> The Roadie and the Show Stopper
>  by Br0nyb0y123
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville is a nice town to visit, it sure is a breath of fresh air after what I see every day in Appleloosa, I just see sand, cacti and the occasional tumbleweed pass by every now and again, and I may seem all happy about my hometown in front of my family and friends, when the truth is I'm sick of it. I need to see new places, so that's why I'm taking a hiatus away from apple bucking and anything to do with apples in Appleloosa. So I've been in Ponyville for about a week and a half now, taking up temporary residence at my cousins Applejack, Applebloom and Big MacIntosh's apple acres, along with my Granny Smith, Applejack's husband, Caramel and their daughter, Toffee. They don't mind me staying there as long I help out with farm work and all that good stuff, but the place they've made me sleep in is kinda a shit hole, though I can't blame them for it, because there ain't anymore rooms in the house for me to sleep in, so I have to sleep in the shit smelling barn, though I will admit, the hay is comfortable.

So I'm probably not going to stay in Ponyville for much longer, I don't wanna overstay my welcome. And on one of my final days, before I part elsewhere, Applejack and Caramel were kind enough to invite me to a Pegasi flyin' show, The Wonderbolts Grounded show or something like that, I've never heard of them. Along with us were their friends, Applejack's friends, who I'm familiar with from their visit to Appleloosa, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Fluttershy and Twilight. And also Caramel's friends, who I'm not familiar with as well as Applejack's friends, but I do know from Applejack and Caramel's wedding, and I do get along with them. There was Lucky, who is my cousin-in-law's best friend, Noteworthy, Thunderlane, Pokey Pierce, who is Pinkie Pie's husband and finally, Comet Tail, who is Twilight's husband.

The show was being held just outside the village, near Sweet Apple Acres, there was around five stands of seats, each looking like a set a stairs, with the front row of each stand being the lowest row of seats, and the fifteenth and last row being the highest. We were all sitting at the middle stand, in the second to last row, I was sitting in the middle of the row, beside me to my left was Rainbow Dash and beside me to my right was Caramel. I couldn't help but think that this show could be absolute bison crap. Because most shows I see either have square dancing or something else related to an Appleloosan stereotype, I ain't never been to see The Wonderbolts, let alone, heard of them. Maybe I'll enjoy it, I'm not sure though.

It's weird, I feel like I'm going through a mid-life crisis, but I'm only twenty-eight years old, so that makes it seem weirder, maybe in another twenty-eight years I'm gonna die, when I'm fifty-six, and that seems pretty bad. I guess it ain't as much of a mid-life as it is just me trying to figure out who I really am. I'm bored of life, maybe because ah haven't found my place in it yet, and a lot y'all would be thinking, "Oh, your place in life is to buck apples". Yeah, just like almost every single member in my family has been doing since the Dawn of Time. I'm sick of that,

"Braeburn? Yo, Brae?" A faint voice I heard that was releasing me from my daze, "Braeburn?"

I shook my head, clearing my mind and the voice sounded much more clearer, I turned to my right to see it Caramel trying to get my attention,

"Braeburn, you OK, pal?" Caramel asked me, "I've been trying to tell your popcorn's here, I've been calling your name for about two minutes but it looked like you were about to doze off"
"Yeah, um....sorry, that was my fault. I'm just a little tired is all" I groggily replied as I took the passed popcorn, "Thanks for the popcorn, 'Mel" I thanked.
"You say you're a little tired?" Caramel asked, "Did you go to sleep late?"
"Nah, I woke up early" I replied.
"I see" He said, "Well, just try to yourself awake and enjoy the show, trust me, The Wonderbolts are awesome, if you have any questions about them, then it's better you ask the cyan mare sitting beside rather than me" Caramel told me.
"Right" I uttered.
"Cause Rainbow Dash is a huge fangirl of The Wonderbolts" He told me before turning his attention to Rainbow, "Ain't that right, Dashie?" Caramel asked her.
"Hell yeah, I'm a huge fan" Rainbow Dash proclaimed, "So as Caramel said, you can ask me anything about The Wonderbolts and I'll be sure to answer them"
"Huh, yeah" I mockingly chuckled much to everypony's ignorance, "I'll keep that in mind, Rainbow Dash"

The two of them both looked in front and waited for the show to start, whilst I took a taste of ma popcorn. It tasted awful, it was too buttery, in fact, there might've been more butter than fucking popcorn. I can't really say that I don't want the popcorn, because I don't wanna be rude to them after they kindly offered me popcorn.

So the show was just about to start, and all the equipment was set up for the Pegasi to do their tricks,

"Ladies and Gentlecolts, welcome to the first venue for..." A loud announcer's voice boomed from the microphone, "THE WONDERBOLTS GROUNDED TOUR!"

As soon as the latter four words were spoken, everypony cheered for The Wonderbolts. And much to my surprise, a trail of cloud passed quickly by the crowd, leaving a line in it's place in front of the crowd. The crowd cheered as the whoosh of cloud curved up and flew up towards the skyline, the further it went, the slower the trail of cloud became, soon fully revealing that it was an extremely fast female pegasus with a white mane,  wearing a skin tight blue suit, that kinda look like a wet suit and she was also wearing air goggles and then she came diving down. ah leaned over to the side to ask Rainbow Dash something,

"What's her name?" I asked as I pointed to her.
"Oh, her name is Fleetfoot" Rainbow Dash replied to me before sighing about something.
"What are ya sighing about?" I asked her.
"The costume change, it doesn't suit them" Rainbow Dash replied.
"Was that a pun?" I chuckled.
"No, well, an accidental one, yes" Rainbow laughed back, "But you get my point"
"I know" I replied, "What's different about these costumes?"
"Oh, the previous outfits had um.." She paused to think, "They had like a mask that was apart of the previous outfit, now the mask isn't there"
"That it? It don't seem that bad" I told her.
"It isn't, it's just that the image that symbolizes The Wonderbolts is their costume, and removing the mask takes it away, if you know what I mean. If they had their masks then they'd be 20% more cooler" Rainbow Dash explained.
"Well, if it's tight polyester against their skin, it must strain them or something" I said.
Rainbow nodded slowly in agreement, "That's a good point, actually"

Me and Dash's little talk was interrupted by another trail of cloud left by another Wonderbolt, except this Wonderbolt was much faster than Fleetfoot, and the trail of cloud this pony left was much darker than her's. The Wonderbolt did the same as Fleetfoot except he was in opposite direction, and before I got the chance to ask who he is, Rainbow Dash nudged me and told me, 

"That's Soarin, he's my second favorite. I think he's cute"
"Really?" I ignore her second comment, "Who's yer favorite?"

We were interrupted once again, but this time, there was five more Wonderbolts, flying above the stands, in the shape of an arrow, with the middle pony leading them on. Rainbow Dash then nudged me once more and pointed to the middle pony and referred to my question,

"Her. My favorite is her, Spitfire" Dash told me.

Ah looked in front to see the five Wonderbolts dash by us, it was a pretty cool sight to see, they all flew gracefully and magnificently over to where they were meant to go and swiftly landed in their spots. I can't believe ah'm saying this, but so far, I'm enjoying this show, it's already got an exciting tone to it and it's only been on for five minutes.





The show was finished and now I'm hanging out with everypony at Caramel and his pals' favorite bar, The Trapdoor Pub. All of us were sitting at this big table, enjoying each others company, drinking and chatting about random bullshit,

"So, Braeburn, did ya enjoy the show, cuz?" Applejack asked me.
"Yeah, I did, I wasn't expecting to, but I did" I replied, "Thanks for inviting me"
"That ain't a problem, Brae" Applejack told me.
"So, Braeburn, how come you're staying in Ponyville?" Twilight asked me, "Is everything OK back in Appleloosa?"
"Yeah, everything's fine, I'm just taking a hiatus, is all, and besides I'm not staying in Ponyville for much longer, I'm leaving tomorrow" I told everyone.
Applejack became shocked, as did everypony else, she then asked "Wait, tomorrow? Braeburn, where are ya gonna go?"
"Dunno, AJ" I replied, "Wherever the road takes me, I guess"
"Where the road takes you?" Caramel questioned, "Pal, you sure?"
I nodded and took a sip of the bottle of cider ah have, "I'm sure, man. You and Applejack got enough to do, what with your daughter and everything, besides, I don't wanna overstay my welcome"
"Darling, where are you going to stay?" Rarity asked.
"Don't know, but I've got plenty of family across Equestria, I'll be able to find one place to sleep" I told her.
"You sure you want to do this?" Caramel asked.
"I'm sure, man" I replied, "I just wanna see new places, is all" I said as I took a sip of my cider.
"I've seen this before, you're bored of your current situation in life, and you're wanting to find yourself" Thunderlane abruptly said.

I almost choked on my drink once he said that. After I coughed from almost choking, everypony looked at Thunderlane with surprised and puzzled expressions,

"Was he right, Braeburn?" Pokey asked me.
I nodded at Pokey, "How did you know that, Thunderlane?" Ah asked.
"I'm a psychology major, I've seen this before" Thunderlane explained.
"Bullshit!" All the guys said to him.
"You're not a psychology major, man. I've known you for fifteen years, you've never mentioned this to me" Pierce said.
"Yeah, I don't believe that you did psychology, you're not really the brightest of our clique" Noteworthy uttered.
"Neither are you, Blues, and you're one of the most educated out of us...." Thunderlane exclaimed, "Hell, I would think that Lucky and Caramel would be smarter than you, and they dropped out of college"
"What the fuck is that meant to mean, Laney?" Lucky asked furiously.

This can take a while, so I ain't gonna listen to it, instead, whilst Caramel's five friends were arguing about their education, I was still talking to Caramel,

"So Brae, you sure you're wanting to go, you stay for a little while longer if you want" Caramel told me.
"No, but thanks for the offer" I replied, "I really can't though, because I'm just in a weird place in my life just now"
"I understand, man" Caramel said, "You're getting bored of yourself and you're trying to find yourself, I've been there"
"Huh, yeah" I replied.
"So you're not sure where you're going?" Fluttershy asked me.
"Not yet" I told her, "Just wherever the dirt path takes me"
"You know, if you're not sure where to go, then you could sign up for being a roadie for the Wonderbolts tour" Rainbow Dash spoke out.
"Pardon me?" I replied.
"You can sign up for being a roadie for the Wonderbolts, this is their first venue for the tour, you can sign up tomorrow, the pay is good, you sleep in the best hotels at the venues and it might be a good chance for to find yourself" Rainbow told me.

Now Rainbow Dash is making a good point, maybe going on a little cross-country venture will make me think more about my current situation, also being a roadie mustn't be hard, you just need load and unload equipment, set up and tape wires. You also need to be able to lift a few hundred pounds and not fears height, shit, I can do that, hell, I even know some things about how to work technology, something that's kind of a rarity in my family (No Rarity pun intended), so that can help for the show. I guess ah might as well be a roadie, if I ain't doing anything else with myself,

"Where about's did ya hear this, Dash?" I asked.
"I saw a flier outside as we were leaving the show, it said you go back to where the show was held and you can sign up there" Rainbow Dash told me.
"You know what Dash, I might just take you up on that" Ah replied.

I made my decision after about a minute of thinking, and my decision that I'll become a roadie....

"Well then, how did you get your certificate as a Psychology major!?" Comet asked Thunderlane.
"How did you get a certificate in Astromony?!" Thunderlane loudly asked back.
"Please shut up, guys" I muttered quietly with my hoof against my forehead.
> Chapter 2: The Performer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Another year, another tour" I think to myself as everypony around me was rushing back and forth to get set up. I usually do two tours a year with The Wonderbolts, once every six months, and frankly, I'm starting to get bored of it. You see, I come from a family of performers, my great-great-grandparents started the Wonderbolts, and every new generation in my family has been apart of the Wonderbolts, my grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, everyone in my family. But I've entertaining ponies since I was fifteen years old, and I've been training for two decades since I was seven, and the reason I'm starting to get bored of flying for the ponies is because, I've pushed myself to the limit multiple times, and it's starting to do a great effect on my body, and not great in a good way.

Over the course of my career, I've suffered from three broken neck injuries, two broken wing injuries on each one of my wings and a broken leg, my doctor says if I get injured again, I would possibly have to hang my Wonderbolts outfit up and retire from stunt flying. And that's kind of what I want, to retire. Due to me being the captain of The Wonderbolts, fans expect me to do my signature move, the move that usually ends a show, it's called the Spitbomb (original name, I know), and due to my past injuries, it hurts like all hell. The worst time I did it was when I was forced to do a show very shortly after I recovered from a broken neck, I had to  take performance drugs in order to do so, and even when the drugs eased most of the pain, it still hurt to do so, with the speed on my neck.

So now I'm starting a new tour with the rest of The Wonderbolts, the "Wonderbolts Grounded Tour", a tour in which we all go around Equestria, except the air-bound cities, like Cloudsdale. I've been around Equestia so many times, like over fifty times, and as much I love to travel to different locations (but I ironically hate the process travelling to said of location), I've became bored of that as well, it's like when you keep going to the same place multiple times it starts to go bland on you, the same thing happened to me, but, instead of it being one place, it's the entire country.

If I do happen to retire from flying, I just want to settle somewhere peaceful. Or I still could still work as a drill sergeant at the Wonderbolts Academy, I mean I've done so for the past seven years, I don't necessarily need to fly, except tell them how to fly.

I'm currently about to perform for Ponyville, a small village which is not so far away from Canterlot. I've grown a fondness for the small town due to the Wonderbolts' biggest fangirl, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow is a little too obsessive with the Wonderbolts, but still, that doesn't change the fact that I have a grand amount of respect for her, as she has saved my life. She's also an extremely talented flyer, she's just as good as me, in fact, she is possibly even better. If I do happen to retire, I will personally ask Rainbow Dash myself to replace me. But I can't retire, not just now, not until my doctor says I can retire, because if I retire before an extremely bad injury or an underwhelming announcement, then my fans will get pissed off, and I don't want that.

Right now I'm at the other side of town, why am I here, you may ask? It's because I need to enter my show in style by flying over the field where the show is being held and land in a specific place, but in order for me to do that, I have to fly from a certain point, in order to build up speed. And from point A I'll have to do a few moves before landing swift-fully at point Z. I'm wearing the new Wonderbolt outfit, it's pretty much the same thing except without the mask attached to the costume. It feels better without the mask, it makes me less restrained in my outfit, which is great. Me and five other Wonderbolts were standing in a line in the shape of an arrow, with me in the middle and leading them on,

"You guys all ready?" I asked all of them.
"Yeah, Spitfire" They all replied.
"Does anyone need a reminder of the plan?" I asked them.
"Me, please" Fire Streak replied.
"OK, Streak, the plan is, we'll all to start fly once we see Soarin shoot up into the sky, I'll lead on, you guys follow, but remember to keep it in an arrow shape, once we make to the location and finally do all your moves before landing in your designated spot, got it, Fire Streak?" I made clear.
"Got it" He replied.
"That also applies to the rest of you, OK?" I told the rest.
"Yes, Captain" They all replied.
"OK" I got motivated, "You ready, Wonderbolts?"
"Ready!" They got motivated.
"Which bolts?!" I asked loudly.
"Wonderbolts!" They shouted.
"Which bolts?!" I asked even louder.
"Wonderbolts!" They wailed.
"WHICH BOLTS?!" I asked at my loudest.
"WONDERBOLTS!" They cheered.

I got myself set for flying I crouched slightly and looked behind me and nodded at my fellow Wonderbolts to get ready as well. I saw Fleetfoot fly up into the air at the right,

"OK, let's get set" I whispered to myself.

I saw Fleetfoot do a few twists and turns and dives through the air, before she dropped down to the ground, and then up came Soarin, which is my call to go,

"Let's ride, Wonderbolts!" I called out.

I galloped a few paces before leaping up into the air and flying over to where the show was. The beneath my wings kept me going until I flew above the middle audience stand and into the show's grounds,

"Let the entertaining commence" I thought to myself as I flew myself up towards the skyline and to perform an amazing dive.





The show was now finished for the day until the second show in Ponyville again tomorrow. Everypony was having the usual after show party, which I never attend on the first day of the venue, I usually go to the second day's party though, it's just after the first day, it's more stressful, and I just want to rest after the show. I passed by a part of our train, the largest carriage, which was were the party was being held. The train, was off the rails, so other trains could pass, and then we'd get all our Unicorn workers to levitate the train back on the rails in the morning, it's a silly process, but at least it works. I went into the carriage which is where I'm sleeping in. Once I went in, I saw Soarin and Fleetfoot getting out of their outfits and getting ready for the party,

"Oh hi, Spitfire" Fleetfoot greeted me.
"Hi, Fleety" I greeted back, "You two going to the party?"
"Yeah, we are" Soarin replied, "You should come with us"
"Nah, Soarin. You know me" I replied, "I'm absolutely shattered just now, I need to take a nap or something"
"OK, suit yourself" Soarin said, "Oh, did you see any pie when you were passing by the party?"
I chuckled, "No, I didn't, Soarin. You still haven't eaten after the show?"
Soarin shook his head, "No, but I'm pretty fucking hungry"
Fleetfoot began to laugh, "It isn't the end of the world, buddy?"
"What if it is?" He playfully acted crazy, "What if I starve!!!"

I began to laugh at Soarin's crazy performance, as did Fleetfoot, then Soarin gave into his hammy acting and laughed with us. Soarin has always been able to make me laugh, with his "relaxed and don't give a fuck" demeanor and his bizarre mannerisms, he's also a very troubled pony, for about three years, he was addicted to steroids and painkillers, he wasn't himself when he took them, it was like he had schizophrenia, it was awful to see him like that. But me and the rest of the crew helped him by making him go cold turkey and he was back to his usual self.

Next out of my friends was Fleetfoot. One of my best friends, I met her whilst I was attending Cloudsdale University, studying history, psychology and flight. Fleetfoot is a highly intelligent pony, whenever she does solo shows, she usually goes to different countries and is fluent in almost every language known to ponykind, however, she is awfully ditsy, having been lovestruck by more than one pony, most notably this dude called Big MacIntosh, she bumped into him at a funfair and apparently "fell in love at first sight", and that's all I know about that, I don't know if she went out with this MacIntosh dude or if something else happened.

But anyways, the laugh died down slightly and I took off my Wonderbolt outfit,

"Well" I said as I stretched and yawned, "I'm going to hit the hay for a few hours, I'll be up once I'm hungry"
"Alright, we're off to the party, Spitfire" Fleetfoot told me once again.
"Yeah, see you later" Soarin added.
"Alright guys" I replied.

