40: Rainy Canterlot
Connor
“Okay, so I can understand why Rainbow and I are going to Canterlot; Pinkie Pie I can kind of understand why she might be coming, but explain to me again why you're here with us?”
The Ponyville Express train rumbled rhythmically down the tracks as it made its schedule midday trip to Canterlot. Connor sat closest to the window with an arm draped casually over the back of the seat with Rarity carefully sipping a cup of tea across from him. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie occupied themselves with a game of cards.
Rarity lowered her cup of tea with a hint of a huff. “I told you already, darling. I am scouting out different locations where I might be interested in opening a new boutique here in Canterlot, and if you paid any attention to me, Connor, I wouldn't be forced to repeat myself every single time!”
“Oh no, I understood you completely,” he nonchalantly responded, “I just don't understand why you are doing it now of all times, when the city is going to be busy and packed with ponies.”
“Well, normally I prefer to do it in between major designing events, but I thought it would be pleasant to join everypony this time before we went our separate ways. While you two are flying around above Canterlot, Pinkie and I will be visiting the available spots for the shop.” Rarity raised her cup to take another sip.
“Aww, but I wanted to watch Dash and Connor fly in the competition!” Pinkie Pie protested loudly. “Got any threes?” she asked Rainbow who growled and begrudgingly handed over three of the cards in her hooves.
“Oh come now, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity shooed, “You can never get enough exposure to the sophisticated culture of Canterlot!”
“Oh yes you can!” Rainbow Dash objected loudly.
“And during the most busiest day of the week...!” Connor gave Rarity another whimsical smirk.
“Phfffft, puh-lease!” Rarity waved off her two nonbelievers, “There is so much to experience when in Canterlot! The fashion, the cuisine, the architecture; there is practically something for everypony!” she went starry eyed while Dash and Connor simultaneously rolled their eyes. The train dove into a tunnel through a mountain plunging the car's window into complete darkness. The interior carriage lights prevented the car from being completely pitch black.
“I'm all for experiencing new things,” Connor acknowledged, “But once you've been to one big city you've kind of been to them all. Canterlot is just special because it has that 1400's, 1500's medieval design to it with all the towers and a castle; well, minus all the rampant diseases and ditches full of shi-”
“It's soooo boring!” Connor scowled Rainbow's interruption but kept quiet. “Where the hay am I supposed to practice my tricks like the sonic rainboom? The guards would be trying to arrest me during every single one of my practices, saying I might cause avalanche, or a rock slide, or something!” Rainbow waved her hooves around exasperatedly. “Got any tens?”
“Nnnope! Go fish!” Rainbow grumbled and grabbed another card from the center pile of cards with Pinkie Pie giggling behind her own small set of cards.
“Don’t be ridiculous Rainbow Dash, The guards would never do that; the mountain is enchanted by Princess Celestia herself!” Rarity argued. “And Canterlot is not boring! Its divine; it's beautiful!” the train burst from the tunnel flooding the car with light again.
“Its- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”
Connor, along with half of the riders in the train car, clamped down on their ears at the high pitched shrill resonating from white fashionista staring out the window.
“Whuh-What?” Connor half laughed out peeking one eye up at Rarity. She turned to him with black eyeliner and mascara running down her face slightly.
“Its Ra~iniiing!”
“Really? That's it?” Connor looked out the window at Canterlot. Sure enough, there was a large cluster of heavy, black clouds currently pouring rain over the city. A slight pattering of rain could be heard from the train car's roof as they approached the storm. “F-aaawwn, I gotta fly in that? Uugh...” he groaned.
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash hooted, “Those clouds look heavy enough to last all day! I can't wait to show off my sick moves; I've practically got an entire water show planned out for my match!”
Rarity's gasp nearly came out as another scream. “This is hardly the time to be thinking about flying!” she waved at the downpoured Canterlot, “Just look at the city; those horrible, dreary clouds are marring all the pearl white marble into this awful, murky mixture of brown and grey, and my mane will be ruined today if I let it get wet!”
