Day 20: A Day at the Races - Part 1: The Pony Parade
“Time to get up, Forest.”
My eyes opened, and I tried to get up, but something was literally holding me down.
“Pinkie...” I said quietly, “Can you let me go?”
I heard the voice from before laugh, “It’s funny how you automatically know it’s her.”
“Who else would sneak into my bed in the middle of the night without waking me up and manage to hold me down like this?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, that's right. I'd forgotten about that.” The voice sighed, “Come on, Pinkie, it’s time to wake up.”
I felt a slight jostle as Spike shook Pinkie in an attempt to wake her. When she didn’t stir, the Dragon walked over to the other side of the bed so I could see him.
“She’s totally unconscious.” He laughed, “You know, I was pretty surprised to see her come in last night. I was sleeping on the couch over there when I heard the door open. Then she just... jumped into bed and hugged you from behind. What I found really strange was how you just slept through the entire thing. ”
“I must’ve been really out of it not to notice.” I could feel my face get a little hot. But Pinkie was being Pinkie. Just because she slept with you didn't mean she slept with you.
“Yeah... anyway, I got a message from Twilight. She said that I should wake you. She's headed over here now to take you to the palace gardens. It won’t be long till they start the Race and all the team members are supposed to assemble for the parade...”
“Parade?” I shouted.
Spike had jumped at my sudden outburst, but I was shocked. He walked over and shook Pinkie’s hoof. “Yep. To show off the racers, I guess. You didn't know?”
“Just five more minutes...” She mumbled as she released me and turned away.
Taking advantage of the moment, I rolled out of bed and away. She didn’t even flinch. I couldn’t help but shake my head and laugh, “She’s utterly ridiculous.”
“That’s Pinkie for you. Shall we go?” Spike gestured with his hand towards the door.
“Let’s.” Turning to the sleeping mare, I shouted really loudly: “See you later, Pinkie!”
She just raised her hoof and waved it lazily in the air, the sleepy version of 'okee dokee lokee'.
Spike and I exited the room and headed up to the upper-deck. The sun made me squint for a moment before they adjusted to the light. Aiden was leaning against the railings, gazing over the edge looking at the valley below us. I could clearly see the long, long drop far below even from my vantage point, safely away from any semblance of an edge. After all, I did take a nosedive in a bucket the other day.
The Canterlot docks were located along the sheer cliffs on the far side of the palace, opposite where the train station was. The towers overlooking the valley were located to the right this time instead of the other way round. Scanning the area, I noted that there were plenty of other airships docked here, but the Intrepid Explorer was the only one at this dock. There were guards all over the place here. There were even Pegasi Royal Guards floating around the ship.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Aiden said when I got close enough to him. He didn’t even turn around, “Did you sleep well?”
“Can’t complain.” I replied, “Yourself?”
“Didn’t sleep. Couldn’t. A lot’s been on my mind.” He looked over to me, “Let’s just say that I’ve finally come to realize a few things that I just don’t like. It’s nopony’s fault but mine.”
“I know the feeling.” I mumbled in response.
“Hardly.”
Did the temperature just get colder, or was is it his expression or demeanor towards me?
Whatever.
“Howdy, boys,” A southern twang came from behind us. We all turned around, “What’cha all doin’?”
“Nothin’,” I replied mimicking her accent, “Just relaxin’, gettin’ ready for the race - er, parade, apparently.”
Applejack laughed, “Well, that’s good. Did'ja sleep well?”
My heart still yearned to be with her. “Yep. Did you?”
“Slept fine.” She smiled brightly at me. My heart leaped out of its chest. Why did I fall for her as hard as I did? This was absolute torture! “So, I heard Pinkie slept in your room again.” She laughed at that.
“Yeah... she snuck in. Surprised I didn’t notice.” I shrugged and sighed, kind of wishing that it was Applejack who had sneaked into my bed instead, but I knew that would never be the case. It couldn't be the case, but no matter how many times I told myself that, my heart still ached. “How’d things go with Atom?”
Applejack blushed, “Well, we’re takin’ it slow. It’s been so long, and I need time to process a lot of things. It was good catchin’ up an' all. We did part on some pretty bad terms, so it was nice to put it all behind us. You were right, Forest, I still had feelin’s for him, and it took a mighty kind friend to see that I needed closure.”
Steady, Forest, steady. Just suck it up. You’ve gone this far now, don’t choke.
“That’s great!” I forced myself to smile, I hoped it looked convincing, “I’m glad for the two of you.”
“But I’m still mighty angry at you for keepin’ it a secret from me,” She walked over to me and stared deep into my eyes making my face blush ferociously. I leaned back away from her scrutinizing gaze. Did Applejack like seeing my face light up like this? “Any more secrets in that noggin’ of yers? You still hidin’ somethin’ from me?”
“Everypony has a secret, Applejack,” Aiden replied on my behalf, still staring over the valley, “Even you. Even Forest,” Then he said in a very quiet whisper, “Especially Twilight.”
My heart panicked at that. What the hell? Did Aiden know something about me? Did he discover something about my origins?
Before I could ask him what he meant, something distracted my attention. We heard the sound of hooves stomping the deck as Twilight arrived on deck. The Royal Guards had all stood at attention when they saw the Element of Magic, much to annoyance of the captain who obviously didn’t like the way the guards did that.
Twilight just sighed as she walked past them. I remembered how annoyed she got when people referred to her as royalty the last time we were in Canterlot. Even though she tried many times to get them to stop, the guards still saluted her whenever they saw her. After all, she was an Element of Harmony. In a way I guess it was frustrating, always garnering attention even when you didn’t want it.
That night we spent in the city together was certainly a lot of fun, though. Come to think of it, I was walking around and dancing even after that injury Princess Celestia gave to me. I know that the reason why I completely healed up quickly that time was because Tutela had teleported me back to her ‘world’ and let time flow in Equestria slow enough for my body to catch up and repair itself. But, how did I recover from the broken ribs this fast? I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this was starting to really bother me. Maybe Granny's hooch had special healing properties? Nah.
Twilight spotted us and trotted on over, “Good morning, everypony. Glad you’re awake, Forest...”
“I bet you are...” Aiden grumbled.
Twilight furrowed her brow at him. She wasn’t the only one, Applejack and I did as well.
“Anyway...” She continued, awkwardly trying to talk over our stunned silence, “The girls are ready and I’ve come to get you.”
“I bet you have...” Aiden grumbled again.
“Uh... Aiden... we can hear you, you know...” My voice seemed to snap him out of his reverie.
“What?” He snapped his head to look at me, then he looked at Applejack next to me, then at Twilight, “Y-y-you can? Um...” He quickly looked away again.
“Well, the wind is blowing from that direction, and you aren’t using the quietest of voices...” I pointed out. Ponies had great hearing! Which, in this case, wasn’t a good thing for Aiden.
Aiden’s face just turned from a pinkish tone to a dark red hue as he tried his best not to turn around and face us. He was clearly embarrassed. We weren’t supposed to hear his comments. Or at least Twilight wasn’t supposed to hear them. He let out a nervous chuckle.
Twilight let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head sadly, “Let’s go, Forest. Applejack, where’s Pinkie?”
“Pinkie’s still sleepin’ in Forest’s room, I suppose.” She shrugged.
I nodded, “That she is. Unconscious as ever.”
“Alrighty, I’ll go get her then. I'll see you at the palace, okay Twilight?” And with that Applejack trotted off towards one of the many ramps that led down into the crew quarters.
“See you there,” Twilight called after her friend. She look at me and smiled, “Let's go.”