I raised my hoof awaiting a hoof bump from the both of them, as the two passed by me, they gave me a hoof bump, and exited out of our sleeping cart and onward to the party cart. And I was left alone in the cart to my own thoughts, so I went up inside my bunk and closed the curtain that led inside for privacy, I opened the window and closed my eyes and was left alone to my thoughts. I was thinking to myself if I should still consider retiring from flying, I mean, I've been doing it for over twenty years, and I'm really starting to get sick of it. I need to find a new place in life, as my current place in it is just to be able to fly, and as much as I enjoy flying, my body can't handle much more of it. Maybe I just need to find somewhere in Equestria to settle down at, and escape the life of being a celebrity. Or I'm just over-thinking this whole ordeal and just have to come to facts that this is my calling in life. Huh, well I guess only time will tell
> Chapter 3: Signing Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've packed up my bags and I'm outside the place I've been sleeping at for the past week and a half, the barn. Outside with me are my three cousins, Applejack, Big MacIntosh and Applebloom, then there was my cousin-in-law, Caramel, my Granny Smith and finally my cousin's daughter, which makes her my cousin once removed, Toffee Apple. They were all wishing me good luck on my somewhat spiritual journey, except from Toffee, as she can't speak proper words at anyone yet,

"Have fun being a roadie, man" Caramel said.
"Thanks, Caramel" I replied.
"Hope ya do well on yer travels, cuz" Applejack added.
"Thanks for having me around, AJ" I said.
"It's the least ah can do for ya, well, the least we can do for ya" She explained.
"Eeyup" Big Mac added.
"Hey, next time you see Rainbow Dash, tell her I'll send a postcard with the Wonderbolts' autographs" I said.
Applejack chuckled, "Ah'll be sure of that"
"Can ya send me a postcard as well, please, Braeburn?" Applebloom asked me, "Can it also be for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo please?"
"Sure thing, kiddo" I smiled.
"Well, it was good having ya around, Braeburn" Granny Smith said.
"Thanks Gran" I replied.
"I think somepony else wants to say bye" Caramel told me as he look at his daughter, who is in his arm.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about you, Toffee" I said to my cousin once removed.

I crouched down to say a proper farewell to the baby,

"I'll send you a postcard too if you're good for your ma and pa" I told Toffee.

She didn't reply, instead she was staring at me and drooling, then laughing, and that is the closest coming as a reply,

"Well..." I said as I stood up straight, "I'll be going, guys. Thanks"

I turned around facing away from them, and walked off onto my journey. As I was walking away, I turned slightly and waved bye, they all waved back and said,

"Bye Braeburn!"
"Good luck, man!" Caramel shouted.
"Yeah, have fun!" Applejack added.

Luck and fun. Two things I'll most definitely need on this trip. God dammit, I hope this trip helps me find my place in this world, or else it would've been all for nothing.





I'm now where the show was being was being held yesterday. I'm in a line awaiting for a sign-up for being a roadie, in front were three other ponies, two females and a male. The two females in front: one of them was a white Pegasus with a dark green mane and the other was a blue Unicorn, and the male in front of me was a black Earth pony.
There was also two other ponies behind me, one male and one female; the female was a young Earth pony with thick glasses, I'd said no younger than eighteen, and the male was a light orange Pegasus with a messy mane and a short beard, he looked very similar to a hippy.
We were all waiting to sign a sheet and get a short interview at one of three desks. Around us were ponies resetting all the equipment for another show, that's being held tonight, it's the last show being held in Ponyville before they move to the next location, I'm not sure what location we're heading to after this though.

The two ponies ahead of me each went to one of the three desks, about to sign their own sheet and get their own little interview. I was called over by an older stallion, a grey stallion with a black beard and mane that was going grey,

"Hello sir" The stallion greeted me with a gruff, "Signing up for a job, correct?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I am"
"Let me guess, you're signing up to be a roadie?" He asked me.
"I am, yes" I replied.
"Alrighty, then" The grey stallion said, "I'll just need you to sign these first three columns on the sign-up sheet"

He then took one of the sign-up sheets from a stack and slid it in front of me,

"OK, I'll need you to sign your name here" He told me as he pointed to where I was meant to write on the paper, "And also here and here" He explained as he pointed to two other places on the paper.

There was a pencil beside the stack of paper, I picked it up and wrote my name beside the name column, underneath that column was one saying D.O.B, so I wrote down my date of birth beside it and put in brackets beside it saying I'm twenty-eight years old, but that was unnecessary of me. Underneath that column was another column that said "Hometown" and beside it I wrote down "Appleloosa". After I wrote in the three column the stallion instructed me to write on, I handed back the paper and pencil and he said,

"OK, thanks. Now I need to ask you some questions that are this paper, and then we'll see if you're able to join, OK?" He made clear.
"Yeah, sure" I replied.
"OK um....Is this your first time wanting to be a roadie?" He asked.
"Yes it is" I nodded.
"OK, have got any previous experience in heavy lifting?" He asked.
"Yes, I was raised on an apple farm" I told him, "So heavy lifting was something I did a lot there"
"OK, that's good. Do you have any knowledge on tech, like sound speakers, FX, etc?" He asked.
"I do, I did exams on it while I was in college, I got straight As in the exams" I told him.
"That's a  big help then" He said, "Also, one last question. Have got a  fear of heights?"
"No, mister" I shook my head.
"OK that's brilliant" He said as he looked at the sheet, "You seem to be roadie material, Mr. Braeburn. So, finally I'm just going to tell you about the pay and everything else, alright?"
"Sure" I said back.
"OK, so um, your usual pay is around 200 to 400 bits per day, depending on how you do and how much the show sells as well, so depending on that, you'll get around 1400 to 2800 bits a week, depending on how it is" He explained.
"OK" I responded.
"Also, you'll be sleeping in that train over there" He instructed as he pointed to the train, "You'll be sleeping in cart five with a few others" He told me.
"OK, should I go over there and unpack?" I asked him.
"That'd be a good idea, yeah, do that, and somepony will instruct you to do something" He replied.
"OK" I responded.

I took my bag and left the desk and made my way over to the train, I went over to the cart labeled "5" and went inside, and saw a few other ponies inside the cart unpacking in the bed that were attached to the walls,

"Oh, you a new guy as well?" A black earth pony called out, but I wasn't sure if he was talking to me.
"I'm sorry, are speaking to me?" I wanted to make sure.
"Yeah, I'm speaking to you, are you a new dude?" He asked again.
"Yeah, I am" I replied.
"What's your name, mate?" He asked in an accent I just started to notice, he was from Trottingham.
"I'm Braeburn" I replied.
"Welcome, Braeburn, my name is Pout and I'm your instructor, don't worry, I'm also instructor to every other new pony, alright mate?" He explained.
"Sure" I replied.
"Cool" He uttered, "Well, I'll wait outside for all of you once you all unpack, OK?"
"Yeah, OK" I said.

Pout then went outside of the cart to wait for all of us inside, there was eight ponies in here including myself. There was three females; two Unicorns, one pink and one mustard yellow and one Pegasus, who was auburn. And five males, including myself; all, except me and one other, were Unicorns, two twins who were grey and one who was light blue, the other pony who isn't a Unicorn was an Earth pony like me, except he was red. I went over to the one free bed. The beds were positioned in bunks, two below and two above, on each side of the cart. I put my bag under my bed and the female Pegasus, who was unpacking her stuff beside me, nudged me and asked,

"Came here to be a roadie?"
"Yeah, I did, what about yourself?" I asked back.
"Nah, I'm on the medical team, just in-case like an accident happens or something" She told me.
"Cool" I replied.
"I came here to see Fleetfoot" The red male Earth pony interrupted us, "Man oh man, is that one piece of flank?"
The female Pegasus beside me chuckled, "Funny, I thought you like Spitfire, JD"
"I do, I just like Fleetfoot more, Spitfire is cute, but she's more intimidating" The Earth pony I'm supposing is named JD told us, "According to rumor, Spitfire once killed a guy just by looking at him with an intimidating stare"
"That's bullshit, JD. Where did you hear that?" The auburn Pegasus laughed and asked at the same time.
"Well um.....I heard it...I mean read it on a magazine" JD said.
"I only have your word for that, unless you show me the article, I won't believe you" She replied.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Oh, my name is Melody, I see you already have listened to JD" Melody told me.
"Oh, right, my name is..." I began to say.
"Braeburn" Melody interrupted me before I could finish, "I heard you speak to Pout"
"Oh right" I replied.
"Anyways, since we're all going to be stuck in this cart with each other for the next few months, I'll tell everypony's names in here" Melody told me.
"OK, that seems cool" I replied.

Melody then pointed to one of the two twin Unicorns who was on a top bunk,

"That there is Peanut" She told me.

And then she pointed to the other twin underneath Peanut,

"And that there is his brother, Brittle" She added.
"No, you got us mixed up, I'm Peanut and he's Brittle" The twin in the bottom bunk pointed out.
"Don't listen to him Melody, he's just being a joker as always. You got it right the first time" Peanut said.
"Oh right" Melody replied, "Well, Peanut. Make sure he doesn't joke around like that as often anymore"
"Got it" Peanut spoke back.
"You can't tame me" Brittle told his brother.
"Shut up, man" Peanut replied to him.

Melody then pointed to the light blue Unicorn,

"And that there is Star Shine" Melody told me.
"What up?" He asked me.
"Nothing much, I just got here, man" I told him.
"Cool, I've been here for about four days, it's fun here, man, you'll enjoy yourself" He said.
"I hope so" I muttered.

Melody then pointed at the pink girl Unicorn,

"The pink one over there is Magenta Velvet" She told me, then she pointed to the mustard yellow one above her, "And her name is Firelight"
"I guess that's everypony?" I asked.
"Yep, it is" Melody said, "Well I guess Pout will be sick of waiting for us outside. Might as well go and do some work"





All eight of us are now outside, it's about three hours until the next show and everypony around was working, in front of the eight of us was Pout, giving us instructions

"OK, so today, we're all just resetting equipment, so I'll tell you all what to do until the show starts" Pout explained, "Melody, JD, Peanut, I need you three to go over to the fog machine, and help Shamrock whilst you're all there"
"OK, Pout" Melody said.

JD led Melody and Peanut out to the direction where the fog machine was. I don't know why they have a fog machine, maybe, they're using it for The Wonderbolts to make a stylish entrance for tonight's show to differ from the last night's, but I'm not sure,

"And Star Shine, Magenta and Firelight, I need you three to go to lighting, like yesterday, OK? Magenta, you're in charge of that again" Pout made clear.
"Yeah, of course" Magenta Velvet replied and led out her crew.
"And Braeburn" He said before seething through his teeth, "Sorry, mate, but since you're completely new here, I didn't have enough time to assign you to anything"
"Oh, that's OK, Pout" I replied, "I'll do anything"
"OK, then, let's see..." He said as he observed around him to see what I could do, "Oh, now I know"
"What is it?" I asked.
"That piece of metal over there is not to be there" He said as he pointed out to a lone and large piece of heavy looking metal, "Can you please move it just in-case it get's in the way of the performance, sorry that if the job seem to much like shite, but it's the best I can do" He apologized.
"Nah, man, it's alright, don't blame yourself, I'll handle it" I said.
"OK, thanks, Braeburn" Pout thanked.
"Not a problem" I replied.

I then went over to the lone rectangular bar of metal, and like that, with all my strength, I hoisted it up on my back, and it was heavy as all hell, it hurt a little on my back, OK, it hurt a lot against my back, but I need to do my job, so I'll put it behind one of the audience stands, no pony will notice, and quite frankly, I don't know what the piece of metal is for.

The ponies I just met there were interesting, though grant it, I don't know much about every one of them, Melody seems nice, a kind pony, JD, he seems funny, Peanut and Brittle seem cool, though I think Brittle might become annoying due to the joking personality, but we'll see, and finally, Star Shine, he seems to a mostly happy and energetic pony, I think I'll get along well with him. So the only ones I don't know much about are Magenta Velvet and Firelight, in fact, I've only heard one sentence out Magenta and that's about it. I guess I'll get to know more about everypony later on.

But anyways, this piece of metal is just as annoying as it is heavy, because it is extremely hard to balance, if it was lighter then I could probably balance it easier than I have to.
Then I felt a tap on my abdomen and I turned around to see it was a yellow Pegasus with an orange and yellow striped mane, it was the Wonderbolts' captain, Spitfire,

"Excuse me, mister" She said, "Are you needing any help with that?"
"No, thank you, Ma'am, but I'm doing fine" I replied.

I then continued to walk on to my targeted location with the weight of the metal bar on my shoulders and back, it slowed me down, and much to Spitfire's notice, she helped me. She balanced one half of the bar of her, whilst I balanced the other. I then walked on and she followed after, the bar was no longer heavy,

"Are you new?" Spitfire asked me.
"Yeah, I am, just signed up today" I replied.
"Awesome, it's always nice to meet a new recruit" She said, "What's your name?"
"Name's Braeburn" I told her.
"Nice to meet you Braeburn" Spitfire replied, "You probably know who I am"
"Yeah, I know" I chuckled contently, "You're Spitfire"
"The supposed one and only" She replied.
"The 'supposed'?" I questioned, "You were great at performing last night"
"Thank you" She smiled, "Where are you from? You local here?" She changed subject.
"No, I was raised in Appleloosa" I replied.
"Oh, I've never been there, is it nice?" Spitfire asked.
"It's pretty there, but it ain't nothing exciting" I said.
"Oh right" Spitfire said, "You coming to the after-show party tonight?"
"I never even knew there was one tonight" I said.
"You should come around, it'll be fun" She said.
"OK, it's not like I'll be doing anything anyways" I said.
"Yeah, that seems cool" She replied.

We both finally made to the back of one of the stands and dumped the metal there,

"Thank you, Ma'am" I thanked.
"Please, call me Spitfire" She told me.
"Oh, OK then, thank you Spitfire" I thanked a second time.
"You're very welcome, Braeburn" Spitfire replied.
"How come you decided to help me anyways?" I was curious.
"You need help, so I wanted to help, I was on my way to where I was going to put my costume and I saw you were having difficulty" She said, "So I decided to help"
"Well, thank you again, Spitfire" I thanked a final time, "I highly appreciate it"
"No problem" She smiled, "Any ways, I need to put my costume on" She said as she backed away.
"OK" I replied.
"Make sure you're able to be at the party" Spitfire said.
"I'll try" I replied
> Chapter 4: Getting Ready
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I usually tend to sleep in a bit more on the second day at the location we're at. It always happens on the second day, I feel happier on the second day, there's less commotion, there's less stress, it's just always better on the second day for me. It was 1:00pm, which is unusual for me because whenever I want to sleep in, I usually get up at 12, well, I kind of did wake up at 12, but I've just been lying here for an hour, thinking to myself about multiple things. Mainly retirement, what am I going to do once I retire? Start a family with somepony? Relocate? I'm not too sure, I'm not even sure if I want to still be drill sergeant for the academy anymore, But anyways, second day, second show, the last show being held in Ponyville, all I have to do for this show is repeat the same moves and techniques I did the previous night and that's about it, show over, then a party.

The parties we have after the show can range from depressing to extremely fun. Though, there has been only three times when the party is completely depressing, and that was at the time of my performance drug abuse, it was awful, I was horrible to my colleagues and friends and I regret doing it, but at least we're all on good terms now, and I stopped using drugs before I got heavily addicted to them. And the fun parties are really enjoyable, I love to dance at the parties, and when not dancing, I like to socialize with my colleagues, they're really interesting ponies, some are eccentric characters with funny personalities and others are lone wolves who each have a mysterious demeanor, but what's really sad is that a lot of the ponies I grew close had to leave for personal and professional reasons. And also, I've been romantically linked to some of them, though nopony found out, because if they did find out, it would be more of a problem for the stallion I would've been seeing, since he wouldn't be able to handle that kind of pressure from the press due to my celebrity status, I don't think. It would be heartbreaking for me, because I would have to break-up with him, but at least he would understand why.

So I got up from my bed in the train carriage, I'm staying in carriage 7 with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Unlike the other carriage that have double bunks, we have triple bunks and a higher roof. I stretched and yawned and stepped outside, my eyes closed at the sight of the Sun but slowly adjusted to it. I looked around to see everypony resetting the equipment for tonight's show and I paced myself back and forth from one end of my train cart to the other end of my train, until I was greeted by one of my good friends and fellow Wonderbolt, High Winds,

"Afternoon, Spitfire"
"Huh, yeah, same to you, Windy" I greeted back.
"Enjoy your sleep?" High Winds asked me.
"Yeah, I guess it was OK, I'm a little bit hungry now" I explained.
"Wanting to get something?" Windy asked me, "The food tent is still serving breakfasts at the moment and mostly everypony is there, Fleetfoot, Surprise, Soarin, and the rest"
"OK, sounds good" I agreed.





I'm now in the food tent, I'm at a table with Silver Lining, Fleetfoot, Soarin, High Winds and Pout, one of the instructors for new employees. They were having lunch whilst I was having breakfast, well brunch considering the time of day, I was eating pancakes, something I shouldn't really have on a show day, as it would probably make me sick, also, it's against my diet. My diet consists of fruits, vegetables, pasta and fish, but my coach says I can have a certain amount of junk food on non-show days, so it isn't all bad,

"So Pout, which cart of ponies is it you're instructing?" Soarin asked Pout.
"Well, mate. I'm instructing cart 5, which isn't bad, they all seem like nice ponies" Pout replied to him.
"Seems cool, man" Soarin replied, "Are any of them nervous about being around us?"
"Nah, not really, they're big fans though" Pout said.
"Oh yeah, am I a favorite to any of them?" Silver abruptly asked.
"Not sure mate, I think Soarin is a favorite to a few of the girls there" Pout replied.
"Hell yeah, man. Girls love a bit of the Soar" Soarin mockingly taunted as he flexed his muscles.
"The Soar?" Me and the rest of the girls chuckled.
"Yeah, girls, the Soar. They can't get enough of me" He proclaimed.
"Funny, I've been working with your annoying ass for eight years and I've had enough of you" Silver Lining joked and chuckled.
Soarin laughed at the joke, "Silver, just because you ain't as beautiful as me"
"Oh, want to bet?" Silver asked him.
"Oh geez, Silver Lining and betting. Two things that don't go well together" Fleetfoot said.

At this point everypony at the table started to laugh in reminiscence of Silver Lining's horrible habit for betting on things, often losing the bet most of the time,

Silver blushed, "No, that was only one game I had in Las Pegasus"
"Silver.." I began, "..you got super drunk on our night off, you played seven games of Blackjack and two games of Pontoon, and you lost all but one of the games, luckily getting all your money back"
"Oh, Pout, isn't the next show being held in Las Pegasus?" Soarin asked.
"I think it is" Pout laughed as he stood up from the table, "Well, I got to go, I got ponies who need instructed"
"See ya, man" Soarin said.
"Yeah, bye" I added.

