1: Just a Normal Day...

For more information on how this story fits in to the series and other explanations, please click here. enjoy.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!

“that's it for today. Please make sure to turn in any late homework now before its too late. Have a good rest-of-your-Tuesday!”

As the school bell rang, high schoolers were flooding out of the main school building and the portables off to the side. It was late May and the sun was out in full blast with out a cloud in sight. The few leaf trees that were on campus stood tall displaying its vibrant green leaves with pride; the ever green trees that surrounded the area stood even taller with its fresh needles sprouting from its seeds that grew over the course of spring and into summer. It was a hot 86 degrees with barely a breeze and everyone in there right mind was wearing shorts and a t-shirt at least. There were a couple of jocks with muscle shirts on and a LOT of girls wearing close cut wear; or as close as they could get away with without being called out by the teachers.

The school's main building was a large grey building with two stories. At the front and rear exits of the school were two parking lots filled with cars of all varying conditions. Many were just beaters that were bought for a thousand dollars or less. There were a few that were in decent condition with new shiny chrome wheels, but not many. Off to the side of the rear parking lot were most of the sports fields. There were the tennis courts next to the edge of the road that went behind the school. The indoor pool was on the on the other side of the tennis courts. The track and football field took up most of the property beside the main school building. The field was closely maintained as well as the 400 meter track that encompassed it. Beside that, there was a single baseball field. Still in good working condition, but could use a little T.L.C. At the front of the school and off to the side were the cluster of portables to hold extra class rooms. They were all faded blue on the outside and all had a service ramp leading up to the single door.

As the students were starting to make there way to the buses that were lining up in front of the school, one guy stepped out a portable who was still wearing jeans and boots despite the weather. They were one of his favorite pair of work jeans that were faded and slightly dirty, but comfortable. His boots were that of combat ones, scuffed with black patches and streaks. You know, the big heavy tan ones that you can find at surplus stores or second hand. At least he got the t-shirt part, but even that wasn't the most fashion forward thing, just a simple breathable white shirt . He let his green and hazel eyes glance over the scene before him through his rectangular, wire frame glasses. He wiped the sweat off his brow and ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair trying to cool himself off. “Jesus, its hot,” he mumbled to himself. He readjusted his backpack with his motorcycle helmet strapped to the back of it, and headed off to the front parking lot.

Connor was about 7 months out from being 19 and was less than one month out from graduating from high school. As he passed by fellow school mates, he could overhear some of the conversations going on:

“Dude, are you going to the fucking pool?”

“What are you going to do after school?”

“I don’t know, maybe watch a movie.”

“Did you see that girl with the sun dress? Oh, my god it was so cute.”

Connor didn’t come across any of his friends on his way to the front parking lot, but that was okay for him. What was waiting for him in the parking lot was even better. In one spot of the lot sat a red and white sports bike with the decals of F, Z, 6, and R were stamped on the side of it's fairing. It wasn’t one of those crotch rockets that you would assume, but it was still sporting. It was fast enough to keep him entertained for a long while, especially at 145 mph, but not fast enough to give him fantasies of outrunning the cops. They could just as easily meet his speeds, if not pass him in their new muscle cars they were getting. Connor could speak from experience here with the one or two speeding tickets he had received.

The bike was Connor's graduation present for finishing high school on time and with pretty high grades; not that Connor was a slacker or in danger of dropping out though. His Dad was a motorcycle rider who preferred cruisers and was the one responsible for getting his son interested in motorcycles. Dad told him that he would be getting a bike for graduation that he could use to get around and go to work. However, he said he would only put down 2,000 dollars for a bike and if Connor wanted a different bike he needed to come up with the cash to pay for it. Otherwise, it was Dad's discretion to pick out a bike. not that there's anything wrong with cruisers, it just wasn’t his style and he wanted something exciting. Plus, all the girls' attention was always a benefit.

So for the last two and a half years Connor worked his ass off between job, extra chores, and pinching every penny to come up with enough money to get the bike he wanted plus a little extra for gear. He bought a pair of gloves, a great mid-ranged priced helmet with some sweet decal, and went through a MSF motorcycle safety course before he could finally get the bike he wanted. After all the hard work, he could finally enjoy the fruits of his labors. a bike of his choosing was sitting in the parking lot and it was all his.

But you're probably asking why he has his bike now and not after he graduated. Well, his parents decided to take the family (Mom, Dad, two younger brothers and one dog) on a road trip to visit family out of state. The trip would take all summer long and would have been cool, but Connor had job duties and decided to stay home. They mentioned that they would be back soon, but Connor's 'selective' hearing kept him from remembering when they would be back. But he didn’t care. To him, they would be back when they got back.

Connor inserted his key into the bike, flipped the kill switch to the on position, pulled the clutch lever in, and hit the starter button. The bike purred to life with its inline four cylinder engine which always put a smile on his face. He went through his ritual of preparing for a ride. He took off his glasses and undid the chin strap to his helmet before putting it on and putting his glasses back on inside his helmet. Afterward he would put on his gloves and throw his leg over the saddle and kick up the kick stand. Connor closed his tinted visor, backed out of the parking spot and let the clutch out to start rolling. All the other teenagers could have their boring cars. He had a motorcycle.

He rolled through the lot and enjoyed all the eyes on him. Every kid on the buses or near the parking lot stared at this now cool looking guy on a motorcycle with eyes of envy. Connor loved the attention and anonymity of a helmet and a tinted visor. At school he might just be another guy in the hall. But as soon as the helmet came on and he was on the bike, he was the coolest guy in the world. “aw yeah, that's right. You're all jealous and you fucking know it.” he taunted inside of his helmet. he revved the bike a few times making even the biggest haters go goo-goo over him, or tried to rev their cars in similar fashion but with disappointing results. The adults however, simply stared at him with their disapproving glares and already preconceived misconception that he was going to either dump the bike or die within the next five minutes after leaving the campus. Hater gonna hate, am I right?

30 minutes later, Connor finally rolled into the driveway of his home. He had spent a little extra time playing around on the bike by taking some corners faster than deemed safe on the road and being well over the speed limit down the straightaways. Connor was usually a well behaved kid, but was definitely not some golden boy who followed every rule to the letter. He opened the garage door rolled his bike in and walked in through the front door as per habit.

“I’m home,” he said to himself again. His family had been gone for a few days now so there was no one home but him. Connor walked down the main hallway towards the kitchen and dining room. The living room was off to his left with white walls, a single love couch and some plush chairs where his Mom and Dad usually sat when they were home. a set of stairs that lead up the second floor were on his right along with the door to the garage. He dropped his bag and gear near the foot of the stairs and went in to the kitchen to make a couple of sandwiches. One to eat right now, another to eat in his room. The kitchen was conjoined with the dining room on the right. The kitchen was stocked the standard equipment. A refrigerator and stove stood against the back wall next to a counter that went down the wall and out into the space to form a peninsula. The sink was place along the wall near the corner and a microwave was place beside on the left hand side of the sink. Cupboards hanged over head and were stocked with various cooking ingredients, plates and glasses. The drawers underneath the wooden counter top were filled with plastic and glass dishes, a garbage can, eating utensils and a dishwasher that was partly full. The dining room on the other side was simple. A large wooden table with about six chairs place around it. The dining room shared space with his Dad's computer and office space. So about half of the table was already covered with papers, receipts, magazines, and a box or two. But the family barely ate there anymore and no one really wanted to clean it, so it continued to be used a large desk for holding papers on it. There was a glass sliding door that lead out to the back patio and the grassy backyard. Mom had started a small garden near the back of the fenced in lot where two ever green trees stood. Other than that it wasn't anything special.

With food in mouth and hand he grabbed his gear and bag and headed up stairs for his room. While the downstairs consisted of the living room, kitchen, dining room, a half office and garage, the upstairs had the master bedroom with master bathroom, the TV room, a second full bathroom, and two other bedrooms. Reaching the top of the stairs, Connor turned to his right and away from his parents room and head towards his room, past the TV room on the left and the bathroom on the right. Near the end of the hall sat two doors. The one at the end of the hallway led to his brothers' room while the one on the left led to his.

Connor entered his room with his bed in the opposite corner of the doorway, dressers and a nightstand next to his bed and his computer on a desk along the adjacent wall to the door. A few posters of cars, motorcycles, and wolves lined the walls and a window that showed the driveway was slightly open to get some air in. He tossed his bag near the foot of the bed and set his gear on the dresser before turning to power up his computer. Here was another one of his routines after getting home. He would turn on his computer and wait for it to boot up. In the meantime Connor would check his phone for any new messages then grab his second backpack in the room and repack it for work with fresh clothes and a uniform and belt. Once the computer booted up he would open his email and empty it of any unnecessary messages or spam before simply browsing the web.

“spam, spam, worthless junk. Oh look, the government made another 'mistake'. No shit, Sherlock.”

BRRRRRRNNNNGGGG!!!!!!!!

his phone rang and Connor looked at the caller ID. It was his Mom.

“Hey Mom.”

“Hi honey, how are you?”

“I just got back from school so I’m alright.”

“So how was school?”

Eh, fine. Nothing new today. Just everyone getting ready for summer. How's the trip?”

“Its been good. Your brothers are bored as usual and Dad is walking Kaylee right now.”

“So you're at a rest stop right now?”

“Yeah, and puppy misses you very much.”

“Of course she would miss me. I'm her boy.”

Kaylee was the name of the dog the family owned. She was an Australian Shepard, blue Heeler, border collie mix with beautiful brown coat with a black stripe down the back and a white belly, chest and paws. His parents had gotten her from a working farm in the hopes that she would 'herd' the three siblings. It didn’t exactly work out as planned, but she did add as a distraction from time to time. Connor's brothers didn’t really pay much attention to Kaylee but she got plenty of attention from the other three members of the family. She particularly loved Dad and Connor the most. She would always put on the biggest puppy face that almost always got the last bite of whatever they were eating. She was spoiled, had the family well trained and she knew it. But Kaylee was always nice and would usually listen to commands given by Mom, Dad, or Connor. Usually.

“Are my brothers still sitting around trying to play video games?”

“Of course. What else did you expect?”

“Something different. I'm telling you, you need to take their games away and make them get out and play. They're addicted to them.”

“I understand that Connor, but leave that to us to decide.”

Connor let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back in his chair. He hated his brothers. He despised them. Both were addicted to video games and no one could get them out of the house unless you gave them an ultimatum. But that was only one of a long list of crimes they had committed against their older brother. Theft, failure of repayment, worthless laziness, and first and second degree social embarrassment by relationship just to name a few. The three of them had feuded against each other for years and on many occasions devolved into shouting matches and one near fist fight. But they knew better than to try and get in to a fist fight with Connor. Even though Mom had involved all three of them in martial arts, only Connor was the one who stuck with it. Both of them gave up after 6 weeks.

“Alright well, I got to go now Mom. I have to get ready for work.”

“Alright. Take care while we're gone, okay?”

“Yes Mom, bye.”

“Bye.”

Connor pressed the end key on his phone and set it down on his desk. he looked at his watch he was wearing and saw it was 2:45. that meant fifteen minutes to mess around before he had to go to work.

Connor worked at a martial arts studio as an instructor. His parents had gotten him into martial arts during the summer after his freshman year in high school and he had loved it. For the last four years now that was pretty much his life outside of school. He did everything from sparring, forms, weapons, and team demonstration. He also tried competition and was pretty good at it. Forms and team demonstration were his best performances. Sparring sort of scared him though. At his first sparring tournament, Connor had gassed out from not breathing and eventually could only stand there and take hits before the ref finally stepped in and ended the match.

The school was different then most other schools or clubs. It did teach martial arts and how to defend yourself, that was the 'martial' part of 'martial arts'. Many schools only taught that part of training and once you got your black belt most students would quit and move on to the next thing, or they never made it to black belt and just quit because they didn’t like it anymore. The studio that Connor went to taught that as well as the 'art' side of training. The 'art' side dealt with the life style of a martial artist and a black belt. The belt was to signify more than just time you spent on the mat punching, kicking, and blocking. It was to signify the process of maturing into a respected individual of the community. So at the end of every class the instructor would gather the students together and go over life skills. For the younger crowd that consisted of things like washing your hands, being respectful, and listening to your parents. For the older students, the more serious topics were discussed like drugs, peer pressure, and goal setting.

After a year and a half of being there and training the master instructor had offered to pay him to help out with classes and eventually become an instructor. Now, he was a black belt and was teaching kids from as young as four years old to full grown adults. His job wasn’t too hard. At times it was quite fun. He had many friends there and sometimes felt like big brother with some the younger students. But Connor was getting tired of dealing with the 4 to 6 year old's. So he was searching for a new job in the meantime.