As we walked in front of the soldiers, they all did their ‘attention stomps’ again. Despite expecting it, the noise still made me jump in surprise. They all looked exactly the same, in their gold armor and white coats. Did they have to dye their coats and manes? As I stepped closed to the edge of the gangplank, I looked down the tiny crack straight down into the valley far below. Something in me panicked and I took a step back.
Twilight hadn't noticed. She only stopped when she reached the end of the gangplank and turned around. “Something wrong, Forest?” She called back to me.
“I seem to have suddenly become allergic to sheer drops,” I shouted back, “Just give me a second.”
The feeling of the free-fall from yesterday still haunted me. At the time I must have gone through shock and didn’t really comprehend just how close to death I had actually come. Now that my rationality had set in, my stupid logic rightfully decided that venturing near anything remotely resembling a drop to certain death should be avoided at all cost. Although I knew it was irrational, and although I knew that there was absolutely no way I would fall unless I vaulted over the railings, my legs refused to move! Now that ‘saving grace’ (my ability to teleport safely back into Tutela’s realm) was gone, there was nothing either of us could do to save me if I needed it. Why did these things always happen to me?
It’s like I’m cursed, or something.
Twilight walked back up the gangplank and leaned against me, “Come on, I’ll help you.” She offered me her hoof.
Seizing it like my life depended on it, she slowly led me down the ramp. It must have looked incredibly silly with me holding onto Twilight in the middle of a ramp where six ponies could walk together side by side literally trembling in fear. But I just couldn't move! I couldn’t do it!
“This is so embarrassing...” I muttered still holding onto Twilight like a frightened child.
“I’ve got you. Come on. Slowly.” Twilight coaxed.
Step by step, I walked down the ramp, gradually getting faster when I got closer to the end. When we got close enough, I leapt the few remaining feet and jogged away from the gangplank heaving a long sigh of relief. I spun around just as she got off the ramp and gave me a highly amused expression.
“It's not funny! I had a major scare yesterday, okay?”
“I know, Forest. Sorry. I know it’s not nice to laugh.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Thank you, Twilight. I appreciate you helping me.” Honestly, I did.
Twilight grinned at me. Were her cheeks rosier than usual?
I followed her lead. It was amazing how she knew which way to go. In this particular area, the tall buildings had made it impossible for me to see anything save the top of the palace towers and the sky. The docks were now completely hidden from view as we ascended these wonderfully carved staircases that had been built into the side of the cliffs. It was an amazing display of architecture and workmanship – workponyship? It reminded me of those hillside towns I had seen in magazines back on Earth.
The buildings were all in a light blue and purple color that seemed pretty uniform. A few stray buildings here and there were in different colors, obviously painted by ponies that wanted their homes to stand out.
“You like it?” Twilight asked as she saw me snapping my neck back and forth taking in the sights, “This area is famous for its artists. There's the National Gallery not far from here. It's where all the great art pieces throughout Equestrian history are kept. Maybe we could go and see it some time?”
“Well... art's not really my thing...”
She just laughed, “It's not mine either, but it's still worth a visit.”
As we continued I couldn't help but notice that there were small stalls and shops all over the place, strategically built into every available space. Some shops were big and took up entire floor, while others were tiny, barely big enough for a pony to stand it. I couldn't resist going window shopping, peering inside and looking at all sorts of things. Trinkets, art pieces, small statues and clothing. Too bad we didn't have time to stop and look, not that it mattered. I couldn't buy anything even if I wanted to. With no bits left, what could I get? That and the shops were all still closed; it was still pretty early in the morning.
Suddenly she smiled and pulled me aside. “Come, I want to show you something.”
We took a minor detour and ended up in a small park that overlooked the docks. In such a short time we had ascended quite a ways. Twilight walked over to the edge of the park and stood against a very flimsy looking fence. My heart started to race. It looked like a sheer drop from my vantage, so I stood back, but a part of me kept asking ‘what if Twilight slipped and fell?’
“Come on, Forest. I'm right here.” Twilight again offered me her hoof.
Trust her, ya big idiot! I muttered to myself.
Inhaling a deep breath, I took the five steps forwards and gripped her hoof as tightly as I could – again. My eyes were shut tight. The feeling of the strong breeze again my face failed to reassure me even a little. The thought of the drop a few feet away didn't help!
“Open your eyes, Forest.” Twilight giggled, “I can't show it to you if you keep them closed.”
Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked down at Twilight’s warm expression. My eyes refused to leave hers, “O-o-okay... I'll get over it, I swear!” I stammered. My head began to spin. “Sorry, Twilight. I think I need to step back from the edge.”
“There isn't an edge, silly. Look.”
And I did look. The park had a slow gradual descent before making a short sharp slope that fed into a large wall made of the same blue-purple stone. Even if I fell over the flimsy fence, unless I was a Pegasi, there was no way I'd be able to clear the wall. Well, with my luck something would probably launch me over it – or the wall would break apart.
I pointed to the wall, “What's behind that?” I asked, curious.
“I think more houses and homes. I don't know, it's been a long time since I've wandered the streets here. My status as the Element of Magic usually attracts a lot of attention. I'm not as free as I used to be, especially when it comes to walking around the place. In Canterlot I just usually teleport wherever I need to go. That is probably why I like living in Ponyville. At least there, everypony knows me and doesn't really hassle me... with being an Element.”
I smiled and laughed, “Still hassle you over other things, eh?”
She rolled her eyes, “Doesn't everypony? Anyway, look over there.” She pointed somewhere behind me.
Turning my head slowly, what I saw stunned me. I felt my draw drop.
“That's Cloudsdale. The Pegasi city where Rainbow’s from.”
“Wow!” I exclaimed, completely mesmerized. It was an entire city made of clouds! And it was floating! In the sky!
Where else would it float, you moron.
It looked so close, but I knew that it probably wasn't. Big things like that had a habit of looking closer than they actually were. Still, it looked so beautiful. The towers, the pillars, the sheer majesty of such an impressive city. I wanted to go see it right then and there.
My eyes slowly lowered themselves and I could see the Intrepid docked at the dockyard. I could even make out a grumpy Aiden still standing where we had left him overlooking the valley.
What's the matter with him? He’s not usually that cold towards me.
“And, I don't know if you can see it clearly, but there's Ponyville...” Twilight pointed somewhere in the valley.
Indeed, there it was! It looked so... warm, and cozy. And small. Very, very small. Home.
I'm going to miss it.
We continued on our way, eventually ending up on the corner in front of Aiden’s bakery. It was still shut, and there were no signs of an attempt to fix it. The windows were boarded up with plywood, and the door had a huge sign that read ‘Closed for Renovations’ written in red paint.
“Aiden not planning on fixing it?” I asked.
“Doubtful. Until Princess Celestia says otherwise, he’s going to be your guardian and will stick with you no matter what. So, he’s not going to live here in Canterlot until his ‘mission’ is done.” She suddenly let out a light laugh, “That was a fun day.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as well, knowing what she meant. “Which part? The part before Tiny beat me up, or after? Say, whatever happened to him anyway?”
“He’s doing community service downtown. I didn’t think you’d want to press charges against him, so I pleaded on his behalf and got his sentence reduced to a fine - and community service, of course,” She looked at me, “Or did you want to?”
From my experience on Earth regarding courts and the like, I shook my head, “Press charges? No, no. That’s perfectly fine. As long as he doesn’t beat me up again, I’m cool with it.”
We both laughed at that. “If I remember correctly, you beat him up.”
