12: New Alliances
Connor
Connor grunted in effort as he put his shoulder into the bound hay bale in front of him and gave it a mighty push. He was currently pushing a hay bale through the middle of town while a sky blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane slowly hovered over him.
After Twilight introduced Connor to Rainbow Dash, his days had been split between working on the farm with Applejack and being put through the ringer by Rainbow Dash. Thanks to Twilight's magic, Connor was back up to decently good health. His wings were still sore after how he had treated them and right front hoof still ached when he used it, but working while injured was not a foreign concept. When you are part of a competitive team, you learn to push past your limits and keep going.
It had been about four days of bouncing between Applejack and Rainbow. Working on the farm kept his muscular endurance up while training under the rainbow drill sergeant worked on his cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength, especially on his wings. He wasn't out of shape to begin with, but his wings were still struggling with only 20 to 30 wing push ups. But, out of all this work he was still learning new tricks with using his hooves and wings in conjunction with each other.
He paused in his endeavor to shove his hay bale across town for the umpteenth time to take a break and catch his breath.
“Come on! Push faster!” yelled Rainbow Dash.
“Well, maybe I would if you would stop changing your mind on where you want these things to go!” He retorted as he glared up at his trainer.
“You want me to change my mind again?” she returned the glare with a threatening glint in her eyes.
Connor glared back, but went back to pushing his large hay bale down the street. His relationship with the headstrong Pegasus had devolved to the two of them shouting at each other and glares. But in their time together, the two of them had discovered a new found respect for one another. Connor never really came out and said 'I'm sorry' to Rainbow Dash, but he felt he didn't need to. The fact the two of them were starting to treat each other with more respect was evident enough that an apology would be irrelevant. Besides, it was easier for his pride and her ego to handle this kind of abrasive acquaintance rather than hugging and asking to be friends.
As he shoved the hay bale out of town, a lone bell tower came into view outside of town where a cluster of hay bales sat. the hay bales were set in a square pattern about six bales long and seven hay bales wide with one final bale missing to complete the square. Connor pushed the final piece into the hay bale puzzle before laying down on top of the bales to rest.
“Alright! Listen up! Today we are doing some special training. You are probably wondering why I told you to move all these hay bales out in the middle of nowhere.” Connor simply huffed in response trying to regain some of his energy in his body.
“Well today is your lucky day, cadet! Today we're going to be doing...” She turned to mumble to herself, “Pause for dramatic effect,” Before turning back to Connor to shout, “Gliding practice!”
“Gliding practice?” Connor asked still lying on his back.
“Yep! You see that bell tower over there? You're going to climb to the top of it before you jump off to spread your wings for the first time and glide back down to this here landing pad that you so happily made for yourself!” Rainbow zipped back and forth between framing the tower and the makeshift landing pad to showcase her master plan for special training.
Connor groaned and got up from his makeshift bed to grumble to himself as he trogged off to the open door at the base of the tower where a staircase lead to the top of the tower. When he finally reached the top of the tower, Rainbow was already there waiting impatiently for him, “Come on, It's easy! Lets see those wings in action!”
Connor glanced over the edge of tower at the distant ground below him. Uneasiness washed over him as he looked at the ground and the distance he had to cover to his landing pad below.
He gulped, “It seemed so much easier from the ground,” He thought to himself. Just to add insult to injury, his mind went off on a tangent and started playing all the different scenarios of how he could fall to his death. His new thinking said that everything would be fine and that his wings would keep him from serious injury. However, the rest of his mind told him his death was now a few steps away and this was all just an elaborate plan by Rainbow Dash to kill him off for insulting her friends. His hooves scuffed at the ledge as he stood there looking out at the landing pad that looked farther away than it actually was. Was he ready for this? Did he do enough wing push ups for his wings to support his weight? Connor was trying to psych himself up for the jump, but it was an uphill battle.
“Hey rainbow, I’m not too sure about this-” he looked over his shoulder to see the sky blue Pegasus loading up her back legs before kicking out and bucking Connor in the rear and off the tower.
His breath caught in his throat as time slowed down. He extended his wings as he decided to go all in on putting his trust into his own wings to save him. He only had one choice now and that was to make it or break it; there was no room for try. His wings unfurled to full extension with a satisfying pop and caught the air below him. He tensed up his wings and tucked his legs close to his body and bent his head forward. It felt like forever for his wings to finally generate enough lift before he finally had some forward momentum. His eyes locked on target and aimed himself for the landing pad in front of him, all while scanning for anything that might come up to block his path. Time finally returned to normal speed as he glided down to the hay bales and landed with a muffled thud on them. Connor stood there, his body still tense and still trying to comprehend the fact he had just jumped from a building and landed safely on the ground without the need of a parachute. His body slowly relaxed and his mind quelled itself. His other senses slowly began to regain function and he could hear Rainbow Dash wooping and hollering from the top of the tower. He turned to see her celebrating his first flight and he would have joined in on the celebration, but his pride told him to yell at her again.