She rounded on Rainbow again. “Rainbow Dash, why in Equestria is it raining in Canterlot?! It never rains there!”
The Pegasus shrugged, “The weather ponies never send any rain clouds here, but I heard that’s because the nobles pay off Cloudsdale to keep it from raining in Canterlot.”
“I’m hurt, Dash!” Rarity turned away from her friend. “The nobility of Canterlot would never stoop to such under-hoofed tactics! Well, I could imagine Prince Blueblood doing something petty like that, but never in the presence of better ponies like Fancy Pants!”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow shrugged, “How else do you explain Canterlot constantly having good weather?”
“You know what I heard?” Pinkie finished putting the abandoned card game in her mane before propping up on one elbow with a grin. “I heard that Princess Celestia is the pony who keeps Canterlot free of bad weather…!”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, Pinkie,” Rarity scoffed again, “Why would the princess do something like that? It must be the city being on a mountain far above all those dreadfully clouds.”
“Ladies!” Connor stepped in eyeing everyone, “Putting weather conspiracies aside,” Connor paused at hearing what he said; he was going to have to shun himself later for saying something so stupid. He shook his head and continued, “We still need to figure out how we’re going to deal with the rain. I would like to at least get a rain coat before we have to spend all day in Canterlot.”
“Oh don't be such a baby, Connor!” Rainbow Dash chided. “A little rain won't hurt you.”
“Just because I can fly in the rain, doesn't mean that I want to fly in the rain.” he stated tersely, “Now, does anyone know where we might be able to get a coat, or a hat, or something while in the city?”
“Or an umbrella?” Rarity added.
“Sure, why not?” Connor shrugged. “So, anything?” the three mares sat there giving him mixed looks thinking of a place in Canterlot to buy something for the rain. Connor was about to look up in exasperation when a pair of voices appeared in the aisle.
“Did I hear somepony wondering where to buy a rain jacket?”
“Indeed we did, brother! Another group of wonderful fans coming to see the games and forgot to bring anything for the rain; what a terrible turn of events!”
Connor looked up to see a pair of tall, yellow ponies that looked like clones of each other, down to the their matching bow ties. The only difference between them was that one had a mustache and the other didn't. However, the interesting part upon seeing the cloned sale ponies was the reaction Connor watched unfold from his companions sitting next to him. Their intense glares were putting Connor on edge; even Pinkie Pie was giving them a stink eye.
“And you are?” Connor asked cautiously.
“Flim and Flam,” Rarity cut in with her ice queen treatment. “The fraudulent, traveling sales pony brothers of Equestria.”
“Fraudulent?” Connor pressed.
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie, “One time when they were in Ponyville, they were selling turnip tonics saying it would cure anything that might be wrong with you. They even got Granny Smith to buy some and start doing super, duper, high dives! and another time, they tried to take Applejack's farm with this wacky machine that made this apple cider filled with rocks and sticks and dirt in it!”
Connor raised an eyebrow. Wow, that's impressive. I guess it would be more accurate to say these guys are more of con artists than fraudulent; plus, targeting the elderly is a pretty common tactic back home. he turned back to the sales ponies.
“Ahem; now now, we are simply business entrepreneurs looking to make ponies lives easier, everywhere!” the brothers flashed grins while tugging at their collars.
Or make a quick buck, Connor thought.
“What do you two want?” Rainbow snapped at them.
Flim, or Flam, broke into another broad smile. “Well, as I said before, I heard the call of a pony in need and we wanted to help resolve their problems with our outstanding goods and services!”
The other one hooked an arm around his clone. “Absolutely! In fact, we have just what you are looking for right here!” a rack filled with bright yellow jackets rolled into view thanks to his magic. “These are top of the line, industrial grade, heavy duty rain coats; guaranteed to keep you warm and dry in the wettest of conditions!”