“As much as I would love to say that’s how it went, I can’t. I was desperate... and I just sort of... ran into him.” That was the first time I used my ‘explosive acceleration’ in that way. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to do it during the Ursa incident. So, in a strange way, I owed the big bully for saving my life.
The main path up to the palace was decorated with banners, streamers and all sorts of sports-related themes. There were quite a few ponies here, even this early in the morning. They all seemed to be lining up along the sides of the street.
“Hey look, it’s Twilight Sparkle!” Somepony yelled.
“Oh no...” Twilight muttered as a mob headed towards us. They shoved me aside as they started begging her for an autograph, or show off some of her magic – typical fan-mania. At first she was resigned to humoring them, but after about a dozen I could tell she was getting annoyed.
“Hey! Everypony! Wait! Come on, Twilight’s being real generous with her time.” I shouted when it was apparent she was getting overwhelmed. “You do know that she could just teleport out of here at anytime, right? So, please... come on... give her some room to breathe.”
“Who are you?” A voice demanded, “Her coltfriend?”
My face exploded into a blush, “No!” They all began to ignore me. “I mean... yes!” That brought their attention back to me. “Now get away from her!” I pushed through them and placed myself in front of Twilight trying to look as threatening as possible, which probably failed miserably.
They looked at each other, then at me before taking a step back allowing her some breathing room.
“Thanks, Forest...” Twilight whispered from behind me. She gently pushed me aside as she smiled at a small colt who had backed off after my outburst. She motioned for him to come closer. Emboldened by this, a few more fillies and colts excitedly ran up to Twilight pleading for her to sign their souvenirs. By this time she had visibly relaxed and was gladly signing away, the adults seemed to be content with letting their children do all the work.
I had to admit, the ponies were actually very understanding. A mob like this on Earth would have started ripping Twilight’s hair out for mementos. Whatever the case, I was glad that she was able to relax.
“Thanks, Forest. I appreciated that.”
“Hey, no worries. I hope I didn't embarrass you too much by claiming to be your coltfriend.”
Twilight blushed a little and laughed, “Well, maybe a little. I've never had anypony say that before.”
I blushed from her reaction, “Oh... um...” Aw, great! Now I feel stupid.
“Shall we go?” She said when the last little pony ran off grinning from ear to ear.
“Alrighty. Lead on.” I said, following her.
Just then another filly ran up to us.
“Oh! Oh! Twilight Sparkle! Twilight Sparkle!” She called out a little too excitedly.
She was abruptly shoved aside by an older colt who had rushed right up to Twilight with a piece of paper, quite literally shoving it in her face.
Twilight's attention was too distracted and her vision blocked in a way that it was impossible for her to notice the filly. The colt was now begging her to sign whatever it was he wanted signed, jumping up and down excitedly. The newcomer was probably unaware he pushed the young pony to the ground.
“You okay?” I asked, offering a hoof to help her up.
“Yeah...” She said, taking my hoof and pushing herself up from the ground. She rubbed her front left knee – elbow? - then looked over at Twilight, her eyes still wide and hopeful.
“Hey!” I shouted, “Watch out! You pushed this filly to the ground, you bully!”
The colt spun around and looked at me, then at the young filly, then at Twilight. He grinned nervously at Twilight’s expression, “Sorry. I... sorry.” He quickly snatched his item from Twilight’s clutches and bolted off down the road.
“Shall I go teach him some manners?” I offered taking two steps in his direction.
Twilight gave me a look, “Forest...”
“I was kidding!” No, I wasn’t, and Twilight knew it.
“Hi there, sweetie. Sorry about that,” Twilight moved past me to the filly and smiled gently at her, “I couldn’t see past him.”
The young girl looked up at Twilight, her eyes opening wide. She was an Earth pony with a coat of bluish-green and her mane was red and orange. Seemed like a sweet kid. When Twilight knelt down so that her eye level was equal to hers, the filly's face broke into the sweetest, most excited smile I had ever seen.
“Oh... that’s o-o-okay...” She was visibly starstruck. “I’m your biggest fan! I know everything about you! How you beat Nightmare Moon, and Discord - twice! A-a-and how you fought the Changelings...”
Wait? Twilight? Fighting? Who or what was Discord?
Twilight was visibly overwhelmed by the praises and rubbed the back of her head, “Well, I did what any pony would’ve done.”
The young girl ignored Twilight's attempt at trying to be humble, “When I grow up, I want to be just like you! Saving ponies, being a hero and helping others in need!” Her eyes were like two big saucers. It was adorable.
Twilight blushed, “I’m not a hero...”
“You are! You so are! You’re the bestest hero ever!” And the little filly hugged Twilight grinning widely. Twilight was a little shocked, but in a good way, and hugged the filly back. “I want to be a hero too! A firepony! I want to help others, and protect them! Just like you!”
“Firepony?” I asked, confused.
The girls ignored me, “That’s a very noble profession. I think you’d make an amazing firepony.”
“When I was real little, a firepony saved my life. I don’t remember all of it, but I do remember how safe I felt in the firepony’s hooves.”
“Now I know that you’ll make an amazing firepony.” Twilight ruffled the filly's hair a little bit, “Do you want me to sign something...”
She shook her head from side to side faster than I thought possible, “No. I just wanted to talk with you. Anyway, I... I don’t have anything for you to sign. I came all the way here to meet you, but the guards said that I couldn’t go inside the palace without special permission.”
Smiling, Twilight walked over to a stand. There she picked out a plushie of herself, the shopkeeper visibly shocked to see the Element of Magic there.
Twilight walked back to us and knelt down again, “Now, who should I make it out to?”
“Aqua! Aqua Inferna!” The filly replied excitedly.
“To Aqua Inferna, my number one fan. May you be the finest firepony in all Equestria! With love, Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight dictated to herself, as she wrote with a marker (how she had a marker, I don't know, maybe she bought it at the stand) onto the doll itself along the flank over where the plushie's Cutie Mark was.
Aqua looked at the doll then gave Twilight another hug, which the unicorn returned. With that, the girl ran off with her newly signed plushie stopping every few moments to wave to her. Eventually she ran into the protective embrace of a pink mare.
“Mommy Strawberry!” She squealed in delight, “Look at what Twilight gave me!”
‘Mommy-Strawberry’ knelt down and listened to Aqua's excited rendition of what had just transpired. The pink mare smiled widely at what I assumed was her daughter, before looking over to Twilight and nodding gratefully. Then they held each others hooves and skipped down the road together.
I couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’ve made that filly one happy pony.”
“It is nice to have fans like that. I’m glad that I walked. If I hadn’t, I would’ve never met her.” Twilight’s smile looked different this time. It seemed so... peaceful.
“What’s wrong, Twilight?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just everywhere I go, I get swarmed with ponies asking me for my autograph, or asking to show them something that only the Element of Magic can do. That's why I usually just teleport where I need to go nowadays, to avoid the crowds. Aqua's the first one in a long time that just wanted to... talk.” She looked at me, “Except you, that is. That reminds me. When we first met, you didn’t react to me at all. It was refreshing to be looked at... nonchalantly, but the fact that you didn’t even know what the Elements of Harmony were...”
“I blame my amnesia. Guess it worked to my advantage then, eh? I guess if I had known, you wouldn’t have been my friend.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Forest. But yes, you certainly were less annoying than other ponies I’ve met for the first time...”
“Less annoying?” I frowned at that, a little hurt she found me annoying at all.
Twilight continued, ignoring my comment, “Originally, you fascinated me...” Her face turned pink at those words, “N-n-not in that way. I meant that when we first met I couldn’t decide on whether or not you were a pony or a human...”