“I aught to come up there and put my hoof in a place where the sun don't shine on you!!” He yelled in anger.
“Well you did fly down and landed fine on the hay bales. So what's wrong? You did want to fly,” Rainbow Dash had glided down herself onto the hay bales to gloat about her successful teaching methods.
“Now get back up that tower and lets do it again!” She said excitedly. She took off for the bell tower again leaving Connor on the ground. Outwardly, he showed distaste and resent. But inwardly, he was giddy with excitement and was barely containing himself with it. Connor had just completed his first flight with no problems and landed with zero complications. His wings had no problem catching air beneath them and were plenty strong enough to hold his weight. He tried to keep up the pouting attitude and dragging his hooves, but his excitement to fly again was speeding up his travel time between the hay bales and the tower.
The more and more time he spent in the air, the more comfortable Connor became as he came to trust his wings. He could no longer hide his enjoyment anymore and he wore a goofy grin on his face. He had no idea how long he was there, but he didn’t care. He was having fun.
Connor started experimenting with his time in the air to see what else he could do. He would try running starts before jumping off the building or let himself dive a small bit before opening his wings. After experimenting with the start of the flight, Connor moved his tests to the landing part of his flight. He tried pulling up before landing as a way to help slow his speed down so he wouldn't land so heavily each time he jumped. It was exciting to finally experience something like air braking. The wind forcing him to slow down as he flared his wings hard was a new phenomenon that just screamed possibilities at him. But that was only a small thing compared to his next challenge. Banking. After climbing the tower again and jumping, he thought of how he could change direction. Maybe if he pulled back on only one wing, the increase of lift on that wing would roll him to one side and from there he could pull back on both wings to turn. It was pretty simple as Connor weaved back and forth on his way down to the landing pad. He could feel his body weight shift back and forth with his turns. It was similar to the same sensation he got when he shifted his position on his bike when leaning into corners. This new rush of excitement and possibilities was getting to Connor and he was beginning to step outside of his abilities.
Connor was getting cocky and wanted to try flapping his wings to extend his flight time. Back at the top of bell tower, he stepped back to load himself before jumping. After his wings caught the air, Connor began to snake back and forth to waste his air time. About half way to the landing pad, his altitude was too low if he wanted to land on the hay bales. He straightened out his flight path in preparation of flapping his wings. He loosened his wings and raised them up like a bird did when they flew. However, the sharp drop in altitude caused Connor to panic. He tried to flap his wings to save himself, but he flapped his wings out of sync. His right wing flapped sooner than his left which caused an imbalance of lift on either side of him. His left side generated lift later which forced his body to roll to the right. Connor tried to return his wings back to a gliding position, but he lost too much air speed to continue flying forward. His wings slipped through the air as he plummeted to the ground. Connor abandoned his attempt to pull out of the crash and chose to just weather the hard landing. His mind defaulted to that of his human body and he flailed about grasping at the air with his nonexistent hands trying to right himself before he crashed. There was a heavy, muffled thud as Connor crashed on the ground, landing on his right shoulder and neck. His body crumpled under itself and he laid there clutching his neck and shoulder. Rainbow on the other hoof, had been watching the entire time and was now rolling around on her cloud laughing; she nearly fell off it while she was rolling around. Connor rolled on his back and let out a chuckling moan of pain. He was in pain, but if he was honest and had seen his crash from the outside he would have been laughing at himself too.
Rainbow dash flew down from her perch to point out his failure, “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen all week!” She laughed some more while Connor remained on the ground softly chuckling along with her.
“Yeah, that definitely wasn't one of my moments of glory.” Connor slowly pulled himself off his splatter mark on the ground and stood up next to Rainbow Dash.
The bell tower rang loudly as it sounded out three o'clock in the afternoon. There was a spark of realization as Connor remembered that he had an appointment with the crusaders today. He was to meet Scootaloo at the school house again at three in the afternoon for some kind of meeting with the rest of the members of her club.
“Sorry Rainbow, but I have to go and check on Scootaloo right now; I think she has something planned for me today. And then after that, I need to help out Applejack on the farm again today.”
“No worries. We can pick up where we left off today. You probably need the break anyways after that awesome crash.”
