Chapter 12: The Heavy Lifting
I caught up with JD at the end of the train, at the last three carts, the carts were long, metal, keeping in heavy boxes of lighting equipment, wires, rope, all that hubba-baloo. I made it up to JD but Soarin and Silver Lining weren't to be seen,
"Hey, J," I greeted.
"Hey, man. Enjoy looking at the city?" He asked.
"Yeah, dude. It's surreal being here. It makes me feel small," I told him, "Where's Soarin and Silver Lining?"
"They went to see about getting a carriage for us to carry the equipment in," JD explained.
"Do we have to load the boxes into the carriages?" I asked.
"Yeah, I assume so," JD said with a sigh.
"Ha ha. What's the matter, JD?" I asked sarcastically, "I thought you were the strongest out of us all?"
"I am!" He defended himself, "I am the strongest!"
I laughed a little more, I then saw Soarin and Silver Lining approach us, they gathered looks from the other workers and roadies around the train bay, fanboy/girl-esque looks, I still stood talking to JD,
"You need to keep a hold of your tongue a little more, pal," I told him, "Your mouth can and probably will lead you into deep shit."
JD sighed, "You're right."
By that point, Soarin and Silver Lining came back to us,
"Hey, guys," Silver greeted.
"Hey, we got ourselves a carriage for carrying all the crap," Soarin added, "You guys alright with us helping?"
"Yeah, sure thing, man. It's actually an honor to actually meet you two," JD replied.
"Ah, don't fret, man," Silver said, most humbly.
"Yeah, we're just normal ponies like everyone else," Soarin added.
Soarin went over towards where the carriage was and we all followed after, I saw several ponies lifting boxes the size of buffaloes, some lifting the boxes in groups, others giving their all, on their own, looking like they were about to break and Unicorns lifting them with magic, I wish I could do that. I saw this mare, probably just about a decade younger than me, an Earth Pony, lifting this one box the size of an Ursa Minor (okay, maybe I was exaggerating there), she held her own well, but I wanted to help her, but I had my own work to do. Soarin led us to a redwood carriage, with an opening at the back of it, very spacey too. Me and JD carried about three boxes stacked together as a two, and Silver Lining and Soarin each carried one to the carriage. Once the carriage was full, we locked the back of it up tight, then the four of us went up to the front and hooked ourselves up the the bridles. Then we made our way to the stadium.
Me and Surprise walked on the busy sidewalks of Fillydelphia, much my astonishment, no one bothered to recognize, it was one of many things I loved about this city, same with Manehattan, everyone was busy, I wasn't a celebrity on these streets. I thought it was a great change of pace,
"Do you know if we're meant to do practice at the stadium?" Surprise asked me.
The thought of practice made me think of Seth, how he would be lingering there, eyeing me like a hunter to his prey, I wouldn't want to know what would be on his mind,
"I honestly hope not, Surprise," I replied, doing my best to hold the frustration of thinking of him.
"Why not?" She asked.
"We've got the technique down to a T," I explained, "We do the same routine, it's memorized. Why would we need to?"
"To brush up on skills?" Surprise quizzed.
"Nah, we're all great flyers. We wouldn't be Wonderbolts if we couldn't fly like we usually do," I said.
Surprise smiled, "True."
"I just don't want Seth to be shouting at us or anything," I told her.
"It doesn't matter what Seth thinks, he can't even fly," Surprise replied, "He doesn't know anything about being a Wonderbolt. I just take everything he says with a grain of salt. He's just an old codger under the delusion that age brings wisdom."
Brave Surprise. Funny Surprise. Wise Surprise. Surprise always knew how to make people feel better, Fleetfoot and High Winds would often go to her for advice, a contrast to the typically ditsy and fun-loving personality the press paints her as (though, she does love a good party),
"Where should we head for food?" I asked.
"Oh, there's this wonderful sandwich bar two blocks from here. Sun and Moon's Snack Hut, they do all these fantastic combinations with ingredients and such," Surprise replied.
"What combos?" I asked, intrigued.
"Well, you can have this sandwich with strawberries and peanut butter and another with figs, honey and cheese," Surprise told me.
"Cheese?" I questioned, "Sounds very... different."
"Trust me, it's very delicious. Me and Fleetfoot went there during our last tour," Surprise said.
I've never heard such a strange combination of ingredients placed between two slices before, but I didn't really take much consideration into it, I was hungry,too hungry in fact, so hungry I could eat a hor-
Okay, not that hungry, I'd never commit cannibalism,
I shrugged, "Eh, let's go there. I'm intrigued."
"Whoo!" Surprise laughed.