“Please don’t remind me. That was a painful memory,” I gestured to the palace with my eyes, remembering the detection spell Princess Celestia tried on me, “But we went out on a night that I’ll never forget.”
“Neither will I.”
We both had a good chuckle.
“Guess ‘the Twilight’ is now a popular dance here in Canterlot.” I grinned at her.
She blushed a little more and rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “Please don’t remind me.”
We had another good chuckle at her expense.
As we walked by the palace gates, the guards saluted us as we passed through. Twilight gave them a nod out of resignation, while I just grinned at them. I knew they weren’t saluting me, that was obvious, but I can dream, dammit!
“So it’s official then, you’re not with Applejack?” Twilight asked me all of a sudden.
The question caught me completely off guard. “Why does everyo- everypony,” I wanted to kick myself for almost making that mistake again! “think that I was with Applejack? I mean, we barely had one date. And, yes, we did share a moment, but she never looked my way. I mean really looked my way. I mean... she was always...”
Twilight put her hoof on my mouth, shutting me up, “I know. After talking to her about it, I think we were wrong too. I guess we just wanted Applejack to get over Atom so badly that we sorta ignored how she really felt deep down. I think somewhere along the way she believed that her feelings had gone.”
I couldn’t think of something to say, so I just nodded awkwardly - or rather it was like a shrug with a nod thrown in for good measure.
“And what about you? You’re... doing okay?” Twilight asked.
“I have to be, Twilight. But I won’t lie, it still feels... strange. And painful. Knowing that she’s with her ex and all, but I know that it needs to be this way.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because... it does.” I replied, not sure what she meant.
“So, you're just going to give up on her?” Twilight started walking again.
“Well... yeah. I mean, I've already given up, right? We made our peace.” I replied, following her.
“So, that's it, then?”
“Um... yes. That's it.” Ouch. The words stung, “Well, that's also because I... I... I remembered that I have a special somepony waiting for me somewhere. I can’t establish a new relationship with anypony until I find her.” My mouth felt dirty after saying such a pile of bullshit, but it was true. I wasn’t going to get my heart broken again, and I wasn’t going to break any other hearts along the way. Once was enough.
Twilight stopped and stared at me, but said nothing for a long while. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”
Why did she sound so upset?
She started walking again and I continued to follow after her. As we approached the palace itself, Twilight led me via the verandah. To my right were huge doors that stretched almost all the way to the ceiling. They were decorated with stained-glass windows that depicted various stories and themes. My eyes were so fixated on the artistry, that I failed to see the pillar in front of me.
“Owie!” I whined, rubbing my snout.
“Watch where you’re going, silly. You’re worse than Derpy.” Twilight laughed.
“I’ve been meaning to ask about that... is that her real name?”
“What? Derpy? Oh, no. It’s her nickname. She calls herself Derpy, and for a long time I thought that was her name too! But her real name is Ditzy Doo, but she introduces herself to everypony as Derpy. Derpy Hooves.”
Still rubbing my schnoz, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why?”
“I think it’s because of her... condition?” She formed it as a question, I guess that wasn’t the right word for it, “I think she wants ponies to acknowledge that she has it, or something like that, and for her to get over it or to make it less awkward for others, she purposely calls herself Derpy. It’s hard to explain, and I don’t think I’m doing it right. Of course, I don’t know for certain, but everypony loves Derpy, even when she can sometimes get a little too clumsy.”
“I think I can understand. No offense, but that reasoning seems rather... complex for Derpy.” It was! I wasn’t being an ass... okay, well, maybe a little.
“I know, but that’s the only thing I can think of... unless that was a nickname she got in school and it just stuck.”
“That seems a little bit more believable, actually.” Okay, so I was being an ass.
“Whatever the case, Derpy’s wonderful, and no matter what we call her, I’m still happy that I can call her my friend.”
I could only nod at that.
We walked a little more onwards, I decided to have a little fun by weaving in and out of the pillars as we went along. It wasn’t long before we reached the end of the verandah and descended the few steps onto the gardens.
There were a large number of ponies here, and they all had one thing in common - with the exception of Twilight, Rarity and myself. They all wore some sort of uniform in a multitude of colors, and each costume had a unique design.
“Over there, Forest,” Twilight pointed towards Scootaloo and the others all relaxing under a tree near some statues. “Go on ahead, I have to check up on a few things.”
“Okee dokee lokee.” I replied, imitating everybody’s favorite pony.
She smiled at me before going off on her way.
“Well, well, well. Looks like sleepy finally dragged his flank out of bed.” Lavender grinned, “We were getting worried, you know.”
“Why? Am I running now?” I asked, worried. I wasn’t mentally prepared!
“No, no. But we wanted our favorite stallion in the parade.” Amethyst smiled.
“I'm the only stallion... oh, very funny.” I rolled my eyes.
The Unicorn just continued, “I just wish Derpy would hurry. She’s not the most punctual pony, but this is a little too late, even for her.”
“Wait, did Derpy get the letter?” I asked more to myself than the others.
They all looked at each other, “Of course! Spike was the one who sent it, she would've gotten it in hoof.” Scootaloo pointed out, still relaxing.
“I think you’d better start warming up, Scootaloo. I don’t think Derpy’s going to get here.”
The all looked at me.
“What makes you say that?” Scootaloo sat up now.
“Because, from what I know of Derpy, she’s far more interested in other things, especially muffins. So, unless we managed to catch her in a moment when she wasn’t preoccupied with something, I doubt that she’d pay much attention to a letter. We should have sent it to her daughter.”
“Oh. My. Gosh!” Amethyst muttered in her trademark phrase, “How stupid are we?”
“Nopony’s stupid. We were all just caught up in the moment, and we just didn’t think things through...” I replied.
Scootaloo stood up, “Are you... really saying I can race? I mean, me... I can?”
We all turned to her. She was excited! She wanted to race. Of course she wanted to! This was her moment to shine! To show everypony what she could do! Of course she was excited! Of course she wanted to race! Of course she...
Scootaloo jumped up off her flank and started stretching then and there, pulling her wings out and flapping them slowly, arching her back down and up, and pulling her legs out.
Twilight arrived a moment later, “What’s going on?”
“We’ve made a conscientious decision on making Scootaloo prepare for the race instead of Derpy. We can’t be sure that Derpy got the letter...”
Twilight paused for a moment, then we could see her face light up. “Oh no! We should have sent the letter to her daughter!”
“Exactly!” The two girls exclaimed.
“That's impressive you came to that conclusion so quickly on your own...” I stated, astounded by her astute deductive reasoning skills.
Twilight just waved her hoof at my praise, “It wasn't that hard... I just needed to piece together a few things.” She turned to the young Pegasus, “Scootaloo, you’ll have to run for Ponyville.”
The orange-like pony grinned and nodded, determination written on her face, “I won’t let you down, Twi! I won’t let any of you down!”
“Hello!” A pegasus in blue fluttered over to us, landing carefully on the ground, “Uh... has anypony seen Rainbow?”
I instantly recognized this guy. He was the one that visited Brian after his attack. The famous one from the Wonderbolts! I think that he was seeing Rainbow. What was his name again? Soaring? No. Soarin! That was it. I still had no idea what his face looked like, he was always wearing that damned uniform. Which reminded me... where was mine?
“Here,” Rarity said quietly, seemingly reading my mind and handing me my uniform.
“Thanks,” I whispered back.
“She’s on her way here, Soarin.” Twilight replied.
Soarin looked somewhat disappointed, “Oh. Is her father out of the hospital yet?”
We all looked at each other. There was an uncomfortable silence.
“And you guys call me clueless...” I muttered under my breath.