3:00 rolled around and Connor grabbed his packed bag and gear and head for the garage.

~~~

At 7:15 Connor finally rolled back into the driveway after today's work. Work was extra stressful today because nothing seemed to go as planned. The troublesome kids were more of a problem than usual and he just couldn’t get the classes excited or energetic about the lessons. Connor walked into the house through the garage door and headed straight for the kitchen. He needed a snack and just wanted to relax.

He made another sandwich, this time being a peanut butter and honey sandwich instead of just a PB and J. he headed right back up to his room where he had left his computer on. He waggled the mouse to wake the screen back up to see a stock photo of city lights at sunset as his background.

“I really need a new background,” Connor thought to himself. He glanced around desktop at the several icons that covered about a quarter of his screen and decided to play one of the many games loaded on the PC. While the game booted up, Connor finished the sandwich he still had with him and looked at his watch again. It read 7:39 PM.

“Only 4 hours to play, huh? Whatever...”

But before Connor could sit down get lost in his game, he heard a strange noise. It sounded like crackling and buzzing electricity but somehow distorted in a weird way. These noises were also coming from the back of the house. Connor got up and went to his doorway and peered out into the hallway to see if he could detect any disturbances. From the window of his open parents' room, he could see a source of light from the back yard casting shadows on the room. Curiosity and concern now filled Connor and he decided to investigate the strange lights.

“What the hell is going on back there? Are the neighbors doing some kind of mad experiment? The flux capacitor, maybe?”

Connor reached the bottom of the stairs and look into the dining room where the sliding glass door lead to the back patio and the back yard. What perturbed him was that he could see arcs of electricity sparking this way and that. The thought of a fire hazard did come to his mind, but that was the least of his concerns now. What ever was happening was forming an epicenter near the middle of the lawn.

Connor decided to brave the unknown and head into the backyard through the sliding glass door. Finally the epicenter of whatever it was began expanding into an oval disc shape on its edge like a mirror. This mirror was white and had a swirling purple pattern in it. Or it was a purple mirror with a swirling white pattern; take your pick.

The mirror was starting to shimmer and Connor got a the impending sense something was coming and he braced himself. He didn’t know if what ever might come through was hostile or not, but if it was, he was going to give it a run for its money. Suddenly a purple object came tumbling out of the mirror and crumpled in a heap before him.

Just as suddenly as this new thing appeared, the mirror (now classified as a portal of some sorts) closed and disappeared. With one strange anomaly gone, all Connor had left to deal with was the purple thing in front of him.

2: Princess Training and Experiments Breaking

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Twilight

“Twilight, are we there yet?”

“For the last time Spike, the answer is still no. we will get to the castle when we get there.”

Twilight casually flapped her wings to a steady beat while she flew over the rolling landscape of Equestria and the approaching capital, Canterlot. Twilight was a little nervous because she had been called in by Princess Celestia for some extra lessons in being a Princess. Ever since she became an alicorn, Twilight had been trying to read anything and everything that could help her in any way in being a Princess. The abandoned two sisters' castle in the Everfree Forest had been of some use, but for the most part it was just an archaeological treasure trove of historical artifacts.

Twilight had still been looking for something that was little more on topic to ruling a kingdom and the Princess had offered some on-the-job training, so to speak. When she first started shadowing the Princess it simply began with being present and observing a few meetings, then helping out with documents that needed to be filed. Eventually, Celestia asked her to put some input in at a few of the meetings she sat in on. Then there was the 'Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange' event that happened a couple of weeks ago. It was a bit of a surprise when Princess Celestia had asked her to preside over the trading and serve as a judge for trading disputes, but all in all she thought she handled it quite well. However today she was merely observing another meeting again with some fancy big-wigs over commerce and festival setup.

“Look! There's the castle entrance!” Spike pointed to the grand purple and golden doors that led into the main castle. The castle was looking as pearl white as ever with its purple and gold spire tops and towers. The grounds were well pruned and the water was crystal clear in the small ponds and mote. A few fish lazily swam under the surface and birds were chirping cheerfully in the trees. Twilight made her landing approach to the castle grounds, although the landing approach was more than a little strange. Those who were adequately skilled in flying (meaning all Pegasi present on the grounds and a few others with knowledge of flying) could easily point out the mistakes that were being made; such as the 'approach' being more shaky than a royal day guard on his third consecutive shift in a row. The flapping of her wings were slightly out of synch which induced even more instability for her. To top it off, Twilight was kicking her legs in the air causing an unpredictable shift in her weight. All together, this created what a flight instructor would call, “a crash landing”.

Twilight touched down on the ground, but had to gallop to match speeds with the ground before slowing to a stop. She straightened up and gave herself a little shake and adjusted her mane as if to play off her entrance but every guard and attendee close by were well aware of Princess Twilight's lack of skill in basic proper flying. Spike hopped off Twilight's back onto all fours, thankful to have solid and steady ground beneath him.

“S-Shall we go in?” Twilight spoke with an attempt to sound as if nothing had happened, but Spike just gave Twilight a slightly disapproving look making clear that he was not pleased with his flight to Canterlot.

“Yeah, we should probably head inside and head for the meeting.”

Twilight and Spike made there way to the entrance hall of the castle. The meeting was being held in one of the many side rooms scattered in the castle. According to the Princess's letter she received a few days ago, the meeting was to be held at 3:00 in the afternoon and was to end at around 6:00. the meeting was also to be held in the west section of the castle near on of its towers. She had made sure to have left Ponyville early to give herself plenty of time to find the room.

Spike and Twilight made their way through the many hall ways and staircases slowly making their way to the west side of the castle. Some hallways were barren of any kind of decoration, others were filled with displays, paintings, and perhaps a statue or two.

“Lets see here... was it supposed to be a right at the second hall way or the third hall way?”

“Twilight, are we lost?” Spike looked over at Twilight with a bored and 'told you so' type of look.

“No, I am just trying to remember the instructions from the letter the Princess sent me. You do still have it on you, right?”

“Yep! I got it right here!” Spike pulled out a letter from his backpack that was filled with an assortment of scrolls, quills and ink and held it up for Twilight to read.

Twilight grabbed in her magic and unfurled the rolled up letter to consult the directions written on it. “Ah! Its a right at the third hall way, then a left at the display case on the right hand wall. The meeting room will be on the second door on the left. Perfect, lets go!”

After a right at the third hall way, a left at the enormous display case that housed countless awards, valuable scrolls and one suit of battle armor, Twilight and Spike stood outside the second door on the left hand side of the hall where the meeting was to be held. Twilight had been to several meetings before, but that didn’t ease the nerves she still got when attending them. Spike gave Twilight a slight nudge egging her on to join the occupants in the room. She exhaled and steadied her breathing before raising a hoof to knock.

*KNOCK,KNOCK,KNOCK*
“Come in!”

The cool and soothing voice of Celestia came from the other side of the door inviting the new arrivals in. Twilight pushed the door open to reveal the room inside. The room itself was a study. Bookshelves lined almost every wall with books loaded in them to maximum capacity. A window was place at the back side of the room letting in light and displayed the outside world. Near the middle of the room was a large coffee table with books and papers spread out before a group of ponies all sitting in either lounge chairs or large luxury sofas. On the right side of the coffee table sat Princess Celestia who was smiling gently at her. While on the other side sat three ponies, one in a lounge chair, the other two on one of the sofas. All three of them were giving Twilight a disapproving scowl for interrupting what they thought was one of their most important meetings in the world.

“Twilight! It's good to see you again! Please come in. we were just in the middle of discussing preparations for the upcoming summer solstice.” Princess Celestia beckoned the arrival of Twilight and Spike with a nod of her head.

Twilight analyzed the setting before her and started to panic at the possibility of being late for the Princess's meeting, the worst possible offense she could do for important princess training. “I’m sorry, am I late for the meeting? I thought I made sure that I left Ponyville early and to give myself extra time to find the room. Maybe if I had sped up my flight time to only 23 minutes instead of 37 minutes I could have...”

“Twilight, its alright. We actually started the meeting early since almost everyone was here. And hello Spike, how are you today?”

“Hello Princess Celestia, and I’m doing really well today. Well, except for the flight here...”

Twilight shot Spike a quick glare, who responded with his own toothy, sheepish smile. She returned her attention back to the Princess and tried to put on a pleasant demeanor after the under-handed blow to her flying ability by Spike. The Princess merely chuckled at the exchange.

“Ahem, ah, may we join the meeting, Princess?” Twilight asked with royal politeness and poise.

Celestia gave a curt smile and responded, “Yes, you may.”

she let some to tension leave her body as she made her way to the sofa the Princess was on. Twilight sat down next to the Princess and looked over the three business ponies that were still giving here scowls of shame. The first business pony on her left who was sitting in the lounge chair was an earth pony mare with a yellow coat and a navy colored mane. She wore an expensive looking topaz necklace and a neat business dress that covered up her cutie mark. The pony in the middle on the sofa was a unicorn stallion with a gray coat and a charcoal black mane that was cut short and parted to both sides. He wore a a simple red neck tie and his cutie mark was that of three bits falling. The third pony was also a unicorn stallion sharing the sofa with the gray stallion. His coat was mud brown with a cotton white mane. He wore a pair of spectacles on his nose.

“Do forgive my rudeness Princess Celestia, but why is miss Princess sparkle here at this important meeting?” the yellow mare spoke up with an air of high class arrogance and annoyance.

“Because miss ribbon,” Celestia addressed the yellow mare, “Princess Twilight is here for training in how to become a proper Princess when she has her own kingdom to rule over. She is here to understand more of the business side of ruling. Now, you were talking about the cost for decorations for next years summer solstice.”

“Yes,” Miss Ribbon continued where she left off before she was interrupted by Twilight's arrival, “I was going to say that the cost for next year's summer solstice celebration was rising due to the increase of import costs on explosive powder and chemicals needed to make our colorful displays in the sky.”

“preposterous!” shouted the brown pony from the right hand side of the sofa, “Those silly poppers you call fire works do not need nearly as much attention as the street decorations need. Besides, that is where most of their attention will be, is on the street level. Not in the sky unless her Highness is raising the sun!”

“Now now, Mr. job,” the middle grey pony spoke up in a corrective tone like a parent preparing to explain to their misbehaving child why they were right and the child was wrong. “Please remember that on the street level, everypony will want food and drink to go along with your street décor. But if there is not enough funding to procure such pleasantries, then the ponies will have little interest in how wonderful the streets may look or how magical sky may be if they are too focused on their stomachs growling at them in protest for food.”

“Bah! Just simply buy some of those peasantry baked goods from the apple orchards in Ponyville for the lower sections of the city. Our chefs can make enough for our royals here near the castle, Mr. Tri-bits.”

“Mr. Job!” Ms. Ribbon shouted, “Control yourself while in the presence of one of the Royal Sisters!”

Twilight watched as Mr. Job's eyes quickly darted to the side to glance at Princess Celestia, who was looking at him with a frown and a raised eyebrow. With the discerning look of the Princess looking over head, Mr. Job visibly sat back and slouched a little in his seat but continued to keep his hard disposition about him.

the meeting went on without any other interruptions. Twilight was paying close attention to how Celestia was working her magic so to speak. The way she maneuvered her words and positioned herself on every topic and problem that was brought up was incredible. She would weave her words in and out of the conversation like a needle through fabric. However after about two hours of non stop business chatter, Twilight was starting to glaze over the meeting and was losing focus. Spike had stop taking notes after 50 minutes of the meeting had gone by and was now curled up on the floor taking a nap.

Finally, 6:00 had rolled around and the meeting ended. The three business ponies got up from their seats and left the room after giving both Princess Twilight and Celestia a farewell bow. Twilight sighed and leaned back against the sofa she shared with Celestia. The Princess let out a soft chuckle, “Long meeting?”

Twilight looked a little sheepishly at the Princess, “Do you do this every day?”

Princess Celestia gave a soft nod and continued, “It's not easy being a Princess, but it helps to find pleasures in the things you do. For instance, did you notice how nervous Mr. job was?” The thought did occur to Twilight that the pony in question was being more aggressive in his positioning than what seemed necessary.

“Maybe? It did seem odd that he was little bit more forceful then the others. Why? What was wrong with that?”

“Well, because Mr. job was so forceful he was losing sight of his original goals at the beginning of the meeting. He was more focused on trying to be impressive and intimidating then he was trying to earn more business for the ribbon and streamer industry. It was quite amusing really, it was like watching a colt trying to command an adult around.” Celestia chuckled at her own playful gesture at the expense of Mr. Job.

Twilight was shocked at the inner opinion that Princess Celestia had just revealed to her. “Princess! Are you saying that you like manipulating other ponies around you? That's terrible!”

“Relax Twilight; what I meant to imply was it seemed like this was Mr. job's first meeting with a royal Princess; and that he was nervous and unsure on how to gain more revenue through bargaining with a Princess. I did not mean to come off as manipulative or controlling.”

“Oh, sorry...” Twilight scolded herself a little for even thinking such a thought. This was the Princess she was talking to. Celestia was her mentor and (in some cases) a second mother.

“So how can you tell when somepony is nervous like that?” Twilight asked.

“Well for today's meeting, Mr. job did put up a good facade. However, his actions were very forceful and tense. Now compare that to somepony like Miss Ribbon. Her composure was more relaxed and focused and was positioning herself for the best possible outcome to gain the maximum amount of deals for her fire works company. Now why do you suppose that might be?”

Twilight paused to think for a Moment, “Because, Miss Ribbon has done business with you before, right?”

“Yes, that is true. but I am looking for a better answer. What does Miss Ribbon have in negotiating with me that Mr. job does not have?”

“Hmm... ah, Experience!”

At Twilight's shout, Spike finally started awake and looked around the room and hastily looked for more parchment and quill.

“I’m awake! I’m awake!” Spike sprang out of his curled up ball position and began looking for more parchment and ink to write with, “I’m... is the meeting over?”

Twilight and Celestia both chuckled at Spike's sudden awakening and realization that only three occupants filled the room now, including himself.

“Yes Spike, the meeting is over,” explained Celestia. “But you are correct Twilight. Miss ribbon has more experience than Mr. job has in talking with royal Princesses. Since Miss Ribbon had more experience, she was more confident in her abilities and therefore more relaxed. Relaxation and a calm focus are one of the many keys to ruling a kingdom. A ruler can not make rational decisions if one is distraught with irrational emotions and desires to impress everypony around them. That is not to say that a Princess should ignore her feelings or keep them to one's self. You and I both know what comes of that.”

Celestia gave a soft smile, but Twilight knew she was implying certain times where she had chosen to keep her worries to herself or had tried acting under the pretense of maintaining ridiculous standards. both had led to partial disasters.

“Well, I think that shall be it for today's lesson, Twilight. If you would like, you may return to Ponyville.”

“Well actually, Princess,” Twilight started, “I was going to take some time and continue working on some of the experiments that I have left here in the castle. Since the library in Ponyville can only hold so much, I couldn't bring all of my experiments with me. So I had to leave a couple here at the castle. You won't mind will you?”

“Of course not,” Celestia said with a smile, “Just make sure not to work too long. You still have a library to run back in Ponyville.”

“I will, Thank you! Lets go, Spike! I need your help with one of my projects!” with that, Twilight took off with a baby dragon hot on her heels.

Twilight had several experiments still left in the castle from her time living here. When she was living in the castle as the princess's star pupil, she had conducted many experiments to further her studies in magic. However when she moved to Ponyville, she needed to move many of those projects to the basement of the Ponyville library and her new home. But Twilight had a plethora of experiments at the castle and the basement could only hold so many; so she was forced to leave a couple behind. One in particular was a trans-dimensional portal she was in the process of creating. The idea had come to her after her adventures in the Canterlot High world. She wanted to figure out if it was possible to recreate the portal that she used to cross over in the first place. After she had returned and had a good night's rest, Twilight had begun work on the portal project. She had been working on it off and on over the past year. Although her other duties had prevented her from spending 100 percent of her time on it, she got done what she could when ever she had extra time on a trip to Canterlot for whatever reason.

But right now she was on the verge of completing the portal. It was all very theoretical but if she could recreate the portal, it would be the discovery of a life time. All she needed to do right now was go over some calculations and finish installing some parts on her design before testing to see if it would work.

Twilight made her way to one of the towers in the castle that housed one of her larger experiments. She opened the large wooden doors to the top of the tower and entered the large room with Spike. All along the walls were chalk boards with either a diagram on it or a string of equations that would make no sense to the average pony. There were tables sprinkled through out the room with scrolls, parts, and a few miscellaneous tools here and there. A couple of tool boxes sat near the edge of room with drawers and lids open. Strewn across every surface in the room was a least 3 books or so. Books open on the floor or on a table for references or simply stacked up to make massive towers. Near the back of the room sat Twilight's biggest project yet. A large arch that was fixated on a platform stood tall over the contents of the room. Several boxes were placed on either side of the arch with cords and cables connecting them together while a pair of pistons sat on top of the arrangement. Her trans-dimensional portal was definitely Twilight's biggest endeavor yet in the magical science world.

Currently a small wooden silo sat close to the portal but not yet connected to the system. Twilight was finishing up making some final checks and completing assembly of the silo which was the power source container for the portal system. She scanned over her laboratory of magic and went back through her memory to figure out where she left off.

“Lets see... calibrated the dimensional rift opener... connected the XYZ targeting system... looks like all we have to do Spike is finish up the MPU and then we can test to see if it works! Easy, right?”

“Uh, what's the MPU?” Spiked asked.

“The Magical Power Unit.”

“Oh. Then I’m ready to get started! I can't wait to see our other-worldly friends! Especially Rarity! Ooh Rarity...” Spike cooed.

Twilight could practically see the hearts popping inside his eyes.
“Don't you like the Rarity from our world, Spike?”

“Well yeah. She'll always be my number one Rarity. But any Rarity in any world is beautiful.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Can you hand me that screw driver, please?”

~~~

when Twilight finished making final preparations and installed the MPU on the portal, it was around 7:37 at night.

“Phew, alright that looks like everything is in place. Spike, is the fluxuator operational?”

“Check!” he checked off a box on a list Spike was holding.

“The XYZ coordinates set?”

“Check!”

“Do we have the object from their world to anchor the portal?”

“Right here!” Spike held up a small tri-folded piece of paper. But suddenly the doors to the lab flew open and a messenger came flying in.

“Urgent news for princess Twilight sparkle! I am to deliver a letter to your hooves only.” The mail mare spoke with a slightly exhausted voice from the trip that started somewhere in the city of Canterlot, to the castle gates, and finally through the castle and up a tower to Twilight's lab.

“Let me see it, please,” Twilight asked.

The mail mare opened her saddle bag and produced a letter with a red seal on it. She handed the letter to Twilight who took the letter in her magic and waited while she read the contents inside. Her eyes visibly widened as her eyes traveled further and further down the letter.

“Well, what does it say?” questioned Spike.

“There's no time to explain. We have to hurry to the other world before it's too late! Quick, where is the anchor object?!”

“Its over here,” Spike held up the tri-folded paper, “But Twilight, what's...”

Twilight didn’t respond as she grabbed the paper out of his claws and levitated it up to a pedestal on top of the portal. She then turned to the MPU and closed her eyes in concentration and began powering it with her magic. The silo hummed with energy and the contraptions connected to the silo began to whirr to life. The archway began to shimmer and crackle with energy. Soon a small point of energy was forming in the center of the arch and was rapidly growing.

There was a couple of backfires in the system, but Twilight had planned for that to happen since it was a brand new design and did not have the time to 'break it in'. However, Spike and the mail mare were not as keen as hearing the loud bangs coming from the contraption in front of them. Spike had jumped so hard in fright, he accidentally tripped over a cord. His foot got caught in the cord and it tugged at one of the plugs, knocking it slightly loose from its socket. He then fell against another do-hickey that seemed to be very important for proper transdimensional traveling. He would later find out that he bumped into the XYZ coordinator disrupting the previously inputted location. The disruption of the coordinator and the loose plug started a chain reaction for disaster. Twilight was unaware of new problems because she was more focused on powering the machine.

When she finally finished her task, Twilight opened her eyes to see that the portal had finally formed and was about to pass through when she heard Spike call her name.

“Twilight!”

“Huh?”

Twilight looked over her shoulder to see the impending catastrophe. There was an explosion and Twilight was pushed through the portal from the explosive force.