I was hooked up to one of the bridle, it kept towards the back JD and Soarin, who were hooked up from the front of me and Silver Lining. We trotted through the busy traffic, I've never seen this much energy this early in the day, it reminded me of the Buffalo stampedes of old, though less threatening. I caught sight of the sun peaking over the edge of a skyscraper, leaving a sliced shadow on the skyscraper across from it. We were shaded by we felt the brief hints of heat in the air, it was going to be a lovely day, a lovely day indeed.
Silver Lining stayed to my right, away from the sidewalk, Soarin did the same with JD, less attention to be attracted that way, though with how busy this city felt, I highly doubted that they'd have the remote chance of being noticed. None of us struggled with pulling the carriage, but with the concentration we had on the road, we stayed silent for the most part, until Soarin decided to speak,
"Yo, man?" Soarin asked JD, getting his attention, "What's your name again, pal?"
"Name's JD."
"Where're you from, JD?" Silver asked him.
"I'm from Vanhoover," JD said.
"Nice," Soarin commented, "You enjoy being a roadie?"
"It's in my blood, man," JD replied, "Pops was a roadie for the Wonderbolts back in the day. Grandpa was a roadie for them too, I used to travel in a moving theater group with him too."
"Nice. Anything I've heard of?" Soarin asked.
"Meh," JD grumbled with a shrug, "It's all thus, thou, thy, shit like that. Old stuff, sir."
"Ah, the classics," Silver said.
"Alright, we're approaching a red. Stop just now," Soarin ordered us, "We'll go left at the green."
We stopped at a red light, I saw carts and carriage rush in front of us like madness. I adjusted my hat on my head a little more, sitting it more comfortable,
"Oh, and JD, you don't need to call me sir, pal. I'm probably about the same age as you are," Soarin told him, smiling kindly.
"Oh, alright," JD replied, "Sorry about that, si- Soarin."
"Ah, it's no biggie, JD," Soarin replied.
The light went green, we all went ahead and turned left at the crossroads, I felt a small nudge to my side,
"What about you, man?" Silver asked.
"Yeah, cowpony. Tell us where you're from," Soarin added.
"I'm from Appleloosa, dude. I was a rancher," I explained.
"Nice. Ranching what, exactly?" Silver asked.
"Apples. It's on my cutie mark, fella. I make cider, jam, sauce, juice, sometimes I just sell apples normally, Silver," I told him.
"Cider?" Soarin questioned, "You'd be fun at parties."
"I know how to make 'em, I know how to drink. My family's spread across far and wide over Equestria, I can probably get a discount on their own branded cider."
"Ha ha ha, should of let the rest of us know that, bud," JD told me.
"Ha ha, what's your name, pal?" Silver Lining asked me.
"Name's Braeburn."
Soarin perked his head up a little more, and Silver Lining looked at me in a calculative matter. I knew something was up if they already heard of my name,
"Your name's Braeburn?" Soarin asked.
"Yeah, pal. Braeburn." I confirmed.
Silver chuckled, "Oh, man. The girls were talking about you last night."
My legend gets around fast, I thought to myself. I wasn't really too surprised about it, in all honestly, Spitfire told me everything last night,
"Aww, what?" JD questioned, "I've been touring as a roadie for nearly a week and Braeburn's name is known in a day."
"They said you were gorgeous too," Soarin added.
"Yeah, rub it in..." JD grumbled.
"Ha ha, want to be famous, JD?" Silver asked him with a chuckled.
I laughed, remembering something, "I'll tell you what young JD does want though, boys."
"What's that?" Silver asked.
"He needs a kiss from one of the girl Wonderbolts," I told them, "Eh, J?"
At that point, Silver and Soarin erupted into laughter, I could sense JD's embarrassment from behind, he was probably growing redder than usual,
"What do you mean he needs a kiss?" Soarin giggled, with tears of joy forming in his eyes.
"He bet ninety bits he'd get a kiss by the end of the tour," I explained.
The laughter was volcanic at this point, we gathered several glances at we continued to walk down the street,
"You know, JD?" Soarin said after he calmed down.
"What?" JD replied.
"You probably could get a kiss from one of the girls," He explained.
"You think?" JD asked, uncertain.
"Oh, sure. Fleetfoot probably would," Soarin said, "Eh, Silver?"
"Shit yeah, man. Fleety loves everyone and everything, it'd be easy to get one from her," Silver added.
"Oh," JD uttered, I knew he felt more optimistic.
"How far until the stadium?" I asked.
"Not long now, Braeburn," Silver told me, "We're going to take a shortcut."