Flam (or was it Flim), nodded, “Indeed! Why go through all the hustle and bustle of the competition trying to find shelter when you could buy a coat from us now and save all the trouble! And if you buy right now, you get it at the low, low price of five bits!”
“They're likely not even worth that much,” Rarity retorted, “And the yellow only match a few ponies' coat color, at best.”
“Also,” Pinkie jumped in rubbing her chin, “Are you two even allowed to sell on the train right now?”
There was a tense pause as the brothers readjusted bow ties and collars. “Yes, well, you see we've talked with the train company and agreed just for today we would be allowed to make a few sales.” the other nodded, “Yes, so long as we shared a bit of the profits with them.”
“So you're not actually supposed to be selling anything here, are you!?” Rainbow folded her arms confidently. Beads of sweat were starting to form on the sales ponies' foreheads under the scrutiny of four ponies in front of them.
“W-Well then, perhaps we shall be moving on now since there are other potential custo-”
“Let me take a look at one of those jackets.” the mares in the seats all gaped at Connor while Flim and Flam beamed brightly.
“Wonderful! Here you are, good sir, one industrial grade rain jacket. That will be five bits, please.” Connor remained silent to Flim and Flam's eager hoof for payment and continued inspecting the jacket. He turned it this way and that looking for any imperfections. It wasn't anything special with its basic plastic design; it didn't even have a mesh lining on the inside for breathability.
“This is some pretty thin material,” Connor stated, “It's barely going to hold longer than today and these wing holes look like someone just took a knife to the jacket. I'll give you three bits for it.”
A frown creased Flim's mouth. “The agreed upon price was five bits.”
“I never agreed to anything; I said let me take a look at one the jackets. And I think the jackets are only worth three bits; and that's being generous.”
“They are not worth any bits, Connor!” Rarity almost shouted, “They aren't even supposed to be selling on this train, not to mention that it looks terrible on you; I could make one that would fit your blue coat far better than that... thing.”
“Thanks for the fashion warning, Rares.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Um, yeah; thanks. but I still need a jacket for the rain.”
“And the price is a nonnegotiable, five bits.” Flam tried to push.
“And I could just as easily go up to the conductor and say that you are selling ill-endorsed products on their train; and I'm sure you would have a fun time talking to the police about that one...!” Connor countered seeing the sale hustle from the brothers. “Now, you can either give me the jacket at the discounted price, or, we could take this up with the cops.”
The brothers glanced at each other for a second before resuming their winning smiles. “Sold! Thank you for your purchase!” there was an exchange of bits to the disgust of Rarity and Dash. “Now then, perhaps we could interest you in some of our other products? We have thermoses, rain boots, rain hats, and whatever this thing is!” the brothers took turns presenting each item to Connor.
He shook his head at each one. “No, I'm good. This is all I need.”
“Then we wish you all a good day at the competition! Enjoy your new rain gear!” the brothers took a slight bow and made their way to the door with a newfound urgency in their steps. Connor and Co. watched them leave until the door clicked shut.
Rarity rounded on Connor. “What in Equestria did you do?! You know that was highly illegal and could easily get a pony thrown in jail!”
He shrugged, “I saw an opportunity to get something that I needed, and I took it.” Rainbow smacked Connor on the back of the head. “Ow, what was that for?!”
“I thought you were better than that.” Rarity chastised.
Pinkie Pie waggled a hoof at Connor too. “Just what kind of message would we be sending to the foals?”
“Hey,” Connor shrugged again while rubbing his skull. “I needed the jacket for today and I knew I could get it at a lower price than what they were asking for. Besides, what foals are you talking about? Secondly, even if they were any here they’re not mine so it’s not my problem!” he snickered. He received another round of head smacks from everyone.