The Wonderbolt looked at each of us and our uncomfortable expressions. He pulled back his hood, “Is it that serious?”
I take it back, he wasn’t clueless. He was just slow – in the head at least. Being a Wonderbolt automatically meant that he was fast in other ways.
“Soarin, Brian hasn’t left the hospital since then,” Twilight replied, a little surprised that he did not know this, “Hasn’t... hasn’t Rainbow told you?”
“Rainbow hasn’t said anything to me, or even sent a letter or anything for weeks now. I don’t know what’s going on. She’s hardly ever here. She shows up for practice, then leaves when the drills are done. We’re on different flight teams, so I can’t even talk to her when she’s here. I’ve tried chasing her a few times, but you know how fast she is. I can’t keep up with her. I’m just... confused. Does she even miss me?”
That was unexpected. And awkward. Time to make myself scarce. This kind of thing was best left to others.
While the others were distracted, I managed to slip away. I’ve had enough uncomfortable relationship situations the last few days and I wasn’t going to get caught up in yet another one. Eventually I managed to find a private area to put on the race suit. It fit perfectly. Which was rather strange, considering that Rarity never took my measurements. Come to think of it, the suit she had made for me fit me like a glove too.
While I was checking myself out, I heard a voice snicker from behind me.
“That’s a nice costume. What are you supposed to be? A maypole?” He burst out laughing.
I looked over at him. Were there just bullies and morons in Canterlot? Not like the ponies from back home... home? Ponyville. Those ponies were so welcoming, nice, and kind. Here they were just... assholes. Guess it's the 'big city' effect.
“Well, I am the runner for Ponyville. And if you didn’t know, these colors represent the Elements of Harmony.” I replied ignoring his attempts to goad me. My motto in life is: don’t let them get under your skin, get under theirs instead. And I was very good at getting under other people’s skins. Or in this case, other pony’s skins. “Don’t you know anything?”
Feeling a hard object pressing against my chest from the inside of the suit, I reached in and pulled out a pair of goggles. Awesome. Rarity really was amazing. She had thought of everything. Even the fact that I wouldn't notice that goggles were part of the uniform, or that I'd fail to notice them at all.
“Ponyville, eh? What makes you think that that tiny village can beat us?” As if on cue, five other ponies in matching outfits appeared behind the pony. They all wore red, light-yellow lightning bolts on the rear of their uniforms, and on their chest area under the neck.
“Just because red makes it look like you go faster, doesn’t mean that you are faster.” I placed the goggles on my head, “Know Rainbow Dash?”
The all looked at each other. “Yeah...”
“What town’s she from?”
They just stared at me in silence.
“You know Twilight Sparkle? What town does she live in? In fact, the only advantage you have against us is... well... that red suit. It’ll hide your humiliation when we beat you.” I grinned.
The first pony burst out laughing, “You’re good! Real good! It’s great to find somepony out here who isn’t intimidated by us. Either you’re really stupid, or you actually believe you can beat us, in which case I pity you.”
“You should save that pity for yourself. You’re going to need it when I cross the finish line first.”
The pony shook his head, “Do you even know who I am? I’m Fleet Hoof, fastest Earth pony in all of Equestria.”
“I’m Forest, and I don’t care.” I turned to walk away.
“Big words from a little pony. Put your talent where your mouth is. Care to hold a wager?”
No, Forest! Don’t do it! I yelled in my head. “What wager?”
“If you lose, and you will, you and your team’ll have to parade around Canterlot in these...” He held up a white vest with the words ‘Loser’ written in sloppy writing along the side.
“We’ll do it!” A voice yelled. Scootaloo landed in front of me. “And if we win, you’ll do the same!”
“Scootaloo no, that’s not...”
“Yeah!” Lavender stated from behind me.
Amethyst nodded as well.
“You guys... that’s...” Oh no! They’re being suckered into taking this childish...
“Oh? Then it’s settled.” The pony spat into his hoof and held it out towards Scootaloo.
Scootaloo spat in hers and they shook.
The red team all laughed and walked away high-fiving – high-hoofing?
When they were gone, I turned to my teammates, “Why? Why did you accept?”
“Are you worried we won’t win?” Scootaloo asked, giving me a wry smile.
“No! That’s not it! Once you take a wager like that, competition becomes personal. They’ll play dirty.” I sighed, “Now when we race, we’re all going to have to keep an extra eye on the red team.”
“You seem to know a lot about competitive sports, Forest. Are you remembering something?”
Oh man, Twilight. Why you so smart?
“I... may...” I rubbed my head, trying to act the part of remembering some long forgotten memory, “Whatever the case, the red team’s not going to play fair.”
Scootaloo grinned, “That’s fine by me. If they play dirty, then we’ll just have to return the favor!”
They all cheered at that. Except for me and Twilight. We just shared a look.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, if I may please have your attention...” A voice boomed out of loudspeakers. “We will be starting the parade in half an hour, please note the order of your teams on this board. We will be departing from here, so please do not go anywhere. Thank you.” The voice cut off.
The crowd gathered around the huge sign.
“Hi!” A voice shouted aloud from above us as Derpy and Rainbow landed.
“Derpy!” Scootaloo said, a mixture of shock and disappointment, and perhaps a little relief.
“Did you get my letter?” Twilight asked.
Derpy just nodded sadly, “But only this morning after I met Rainbow Dash.”
“She was out on her mail-route. Dinky was staying the night at a friend’s to catch the early morning train and didn’t know. She still doesn’t know.” Rainbow put Derpy into a light headlock, “You’re so silly sometimes.”
Derpy just laughed goofily and stuck out her tongue.
“I guess that means that I’m not going to race...” Scootaloo sighed.
“N-no! I’m so tired! I can’t race now.” Derpy replied, “I was mailing letters all morning, then had to fly back to the office, drop off my mailbag then fly here.”
Scootaloo’s face beamed, “You mean it, Derpy?”
Derpy nodded and smiled.
Scootaloo squee’d in delight and hugged the mare, literally shoving poor Rainbow to one side. Rainbow just giggled to herself.
“Rainbow, I need to talk to you.” A voice stated from above us.
It was getting to be a pain in the butt with all this ‘heavenly’ voices talking from higher up. Pegasi could be very inconsiderate about one’s neck. This time it was Soarin...
Oh shit.
Rainbow’s expression was difficult to read, but she ascended slowly, “I’ll see you guys in a sec.”
“Okay, Rainbow...” Twilight replied, her voice turning into a whisper, “See you in a sec.”
“Why the long faces?” A voice called to us as Applejack walked up to us along with Pinkie and Fluttershy.
Aiden and Atom followed moments later. Atom’s coat was now back to its original black color. Strangely, I missed the pink ‘fandango’ coat.
“Nothing... hopefully...” Twilight replied cryptically.
I looked over to Aiden who looked like he was glaring at me. When he saw me staring at him, he just turned his head away. He seemed really cold towards me. Was it something I did?
Everyone chatted with each other while I stood off to the side and watched them. It was nice being a part of such a great group of friends. I was going to miss this. The random banter, sharing our thoughts and feelings, and just being there. It was going to be hard going back to being a longer and I dreaded the thought. ‘True meaning of friendship’, my ass! How the hell am I going to discover something like that if this wasn’t it?
Spike wondered in a little bit later, and made a beeline towards me.
“Looking good, Forest.” He patted my back.
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Yes.” Spike tried hard to suppress a laugh. “It looks great on the mares. On you... not-so-much.”
I just made a face. “I hate you, you know that.”
Spike just shrugged, “I know, but you still look silly.”