“WahaaAAAaaaaAAAAAaaaaAAAAHHHHH!”

Twilight went through the portal, but it did not feel similar to the first time she passed through. There was the spinning and dizzying sensation, but it was missing something. She didn’t have time to figure that part because the unconscious part of the trip was soon settling in.

~~~

Twilight could feel soft earth beneath her. Where ever she had landed it felt like a grass field. But if she remembered correctly, the nearest grass from the statue at Canterlot high was a good couple of meters away. Another odd thing was that it was quiet. Not quiet as in no one is around; she knew that coming to the school at this time meant that it would be closed so nobody would be here. No, it was quiet as in she couldn't hear anything coming from the road next to the school. Almost like she was in an enclosed area. However, a feeling of being prodded and poked was starting to irritating her. She felt something grab her forehead and wiggle it around before letting go. That last one was the final straw and she rose from her dizzied stupor.

She looked up to see some guy crouching over her with a bit of a perplexed and concerned look on his face. He had blonde hair and green eyes behind a pair of rectangular wire frame glasses. He wore what seemed like blue jeans , a t-shirt and boots. He wasn't terrible looking by any means, but he definitely wasn't as good looking as Flash. She shook her head clear of those thoughts; she didn’t have the luxury to think about that right now. She needed to get to Canterlot high and it looked like she was nowhere near the school.

“Excuse me, but I need your help! My name is Twilight and my friends are in great danger! I need to get to Canterlot high as soon as possible, can you please help me?”

The boy's eyes seemed to widened with shock as Twilight spoke. This was confusing her as to why he seemed to find Twilight as abnormal, but his next words told her that something must have gone terribly wrong when she crossed between worlds.

“You're not supposed to be able to talk.”

3: Horse is A Derogatory Name

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Connor

With the suspected portal gone, all Connor had left to deal with was this purple mass laying in the backyard. There was no indication as to what this thing was from where he was standing. A couple thousand questions were racing through his mind as to what he should do. Should he try and investigate and see what it is? Should he just leave and go back inside and ignore it? If it was alive, would it be aggressive? Should he call the police? He looked to his neighbors homes on either side and behind his house to see if any of them were going to make their way outside and try to investigate what the bright lights were coming from his back yard. He didn’t see any movement, not even a light turning on or a window opening. He was wondering why no one else had decided to come out and just look over into his yard to check on it. He was getting a sneaking suspicion that this might be an elaborate practical joke, but he still has a body of something laying in his back yard.

Curiosity got the better of him and decided to see what this new entity was. He was going to man up and see what was going on before he blew the whistle and called someone. He stepped off the small back patio and on to the grassy lawn and approached the object in a cautious stance, ready to jump back if it popped up and started attacking. As he got closer he could make out four legs and fur on it; so it had to be an animal of some sort. When he was about a foot away from the purple form, Connor confirmed it as a horse... a very, very small horse. So maybe not so dangerous.

He crouched down onto the balls of his feet to get a better look at it. There were three things that were stopping him from deciding to write this whole thing off as some super elaborate prank. One: the fur color; purple was not a natural hair color, or natural color in general, for anything living or nonliving. There are some exceptions, those were mainly just flowers. Two: the wings. Connor would have passed it off as really good practical effects if it weren’t for the wing joints looking so naturally integrated to the body and the feathers looking genuine. Connor reached out and grabbed the end of one of the wingtips and extended it out to full extension. The feathers felt real and he could feel the hardness of a bone between his fingers as well. He replaced the wing back to its folded position. The final thing: the horn sticking out of this horse's forehead.

Okay, purple fur color with highlights in its... what is it called, a mane? That can be done with just a lot of paint. The wings, that can be done with really talented practical effects specialists. The full articulation of wings with a metal endoskeleton would be tough, but Connor had seen some pretty good special effects in movies before. The horn? easy enough, just a fake horn and some glue, right? Connor reached out and touched the horn. It felt similar to like teeth or a tusk. It was smooth, but it had this spiral engraving in it that traveled up the length of the horn. He gripped the tip of the horn in his finger tips and gave it a small wiggle. The horn, and the head of this horse moved a little as he tried to dislodge the horn a little bit to confirm his theory that it was simply glued on.

“Wow, that must be super glued on...” Connor said to himself. But even he was not convinced of that idea.

As he finished his thinking out loud, the tiny purple horse decided to wake itself from its slumber and look around at its surroundings. It didn’t spend too much time doing that as it noticed Connor crouching over it. There seemed to be a bit of a frantic, panicked look in its eyes which Connor had connected to be frightened of its new surroundings.

And then it began to talk...

“Excuse me, but I need your help! My name is Twilight and my friends are...... “

Connor couldn't hear the rest of whatever the horse was talking about, but that was the least of his thoughts that came roaring to the front of his mind and stopping all other trains of thought with a crash. He had an animal. A tiny horse. Talking. Right in front of him. In his mind, this seemed impossible. The only time he ever saw or heard animals talking was in movies and shows; but those were make-believe, like in not actually being possible or part of some fantasy world. And here he was, with a talking horse in front of him.

When the purple horse had stopped making noise, Connor gently raised a finger and pointed at it.

“You're not supposed to be able to talk.”

“Huh? What do you mean I’m not supposed to talk? I’m a, uh, a girl, aren’t I? Is that the word I’m supposed to use? Or did Rarity say I should use the word 'heu-mane'?” It tilted it's head to the side as if in thought while Connor tried to grasp for cohesive sentences in his mind.

“Uh, no. Uh, I mean, as in, you, as an animal, horse, should not be capable of speech. Or abstract thought for that matter...”

“What do you mean I'm a...”

The horse trailed off as it looked back over its right shoulder at itself to see its wings and purple coat. It gave it's tail an experimental flick before turning back to Connor. The horse turned back began to hyperventilate before letting loose a scream that could wake the neighbors at the end of the street. Connor jumped forward and clamped his hands over her mouth to shut her up.

“Will you shut the fuck up?! Jesus! I don’t want to explain to the Carlsons' why I have a purple horse in my back yard! So keep it down!” Connor hissed at the tiny horse in a low growl to emphasize discretion. He let his hands go from it's mouth to let it speak.

“Sorry. I’m just... hey! I am a pony thank you very much! And I do not take kindly to being called a derogatory name.” She, well Connor assumed it was a she because of the feminine sounding voice, she raised her chin higher in the air to give herself a presence of high stature. Connor ignored the gesture, he was still talking to a horse and horses are still lower on the food chain than humans the last time he checked it.

“What? Pony? Horse? What's the fucking difference?”

“I am a pony. From where I am from, we refer to others as ponies. Or mares and stallions if you want to be specific. 'Horse' is a bit of a derogatory name used when somepony refers to somepony else that they do not like.”

“Well, where I’m from, we refer to you as horses. And you are a tiny.. Purple... horse......” Connor slowly put his face in the palm of his hand as he came to a realization, “I can't believe I am arguing semantics about the difference between ponies and horses. With a horse, no less.”

“Pony.”

“Whatever.”

Connor looked up from his hand to reassess the current situation before him. He had a purple horse; sorry, PONY, now sitting up in front of him. This PONY could talk; not only that, but could make cohesive thoughts and abstract ideas. Possibly knowing more on the whole transdimensional travel thing. He needed to find out more information about who she was and why she had come here.

“So. Uh, what were you talking about earlier? Like, when you first woke up and all? And what was your name again?”

“My name is Twilight sparkle and I am here looking for my friends at Canterlot high. They sent me a message saying that they needed my help. So I came here as fast as I could to help them, but something must have disrupted the portal and threw the desired anchor point off, and prevented me from changing into my two legged form.”

While the hor-, sorry pony. This is going to be a long adjustment period for me if this doesn’t get fixed soon.

While the pony named Twilight Sparkle pondered on what could have caused such a disaster in miscalculations, Connor sat there going through his own thoughts on how to explain this. Twilight sparkle; sounded like a name an eight year old girl would give to her plushie doll. But how could he rationalize everything else? This was becoming too real to be a joke. Suddenly, An idea popped into his head and presented the perfect explanation.

Drugs.

That was it. He had to be on some trippy-ass trip with some major drug cocktail that someone must have slipped into his water bottle at work and it was just now kicking in. teenagers were always playing pranks on each other and this just had to be one of their more extreme pranks. Sure, he would be mad and would probably beat their asses when he found out who did it, but at least this would suffice as a valid excuse. For now, he would just humor his hallucinations he was having for now and when he would wake up the next morning this purple, pony, would be gone and everything would go back to being normal. That is, if he didn’t die from a drug overdose in his sleep.

“Say uh, Twilight, right? Why don’t we head inside my place and maybe we could look up where you are talking about. Maybe we can see how far off you missed your mark.” he threw a thumb over his right shoulder pointing to the sliding door that was still open to the house.

“Hmm? Oh! Yes, that's perfect! Perhaps you have a 'cahm-pyew-dar' in your house we can use? Ooo, do you also have the 'enter-net' as well? It was such a fascinating thing! So many books in it and you don’t even have to move to read it!”

“Uuh, yeah. I have a 'com-pu-ter' in my room and yes it has the 'inter-net' connected to it.”

Connor got up and led the h-pony back into his home. Connor was only 5'9” but the pony only came up to his upper thigh and waist, which only solidified the fact that this.. pony, was still tiny. After closing the sliding glass door, he made his way through the dining room and kitchen towards the stairs. The clipping and clopping sounds coming from Twilight on the worn wooden floor was sounding excruciatingly self-conscious to Connor's ears. He made his way back to his room and back to his computer where his game still sat at the main menu. He sat down at his computer chair and closed out of the game then brought up his internet browser. Twilight stood up on her hind legs and propped her... its hooves, right? Her hooves on his desk to see the screen as well.

“So what was this school called again?” he poised his fingers over the key board ready to begin clicking away.

“Canterlot high.”

“can you spell that for me?”

“C-A-N-T-E-R-L-O-T high.”

Connor typed in the name in the search box and hit the enter key. On the first page of hits, there was a school that was the first pick at the top of the list. He looked at the address then the state the school was in. he did a double take and he click on the map icon near the address to bring up a map with a point to show where it was. He then zoomed out and typed in his home address so that the map program would place another point on the map. Now that the second point was placed, Connor told the program to give directions to this school so that it would calculate the distance from where he lived to the school.

“Okay,” Connor explained, “ So according to this, here is where the school is, Canterlot high,” he indicated to the point on the far right hand side of the screen for Twilight. “And here,” he pointed to the other side of the screen, “Is where I live. So according to this, if you were aiming for the school there, you missed your mark by about, ooh 3,000 miles.”

“WHAT??!!!” Twilight almost screamed, putting her hooves to her temples.

“Yeah, the school is all the way on the east coast. You landed in the northwest part of the country. And trying to get there (which is on the east coast) from here will take a good long while.”

Twilight got off the desk and sat down, mouth slightly agape with shock.

“That's it, Connor,” he thought to himself. “Just convince the hallucinations that it can't make this trip possible and will have to go back and try again from where ever they came from.”

“I guess I'm going to have to wait until the portal opens up again so I can go back and try again.” Twilight said defeatedly. Her posture slumped a little at the prospect of idea.

“Great! Lets head back outside and you can call them back to pick you up!” Connor got up from his chair and was getting ready to head back outside.

“But I can't just call them back. I have to wait for them to try and reopen the portal before I can go back home.”

Okay, maybe Connor couldn't get the hallucinations to leave by sending them back from where they came from. But maybe he could put them in another room and they would disappear by tomorrow morning.

“Oh, well. Uh, how about you just spend the night here until the portal opens up?”

“Would you really let me stay here? I don’t want to be a burden or anything.”

“No, no, its fine. Its; uh yeah, just follow me. You can sleep in the TV room.”

Connor led Twilight to the TV room was that just down the hall and on his right. He pushed open the door to the room to reveal a large couch against the back wall and a TV on a stand opposite of the couch. A few blankets and a couple of pillows were on it from when his brothers were here last. There was game system at the foot of the TV stand with a couple of controllers and games scattered on the floor. There was a bookshelf off to the left filled with movies, old VCR tapes, and complete box sets of sci-fi TV shows. He walked in and made a quick clean up to get most of the debris out of the way and tidied up the couch for Twilight to sleep on.

“It's not much, but you can sleep here until you can go back.”

“Thank you. I appreciate everything you have done for me. By the way, I never got your name.”

“uh, yeah. No problem. And, its Connor. Look, I’m going to go to bed right now; I've got school tomorrow. And I will be getting up early to catch the bus, so if you want food...” he trailed off into space. Why was Connor telling the hallucinations about his morning routine tomorrow when it should be gone when he wakes up tomorrow? He decided to leave it at that and head back to his room to turn in early. He heard a “Good night!” from Twilight which he returned before closing his bedroom door. He quickly changed into his pajamas and powered off his computer. He didn’t care what time it was, he wanted this night to be over and just sleep off the rest of his drug induced roller coaster of a ride.

The next morning, his two alarms went off. His radio alarm began playing music over the radio while his phone beeped annoyingly at him. Connor opened his bleary eyes and looked at his watch that was on his bed night stand. 6:00, the time he needed to get up at if he wanted to catch the school bus on time. He roused himself from his comfy and warm bed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. He let the hiss of the warm water distract him as he tried to get over what he had experienced last night. If it really was drugs, he thought there would be more of a hangover. He got out of the shower and headed back to his room where his radio was still playing to get ready for the day. Some fresh clothes, wallet, phone, motorcycle key, watch, glasses, and his trusty combat boots. With everything set he turned off his radio and headed for the kitchen downstairs.

However, as he shut the door to his room he heard a noise. It was soft thudding coming from the TV room. Connor approached the door cautiously wondering what could be in there. In the back of his head a bubble of fear was rising. He was hoping with all his might that he would find something normal on the other side. He pushed open the door to see a tiny purple horse pacing back and forth in the TV room.

“Oh, hello Connor. I was just up trying to think of what might have caused the gross misplacement of the portal and if Spike or the Princess might be able to open the portal again to get me back. Are you alright, Connor?” Twilight noticed that Connor was just standing there with an unbelieving expression across his face.

“FFFAAWWWKK!!!!!!!! GOD DAMN IT!!!!!! SO IT WASN'T JUST A FUCKING DRUG TRIP!!!!!!”

Twilight recoiled back in shock while Connor burst in a flurry of cursing and flailing. The outburst continued for another second or two before simmering down to a raging boil and Connor stormed down stairs for some food in the hopes that a full stomach will help calm him down.

The rest of this week was not going to be a good one. It was only going to get worse.

4: New Student

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Connor

Connor sat on the bus looking out the window with his chin in his hand. He was still fuming from earlier that morning. The larger than normal breakfast that he had did help a little to calm him down, but it was equivalent to trying to use a tiny garden hose to put out a raging forest fire with a rumbling volcano in the back ready to burst again.

He wanted to think of something to try and cope with his now new visitor from another world that was going to be staying at his place for who knows how long. But his mind was still that state of constant boiling, but not quite spilling over. When he finally got off the bus and was at school his mind had calmed down to a rolling boil that allowed for coherent thought process, but he didn’t wanted to think about home right now. So when the first school bell beeped across the high school campus he was thankful to have classes to take his mind off of it.

School could not have gone any slower today. His mood had been simmering in the back of his head all day and Connor had been doing anything and everything to keep his mind off of what was waiting for him after school. He was putting extra effort into the work he was given during class in an attempt to keep his mind off home, however that was not going as planned. The teachers were barely handing out work if any because they were so close to the end of the year.

His mind was asking itself on how he should treat Twilight. Could he treat like a pet? No, she seemed to have too high of standards and dignity to be treated like his dog. Should he treat her as an equal? No, that wasn't right either; her lack of knowledge of his world clearly put him ahead of the pace so they weren't equals on that ground. He hadn't gathered any extra information on how extensive Twilight's knowledge was on his world, but until proven otherwise he had the upper hand. His mind finally settled on the thought of subordinate; not quite equals in the sense but still treated with enough respect.

School ended and when he got home Connor had planned out his speech on how to deal with this purple pony now living in his house. He opened the front door and entered the house.

“Hello?” he called out. Connor was still hopeful that his visitor might have somehow disappeared on him while at school.

“Hello Connor! I'm in here!”

Nope, it was still here.

Twilight's voice came from the kitchen and dining room and he could hear some clinking like silverware against ceramic. He made his way to the the door that lead to the kitchen and dining room and looked around it. Twilight was sitting there eating a bowl of cereal and had stopped eating to look at him. Connor was about to dive into his speech about who was in charge while she was visiting when his eye caught something. She wasn’t holding the bowl or the spoon and yet somehow the spoon continued to move the contents from the floating bowl to her mouth. He could just barely make out a slight purple tint around both objects. It looked funny because normally an object would have a thin black outline under normal white light. Now it looked like that was replaced with a purple one.

“What, are you doing?” Connor asked slowly.

“What do you mean? I’m having food that you offered to me.” she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“No, I mean why is the bowl and spoon floating in midair?” he pointed to the objects in question.

“Oh, that is my magic doing a levitation spell.”

Connor didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if he wanted to comment on the new idea of magic in his world or go back to his original plan of discussing order of command. But what he did do was go and check the front door to make sure no one outside was looking in then checked the back yard through the sliding glass door for any prying eyes.

Connor turned to face Twilight, “Okay, so apparently you can use magic, too? What else, those wings actually work and you can fly as well?”

“Of course I can use magic, I am an alicorn. And I can fly as well; well I’m not the best at flying but I can still do it. And I used both abilities to find some food to eat. You have a lot of strange looking food here.” Twilight set her bowl down on the table as she said all this then took flight so as to demonstrate her point.

Connor didn't know what question to ask next because he was still absorbed by that fact that this hor- ; sorry, pony. This pony could could fly like a bird (albeit, a bird that was still learning to fly by the looks of it) and possess the impossible feats of magic. So he had answered the 'who' and 'what' parts of his five “W” questions; next on his question list was 'when' and 'where' .

“Okay, so when did you discover that you could use magic and where is it coming from?”

“Well it is very faint, but the last time I was here I had an encounter with a fellow resident from my world that resulted in a magic battle.”

“And I'm assuming that this happened at Canterlot high?”

“Correct! During the battle, we used the magic of friendship to defeat her. It appears that some of that magic had remained in this world as a sort residue from the aftermath of the battle. And if my theory is correct, through the law of diffusion, the magic must have began spreading across the land.”

That last comment Twilight made about diffusion slightly surprised Connor. Even though her knowledge of his world was limited, she seemed to have a good understanding of scientific laws and theories. Then again, his expectation for the general populace to understand basic scientific knowledge was pretty low. Its the price you pay for living in a country filled with idiots; but I digress.

There was one thing that stuck out as odd for Connor though. The bit about 'magic of friendship' thing. “Wha-, magic of... No; you know what, I’m not even going to ask about the whole 'magic of friendship' thing. What I will ask of you is if you can find a way to use that magic to disguise yourself as a human. At least for a while until you go home. Right now, I have to get ready for work; I will see you when I get back.”

Twilight nodded and landed back on the ground. She levitated her bowl and spoon into the sink that was partly full of dishes and went back up stairs to the TV room where she continued to manipulate the limited magic she had in an attempt to make a usable disguise. While that was going on Connor prepped himself for work and was out of the garage and on his motorcycle in 15 minutes. He was leaving a good 30 minutes before he needed to get to his job, but he was going to use that extra time to hopefully blow off some steam through euphoric pass time of riding on two wheels.