~~~
The train rolled into a wet Canterlot station and squealed to a halt. The station was a mess of ponies running around trying to find shelter from this uncharacteristic heavy downpour around the city, and since they never had rain in Canterlot (according to Rarity), some of the roofs in the city were suffering from unnoticed water leaks, the train station included. Connor was inwardly snickering at the plethora of water buckets littering the floor trying to catch all of its own newly discovered leaks while unicorn repair ponies worked frantically to fix everything.
“Alright! let's head outside and get ready for our match,” Rainbow cheered.
“Yeah, let's go Dash and Connor!” Pinkie bounced around the three of them. Connor smiled at the thought of having a personal cheering squad.
“H~ooh, let me go get an umbrella first!” Rarity ran off to search the insides of Canterlot station leaving the rest to themselves. The three remaining ponies glanced at each other for moment before heading for the front doors.
The streets of Canterlot were just as bustling as the hallways of the train station, but with a lot more water everywhere. The ponies of Canterlot were trying their best to adapt to the abnormal weather; umbrellas tried their best to protect their owners from the whipping rain and wind while shops and stands set up covers to protect their goods and paying patrons.
“Well, might as well try on this rain jacket I just bought.” Connor pulled out the yellow jacket from his saddle bags and slipped it on. The thing was enormous on him; at least two sizes too big if he could make a guess at it, but stopped just above his hip bone. The attached hood completely covered his vision when he pulled it over his face.
Rainbow and Pinkie guffawed at the sight of the pegasus looking ridiculous in the yellow, rubber ducky jacket with only his scowling muzzle and tail showing. Connor tried to turn and scowl back at them, but it only doubled their laughter.
Connor rolled his eyes as he threw off the hood, but couldn't help smiling at making them laugh. “Alright, let's head out to the competition. Do we still want to wait for Rarity, or are we going to leave somepony behind to catch up to us later?”
“I'll stay behind!” Pinkie Pie eagerly volunteered. “Don't worry, I'll find you guys once Rarity comes back.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.
“My Pinkie sense, of course!” she squeed.
“Your- wait, what?”
“Come on; less talking, more flying! We need to register into the competition before it starts,” Dash took off into the rain storm dragging a confused Connor by his neck.
The two pegasi landed in the middle of the merchandise section of the competition. Rainbow Dash was already soaked from the rain and shook herself dry like a dog; Connor was only mildly drenched from the head yanking and trying to stay airborne thanks to his new rain coat. Connor cracked his neck back into place again before glaring at an excited Dash.
“Alright, since we can't tell where the sign up desk is with all the tents set up, we're gonna have to search for it on the ground. Meet you back here in thirty minutes?” Connor grumbled as he worked out the last few kinks before nodding in agreement. “Awesome! I'll see you later when we find it!”
“Wait, where are we-, what am I even looking-, Auughh!” she left Connor standing in the street. He buried his face in his hoof for a few moments before finally accepting his fate to search for the officials tent by himself. Letting out another heavy sigh, Connor headed in the opposite direction of Rainbow.
He shook his wings to free himself of some water logged feelings as he trudged through the sea of bodies and umbrellas trying to find his needle in the haystack of tents. If Connor actually took some time to browse the selection, he could find some new oddities like wonderbolt figurines, trinket jewelry, and some better fitting jackets. He probably could have met just as interesting ponies under all the tents as well if he didn't feel like he was on a mission to find the sign-in tent.
“Connor!” he groaned wondering who was calling his name now. He stretched his neck over the crowds to see if he could recognize who was calling for him. He spotted a hoof waved above the heads of crowd and Connor recognised that it was Mr. Sportsen heading towards him, accompanied with Miss Note Pad right by his side. He wore his usual red tie and white dress shirt, but today his blue blazer had been replaced with a suede trench coat. Miss Note Pad was wearing her customary prim and proper business attire, with the addition of holding a large umbrella over herself and Sportsen.
“Oh, Mr. Sportsen, sir! I didn't expect to see you here today!” Connor yelled slightly over the rain while exchanging a firm hoof shake. “How are you today?”