We both had a good laugh. Spike always seemed to be there for me whenever I needed somebody to lean on. After all, he did entrust me with his most prized possession, that musical snow-globe and the dagger. Every time I thought about it, I could feel it – which I didn't this time since my saddlebag wasn't on me.
After a moment, my attention returned to the present and I looked up. It was then that I noticed how the other ponies were looking at Spike and giving him a wide berth.
“You're scaring the ponies, Spike.” I said loudly. Several of the ponies blushed knowing that there was no reason for them to feel fearful to the Dragon.
Spike didn't miss a beat, “No, you're the one scaring them with that awful thing you call a face.”
I roared in laughter. Brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant!
Some of the other ponies who heard Spike's comeback also laughed. “You got me there, Spike. Ten points to you. That was some burn.”
“Burn?” He asked.
“It's a game... I guess. You play it by insulting each other, as a joke of course. Then you rate it out of a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest. You... 'roast' the other pony, making them blush in shame.” I looked over to him, “So, your 'burn' was fantastic, you completely 'roasted' me. Thereby I award you ten big ones.”
“This game sounds stupid.” Spike replied stoically. He then grinned at me, “Thank you for teaching it to me.”
I punched him lightly in the arm, “Goof-ball.”
“So, how do you win?”
I shrugged, “I dunno. I don't think you can.”
Spike laughed, “This game sounds like fun...”
“Rarity! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Just where have you been?” A new stallion said walking towards her.
“Who's that?” I asked.
“That is Hoity Toity, fashion guru of Canterlot,” Spike replied quietly and looked away, “And the pony I suspect is Rarity's... Rarity's...”
Placing a hoof on Spike's arm, I nodded. He didn't have to say it.
“Oh, hello HT. I told you that I had obligations and that I must attend this parade. I am an Element after all.”
“Of course, my dear. I was just talking to Fancypants and he was wondering when you were going to visit him. He is very eager to see you again, Rarity.”
“Fancypants?” I asked Spike.
At this Spike's mouth began to jitter.
I raised my eyebrow at him, “Something wrong, buddy?”
“No! Not... Fancypants... the most important pony in Canterlot...” Spike whispered. “Anypony but him!”
“Um...” I had no idea what he was talking about now. “He's what? More important than the Princesses?”
“No, nopony's more important than Princess Celestia or Luna or even Cadence when it comes to many things, but Fancypants is the most important society pony!” Spike gripped me by my collar and shook me, “And Rarity is all about society! I can't compete with him, Forest!”
“Spike. Please. Stop. Shaking. Me. I'm. Going. To. Be. Sick...”
Spike ceased the shaking, dropping me on the ground. “Sorry, Forest.”
“No problemo.” I picked myself up. “Come on, Spike. Rarity's got her special pony and whatever. You've got to let her go.”
He was about to reply when another pony returned and landed next to Spike and me.
“Hello, Rainbow.” I smiled at her.
“Huh?” Rainbow looked up and saw me, “Oh, hello Forest.”
“Wow. You sound unhappy. You okay?” I asked.
“Huh? What? Yeah, yeah. I'm okay.”
Just then tears started flowing from her eyes. This made me jump back. “No, no, no! I didn't mean it! You sound fine! You sound happy! Please don't cry!”
Rainbow just wiped her eyes with her sleeve, “I'm not crying, I just got something in my eyes.”
“Hey, Forest. Looks like we got another member...” Spike whispered.
“Aw, no way. Not you too, Rainbow.”
“Member?” She looked at us confused, “Member of what?” By this time the tears had gone, and Rainbow was back to her normal self.
“Guess you were wrong, Spike.”
“Forest, please don't tell that you're that clueless.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but I heard the speakers scream loudly. Somebody had brought the mic too close the speakers causing a deafening squeal as the feedback nearly broke the eardrums of everyone around..
“Sorry about that. Sorry, sorry.” The announcer said, “Testing... testing... okay, that's better. Will everypony please get ready, starting with the team from Las Pegasus. Thank you.”
Even before the announcer had stopped, a steady pulse of heavy hoof-beats had begun. In a few moments a number of soldiers marched along the path at the far end of the garden. They were all bedecked in full armor, not like the usual that I've seen thus far. These were more elaborate, and intimidating to say the least.
The front three columns were led by what I assumed were Earth ponies. Each wore a dark, almost black, shiny armor that covered them from head to hoof. Not an inch of their coat could be seen. Their helms were designed so that you could not see their eyes. But what made it especially intimidating were the lances they each carried, about twice the length of themselves. Each was held in place by a specially made groove between their neck and right shoulder.
They were lined up seven abreast, with the middle Earth pony carrying a banner that was tied to the tip of his lance. This, was what I assumed, Equestria's flag. On it was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, seemingly chasing each other round in a circle. Around Princess Luna were stars and the moon, and around Princess Celestia were the clouds and the sun. Princess of sun and moon, day and night.
About half a step back and to the left and right of the front-most Earth pony were six soldiers, each carrying another flag with various patterns and colors. Each flag seemed to represent a city that was competing, the soldiers in the next two rows seemed to be carrying more city flags. Twenty cities, twenty teams, all competing under one country... Equestria.
Behind the Earth ponies were three ranks of Unicorn troops. They wore long saddles that draped over their sides, each one baring a specific mark, perhaps representing some form of unit – these military types were sticklers for details like that.
And then above them were seven rows of three Pegasi abreast of one another. They were the most 'naked', having the least amount of armor than the others. Their helms were similar to those of the Earth ponies but were silvery in color, with matching gauntlets on all four legs. The rear gauntlets had long sharp pointy spikes that extended out about two feet. I would not like being kicked by those things.
Suddenly a white stallion Unicorn appeared from one of the tents. I instantly recognized Twilight's older brother, Shining Armor. He looked around at the troops and nodded approvingly, and then placed his helm on his head, with a large blue plume. Three other stallions had followed Shining outside, each one moved to the right of their respective regiments – or whatever they're called. These were definitely Captains, or higher ranked officers.
Shining Armor then shouted something. The military ponies stomped in unison, except for the Pegasi, they smacked their fore-hooves together instead. Shining then shouted something else and the flags that weren't the Equestrian national flag were lowered slightly, so that they edged a little forwards so that the Equestrian national flag flew above the rest. Then Shining shouted something else, and the troops began to march in place, the Pegasi above flapping their wings in rhythm. Instead of 'left-right-left', they were doing 'down-up-down'.
A team of green-uniformed ponies assembled just behind them. They all had yellow matching stars on their flanks and a large upside-down one of their foreheads where the points went over the eyes, while the bottom star point ended at the front of the suit. They all wore green goggles with a yellow reflective tint on them. They were joking around behind the soldiers, one of them was marching in step with them.
Behind them another group of ponies settled in line. These wore white suits, with blue streaks that ran from their noses to their flanks. The streaks were darker on the outside and that gradually got lighter until they were almost white again near the middle. The bottom of their legs as well as their goggles were black.
The announcer walked past them, “After Coltumbus comes Whinnypeg.”
On cue a team of ponies dressed in blue jumped behind the Coltumbus ponies and started taunting them.
The Whinnypeg team had a large silver arrow pointing towards their heads with a red strip stretched from the tops of their heads, along their spines, and ended at the base of their tails. They all had blue goggles that matched their main suit's colors.
“Stop that!” The announcer reprimanded the two teams, “You're about to present yourselves in front of the Princesses. Don't embarrass your hometown.”
The ponies ceased their antics instantly.
“Next is Salt Lick City.” The announcer called out on the mic.
Salt Lick City? Are you kidding me?