Connor half rolled his eyes again, “Yeah, see you later Dash!”
“See ya!” with that, Rainbow Dash took off to leave Connor behind.
Connor ran off in the direction of the school house. He was getting really good at galloping now after all his work with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. But since this was his first time with flight, he still had a long ways to go before he could start flying everywhere. But he was still running off of the high he got from flying around. Connor was finally getting his first taste at flight and it tasted the same way when he rode his motorcycle. Connor could see the oh-so sweet drug of speed so close to him and he wanted it. He had the need for speed.
[Wait a minute... No, not the actual drug, speed! I mean like, the need-to-go-fast kind of speed! Drugs are bad, okay? Don’t do drugs.]
By the time he exited the other side of town, the bell tower finally stopped ringing out three o'clock. That meant he was already running late because Scootaloo specifically told him to be there by three o'clock for a special task that he needed to be there for.
“Ah crackers, I’m late,” he scolded himself. He still had a ways to go before the school house came into view. He picked up his pace and ran faster. When he could finally see the front door to the school house, Connor saw an angry orange Pegasus waiting impatiently for him.
“Where have you been?! I’ve been waiting here for like ten minutes already!” she shouted in frustration.
“Sorry, I was busy working with Rainbow Dash.” he shot back in a calm manner.
“WHAT!? You were working with Rainbow Dash today?! Why didn't you tell me?! What were you doing? How long have you been with her? Did she mention me?”
“Well, I have been pretty busy over the past week, right now. So far, after I pick you up from school and drop you off at the club house, I spend the rest of the afternoon with Rainbow who is teaching me how to fly. And today we actually did some gliding practice, so-”
“SHE'S BEEN TEACHING YOU HOW TO FLY??!!! what about me? I want to learn how to fly too...” Scootaloo buzzed her wings trying to lift her body off the ground, but only got an inch or two airborne. The two had been walking towards the farm again and to the club house hidden within the orchard. Connor looked at Scootaloo with pity as he watched her struggle to obtain flight.
“Don't worry, Scoots. I can give you some pointers that I learned from training and maybe we can get you airborne soon,” he smiled reassuringly at her and she smiled back.
“Thanks, Connor. Come on! Lets see who can get to the club house first! Last one there is a rotten egg!” she giggled and ran off to the club house. Connor smirked and ran off after her.
~~~
The two of them came rocketing into view of the club house and skidded to a halt, leaving small trails behind them in the dirt.
“I won!” Scootaloo panted in victory.
“Sure you did. You won when you were a good foot behind me,” Connor smirked.
“Whatever. Come on, you're needed inside the club house for a special meeting,” Scootaloo walked up the ramp, beckoning Connor to follow her. He gave a curious look before following after her up the ramp.
He stuck his head through the front door and saw the interior of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house. There were posters of a certain Pegasus team he didn’t know of, a map of what seemed like Ponyville, and other knick knacks and decorations through out the room. At the center sat a wooden pedestal with Apple Bloom standing behind it and Sweetie Belle off to the left. Scootaloo was on the right behind a pair of drums poised to start pounding on them loudly. All three were wearing some kind of maroon cape with gold lining on the inside.
“Enter, Connor,” Apple Bloom commanded. Connor paused as he did a double take of the situation. He wasn't sure what they were planning but he knew he could always refuse, so he did as he was told and entered the cramped club house and sat down so he would be more comfortable.
“We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Connor to join us as a fellow Cutie Mark Crusader in our search for...” Apple Bloom droned on down the script before her, becoming more and more displeased as paper endlessly unfurled down the front of the pedestal.
“Scootaloo, I thought you said you revised this the last time we tried recruiting a new member,” Sweetie Belle shot a critical glare at Scootaloo who looked away and sheepishly grinned.
“You know what, how about we just tell you the benefits of being apart of our club,” Apple Bloom put down the roll of paper before her and stepped down.
“Oh! Oh oh oh oh! Can I start with our history?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.
“Uh, I guess?” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck.
“Lets start from the veeeeeerry beginning...” she inhaled deeply in preparation of her long speech before getting a hoof in the mouth by Apple Bloom.
“Lets not,” Apple Bloom said pointedly.
For the next few minutes the three foals before Connor went into explaining some of the highlights of being apart of their group. They talked about their expanding branches all across Equestria and how he would have friends everywhere he went. He would have access to all their available resources at any time and could use them however he saw fit. The list continued as the friends argued on what details to leave in and what to leave out.