Pout left as everyone else said bye to him, he was heading over to do his job, and I just finished my food as everypony else finished their lunch,

"Ah, Las Pegasus, nice place, don't you think?" Soarin asked.
"Yeah, if you're a gambling addict like myself" Silver Lining replied.
"Hey man, don't be down about it" Soarin said, "We've all been addicted to something every now and then. For example, I was addicted to coffee and was an insomniac because of it, but now I'm not, so that's good"
"Yeah, we've all had an addiction and just don't know it" Fleetfoot said.
"Huh yeah" Silver said, "Oh shit! We have to go get our costumes on for the show" Silver realized.
"What? The show isn't going to be on for another few hours" I said.
"Yeah, but Seth wanting us to practice for a while, especially you, Spitfire" Silver said.
"Fucking hell, I hate Seth as manager, I wish I could just fire him" I moaned, "He's such a douche bag"
"Yeah, we know that he pushes you to the limit more" High Winds said.
"It's awful, I can't stand it" I said.
"Yeah, well, if he gives you shit we'll stand by you, OK?" Windy said, "But we got to go put our costumes on, before Seth really loses his shit" Winds said.
"Yeah, OK, see ya guys soon, I'll catch up to you guys" I replied.
"Cool" She added, "Bye"

All of them left the table, and I was left by myself, I let out a sigh at the thought of Seth. I hate Seth, so much, so very, very much. He's a Unicorn from Baltimare with extreme anger problems, is horribly rude, extremely foul mouthed and is a disgustingly perverted sexual deviant. The reason I hate him, is because he does not give a shit about anything, he has no respect for any of us and  he even threatens to blackmail us a lot of the time. But one good thing is that we don't see him often, he only turns up when he wants to, which isn't as bad as it would be.

But maybe I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, I can't lose my shit over Seth of all ponies, it won't accomplish anything. And also pissing him off for not getting my costume on will also not accomplish much, so I might as well get up and trot over to the practice area.

I got up and left the food tent, I trotted alongside the train in the direction of where the practice area is, until something caught my eye. Well, it wasn't something as was somepony, a worker who I haven't seen around before, he's probably new. He is a light yellow Earth pony with a light brown and light yellow mane, wearing a cowpony hat and a vest jacket. He was struggling to lift up what looked like a large pillar of steel, he must be a pretty strong dude if he's able to lift up almost 400 lbs  of thick metal, but he was struggling, every time he took a step forward he lunged over as if the pillar was straining his back. I have to help him, I just have to, I don't want that poor dude to hurt himself more than he has to. I went up to the stallion and tapped him on the abdomen and said,

"Excuse me, mister. Are you needing any help with that?"
"No, thank you, Ma'am, but I'm doing fine" The stallion replied to me.

The stallion continued to walk on with the metal on his back, he didn't look like he was doing fine to me. So I went on the other side of him and raised the one side of the bar, and with me and him working together, it wasn't heavy at all. He led us on in the direction towards an audience and also, I decided to strike a conversation,

"Are you new?" I asked.
"Yeah, I am, just signed up today" He told me.
"Awesome" I replied, "it's always nice to meet a new recruit. What's your name?"
"Name's Braeburn" He politely replied.
"Nice to meet you Braeburn" I smiled, "You probably know who I am"
"Yeah, I know. You're Spitfire" He chuckled.
I sighed, "The supposed one and only"
"The 'supposed'?" He seemed surprised, "You were great at performing last night" He complimented.
"Thank you" I smiled again.

Got to change subject quick, I don't want to talk about flying,

"Where are you from? You local here?" I asked.
He shook his head, "No, I was raised in Appleloosa" He told me.

Interesting,

"Oh, I've never been there" I said, "Is it nice?"
He thought for a second, "It's pretty there, but it ain't nothing exciting"
"Oh right. You coming to the after-show party tonight?" I asked.
"I never even knew there was one tonight" He said.
"You should come around, it'll be fun" I told him.
"OK, it's not like I'll be doing anything anyways" Braeburn said.
I smiled once, "Yeah, that seems cool"

We made it to the back of the audience stand and dumped the steel pillar behind it, I'm not sure if the pillar was used for anything but it didn't look like it had any purpose. I took a few breaths after letting the heavy metal off of my back and Braeburn said,

"Thank you, Ma'am"
"Please, call me Spitfire" I hate being called ma'am, though that's really nice of him to do so.
"Oh, OK then, thank you Spitfire" He thanked a second time.

Much better,

"You're very welcome, Braeburn" I replied.
"How come you decided to help me anyways?" Braeburn asked.
"You need help, so I wanted to help, I was on my way to where I was going to put my costume and I saw you were having difficulty" I was honest, "So I decided to help"
"Well, thank you again, Spitfire" Braeburn thanked me a third time, "I highly appreciate it"
"No problem" I replied as I backed away, "Any ways, I need to put my costume on"
"OK" He replied.
"Make sure you're able to be at the party" I replied.
"I'll try" Braeburn replied
> Chapter 5: Relaxing in the Cart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everypony who's with me in my cart have completed their days work, including myself, seeing as I hardly had any work to do. We were all either sitting or lying on our beds. Everypony but myself and Brittle were all exhausted and stressed out, they were drinking bottles of water from the catering area to gas 'emselves up so to speak. We were all sitting around in silence until Melody came up and said to everyone,

"Hey guys, how about we have a little game just to pass the time until the show comes around"
"I don't know, Melody, we're all pretty tired, I'm not in the mood for a game" JD replied.
"Oh JD, this isn't a game where you do stuff, this is simply a game where you just talk" Melody explained.
"About what?" JD asked.
"Well, how the game works, is that each of us tell us about yourself, and whoever has the most interesting tale, wins" Melody told him.
"Well shit, I have the most interesting story" JD proclaimed.
"The fuck you do, JD. It's me and Peanut's tale that's the best" Brittle said.
"Yeah, and before we start arguing about who has the better past story, I'll start off" Melody said, "All you have to do is just say about where you're from, why you wanted to join here, you know all that good stuff. Also feel free to ask anything whilst I'm saying things"

I probably won't, Melody. That's not my kind of thing to question ponies. Also I'm not as rude as my new red friend, JD,

"I'm Melody, I'm a Pegasus, and I'm from West Filly Delphia...." She began.
"...born and raised, on the playground she started spending most of her days" Brittle started to jokingly sing.
"Hey dude, shut the fuck up and let her speak" Peanut told his much more immature twin.
"Thanks Peanut" Melody said, "As I was saying, I come from West Filly Delphia, I was planning on being a doctor before ending up here, I tried to get straight As in my exams, but I didn't get the qualifications to become a doctor, so I ended up working here on the medical team. And I guess I can be considered a roadie as well as I help out a lot around here. And I guess that's my story" Melody ended.

Hmm. Interesting. I wonder who's next to tell their story?

"Anyone want to go next?" Melody asked.
"I'll go next" JD said with confidence.

This will be interesting,

"Hello, my name is JD, and I'm from Vanhoover, I came here so I can get closer to the female Wonderbolts" He said.
"Who would've guessed?" Star Light jokingly asked.
"Huh, yeah" Magenta added.
"But anyways, the real reason I came here is because being a roadie has been something that's been going on in my family for years, my dad was a roadie, as was my gramps, and so on and so forth, after this tour I'm not sure what to do with myself, maybe I'll go back to college and complete it, or maybe go back home to Vanhoover, I don't know, yet I don't care" JD told us.

That's actually pretty deep, grant it, I wouldn't expect this from some dude who is obsessed with sex, but I guess there's more to this dude then we would have thought,

"And that's my story. Anyone want to go next?" JD asked us.

At this point, Peanut raised his hoof. I'm interested to hear his story, just as long as his brother doesn't interrupt and end up spouting bullshit throughout it,

"I want to go next please" Peanut said.
"Go ahead" Melody said, "I guess your will partly for your brother's as well"
Peanut nodded before beginning, "Well, me and Brittle are from Baltimare, we were going to start up a business, but we didn't have enough money to fund it..."
"Yeah, we were going to start a restaurant, but as Peanut said, we didn't have enough cash to do so" Brittle continued on from his brother.
"Fortunately for us, our cousin had ties to being a roadie and he worked as one during previous tours for bands and groups similar to the Wonderbolts, he was offered to do this tour, but he asked us two to do it for him, just so we can get the money" Peanut said.
"After we get our target amount of cash, we're leaving. Simply enough" Brittle added.
"And that's our story" Peanut ended.

Maybe I won't see much of Peanut and Brittle during the journey,

"Star Shine?" Melody asked, "Do you want to go tell your story?"
"Nothing much to say, really. I've kind of been on my own the past five years, my wife left me, my family hate me, and I'm the living out the little time I have left on this planet before the cancer I have kills me. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I have inoperable kidney cancer" He said.
"Damn, man. Why'd your wife leave you?" Brittle asked.
Star sighed, "She loved to travel, I didn't like that, I wanted a family..." He began to explain.
"That's a reasonable thing to want" Fire Light spoke.
"I used to be a high school teacher over in Manehattan, I thought I could teach those kids over there to be civilized ponies, but they're difficult to teach..." He continued.
"My cousin-in-law lived in Manehattan for years, he said it used to riddled with gangs" I interrupted.
"Used to? It still is, Braeburn. But as I was saying, I used to be a teacher, and one day, I got sick on my way to class, had to go home, once I did, I went inside and saw my wife in bed with my...." He paused, then frowned, "...With my fucking brother, something snapped inside of me, a monster let out, I almost murdered my brother. My wife left me for him, and they told lies to the rest of my family that I was cheating on my wife with a student of mine, fucking idiots for believing that and because of those lies, I got fired from my job, even the student that they said I was cheating on my wife with was coaxed into it with some of my brother's money. Four years later, I got told I have cancer, I've got like eight months left before I die and all I can be saying now is that it can't get any worse from here" He finished.
"Damn, Star. How'd you end up here?" Peanut asked.
"I was bored, simply put. I didn't have anything else to do, so I signed up here and I've just been enjoying myself for what I have left" He said.

Wow, that was really touching, hell, he has my bet for best story. It was tragic and somber, and Star looks like he's a calm and chilled pony, but really, he's damaged. Everypony went silent after he told his story, it was like no one wanted to tell their story after his, and I can see why, I don't think anyone can top that,

"Anyone want to go next?" Star Shine asked.
"I'll go next" said Mageta Velvet as she raised her hoof, "Besides, me and Fire's story is closely related"
"Yeah, it is" Fire Light added.
"So, me and Fire went to Uni together, we used to work as waitresses down at a coffee shop, we both quit..." Magenta started.
"...and since we're huge fangirls of the Wonderbolts, especially for Soarin in my case, but that's another story, anyways, me and Magenta signed up for this job and we've been enjoying ever since" Fire finished.

Wow, that's it, that was crap, no offense to them. But that was just dreadful, well, at least it's over,

"Is that everyone?" Melody asked.
"I think so" Peanut said.

Well, at least I won't be telling my shit story,

"Wait, what about Braeburn?" JD asked.

I hate you, JD,

"Yeah, tell us how you ended up here, Braeburn" Melody said.
"Yeah, c'mon man" Star added.
"Fine" I said as I sat up from my bunk.

Well, here goes nothing,

"I'm not really sure how I ended up, I was kind of in a weird place in my life before this. I used to live up in a desert town called Appleloosa, it's not anything special, but it's home. Anyways, I was bored of staying at home, my life has mostly consisted of bucking apple trees at my family's orchard, I wanted to do something with my life, besides kicking trees and watching the apples tumble down to the ground, besides watching tumbleweed roll off into the baron wasteland of sand, rock and cacti..." I started, "I feel as if I'm going through a mid-life crisis, but shit, I'm only twenty-eight. I guess it's just boredom, I want to see the rest of Equestria, I want to see Manehattan for the gang raided wasteland that it is, I want to go to Canterlot, to Vanhoover, all the places you kind ponies resided in. I just want to do something!" I shouted.
"You just want to see Equestria and do something with yourself?" JD asked.
"Exactly man" I replied.
"Did you sign up for this so you achieve that?" Brittle asked me.
"Well, yes. But to be frank, I didn't even know who the Wonderbolts were or what they did until last night, believe it or not. I was staying at my cousins' farm with my gran, cousin-in-law and my cousin once removed, and one of my cousin's friends optioned that I should sign up for this in order to 'find myself', so to speak, so I signed up, and here I am" I finished.

After I finished, all of us sat in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a thoughtful silence, I observed everyone's faces and they were all thinking about something, but I wasn't sure what they were thinking about. Maybe it was about life after the small stories we all shared, but I wasn't too sure. After about two minutes though, it was JD who finally broke the silence,

"Well, Melody. I thought that was a good game"
"It passed the time though, the show's about to start in about five minutes" Melody replied.
"Should we pick a winner?" Fire Light asked. "I think it was Star who told the best story"
"No, it was Braeburn" Magenta told her friend.
"Braeburn and Star are very funny ways of pronouncing my name" JD chuckled.
"Let's not do the vote now, we'll do it later" Melody told everypony.
"Yeah, that sounds like a better idea" Peanut replied, "Either way, I'm off to go see the show"
"Same here" Brittle spoke as he and his brother both left the train cart.
"We all better follow them" Star Shine said.
"Yeah, let's go" Melody added.

All the ponies in the cart left to go and see the show, until I was the only one left inside the cart. I sat on my bunk and thought to myself that I might as well go out there as well, despite the fact I've already seen the show last night
> Chapter 6: Seth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm currently standing in a line with my fellow Wonderbolts at the training grounds, which was essentially where I would be performing during the show, wearing my new Wonderbolts attire that we've started to wear for this year's tour. We were standing as if it were an army drill, awaiting our manager, Seth.

As I mentioned before, I highly dislike Seth, he's a disgusting, perverted, foul-mouthed psychopath, who tells us what to do. Whilst I was standing beside Surprise (who was on my left) and Fleetfoot (who was on my right), Seth was pacing back and forth telling us what to do, like a drill sergeant,

"All right, you awful ponies" Seth said, "We have a show tonight here in this stinky, fucking awful town. And I just want you all to train, train your damnedest"
"But we've already done a show, we'll just repeat the same moves, Seth" Silver opened up.
"Do you seriously think I care, I just want you all to train, and I'll get my money" Seth told him coldly, "I expect you to do the best, Spitfire"
"How so?" I asked.
"You're the most talented, aren't you not? You're the star. The guys in the audience will be..." He paused as he creepily looked at me with his bottom lip bit, "...well, looking at you the most"

I just ignored him, the stupid bastard. Why they be looking at me the most? Because I'm attractive? There is plenty of attractive ponies the crowd could be looking at, Seth is just fucking sick,

"Well, why are all of yous waiting? Get flying" He ordered.

All of us took to the skies, and just as I was about to, Seth stopped me,

"Spitfire, hold back" Seth ordered me.
"What is it?" I asked in frustration.
"I know I give you a hard time, but really I'm doing it for your own good" Seth said, I knew he was lying though.
"My own good?" I questioned, "Seth, you're an asshole. I don't know I haven't fired you yet"
"Because if you do, I'll tell the press about your little affairs with some of your colleagues" Seth uttered.

I was frightened, no one knew about my relationships, and Seth knowing about them is a bad sign. Fuck, I hate him so much,

"How do you know that?" I asked in shock.
"You'll be surprised how much I know about everyone here. So let's start over, Spitfire" Seth told me, "I would like you to visit me in my office after the show"
"What if I don't want to, Seth?" I asked him.
"You will, we wouldn't want any secrets let out, would we?" Seth asked back.
"Fine, I'll stop by your office after the show" I gave up.
"Good" Seth said whilst pulling off a sleazy smirk, "You best be practicing now"

Seth walked away and left me to take to the skies and I did so, I was worried now, Seth pretty much has control over me now.





It was now break-time for us, we usually take a half hour long break before practicing again, I was sitting beside Fleetfoot, Soarin, Silver Lining and High Winds. I was sitting on a bench trying to catch my breath, whilst the others where talking about the party tonight,

"Hey Spitfire, you coming to the party tonight?" Fleetfoot asked me.
I was still catching my breath, "Yeah, I will, what about you guys?"
"I never miss a party" Fleetfoot replied.
"I go for the pie" Soarin said, "And the ladies"
"Oh, is The Soar going to try and hit on the new girls?" Silver asked.
"Hell yeah, man" Soarin chuckled.
"Oh geez" Windy sighed, "You can smell the testosterone coming off of these two"
"Well, would you really turn down The Soar, Windy?" Soarin asked in a smug tone.
"Well, I think I might consider Silver more attractive" High Winds jokingly replied to Soarin to annoy him.
"I guess The Lining just won that point against The Soar" Fleetfoot giggled.
"The Lining? Really?" Soarin replied.
"I like that" Silver uttered, "Has a ring to it"
"It's not as good as The Soar though" Soarin said.
"What do you think, Spitfire. The Soar or The Lining?" Fleetfoot asked me.

Funny, I'm not really sure. Both nicknames are corny as hell, but I guess The Soar is more funny. I couldn't really care much to be honest, but it's all in good fun,

"I prefer The Soar to The Lining, sorry Silver" I grinned.
"Oh! That's another point to The Soar!" Soarin cheered as he flexed his foreleg muscles and then kissed each of them.
"You feeling alright, Spitfire? You've been awfully quiet the past few days" Windy asked, wanting to make sure I'm alright.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Windy. I've just been more tired than usual. Seth's obviously making me work harder than usual, the asshole" I told her.
"We should fire that guy" Soarin said.
"Would you like to do the honors, Soarin?" Fleetfloot asked.
"Fuck no! The dude's like a tank, scary motherfucker as well. I heard a rumor that he killed four ponies back in Baltimare" Soarin replied.
"Well, rumors are just rumors. You'll be surprised to hear what ponies say about me" I explained, "They say stuff like 'Spitfire's beautiful tangerine eyes can turn a stallion to stone'" I began to laugh, "Like I'm a gorgon or something, it's odd"
"Huh, well. Rumors can be true, Spitfire. Maybe Seth is a murderer" Silver said.
"To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if he was a murderer" I replied.
"Shit! That's the half hour up. Let's get back to practicing before Seth comes out and yells at us" Soarin said.
"Or worse, murders us" Silver chuckled.

We all began to chuckle at that remark. It's after this last session of practicing when we begin to perform in the show, and it run exactly like last night, it should be better though
> Chapter 7: The Second Show and The Awful Baltimarian
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being a roadie and apart of the staff, we didn't have any seats in the audience. We instead had to find other places for us to sit, some sat in The Wonderbolts training grounds, which provided a good view for some, but me and most of the ponies from the cart I was partially residing in were actually sitting on top of the cart, all of us were here except from Melody, Melody had to be someplace different as she was apart of the medical team and had to be near the show in-case any performers got injured at all. So most of us, me, JD, Peanut, Brittle and the rest just sat on the top of the train cart and waited for Star Shine to return with a crate of cider whilst watching the show about to start,

"Damn man, where's Star?" JD asked.
"Give him time, man" Peanut replied.
"I still feel bad for the guy" I said, "With the cancer he has"
"Yeah, I know. Poor bastard" Brittle replied.