“I'm doing fantastic, Connor! I was taking in all of the current success of Paint Wars; I'm glad it's doing so well!”
“Mr. Sportsen,” Miss Note Pad interjected politely, “May I suggest we step out of the rain before we continue talking?”
“Ah, of course, Miss Note Pad. Connor, would you join me under a tent, please?” Sportsen smiled.
“Sure!” They took a few steps out of the crowds and under a tent with racks of postcards on display. Connor threw his hood off and shook his face to clear it from any sticking water. Sportsen let out a sigh of relief from being in the rain while Miss Note Pad shook the umbrella.
“Ah, much better. So tell me, how have you been doing, Connor?”
“Oh, well, I've been doing fine so far.” Connor cleared his throat. “I'm a little nervous about the competition still since I might have some pretty tough fliers I'll have to go up against. But overall, I've been doing good. How have you been?”
Sportsen looked to the rain clouds above with a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “I'll be honest with you, Connor; It hasn't been easy for the last couple of days. As soon as I had the rain clouds brought over the city, I had nobles jumping down my throat at every corner complaining how I don't have the power to order special weather over their beautiful city. I've been able to convince some of them of the enormous business opportunity this sport provides with investment and merchandising, but there are still a few who refuse to realize the opportunity I am giving them.”
“Is there any actual royalty that is giving you grief about the storm over Canterlot?” Connor laughed.
Sportsen shook his head, “Outside the expected paperwork needed to be filled out to inform them of the impending storm, there hasn't been any major response from the princesses; though the nobles have been begging for some kind of reprimandation and legal action.” he turned to one of the postcard stands and plucked one off the rack to inspect. “And if it hasn't been a noble trying to issue a royal complaint against me, it's been the explosion of illegal merchandise being sold under the Paint Wars' name.”
“Oh joy...” Connor chuckled again.
“You have no idea.” Sportsen set the postcard back on the rack. “We had one pony trying to sell unofficial paint wars hats to everypony without paying some kind of royalties to us or setting up a third party distributor contract with Sportsen enterprise.” he ran a hoof through his combed back hair while letting another sigh out.
“The stallion in question seemed very self-entitled when we spoke to him about his activities.” Miss Note Pad stated flatly. “He claimed to have economic immunity to distribute whatever products he felt in part to his father being on the Canterlot financial committee.”
“Didn't we tell him that committee didn't quite have those powers like he thought it did?” Sportsen asked.
“We did, actually,” Miss Note Pad flipped through a few of her notes. “He then proceeded to cry to us after showing him multiple legal documents outlining the legal powers that committee had. He also stated he'd vow to, 'Get us back for this'; I have it written word for word here.” she pushed her glasses back up as Sportsen and Connor laughed.
“That is a-mazing! I never thought somepony could be that crazy!” Connor laughed, “Speaking of which, I should probably tell you that I saw a pair of shady vendors on the train trying to sell rain jackets and thermoses to ponies; I think they were selling them with Paint Wars printed on it too. so I wanted to let you know.”
“Uugh, Miss Note Pad,” Sportsen groaned again, “Would you please remind me to talk to the Pony Express train companies so we can give an official list of licensed vendors by us? I swear, whoever runs those trains will let just about anypony start selling on their cars.”
“That, or they are discreet enough to not get caught by the conductors.” Miss Note Pad made a few scribbles on her paper and nodded. “The note has been made, sir.”
“Thank you,” Sportsen sighed.
“Well then, I guess I’ll leave you to your work, Mr. Sportsen,” Connor waved a hoof, “I have to go find the sign-in tent for the competition; hope to see you again soon!”
“Oh, I know where that is!”
Connor paused half way throwing his hood back up to glance back at Sportsen. “Really?”
“Yes, however there was one more question I wanted to ask you before I told you.” Sportsen ever so slightly moved a little bit closer to Connor. “I wanted to ask you where you came from?”
