluttershy’s side to keep herself from falling to the ground in hysteria. He stared at her incredulously as he struggled to come up with nice things to say off the top of his head.
“No! No more! I can't take it!” she blurted out between laughs, “Its just too funny watching you, squirm, like a, like a little colt! Hehe haha haha!!”
Connor’s face flushed red as he realized that he was being played for a fool which only doubled Rarity’s laughing fit. He couldn’t fight off the small smile crawling up his face as he tried to continue to look upset. If he was really honest with himself and viewed everything from the outside, he'd bet that he looked really silly right now. A few chuckles slipped out as he stood there with Fluttershy and Rarity now both giggling at the shenanigans.
“Times up!” the salespony shouted, “Are you going to buy or not?”
Still giggling, Rarity got up from hanging onto Fluttershy. “Hehe, hmhmm, yes, we are still buying.” She stopped in front of the counter and batted her eyelashes at him. “However, I don't think we have enough bits; perhaps you would be willing to give us a little, discount?”
The salespony swallowed, “Hmm, for a sweet thing such as yourself, i'd think I would be willing to do that. How about 175 bits?”
“Only 175 bits?!” Rarity choked, “Ahem, I think we can do better than that for such a, generous and smart stallion such as yourself,” Rarity placed a tender hoof on his.
“Heh heeh,” he giggled. “Alright, how about 165 bits? I still have to make a sale here.”
“Fluttershy!” Rarity called back without breaking eye contact, “How much money do you have with you?”
Fluttershy jumped, “Eep! I mean, I think I only have 45 bits left...” she lifted the flap to her single saddle bag and pulled out her pouch and it was magically levitated to the table along with Rarity's own bag.
“Good sir,” the bags hit the table with a thud, “The most we have right now is 157 bits right now. That is our final offer and no higher.” Rarity said tersely.
“Sold!” the salespony swept up the bags of money leaving the boxes of lenses and goggles. “Thank you for your purchase madam! Enjoy the rest of your day!”
Rarity looked a Connor with a kind smile while he was doing back flips in his mind. “Thank you so much, Rarity! This will really help me a lot!”
He jumped up to the table where his dismantled goggles laid and tore open a box with dark tinted lenses. He swapped the lenses with the original clear ones and frantically put everything back together. When the lens lock finally clicked, he gave his work a quick once-over before he threw them on to test out the new look. He sighed as the world instantly darkened to a more shaded version of itself with substantially less sun glare making everything easier to look at and less painful.
On the outside, Rarity and Fluttershy could no longer see Connor’s eyes through the lenses. His face had now become an unreadable frown as he seemed to stare at some unidentifiable thing in the distance; it was little unnerving seeing this new unreadable and stoic look.
On the other hand, connor was thrilled now that he had a way to see clearly again. He could spend more time focusing on his flying instead of trying to squint through every sun glare and bright reflection in his eyes. With one distraction dealt with, he took off the goggles and beamed. “Thanks a lot, Rarity! I really appreciate this!”
Rarity sighed, “Your welcome. Now lets get going and head back to the stands! Rainbow Dash should be competing soon!”
“Oh, yeah!” Connor scooped the rest of the boxes of lenses into his saddle bags and stuffed the goggles after them before running after Rarity and Fluttershy already heading back to the stands. He caught up to them and matched their pace for a few seconds before Rarity whipped her head around to give him a hard look.
“Connor, why did you insist on buying those horribly overpriced lenses in the first place?”
“Huh?” Connor looked surprised by the sudden questioning.
“Well, it just seems so, cluttered, to always be carrying around different lenses like that when Rainbow Dash says she has several different goggles with different lenses in them for flying around. I mean, you could easily lose a lens in a pair and wouldn’t be able to use them until you found it again; but if you had several pairs of goggles, you wouldn’t have to worry about that problem.”
Connor smiled apologetically, “Old habit. Back in my world, I used to have a couple different lenses so I could swap them out based on weather conditions.”