~~~

Thursday morning, Connor's two alarms went off again. He rolled around in bed a little trying to block out the loud noises emanating from two different sources. He fumbled for his watch sitting on the night stand and looked at it; it read 6:00 in the morning. He set his watch back on the stand and got out of bed to go through his morning routine again. He showered, got clean clothes on, put on his watch and glasses, and stuck his wallet, phone, and motorcycle key in his pockets. He put on sneakers this time instead of his boots because he was feeling he wanted to change it up a bit. He didn't want to check on Twilight in the TV room because he knew the consequences of staying up for over 24 hours. Since she had arrived here, it seemed that she didn’t get a wink of sleep. So, he let her sleep in without any interruption; besides, she knew how to find food in his home without help.

He had breakfast, then cleaned up after himself before grabbing a light, navy blue, pullover fleece to put on and his helmet. He was going to ride to school today. He pushed the start button on the right handle bar and the four pistons purred to life again. He grinned to himself again before putting his helmet on rolling out of the open garage and left for school.

School was normal today as it was every other day and when Connor got home he was ready to entertain himself with music and shenanigans from the internet. He walked in through the front door and called out, “Hello?”

“Hello!” Twilight called back.

Connor heard her voice coming from the living room off to his left. He took a few paces forward and peered in expecting to see a purple pony. Instead he saw a white teenage girl with purple themed hair and clothes reading a book from one of the shelves on the love couch placed in the living room. Her top was a blue button up shirt and a pair a jeans with a unique violet six pointed star surrounded by five other white stars sown into the side at her hip. She wore purple hiking boots that came up over her ankles and white socks. All in all, it was a very functional outfit and there was no need to seem more feminine with a skirt or anything (thankfully). The girl had a comfortable air around her and looked cute enough to be good friends, but Connor was not interested in any kind of emotional relationship with this girl.

“Twilight? Is that you?” Connor narrowed his eyes as to investigate any kind of hint that might tell him otherwise.

“Yes, how do you like my new look?” the human Twilight lowered her book and spread her arms slightly to invite critiquing of her handiwork on the disguise.

“Are those clothes apart of the illusion or did you borrow some?”

“They are apart of the illusion. It's easier to maintain an illusion that has a more form fitting look to it than it is to have a form with a look that is affected by outside forces like a billowing dress in the wind. But this isn't a permanent illusion and I am still a pony underneath it.” The illusion of a girl disappeared briefly to reveal a purple pony sitting on the couch horn glowing and levitating a book for her to read, before the girl quickly came back sitting properly on the couch with a book in her hands.

“Makes sense,” Connor remarked.

“Sooo...” Twilight continued.

“Yeeesss...” Connor was eyeing Twilight suspiciously. Her tone of voice and lead in into the next part the conversation was setting off caution warnings inside his head. she was about to ask something that was going to require some serious clearance on his part.

“I was wondering...” Twilight began.

“Yeeesss...”

“Just maybe...”

“Yeeeessss?!” He said loudly, gesturing with one hand to egg her on.

“DoyouthinkIcouldvisityourschool??”

Connor stood there is suspense staring at Twilight for a few seconds with a frown on his face. “No.” Connor deadpanned before quickly turning around to move to the kitchen.

“Please? I've been to a school before, and I know how to fit in. I can just slip in on the classes and no one would notice!”

“Uh-huh, NO one will notice the new girl coming into class dressed in purple less than 4 weeks out from school ending.” He called back sarcastically from the kitchen.

“It can be just for one day. It can be tomorrow! It won't be a problem at all!”

“I’ll think about it...”

This was the excuse his Dad had used on him for years. It was the phrase he used when he was delaying a decision for Connor's own good, or as his underhanded way of saying 'no'. The conversation was dropped, but Connor's mind had a habit of brooding on past experiences and running 'what if' scenarios. Right now his mind was running the 'what if Twilight actually came to school with him?' simulation. He forced the thought from his mind and would come back to it later. Currently today was his Friday for work and he had fifteen minutes left before he had to leave.

That night Connor laid in bed letting his mind run the 'what if Twilight actually came to school with him?' simulation. He couldn’t keep Twilight locked up in his house completely while he waited for a new portal to open up for her to jump back through. He was going to need to keep her contempt and happy while she stayed here, which meant he was required to take her out.

He thought about how his peers would react to a new girl that was with him on a Friday but had never shown up any time earlier in the week or the school year for that matter. Twilight looked like a young junior, so he didn’t need to worry about her looking too out of place. He could probably come up with an excuse that might satisfy and nosey questions that might come his way but his biggest issue would be the teachers. If he was going to smuggle a new student through all of his classes he needed to come up with a solid story that would gain favor for overlooking a new student in their class for a day. Perhaps he could pass Twilight off as a relative maybe? The more his mind ran the simulation the more it seemed plausible that he could pull this off. He rolled over in his bed and went to sleep thinking up of a valid story to pass off on everyone.

~~~

On Friday morning, Connor woke Twilight up for the ride to school. They both sat together on the bus ride there and Twilight was as excited as can be. She wore the same outfit as yesterday but had no backpack to complete the look. Connor only just realized this after they had boarded the yellow school bus and were over half way done with the route. Hindsight is 20/20 as the saying goes. Connor was nervous the entire way there. In his mind it was for good reason. One can sit there and think and theorized and plan out any scenario to perfection and as soon as one tries to implement it, the entire could plan fall to shit.

The bus driver didn't really ask too many questions about Twilight when she got on the bus, the simple 'What's your name?' and 'How come I haven't seen you before?' . Twilight gave her name and with the interjection of Connor convinced the bus driver that she was a sister who was transferring to his school and wanted to check out the school and get familiar with it before she started next year. Connor had made up the entire story on the spot and some how it passed as convincing. He had still been trying to come up with a story to tell others since last night but was struggling with covering for minor details. Turns out the best story was the simplest one. Since the sister story seemed to work, he decided to stick with it for the time being.

Once they got off the bus, the real challenge would begin. With a cover story set for Twilight, all Connor had to do was just convince his teachers to let her sit in for today only. Not too hard; he had six periods with six different classes and six different teachers that needed convincing. But he forgot a couple of crucial people he had to be able to persuade; his friends.

“Hey, Connor!” a student was making his way towards the pair that stood a few meters away from the recently departed bus. Connor recognized him instantly as Micheal, one of his close friends.

Micheal was a student that Connor had met at the beginning of his freshman year in high school. This was a time before either of them had their own forms of transportation and both rode the bus to school. He had brown hair with a stylized cut and was more fashion sensible then Connor with his designer sun glasses and 100 dollar sneakers. He could pick up on the implied dirty or rude comments faster than Connor did, which made Connor look slow and in turn the butt of many jokes.

They had met at the same bus stop and slowly grew to become close friends. Since they lived so close to each other, they had met up together at both of their houses at one time or another to play video games. While Connor was super competitive with racing and stealth action, Micheal was super competitive in first person shooters and 3D fighters. They shared a polite interest in each other's choice of games and enjoyed playing both types. Though they did share differences.

For one, Micheal enjoyed the use of recreational drugs and cigarettes. Connor didn't like doing either, but he did not raise any problems with it because Micheal knew the health risks that came with his choices. When Micheal did try to offer Connor, he made clear that he was not interested in that kind of stuff. He would have said 'Drugs' , but he didn’t want to sound as cheesy as the anti-drug preachers that passed through their school every now and then; come on, its high school, and Connor was already struggling to maintain a relativity normal reputation. Their second difference was their choice in preferred transportation. Micheal chose to go with the used ricer car. You know, the old car that was slightly lowered with angled wheels and the large fart cannon coming out the back that did nothing power-wise except make a loud annoying noise that makes your ears bleed. On the other hand, Connor had gotten a nice used sports bike for about the same price Micheal paid for his car but Connor had a lot more power, a nice sounding exhaust, and it cost less to maintain and repair. This wasn't as big of a draw back in their friendship as the drugs were, but it did provide for some interesting conversation material.

Micheal approached Connor and exchanged their usual 'Sup' and 'Yo'. He turned and faced Twilight and gave her the look over before speaking again.

“And who's the new girl? Did you finally get a girlfriend, or is this your mail order bride?” he sneered.

“No, this is actually my sister that I didn't know about. She's transferring to here next year, but Mom and Dad wanted her to see the school for herself so she can get a idea of where everything is.”

Twilight gave a innocent smile as if to play along with the story and to emphasize her being new here. The problem was Micheal had been over to his house many times before. That means, he has had the un/fortunate experience of meeting Connor's entire family of two younger brothers, the dog, Mom and Dad............ is it clear now? Or do I have to spell it out?

Micheal knew that the sister tale was a lie and Connor could read it on his face. If Micheal wanted to speak openly, he probably would have said something along the lines of, “Are you serious? You expect me to believe this shit?” but at the request of Connor pleading eyes to just play along, he pretended to believe the story.

“Your sister, huh?”

“Yes! My name is Twilight sparkle and I’m Connor's sister. What's your name?”

Twilight stuck out her hand and offered a hand shake, apparently completely oblivious of silent conversation between Micheal and Connor. Connor cringed at the painfully naïve cheerfulness and out-of-place demeanor that Twilight was exuding from her greeting. It was a greeting that said 'I have been completely sheltered my entire life and have no idea of how kids my age interact with each other!' . Micheal politely shook the offered hand but his mental alarms for crazy girls were blaring loudly inside. This girl was more than just a little off.

“My name's Micheal and I’m Connor's only friend.”

“Ha ha.” Connor said in a deadpanned voice.

“Sorry, the walls and your hand don't count as friends.”

“And designer sunglasses and a 50 dollar hair cut do not make you cool.”

“Yes they do. Before I even left the parking lot, three girls came up to me and were like, 'Damn, Mikey! You lookin' fine! Can we come home with you tonight?' and I was like 'We don’t have to go home to have fun, if you know what I mean' .”

Connor rolled his eyes at another of his friend's grand tale of all the babes asking him to have their baby. He had never really seen any girls actually approach him in that fashion, so Connor just took the stories with a grain of salt. Twilight however, was left standing there unsure of what exactly the two boys were talking about and was readying to ask about it, but the school bell rang before she could speak up.

“Aaw, I was about to get to the good part.” Micheal whined.

“Sorry, but I have to get my 'sister' to class before were late. See ya.”

“Hang on!” Micheal called out.

Connor stopped and turned to face his friend jogging up to them to get one last word in.

“I'll be coming over to your place so we can discuss about your, 'sister' .”

He held up air quotes as to make a point and gave a skeptical glare. Micheal wanted to know more about this and he was going to come over to find out.

“Uh, sure. How about Saturday?”

~~~

Classes that day were easy. Everyone was pretty laid back and weren't worrying about much except for what they were planning on doing when the final bell rang. The teachers were not very hard to convince either. After his encounter with Micheal, Connor decided to change the story to Twilight being his cousin instead of sister. A couple of his teachers were a bit confused as to why her parents would try to transfer her so close to the end of the year but agreed to let her sit in on class for today.

With the teachers taken care of, Connor could relax a bit more and just wait for the day to end. Twilight was having an ecstatic day with exploring and investigating everything she could in the class room. She would read any books she could get her hands on, stare and examine all of the posters and displays, and talk with all the peers and teachers in her crusade to learn all that she could. His classmates found Twilight to be a little too bubbly but they grew to like her and would invite her into the conversations. The teachers appreciated having another student that was excited to learn too, instead of the average bored teenager who could care less about finding sine and cosine of a triangle or what the net speed of two objects when they collided.

Connor was impressed by how well Twilight had integrated herself into the student life. She didn’t talk too much but seemed to listen more and learn about the different life styles of every student. Although, Connor wondered how well Twilight would retain her innocence after spending some time with the more foul mouthed and dirty minded students around school.

The school bell rang again for the final time for today and everyone rushed to get out of the hot and stuffy building and portables. Connor's final class was in a portable so the walk to the bus was pretty short. They boarded and sat down on one of the brown padded benches together.

“That was fun! And you were worried that I wouldn't fit in.” Twilight said proudly.

“Yeah, I have to admit, you surprised me at how well you handled yourself. But hopefully that portal will open back up soon so you can get back home.”

“Do you not like having me here. I mean, I know I showed up so suddenly and it was a lot for you take in, but I hoped that I could become more than a nuisance to you.” Twilight looked dejectedly at Connor to her left.

“No, no, its not that. You've earned some of my respect with your resourcefulness and ability to blend in for the most part. Its just that I think it would be best if you returned back to your world so that you can go help your Canterlot high friends.”

Connor would be reluctant to admit it, but he had some trust issues with people. Not in the sense of being paranoid and distrusting, he just didn’t have that many true friends that he could truly trust and rely on. He still had plenty of friends around him, but Connor always liked the idea of having that close knit group of friends that he could entrust important or private matters to be handled properly by.

Connor blamed most of his trust issues on his brothers because of his decade's worth of experience of them never being able to deliver on anything. So the fact that he was stating that Twilight had earned his respect, and in turn, some trust in her meant a lot to Connor. It was not something he handed out lightly.

Twilight smiled at his truthfulness and sat back on the bench with a contempt expression. But Connor was not so satisfied. He still had to deal with Micheal if he really did come over and started asking questions about Twilight. Micheal was a good friend and he had trusted Connor to keep his smoking habit a secret, so just maybe Connor could trust him to keep Twilight's true nature a secret as well.