Connor raised a confused eyebrow. “I thought I already told you; Ponyville.”
“No no no, that’s where you currently live.” He waved a hoof in dismissal. “I meant where you have lived before finding residence in Ponyville.”
“What for?”
“Oh, it's just for paperwork and all. We do have a contract with each other and part of my end is having a record of where you’ve lived for our records. It's nothing too big.” Sportsen gave a friendly smile.
“Um, okay.” Connor returned under the tent. “Well, I traveled around a lot on my own so I never really had any place that I stayed for a long time until I went to Ponyville.”
“Well, where did you stay before Ponyville?” Sportsen pressed.
“Uhm, well, I guess before Ponyville I stayed here in Canterlot for a bit” Connor answered hesitantly. And by a bit, I mean, like, maybe an hour or two; maybe. So I guess it’s partially true, then.
“And before that?” Sportsen pressed more.
“Um, Cloudsdale?”
Sportsen stared at Connor incredulously. “How about your hometown? You must have had one, didn’t you?”
Connor tried to swallow the knot now tying his tongue with little success.“Uuh, I-I don't remember...”
“Are you sure? You really can't remember anyplace you might have lived, even your hometown? A little strange that you can't remember where you’re from, don't you think? i hope it wasn't anyplace, unbecoming...”
Connor shook his head. “Sorry, I can't remember off the top of my head.”
“Hmmmm,” Sportsen hummed, his eyes never leaving Connor's. “Miss Note Pad, did you get all of that?”
She looked up from her note pad; “Yes sir.”
“Excellent!” Sportsen relaxed his hard gaze and returned to a more friendly posture. “Well then, thank you for your help, Connor. We'll be sure to input the information into our records later.”
“Uh huh, sure, no problem.” Connor's body felt stiff, like it was being held down by screws.
“Well, I should get going, then.” Sportsen patted a hoof on Connor's shoulder as Miss Note Pad opened the umbrella up again. “Enjoy the rest of the competition! Oh, and by the way, the sign-in tent is over that way. I just passed it before I saw you. Good luck!”
“Thank you.” Connor eyed Sportsen as he left the safety of the tent and back into the torrent of the rain storm. The glint in his eye was unnerving him so much it was unusual.
What was all that about? Why did he want to really know where I came from…? Is it possible that Sportsen might know-, no, it's impossible...! I haven't told him anything about where or what I really am. Did I do something unusual? Or- wait a minute, is it possible somepony could have told him about me?! If so, then who...?! Twilight?? Nooo, there's no way she might sell me out! Maybe Pinkie Pie? She does like to talk a lot so maybe it could have been her… Agh, I should have told everypony to not tell anyone where I came from....!
The conspiracies and second guessing was making it hard for Connor to think straight. He didn't want to completely doubt any of the ponies around him, but the idea of somepony outside of a select few knowing of his origins was worrying. A pony yelling about him being an alien was counterproductive to blending in. The idea was striking a particular fear inside him; a particular fear he worked hard to keep from becoming a reality.
“Hey Connor!” he jumped at the sound of his name. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of him giving a perplexed look.
“Oh, h-hey Dash; what's up?”
“I think I found the officials' tent just over that there. It's only a couple of tents away, so we can get signed in for the matches! Hey, are you alright? You look as scared when you were in Appleloosa.”
“No, no, it's something else on my mind; and I'm not that nervous.”
“Good,” Rainbow smiled confidently, “Because we're supposed to have a meeting with the refs before we start competing today. Come on, let's hurry up and get there so we can start flying!”
Rainbow Dash trotted off back into the rain leaving Connor behind. He paused for a second before chasing after her. Connor was grateful for Rainbow's arrival; it gave his mind a moment to reset. He was doing fine so far with blending in, so all he had to do was keep acting like a normal pony in this world until he went home. Right now, a normal pony would want to win this round in the tournament.