The hot pink Unicorn Magenta Velvet (and when I mean "hot pink", I mean her color, not her looks, though she is attractive) then cut in on our conversation,

"One of you four guys should have got it instead of him" She told us.
"He volunteered" JD replied to her.
"Still, you should've done it JD, remember when Star did some of your work when you 'miraculously' happened to get sick?" Firelight explained to him.
"I'll make it up to him" JD told her.
"I would've got the cider instead" I uttered.
"See, JD. Braeburn's got the right idea" Firelight told him.
"Look, Fire, baby. I said I'll make it up to him" JD told her.
"Don't call me baby" Firelight ordered him.

We then saw Star Shine climb up the ladder at the side of the cart, levitating two large crates, filled with bottles of cider for us to drink whilst watching the show,

"Hey everypony" Star greeted.
"Hey man" Peanut and Brittle simultaneously said.
"Hi Star" JD greeted.
"Hey" Firelight and Magenta both said.
"Hi man" I greeted.

Star slid the two crates over towards us and then he said,

"Help yourselves guys"
"Thanks bud" JD replied.

Everypony then proceeded to get a bottle of cider out of the two crates, myself included, I popped the cap then had a sip, it was cool and refreshing, I looked at the label and saw that it wasn't Apple Family cider but Forbidden Fruit cider, it tasted damn fine, but not as good as my family's, and I'm not saying that out of generosity for my family, but because it is genuinely good,

"Fuck's sake, when is the show going to begin?" JD moaned.
"The audience is probably still getting seated" Star told him.
"Fuck the audience, I wanna see Fleetfoot" JD drooled at the thought of her.
"I heard she's married" Magenta told him.

The smile from JD's face had instantly vanished as soon as Magenta said that, the poor fellow looked he was about to cry,

"That can't be true" JD uttered.
"I'm afraid it is" Magenta told him.

From Magenta's facial expressions, I could tell she was lying to JD. Before you ponder on how you think I'm able to know that Fleetfoot isn't married, I'll tell you how, Rainbow Dash. Just simply Rainbow Dash. That's my answer Dash told me about all the Wonderbolts' relationship statuses and how Soarin and Silver Lining were quote on quote 'dreamy'  which a word I'd never thought Rainbow Dash would use. But anyways, JD looked horrified of the thought that his favorite Wonderbolt was married, he then cheered up and said,

"Well that doesn't matter, I like High Winds and Spitfire as well" He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes in a way that suggested that this is typical of him. Strange, I've only known this guy for a few hours and he's already a guy that I know a lot about,

"I think High Winds might have someone" Firelight told him.
"The main thing is she isn't married" JD said smugly.
"Yeah, but I think she might be a lesbian" Firelight mentioned.
"Ah, bollocks" JD exclaimed, "What about Spitfire?"
"I don't know much about Spitfire, but I heard she doesn't like relationships much" Firelight explained.
"So, the Wonderbolts want to play hard to get?" JD asked, "Well, I bet all you, I will at least get a kiss from one of the girl Wonderbolts by the end of the tour"

I facehoofed myself,

"Twenty bits says you're wrong" Star Shine said.
"You're on, old man" JD agreed.
"Mind if I wager on this?" Brittle asked.
JD sighed, "Fine, but you're the last one to bet. No one is betting anything"
"I'll bet seventy bits" Brittle said.
JD's eyes widened, "Fuck, you're on, Brittle"
"Better get a kiss soon, my friend" Brittle chuckled.
"I damn will" JD replied nonchalantly.
"In your dreams maybe" Star laughed.
"Guys, shut up, the show's about to start" Peanut said.
"Finally" JD said in relief.

We all kept quiet as we listened to the announcer start speaking,

"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS OF PONYVILLE" The announcer's blasted out, "I welcome you to the Wonderbolts Grounded Tour!"

We were able to hear the applause and cheers from the cart, and all of us but me applauded as well,

"WOO!" JD cheered.





I was about to start the second show in Ponyville, the same five Wonderbolts from yesterday were standing beside me, I looked to my left side and saw that that side was looking confident and then to my right and saw that side looking the same, I was feeling confident as well. I mean, I always do feel confident, all I have to do is do the same tricks as last time, and then finish off with a Spitbomb, then go over to the party and have some....

Oh yeah, I forgot. I need to see Seth after the show. Damn it. He'll blackmail me if I don't see him. I don't even want to wonder what he wants to see me for. The sick bastard. I hope he won't try to seduce me. The thought of that makes me grow pale.

I took a large gulp in my throat. I guess I'll need to do that little influential speech thing to my colleagues,

"Okay. You ready, Wonderbolts?" I asked loudly.
"Hell yeah Spitfire" They cheered.

Alright. Let's go, just need to wait until Fleetfoot and Soarin do their thing.





The show has finished and now me and the rest of the Wonderbolts (who were staying in the same cart I was in), which included Silver Lining, Soarin, Fleetfoot, High Winds and Surprise. We were all getting changed out of our costumes to get ourselves ready for the after-party, except I had to visit Seth now. I should tell the rest that I have to meet him, but then again, I don't want them worrying about me, I think I should make an excuse,

"I'll be a little late, guys" I told them.
"Aww, why's that, Spitfire?" Surprise asked me.
"I made an arrangement to sign a few autographs for a few fans after the show, you guys go ahead" I lied convincingly.
"Okay, Spitfire. See you there" Fleetfoot said.
"Bye" Everypony else said after her.

They all left the cart, I think I also might've heard Soarin and Silver argue about "laying down some fresh wool", which is a phrase I don't really want to know much about.

I exited the cart about five minutes after everyone left, I then headed over to Seth's 'office', if you could call it that, it was basically a small tent which he set up. I entered inside, I was fearing for the worst,

"Hello?" I called out, "I'm here, Seth"
"Hello Spitfire" Seth greeted as he appeared from behind me.
"What was it that you were wanting? I asked.

He uncomfortably slithered by me like the snake he is, I don't know what he's going to do, and I'm getting quite scared,

"I enjoyed your performance tonight. You flew very elegantly" He complimented me, unusual of him to do that.
"Em...thanks" I thanked him.
"Would you like a drink?" He asked me.
"No thank you, I was wanting to go to the party" I really don't like this.
"The party's right here" He said in a funny voice, he's been drinking.
"Em...can you tell me what you want?" I asked.
"I want you, Spitfire" He said.

I backed away toward the entrance of the tent, but with Seth being a Unicorn he managed to teleport behind and clutch onto me,

"Seth. Get off me!" I shouted.
"No" He replied creepily as he kissed my neck.

I struggled to escape, I couldn't though, he was far too strong. I screamed for him to get off of me, he ignored me,

"HELP! Somepony please help me!" I screamed.
"No one can help you, Spitfire. They're all at the party" He chuckled evilly.





After the show finished, we all decided to meet up with Melody at the show's main flying grounds after she did her duty apart of the medical team. Whilst walking over to the party, JD was still arguing to Brittle and Star about his bet,

"I'll fucking do it, you assholes. Stop saying I won't because I will" JD told them.
"Sure, I'll be waiting on my seventy" Brittle replied.
"And you'll owe me twenty" Star added.

Melody then nudged me,

"What are they talking about?" Melody whispered to me.
"Oh, JD bet twenty bits with Star Shine and seventy bits with Brittle that he'll get at least one kiss from one of the female Wonderbolts" I told her.
"Oh. Huh" She chuckled, "He won't win"
"I don't think that either" I grinned.
"Oh damn!" Melody exclaimed, like she just remembered something important.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I forgot to hand in this slip for the medical equipment, I had to sign it because I was handling the equipment and I forgot to give it back" Melody told me, "Crap, I'll need to go back to the cart"
"Oh, Melody. You don't need to get it, go to the party, I'll get it for you" I told her, I don't have much to do anyways, and I'm not fussed about missing the beginning of the party.
"Oh Braeburn, you're the best. It's on my bunk in the cart, it's a yellow slip that reads 'Medical Equipment Handling Sign Up', you can't miss it, I'll just need you to drop it off at the medical tent, just leave it on a table" Melody explained to me.
"Sure thing" I replied.
"Thank you, Braeburn" She thanked me.
"No problem" I mentioned.





I was walking by myself over to the cart I was staying in, it was peaceful whilst I was walking towards there, I looked behind and saw the Sun begin to set, it was a beautiful sight. I made it up to my cart in about five minutes, cart no. 5, I stepped inside until I heard what sounded like screaming, I stepped outside and followed the screams, they became increasingly louder as I went in the right direction, I was actually able to hear the words more clearly,

"GET OFF ME!" The voice shouted, "Stop it!"

It was a girl. I galloped further and further, the yells and screams became clearer and clearer, I followed the screams until I stopped at this shitty looking tent, I heard more screams and yells,

"Please stop!"
"No, you're going to enjoy it" A male voice told the female.

I peeped inside the tent, I should strike this guy unexpectedly. I then saw who it was he was touching and making those screams, it was Spitfire. She struggled to escape, she then elbowed the guy who was holding her, a Unicorn. She elbowed him in the face, and then hit her across the forehead,

"Don't hit me, you stupid junkie" He offended her.

I don't like this guy, I need to attack him. I stormed in the tent and bucked him at the back of head,

"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked him furiously, "You stay the fuck away from her!"

The Unicorn got back up and said to me,

"Who the hell are you? Get out of here dumbass"
"Oh, so you can try and rape this girl, eh? No. You get the fuck out of here, man" I replied to him.

He got angry and then attempted to hit, he tried to uppercut me, but I dodged to the side and then quickly turned around and bucked  him in the face, I broke his nose,

"Oww! You fffffucker" He exclaimed in agony, "I'll be fucking back for you. You hear me?"
"I'll be waiting, asshole" I told him.

I saw him leave the tent, and then I saw Spitfire on the ground beside me, I looked down at her and saw she was crying,

"Excuse me, Ma'am, are you alright" I whispered to her as I crouched down.

She turned around to look at me,

"Oh my gosh, it's you. Braeburn" She said surprised.
"The one and only" I smiled gently to her as I tipped my hat, "Need help getting up?"
"No, thank you" She told as she stood up.
"Are you alright, who was that man?" I asked her.
"I'm okay now" She breathed jittery, "That man is my manager"

I widened my eyes,

"That asshole is your manager?" I asked surprised as I pointed to the empty space he exited from.
Spitfire nodded, "I..I..I thought he was going to do bad stuff to me"
"He won't anymore. I promise" I told her.
"Thank you, but he's a dangerous, he'll try to get you back" Spitfire explained.
"I can handle myself, Ma'am" I replied.
"Please, call me Spitfire" She giggled, "I think me and you had this conversation before"
"Oh yeah" I chuckled.
"How come you're not at the party?" She asked me.
"I was doing something for my friend" I told her, "I then heard you screaming and came to the rescue"
"Do..do you want to come with me to the party? I mean my manager won't be there, he doesn't like parties at all" She asked shyly.
"Sure" I nodded, "I never managed to do that favor for my friend yet though. Can I just do that real quick?"
"Yeah, I'll come with you" Spitfire said.

Me and Spitfire then exited the tent and I was off to do that favor Melody set me, and you know what, I think it's good Spitfire's coming with me, I don't know where the medical tent is, so I can ask her I guess
> Chapter 8: The After Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So tell me about your manager" Braeburn said as he picked up and yellow slip off of one of the bunks of the cart we were currently in.
"Oh Seth? He's just a really horrible pony. He's a pervert, a psycho and I can't fire him. I know that sounds weird but I just.....I just can't" I replied to him.
"Why, because he's knows about some drug addiction?" Braeburn asked.
"How do you know about my..?" I began to ask in surprise and shock.
"He called you a junkie" He interrupted me.
"Oh..." I paused.

I went over to sit on a bunk in the cart, he sat on the bunk opposite the one I was sitting on and put the yellow slip in an inside pocket of his jacket,

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me" Braeburn told me.
"It's not really a secret anymore, Braeburn. I don't do drugs anymore. They weren't illegal either, it was performance enhancers" I explained.
"Ah, I see" He replied, "So if you fire Seth, then he'll let out the secret that you used to take drugs?"
I nodded, "Yeah, he also knows other stuff about me too which I don't really want to be let out"

Braeburn nodded contentedly, he understood why I couldn't fire him. He then squinted his eyes and seethed his teeth, as if he was looking at something painful,

"What is it?" I asked.
"That bruise on the side of your head, it looks painful" He told me, "Seth must have hit you pretty hard"
"I was crying" I said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up again" He apologized.
"No, no. It's okay. I would've been in a much worse situation if it wasn't for you" I told him.
"Hey look, if Seth is bothering you again, you can always tell me" Braeburn said, "I'll set him straight"
I chuckled slightly, "I'll make sure of that" I smiled, "You know it's funny, most ponies who aren't either my friends or family usually act like fanboyish or fangirlish around me"
"Well, truth be told, I've never actually heard of the Wonderbolts until yesterday" He told me.
"Really?" I asked with a slight giggle, I mean he's really never heard of me before, it's kind of weird.
"Yeah, really" He chuckled.
"I thought we were popular everywhere?" I said, puzzled.
"Well, not in Appleloosa, Spitfire. I mean, we live in the middle of nowhere, hardly anything goes around there anymore" He replied.
"Anymore?" I questioned.
"Yeah, we used to be at....well....I wouldn't say war, but the locals of Appleloosa had tension between the native buffalo of the desert. And since we're at peace, it's gotten boring" He explained.
"Ah, I see" I said.

Braeburn got up from the bunk he was sitting on, he gave out a quiet yawn and then adjusted his jacket and hat,

"Excuse me, Spitfire. But you wouldn't happen to know where the medical tent is, right?" He asked me, "My friend asked me to hand in this slip in my pocket to the tent, she says she forgot to hand it in"
"Yeah, sure. I'll show you" I told him.





Me and Spitfire made our way out of my cart, she was leading me to the medical tent, just so I can hand Melody's slip in and then I'll possibly join up with the others at the tent where the party is being held,

"Follow me" Spitfire told me.
"Sure" I replied.

As we walked to the main flying grounds, we noticed that not a single soul was there, it was just me and Spitfire, everypony else must be at the party, maybe I should ask her about the parties the Wonderbolts have,

"So, are the parties fun?"
"Yeah, they are. You'll enjoy them" She told me, "Usually we would be doing shows in a large stadiums, but since Ponyville isn't the largest place, we can't do it in a stadium, and afterwards, we'd be having the party in the hotel we'd be staying in, but since there isn't really good hotels here we have to party in a large tent"
"Ah right. You a party pony?" I asked.
"Yeah" She nodded, "I love to dance. What about you?"
"I party when I can" I told her.

We both made it up to the medical tent and then Spitfire said,

"Well, do what you need to do. I'll just wait out here"
"Alright then" I replied.

I quickly went inside and found the nearest table towards me, I got the yellow slip out of my pocket and placed it gently on the table, and then I exited the tent in a flash,

"You were quick" Spitfire said.
"I just needed to place it on the table and that was it" I told her, "So, you ready to party?"
She nodded, "Yeah. I'm not sure what to say to my friends about my bruise though"
"Just say you bumped your head if you're not wanting to talk about Seth to your friends" I said to her, "But if you want my honest advice, I'd tell them about what happened with you and Seth"
"I would, but I don't want my friends worrying about me, Seth will find out I told them and even if he gets arrested he'll tell the paparazzi I was addicted to drugs and I...I don't want that pressure" Spitfire told me.

I understand why she doesn't want to do it. Poor gal. It's a shame, either let this asshole stay and possibly do bad things to her, or get him fired and imprisoned and let out her personal secrets. I'll help her whenever I can,

I nodded and then said, "Look, Spitfire. Again, if you need help, if Seth is on your case again, I'm still around" I told her, "I'll be around I mean. Cart 5, that's my quarters I'm staying in"
Spitfire smiled, "Thank you, Braeburn"





[Best to play whatever song you want for this scene, if you want to, make it catchy as well]

Me and Braeburn made it to the tent where the party was being held, the music was loud and booming from the DJ's sound speakers, I saw my friends in the tent, in multiple places, I saw Soarin speaking to new female recruits and Silver speaking to some as well, I guess The Soar and The Lining are at it again, I saw High Winds speaking to Pout and I saw Fleetfoot, who just noticed me come in,

"Hey Spitfire!" She called for me.

I turned to face Braeburn,

"I got to go and speak to my friend, I'll catch you later, yeah?" I said.
"Sure, see ya" He replied.

I nodded at him and then I made my way to Fleetfoot, whilst he made his way to where he was going. Once I made to Fleetfoot, she was happy to see me, maybe because she was alone and had no one to talk to as everyone else was doing something different,

"Hey Fleetfoot" I greeted her.
"Hey Spitfire" She greeted back, "Ouch. What happened to your head?"
"Bumped my head, hurt like a bitch" I lied to her.
"Poor you" Fleetfoot uttered.
"So, what's everyone been up to in my short absence?" I asked her.
"Well, Surprise and most of the Wonderbolts are dancing, I'm waiting for the right song. Soarin and Silver were still arguing and are having a contest on hitting on girls and Windy is speaking to Pout about something, I don't know which" Fleety told me, "Why don't you tell me what's been going on in your absence?" Fleetfoot asked with a sly smile.
"Pardon me?" I asked.
"I noticed you came in here with tall, dark blonde and handsome there" Fleetfoot said as she tilted her in the direction of Braeburn.
"Oh, him? He was just walking to the party, and I ended up speaking to him, so I guess we just walked and talked together" I lied again.
"Did you get his name?" Fleetfoot asked.
"Yeah, um...Braeburn" I replied.

Fleetfoot then gave Braeburn a few glances, whilst biting her bottom lip. This means Fleetfoot likes him, as with many, many, many other stallions. I mentioned before she's able to get lovestruck really easily, but sometimes I debate to myself if it really is love,

Fleetfoot whistled, "Well, I'll admit, Braeburn's pretty cute. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I...I...I guess he's kind of cute" I staggeringly admitted and shrugged.

At this point, Soarin and Silver came over to where we were,

"Hey, guys. Did any of you 'pull'?" Fleetfoot asked sarcastically.

Soarin shook his head,

"Nah, we didn't" Silver said, "What happened to your head, Spitfire?"
"Bumped it" I said.
"Ah right" Silver replied.
"Oh yeah, instead you guys doing any 'pulling', Spitfire here got herself a catch" Fleetfoot told them jokingly.
"No Fleety..." I began.
"Oh really?" Silver said.
"You pulled a girl?" Soarin asked confused.
"No dumbass. She pulled a guy" Silver told him, "Or did he pull you?" Silver grinned.
"No, I didn't do any pulling, he didn't pull me, we just walking and talking"  I explained.
"We only have your word for that" Fleetfoot chuckled.