5: Between A Portal and A Hard Place

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Connor

On Saturday morning, Connor heard the familiar sound of a vibrating can coming up into his drive way. Normally on a Saturday, Connor would still be in bed sleeping in until 12:30 in the afternoon. But the possibility of Micheal actually coming over to question him and Twilight prevented him from reaching that goal. Now he had a knocking at the front door and he had to answer it.

Connor opened the front door to find Micheal standing there with his shades on his head and a serious expression on his face.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey, come on in.” Connor stepped to the side to let Micheal in the house before closing the door. It had been a little while since Micheal had come over, but nothing in the house had changed that much.

“Twilight's in my room right now, so we'll be talking up there.”

“Twilight is such a corny name. What mother would name their kid 'Twilight'?”

“Don’t know, never bothered to ask. But I had bigger problems to deal with than a terrible name.”

“Oh really? And what's that?”

“well, head up to my room and we'll talk about it.”

They entered Connor's room together to see Twilight sitting there on the bed. There were two chairs open and Connor walked over to his open computer chair and spun it around to sit in and face everyone. Micheal took the last chair that was open and sat facing both Twilight and Connor. They sat there for a few seconds in awkward silence just staring at each other. Finally, Micheal spoke up.

“Okay, I know for a fucking fact that she isn't your sister. So who is she?” Micheal pointed accusingly at Twilight while giving Connor the stink eye.

“Well... this is Twilight and, she is from another world.”

As soon as the words left Connor's mouth he instantly regretted it. It was said so plainly and matter-of-factually that Connor could feel skepticism suffocating the air in the room. Nobody in their right mind would believe such a ridiculous story. Twilight sat there looking between the two of them trying to find any kind sign to go off of. She and Connor had discussed before hand about whether or not they should tell Micheal the truth about where she came from or how she got here.

Somehow by a miracle, Twilight had convince Connor that he should put his trust in Micheal like he had put his trust in her. Connor had been reluctant about it because he trusted Micheal as a friend who would help you out of a slight jam like giving a ride to school or work. But not as someone he could pass on secrets to or trust with fixing his motorcycle. Connor had agreed to tell Micheal the whole story, but he felt like Twilight had guilt tripped him into it. Now that the words had left Connor's mouth, there was no turning back now.

Micheal sat there looking at both of them trying is hardest not to burst out in laughter in front of their faces. He was practically fidgeting in his seat attempting to maintain his composure. “One sec,” he held up a finger before getting up from his chair and exiting the room. The door closed behind him and Connor and Twilight could hear fits of laughter behind it.

Twilight looked over to Connor with a frown and said, “Why is he laughing at us? We just told him the truth, didn't we?”

“Twilight; you got to realize by this world's standard, what we just told him was a bold face lie. And if someone told me the story we are about to tell him, I would have thought it was bullshit to and laughed at them too.”

“But it's not a lie!”

“I know, I know. What we need to do is give him proof that this is the real deal.”

“I got it! I'll remove the disguise and show him my pony form!”

“WHAT??!!!!”

But before Connor could continue with his protest, Micheal had walked back in still chuckling to himself to sit back down.

“So you think that we are lying do you?” Twilight began before Connor could stop her.

“Uh, yeah? That shit was so thick I could walk across it like a floor.”

“Well how about I give you proof that I am from another world?”

“Twilight...” Connor warned, but Twilight continued.

“Okay, please. Show me this proof that you are some kind of alien from a different planet.”

“Oh, I’ll do better than that. I can show you that I’m from a different dimension!”

Twilight was standing on the bed now and was looking at him as if challenging Micheal to not believe her. Before Connor could command her to stop, the human form of Twilight flickered like a dying light bulb and disappeared to reveal a small purple pony with a horn and wings spread proudly on either side of her. She stared smugly at Micheal like she had just won a debate while Connor was half way out of his seat wanting to grab something to throw over her and hide her from view. he assumed Twilight was someone smart enough to think tactfully and try every available option before using their last resort. Not stupid enough to play their ace in the hole on the first go-around of dealing. His current trust in Twilight had now dropped a good bit.

Micheal sat there with his mouth open and stared at the spectacle before him. If Twilight planned on shocking him, she passed with flying colors.

“There! Now do you believe us?”

Twilight sat down triumphantly and looked to Connor expecting to see him sharing in their victory. However she saw an angry Connor that looked like he wanted to smack her up side the head for making a tremendously colossal mistake.

“So you really weren't lying when you said she was from another world...”

Twilight and Connor turned back to peer at Micheal who was still in a state of shock but was quickly recovering and showing a look of great concern.

“Connor, we need to tell someone about this.”

“Why? I've got this handled right now. And she'll be going back to her world pretty soon, anyways.”

“No, you don't understand. This needs to be treated seriously.” Micheal was leaning in towards Connor now and lowered his voice like he was trying to hide his conversation from a purple pony sitting naught two meters away.

“And how do you suppose this should be treated like?”

“Like the little grey alien in area 51, that's how.”

“What little grey alien? What happened to him?” Twilight asked.

“You know full well what's going to come of that. I’m not going to let someone be turned into a science experiment for the government black suits to cut into like a frog.”

“This is bigger than you. If we have another alien here on earth, alive, then we need to tell people. It will get press coverage, we'll probably get a pay out for a discovery like this.”

“Hello! I’m still here!”

“You realize you are talking about trading a life for the possibility of fame and money, right?”

“HEY!”

Both Connor and Micheal looked at the sitting pony before them looking agitated for being kept out of the loop. Twilight knew some back room dealings were going on and didn't like being treated like she wasn't there.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Micheal wants to turn you in as a corpse for scientists to cut into and experiment with.”

“You know its the right thing to do!”

“No, kicking you out is the right thing to do, right now.”

“Stop it! I think we need to just talk this out together and come to an understanding.”

“No, Twilight, you don't understand. He wants to present you to the government like a trophy for money. He's hoping to use you for a big pay out so he can get a real car and not a ricer.”

“Think of the money we could make! It could be worth millions! We could have anything in the world! And my car is just fine right now!”

“Maybe if we just calm down and- ”

“Get out! Get out of my house right now!”