Finally, it looked like they were reaching the end of their list, “... And you can tell us everything that rainbow dash is teaching you so you can help me, I mean, help us get our cutie marks! And help me learn how to fly...” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared at her wondering how Scootaloo's idea would help them get their cutie marks.
“This sounds more like I am being drafted rather than being recruited,” Connor commented to himself.
“So do you want to join the Crusaders?” all three stared up at him with big, pleading, teary eyed, eyes the same way a dog begs at the table with their signature puppy face. He stared back a little before having to look away without melting into putty in their hooves. But the human side of his mind started asking the question, 'Should he really join their group'? Just how much did he want to invest into this world before he went back to his world? The three fillies before him would be crushed when they found out that he wouldn't be staying here in Ponyville as a permanent resident. But what would a few weeks of fun do? Connor had already done so much for kids in his world, so why not do the same for the kids in this world? He looked back and smiled at the three little ponies before him. He could manage to make their time with him to be enjoyable until he left.
“Sure, I’ll join.”
There were three exuberant cheers from the fillies before him and the bounced around the club house with overwhelming enthusiasm. Their capes fluttered behind them as they jumped, spinned, and hollered for their new member of the cutie mark crusaders. When they finally regained control of themselves they returned to their positions at the pedestal.
“There is one final thing to do before you can be officially accepted into the Cutie Mark Crusaders club,” Apple Bloom announced.
“Oh, this aught to be good,” Connor scoffed a smirk on his face.
“First, close your eyes,” Apple Bloom instructed.
Connor furrowed his brow in confusion, but did as he was told. He closed his eyes and waited. He could hear hoof steps on the floor boards and giggling from the three fillies as they moved around him. He could feel their hoof steps fall on the boards around him. He suddenly felt something fall on his back. It felt soft like a warm blanket during a winter evening and felt comforting to him.
“You can open your eyes now!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly.
Connor snapped his eyes opened and looked at his back. A small, square, maroon colored piece of fabric laid on his back. He could spot the gold lining on the inside and embroidered on the maroon side was a blue shield with a yellow, caped pony rearing back with a smile on his mouth.
“Maybe we should have made it bigger,” Sweetie Belle commented.
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said at the same time.
The crusader cape was a little small for Connor. If he tried to tie on now, it would look more than a little ridiculous on him. But the gears in his head starting turning and thought up a couple of ideas.
“Hang on...” He took the cape off his back and held it in front of him. He folded it diagonally and rolled the folded edge up a couple of times before holding up again in front of him. Satisfied with the length and how it still partially displayed the emblem, he tied it around his neck like a bandana. He tied it behind his neck with a double knot to make sure it didn’t come off at any point and tested it with a sturdy tug. The bandana held strong and the slightly obscured emblem still showed proudly on the front.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo ooo-ed at this new way of wearing their signature cape. It presented itself as slightly rebellious or wanting to do things that were slightly off the book. It suited Connor's appearance as he always did things differently here in the pony world.
“So is that it? Am I apart of the Crusaders now?” he said in half jest.
“Yep! So will we be seeing you more often now?”
“Maybe, Scootaloo. I still got a lot of things that I am doing right now, but I’ll be thinking of you guys more often now that I have this,” he touched the bandana to illustrate his point.
“Okay then,” the three pouted.
“Will you three stop pouting! Its not like I’m leaving forever or anything. I just have to go and help Applejack right now.”
They all giggled and their spirits were lifted with the light mood.
“Okay then. see you later, Crusader! Hey! That was pretty catchy!” they waved goodbye as Connor left the club house and headed off to the barn where Applejack was waiting.
~~~
“Hey Applejack!” Applejack was waiting outside the barn with an empty cart looking a little annoyed.
“There you are! Where were you, I though I asked you to be here by 3:00?”
“I got held up with your sister's club. They needed me present for something.”
“Were they crusading again? I hope you will tell me that it wasn't anything dangerous.” she leaned in hoping to hear a good answer.
“No, nothing to worry about. They were just recruiting me into their club.” Connor waved a hoof in reassurance.
“You don’t say. Is that where that bandana came from? I noticed it when you finally showed up.” Applejack pointed at the maroon bandana hanging around Connor's neck.
“Yeah, it was originally a cape they made but it was too small for me . So I turned it into something that would suit me more. Anyways, what was the job that you needed me to do?”
Applejack straightened up in an effort to return to business, “Right, I need you to run a few pick ups for me while I store some of the apples in the cellar and tend to the chicken coop.”
“Okay, where am I going for the pick ups?”