Everything from the rear-legs up was yellow. The rest of them was black, including the areas below the knees and a long black 'V' shape extended from their eyes to the noses. They walked in a 'V' formation themselves, with the largest pony, a Pegasi, at the lead.
Unlike the team from Whinnypeg, these were very formal and 'proper'.
“Okay, first band goes here.” The announcer said.
A group of young ponies dressed in white walked up and got into position. They were perhaps high-school aged, if I were to guess. Their uniforms kind of reminded of the same white uniforms American Navy people wear, right down to the blue tie or scarf thingy. At their lead was a filly dressed similarly, but she had on a skirt and instead of an instrument, carried a baton.
“When you start moving, then you may start playing,” The announcer stated, “Not before.”
While the announcer was telling the young children what to do, a team in a dark blue with red triangles that started along their shoulders that sharpened to a point at their flanked stepped in behind the band. Even their goggles were tinted red and blue!
“Okay, thank you Trottingham. Next up is Canterbury, then Fillydelphia. Please take your places.”
The team from Canterbury wore a zebra pattern striped uniform, but instead of black, the stripes were a very dark green. They wore plain black goggles with a slight green tint to them.
Fillydelphia's team were wearing a bright orange suit that covered the entire body, but along the spine, and the sides was a broad white stripe that connected themselves at the base of the neck, then flowed up along where their manes would have been before stopping just under their ears. There was a massive 'F' on their heads, where the top bar of the letter covered both eyes, the second bar a little below. The bottom of the letter ended at the nose.
They started chanting something that sounded like 'let's go Filly's, let's go', which got louder and louder until they were shouting and cheering. Then they high-hoofed one another, while slapping each other on their backs.
Whinnypeg started booing the Fillydelphia team, mocking their cheer.
Next in line was Hoofington. Everything apart from the head was in a single purple color, even the hooves, which was almost a clone of Twilight's coat. Their heads were covered in a gold hue that faded into the purple in a steady gradient as the color spread down the neck.
New Saddle's uniforms had the lower half a dark brown, while the upper half was the faded pink color. They wore plain black goggles, except for one in particular who wore red ones instead. The Unicorn grinned at her team-mates, who all seemed to swoon at that flashy smile.
“Okay, next is Stalliongrad,” The announcer shouted, “Then Haliflanks.”
The ponies from Stalliongrad had a white suit with their heads completely red, and stripes like sunbeams went from the their heads, where it started narrow, all the way to the end of their uniforms, where it broadened out. Each had red goggles similar to the Unicorn from New Saddle.
Haliflanks were in a very, very, very light yellow suit, except their flanks and their head that had a violet color. On the flanks was an 'H' in a light blue. The combination reminded me somewhat of Fluttershy.
“Okay, the next band goes here. Come on, come on! We haven't got all morning!” The announcer rushed the kids who were a little older than the ones from before. They wore the exact same uniform, except instead of white on blue, they wore a dark blue with white. It took me a moment to realize that they were wearing the colors of the Princesses.
Duh.
The next two towns were really weird. Dappleshore and Derbyshire had almost the exact costume, but where one was a dark red and a dark blue in a checkered pattern, the other was the exact opposite. They were boisterous and noisy as they taunted each other. They both crossed over to each other's team, much to the annoyance of the announcer who insisted that they keep to their specified places in the line. It was clear that although they were rivals, they also were friends.
“What's the deal with those guys?” I asked Spike.
“They've been rivals in everything they've ever done, not just sports. Even bake-offs and gardening. They're just really competitive against each other.” Spike shrugged, “I guess they're especially big rivals when it comes to hoofball.”
Hoofball? That sounds interesting...
Stableside followed. They wore light green along the top – something that made Rarity shudder – and a yellow along the bottom half of their torsos. They had two thin red strips that extended from the eyes to the nose.
After them was Manebourne in completely black costumes that had large sideways 'M' that originated from their shoulders and stretched down to their flanks in a gray or silver color.
“Alright, now the two Pegasi cities, and your volunteers, please step up. First is Cloudsdale then Windsoar.” The announcer stated.
Both teams were made up of Pegasi, with the exception of four Unicorns. It was clear that the Pegasi who were running had their wings under their uniforms. You could see the bulge.
Unlike the the ponies from Dappleshore and Derbyshire, these two teams were rivals on somewhat less friendly terms. You could almost see the daggers they glared at one another, but you could also see their smiles of determination. Rivals? Yes. Friends? Sure. But not right now.
The Pegasi wore multicolors. Cloudsdale wore an array of blues that mimicked the Wonderbolt uniform in many ways, whereas the Windsoar ponies wore purple and violets.
“Those two teams seem to be at each others throats...” I commented to Spike.
“Oh, they're always competing against each other. Everywhere they go they can't help themselves. It's an ancient rivalry, perhaps even the first actual instance of pony rivalry. I remember Twilight and Princess Celestia talking about it once, but I can't remember clearly.” Spike scratched his nose, “I kinda tend to stop listening when Twilight starts rambling...”
We shared a laugh.
“It's a known fact that most Wonderbolts get chosen from Cloudsdale. So, a few years ago the Pegasi from Windsoar created their own flying team. The Shadowbolts. They're not bad, but the concept where it comes from... let's just say that Princess Celestia and Luna originally didn't agree with it.” Spike shrugged, “Since you can't remember the Elements of Harmony story, you probably won't know.”
I was about to ask him for more information, but I was interrupted by the announcer.
“Baltimare! You're up!”
Another orange team with diagonal stripes of gray, black and white. The Baltimare team were all mares – guess it made sense considering the name had 'mare' in it.
Then it was our primary rivals: Manehatten, with their red suits and yellow lightning bolts. Their team-leader, Fleet Hoof was being the noisiest one and kept pointing at us and laughing. Well, pointing at me and laughing. Did I really look that silly in these colors?
And last, but certainly not least, Ponyville! The announcer did not even need to announce it... because we were the last team. Finally! I was happy that all this standing around was about to end. Time to get on with it!
“Okay, final band. Move it, move it, move it!” The announcer hollered. “Captain, you may proceed.”
Even at this distance, I could hear Shining's voice. As soon as he gave word, the entire column started to move forwards. Slowly at first, then it picked up speed as the column spread out a bit.
The band behind us was made up of mares only, all dressed in silvery-blue uniform. Unlike the two previous bands that played marching music, this one had a more melodious tune.
“Alright, Forest. I'll see you later. Have fun, and good luck. I'll be watching you.”
“Wait! Can you please watched over my saddlebag?” I asked.
Spike looked to where I was pointing, the bag lay on the ground where I had left it. “Sure thing.”
“Come on, Forest. Derpy! Where are you?” Scootaloo called.
The gray Pegasus hopped over. She had managed to get two legs stuck in the same sleeve and she tumbled and fell on her face. This only made the Manehatten team laugh even louder than before.
Kneeling, I helped Derpy but not before flashing a disgusted look at the red team.
Just then a huge chariot pulled by a team of Royal Guard Earth ponies and a few Unicorns was pulled up. Royal Guard Pegasi were in formation around it. The chariot had five sitting areas around a center area, where Twilight, sheepishly, got into. Pinkie was hopping up and down excitedly in one, while the other Elements shyly got into the others. Except Rainbow Dash, she sat proudly in the highest one, a little above and behind Twilight. She sighed heavily, perhaps a little upset that her father couldn't be here for this.
“Have fun, Forest!” Spike waved and stepped back.
“With those,” I pointed to the Manehatten team in front of me, “things in the way, how is that even possible?” Hey, if we were going to have a rivalry, might as well make the most of it.