Just keep Sportsen off me and I'll do fine; that's all I have to do. That won’t be too hard for me. Connor reassured himself as he and Rainbow Dash approached a giant yellow and blue tent where several dozen ponies were gathered around a stage. Just on the fringe of the gathering crowd was a single sign-in desk with three ponies frantically trying to finish paperwork still layering the table. The pair spoke with a pony who got their names checked off on some list before quickly hoofing it to somepony else to rush off somewhere. With sign up done, they turned their attention to the players gathering for the meeting.
Dash began pushing her way through while Connor followed in her wake through the seas of winged bodies. As they drew closer, Connor spotted three ponies standing atop the stage along with a chalk board with a few drawings on it. The ponies were dressed in referee uniforms with one of them being a unicorn. The pony standing at the front of the stage was a purple pegasus stallion with a combed over hair cut and looking mildly snobbish.
He turned to his colleagues behind who pulled out a watch from his shirt pocket and nodded. The ref cleared his throat loudly. “Fillies and gentlecolts, if I may have your attention please!” something about his prim and proper voice irked Connor; it was probably the fact that he sounded like someone who’s trying let them all know that he is better than everypony, for whatever reason, with his self-satisfied smile that he has and his smug posture.
The talking of ponies quieted down to a low murmur interspaced with a few coughs as the rain pounded above. The referee nodded before continuing. “Before I continue, let me congratulate every pony who has made it to the second round of the paint wars tournament. You should all feel honored to be able to fly in the beautiful city of Canterlot.” An air of unmistakable condescension came in the last part.
Oh yeah, I would love to punch this guy in the throat right about now... some of the pegasus around Connor seemed to echo his thoughts as he heard a few harrumphs from them as well.
“With that out of the way, I will now go into some of the special conditions that have been made for flying in Canterlot; the most obvious one is the rain currently over us.” there was a cheer or two from the crowd. Connor could just barely make out the ref's eyes rolling. “This was made on special request from the owner of the game to, 'Liven things up'. Since we are to compete in these conditions, the referees have come to the conclusion to instill an altitude guideline.”
Cries and groans of disapproval rose up at the hearing of another altitude restriction. “Oh come on, we just had an altitude restriction in Appleloosa! You expect us to fly around below the roof tops of Canterlot the entire time too!?”
More shouts were followed after that first. The purple referee swallowed his tongue a bit at the angry crowd slowly growing. “I-I said it would be a Guideline; Not a Restriction! There have been no altitude limits implemented in this part of the tournament; however, because of the rain impeding everypony's vision, including the referees, we ask you to keep yourselves within view of everypony for the judges and spectators sake!”
At hearing the explanation, the crowd's stunted anger slowly simmered down to a disgruntled rumble. The ref readjusted his collar before continuing. “As I said, we ask you to keep the flying a little bit lower so that we may be able to judge properly. Any hits made outside of our view will not be counted as we won't be able to tell if there was foul play made in between the score.
“We will also be using the street lamps as a way to help show where the borders of the playing field will be. If you go outside the field, the street lamps will illuminate red and you will have only a few seconds to return to the field before you are disqualified. Are there any questions?”
When no hooves raised into the air, the referee nodded confidently. “Then good luck to everypony; you are dismissed! Will the first group of fliers please make their way to the holding pen!”
“Ugh, finally!” Rainbow groaned. “Now we can finally get to the good part!”
Connor grimaced, “Eh, I'm still not looking forward to flying in the rain.”
“Oh, quit being such a baby!” she shoved, “This is going to be awesome!”
“Rainbow Dash, please report to the holding pen. Rainbow Dash to the holding pen.” Dash and Connor looked back at one of the refs holding a list in his hooves and calling a few more names out.
“I guess it's time for me to fly; good luck in your match, Connor!” Connor waved goodbye to the Rainbow haired mare as she dashed off to find her opponent. The only thing on his mind was prospect of his own match.