“You have two place to go for the pick ups. Your first stop will be Sugar Cube Corner for flour and your second will be at Carousel Boutique to collect quilting materials. They will know you are coming, so just walk in and let them know that you are there for the pick ups. You can use this cart here to load everything in,” Applejack tapped the cart beside here.
“Okay, what do those places look like?” Connor hooked up to the cart while still looking at Applejack for more insight.
“Sugar Cube Corner is the building that looks like a gingerbread pony's house from hearth's warming eve. Carousel Boutique is the round dress shop just south of town hall.”
“Okay, I think I can find them. I'll be back soon,” Connor waved goodbye to Applejack and tugged at the cart in the direction of town.
~~~
“Lets see, a gingerbread man's house. I remember seeing one in town. Ah, there it is!” Connor spotted the large pastry shop with a cup cake on top and frosting like trim around the outside. He had passed by it several times before during his stay here, but he never actually went inside. The smell of bread and freshly baked cookies wafted out the doors as he made his approach. He stared at it's pink, brown and wafer's yellow paint as if it was some kind of foreboding castle waiting to do him harm. He unlatched the cart from himself and stood in at the front door, preparing himself mentally.
“Why am I freaking out about this? This should be easy. Just go in, say your here for a pick up for Applejack, then get out.” But Connor still felt uneasy. He shoved the feeling to the side. He was just being paranoid for no reason, so he pushed the door open. A small door chime rang over head signaling his arrival. The inside was just as candy orientated as the outside, but still had this air of normality. It was a strange feeling. Connor realized this was purposefully done as a marketing method to help sell more goods. Have an exotic store front and you attract more customers. The front lobby was quite empty, but that was to be expected at three in the afternoon. Connor theorized the peak business hours for the shop would be during the mornings and nights when ponies were just waking up to get some breakfast or at night when they would need something for dinner. He was just about to relax when he heard a loud gasp and his vision suddenly filled with hot pink and two large, light blue eyes staring directly into his being.
“Oh my gosh, its you!”
“Uuh, wha-”
“That one pony from the castle that came through the portal with twilight and was like really, really mad and everything, and you started yelling at us and it kind of hurt my feelings at the time but then twilight said that you were just upset because you had to leave your home and...”
The pink pony had pulled away from Connor's view to start animating her speech, bouncing this way and that and making every facial expression one could make. He tried to follow this pink ball of hyperactive energy around the room with his eyes, but he only achieved popping the bones in his neck so he abandoned that futile mission.
“Oh! I never really properly introduced myself! My name is Pinkie Pie. What's your name?” Pinkie offered a hoof forward.
Connor popped the rest of his bones in his neck before taking the hoof, “My name's Connor.”
“Hi Connor! Welcome to ponyville! Oh! You know what we forgot? I forgot to give you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' celebration party. And Pinkie Pie never forgets a party; especially one as important as welcoming a new pony to Ponyville.”
“Um, no, you don’t need to throw a party for me. I’m fine,” Connor looked a little shy at the prospect of being the center of attention at a party. He didn’t want to be center of attention when he was still trying to fit in and blend properly in this pony world.
“No, absolutely not. You must have a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. It is written here, rule 58 of the Pinkie Pie Party Rule Book, that every new pony in town must have some kind of party to celebrate their arrival.” Pinkie Pie pulled out an official looking book from her hair to show Connor before putting it back in her hair.
Connor was put in a daze at seeing Pinkie Pie pull a large book out of her hair. The logic in his mind was going crazy trying to rationalize what he just saw into understandable terms. Eventually, the little pony inside of him threw his paper files and hooves in the air and simply wrote a single line on a piece of paper that read, 'Just roll with it. We're in a world with tiny ponies and magic'.
He shook his head to get out of his stupor before responding, “Do I have to?”
“Yes.” Pinkie put on an unusually stern looking face that seemed out of character for her. But once again, the single sentence came back to him.
“Okay, but just a small one,” he sighed in defeat.
Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of joy before jumping right into song. She bounced around him and danced, singing a song welcoming him there. As she danced, Pinkie Pie pulled a cupcake on a plate out from behind the counter to present to him as the song ended. To Connor's surprise, a pair of confetti cannons went off next to him. The cannons were aimed to fire over him in an 'X' pattern, however they were aimed a little too low and the blasts clipped the top of his head on both sides.
“Huh, I thought I aimed those confetti cannons to shoot over you...” Pinkie Pie put a hoof around him as she put her other hoof to her chin. Connor shot an under-hoofed glare at her because he felt the cannon shots were some form of passive aggression against him for the insults he threw at her. But he accepted the passive punishment with grace; the shots only grazed him and didn’t do any permanent damage other than rattle him.