Rarity scoffed, “I still think you should talk with Rainbow and see if you can't get anymore goggles. Or, I could perhaps help with that! I could help you find a few nice pairs that would look dashing on you!” she piped up at the opportunity to another fashion shopping trip.
Connor chuckled, “Thanks, but I’ll stick with my interchangeable lenses.”
Rarity gave a humph, “Suit yourself.”
~~~
The three took another lift up the cliff side to where all the screaming spectators were currently engrossed with the ongoing match. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Connor trotted up the many flights of stairs to the top of one of the spectator towers in the canyons where the rest of the gang was sitting. As soon as he stepped into view of everypony, a bombardment of voices flew at him.
“Nice goin' there, sugar! You really showed off some fancy flying!” applejack smacked connor on the back.
“Wow-zers! Pinkie Pie shouted, “That was really, really amazing! You were like 'Woosh!' and 'Zoom!' and at that one part in the canyons you were like 'NNIIIEEEERRRRRRrrrrrrr!!' and then you pulled up at the last second,-!”
“excellent job, Connor! That was really impressive when you offset the lift on your wings to increase your turning ability and avoid collision with the stone pillar!”
Connor gave an uneasy smile; “Thanks everyone, I’m glad you all like it! Though, it definitely needed some improvement.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it!” Applejack reassured, “Ya did great for your first time!”
He glanced out from the stands and into the playing field. The view from up here encapsulated the entire starting bowl of the canyons and a little bit of neighboring canyon bowls as well. As he approached the edge of the spectating box to glance at the ground far below, his sense of vertigo grew in his stomach rocking him back and forth and side to side the closer he got.
The ground seemed so much farther below him while he was standing still in the tower compared to when he was flying. However, he unexpectedly rammed his face into an invisible wall with an audible ‘Dnng!’ just before he could stick his head over the railing. Everypony behind him including some random ponies behind them burst into laughter as he rubbed his nose from the impact.
“That’s about as close as you’re gonna get to the action from here sugar cube!” Applejack chortled out.
“Oh, whoops.” Connor gave a sheepish grin and an embarrassed laugh as he returned to his seat. “What was that, anyways?”
“It was a shield spell,” Twilight explained, “They are used to help protect any possible crashes into the stands from competitors; or,” she smirked, “Prevent any overly enthusiastic spectators from falling over the edge!”
“Oh, I would have been fine,” Connor shot back, “Its for those who don't know how to fly that its meant for!”
there was some more laughter shared from everyone as he chuckled to himself and picked a seat to enjoy the view.“Well, it doesn’t seem like I was the first pony to make that mistake.”
Connor sat down in between Twilight and Rarity to watch the ending of the current match; a griffon was currently hunting his opponent down with vicious instinct. “Well, I’m glad that I managed well for my first time, but I need to work on a few things,” Connor watched as the griffon finally shot the other Pegasus down and was declared the victor by the referee, “Do we know when Rainbow Dash will be competing?”
“It should be any minute now,” Twilight glanced down at a pamphlet she had, “You and Rainbow are in the same division, so she shouldn’t be too far behind you.”
Connor hummed as he let his body relax in his seat. The field was cleared of its previous competitors and reset for the next pair to fly. Although, the cozy sun shining down on him coupled with his exhaustion was making it extremely hard to keep his eyes open. But just as his lids started to flutter shut, Pinkie was bouncing in her seat again and yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Look!” she pointed out, “There’s Rainbow Dash right now! GOOO RAINBOW DASH!!”
Connor snapped awake and sat up. Way off in the distance just visible over the railing was a instantly recognizable rainbow colored mane lightly flapping in the wind. Next to her was a dark gray Pegasus with orange hair; he was fidgeting around a bit and bouncing on his hooves.
“Perhaps he’s new to the whole competition thing? Or is he just working himself up?” Connor theorized. The ref sent the two to their respective starting points and prepared to start the count down. The referee raised his hoof high in the air, paused, then swung it down with a blast from his whistle.