I looked annoyed as my friends continued to chuckle and giggle at me. I don't like that, but at least they were just joking around. The tent went silent for a little bit until a different song came on and it happened to be a personal favorite of mine,

[put this song on, maybe twice] 

"Oh gosh, I love this song" Fleetfoot said.
"Me too" I said.
"What to take it to the dance floor?" Fleetfoot asked.
"Jeez, don't say 'take it', it reminds me too much of college" I told her.
"Want to dance then?" Fleetfoot asked.
"Yeah, I do. Also, say that instead of 'take to the dance floor'" I told her.





It took me a while to find Melody to tell her that I did her favor. I looked behind me to see if anyone else was around who was in my cart, but I couldn't see them, I then saw Spitfire dancing along with her friend, I think it was Fleetfoot, if I remember from Rainbow Dash, I continued walking whilst looking behind me and then I accidentally bumped into somepony, and it just so happened to be Melody,

"Oh hey, Braeburn" She greeted.
"Hi, Melody. I handed the slip in" I told her.
"Thank you Braeburn" She thanked me.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked.
"At that bar there. Firelight and Magenta went out for a cigarette out back, I came back from mine" Melody explained.
"Ah right"

And so, the both went over to the mini set-up bar at one of the far sides of the tent and saw the rest of the guys there, JD, Peanut, Brittle and Star there was approximately eleven stools for us to sit on, I sat beside Star Shine and Melody then sat beside me,

"Hey guys" I greeted them.
"Oh hey man" JD greeted.
"Hi Braeburn" Peanut and Brittle said in unison.
"How's it going, man?" Star Shine smirked.
"It's been going fine. Do you owe JD your twenty yet?" I asked.
"Nah, not yet. He hasn't gotten a kiss from any Wonderbolt yet" Star chuckled.
"Piss off, man" JD exclaimed as he took a sip of cider from a bottle, "I'll get a kiss from one of them, just you fucking wait, old man"
"Language, JD. A short-tempered child such as yourself shouldn't be using such foul words" Brittle joked.
"And a Unicorn such as yourself shouldn't be making bad pranks or jokes" JD replied to him.
"Hey Braeburn. We saw you enter here with Spitfire" Peanut uttered.

Oh fuck,

"Oh yeah" JD laughed, "Getting in with Madam Spitfire, eh?"
"He has better chance than you do, JD" Melody joked.
"Fuck off" JD told her as he took another sip.
"So, apple-man, what were you and Spitfire doing?" Star asked me.
"Just chatting and walking to the tent, I just happened to see her whilst coming out of the medical tent" I lied.
"Is that so?" Melody asked, she didn't ask in a joking tone like the others.
"Yeah" I nodded.
"Do you like her, man?" Star nudged me.
"Em...pardon?" I questioned.
"Do you find her attractive, do you like her?" Star asked again.
"I guess....she's kind of...hot?" I replied in a confused manner.

We all turned around to glance at Spitfire dancing to the song and then JD said after we turned back,

"I'm telling you, guys. I'd give my life for Spitfire, she's so damn hot" JD uttered.
"You'd give your life for five bits, JD" Brittle replied.
"Yeah, I would. But Spitfire is better than five bits" JD admitted.
"Hmm" Peanut hummed and nodded.

I looked back behind me and saw Spitfire dancing, she was quite good at it actually. Melody nudged me and then whispered,

"You do like, don't you?"
"She's just a friend" I quietly replied, "She's okay I guess"
"Hey bartender! Another bottle of cider please, I need to get shitfaced before I enjoy this party!" JD shouted.

Maybe I should get a drink as well, it could be fun whilst being drunk,

"Make that two bottles, buddy!" I called out to the bartender as I raised my hoof, "One for me please"
> Chapter 9: Moving Locations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the party, we had to tidy up quickly, the tents had to be taken down as it was late in the night but the audience seats were still standing, other ponies will take them down in the morning. The party wasn't too bad actually, I enjoyed myself even if I was just sitting at the bar most of the time, talking to the guys. We were mostly making fun of JD and his bet and how he wasn't going to win it, he got aggravated a lot and he cursed at us....... a lot. But he gave into the jokes and just ignored us and we stopped.

The Train and the carts we were staying in were levitated by the Unicorn members of the staff onto the tracks and then we chuffed away onto the next location. I'm not sure what location we're going to for the next show, and to be honest I don't really want to know, it'll be much more surprising for me if I don't where we're heading, and it's a good thing none of us know because then they won't spoil the surprise for me whilst I lie down in my cart bunk,

"Where do you think we're all going?" Peanut asked.
"We don't know, man" JD replied.
"Canterlot? Las Pegasus? Vanhoover?" Peanut asked.
"I said we don't know" JD told him.
"Boy, if we were heading to Las Pegasus, that would be great" Brittle uttered.
"Oh yeah it would" Peanut said, "I'll be at the slots most of the time"
"That's if our employers will allow to do so" JD said.
"That will, the show will be during the day, we'll be staying in a sweet hotel with a nice casino at night as opposed to this" Peanut replied.
"Any of you ever been to Pegasus?" Peanut asked all of us.
"Once" JD said.
"I went there for my honeymoon with my ex-wife" Star said, "I loved it, and I think she liked it a little bit. Hell, if we do end up there, I'll play roulette all damn night"
"Me and Firelight and few other friends went there on a girls night out" Magenta said.
"My parents divorced when I was young and my dad moved to Pegasus. I would often visit him in the summers" Melody mentioned.
"That it? JD? Braeburn? Both of you never been there?" Peanut asked.
"Nah man" JD said.

I shook my head,

"Well. If we are going there, you guys better know how to gamble" Brittle said.
"I know how to gamble. I used to play Blackjack all the time back in Appleloosa" I told him.
"What about you, Jay?" Brittle asked JD, "Surely you must be known to gamble"
"Please, stop talking about it. It's really annoying" JD replied.
"Yeah, Brittle. Cut it out, man. He's had enough" Star told him.
Brittle sighed in annoyance, "Fine"
"Can we vote on the winner of the life story thing?" JD asked Melody.
Melody shrugged, "I don't know, it's either going to be Braeburn or Star's story anyway"
"I'll let Star win this one, his story is much better than mine" I said.
"Nah, man. Yours was" Star replied.
"This is why we need to vote" Melody told us.

If it is coming down to a vote, I'm not going to do it, I seriously can't be bothered with it, I'm too tired,

"Well, I'm not voting, I'm absolutely shattered, I need sleep" I told them.
"Oh, alright then. Night Braeburn" Melody said to me.
"You know what? I'm going to hit the hay as well" Star said after me.
"I might as well too" Magenta followed.
"So is everyone going to go to sleep?" Melody asked.
"I guess so" JD replied, "I'm really sleepy after the party"
"Well then um....I guess I'll see you all in the morning then" Melody said.
"Yeah, night Melody" Firelight said as she flicked the light switch off.
"Night guys" I said to them as I rested my head on the pillow of my bunk.





"So, my fellow Wonderbolts" Soarin began, "Does anyone know where about's we're going next?"
"I heard from Pout we're going to Filly-Delphia now" Windy replied.
"Oh Filly? You're from there, aren't you, Surprise?" Soarin asked.
"No, I was just born there, I was raised in Cloudsdale" Surprise replied.
"I've got a question for you, Soarin" Fleetfoot said.
"Ask away" Soarin said.
"Well, whilst me and Spitfire were dancing, did you or Silver manage to pull off your masculine charms on any lucky ladies?" She asked him.

I can tell already this conversation isn't going to end well, for anyone, mainly myself, they're going to mention Braeburn, I just know they are,

"Well, I didn't, neither did Silver" Soarin said, feeling ashamed.
"He's wrong. I got someone" Silver said.
"Ooh, who?" Windy asked.
"This Unicorn girl called Cherry" Silver told her, "She was nice"
"Lucky you" High Winds replied.
"I know, I have a certain charm with the ladies" Silver nonchalantly praised himself.
"Don't we all know" Fleetfoot chuckled, "Oh Spitfire.."

I don't want to put up with the whole Braeburn thing, he's just a new friend I made, my friends can't seem to understand that, or maybe they do and they just want get me annoyed. It's probably the latter, and it's achieving it's goal, it is really annoying me,

"Is this about the pony I came to the party with?" I asked her before she was able to finish.
"Yeah, what was his name again?" Fleetfoot asked.
I sighed hoping for the worst jokes, "Braeburn"
"Oh yeah, girls, you should've seen him, he's gorgeous" Fleetfoot told High Winds and Surprise.
"Really?" High Winds questioned, "More gorgeous than that Big MacIntosh guy you 'fell in love' with?" She chuckled.
"Braeburn makes MacIntosh look like Soarin" Fleetfoot told her.
"Hey!" Soarin shouted.

Everyone in our cart then began to laugh, except from Soarin. And to think I was going to be made of. After we stopped laughing there was a brief silence, I decided to break it,

"So, how come we weren't partying in the large carriage tonight?" I asked.
"Well, Pout told us that the bosses needed it for equipment storage" Fleetfoot told me.
"Ah right" I replied.
"So, you all looking forward to Filly?" Surprise asked us.
"It could be fun. I was hoping on going to Las Pegasus instead" Silver replied.
"We will be going there eventually, it's in the schedule" Soarin told him, "Let's hope you don't make stupid bets this time and almost lose all your money like you did last time we went to Pegasus"
"Yeah, I have a gambling problem" Silver said.
"I thought you 'had' a problem?" Soarin asked him.
"Nah, I'm still a gambling addict, I don't think I'm fully reformed" Silver told Soarin.

Poor Silver. He's been a gambling addict for so long. From what he's told me, he once gambled away over sixty grand in a night. He's also made stupid deals with powerful ponies, luckily he was able to pay them back, and when I mean luckily, I mean he was really lucky to have paid them back, because if he didn't, then he would've had a bounty on his head. Sounds far fetched, I know, but I believe my friend,

"Well, when me and you hit the strip, buddy" Soarin began, "I'll make sure you don't go overboard with the money"
"Thanks, man" Silver said.
"Anyone got the time?" Windy asked.
"Nah, but it's late anyway. We should all get a good night's sleep before tomorrow" Fleetfoot said.
"Yeah, let's hit the hay" I say.

Since Fleetfoot was nearest to the light switch, and then she turned the light off as we lied down in our bunks,

"Night everyone" I said.
"Night" they all replied.





Everypony was now sleeping in my cart, I wasn't though, it's difficult to sleep on this damn train, for one thing, somepony is snoring and the train is actually pretty bumpy. I sleep wearing my hat, covering it over my eyes to help me get to sleep, but even that isn't working for me. The only thing that can help me sleep is the annoying sound of the moving train.

Right now, I can think about is that Seth guy who tried to hurt Spitfire. Poor gal. Attempted rape and domestic abuse? The guy should be in jail. But again, either he goes to jail and her drug secret goes out, or he roams free and she stays safe. From the press I mean. From Seth? Not if I can help it. I don't usually like fighting, though I used to do it anyways. I used to be bullied at school and I kind of learned how to fight on my own, then ponies never messed with me again, well....until I was around twenty. Me and my friend, Tin Top, used to get into a lot of fights with other ponies in Appleloosa's local saloon, sometimes we would win, other times, we would lose. I remember this one time about three years ago, when the buffalo and the Appleloosans were at peace, I remember just having a casual cider when two buffaloes came into the saloon and began to make fun of me, ha ha ha, I remember it like it was yesterday. What happened was I got off my stool when the two were chuckling to themselves, I picked up my stool and swung it across the nearest buffalo's back, then his friend clobbered me right in my jaw, breaking it. And that was the last fight I ever got into until today.

The noise stopped, but I knew the train hasn't stopped yet. The sound of the train moving blocked up my ears, until I heard the door open and heard the sound of chugging for another brief three seconds. Who was opening the door? I looked faintly at the bottom corner of eyes, past the section where my hat was covering, I saw the pony who opened the door, and to my surprise, it's Spitfire.

"Why's she coming here?" I thought to myself as I saw her pass me, Melody, Peanut, Brittle, JD and everyone else.

I heard the door from the other end of the cart open then close, she exited it and moved onto another carriage. Usually it would be none of my business to see what she's up to, but it's just unusual to be moving to different carts in the middle of the night. FUCK! Maybe she's going to see Seth again. Maybe he told her to come to his cart or something. Fucking hell, I need to see what she's up to now.





When everypony goes to sleep in my cart, I usually go over to cart three, it's a cart with no one in it and there's booths on one side of the train, similar to that of a restaurant. On the other side, there's cupboards for the food we had this morning and afternoon and large fridges where they would keep kegs and bottles of cider, among other drinks. I usually go to this cart to think to myself, relax for a little bit, then go back to bed. I feel uncomfortable thinking to myself when I'm at my bunk in my cart, maybe it's because everyone else is around me in there.

Once I made to cart three, I simply went over to the booth and sat in the seat, with my forelegs on the table as I rested my chin against my hooves. I then began to think to myself as I looked at the gleaming moon outside the window. I was thinking about my future. My inevitable retirement. And what happened between me and Seth earlier. I really want him fired, I really do, but I don't want the press on my back about the performance drug abuse. I won't handle. The paparazzi are a bunch of scumbags, invading on celebrity lives, fuck I never asked for it, I was born into a celebrity family. It's dumb, really dumb. Last time the paparazzi was about five years ago, when I was twenty-two, after my mom died. The paparazzi never left me or my family to mourn, they just waited outside my house, my dad's house and other family member's houses, asking us repetitive questions like 'How did she die?' and all that nonsense. I just hope I don't ever get involved with the press in any way ever again.

I heard the sound of the door opening, I froze. Why would someone be coming here in the middle of the night? As the door opened I saw who it was behind it, it was Braeburn. I sighed in relief, I thought it was someone else, strangely, I didn't mind Braeburn being here,

"Oh my gosh, you gave me a fright" I said to him.
"Oh, sorry" Braeburn said as he closed the door.
"Were you following me or something?" I asked curiously.
"You woke me up" Braeburn replied, "I'm a light sleeper. Besides I thought Seth might've threatened you to come see him again, after the party"
"Seth is the kind of pony you don't usually see until you need to see him" I said.
"When would you ever need to see that guy?" Braeburn asks.
"Training" I reply.
"Oh right. So, why are coming here in the middle of the night?" He asks.
I shrug, "Usually I come here, just to think to myself" I tell him.
"Oh, um sorry. If you want to be alone, I can just...um..just leave, I guess" He apologized as he slowly jerked his head backwards towards the door.
"You don't need to. I don't mind if you stay around. Actually, it might help, talking about it with someone" I say to him, "Have a seat, there's bound to be cider in that fridge over there if you want to get a bottle" I told him as I pointed to the fridge.

Braeburn went over to the fridge I pointed to and got himself a bottle of cider,

"Do you want one?" He asked generously.
"No. No thanks. I don't drink on tours, I have a healthy diet on tours" I told him.

Braeburn then sat in the seat in front of me, we were facing each other,

"So um...what were you thinking about if you don't mind me asking?" He asked.
I let a breath of air, "I don't know" I shrug, "Stuff, I guess. I'm just thinking about my flying career, my future, about how you stopped Seth"
"Really?" Braeburn asked, "You feeling alright now after that?"
"Yeah, my head still hurts a little bit, but I'll pull through" I tell him.
Braeburn nodded contently, "That's good. Do you know where about's we're going next for the tour?"
"Yeah, we're going to Fillydephia" I replied.
"Nice" He mentioned.
"You ever been there before?" I ask him.
He shakes his head, "No, never. I've only been to three places really. Appleloosa, Ponyville, and I was at Canterlot once for a wedding, I want to see the rest of Equestria, live a little and stop doing what I've been doing for the past two decades"
"What was your job before this?" I asked.
"I was apple rancher at my family's ranch back in Appleloosa" Braeburn replied, "I've been working there since I was eight years old"
"Really? Well, I could relate, I've been training for The Wonderbolts since I was seven, I actually began performing when I was fifteen. It's a family business" I told him.

Braeburn took a sip of the cider,

"You don't say?" He asks, "Do you have any other relatives performing with you?"
"No, they all left, my dad, my uncles, aunts, cousins, they all do different stuff now. My dad and my uncles and aunts were just too old" I explain.
"What about your cousins?" He asked.
"They work in the merchandising part of the business. Shirts, caps and all that" I say.





I now begin to ask Spitfire, "So what's Fillydelphia like?"
"It's not a bad place to be honest. There's a lot of sights to see, it's a pretty town"
"Hmm. Sounds nice" I replied.

There was short silence between us for a brief two minutes, I guess both me and her were struggling to find a different subject to talk about,

She chuckled a little bit, "My friends were making jokes about me and you going into the party tent"

How ironic,

"What kind of jokes?" I ask with curiosity.
She scoffs at the thought of them, "Like that I pulled you or something"
"Funny, my cartmates were almost making jokes about me getting in as they would call it, with you" I replied to her.
"Well, you should be happy, my friend Fleetfoot called you gorgeous" She said.

I shrugged like it was nothing,

"Meh. I try" I smirked.

Spitfire giggled a little and I chuckled with her,

"One of my cartmates called you hot. Even though I'm pretty sure he said he prefers Fleetfoot to you" I said to her with a chuckle in the last sentence.
"Really? Pfft, so many men choose Fleetfoot over me, maybe because there is more strange rumors about me than there is about her" She smiled.
"I heard one of them. I heard that you killed a guy just by giving him an intimidating stare" I replied.
"I heard I can turn a stallion to stone just by looking at him" She chuckled, "With my so-called beautiful tangerine eyes"
"I think is also heard from my friends that you...." I struggled to think about the conversation I had earlier with my friends on the top of the train, "...You were a lesbian, or Fleetfoot was"
Spitfire then looked surprised, "Fleetfoot? A lesbian?" She began to laugh a lot, "Fleetfoot gets lovestruck by any good-looking stallion, she might even like you. Most time she's ever been lovestruck was when she met this guy, Big MacIntosh or something..,"

No way. My cousin?

"Really?" I asked surprised.
"Yeah. Do you know him?" She asked.
"He's my cousin" I told her.
"Really?" She asked surprised this time.
"He's apart of the apple family" I explained.
"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be related to Applejack by any chance?" She asked me.
I nodded, "Yeah, she's Mac's sister, I'm her cousin"
"Do you know Rainbow Dash?" She asked.
"Yeah, she's a great friend of my cousin, she's cool to me as well" I told her.
"Oh my gosh, I love her" Spitfire said, "She saved my life once"
"Boy, if she were here to hear you say you love her, she would literally die of excitement" I said.
"I owe her a lot" Spitfire replied, "When I retire I hope she could replace me"
"Wait, retire?" I ask her.

She then looked at me in shock, she didn't mean to say that, that must've been a slip of the tongue.