Spike laughed as Aiden and Atom stood on either side of him. Atom waved to a blushing Applejack, while Aiden stood there with a somewhat foul expression on his face. Spike waved to me, but kept stealing glances over at Rarity, which made me roll my eyes.
“Come on, Forest.” Lavender shouted above the din of the music, shoving me with her head. “You lead.”
“Me? Fine...” I walked ahead of the others.
Along the road we went, the front of the parade had long since vanished from view and I could barely see or hear second band – not that it mattered, the band behind me was deafening me.
As we continued, I saw the column walk out of large black gates, similar to the main palace gates, although these weren't as heavily ornate. Must have been the rear entrance to the palace grounds.
When we exited the entire column turned to the right. I recognized this area. It was the same place where Twilight and I watched the sun rise together. As if on cue, I turned and looked back at Twilight. For some reason our eyes met, and I couldn't help but point to the lawn and mouthed 'remember this place'. She tried in vain to suppress a laugh before nodding to me.
Then we started to go down the grassy ramp down towards the main road that led past the front of the palace. The entire street here on the palace side was lined with Royal Guards, while ponies stood on the opposite side were cheering us on. Of course their screams got louder when they saw the chariot with the Elements of Harmony behind us.
All five mares blushed furiously. It was clear that they hated this... well, five of them did. Pinkie relished it, and Rainbow would have probably enjoyed it more if her father was around. Or was something else bothering her? Spike did say I was utterly clueless. But what had I missed? I didn't get it.
“Say hello to the princesses, Forest.” Amethyst said, pointing to my right.
On a small balcony overlooking the palace gates, Princesses Cadence, Celestia and Luna waved to us smiling widely. They all shared a look with the Elements as they appeared in their monstrous chariot. Cadence stifled a laugh at Twilight's expression, and Luna couldn't help but giggle as well.
This was simply the most amazing thing I had ever seen. These are the memories I'd relish when I'm gone.
No! Can't think of that!
On we walked, down through the main city itself. The deeper into the city we went, the taller the buildings became. Confetti rained down upon us from high above, the Elements standing on their places in the chariot waving at all the ponies that had come to see them. It was amazing. I'd never in my wild dreams imagined that I'd see something like this, let alone be a part of it. Something so grand and spectacular. Something so... so... epic. It was hard for me to keep my eyes from tearing up, the emotions that ran through me were overwhelming. How did I get to be so lucky? How did I make such great friends in such a short amount of time? What did I ever do to deserve this?
Why does it all have to end?
I was going to miss it so much.
My reverie was broken by a suddenly explosion of singing as the Manehatten team walked in what I could only assume was the center of the city. Flags, scarves, banners, and all sorts of paraphernalia in red with a yellow lightning bolt waved in the air. They were certainly a popular team. Even though we were from the town where the Elements lived, the crowd was keen in cheering for the 'bad guys'.
Fleet Hoof struck poses for the audience, making them get even more excited. A few mares had run out from the sidelines, much to the annoyance and frustration of the Guard and police ponies, who had to chase them and tackle them before they hurt themselves or the racers.
“Come on, Forest! You strike poses too!” Lavender said over the music blaring behind us, nudging my side gently.
“M-me?” I asked, bewildered that she'd make such a suggestion, “But they don't know who I am.”
“Who cares? After today, you're going to be famous!” Scootaloo grinned, “Why not just go with it?”
“Me? Famous?” I scratched my head, “Doubtful. But, okay. I'll do it... if you do it with me.”
“Fine, you go first, though.” Scootaloo replied grinning wider, and blushing a little.
Standing on my hind legs, I showed off my chest to the crowd at the side, and raised my arm at an angle, while my second arm I bent in half, flexing my muscle over my head. Then I turned around so the other side of the street could see my ridiculousness. It was as if I was about to throw an invisible spear.
At first the crowd didn't know how to react. Scootaloo then struck another pose next to me, and grinned, “You're so weird...”
“Thanks!” I grinned.
Scootaloo stood up on her hind legs and imitated me.
Now that was funny. The two of us side-by-side with the exact same pose, she facing one direction, me the other. That was when I spotted the cameras. Yes, cameras. There was no doubt about it. They were definitely cameras clicking all around us. How did I not notice this before!
I wanted one.
The Elements, who were busy waving to the audience, now stared at us in amusement. We were all doing poses together and having a ball, unlike Manehatten where only Fleet Hoof posed and the rest just filled in the background. We were being completely silly, they weren't. This made the audience start cheering a little more, although I wasn't sure if they were cheering us on or just making fun.
Whatever the case, it was a good feeling.
Finally, we could hear the music of the second band get louder and louder. When the band behind us got close enough, the second band stopped playing and lowered their instruments. As we approached, I realized that we were now in a large oval stadium! Ponies were everywhere, even above us as Pegasi sat on clouds in the sky!
The other teams had done a lap around the arena so that the first team was now to our left, and Manehatten to our right on the track. In the middle was a raised platform where the Princesses sat together, a small number of guards at the base. Shining Armor was standing proudly next to his wife as they looked at the large chariot rolling in. The Elements jumped down from their places and walked over to the stage, the audience getting louder as they did so.
Princess Celestia stood up, and raised a hoof in the air. The audience quickly quieted down.
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Aaww yeah, it's about to all go down. This is gonna be good. Fantastic chapter as usual. I can tell that you worked hard on it.
I personally like the character Aqua Inferna, will she get a bigger role or was she just there to give us insight on Twilight's character?
Also Forest is really oblivious. I mean all the clues lead to Twilight liking him.
shits bout to go down.... oh and good morning it just turned midnight here
935834 Aqua Inferna is actually a collaborative OC between another author and myself. And yes, you'll see her again.
Also, Forest isn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to those kinds of things.
And thanks for the praise! This is 1/4 of the original chapter. I decided to rewrite it several times to make it flow better.
It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum....AND WE'RE ALL OUT OF GUM!!!
“Why the long faces?”-AJ Lol Horse puns ;D
also Another chapter? HOORAH! fantastic material as usual ;D
936357
img.ponibooru.org/images/60/60899f8f785a390895687f65563a4241
The bang behind
*band
937310 Thanks.
this is after brian's death, correct?
938054 No. Brian's still alive.
Haha, Salt Lick City. I personaly find that cool.
938082 then why's dash so sad?
941370 Because she wanted her dad to see her and she's sad that he can't; that he's missing all this because he's stuck in the hospital.
And that his time's running short.
i see what you did with chapters 16, 17, and 18. very clever
16: a new home (hope)
17: the crystal strikes back (empire strikes back)
18: return of the pegasus (jedi)
like i said, very nice. that would be something they'd do on the show
I just realized, if you do more than 20 chapters more with at least 15k or more words, you can write the first, second, or third longest fanfic in MLP.
#1 is Fallout Equestria (Forgot which one, as there are like 50 spinoffs, no more like 9000)
#2 is some self-insert fic I think, that a guy made and allowed readers the choice of altering.
And number 3....I don't know. But if you make 15k+ chapters from now on, you just might do i!
That........is actually what we do. "Let's go Filly, let's go!" is spot on.
Here in Philly, we chant the same thing, except for baseball. "Let's go Phillies, let's go!"
970017 I know. That's why I used it. Like I said, there's a lot of real-life references in my fic, or references to other shows and even other fics. I think it makes it fun for people to point it out and be like: Hah! I know where that's from.
My new chapter should be up either tonight or tomorrow morning depending on how things go.
970350
Awesome! So I'm going to guess that Twilight likes Forest, right?