Connor had stood up now and was pointing to the door. He had enough and was not going to take Micheal treating the situation like some rare jewel he found in the woods. Micheal stood up as well and glared challengingly at him. They stood there daring the other to make a move before Micheal gave in and stomped to the door. Twilight was now standing up and with her human disguise back on as well. Connor escorted his friend down the hall way and out the front door with Twilight following in suit. They stood there at the door watching as Micheal angrily got into his car and roared out of his drive way. Connor didn’t know what Micheal was going to do. He was afraid that he might actually try something to get at the imaginary pot of gold he saw in Twilight, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. Hopefully, the portal would have opened up again before hand and Twilight would already be gone. He could only hope.

~~~

It was 7:35 and Connor and Twilight sat in the TV room while Connor played on the family's game system. Twilight sat beside him on the couch watching as Connor played one of favorite racing simulation games. They hadn't talked about the fight with Micheal since he left and that was fine by Connor. He didn’t want to think about it. Twilight on the other hand did want to talk about it.

“Hey, Connor?”

“Hmm?”

“About earlier...”

“I really don’t want to talk about it, Twilight...”

“But maybe it would be best to try and reconsider trying-”

“No, Twilight. Maybe we should check to see of the portal has opened again.”

By we, Connor meant her to go and check. Connor was still irritated and was playing his game to relieve his stress. Twilight solemnly got up and left the room leaving Connor there. As he watched her leave, he started feeling bad for snapping at her. He didn't mean to take out his anger on her; it wasn't her fault. He looked at his watch and it read little past 7:35. If he wanted to be specific, the clock read about 7:37.

“Hey, Connor? Something's happening behind your home.”

Confused, Connor hit the pause on his game and got up to join Twilight, where ever she was.

“What do you mean 'Something is happening'?”

Twilight was standing in his parents room at the window that looked over the back yard. Connor stood next to her on her right and stared out the window. His backyard was sparking and crackling with energy just like last time Twilight came through.

“Holy crap, Twilight! That's the portal!”

Connor ran down the stair and out the sliding glass door to the back yard with Twilight hot on his heels. They stood there staring as the portal reformed itself before them. It was mystical watching it reform again in the yard. The pale mirror forming before them with it's purple spiral pattern swirling slowly in it. Connor looked at it and stared. It was the Moment he had been waiting for; Twilight could finally go back home and his life could return back to normal. He was relieved but also had a twinge of regret. Even though he loved the idea of returning back to a normal life, he had an opportunity for an adventure sitting right before him, begging to be started. But he knew better. Twilight belonged in her world and her other friends in Canterlot high needed her.

They both faced each other knowing they had to say goodbye now.

“So. I guess this is it then...” Connor said awkwardly.

“Yes, it is...”

“Hey, I just wanted to say, even though it was unexpected, I enjoyed meeting you.”

“Thank you. I also enjoyed- ”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!”
“FREEZE!!!”
“DON'T MOVE!”
“HANDS IN THE AIR WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!!”
“HANDS IN THE AIR!!”

Suddenly, the back yard was filled with flash lights, blue uniforms, handguns, and rifles all raised and pointed at the duo stand in front of a white oval shaped disc. Flashing blue and red lights shone in the front of the house and a couple of trucks with diesel engines running could be heard from the front. Connor and Twilight slowly raised their hands in the air. Twilight held them high over her head but Connor only brought his up to face level. He shifted his stance so that his left foot was in front of the other; this was his ready fighting stance. He had learned how to position himself in an advantageous stance through his training and by shifting his feet and keeping his hands at face level, the only difference between looking helplessly defensive and ready to fight were his hands being either open palms or closed fists. Connor didn't know why these people were here filling up his back yard, but he had a pretty good idea of who they were. The most police he had encountered were those one-on-one encounters and were mainly just getting a speeding ticket. This was a different level though and Twilight looked like she was about to burst into panicked tears.

Twilight was trembling in her boots and her hands were shaking so much she might as well have been doing vigorous jazz hands while doing the wave back and forth.

“Connor, who are these people?”

“Police.” he mumbled back to her. He was confused as to why the police hadn't just rushed them right there and was wondering what was holding them back? Perhaps the glow portal behind them might have been the reason; plus they didn’t have any protocol on dealing with interdimensional beings or portals, so that helped too.

Twilight wanted to ask more questions, but a scuffling from behind the wall of lights, guns and bodies drew her attention forward. Micheal had pushed his way through the wall and stood there looking angry at them.

“Micheal?” Connor called out.

“I told you; this is bigger than you. If you weren't willing to listen to a solution, I was going to make a solution happen!”

“Wait, so you sold us out to the cops?!”

“Yeah! We can get a huge check from someone with her!”

“You Son Of a Bitch!”

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!” one of the cops shouted.

After cussing out his old 'friend' , Connor basically tuned out every audible stimulation around him and focused on the situation before him. He predicted that he had every cop in his town, the next town over, and probably a SWAT team right behind them all standing in front of him and probably had a perimeter formed around the house as well. What ever wild story Micheal told them (probably a wild gunman running around trying to shoot up the place) it looked like they were ready anything. So he went over his current options available to him. He could A: surrender now and he won't be hurt, but Twilight would be shipped off to some lab and possibly be cut into. Or, he could B: take his chances, go all in, and jump through the portal with Twilight. The sensible option would be to surrender, but Connor didn't like dealing with cops in the first place. So option A was already sounding like a bad shit storm. That left him with option B. well, he always wanted a grand adventure in his life and now he was getting one.

The cops were slowly closing in on them and time was running out. He had to act now.

“Twilight, do you trust me?”

“What?!”

“Do you trust me?”

“I- I guess? What are yo-”

“Okay on the count of three, just follow my lead.”

Twilight tried to make more complaints but Connor didn’t hear them. He had permission to enact his plan he was going to do it.

“1..2..3!!”

His right hand shot out and grabbed her left arm. He turned and half pulled, half tackled Twilight through the white and purple mirror leaving behind the swarm of cops and his world.

The world went dark around him but he could see flashes of light behind his eye lids. Twilight had fallen out of his grasp but he could sense that she was still there near him. His equilibrium was telling him he was spinning around and around with hint of slowing down. The sensations his body was telling him were unreal. It felt like his body was being twisted, contorted and mangled into new shapes. It was almost painful to the point were he wanted to shout in agony. He could feel his bones changing and morphing into different arrangements. Some were lengthening, others were growing thicker. His face felt weird and throbbed like he was punched in the nose. He felt two sharp pains in his back like he just threw out a muscle or two. Then suddenly, darkness settled in and he fell unconscious.

Connor felt a smooth hard surface underneath him. It felt similar to smooth marble or smooth granite but he couldn't tell. His hands and feet felt numb right now and he couldn't use them. He made a quick system check of his body to see if he still had every limb. Two arms, two legs, and a head, so he was still alive and could move. The next step was to open his eyes. He blinked several times to clear the slight film that blurred his vision. The first thing he saw was a white walled room with tables, chalkboards, and books everywhere. Standing in front of him were seven figures, one of them stood taller than the rest and the last one looked like to be a dragon? His vision cleared enough to focus and registered what looked like a baby dragon... and six other multicolored ponies. Suddenly purple filled his view and he looked up to see Twilight back in her pony form.

“Ah, Connor? Before anything happens I just want to let you know that-”

Connor had stopped listening to look at the blue object that was sticking out from his face. It looked like it was covered in fur and the fur had the color of worn jeans blue. Slightly faded, but still darker than sky blue or baby blue. He raised his hand up to touch this thing, but instead of a hand a large blue object came up to his eye sight to touch it. The blue thing in front of his eyes felt like his nose, but that can't be right. He raised his head more to look at this blunt looking thing touching what felt like his nose and traced it back to it's origin. His eyes traveled to the side and up to a similarly blue colored body. He wiggled his shoulder and saw the corner of the body wiggle at the same time he was moving his shoulder.

“Connor?” Twilight said tentatively.

Connor's mind was beginning to race and he needed to see what the rest of his body looked like. He whipped his head around to the left to look at himself. He found a horse like body covered in the same looking faded blue jeans blue color fur. He spotted some wings on his back but what caught his attention the most was a dirty blonde colored tail at the back. He felt something twitch at his butt and tried to give it a little flick. The tail flicked experimentally at the back and the terrible realization finally came crashing down on him.

His final thought that ran through his mind:

“Oh shit.”

Author's Notes:

what? You thought it would just end right there with sending twilight on her way? NNNNNNNNOPE!!!! we have a whole adventure to experience and this is only the beginning! From here on out I will be trying to make regular updates instead of uploading massive chunks. I have the entire story already planned out, now all I have to do is get it down on paper. That's the hard part for me. I don’t have any kind of schedule set up right now to where I can say 'this is when I will have the next part up' but I will try to stay active. I want to try and bring some new things to the table and hopefully make some sound head cannons that will explain some things. In short, I have a lot of writing to do. Oh! I am also looking for some proof readers/editors who would like to look over future chapters and let me know of any mistakes or missing plot holes that I might need to cover. I’m going to limit it to a handful of spots so if you want to help and get a sneak peek at the next chapters send an email at kablam.pony@gmail.com and join the team! Some rules apply, see dealer for more details.

6: Missing One Blue Pony

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Twilight

Twilight was scared. All she could see was a wall of lights and shouting in front of her. The lights were blinding and she couldn't see anything past them. However, Connor's friend, Micheal had pushed his way to the front of whatever was behind those lights and began shouting with Connor. When they finished talking, some one from behind the lights had shouted, “STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”. The wall of lights were slowly inching closer to Twilight. She looked for any kind of escape, but there were none. Connor and Twilight were boxed in by the fence and the only exits were behind the blinding light wall. Twilight was pulled out of her mental dilemma when Connor spoke to her in a low voice.

“Twilight, do you trust me?”

“What?!” The odd question confused her as it seemed to have no context to their current problem.

“Do you trust me?”

“I- I guess? What are yo-”

“Okay on the count of three, just follow my lead.” Connor looked like he was planning something dangerous and Twilight did not feel like pushing their limits at the moment.

“Wait, Connor! I don’t think we should anything right now!” She said in a hushed voice.

“1...”

“What ever you're planning, I don’t think it's a good idea! Look how many there are!”

“2...”

Twilight was starting to panic now with Connor's impending count down coming to an end. “Connor, no! don’t do it!”

“3!”

Connor's hand darted out and grabbed Twilight's left arm. Connor turned to his right to face the portal while his other hand wrapped around her waist and half pulled, half tackled her through the portal. The last thing Twilight could see before she passed through the portal was the wall of lights finally dropping to reveal dozens of bodies all dressed in similar looking blue uniforms with most of them carrying small or long black things slowly rushing forward after them. Then, she passed through the portal and blackness took hold.

The familiar sensation of spinning, churning, and twisting began to disorientate her again. The grip that Connor had on her began to loosen and she drifted away slightly from Connor. She felt her magical disguise dissipate and could feel her hooves again. Her magical power slowly returned to her as she and Connor began to approach their final destination.

Twilight flew out of the portal with a blue and blonde mass tumbling out with her. The portal closed and she landed hard on the polished stone floor and skidded slightly before coming to a complete stop. She shook her head slightly to try and clear her head of the vertigo before opening her eyes again. Twilight was back in her magical laboratory with its white walls, golden detail, and dozens of chalkboards, tables, and books everywhere.

“Twilight!!”

Twilight heard several voices nearby and turned to see their sources. She grinned broadly when she saw not only Princess Celestia and Spike there, but also Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow dash, and Fluttershy all there waiting for here arrival.

“Girls!” Twilight rushed over to her good friends for a quick group hug before stepping back to take them all in again.

“Where have you been, Dear?! We were so worried about you when Spike sent us the letter telling what happened! Are you alright?” Rarity fussed over Twilight making sure nothing was out of place.

“She's fine, Rarity! Twilight is made of tougher stuff than that!” Rainbow dash chastised Rarity for her fussing while she gently hovered overhead. “So tell me, what kind of awesome adventures did you have this time? Did you battle a three headed bear with your bare hooves?! Or, or, did you have to save a city from certain doom?!”

“Did you have fun?! Oo, what kind of fun do they have over there? Do they have fun swimming in a pool of water or jello? No, chocolate, no, white chocolate jello!!” Pinkie Pie bounced in place excitedly waiting for Twilight's answer.

“Pinkie! Please let Twilight get comfortable before bombarding her with so many questions,” Rarity pleaded with Pinkie while she continued to look over Twilight.

“Oh dear, Twilight. Is everything alright? You looked like you just saw a terrible event,” Fluttershy put in her words from the side looking concerned.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

“yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Princess. But how did you manage to reactivate the portal? I never told anyone how to operate it before I left.”

Celestia smiled at her student before continuing with her explanation, “Well, it wasn't very hard to figure out. You left very detailed notes explaining every aspect of your little 'project', including on how to power and program it. Since we had no idea how to contact you, Spike and I concluded that it would be best to simply run your portal at the exact same calculations during your accident.”

“But I made sure that all my calculations were correct! I thought I checked and triple checked every equation so that there wouldn't be any problems.”

“That was my fault, Twilight,” Twilight raised her head out of her thoughts and turned to Spike who was looking ashamed of himself and kicking at the ground.

“I fell over one of the cords by accident and my foot got tangled up. I think I also bumped in to the XYZ coordinator too before you fell through. I'm sorry, Twilight. Can you forgive me?” Spike looked up with pleading eyes filled with tears.

“Yes, Spike. I forgive you.” Twilight smiled and pulled her number one assistant into a warm embrace.

“Uh, I hate to brake up the reunion and all,” Applejack interjected, “But I think you brought something back with you Twilight.” Twilight turned to see what Applejack was pointing at.

On the floor in a faded blue and blonde heap was a pony, a Pegasus to be exact. It had a short cropped dirty blonde mane that looked like it could use a bit of a trim. The coat had the same color as the faded blue pants she had seen in the other world. Not quite the color as Rainbow's sky blue coat, it was a few shades darker than that. His wings were peculiar compared to the average Pegasus. They were very angular and had larger wing joints where the wings connected to the body. The Pegasus was starting to shifting around like he was trying stand up. He opened his green and hazel eyes and blinked several times trying to clear his vision.

Twilight rushed through the last few moments in the past couple of minutes trying to place where he might of come from. She knew that Connor had to have come through the portal with her, but Connor walked on two legs and only had hair on his head. Her mind finally connected the dots and Twilight understood who this new Pegasus was. She made her way and stood in front of him. His eyes shot up and stared at her with a bit of confusion in his eyes.

“Ah, Connor? Before anything happens I just want to let you know that no matter what happens, everything will be just fine.”

Connor, now a jeans blue Pegasus, was distracted with his new muzzle in front of his eyes and he raised a hoof to touch it. But his new hoof confused him even more. Twilight watched as his eyes traveled down his hoof, up his arm, and stopped at his shoulder. He gave his shoulder a short wiggle.

“Connor?” Twilight said tentatively. She was getting worried that the shock of being a pony now instead of a two legged creature would be too much for him. But this was her first time dealing with another being coming to her world, so Twilight didn’t know if she should try to comfort him, or instruct him on how to use his new form.

Connor whipped his head over his left shoulder to inspect the rest of himself. He gave his tail an experimental flick before looking back up at Twilight with horror in his eyes.

“Twiiliiight. Why the duck am I a pony? Why the tuck am I a horse?!”

“Aaah, wellllll, you see...” Twilight trailed off trying to find an explanation that would define exactly why Connor was a pony. But her mind was coming up blank. She had no explanation. She barely understood why she changed into a two legged creature herself when she first went to Canterlot High.

“Not only that,” Connor continued while trying to stand up on four legs now, but he was not familiar with using hooves to walk on and one of his hooves would slip a little bit every now and then on the smooth surface underneath them.

“Not only that, why the heck am I a blue horse? With wings?!” Connor's tone was quickly raising to a shout and Twilight was becoming uneasy from the quickly escalating situation.

“I- I don’t know why, but I can assure that everything will be just fine. There is nothing to worry about,” she waved a hoof in front of her trying to seem nonchalant and confident.

“No, Twilight! Everything is not fine! This isn’t a game we can click around with! I mean look at me!” Connor carefully spun around in circles looking at himself. Twilight would have found it funny because it looked like a dog spinning around chasing his tail like Winona did. But the time for laughter was definitely not now.

“Connor, I need you to calm down and listen to me. We can work this out and-”

“No, I will not calm down for a great, dane minute! I shouldn't even be here right now!” his foot-, oops, sorry. Its 'hoof' now isn’t it? His hoof slid a little bit sending him into a bit of a tap dancing fit as he fought to regain his balance and grip.

Connor was right. He needed to go back to his world as soon as possible. Twilight looked over to her portal only to have her heart plummet to the ground. The machine was a mess with boxes broken and cords barely holding together. A lot of parts were severely damaged or completely destroyed. It appeared that to bring Twilight back, there was a steep price to pay. Just from a quick glance over, it would take months to try and rebuild what was lost in the two attempts that were made to open the portal. There was no way to send Connor back right now to his own world. He was stuck here.

“Ah, Connor. About sending you back,” he looked up after regaining his grip on the smooth floor to Twilight expecting a good answer. “Well, I can't send you back right now. The transdimesional bridge is heavily damaged after its first two uses and it will take time to repair.”

Connor stood there looking at Twilight like he was about ready to punch her in the face. His eyes were blazing and he was about to open his mouth to make another rude remark when his wings suddenly popped out like somepony had tripped the quick release pin. Yeah, that's the right way to say it, isn’t it? Somepony?

They burst into full extension with such violent force, it lifted him off the ground. To Twilight's benefit, the wings sudden release served as the perfect distraction for Connor. He fidgeted and twisted himself around trying to push the wings back down, “What do you mean 'You can't'? How long is it going to freaking take?!” He sat down still trying to push his wings back down with little success.

“Come on you, got, damp, things... Wait a minute...” Connor paused in his futile attempt to fix his wings. “Duck, tuck, suck. ffffun, fffffffuuunky. Ssshhhhhiiiift, sssshhhhiiiirt, heck, hey, hay.... I can't cuss. I can't swear in this world. I can't, trucking swear! In this gosh, dank, fishing, world!!!!” he ended his terrible realization with shouting at no one in particular and stomping his hoof on the ground. He raised his eyes and shot death glares through the ceiling at somepony beyond. “You think this is real funk-ing cute, huh world?! Yeah! I'm laughing my ape off here! Its fan-ducking-tastic!!”

“Jeez, he screams more than you, Rarity.”

Twilight facehoofed as she heard Rainbow Dash make her not so subtle comment. She saw Connor's head whip around so fast it was enough to induce whip lash. He found the source of the comment and stood up to face them, but Twilight figured she needed to step in now before things got too ugly.

“Uh, Connor? These are my friends! This is-” Twilight tried to introduce her friends, however Connor cut her off to burst into another fit of insults and failed attempts to express his frustration.

“Oh that's just great! There's even more of them! We've got the book nerd,” He gestured towards Twilight who looked at him in shock and awe.

“The high maintenance drama queen,” He pointed to Rarity, which got a snicker out of the rainbow one but Spike looked like he was preparing to have some choice words with the newcomer.

“We have a wannabe cowgirl,” Connor motioned to Applejack who was caught her off guard by the insult.

“The addict,” He indicated Pinkie Pie who was no longer bouncing in happy energy and gaping in shock.

“Ms. Protein shake,” Rainbow, who was still snickering at everypony else, finally stopped when he got to her.

“And finally, the extreme shut-in!!” He pointed accusingly at Fluttershy now hiding behind Dash and shaking under the onslaught of angry insults.

“Now hold it right there! What do you mean by 'Ms. Protein shake'?!”
“A wannabe?!”
“How dare you call a lady a drama queen! I may have my moments of extreme emotions, but that hardly calls for such a name!”
“Yeah! You can't call Rarity a drama queen!”
“Its true! I do still have a problem! Bwaaaaah!”

“Hold it, everypony!” Twilight had jumped in between the two waring parties. She glared at both Connor and her friends before speaking again. “Everypony, just calm down! Let me explain what's happened.”

“Yes, I do believe an explanation would be best, Twilight.” Twilight glanced up to see the Princess standing tall over the commotion. Twilight silently thanked herself that she knew somepony as amazing as Celestia ready to jump in and help save the day. Unfortunately, this pause in the action gave Connor enough time to notice the Princess and start taking his anger out on her.

“Oh, now I’ve seen it all!” Connor carefully approached Celestia trying not to lose his footing while she stood her ground. Twilight had to exercise every ounce of restraint to not break from her role as mediator between her friends and him and use her magic to yank him as far away from the Princess as possible. She watched him close the distance between them before breaking from his collision course trajectory and circled around her.

“Not only are there ponies, but ones that are twice as big and twice as pretentious!” Connor completed his circling around and stopped right in front of the Princess. Twilight took a single hoofstep towards Connor and was ready to pounce once again when Celestia lowered her head to Connor's eye level to speak.

“My, you are a boisterous one,” She simply looked at Connor with an air of mild interest like she was just now finding something to catch her eye. Connor simply returned the look with waning anger before turning away in curbed submission.

“Whatever Cinderella.”

“Hey! How dare you talk to the Princess like that! Why I aught a-”

“Rainbow!” Twilight was finally forced to use here magic to restrain her friend from attacking her 'other' friend.

“Blow it out your asphalt!” Connor shouted back over his shoulder as he stormed off to the single door in the room. His hoof finally slipped after stepping on a loose piece of paper and Connor fell hard on the floor. He picked himself up before continuing on his way to loudly kick open the door with his front hooves and exiting the room, only to have the door slam shut just as hard behind him.

The room stood still. Everypony was in shock from the angry display of this new faded jeans blue Pegasus who had just left. It was quiet enough one could hear a pin drop. Outside the door, a guard called out, “Hey! You! Stop right there!” There was a pause, then a clang and a thud of a body hitting the floor, then silence again.

Everypony stared at the door before glancing between themselves. No one wanted to speak, for fear of retaliation. Finally Applejack spoke up.

“Who in the hay does he think he is?! What gives him the right to come in here and insult all of us and then storm out like an angry bee defending its queen?”

“He was most unruly! I mean, honestly! A drama queen! When have I ever been a drama queen?” Everypony just stared at Rarity with knowing looks. “Ah, um, ahem, well. He was still very rude.”

“Twilight! Why did you stop me from putting the guy in his place?! I could have taken him!” Rainbow Dash was hovering in front of Twilight with arms spread wide asking for an answer.

Twilight sighed, “He's not from this world, Dash. He's from the same world as my Canterlot High friends. So having to flee his own world and be forced into this one was a tremendous shock for him.”

“What do you mean 'He had to flee his own world'? Is he a criminal of some sort?” Rarity asked.

“Oh my, that's terrible! My woodland friends would be devastated if they were forced from their homes! They've been there so long, I don’t know how they would handle it! I don’t know how I would handle it! It would be so dreadful!” Fluttershy was about ready to burst into more tears at the thought of being evicted from one's home when Applejack came over to comfort her.

“Come on now, sugar cube. You know that won't happen. Twilight, mind explaining what exactly happened while you were in that other world?”

“Yes, I am most curious as to why you and he were forced to flee from his world,” Princess Celestia walked over to the rest of the group giving Twilight a questioning glance.

“Alright. Well, after I went through the portal...”

~~~

When Twilight finished her story, the group sat in silence. It had taken her over two hours to go over every detail since the moment she went through the portal four days ago. Everypony was trying to make light of the new information they were given by Twilight. She had told her story and had explained that Connor was a good person, but was still trying to get over the fact that he was betrayed by his friend and is now stuck in this world. It put a new perspective on the situation but everypony still had a bitter taste in their mouths from today's earlier outbursts.

“Well this still does not excuse his earlier comments to us,” Rarity adjusted her mane before continuing, “I mean, he was making poor Fluttershy almost cry.”

“I agree, his temper was uncalled for, but please believe me when I say he's not that bad.” Twilight had been trying to position Connor in the best light in spite of recent events. However, it was hard to make a foul-mouthed skeptic sound genuine.

“We do, Twilight. Honest. But believe me when I say this, 'The first impression makes a lasting impression', as the saying goes. And his first impression was less than kind.”

“Indeed, Applejack. I would hate to be him if he ran into us again,” Rarity turned away in an overly dignified fashion, raising a hoof to her chest.

“Yeah! If I ever see him again, I’m going to pound him into next week!” Rainbow put her hooves together in an aggressive manner to emphasize her violent greeting next time.

“Rainbow Dash! How could you? He's frightened out of his wits because he can't go back home right now! He just wants to go home and curl up on his bed under a safe, warm, blanket.”

“I know!” Pinkie Pie bounced over Fluttershy and landed in front of her with her usual smile on her face, “Lets throw him a 'Welcome To Equestria, Sorry for Making You Leave Your World' party! That will put a smile on his face!” There was a small explosion of confetti and noise makers at the prospect of throwing another party.

“I don’t think he would like that right now, Pinkie.”

Twilight nodded, “Applejack is right. I think the best thing we can do is let him calm down before we try to bring him back.”

“Bring him back? No way!” Rainbow put her back towards Twilight refusing to help, “There's no way I’m helping somepony like him.”

“Well if not for him, then will you do it for me? Please?”

Rainbow slouched her shoulders before giving her answer, “Fine, but if I find him first...” She punched her hooves together again.

There was a reluctant murmur of agreement to help with the search to find the missing jeans blue Pegasus that had disappeared over two hours ago. Though, Twilight was noticing that nopony was moving in a big hurry to begin the search. She groaned to herself and began to usher everypony including Spike out the door. Before Twilight herself could leave, Princess Celestia called her back to speak.

“Twilight! Before you go, a word please.” Twilight trotted back over to the Princess still standing in the lab. She looked up at her expectantly, waiting for her to speak first.

“Before you leave, I was hoping you could write some reports detailing how our new guest is adapting to living here. If he shows signs of worsening or becoming violent, I will have to take action and subdue him until you are able to return him to his own world.”

“I understand, Princess. But I hope it doesn't have to come to that,” Twilight looked saddened by the idea of pacifying Connor.

“So do I. Now go, you need to find him soon.”