Oh no, what do I do? I accidentally said I wanted to retire to someone. Oh crud, I don't really know what to say now. I looked away from him to look at my side,

"Yeah..." I slowly said, "I've wanted to retire for a while now"
"Why?" Braeburn asked.
I sighed, "I've been doing performing for others for over twelve years, I'm tired of it. My body is rough shape because of it. I've suffered so many injuries, it's unbearable" I told him.
"Why don't you just retire then?" He asked gently, "You can do it if you want to"
"It's not as simple as that Braeburn" I said, "My fans are really loyal to me. I can't just quit willy-nilly, they'll be really disappointed. I'm counting down the days until I receive my next injury, and until then I'll announce my retirement"

I got up from the seat and paced away from there. I looked away from Braeburn but I was still talking,

"I want to settle down. Traveling around Equestria was fun at first, but I've done it so many times, it's just boring now" I explained as I closed my eyes and sighed, "I just want to settle"

Braeburn got up from his seat and then approached me,

"You know what, I'm the opposite" He told me, "I want to see the country, I've not done much with my life. I've just bucking apples here and there, I'm sick of that. I don't really know what to do with my life, so I guess I'm taking this journey to find myself"

I looked at him, he smiled gently at me, I smiled back. We shared another silence, we couldn't think of anything else to say again, so I decided the break the silence yet again,

"Thanks by the way"
"For what?" He asked.
"Saving me from Seth" I told him.
"Seriously, it's no problem" He replied to me, "Just remember, if you need help then speak to me about it"
"Okay, thank you" I said.
"You should get some sleep or something, Spitfire. I'm going to back to bed as well" He said, "Want to walk back together?"
"Sure" I smiled.
> Chapter 10: Champagne Supernova
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So me and Spitfire were walking over to our carts, my cart first then her cart second. We stopped once we got to my bunk in my cart and then we began to exchange a few words before parting for the remainder of the night,

"So, is there a stadium in Fillydelphia?" I asked her.
"Yeah, a big one. That's a big benefit for you, Braeburn," She told me.
"How so?" I asked with curiosity.
"Big stadium, big bucks," Spitfire said.
"Nice," I replied, "How much do you get paid?"
She chuckled, "A lot. Every show we do, we get paid fifteen grand, and we get paid even more with the merchandise in our likenesses."
"Wow, fifteen grand in a day?" I spoke, stunned.
"Yeah," She smiled.
"That's how much my family's ranch makes in half a year and you get in a day?" I question, "Just...wow."

She giggled at how shocked I was. I couldn't help it, in my opinion, that's a shit tonne of bits,

"Anyways, I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" She asked me after she stopped giggling.
"Sure," I replied to her.
"And thanks again for helping me from Seth, Braeburn," She thanked.
"It's not a problem," I replied and smiled.

We shared a little comfortable silence between each other. As the train bumped along the tracks in the night, we just stood there with small smiles on our faces. The moment was sweet. She looked away briefly and blushed right before she approached and did something I did not expect, she gave me a small peck on the cheek,

"I'll see you tomorrow," She whispered in my ear.

She then gave me a small smile before she went ahead to her own cart by herself, but before she went away, I said to her,

"I'll see you tomorrow as well."





I left his cart and passed by the upcoming cart in order to get to mine. I couldn't help but think about my little slip of the tongue back there, he's the only one who knows of my plans of retirement, he seems like a guy I can trust though. Maybe that little kiss was a little too much... He is kinda cute though. Damn, I need to get a hold of myself. No more relationships, I promised yourself that.

I passed by Pout's cart before getting to mine. Pout is an odd name for a male pony, I think he might be gay, in fact, most of us do. Though, Fleetfoot thinks he's good-looking, what a surprise. Seth hates him, he's homophobic towards him but he's never actually said it to Pout's face and there could be a possibility that Pout isn't gay, so he could be hating him for nothing, but grant it, it is Seth and he does hate most ponies, which in turn makes him a hateful pony.

Once I made it to my cart, everyone was sound asleep, Soarin was hanging out of his bunk, and almost looked like he was going to fall off. I quietly sneaked to my bunk and hopped in it and then laid on my side, looking out the window as I watched the jade sea of trees pass and gradually melt into amber waves of wheat, and began to doze off to sleep...

...

Right until Soarin fell out of his bunk, the loud thud he made woke all of us up. Fleetie woke up and switched the light whilst Silver jumped out his bunk and started shouting in a fright,

"The fuck was that!?"
"Silver, calm down," I told him, "It's just Soarin."

Silver looked around in worry for a little bit before realizing he woke up in horror and calmed down, he then looked down at Soarin who was still asleep,

"How is he not awake?" Silver asked.
"Soarin can sleep through anything, even an explosion," High Winds told him.
"Is that so?" Silver questioned, "Well, we can't leave him here. C'mon girls, help me get him up"
Surprise made a pfft sound before replying, "Stuff that. You can do that yourself, lazy ass."
"What? Come on, girls," Silver begged.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure you can do it yourself, Silver", Fleetfoot told him.
"Yeah, you can do it, Lining," Windy added.

He then looked at with a face that simply said, "Help me",

"Don't look at me Silver. I'm not helping you" I laughed, "Besides if you were lying there and Soarin was in your position, he'd be persisting to lift you up by himself,"

Silver looked down at Soarin then back at me then back at Soarin and then let out a little grumble and then muttered what sounded like curse words to himself as he began to pick up the still sleeping Soarin and then he hoisted him on his back before struggling to figure out how he'll get him to the top bunk,

"Fuck..." He uttered.

All the girls looked at him and chuckled slightly, as he tried placing Soarin on his bunk but failing, he then tried to spread his wings in order to fly his way up there but with Soarin on his shoulders, it didn't work, he struggled for a good five minutes before Fleetfoot said,

"Silver...honey, why don't you just put him in your bunk and you sleep in his? Yours is a bottom bunk."

He then looked at us with a grumpy expression,

"I know mine is the bottom. But if I was sleeping in the top bunk and fell off then Soarin would put me back where I slept. I'm going to do the same," He told us with charisma.
"Alright then," Windy said.
"Well, I'm gonna head back to sleep. I'll see all of you in the morning," I explained to them.
"Night Spitfire," Surprise and Fleetfoot replied.
"Goodnight," Windy smiled.

Silver didn't wish me good night as he was too busy concentrating on Soarin (ignore how wrong that sounds). I then rested my head against my pillow and faced away from them and drifted off to sleep, with my mind focused on amber waves, but not of wheat.





The morning came bright but breezy for us. I heard the wind blast outside my window. The window creaked. The sound of the wind actually woke me up,

JD grumbled as he awoke, "Fuck me..."

I'd rather not,

"...Is that the wind outside?" He asked me.
"Yeah, man. It's wilder than the Appleloosan wind out there," I replied.

JD climbed down from his bunk and then tapped me on my arm,

"Let's wake up the rest before Pout does. He wakes us up worse than anything," He told me.
"How does Pout do it?" I asked him curiously.
"Storms in with a trumpet and plays a wake-up call as if we're in summer camp," He explained.
My eyes widened, I don't want that to happen, "You do your side of the cart, I'll do mine."
"Yeah sure," I agreed.

I got out of my bunk and quickly but quietly paced to the bunk beside me, where Melody was sleeping, I nudged her and lightly shook her awake,

"Hey Melody," I said, "It's time to wake up."

She grumbled awake and opened her eyes, her eyes simply read tiredness,

"Can't I just sleep for a few more minutes?" She asked.
"If you want to get woken up by a trumpet, be my guest," I chuckled, "Come on, big day ahead of us."
"Darn... yeah..." She groggily muttered, "Trumpets..."

She fluttered back to sleep,

"Suit yourself, Mel."

I turned to face JD, who was trying to wake up Magenta, with no luck, everyone else slouched back to sleep,

"JD."
He faced me, "Yeah?"
"They're not waking up," I told him.
"What should we do?" He asked.
"We need to do something louder," I replied.
"Come on, man. Don't do that, me and everyone else are tired that we get woken up by loud noises anyways," JD explained.
"It's not gonna be as loud as a trumpet, man," I said, "How good's your singing voice?"
"What?" He quizzed.
"Can you sing?" I asked him.
"Badly, but, what are you getting at, Brae?" JD asked back.
"Sing them awake. I can yodel," I told him, almost chuckling at the thought.

JD sighed and looked around at the ponies sleeping beside us,

"Is yodeling a popular thing back in Appleloosa?" JD asked.
"Nah, man. Would you rather wake up to trumpets or the sound of my sumptuous voice?" I chuckled.
"Dude, I don't know what you sound like, for all I know you could be a broken record."
I laughed once again, "Me? A broken record? I'm a country boy, J, no girl back home can resist the baritone, rhythmic, lilting sound of my voice," I told him.
"Oh well then, Braeburn. Be my guest," He replied.

I cleared my voice and stood taller, readying myself to yodel. I wasn't sure why I was going to yodel, perhaps I thought it would be more easy to wake up to than the sound of out-of-tune trumpet.

I cleared my throat, "YO-"

The door busted open, and in strolled Pout, holding a rusty looking trumpet. For once, JD thought ahead of me and tucked his ears in and hopped back onto his bunk and wrapped his pillow around his head.

Then Pout began to play...





I woke up to the sound of humming. It was peaceful, almost serene, I sat on the edge of my bunk and stood up. I looked up at one of the top bunks, and I saw Surprise sitting upwards, reading a book and humming to herself. She had curlers in her mane. I looked around the rest of the cart, Soarin and Silver were still fast asleep and Windy and Fleetfoot were nowhere to be seen.

I yawned, "Morning, Surprise."
"Morning, Spitfire," She greeted, "Sleep well?"
"Eh..." I shrugged, "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep for a little bit. But other than that, it was fine. How about you?"
"I had an odd dream. I dreamed that I was Princess Luna flying through a champagne supernova," Surprise explained.
"Hmm..." I began, "You should use that name for a special move. Who knows? You might be the next scene-stealer after me."

Surprise laughed as she placed her book to her side. Surprise had a lovely laugh,

"Nah, you're the main attraction, Spit." She said, calming down from his giggling session, "It's your face on most of the posters."
"Maybe one day you'll have a bigger share of the limelight," I told her, "You're a fantastic flyer after all."
"Aw, you're a dear, Spitfire," Surprise said with a smile.

Our little conversation was stopped to a halt by the loud snorking of Soarin's snout. It sent a shudder down my spine. I turned around and saw him twitching his left hind leg as he slept, looking like he's had a hard night of partying,

"He's a strange one, that Soarin," I commented.
"You're telling me," Surprise added.
"Where's Fleety and Windy?" I asked as I turned around to face her.
"Went out to get some breakfast at a fast food chain."
"Oh, Sweet Celestia. I wouldn't be able to do that," I told her.
"Haha, I know. You don't even have a break on your diets for tours," Surprise replied.

Our ears pricked up to the noise that sounded almost like an odd screeching. I closed my eyes and focused in more, not too sure as to what it could be,

"You hear that, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I do..." Surprise agreed.

I wonder what it could've been...





Oh, the noise! That terrible noise was unlike anything I ever heard... Pout blew through the trumpet as much as he could, his face going a little red. I seriously thought the glass would shatter in the cart. Everyone sprang up, some with fear and adrenaline rushing through them, others just cringed and shuddered at the awful screeching sound. Melody fell out of her bunk and onto the floor, Brittle bumped his head against his brother's bunk from underneath and Star Light jumped out and nearly kicked me in the face. Pout then stopped and with the most kindly and forward expressions, he said,

"Morning, lads."

Everypony groaned. I'm pretty sure JD and Brittle told him to fuck off as well.

And with a ringing in my ears, Pout told us about a briefing that was to occur ten minutes from then. And with that I only knew one thing and one thing only.

Today was going to be a long day.
> Chapter 11: Breakfast in Filly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pout was standing outside, waiting for us. Magenta and Firelight took the time to have a cigarette whilst Pout was briefing us on our jobs for the day. I looked around and saw buildings of grandeur, giant slabs of concrete, I couldn't see the roofs to any building in sight. I felt a little overwhelmed by the sight of it all, it was so busy along the roads that I could just past the bay.

Melody didn't join us for the briefing, since she was on medical. She said to Star Light that she was going to visit her parents and then come round to the stadium to help with the medical staff. So, it was me, Star Light, Firelight, JD, Peanut, Brittle, Magenta and that was it really. I looked to my left and saw other groups of ponies being briefed by other older ponies. I noticed the black bearded stallion I met at the sign up desk briefing a few younger ponies, I looked to my right and saw the same thing with different ponies.

Everypony was still reeling from the sound of Pout's magnificent(ly shit) musical skills with a trumpets. Whilst he was gladly standing in front of us with a piece of paper,

"Morning, everypony." Pout greeted.

Several ponies grumbled and groaned in reply, I said morning.

"Alright, lads. We are now in Fillydelphia... um... since the Wonderbolts are performing at the Red Parish Stadium, me and several other instructors have arranged for you to transport lighting equipment and such to the stadium," Pout explained.

JD put his hoof in the air,

"Where are we staying, Pout? Are you going to be waking us up with any trumpets?"
"Well, JD mate. The powers that be that have paid for each of you to have a room in the Paul Trotter Plaza," Pout explained.

Everyone's eyes sparked up, I'm pretty sure either Magenta and Firelight choked on smoke,

"Dude, are you shitting us?" Brittle asked.
"THE Paul Trotter Plaza?" Peanut added.
"I am not shitting you, Brittle," Pout said, "Let this be said though. This is the first time we have allowed the roadies to stay in the premier hotels, the bosses had tonnes of cash in their pockets, as ad revenue has shown that this tour is the most successful tour we've had and we aren't even half way done, the bosses were feeling generous."
"Fuck yes, man!" JD shouted.
"BUT..." Pout exclaimed, "Food, room service and alcohol is all on you. The bosses provide you with a room, you provide yourself with everything else. We clear?"

A few murmurs in the crowd show positive agreement, even myself,

"To think that last year, the roadies had to sleep back in the train or worse, find motels," Pout commented, "But anyhow, let's adjust ourselves for business today, lads."





Fillydelphia is a cultured part of Equestria, a place where many ponies of all breeds can come and make a life for themselves. When I come around here, I like to go to the markets in my spare time, buy some fruit from stalls, they even import the most delicious berries from overseas, with the kind of sweetness and ripeness you can't even find in Equestria. I thought I would go there for breakfast tomorrow.

Speaking of breakfast, Fleetfoot and High Winds were out somewhere getting food, me and Surprise thought we'd go out and find them,

"Where did they say they were going?" I asked.
She shrugged, "They didn't say, they just said they wanted pancakes and pie for breakfast."

We heard a grumbling from behind us as soon as Surprise said the word pie. I turned around and saw Soarin muttering to himself in his bunk,

"Pancakes... and pie..." He muttered, "Pie..."

His eyes widened,

"PIE!"

He got up in a rush and fell out of his bed again, and with that, Silver shot upwards and his eyes sparked open,

"Oh, no, Soarin! Not again, man!" Silver groaned.

Soarin jumped up to his hooves and galloped over to the end of the cart, where me and Surprise stood,

"Where's the pie?" Soarin asked.
"Soarin, sweetie, there is no pie. I just said Fleety and Windy went to get some for breakfast..." Surprise explained.
"Breakfast? Already?" Soarin questioned, "Sweet Celestia, I could go for a slice about now."
"You've had too many slices, Soarin," Silver commented, "You weigh a fucking tonne."

Soarin looked at him, almost hurt,

"How do you know how much I weigh?" Soarin asked Silver.

Silver paused, and looked at us, knowingly,

"I don't, I just..." He dragged.
"Are you saying I'm fat?"

The awkwardness was too much to bear,

"No, man. Let me rephrase. I meant to say you'll end up weighing a tonne... if you eat too much pie... then you'll end up fat," Silver said, I felt my spine shudder with cringe as I placed my hoof on my forehead, "Not that you're fat anyhow..."
"Oh gosh, shut up, Silver Lining," Surprise told him.

There was a brief pause in the cart, and I sighed as I released the unwanted tension,

"Maybe I should do some more working out," Soarin said, "Maybe push a few crates, lift and such."
"Yeah, because you pump plenty of iron already, Soarin," I chuckled.
"I do," He replied, "Got to keep in shape. Plenty of the mares want the Soar."
"Oh, shit," Silver sighed, "Here we go again..."
"Ha ha ha. Well, Silver, you've got your Lining persona to go on," I added.
"True."

Silver got out of his bunk and came over to us,

"I should do some exercise as well," Silver said, facing Soarin, "How about it, man? Should we help some of the newbies with the heavy lifting?"
"Yeah, let's do it, man." Soarin replied, smiling.
"For Luna's sake, you two should just kiss already," Surprise laughed, "The testosterone is too much to handle."
"Well, we should get to it." Soarin spoke.
"Lead the way, Gunga Din." Silver told Surprise.

Surprise looked at Silver and Soarin and then towards me. I tilted my head and raised my brows towards the exit, I mouthed, Lead on.

And so she did. She exited the cart first and I followed after her, Soarin and Silver followed after me.

It was a really beautiful day outside, the sun was blazing down, concrete trunks in this concrete jungle just ahead of us away from the bay, I looked around and saw instructors with their groups of roadies. I looked to my side and saw Pout instructing several others;  a red Earth Pony stallion, grey Unicorn twins, a light blue Unicorn, two girl Unicorns, one pink and one yellow and... a yellow Earth Pony with a cowpony hat and a sleeveless jacket that covered the upper part of his body...

"Braeburn..." I said quietly to myself.
"You say something, Spitfire?" Silver asked.
"Uh... it's Pout over there. Wanna say hi?" I asked back, hoping I covered my tracks.
Soarin shrugged, "Yeah, let's say hi, ask if he wants help."

Soarin took the lead of our little group, Silver went alongside him by his left, and me and Surprise followed suit,

"Alright, Peanut, Brittle. Shamrock wants you two to help him with lighting today and uh..." Pout said as he read off a flier.
"Hey, mind if I cut, Pout?" Soarin asked as he stood beside him.

I noticed the two girl Unicorns straightened up at the sight of him. I guess The Soar really does have his way with mares. I stood back a little bit to keep away from the crowd, Surprise stood a little bit in front of me.

My eyes kept on wandering to Braeburn, I kept on wondering if he'd notice me. I wondered if he still had the kiss I gave him the night prior on his mind. I wondered if he thought it was a little too much. I saw him as he smirked at Pout and Soarin's interactions, the red stallion made a silly comment, I couldn't recall what it was, Braeburn chuckled and rolled his eyes, then they found me.





I watched as Soarin and Pout joked. Soarin was a pony I was unfamiliar with to say the least, but he was funny,

"You know, everypony, Pout saved my rear when I first met him in Trottingham," He began, "Thirsty mares, most of them bucked toothed. Them smiles, huh Pout?"
"Oh yeah, it was a little like a rock star being chased around the streets," Pout said.
"You should've just flew away, Soarin!" JD spoke from the crowd.