“Well go on, take a bite!” Pinkie offered the cupcake to him again.
Connor glanced at her before leaning forward and biting down on the iced pastry. It was actually really good. The icing was rich and sweet, but not overwhelming on the taste buds. The bread of the cupcake was firm on first bite, but turned to delicious soft mush in his mouth. Pinkie was pleased seeing the delight playing across Connor's face and set the cupcake down on a table.
“So what can I do for you today, Connor?”
“Well, I’m actually here to pick up some flour for Applejack. She wanted me to do the pick ups while she does some more chores on the farm.”
“Yeah! We have the flour ready to go. The flour is in the back room, I’ll help you load it.” Pinkie lead Connor to a room behind the front counter where several large flour bags sat.
“Thanks, I have the cart out front.”
The two of them set to work taking the bags to the front of the shop and tossing them into the cart. Once all the bags were loaded into the cart, Connor turned to face Pinkie Pie again to thank her, “Hey, thanks for all your help Pinkie.”
“No problem, I always enjoy helping!” she was about to head back into Sugar Cube Corner when Connor stopped her.
“Hang on! I, uh, I wanted to apologize for calling you names back when I first came here,” Connor put on an ashamed look. He had recognized Pinkie Pie when she stepped back far enough for him to see all of her as one of ponies there at the beginning.
“I didn’t mean them and I was just upset at the time. I didn't know what to do with myself and I ended up taking my anger out on you and I just wanted to say, I’m sorry.”
The hyperactive, pink pony relaxed and put on a soft smile, “That's okay, I forgive you. I know you weren't trying to be a big meany pants and twilight says you are a really nice pony too. Tell you what, if I throw any more parties I’ll make sure to bring you an invitation.” Pinkie Pie's calm acceptance of his apology set Connor at ease.
“Um, before I go, do you think I could have a couple of cookies to go?” Connor asked politely.
“Sure!” Pinkie Pie, now back to her regular energetic self, disappeared then reappeared in a flash with a small bag of cookies and tossed them into the cart behind Connor, “I'll see you at the next party, Connor. Have an absolutely, rootie tootie, awesome day! Teehee! Tootie...” pinkie disappeared into the bakery again for good this time leaving a dumbfounded Connor standing outside the front door. This pink pony flopped between emotions faster than he could process. Yet, it still put a smile on his lips and made him chuckle. Despite her crazy antics, Pinkie Pie was pretty good at making others around her feel better and she had made Connor feel a little bit better too. A famous quote from his world surfaced to the front his mind as he hooked back up to the cart again and he spoke it quietly to himself:
“Though this be madness, there is method in't.”
~~~
The next stop on Connor's list was a place called Carousel Boutique. Applejack had said it was a fancy dress shop in town near town hall so he looked around the surrounding area of town hall. The only clothing store he found was a place off to the side a little that was built like a fancy tepee. The trims has frills on them and all the windows had some kind of curtains on either side. The whole building had a cool color tone to it, yet all the colors were still pretty bright. His expectation was something with darker colors to express high class and elegant finesse. Connor unhooked himself again from the cart and strode to the front door. He had already dealt with an over-the-top, hyperactive, pink pony earlier so Connor felt he would be hard pressed to find something inside a dress shop that would top that.
A door chime rang gently over head as he entered the fourier of the shop. The interior decoration were many shades of lavender, pink, and blue with ribbons and curtains all along the walls to present an atmosphere of sophistication. An elevated platform with mirrors surrounding it was off in one corner of the room while some changing rooms were in the other corner. There were racks upon racks of clothes placed through out the floor space. Most of the clothes on the racks looked like summer dresses, but he could still see other selections ranging from formal ball wear to casual pullovers; well, Connor couldn't be positive about them because he had yet to see many ponies where any clothes at all.
“I will be right there!” a voice called out from a back room. The voice sounded familiar to Connor but he couldn't quite place it. When a mare stepped through a pair of saloon doors, Connor's brain connected the dots. It was the white unicorn back at the portal room. He was mistaken when he thought Pinkie Pie was his greatest challenge of the day.
When she spotted Connor, the white mare paused, like she was trying to confirm that he was there in the shop at the same time she was there. Her eyes boiled and she shouted, “YOU!!”
“Oh boy,” he thought, “Here we go.”
“Yes, me. Hello; long time, no see.”
“Already off to a rocketing start,” he sarcastically thought.
The white mare calmed down a little after her initial outburst before asking, “And why are you here?”
“Well, Applejack wanted me to come by and pick up a few things for her. I believe they were quilting materials.”