We made it to the Snack Hut after meeting a salespony on the street trying to sell us (presumably fake) pearl jewelry. Surprise was very nearly tempted to buy some, but quickly realized that the only money she had was for our breakfast. When we stepped inside I noticed the lovely contrasting decor, one half of the restaurant was day, the other was night, to fit into the name of the store, the store had a very surreal, very dadaist look towards the night half of the restaurant, whilst the day half had more blitz and color to it. We sat at a window, and yet, nobody continued to notice me.
Surprise got a honey, strawberry and chocolate spread sandwich with white bread, I had a hay, grass and blueberry syrup sandwich on brown bread. I had my doubts about eating such strange mixtures of ingredients, but it was very tasty, albeit unhealthy. I didn't know how much sugar was in the blueberry syrup, but I knew I'd get healthier after it,
Surprise hummed as she munched her sandwich, "This is beautiful. Oh, I'll never have a sandwich this good until I come back."
"You really like the sandwiches here," I said with a smirk.
"You'd agree with me that they're good, though," Surprise replied.
I chuckled, "That's very. These are great. I should've asked to have it without the syrup,"
"Oh, don't be like that. It's just one little snack, it won't ruin your diet," She said.
"I know, I know."
"What's your guilty pleasure?" She asked me.
"In terms of food?" I asked back.
She nodded,
I hummed in thought, "Chocolate. So far, I haven't indulged in my cravings."
"Ha ha."
"You?" I asked.
"Oh, I absolutely love cake," Surprise said, "Birthday cake... chocolate cake... carrot cake..."
"Red velvet?"
"Oh, sweet Celestia, yes!" Surprise said, "Love me some red velvet."
I smile and shake my head, crazy Surprise, I thought to myself. She began to laugh at her own enthusiasm, realizing how daft she was being, I laughed as well. But our laughter was stopped once I heard a tap on the window, it gave me a fright, and I felt my blood go a little cold, my stomach turned, I thought it was the paparazzi, but as soon as I turned to look out, I saw it was Fleetfoot and High Winds, my blood warmed up, I felt more relaxed.
The two of them were grinning like idiots, happy to see us, likewise, me and Surprise were happy to see them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, I still had some nervousness running through me like a virus, they were shouting through the glass, Surprise invited them inside, I waited for the anxiety to escape me.
I swear, it was the worst short burst of adrenaline I've ever had. I worry for when I arrive in glitzy cities.
I saw the stadium at the end of the street, it was round, but almost cone shape too, I saw acute shadows around the edges, it was almost bowl-shaped, slightly painted red, a crisp that contrasted against the glassy grey of the . The biggest damn bowl I ever saw in my life,
"Alright, guys. Almost there!" Soarin cheered.
"Thank the Alicorns!" Silver added, exasperated.
"How you holding, red guy?" Soarin asked JD.
"I'm struggling," JD gasped.
"Thought you were the strongest, dude?" I asked him, chuckling.
"To be honest, Brae, you're probably the strongest," He admitted.
"You don't even know the half of it, JD," I replied.
"Ha ha, you guys remind me of me and Silver," Soarin laughed.
"You guys constantly try to outdo one other?" JD asked.
"Constantly," Silver said.
"Oh boy, just wait until you meet the rest of us from Cart Five," JD said.
"Dude, we can't wait, if the rest of your group are just as cool as you guys, then we'd party all fucking night after shows, man," Soarin said.
"Ha ha, Soarin's just after the pink and yellow," Silver commented.
"Who? Magenta and Firelight?" JD asked, "They love him."
"Like everypony in Equestria," Soarin joked.
We all laughed. It was refreshing, new faces. I never had the chance to know Silver and Soarin as celebrities, but I knew it was nice to know that you could get to know them as ponies, become friends with them and such. It must've been better for JD, he knew them as celebrities and performers long before I ever heard of them, it was nice seeing him relax around ponies he greatly admired, and he showed his admiration towards them from the way he spoke to them. I'm glad to get to know ponies like that, I hoped the rest of my roadie experience would be just as good, hopefully, even better.
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Another great chapter! I love how well Braeburn and JD get along with Soarin and Silver Lining- it's gonna be great to have a chapter focusing solely on their interactions. But all these new characters you're mentioning sound pretty entertaining, particularly the "lovable drunk". The next chapter is gonna be a blast. xD
Oh just caught up with the last three chapters and all I can ask is. Does JD have a best friend name Turk and they have a guy love?
7410041 you!!!!! Because of you I love spitfire and braeburn together. Because of you I found this amazing story and because of you I...... I'm behind on my story now. I should stop watching firefly and get back to writing.
Need more chapters