With that, Twilight rushed out of the laboratory and after the search party.

~~~

They began their search with the interior of the castle. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took to the skies and scoured the castle grounds while Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight took to searching the halls and rooms. It was a long search having to go through every possible room, bench or bush that Connor could be sulking in. Eventually, after reconvening to discuss their findings, they moved the search to the surrounding city below. Twilight had asked the royal guards to assist in the search as well. Canterlot was too big of a city for only six ponies and a dragon to search on their own. With the addition of a small platoon of guards now roaming the streets for a blue Pegasus, hopefully they would find Connor before sun down.

The sun had nearly set as the day was coming to an end and no one had spotted Connor, only a few innocent bystanders who closely resembled him. Twilight sat exhausted on a bench on the side of road. They had spent the entire rest of the day searching and had found nothing. She was beginning to worry if Connor was in some serious trouble. Spike sat next to her on the bench having a snack. They didn’t really have that much time to stop and eat while the search party was going on, so Twilight bought a few things to eat for him. But She didn’t have an appetite right now.

“Hey Twilight!” she looked up to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash walking up to her on the bench, “We've searched the business district and found nothing, except a lot of suits.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Pinkie Pie's head popped out of the bush beside the bench then brought up a pair of binoculars to her face to look through. When she finally panned around far enough to spot Twilight and Spike, she screamed a little and jumped out of the bush.

“Oh, its just you Spike. You scared me,” Pinkie looked at Twilight, “Sorry, Twilight. I looked everywhere I could, but I couldn’t find your new friend. I never would have guessed he was so skilled at hide and seek.” she walked over to sit down on the bench next to Spike.

“You sure, Pinkie? Not even a little clue?” Twilight leaned forward to peer past Spike now finishing his food.

“Not even a little.” Pinkie deflated a little hearing her own words.

“Has anypony else found that ruffian, yet?” Rarity and Fluttershy finally joined the group forming around the bench. Everypony there shook their heads solemnly. “Neither did we.”

Rarity sighed, “Well he can take care of himself for one night. But right now I need to get back to my shop. I have an important order that I need to finish before the deadline.”

“Same here, sugar cube. I still have a farm business to run and those chores won't do themselves.” Applejack took off her hat to shake loose some imaginary dust before setting her stetson back on her head.

“And I still have to whip up tomorrow's weather. We're supposed to have partly cloudy weather over Ponyville tomorrow and I can't have those clouds being too thick.”

“And I have cake orders I need to do. The Cakes need a shipment to go out in a few days loaded with premade cake layers and cream for other stores.”

Twilight sighed in her seat again. She couldn't continue the search any longer today with the limited amount of light they still had out. Plus, she still had to run the Ponyville library. She could close up early tomorrow to try and look for Connor again, but statistically speaking the chances of still finding him in the city by tomorrow afternoon were very slim. And her schedule was already messed up as it was and would require a full day of replanning the month.

“Alright, we will try again tomorrow then. Lets get to the train station before the last train leaves.” Twilight got up from her seat from the bench and let Spike climb on her back. Before she took her first step to the train station, an idea struck her.

“The train station. What if?...” Twilight bolted off in the direction of the train station leaving her friends to chase after her confused.

~~~

The train station was quieting down as the day drew to a close. There were only a couple of ponies still standing at the tracks waiting for the last few trains to come through. The guards lazily stood at their post on either side of entrance to the station. However when they spotted Princess Sparkle running full gallop for them, they snapped to attention and presented a sharp salute.

Twilight ignored the two guards and ran right past them into the station up to the station's records office. She opened the door and looked around for somepony to talk to. She spotted a pony currently sitting behind a desk looking up from his work angrily wondering who would storm into his office at this hour.

His expression lightened when he saw Twilight standing before him, “Pr-Princess Twilight! Uh, to what do I owe the honor of your presence, today?”

“I need to see all the arrival and departure records of every train that has past through the station today, immediately.”

“Of-of course, your Highness!” he rushed off through a door behind him to fetch the appropriate files while the rest of twilight's friends entered the office.

“Twilight, what are you doing? What does the train records have to do with anything?” Spike was hanging off the side of twilight trying to see exactly what twilight was seeing in this.

“Spike, what if Connor is not in Canterlot and took a train somewhere to a different town?”

The office pony came back with a couple of manila folders on his back and set them down on the table before twilight and opened them for her to look through.

“That's ridiculous, dear. How could that ruffian take a train if he has no bits to buy a ticket? Wait, you don’t mean that he stole somepony's bits to buy a ticket, do you?!” Rarity had stepped closer to look at the documents of scheduled arrivals, delay forms, departures.

“No, he's not a thief. But he could have snuck on to a train. When did Connor leave the castle?”

Fluttershy spoke up from the back, “Not that long ago. Only a couple of hours, at most.”

“Let's see, I should only be looking at the departures since those are the only trains leaving Canterlot. Most of today's outgoing trains were heading either south or southwest. So compare the departure times to the time frame of when Connor left and now means that, ah ha! If he did take a train, there are only three other possible places he could be if he is not in Canterlot. Los Pegasus, Ponyville, and Appleloosa.”

“That's great twilight, but we can't do anything right now about it. It's late and we need to get home.” Applejack turned and started for the door with everypony else following behind her.

“Come on, twilight. Its late and I’m really tired. I want to go home,” Spike let loose a large yawn and slumped down twilight's back.

“Alright, let's get you home. I just hope Connor will be alright.” Twilight thanked the office pony and walked out of the office towards the train that was pulling in. the conductor announced it was the last train to Ponyville and asked all ponies to board the cars. Twilight was tired and the call of her bed was gaining more influence as the minutes ticked by. She would have to write a report to the Princess first before she went to bed, but Spike was right. It was late. She would have to continue the search tomorrow.

7: A Whole New World and A Whole New Home

View Online

Connor

Connor stared angrily at the magenta eyes and ivory white head that seemed to be lazily staring back with bored interest. It was infuriating seeing them not even flinch or respond. Yet, they seemed like they were trying to calm him down in some mystical way. But Connor did not want to calm down. He didn’t want to be shut down from his anger induced rage and wasn't going to be shut down. He was going to have his explosive rampage and this world could suck it up and take it. He looked away from those big magenta eyes before they could calm his tirade anymore.

“Whatever Cinderella.”

He turned around and spotted a door around the angry mob of tiny, crayon colored horses and made his way for the possible exit. He did not want to spend anymore time confined in this room and needed to vent some more before he did something he might regret.

“Hey! How dare you talk to the Princess like that! Why I aught a-”
“Rainbow!”

Connor could see out of the corner of his eye the blue and rainbow colored horse struggling against some invisible force that was holding her back. His anger ran his mouth right now and he had no intentions of stopping it.

“Blow it out your asphalt!” he threw the insult over his shoulder as he was passing by the angry mob. He glared at them daring any one of them to try and make a move. However, he forgot to notice that one loose piece of paper on the ground that he was stepping on and it was just slippery enough to lose his balance. He crashed to the floor with a heavy thud which did nothing but worsen his mood. It was just another reminder that he no longer had feet with boots that had tread to prevent him from slipping.

He picked himself up off the floor and continued to storm to the exit in sight. He reared back and slammed as hard as he could on the door. It crashed open and hit the wall on the other side. Once he passed through the door way he slammed the door shut with the same amount of force. The hallway outside was pretty much clear of anypony else and had a few decorations here and there, but the biggest thing Connor liked was that there was a large red carpet down the entire hallway. Plenty of grip to keep himself from falling. He walked forward a few meters and stopped at the intersection to pick a path to go down. But before he could choose a route, he heard somepony shouting, “Hey! You! Stop right there!” a large pony dressed in some kind of golden armor ran up to him and stopped half a meter away from him to glare down.

The guard and Connor took a Moment to size each other up before stating his next demand, “State your business here.” Business? What business would Connor have in a place like this? Connor did not feel like speaking to his guy who stood a few inches taller than him, so he was going to bring him down a few notches. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use if things were to go south. His wings had returned back to their tucked position which made things easier to see. But then a light bulb went off in his head. Connor turned back to the big pony. He kept turning until his side was completely facing the golden clad pony. The guard looked at him curiously, not understanding this intruder's intentions. Connor just stood there aiming his side at the guard. he picked a target, looked at the angle, and calculated the distance.

The guard looked questioningly at Connor, “What-” ffwwmmp!! CLANG!!! THUD!!

Connor's wings burst out again for the second time like a spring loaded trap and hit the guard squarely in the face, knocking him out. His body collapsed to the floor in a heap before Connor. He compressed his wings back into their folded positions before addressing the guard again, “Business? How about setting your corpse on fire and chucking it at a school house full of children? How's that sound for 'Business'?”

Wow... That came out way darker than it needed it to be.

With his deadly weapons loaded back into his sides, Connor step over the guard's unconscious body to continue his red hazed war path. But not with out giving one last kick to the side of the head for good measure. The guard moaned in pain before returning to silence. The maids' could collect his body later.

~~~

Connor's mind and vision funneled down to a small red tunnel of burbling anger and frustration. He had no idea where he was going. He had no idea how he got outside or how he ended up on the streets of some city. The buildings that rolled by first were similarly colored as the castle walls before breaking into a multitude of colors. He barely noticed the upper class mansions or stores that he passed by. He could care less about the citizens that occupied the space around him or how they were all staring at him strangely. Thankfully they all spoke English, so Connor could understand them. However, their words were lost in the sea of red that still filled his vision and sloshed loudly in his ears.

It was a good hour or two before Connor could regain some thought processes and start making angry questions in his head, “How could twilight mess up so badly and show Micheal everything right from the get-go? What caused her portal to be so ineffective, that it wrecks itself and the system after only a couple of uses? How could Micheal have been so stupid to do something like that? Were there any signs pointing to him being untrustworthy? If there were signs, how come I didn't notice it? Did I just ignore previous indications or did I miss them?”

The questions continued one right after the other while he searched for any and every clue in the past that might have pointed to this being a possible outcome. Connor's eyes were cast down on the ground watching the cobblestone roads pass beneath him, his new hooves clicking and clopping on the hard stone. He didn't like the new view. It wasn't right. Suddenly a whistle blew in the air and his head popped up in alarm. He was currently standing in a open air train station. Ponies were bustling this way and that trying to catch the train or in and out of a building off to the side of the station. A conductor stood at the tracks beside a train that was still parked at the platform. A crowd was standing in front of the cars all waiting for the conductor to give the command to board the train.

Connor looked at the train and made an 'ick' face. The train belonged in some kind of wafers factory with its cookie like design and colors, not on the tracks for the public to see. But nopony seemed to have any complaints about the transportation. The conductor called out, “ALLLLLL ABOARD, FOR PONYVILLE!!!!” Connor made another 'ick' face. Ponyville. That was like saying, 'Welcome to Humantown'. But right now he was willing to live with those minor inconveniences if it meant he could be rid of this town. But this was a train and trains need tickets to ride, and to buy a ticket, he needed money, which he had none. But his irritation flared up again and he pushed that problem aside. Not his world, not his problem. He was going to sneak onto the train.

The first rule when sneaking in: look like you belong there. He straightened up his posture and strode over to the back of the cars with a purpose in his step. He hid by inserting himself in the crowds and positioned himself so that there were bodies between him and the conductor to make it harder for him to spot Connor with no ticket. He boarded the car without any interruptions and once on, he broke off from his crowd and moved towards the back of the train. He was going to hide in the caboose section of the train and when the train had finally left the station, he was going to hide on the outdoor section of the caboose and off to the side so that he was out of view from the window in the door.

“ALLLLLL ABOARD, FOR PONYVILLE!!!!” the conductor gave his last call standing on the train before giving the driver the all clear. The train blew its whistle and the cars jolted forward. The train slowly began to move forward down the tracks and the station behind fell out of view. Once the station was out of view, Connor got up from his seat that he procured and made his way outside on the back of the caboose. He found a little corner off to the side and sat down to let his mind continue to boil from today's unfortunate events. In hindsight, this was definitely one of his stupid Moments. But there was no turning back now, he was stuck on this train until it reached it's destination. Even though he had wings, he had no idea how to use them. He wished that he had his two wheels back instead of two wings. At least he knew how to use motorcycles. But he would worry about that later. Right now, he just wanted to sit there and be angry.

~~~

The sun began to set as the train rolled into the new station. Connor got up from his spot beside the door and got ready to jump off the train once it finally came to a stop. There was another jolt as the cars' Momentum were halted and the engine hissed as it blew off excess steam, creating a bit of a hazy cloud. Connor looked at the cloud and chose this time to depart the train and hide under the cover of the mist from the train. He landed clumsily on the ground and quickly crept away from the train to the tree line at the edge of town. He traveled along there for a little while until he came to a dirt road that led into the forest and back into town.

He stood there looking both ways trying to decide which way he wanted to go. He didn’t want to go into town and make himself known just yet, but the forest didn't seem like a good place to be either. He thought he saw something moving low and with glowing green eyes in the trees earlier, but when he looked to see what it was, it was gone. Connor ran a hoof over his face trying to make a plan of what to do in his current situation. But the motion felt off, like it was missing something. He put a hoof to his face and realized that he was no longer wearing glasses no more. Even more, his vision was completely fixed like he had 20/20 vision all his life. At least something good came out of this disaster. It was a plus, but his anger was still sizzling and he needed to work off the rest of it somehow.

He spotted a tree nearby that looked relatively straight enough for his purposes. He made his way over to it inspected it. The bark was smooth and soft like a cedar tree back home. He punched it with his hoof. There was a small pain, but no major damage done to either the tree or himself. It would do for the time being. He faced the tree and took out the last of his frustrations out on it. He kicked, punched, kneed, and elbowed as hard as he would allow himself without hurting himself too much. The thunking of his blows hitting the trunk went on for a couple of minute before he finally stopped. He was sore, but he felt better. As he turned away from the tree his wings burst out again and thunked against the tree trunk.

“Ow! Stupid, wings!” Connor struggled to put his wings back down. But when he finished, an idea struck him. He could quite possibly use his wings as an offensive weapon and a means of attack. He looked back at the tree and started thinking of different ways of maybe using wings against it. It might hurt but he could toughen them up over time. He didn’t have any time to implement his plan because his ear twitched at the sound of voices approaching from the road leading into town.

He turned and looked for the ponies that were laughing and making jokes to one another. Three ponies were walking up the path Connor was on. The center one was the largest of the three. He was a Pegasus and was probably the leader of the group. His coat had the color of a basketball and a mullet to go along with it. The one on his left was a regular looking pony and was not as big, but still had some size to him. The third was the fat one of their trio, a round normal pony with what Connor assumed to be the equivalent of a crew cut in this world. Connor watched as they slowly made their way up the path before the leader of the gang noticed him there.

“Hey, what do we have here? A new pony in town? What're you doing way out here in the middle of no where?”

“Well fiddle,” Connor thought, “I’ve got one of those guys.”

“Nothin' much, just checking out the forest.”

“Oh really?” the second one smirked, “You think your tough enough to take on a Timberwolf or something?” The gang stopped about two meters away from Connor to continue their taunting from a safe distance. The other two laughed at the idea while Connor kept his eyes locked on target.

“Three targets,” he analyzed, “And no others approaching for a sneak attack. I think I can handle that.”

“Wolves? You mean like the furry kind?” He asked to keep them distracted.

“No you feather head. Like the tree-bark-and-sticks kind with sharp teeth. Man, is this your first time being on the ground, or what?” the leader was now approaching Connor with his chest puffed out and his head raised high. It seemed no matter what world you go to, there is always going to be people who have to impress everyone. What he didn't know, is that he had just stepped into Connor's danger zone. The zone where he was in striking distance of Connor.

“Tell you what? Since you're new here in town, we'll give the traditional town welcome from my friends and your's truly.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Connor challenged the bully to make the first move. His right hoof slid back a little putting his left further out in front in preparation. The bully was too distracted with Connor's stare to notice the movement.

The leader reared back and tried to kick Connor in the face, but Connor could see the attack coming a mile away. He ducked and slipped to his left and raised his left hoof to land a nasty left hook across his chin. As soon as the first blow landed, the cronies jumped in to help out their 'fearless leader'. There was a flurry of punches and kicks from both sides. As the fight progressed, the bullies soon realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. When the dust settled three more ponies laid on the ground, beaten and bruised. A rag tagged and beaten blue Pegasus stood over the remains of the fight, panting in exhaustion. His face ached and his chest would be sporting some new bruises under his coat, but other than that Connor had won.

“Wow! I've only been in this world for a couple of hours and I still beat you! You live here and still don’t know how to move on your feet!”

Connor walked around the pile of moaning babies and made his way towards the town. The sun was about to set, but he would rather be closer to town then sit out here with this town's bullies.