“Ah, yes. They're over there in the boxes,” she waved a hoof to a couple of boxes near a few clothing racks to Connor's left. The mare then turned away so as to not look at him.
Connor eyed the boxes, then looked back at the mare giving him the cold shoulder. He wanted to break the ice with her, but right now this mare was in no mood to talk with him. He slowly walked over to the boxes, keeping an eye on her. He took his time moving one box at a time while trying to wear down the white mare with his presence.
When he was about half way done, he spoke up, “Hey...”
“Yes?” she didn't even bother to look at him when she answered.
“I never got your name. What was it?”
“It's Rarity.”
“Rarity,” he repeated, “Okay then, Rarity. Can I ask why you are still upset at me? Is it because of what I said after I came through the portal?”
“Yes it is. I found it most unbecoming and disrespectful for a lady such as myself,” Rarity turned her nose up even farther to the ceiling.
“Would it help if I apologized for it?” Connor had stopped moving the boxes outside now and faced Rarity.
“Maybe, but I want the upmost respect from it.”
“Then please forgive me, milady. I did not mean to offend you,” Connor took a bow and dropped to one elbow and spoke in a deep, articulate, medieval fashion when addressing her. Rarity had turned around to look at the spectacle happening before her.
“I give you my deepest apologies for my past transactions. I was distraught with grief and anguish upon arriving in your world. My mind was not it's rational self and sorrow took hold of my words that I did not wish to speak. You are a queen, but not of drama. No, thou art a jewel in the eyes of many men and ponies as far as the land stretches across this world. I, a simple peasant, ask of thy queen's forgiveness for this one's foolishness.” Connor had closed his eyes and put a hoof to his chest as part of the act, but he knew Rarity had her full attention on him.
“Wait, so you are not just some uncouth ruffian from another world? You know how to be a civil individual and treat other ponies with respect?”
“Ouch, harsh words from 'Thy Queen'; but yes, I can be civil and professional when the need arises,” Connor opened his eyes and stood up now that his act was over, “I'm not just some dumb kid that twilight found off the streets and brought back as a joke. I had my own life and my own goals that I wanted to achieve, and I had a plan being set up to make those goals a reality until twilight showed up and one of my friends sold me out to the authorities. Now I’m stuck here and I had to make new goals to keep me from going insane with boredom.”
“What kind of goals, if you don’t mind me asking,” Rarity stepped forward now interested.
“For this world? Well after I learn to fly, I want to find something that I am good at and leave some kind of mark on this world. I want to make some kind of accomplishment that will be noteworthy to somepony. I'm not sure what i want to do, but i would like it to be exciting or fun.”
Rarity listened carefully to Connor. She saw Connor had the same ambition that she had when she wanted to start making dresses for other ponies. Rarity wanted to be a major dress designer that wowed everypony at fashion shows and did outfit designs for celebrities. When Rarity thought of how she would react if she suddenly was forced out of her world and was no longer able to strive to her goals, Rarity could understand why Connor was so upset when he first came through.
“Very well,” she stated in her regal manner, “I accept your apology. Perhaps we can begin our new acquaintanceship with helping each other. Would you like help putting the boxes in your cart?”
“Yes please,” Connor turned back to the last few boxes and picked one up while a blue aura surrounded another next to him and levitated into the air. He looked to see Rarity holding the box in her magic.
“Thanks,” he said to her before heading for the door.
“Your welcome,” and Rarity followed after him.
After a few more minutes, all the boxes were in the cart outside. They stood just inside the door to exchange a few words before they parted ways.
“I just wanted to thank you again for helping me, Rarity.”
“Oh no, it was fine. I needed the break anyways. I'm having a little trouble with making this new outfit for summer,” Rarity waved a hoof at him as if she was waving away unnecessary praise.
“You don’t mind if I could take a look at it, do you? I’m just curious.”
“I, suppose? But you don’t seem like one who would be interested in dresses,” Rarity stepped to the side to let him in.
“Well, I don’t really wear 'dresses', but I don’t mind looking good,” he walked back into the dress shop and Rarity lead him into the back room where she was working previously. A mannequin in a pony shape stood in the middle of a room with drawing boards and pieces of cloth laying around. Rarity let Connor walk up to the mannequin before suddenly yelling, “Stop!”
Connor froze where he stood, waiting for Rarity to give the next command. He hadn't even looked at the dress-in-progress long enough to give feed back.
“Could you move a little closer to it? There! Don’t move!” she circled around him and the in-progress dress next to him muttering to herself, “Hmm, maybe... the coat is such a different color than the usual... it's just slightly different to give it that unique edge... if I added this, oooh this is new. It's bold, It's different, It's ambitious! Ideeeeaaaaaaa!!!” she sang out.