I rolled my eyes and looked to my right, I caught a glimpse of a tangerine blitz, the focal point of a yellow Pegasus, Spitfire. I saw a spark of anxiousness behind those eyes, she smiles at me, held up her hoof and waved, she mouthed, Hi. I smiled and nodded back to her,

"Well, Pout. Me and Silver were wondering if we could help the newbies with some of the heavy lifting."
"Why's that?" Pout quizzed.
"Got to keep in shape, pal," Soarin replied as he looked at either Magenta or Firelight, a not-so subtle wink followed after.

I smirked and shook my head, Soarin's just as silly as Brittle and JD,

"Well. I guess you can help them, they're mostly weak anyways..." Pout said, "...Especially the red one."
"Bullshit, Pout," JD replied, "I'm the strongest out of everyone here."
"Then it's settled. You can do most of the carrying." Pout deadpanned.
"Wait..." JD began to say, "I was just..."
"Anyways," Pout interrupted, "Next order of business for the day, since these two lads will join us for the day. Star, Magenta and Firelight were meant to help you two carry the load."
"What? Me and...?" JD asked as he pointed to me.
"Yes," Pout confirmed, "Anyhow, Star, you and the girls will be assigned to the F/X dept for, don't worry, I'll help you with where to put the fireworks and such, and a whole team will help too. I can't actually risk you three making explosives."
"What should we do in the meantime?" Star asked.
"Go get something to eat, or something. Just be at the stadium by noon, yeah?" Pout said," Do it now if you like, mate."
"Alright, Pout," Star said as he moved out of the crowd.

Magenta and Firelight followed after him,

"Can we come, Star? To get breakfast and that?" Firelight asked.
"Sure thing, I know this good cafe in the center of town," Star said.

Magenta looked back behind her, catching Soarin's attention, she blew a kiss, he smirked, and I felt all sense of subtlety die inside of me,

"Should me and Brittle get going too, Pout?" Peanut asked.
"Aye, mate. Shamrock should be waiting there already," Pout explains, "I swear, he never sleeps."

Peanut and Brittle then made their way towards towards the streets, on their own little adventure so to speak,

"Alright then," Pout said as he turned to Silver and Soarin, "Soarin, Silver, you'll be pulling the equipment to the stadium with the guys, you good with that?"
"Sure, mate," Silver said, mocking his accent, much to Pout's chagrin.
"Right, I'm going to get something to eat," He said, "Watch out for the traffic, lads. It's busy out there."

Pout trotted off, looking like he was about to get a little bit annoyed if he spent another second with Soarin. I honestly couldn't blame him, if he made fun of my accent, I'd probably get a little annoyed too.





"Oh my, I forgot money," Surprise told me.
"Why do you need money, Surprise?" I asked.
"In case I want to buy some breakfast," She replied.
"Ha ha. Alright then," I chuckled.
"I'll be back in a bit, okay?" Surprise said before heading towards the cart again.
"Hurry back!" I told her.

I glanced over towards Braeburn, Soarin, Silver and the red stallion whose name keeps on slipping my mind. Braeburn kept his eyes on the buildings of Filly,

"Yo, man. You coming?" He asked Braeburn.
"Just a second, JD. I'm just... I'm just taking in the scenery," Braeburn replied.

JD (I swear it sounds like the name of some sort of douchebag who works in a hospital) looked at the great skyscrapers which stood tall in the city then back at his friend, he smiled, almost struck by Braeburn's sense of wonder,

"Alright, man, enjoy yoursel'," JD said, "Catch up when you can though, right?"

JD followed Soarin and Silver towards the location of the equipment carts towards the end of the train. Braeburn turned to look at me, and then back at the buildings,

"Beautiful place, huh?" He commented.
"Filly is a nice city," I told him.

I've been to the city countless times prior, and even though I've grown rather sick of the constant travelling, Fillydelphia and some parts of Manehattan are the cities I love to come back to the most, every time I come here, it feels new and organic, constantly changing, like a pony who'll never die,

"I've never seen buildings this tall before," Braeburn spoke.
"I have," I say.
"I haven't," He replied.
"I know," I chuckled, "You already told me."
He became snapped out of his trance and looked back at me, "Oh... what? Oh... oh, I'm sorry. I got a little bit lost in a daze there."
"It's okay," I smiled.

There was a sense of awe and bewilderment behind his jade green eyes, I don't think I've ever seen someone so en-captured by the city. It was kind of cute, actually,

"Shouldn't you catch up with your friend before you lose him?" I asked.
"What? JD?" He questioned with a laugh, "He's bright red, I can spot him from a mile away."
"I guess so," I replied, "Looking forward to work?"
"Good old fashioned manual labor?" Braeburn joked, "Couldn't be happier."
"Is that common back on the ranch?" I asked.
"Eh, yeah," He said with a shrug, "At least it's at someplace new, and I'm going to a giant darn stadium I've never been to before. I'm excited."
"Yeah, you're very giddy about it."
"Ha ha. Ah, well, I best get to work. Don't want to make a bad first impression on my first proper day. Got to get back to J."
"Alright then, well, I should see to my friend as well," I explained, "She's getting money."
"For what?" Braeburn asked.
"Oh, just for breakfast," I replied.
"Everyone seems to be going for breakfast," He said.
"You should to. It is the most important meal of the day after all," I told him, "Hauling that equipment will make you hungry."
"Ha, I'm sure."

There was a brief little silence between us, but others were passing us by,

"Well, I uh... I'll see you later, yeah?" I asked, a little awkwardly.
"Oh... yeah, sure. See you round, Ma'am... I mean, Spitfire," He replied, just as timidly.

He smirked, and with the nod of his hat, he was off,

"Bye, Braeburn," I said, but I knew he didn't hear.
"Who?" A little voice squeaked.

It was Surprise. With her sudden appearance, I felt a sharp rush of adrenaline burst through me, she startled me. I spread my wings, almost hitting her in the face,

"Oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a fright, Spitfire," Surprise said.
"Ha ha, it's okay," I told her as I tucked in my wings.
"Who was that you were speaking to?" Surprise asked me with cat-killing curiosity.
"That was..." I paused, "That was Braeburn."
"Ooh! The Braeburn you were telling us about last night?"
I nodded, "The very same."
"Fleetfoot was right. He is gorgeous," Surprise said as she glanced at him walking away.
"Right," I replied.
"What do you think?" She asked me.
I felt myself blushing just a little bit, "Pardon?"
"Do you like him?" Surprise asked again, with a grin.
"I guess, I mean... not like that," I stuttered.
"Oh yeah?" Surprise questioned, almost smugly.
"Yeah, I mean... He's just a friend, Surprise. Gosh," I retorted.
"Suuuure," Surprise giggled.
I groaned a little bit, "Let's get some food, Little Miss Supernova."

We began to walk towards the town, possibly to find Fleety and Windy, or maybe get some food of our own, I didn't know. Surprise kept on teasing me about Braeburn, I mean, yeah, he is cute, but he's a friend. That's what he was, just a friend. Just a new friend I made, and nothing more than that. Nothing more. I meant that.
> Chapter 12: The Heavy Lifting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I caught up with JD at the end of the train, at the last three carts, the carts were long, metal, keeping in heavy boxes of lighting equipment, wires, rope, all that hubba-baloo. I made it up to JD but Soarin and Silver Lining weren't to be seen,

"Hey, J," I greeted.
"Hey, man. Enjoy looking at the city?" He asked.
"Yeah, dude. It's surreal being here. It makes me feel small," I told him, "Where's Soarin and Silver Lining?"
"They went to see about getting a carriage for us to carry the equipment in," JD explained.
"Do we have to load the boxes into the carriages?" I asked.
"Yeah, I assume so," JD said with a sigh.
"Ha ha. What's the matter, JD?" I asked sarcastically, "I thought you were the strongest out of us all?"
"I am!" He defended himself, "I am the strongest!"

I laughed a little more, I then saw Soarin and Silver Lining approach us, they gathered looks from the other workers and roadies around the train bay, fanboy/girl-esque looks, I still stood talking to JD,

"You need to keep a hold of your tongue a little more, pal," I told him, "Your mouth can and probably will lead you into deep shit."
JD sighed, "You're right."

By that point, Soarin and Silver Lining came back to us,

"Hey, guys," Silver greeted.
"Hey, we got ourselves a carriage for carrying all the crap," Soarin added, "You guys alright with us helping?"
"Yeah, sure thing, man. It's actually an honor to actually meet you two," JD replied.
"Ah, don't fret, man," Silver said, most humbly.
"Yeah, we're just normal ponies like everyone else," Soarin added.

Soarin went over towards where the carriage was and we all followed after, I saw several ponies lifting boxes the size of buffaloes, some lifting the boxes in groups, others giving their all, on their own, looking like they were about to break and Unicorns lifting them with magic, I wish I could do that. I saw this mare, probably just about a decade younger than me, an Earth Pony, lifting this one box the size of an Ursa Minor (okay, maybe I was exaggerating there), she held her own well, but I wanted to help her, but I had my own work to do. Soarin led us to a redwood carriage, with an opening at the back of it, very spacey too. Me and JD carried about three boxes stacked together as a two, and Silver Lining and Soarin each carried one to the carriage. Once the carriage was full, we locked the back of it up tight, then the four of us went up to the front and hooked ourselves up the the bridles. Then we made our way to the stadium.





Me and Surprise walked on the busy sidewalks of Fillydelphia, much my astonishment, no one bothered to recognize, it was one of many things I loved about this city, same with Manehattan, everyone was busy, I wasn't a celebrity on these streets. I thought it was a great change of pace,

"Do you know if we're meant to do practice at the stadium?" Surprise asked me.

The thought of practice made me think of Seth, how he would be lingering there, eyeing me like a hunter to his prey, I wouldn't want to know what would be on his mind,

"I honestly hope not, Surprise," I replied, doing my best to hold the frustration of thinking of him.
"Why not?" She asked.
"We've got the technique down to a T," I explained, "We do the same routine, it's memorized. Why would we need to?"
"To brush up on skills?" Surprise quizzed.
"Nah, we're all great flyers. We wouldn't be Wonderbolts if we couldn't fly like we usually do," I said.
Surprise smiled, "True."
"I just don't want Seth to be shouting at us or anything," I told her.
"It doesn't matter what Seth thinks, he can't even fly," Surprise replied, "He doesn't know anything about being a Wonderbolt. I just take everything he says with a grain of salt. He's just an old codger under the delusion that age brings wisdom."

Brave Surprise. Funny Surprise. Wise Surprise. Surprise always knew how to make people feel better, Fleetfoot and High Winds would often go to her for advice, a contrast to the typically ditsy and fun-loving personality the press paints her as (though, she does love a good party),

"Where should we head for food?" I asked.
"Oh, there's this wonderful sandwich bar two blocks from here. Sun and Moon's Snack Hut, they do all these fantastic combinations with ingredients and such," Surprise replied.
"What combos?" I asked, intrigued.
"Well, you can have this sandwich with strawberries and peanut butter and another with figs, honey and cheese," Surprise told me.
"Cheese?" I questioned, "Sounds very... different."
"Trust me, it's very delicious. Me and Fleetfoot went there during our last tour," Surprise said.

I've never heard such a strange combination of ingredients placed between two slices before, but I didn't really take much consideration into it, I was hungry,too hungry in fact, so hungry I could eat a hor-

Okay, not that hungry, I'd never commit cannibalism,

I shrugged, "Eh, let's go there. I'm intrigued."
"Whoo!" Surprise laughed.





I was hooked up to one of the bridle, it kept towards the back JD and Soarin, who were hooked up from the front of me and Silver Lining. We trotted through the busy traffic, I've never seen this much energy this early in the day, it reminded me of the Buffalo stampedes of old, though less threatening. I caught sight of the sun peaking over the edge of a skyscraper, leaving a sliced shadow on the skyscraper across from it. We were shaded by we felt the brief hints of heat in the air, it was going to be a lovely day, a lovely day indeed.

Silver Lining stayed to my right, away from the sidewalk, Soarin did the same with JD, less attention to be attracted that way, though with how busy this city felt, I highly doubted that they'd have the remote chance of being noticed. None of us struggled with pulling the carriage, but with the concentration we had on the road, we stayed silent for the most part, until Soarin decided to speak,

"Yo, man?" Soarin asked JD, getting his attention, "What's your name again, pal?"
"Name's JD."
"Where're you from, JD?" Silver asked him.
"I'm from Vanhoover," JD said.
"Nice," Soarin commented, "You enjoy being a roadie?"
"It's in my blood, man," JD replied, "Pops was a roadie for the Wonderbolts back in the day. Grandpa was a roadie for them too, I used to travel in a moving theater group with him too."
"Nice. Anything I've heard of?" Soarin asked.
"Meh," JD grumbled with a shrug, "It's all thus, thou, thy, shit like that. Old stuff, sir."
"Ah, the classics," Silver said.
"Alright, we're approaching a red. Stop just now," Soarin ordered us, "We'll go left at the green."

We stopped at a red light, I saw carts and carriage rush in front of us like madness. I adjusted my hat on my head a little more, sitting it more comfortable,

"Oh, and JD, you don't need to call me sir, pal. I'm probably about the same age as you are," Soarin told him, smiling kindly.
"Oh, alright," JD replied, "Sorry about that, si- Soarin."
"Ah, it's no biggie, JD," Soarin replied.

The light went green, we all went ahead and turned left at the crossroads, I felt a small nudge to my side,

"What about you, man?" Silver asked.
"Yeah, cowpony. Tell us where you're from," Soarin added.
"I'm from Appleloosa, dude. I was a rancher," I explained.
"Nice. Ranching what, exactly?" Silver asked.
"Apples. It's on my cutie mark, fella. I make cider, jam, sauce, juice, sometimes I just sell apples normally, Silver," I told him.
"Cider?" Soarin questioned, "You'd be fun at parties."
"I know how to make 'em, I know how to drink. My family's spread across far and wide over Equestria, I can probably get a discount on their own branded cider."
"Ha ha ha, should of let the rest of us know that, bud," JD told me.
"Ha ha, what's your name, pal?" Silver Lining asked me.
"Name's Braeburn."

Soarin perked his head up a little more, and Silver Lining looked at me in a calculative matter. I knew something was up if they already heard of my name,

"Your name's Braeburn?" Soarin asked.
"Yeah, pal. Braeburn." I confirmed.
Silver chuckled, "Oh, man. The girls were talking about you last night."

My legend gets around fast, I thought to myself. I wasn't really too surprised about it, in all honestly, Spitfire told me everything last night,

"Aww, what?" JD questioned, "I've been touring as a roadie for nearly a week and Braeburn's name is known in a day."
"They said you were gorgeous too," Soarin added.
"Yeah, rub it in..." JD grumbled.
"Ha ha, want to be famous, JD?" Silver asked him with a chuckled.
I laughed, remembering something, "I'll tell you what young JD does want though, boys."
"What's that?" Silver asked.
"He needs a kiss from one of the girl Wonderbolts," I told them, "Eh, J?"

At that point, Silver and Soarin erupted into laughter, I could sense JD's embarrassment from behind, he was probably growing redder than usual,

"What do you mean he needs a kiss?" Soarin giggled, with tears of joy forming in his eyes.
"He bet ninety bits he'd get a kiss by the end of the tour," I explained.

The laughter was volcanic at this point, we gathered several glances at we continued to walk down the street,

"You know, JD?" Soarin said after he calmed down.
"What?" JD replied.
"You probably could get a kiss from one of the girls," He explained.
"You think?" JD asked, uncertain.
"Oh, sure. Fleetfoot probably would," Soarin said, "Eh, Silver?"
"Shit yeah, man. Fleety loves everyone and everything, it'd be easy to get one from her," Silver added.
"Oh," JD uttered, I knew he felt more optimistic.
"How far until the stadium?" I asked.
"Not long now, Braeburn," Silver told me, "We're going to take a shortcut."





We made it to the Snack Hut after meeting a salespony on the street trying to sell us (presumably fake) pearl jewelry. Surprise was very nearly tempted to buy some, but quickly realized that the only money she had was for our breakfast. When we stepped inside I noticed the lovely contrasting decor, one half of the restaurant was day, the other was night, to fit into the name of the store, the store had a very surreal, very dadaist look towards the night half of the restaurant, whilst the day half had more blitz and color to it. We sat at a window, and yet, nobody continued to notice me.

Surprise got a honey, strawberry and chocolate spread sandwich with white bread, I had a hay, grass and blueberry syrup sandwich on brown bread. I had my doubts about eating such strange mixtures of ingredients, but it was very tasty, albeit unhealthy. I didn't know how much sugar was in the blueberry syrup, but I knew I'd get healthier after it,

Surprise hummed as she munched her sandwich, "This is beautiful. Oh, I'll never have a sandwich this good until I come back."
"You really like the sandwiches here," I said with a smirk.
"You'd agree with me that they're good, though," Surprise replied.
I chuckled, "That's very. These are great. I should've asked to have it without the syrup,"
"Oh, don't be like that. It's just one little snack, it won't ruin your diet," She said.
"I know, I know."
"What's your guilty pleasure?" She asked me.
"In terms of food?" I asked back.

She nodded,

I hummed in thought, "Chocolate. So far, I haven't indulged in my cravings."
"Ha ha."
"You?" I asked.
"Oh, I absolutely love cake," Surprise said, "Birthday cake... chocolate cake... carrot cake..."
"Red velvet?"
"Oh, sweet Celestia, yes!" Surprise said, "Love me some red velvet."

I smile and shake my head, crazy Surprise, I thought to myself. She began to laugh at her own enthusiasm, realizing how daft she was being, I laughed as well. But our laughter was stopped once I heard a tap on the window, it gave me a fright, and I felt my blood go a little cold, my stomach turned, I thought it was the paparazzi, but as soon as I turned to look out, I saw it was Fleetfoot and High Winds, my blood warmed up, I felt more relaxed.

The two of them were grinning like idiots, happy to see us, likewise, me and Surprise were happy to see them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, I still had some nervousness running through me like a virus, they were shouting through the glass, Surprise invited them inside, I waited for the anxiety to escape me.

I swear, it was the worst short burst of adrenaline I've ever had. I worry for when I arrive in glitzy cities.





I saw the stadium at the end of the street, it was round, but almost cone shape too, I saw acute shadows around the edges, it was almost bowl-shaped, slightly painted red, a crisp that contrasted against the glassy grey of the . The biggest damn bowl I ever saw in my life,

"Alright, guys. Almost there!" Soarin cheered.
"Thank the Alicorns!" Silver added, exasperated.
"How you holding, red guy?" Soarin asked JD.
"I'm struggling," JD gasped.
"Thought you were the strongest, dude?" I asked him, chuckling.
"To be honest, Brae, you're probably the strongest," He admitted.
"You don't even know the half of it, JD," I replied.
"Ha ha, you guys remind me of me and Silver," Soarin laughed.
"You guys constantly try to outdo one other?" JD asked.
"Constantly," Silver said.
"Oh boy, just wait until you meet the rest of us from Cart Five," JD said.
"Dude, we can't wait, if the rest of your group are just as cool as you guys, then we'd party all fucking night after shows, man," Soarin said.
"Ha ha, Soarin's just after the pink and yellow," Silver commented.
"Who? Magenta and Firelight?" JD asked, "They love him."
"Like everypony in Equestria," Soarin joked.