Rainbow Dash was off like a bullet and in the air ready to fight while the gray colt with the orange hair was just getting his hooves off the ground. She flew past a few rock pillars before circling back to make her first pass against her opponent just as he leveled himself off in the air.
Connor watched as she shot past him with incredible speed looking for the impact of a red balloon, but found the new player clean of any paint. her opponent didn’t seem to like the flyby as he dropped a few feet in the air before catching himself and tried to break left. Rainbow doubled back again to line up another shot on the kid; this time, from a little bit above him.
“Oh, this guy is done for…!” Connor concluded with a confident smile. But Rainbow Dash just flew past him again forcing him to pull right in fear of colliding with her. His smile contorted into a look of confusion at Rainbow’s decision; “He was sitting right there, Rainbow! what, was the shot not good enough?”
Her opponent was spinning his head on a swivel desperately trying to keep Rainbow in his sights. He readjusted his flight and began gaining altitude in the direction of where Connor was sitting in his seat. Just over the corner of his shoulder, Rainbow Dash was lining up another pass behind him.
“Just what are you doing, Rainbow?” Connor furrowed his brow. Something wasn’t right here; Rainbow Dash had three perfectly good opportunities to score a hit on her opponent and yet she didn’t take them. Rainbow just let him go and flew past him.
The gray Pegasus dared a look over his right shoulder just in time to see Rainbow Dash rocket past him for the fourth time. Connor gaped as Rainbow blasted past the poor competitor just as the crowd roared with uneasiness. The particular angle at which the fighters were flying at displayed a perfect view of Rainbow Dash coming within inches of clipping her opponent’s feathers.
She looped around in time to stay underneath the altitude limit to make another dive at her opponent. The blast of air washing off of Rainbow’s wings sent the kid blustering in the air and flailing his hooves around. His wings slipped through the air as he lost control and he continued to flail about trying to twist his body around enough to regain control.
Connor gaped as Rainbow Dash repeatedly made near miss after near miss at dangerous speeds. Her opponent was in a panic now just trying to avoid the hawk flying above him, hunting with him. This wasn’t a match, this was abuse! Anger and rage bubbled through his shock and dismay and he ground his teeth. Just what in the world was Rainbow Dash trying to pull here? just what was she trying to prove?! If she wanted a fight, then how about she pick on someone her own size instead of some kid!
Rainbow finally had enough of toying with her opponent like a cat with a ball of yarn and threw a red marker as she was making another close flyby. Her raw speed added to her throw and the balloon struck with a heavy impact against the young gray Pegasus's back. The shrill whistle of the referee screech through the canyons signaling the end of the round. Connor was almost shaking with fury while Rainbow Dash was making a victory flight around the canyon. Though, she broke off early from completing it when everypony watching applauded uncertainly as she flew by not wanting to seem disrespectful.
“yeah, that's right you should be ashamed of yourself you arrogant, honorless, worthless piece of-!”
“Connor!” Connor’s head snapped around and fixed his fiery gaze on Twilight. “Connor, why are you standing right now?”
He gave a quick glance around himself which did confirm the fact that he was out of his seat and less than two feet away from the railing and invisible wall separating him from the field. Connor paused in his anger to reel it back in for a moment before he spoke again.
“Its nothing; don’t worry about it...” He turned back to the field and spotted Rainbow Dash disappearing over the ridge of the canyon bowl where the competition staging grounds were. “I’ll be right back; I need to go talk with that punk, Rainbow Dash…”
“Now hold up there, partner!” Applejack stood up from her seat, “I know you may be a little upset with Rainbow, but that don’t mean you need to go around calling-, Connor!”
Applejack was cut off by Connor leaving the stands and down the stairs with a blazing purpose in his step. Connor was not going to bother listening to ponies who didn’t understand the full extent of the damage that was caused here. that last thing he saw before he marched down the steps of the tower was the young Pegasus landing on top of a rock pillar and curling up into a shivering ball.