Connor was whisked away by Rarity's magic and placed on the podium in the main fourier, much to his surprise. Clothes were flying everywhere around coming up to him as if to see what would best match him. Rarity had put on a pair of red spectacles as she eyed every piece of clothing against him, looking for the perfect match.
~~~
This process of trying on different clothes went on for two hours. After the first couple minutes, Connor vainly attempted to stop Rarity from continuing but she was lost in her world of experimental fashion. They went through everything he could possibly wear. He tried on full tuxedos, casual wear, business suits, hipster, leather jackets, and even some bad boy outfits; as in those stupid baggy pants that barely hung onto him and a crooked hat with a pointless logo on it. Connor sort of gave up after trying on a casual vest and just tried to enjoy the moment of playing dress up. He did like how a tux looked on him and he enjoyed the feel and style of the leather jackets. But once he was forced to put on a pair of pants that were clearly a size too big for him, the fun quickly ended and his displeasure at the ridiculousness showed through. Thankfully, Rarity quickly dismissed the idea of him wearing clothes of that nature and went back to business suits and leather jackets.
“Hmm, that suit would be perfect if it weren't for one thing,” Rarity thought out loud.
“And what's that?” Connor turned side to side looking at himself in the mirror wearing a sharp suit.
“It's that strange scarf you are wearing. It completely clashes with the color scheme and it ruins the professional image,” she began to reach out with her magic and started to untie the knot but Connor's hoof snapped up and clamped down on it.
“It's a bandana and I would like it to stay,” Connor voice spoke in a calm tone, but his face told her to not touch it.
“Very well,” Rarity took off her glasses and set them down, “I guess that will do for today. You have given me plenty of new ideas and I shouldn't take any more of your time.”
Connor took the suit off and handed it back to her in a moderately neat pile. Rarity took the clothes in her magic before she saw Connor offering a hoof shake. She took it and exchanged firm shakes with each other.
“It was a pleasure meeting you again, Rarity.”
“Indeed, you are not what I expected but perhaps that is a good thing. In any case, you have helped me already with my next line up. I’ll call it, 'Modern Leader Chic', featuring sharper angles and a commanding presence,” she stared off into the distance with her imagination forming modern art of fashion.
“I look forward to seeing the outfits. I’ll see you later, Rarity!” Connor opened the door and the bell rang again for the final time. Rarity waved goodbye until the door closed behind Connor and she was out of sight. He fitted the harness around himself again and tugged at the heavy cart away from Carousel Boutique and back to the farm. He smiled to himself as he walked back. Today was a very eventful day and he felt accomplished for it. He was on his way to sustained flight with rainbow dash, joined the crusaders, and remended his relations with two other ponies in the group of ponies he needed to apologize to; well, sort of anyways. Pinkie Pie was still weird and Rarity was high maintenance, but they both had their good sides. Now, it was a matter of time learning how they worked and learning how to function with them.
When Connor made it back to the barn, Applejack was standing there waiting for him.
“I only asked for a simple pick up and the sun is already down. what took you so long?” she said in half jest.
“Well, the first pick up went fine. Pinkie Pie was weird, but alright. The second pick up was the one that took two hours because Rarity got lost in playing dress up with me; she said it was for trying out fashion ideas with me as the model.” Connor threw in a tone of exasperation to let Applejack know that he was not on board with the idea of wasting two hours of the day for fashion.
Applejack nodded her head in complete understanding, “Ah, so that's why you were gone for so long. Yeah, Rarity can lose herself when she gets a new idea for her dress making. Come on, sugar cube. You can help me put the flour in the kitchen before you take Scootaloo home.”
She smiled and Applejack and Connor headed around the barn to the home kitchen for another day at work.
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Great chapter. Now that's all except for one of the mane six that he's made apologies to. Wonder how good he'll do with Fluttershy when that finally happens.
Very funny, didn't think Connor had the patience to deal with Rarity
5969078 Really? I try making a smart reference to Shakespeare and the only one you pick out is the reference to a 1980's song? And I thought I was being clever....
5976439 Actually no. I can't stand the song, and if I hadn't binged on TFS last week, I'd have probably caught the Shakespeare, but the first Bardock special had that moment, so...
There's also a 'Don't stop me now' moment in the pre-Ginyu Namek part.
...
I blame Team Four Star.
Get an editor. Or at least use spell check. You have so many mechanical errors that would be so easy to fix.
At least it was confetti and not cakes!