We all laughed. It was refreshing, new faces. I never had the chance to know Silver and Soarin as celebrities, but I knew it was nice to know that you could get to know them as ponies, become friends with them and such. It must've been better for JD, he knew them as celebrities and performers long before I ever heard of them, it was nice seeing him relax around ponies he greatly admired, and he showed his admiration towards them from the way he spoke to them. I'm glad to get to know ponies like that, I hoped the rest of my roadie experience would be just as good, hopefully, even better.
> Chapter 13: The Red Parish
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soarin and JD led the way to the entrance of the stadium. The Red Parish. In all honesty, Soarin was leading the way more than JD was, he knew where to go. We approached a tunnel, we were off the streets, the tunnel was long, wide too, considering we were under about ten thousand square feet of seats for the audience. I swear, this giant bowl was bigger on the inside. A long hall with several shutters at the sides and openings to the sides, one of them was open, that was our stop. I saw two ponies at the open one, one of whom was a light green Pegasus, the other was a white Earth Pony,

"You guys got boxes?" The green pony asked.
"Yeah, man," JD replied.
"Need any help unloading?" He asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, man," JD said.
"What cart are you guys coming from?"
"Five," I replied.
"We're in eleven!"

We turned around and the two ponies caught sight Soarin and Silver Lining, they froze in their places in almost utter astonishment,

"Shit, dude," The white pony uttered, "Is that them?"
"It is," The other replied.

The duo nudged each other before approaching Soarin and Silver, as we all unhooked ourselves from the bridles. The two of them looked nervous, me and JD noticed that as we both glanced at them,

"Excuse me, but are you two..." The green pony began to say.
"The very same," Soarin replied with a smile. Silver smirked and nodded.
"Mister Soarin..." The white one started.
"Mister Soarin?" Soarin chuckled, "Sorry for constantly interrupting you, but Mister Soarin was my father, just call me Soarin."
"Okay, Soarin," He replied.
"What are your names, guys?" Silver asked them.
"I'm Clover," The green one said.
"I'm Bianco," The white one followed.
"Nice to meet you guys," Silver said.
"Um... Soarin, Silver Lining. I'm a big fan..." Clover started.
"We're big fans," Bianco added.
"Yeah, I've got a Wonderbolts poster back in my cart, it's for my brother," Clover explained, "I was wondering if you could sign it later when you get the chance?"
"For your brother, eh?" Soarin quizzed.

There was a brief little silence, me and JD could sense a little bit of embarrassment for Clover, I thought I saw him blushing as well,

"Well, me as well," Clover chuckled nervously.
"What cart are you staying in, pal?" Silver asked.
"Eleven," Clover replied.
"You going to be at the after party tonight?" He asked.
"Y-yeah, Silver Lining," Clover replied nervously.
"If you can, come by with the poster and we'll get all the Wonderbolts to sign it," Silver told him.
"Really?" Clover asked with excitement, Bianco widened his eyes as well.
"Yeah, man," Silver replied, "Our treat."

Clover felt a sense of overwhelming joy, and placed his hoof out,

"Oh, man. Silver, Soarin, dudes, thank you so much," Clover said.
"No problem, Clover," Silver said he bumped his hoof with his own, "Could you do me a favor though, the both of you?"
"Sure," Clover replied.
"Help me and my boys with some of the lifting?"
"Oh, yeah, we'll help," Bianco said.

And so they did, me and Soarin took one of the boxes and unloaded it into the garage, the others took everything else, we got it out of the carriage and continued to lift the boxes into storage. After it was done, me and JD weren't sure what to do, so Soarin and Silver showed us around the stadium,

"You guys got to check this place out," Silver stated.
"Yeah?" JD responded.
"Yeah, JD. Go about the place, I'm sure ol' Pouty will let you two have a small break after carrying the heavy load," Silver replied.
"What about you guys? Where are you going?" I asked.
"We have a meeting with the powers at be," Soarin replied.
"What he means by that is we have to meet the owners of this stadium with the rest of the group and our manager," Silver summarized.

My ears specifically pricked up at the sound of manager, I instantly thought of yesterday, Seth...

"Manager?" JD quizzed.
"Oh yeah, tough around the edges, he is, but you know, he keeps us in order, we have to wait upstairs in the offices though, until everyone else comes back from breakfast the meeting then begins. He sometimes barks orders like a rabid dog though," Silver said.

Doesn't surprise me.

"Sounds tough, man."
"Ah, well, JD. We get paid a shit tonne of money, ha ha," Soarin said, "Seth may be a bit of a dick, but he's good with advertisement and speaking to the powers that be."
"Anyway, we'll catch you guys later, yeah?"  Silver said.
"Sure thing, Silver."
"Yeah, pal. Have fun," I told Silver.

The duo nodded and then proceeded to go to the offices, leaving me and JD in the halls,

"I'm starving now, Brae," JD told me, "Dragging the carriages takes a lot outta ya, eh?"
"Nah, man," I replied, "Not for me. I think you're just weak."
"Oh, ha ha, Brae. I wasn't raised doing manual labor, bro, unlike you, you freakishly strong brute," He joked, "You know what I was doing as a part time job before doing this? I was delivering pizzas around Vanhoover."
"Hey, that's manual labor too," I chuckled, "Me and you are more alike than we think."
"Ha, if you say so, man," JD said, "Want to grab a bite?"
"No thanks, J. I think I'm gonna look about," I replied, "Sorry, man."
"Ah, it's okay, it's just getting to know your surroundings and that, I understand," He replied.
"I'll see you soon though, right?" I asked.
"Sure thing, Brae," JD replied.

We bumped our hooves together and then he made his way to the nearest exit, leaving me alone in the halls. I looked at the framed posters on the walls, of performances and event held at the Parish before. DJ PON3's Slick and Sly Tour, The Equestrian Jazz Orchestra, Cheese Sandwich, a whole bunch of Shakesbeare productions, operas and then I came across one of the Wonderbolts' previous tours, a poster for the Wingin' It Tour, it featured five Wonderbolts looking to the sky, smiling, one lone Wonderbolts speeds through the clouds, his or her face is blurred. Spitfire was on the poster, her smile managed to make the poster out to be epic yet humble, her smile was inviting, as if made you want to fly with them. I've always wanted to fly.

I smirked as I looked at the poster, then I went off on my merry way, walking down the hall, with time to kill, I thought I'd get lost within this labyrinth of rooms, halls and stairs, but it was easy to navigate and didn't find myself bored. I went passed several doors, gathering the smell of offices, I was worried that I wasn't supposed to be where I was, so I paced myself quickly, and then all of a sudden I felt myself being dragged by the tail, right into another room, the entire thing took me by surprise that I didn't buck who did it in the face.

I found myself pushed against the wall and the door shutting behind me, then I felt my hooves being held down, by magic, it tickled in the most painful way, I then found myself on the receiving end of a hoof that was about to belt me. It was Seth,

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did to me, hick," He said.
"What? Stopping you from sexually assaulting someone? Oh, yeah, I'm totally the bad guy here," I replied in face of danger.
"Shut the fuck up, you Earth Pony piece of filth!" He blasted.
"You're racist too? You manage to make yourself more appealing with each passing minute, Seth."
"Listen now and listen well, kid. I'm gonna let you off on something, I'm gonna get you, and I won't say when it'll come but it's coming. I'll get you," He said.
"Buddy, don't make promises you know you won't keep. What the fuck are you even gonna do to me, huh?" I quizzed at him, not batting an eyelid.
"I'll get you fired!" He blared.
"How?" I asked, "You have no damn power, you can't fire me. I'm smart enough to stop you too, buddy. Not to mention I'm pretty damn strong too, as evident from your busted beak."
"I have one thing you don't, though," He boasted as he came closer to me, "Magic."
"Well, that all depends on how you use your magic, pal," I uttered.

He looked me in the eyes with venom and malice, then I headbutt him, my head like a stone, his snout turned to mush once more, blood leaked quickly from his nostrils and I was released from the vice at my hooves, I shoved him to the wall, my front hoof at his neck,

"What the fuck is your deal, man?" I shouted.
"I get what I want..." Seth choked, his blood trickling onto my leg, "And I want Spitfire."
"You say that like she's an object!" I blared, "You can't treat ponies like that, if you do, then you're a piece of shit. And knowing you, you're more than a piece of shit already."
"I'll let out her secret, she told you, right?" He asked, he was playing games with me, "I'll let it out, even if I go to jail for assault, the secret will be let out."
"You're pretty damned determined over something so fucking small. Why put your fucking career on the line for that?" I asked, angrily yet confused.

He began to laugh, I loosened the pressure on his neck more,

"Fuck, Braeburn, buddy. Don't tell me you don't want a piece of that flank, huh?" He smirked, "Someone like you, you can get anypony you damn well please. You got the look, man. Someone like me? I don't. I know I'm a piece of shit. But I'm only seen when I want to be seen. Why do you think we're here right now? You wouldn't have been able to find me. That's why I'll get Spitfire and get away with it too. But you, you caught me off-guard, that's why I'm saying I'll get you, then her."
"I swear to Celestia, you put one slimy hoof on her and I'll break your horn off your forehead and pin you to a wall," I threatened.
"Ha ha ha, I'm sure you will. You won't kill me though, you're too much of a good man, cowpony," Seth taunted, "I mean, what's stopping you from doing that, right now?"
"I'm tempted," I replied.
"No, you fucking aren't. You got one hoof in shit already, you won't put another one in. You won't fucking risk it."

He had me at a standstill, a stalemate, I wasn't gonna kill him or hurt him that bad. He was right. I couldn't risk doing something like that, I'd never stab another pony. I let Seth out of my grasp, he gasped a little, I stood back from him, he looked me in the eye, he sniffed and wiped the lines of blood from his snout,

"You're smart for an Earth Pony, I won't deny that. And I know you'll keep anybody safe, including sweet young Spitfire. But I'll get you, and you'll be able to keep yourself protected too," He told me as he approached the door, "But if you wanna do that, then you best keep both eyes open."

He exited the room, leaving me in there, I stared at the blood on my leg, I was angry, but to Seth I wasn't angry enough, and he knew it. I exited the room too and looked down both directions of the hallway, Seth was nowhere in sight, the sneaky bastard.

Now I had blood to wash off my leg.





After going to the restroom and cleaning the blood of a scumbag off my leg, I found myself in another part of this magical bowl-shaped place, another hallway, ponies were busy, the work hour had started, ponies were earning bits, janitors were mopping up floors, others were working on typewriters sitting at desks, I honestly had no clue what they were doing, but I knew what one pony was going to do,

"Braeburn!" A voice called for me.

I turned around to see Melody, her smile gleaming like a bright star, she came over to me, in overalls, with a red plus cross sewn to her left front sleeve. She was in uniform,

"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Mel! How's it going?" I asked.
"It's been okay, how are you liking Fillydelphia?" She asked back.
"Well," I replied with a shrug, trying to find the words, "It's a beautiful place. Very lively, I'm liking it so far."
"You'll grow to love it! Trust me!" She told me, "Hey, you feeling okay? You look a little winded."

I chuckled, a little more passively than I'd like to admit.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just... eh, it's nothing. Just uh... had a little bit of a run-in with an asshole," I told her.
Mel chuckled, "This city has plenty. That's the worst thing about this place, I'd say."
"I also gotta say, this fucking building is huge!" I said, "I'm honestly lost here and I'm not sure how to get out."
"Well, you're in luck, my friend!" She said, "I know this place like the back of my hoof, follow me."

She signalled for me to come along with her. She trotted along and just allowed me to follow.

"Oh, how is everyone else?" She asked.
"They're good! Star, Firelight and Magenta are going to help with F/X soon. Silver Lining and Soarin came to help me and JD!" I said, "It's crazy."
"Oh, that's awesome," Melody said, "Are Star and that going to see Shamrock? Is Peanut and Brittle going too?"
"Yeah, Peanut and Brittle are helping with lighting," I replied, "What's Shamrock like?"
"Ah, yeah. You haven't met him yet, have you?" She asked.
"No. Why?" I asked back.

Melody chuckled with a sly sense of surprise. She looked as if she was hiding some sort of joke. I was surprised and intrigued about who this Shamrock was.

"Who is he?!" I asked, curiously.
"I can't say anything about him," she giggled, "You'll just have to meet him and find out."





Melody managed to finally lead me out of the multi-level labyrinth. The ringing of typewriter clicks still clung to my earlobes like the opposite of a catchy song. I felt a sudden gust of wind, I could tell fresh air was approaching. Melody led me to a sterile, clean, medical bay. It was cold, breezy, something I wasn't expecting.

"We'll be out of here soon, sorry Brae," Melody said.
"It's okay. What are we doing here?" I asked.
"I need to double check first aid kits, tools, stuff like that. Making sure we have the appropriate amount and such."
"Where's the rest of your team?"

At that point, all of a sudden. Four ponies burst in, wearing the same overalls as Melody, already speaking in jovial conversation. I caught sight of two males, one a wheat coloured Unicorn, the other was a turquoise Unicorn, he was bespectacled. Also, who entered were two pretties, one was a light orange Pegasus, the other was a grey Earth Pony.

"Oh, there you are, Melody!" The bespectacled pony said, "Doing another check?"
"Hahaha, you can never be too careful, Cauchy," Melody told him.
"Yo, Mel. Who's your friend?" The orange one asked.
"OH, guys. This is Braeburn! I'm in the same cart as him," Melody explained.

The turquoise pony approached me, as did the Pegasus and the Earth Pony.

"Hey, man. I'm Cauchy!" He introduced himself, "Chief medical officer here."
"Nice to meet you, Cauchy," I said with a smile.
"I'm Nova! Pleasure to meet you, Braeburn," the orange one said, "A friend of Melody is a friend of mine!"
"Likewise!"
The grey one waved shyly, "Hi, I'm Medina."

I smiled and nodded at her. She smiled back, a little nervous. The wheat coloured pony was looking through cupboards and such, he walked into the bay without really noticing I was here. Melody noticed that, she went over and nudged him, gaining her attention, then she pointed to me.

"Oh, shit, sorry, dude," he said, "I'm Galen. Nice to meet you."
"You too, man," I replied.
"Where'd you hail from, man?" Galen asked.
"Oh, Appleloosa," I said.
"Ah, a country boy, huh?" Cauchy jibed, "I'm from Dodge City."
"Really?" I said with surprise, "Hey, it's nice meeting someone from down South, man."
"I know the feeling," Cauchy joked, "I don't understand these city folk."

I chuckled alongside Cauchy. It was nice. Melody finished her checks and nudged me.

"Hey, I'll take you to the others and that," she said.
"Oh, yeah! Thanks, Mel."

We began to make our way towards the exit of the med bay. I couldn't leave without a goodbye.

"Hey, it was nice meetin' you, Braeburn!" Cauchy said.
"Yeah, man! Likewise," I said, "It was nice meeting all of you. See you guys later!"
"Bye, Braeburn!" All of them said.

Melody led me outside into the hallway, we were at ground level and we were closely approaching the grounds to the Parish. Melody led me with a smile on her face.

"What are you so happy about this morning, Mel?" I asked her.
"I'm happy you and Cauchy just hit it off instantly!" She replied.
"Hey, he seems like a cool guy," I said back with a shrug, "All of them seem like nice ponies."
"They're lovely! A great team, really smart," she said, "We're like a tightknit little family."

I felt a more fresh gust of wind ruffled my fur. We had finally made it to the grounds of the Parish. I never felt so happy to be outside in all my life. I saw how huge the grounds were, so vast, so green. It was like three apple ranches in one. I saw several ponies working on lights, tech. Melody and I searched with peeled eyes for our crew.

We caught sight of them closely, precisely and carefully applying explosive into marked sections of the grounds. Star was jimmying some explosives on the ground until they were perfectly in place. Magenta carefully wiring with Firelight on one of them. Just in front of our crew was a white Earth Pony with a ginger mane, his eyes were as green as the grass we walked on, his cutie mark bore a four leafed clover. Melody smiled as she approached the white pony.

"Shamrock!" She glared.

The white pony turned and smiled at her,

"Ah, it's our favourite little doctor," Shamrock uttered, his voice was sing-song like, "How are our medicines and alcohol, miss Melody darling?"
Melody rolled her eyes, "Stay away from the medical alcohol, that's for emergencies only!"

Shamrock caught sight of me. Shamrock, in all honestly, looked like a pony that came from that part of the world who spoke in rhythmic tones and in belches of alcohol scented breath.

"My, my! Who is this tall, fair and handsome one you've brought here today, lass?" He asked her.
"This is Braeburn."
"Hey," I greeted.
"Well, I've heard about you, cowpony," Shamrock said, "The peeps over there only say good things about you!"

Shamrock looked to the crew, who looked nervous as they carefully handled the explosives.

"Don't you, fellas?" Shamrock asked the focused crew.
"Sweet Celestia, is the F/X stuff really that dangerous?" I asked.

Shamrock let out a boisterous laugh, he stood beside and placed his foreleg around me. Taking me by surprise.

"Nah! I just told them if they didn't handle them perfectly then they'd blow up!" Shamrock quietly chortled.
"Wait, will they?" Melody asked.

Shamrock stood there with his foreleg still around me and paused for a moment. He had a smile on his face and then spoke in a measured tone.

"I don't know actually," he said, sounding unintentionally menacing.
"What?!" I asked.
"Ah, don't worry, my boy!" Shamrock said, "I'm arsing about with you. They won't explode... yet."
Melody chuckled nervously, "Sham, tell Braeburn your secret."
"I'm an alcoholic?" He asked, even sounding unsure of his own secret, surprisingly.
"No, the other one."
"Oh!"

He turned around and faced me. Looking me straight in the eyes with his own shiny peepers.

"I'm a kleptomaniac," he said with a grin.
"No," Melody said, "You're the other kind."
"I like fire," Shamrock said with a burp, I could smell apple cider.
"Huh, you don't say," I replied.

He took his foreleg off me and then looked at Melody.

"He's an apple boy, no?" Shamrock asked.
"Yea..." Melody spoke slowly as she glanced at me, "Why?"
"I want cider," he said.
"Hey, should you really be drinking on the job?" I asked.
"I'm allowed to!" He said, damn near proudly, "Hardly any accidents happen under my watch! The alcohol makes me work better!"

Just then, we all heard a sizzle come from the small box that Star was handling, it let out a small boom and a fizzle of electricity. Everyone jumped and was a little frightened, all except for Shamrock. He stood there and laughed before saying,

"Well, most of the time there's no accidents!"