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It's been awhile, but what was Celestia's cover story for Connor when he got registered as a citizen again? Why wouldn't that fit as his "place of origin"? I think it would be either Canterlot or Ponyville, wouldn't it?
BTW, regardless of what's on the official records, technically speaking, his actual "place of origin" should have been listed as Ponyville--Twilight's basement, to be exact....
8011666 the answer is simple, they didn't had a cover story for Connor because thick head he stormed out of Castle and Canterlot before the had a chance to so. An to be honest, up until now I don't think it was ever considered to be an issue sense he isn't expect to stay in Equestria long enough, or do anything of importance to ever matter to anyone. Al doe come to think of it he probably should have thought about having some legal papers when he had been arrested in the sky lanes. I guess they didn't go around to it and just forgot about it in the end. Still he might want to get his story straighten out soon before he get too much unwanted scrutiny on him.
8011975 But weren't there were some sort of legal papers drawn up over his participating in the sports contest that had eventually created the Paint Wars games?
8012043 You're write, but I think he just had to signed his name on the paper, and that is it, they don't really need to know his life's story, just that he agree to take his game idea and then it is done. they didn't need to have to have is social security number sense that didn't had anything to do with the government or the crown. If Sportstan want to know more about Connor it is more of his own personal curiosity that he is wanting to know more about him. Plus having a princess supporting him in the process would make anyone of his position wanting know more about him.
I don't see any actual registration being mentioned yet Rainbow is being called already?
8015199
It was probably just implied that they did it, or some magical nonsense noted her arrival
8015457 I reread the text and it states that they arrive at the tent with the intent to register themselves, the officials make their announcement and then RD gets called away. So I don't see how it could have been implied. The magical nonsense solution would invalidate some major assumptions the setting works, not to mention that previous chapters did describe that they always had to explicitly register themselves.
8016033
I believe this is where we both look at the author with one of those 'Are you going to fix it?' looks
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Sorry, I haven't gotten back to you two; my weekend was filled a friend's 21st birthday and more than two and a half gallons of alcohol shared between six people in a hotel room (many regrets were had...), so this is my first time sitting down (soberly) and looking at the responses.
Sorry this has taken this long, but I will go back and fix the issue. I apologize for the mistake.
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Also, for those still wondering about the "cover story" that was supposed to be made for Connor, I will cover that soon but not until the chapter after the next one. I would like to stop hyping the canterlot match up and holding it in suspense and actually get to it.
Wait... There is a adult version?
8018653 Adult version? How so?
8019219 Sorry I meant the deleted scenes story. Well I guess in a way mature would mean for adults...
8022342 The same question got brought up in chapter 34, but I'll answer it again: basically, I compared it to how video game developers are still allowed to play their own games even though they helped make it. They may have helped create the game, but that doesn't mean they will be the best at it. Take call of duty for instance, I bet the development team still played their own game, but I guarantee you that not all of them are at the top of the world leaderboards right now.
Your storry sounds verry intresting, I think I will give it a read when I have a bit more time again.
3 years... pls come back in finish
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*spits drink* wha- someone left a comment...!?
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10323803
Yeah! I would have thought people would have forgotten about my story until I started uploading again!
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Been reading it again lately and since I saw last update was 3 years ago. I decided to leave a comment. Hope things have been well with you
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Full disclosure besides changing jobs and corona, I've gotten new hobbies with guns, politics, and cosplay. But the story never completely left my mind; it is another project that I want to finish.
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Good to hear!
Welp, I’ve read the story again. Which was a good reminder since I really like this take with human in Equestria and specially the pegasus Paint War games which has been the most fun in the story.
Can’t wait to see this come back
P.S AppleConner
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Appleconnor?
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Applejack x Conner sorry for shipping
Oh wait there is a lot of apples in this story oops
nice story but when will the next chapter come out I like this story?
Plan to come back and finish?