“Come back and see me when you learn how to fight, newbies!”

~~~

Connor stayed on the outskirts of town as he walked. He could see other ponies in town finishing up their business before returning home for the day. Home. He could use a home right now, or at least a place to stay for a while. His anger and frustration and finally subsided and the only thing to take its place was exhaustion. He was tired. He was tired of being angry, tired of dealing with this day, and tired of dealing with this world. He didn't want to think about twilight or the many mistakes he had made in the past few hours of being here. He just wanted to sleep and for everything to go away for awhile. He found a tree near a stream that was somewhat secluded from the main pathway. There was a bridge not too far that crossed over the stream into town. He laid down on his side on the soft grass underneath the tree and closed his eyes to let sleep take hold of him.

He started awake and looked around some how he was back in his home in his world. He was sprawled out on the couch in the TV room upstairs and the TV was on. He had a game currently paused on screen. Was this a dream? Or did all that happened to him with twilight was just a figment of his imagination? He didn't care, he was home. The door to the hallway outside was pushed open and his dog came in looking for attention. He reached out with his fingers and gave her a good scratching on the side of her head. She looked at him with her big brown eyes and began to pant with a smile on her face. He turned back to the screen to unpause the game.

“Hey!”

He jumped in his couch and looked around. The only other in the room was Kaylee, his dog. But dogs don't speak. He brushed it off and tried to go back to his game.

“Hey!!”

Connor jumped again and looked at Kaylee, who was staring at him. He watched and waited to see if anything happened.

Kaylee opened her mouth again, “HEY! WAKE UP!”

Connor jumped for a third time as he finally woke up from his nap under the tree. He whipped his head around trying to find out who was speaking to him. A light orange Pegasus with a purplish pixie style hair cut was standing in front of him with a curious expression on her face. Even though she was standing, Connor was still taller than her, even laying down.

“What? What do you want?” Connor rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and apparently a few tears.

“What are you doing out here at this time?” the Pegasus kid tilted her head wondering who this newcomer was.

Connor straightened up, “I was sleeping. Then you woke me up.”

“Oh, sorry. But why were you sleeping out here? Don’t you have a home?”

Connor looked over the kid with a calculating look, trying to figure out how to word his next sentences, “Um, not really. I've sort of just been sleeping out under the stars. Um, what's your name?”

“My name's Scootaloo. What's your name?”

“Connor.”

“That's a weird name. Are you new here? Where are you from?” Scootaloo moved to the side to get a better look at him while he sat there.

“Um, I’m not from around here. You could say that I’m new to-”

“WHAAT??!!! YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR CUTIE MARK EITHER?!!!”

“Huh?” Connor cranked his neck around to get a better look at what Scootaloo was freaking out about. She was pointing at a spot on his hip that was clear of any kind of marks except for some dirt.

“Your cutie mark! You haven't gotten your cutie mark which means you haven't discovered your special talent yet!”

“A mark that signifies what your special talent is? And its supposed to be on my hip?” Connor puzzled over the idea while the orange kid continued to ask her questions.

“How come you haven't found your cutie mark, yet? Oh, is that why your here? Are you traveling the world for awesome adventures and dangerous challenges to discover your cutie mark?”

“Uh, sure. Why not?”

“Cool! Then you're just like me and the cutie mark crusaders!”

“The what?”

Scootaloo paused from darting around him to explain, “The cutie mark crusaders! We're a group dedicated to helping fillies and colts discover their cutie marks! There's only a couple of us right now but it would be awesome if you joined!”

Connor gave Scootaloo a skeptical look. Someone his age joining a filly's club to help him discover his cutie mark? It was bad enough being a pony, but now he needed help getting a tattoo on his hip to fit in as well. Well, he was already waist deep in problems. What's one more to the pile going to do?

“Sure, I’ll join your club. I can't fall any farther right now.”

“Awesome! Why don’t you spend the night at my place and I can introduce you to the rest of it's members tomorrow!”

“Are you sure? Won't your parents be against a stranger being in their house?”

“Don't worry, I’ll take care of it. Just let me do the talking!”

Scootaloo got up and started taking off into town with Connor slowly following behind. There was no way this was going to work. But it didn't hurt to try. The tree would still be there later if this failed.

~~~

“WHAT? YOU CAN'T FLY EITHER?!”

“Nope, I'm still learning how to keep them under control.”

“Jeez, you sound like this is your first time having wings or something.”

Scootaloo pushed open a door to a two story house that was down one of the side roads just off the major market street and city hall. The house seemed normal inside and out. Just through the front door, there was a living room off to his right. There were a couple of decently nice chairs, a rug on the floor and a fire place facing out towards the window that lead outside. Pictures of family hung on the walls and sat on shelves around the room. To the left was another room with a table and four chairs around it. To his front was a stairwell that led up to the second floor. Beside that, another hallway led to the back of the house. A counter top with a sink was visible from where he was standing, but nothing more. He assumed it was the kitchen of the house.

“Mom! Dad! I'm home!”

“We're in the kitchen, dear!”

Scootaloo ran off down the hallway towards the back of the house to greet her parents, leaving Connor standing at the front door. He didn't want to enter any farther unless he was welcomed in by the head of the house or in case he was turned down to sleeping here. So he stood there waiting to be acknowledged and judged.

“Guess what, Mom? I made a new friend today! His name is Connor and he's just like me! He doesn’t have his cutie mark either!”

“That's great sweetie, do you know where he's lives in town?” there was a clinking as dishes were placed down on the counter.

“Well, no. but I told him that we could have a sleep over tonight! So can we? Can he sleep over here tonight?”

“That depends,” a male voice spoke up this time. It was that certain kind of voice only a father could make when his child offered a proposal, “Where is he now?”

Scootaloo's head popped back into view to look at Connor before disappearing again to speak, “He's at the front door right now.”

There was a pause in tasks being done, and Connor tensed up. He heard utensils being set down on the counter and several hoof steps approaching the hallway. Scootaloo came running out to stand next to Connor like she was presenting a science project. Connor was not so confident.

Two ponies entered the hall way and looked at Scootaloo's new 'friend'. The smaller pony of the two looked like the mother of the family. The mare was a Pegasus with a slightly tinged orange coat and her turquoise mane was tied back in a bandana. She was of healthy physique and had a bit of a sass to her body language like she worked in an environment that required a thicker than normal skin. The blue stallion on the other hand looked like he was a blue collar worker; slightly bulky with the eyes of a judge underneath his purplish hair. logical and unbiased, but with a hint of father's love behind the hard exterior.

“Connor, this is my Mom and Dad. Mom works as a waitress at one of the cafes in town and Dad is a head of a construction worker team.”

Connor made a quick glance over to Scootaloo who was still smiling confidently. Well he was here now, the only thing left to do was to at least try for the kid's sake. He took a single step forward and presented his right hoof for a shake, “Sir.”

The blue stallion stepped forward and accepted the offer with a firm grasp which Connor returned. He looked over Connor with his judge's stare and measured his worth before speaking.

“So you're Connor...”

“That's correct, sir.”

“And where are you from, Connor?” the mare joined her husband's side to look over the stranger in their house. Connor glanced over to her and paused. In the back of his head he knew this question was going to be asked, but he didn't know which answer to give. Did he want to put in the effort to try and come up with a lie? No, he was too mentally, physically, and emotionally drained to do that. He wanted to be judged at face value; no lie, no false confidence, no insane bravado. Just him. He didn’t want to lie again, but he predicted that if he explained the whole story to them it would just confuse them. So he decided to give the partial truth. He would give facts, just not all of them.

He shook his head before answering, “I’m not really from around here. I want to explain exactly where I’m from but I think it would just confuse everyone.” the Mom scrutinized Connor to get more information out of him, but he remained motionless and unwilling to give anymore information on the subject.

“And why should I let you spend a night in my house?” Connor turned back to the father who had drawn himself up to full height to look down on him before passing his final judgment. He could feel the weight being placed on top of him as he saw his final chance close and shut tight before him. Only thing left he could say were some final parting words as he saw himself being kicked out of the house.

“I don't know why. I'm only asking for a night to plan out my future here in this world, maybe find a job somewhere else, and then I will be out of your house. I wont bother you ever again.” Connor waited a few Moments staring at his judge waiting for a verdict, but his tired pessimistic side already told him what the answer was. He tried his best and that's all he could do. At least he still had a comfy spot under that tree to go back to and it wasn't raining right now. He lowered his eyes and slowly started for the door ready to accept his fate.

“Hang on,” the Dad called out, “I didn’t tell you to leave just yet.” Connor stopped a few inches from the door and turned half way to look at him.

“So you just need a place to stay while you figure out your life, huh?”

“Yes, sir.” Connor turned all the way to face him again.

“Hmm. What's your knowledge and skill level in handling children?”

Connor wasn't quite sure as to where he was leading with this question but he gave his answer nonetheless, “Extensive, sir.”

“Is that so. Well, since I am usually kept late at work and Mom doesn't get off her work until late at night, I could use somepony to look after my daughter while we are busy until we get home. She does tend to get herself into trouble quite often and it would be nice to know that somepony else is there to help her out when she get's stuck. If you would be willing to do that, I am willing to let you stay here until you are ready.”

Connor was dumbfounded by the generous offer he was being given. This father, was offering him a babysitting job to a complete stranger who he had only just met a few minutes ago in exchange for a roof over his head. He wasn’t used to this kind of generosity as his world was a little more cutthroat, so he could only stumble over his words as he spoke, “A-a-absolutely, sir. I am more than willing to do that. Thank you.” The stallions shook hooves again. I guess honesty is the best policy.

“Awesome! So its going to be like having an older brother and Rainbow Dash being the older sister!”

“No, he is not pretending to be your older brother.”
“No, I am not pretending to be your older brother.”

The adults stared at each other and a chuckle emanated through out the hall way. The parents turned back to the kitchen and Scootaloo and Connor followed behind them.

Dinner was unusual for everypony at the dinner table, well, except for Scootaloo who was happy to have a new friend. Mom and Dad weren't used to having another pony at the dinner table and Connor wasn't used to dinning with ponies or the food that was served to him. Yellow straw, apple slices, and an assortment of vegetables, all of which were identifiable to Connor but the arrangement of all three things was unusual. The straw was dry and was weird to chew and the vegetables were a little dry, but he didn’t complain. After everypony finished and helped clean up, Scootaloo took Connor up to her room where she decided he was going to sleep there.

The room was decently sized. It had a single bed with a green quilted sheet and a dresser at the foot of the bed. The floor had a cream colored flower rug in the center of the room. The walls had various posters and fan flags pinned up. However, Connor did notice the large poster of a certain rainbow maned Pegasus hanging off to the side over a shelf. The single window in the bedroom looked out over the street, but it was completely dark outside so there wasn't much to see.

Scootaloo took Connor on the grand tour of her room while using the word 'awesome' and 'cool' as the most common adjective. Once that was finished, she rushed down stairs to get an extra blanket and some pillows for Connor to use. Once all the gathered materials were in place, he set to making his temporary bed. He laid out a borrowed sleeping bag that belonged to her Dad as the base layer between the hard floor. After that he placed one pillow at the end of the bag for his head and used the rest to stuff the sleeping bag for extra cushion. Once the bed was complete, the blanket went over the top. It was wasn't bad for such short notice, in fact it was quite comfy compared to other times he had to sleep on the floor. Scootaloo crawled into her bed and slowly drifted off to sleep while Connor just laid there thinking again.

His blow up earlier that day was probably to be expected, but his actions were uncalled for. He held himself to higher standards than that and his total loss of control went against what he was taught while in martial arts. When he was first starting off in training he had lots of power to use at his disposal, but no control over it to use it. So the beginning portion of his training focused mostly on self control over his body and mind. Granted, this was an extreme case of being thrown into another world. But attacking not only a royal guard, but also three civilians was inexcusable and could have easily been handled better without violence. Then there was the fact that he snuck onto a train without paying for ticket. Now that his anger had subsided, he felt bad for doing so and wondered if he could possibly pay them back for it at a later time. But he would have to cross that bridge at another time. Right now, his job was to look after Scootaloo and learn how to function properly in this world. That was going to require careful observation of it's inhabitants and practice. But first, sleep. His eyes closed and he let the darkness cradle him off to restful sleep.

Author's Notes:

Hmm, I wonder if I should have put the violence tag on this story? Naaaah, its fine. Its already rated teen so I should be fine. Anyways, yes the cutie mark crusaders will be our salvation! Let me know what you think and how well I wrote Scootaloo and her family. It's a little vague, but I feel like the most logical reason why we never see her parents is because they're stuck at work and don't get home until o' dark thirty at night. We've all had those parents working as hard as they can to support you and your family. Next chapter should be even more fun, so on to the next one!!

Random fact: masticate (mas-ti-cate) is the scientific word for chewing. So next time your talking with your friends, throw them through a loop with this word. It's guaranteed to get a laugh.

8: Change in Occupation

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Connor

“So how old are you?”

“Old enough to be your older sibling.”

“So you're like my older brother, right?”

“No, I’m like your babysitter for your parents.”

“But don't older brothers and sisters do that?”

“You will not drop this older brother thing, will you?”

It was early in the morning, and Connor and Scootaloo were out walking a path that was all too familiar to Scootaloo. Since she was in the morning classes of school, she had to get up early in the morning. Her mom and dad had already left for work before the two of them had come down from her room, but to Connor's relief, they had already left some breakfast for them in the kitchen. Hay was going to have to be an acquired taste for Connor. He had tried to eat it, but only made half way through it before giving up and eating the rest of his breakfast of fruits and (to his surprise) eggs. On the way to the school house outside of town, Scootaloo had continued her nonstop questioning of her new babysitter. As the school house came into view, Connor took the opportunity stop Scootaloo's questions to say his goodbye and when he should pick her up after class.

“Alright looks like we're here. So I’ll see you after school?”

“Yeah, see you later!”

“When should I pick you up again?”

“We get out of class at around lunch time.”

“Okay, so around noon, then.”

“Yep, bye Connor!”

“Byyyeee.”

He waved his hoof as Scootaloo disappeared into the building and the school bell rang. Though, the bell ringing sounded a little strange and when he looked up at the bell tower attached to the school he saw four pink legs standing underneath the bell. He stared stupidly in confusion at the spectacle before turning around and prayed to whatever god ruled over this world that the abnormality would be fixed and go away.

Now that Connor had a few hours to himself, he wanted to get more acquainted to his new body; especially in the use of his wings. He found himself a quiet spot for him to sit down and perform his tests. If he was going to be living here, basic use over his wings was a must. He had spotted some Pegasi using their wings as a form of manipulating objects as well as using their hooves to pick things up. He chose to start with his wings first before trying to learn how to pick things up without fingers. He reached back and extended his wing to full extension. With both hooves he poked, prodded, and pinched his wing to get a feel for them and to train his mind on how to sense his wing.

It was weird for him. His wings felt like a second pair of arms that were located around the lower part of his shoulder blades. After poking one wing he grabbed it and maneuvered it in all directions to see just how flexible it was. He pushed it back and up, pulled forward and down and everything in between. The joint connected between him and his wing seemed to work off of a ball and socket joint to allow for maximum mobility. He let go of his wing and tried to move it around without the help of his hooves. He stretched it out and rolled it around before returning back to neutral position and stuck his wing straight out from his body. If he had to be honest, his wing looked like the wing from a F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. Even when he tensed up his wing, the tendons and muscles around his wing joint created this natural blending between the leading edge of his wing to his body. He gave his wing an experimental flap and felt it provide some lift. The idea of flight did seem possible in theory, however flight was a little lower on the list of things to learn right now. You got to learn to walk before you can run, as the saying goes. He performed the same experiments and tests with his other wing then practiced a little of manipulating them on their own without help. After spending time on using his wings, he tucked them back comfortably into his sides. Another thing he had learned while testing them is that his feathers felt like hairs down his arms.

The next thing he wanted to practice was how to run on four legs. At that time, he had only walked everywhere he went. So running was the obvious next step in progression of faster travel. The idea of galloping seemed simple on paper, but for 18 years of his life he had learned how to move on two legs. So learning how to gallop was going to be much harder in practice. But the only way he was going to learn was through practice. He stood up and began walking first, slowly picking up the pace. Before long he was trotting at a brisk pace and figured he could make the jump to galloping. As soon as he brought his hooves together, they got tangled up amongst themselves and his mind panicked and reverted back to default trying to catch himself with his non-existent arms and hands. His chin hit the ground hard and his rear stuck up in the air. He heard a few snickers from passersby and flushed with angry embarrassment. After picking himself up and untangling his limbs, he set off to try again. It was going to be a long process of trail and learning from his errors.

~~~

the school bell rang again signaling the end of morning classes once again. Fillies and colts of all colors and kinds filed out of the front door and scattered to play with their friends for the day. Scootaloo was standing at the gates waiting for a specific jeans blue pony to come and pick her up. She looked back into the class room at the clock that hung on the wall. It had been five minutes since the bell rang and Connor still had not shown up. She was about to leave on her own when she spotted Connor running up to her.

“Finally! I was wondering if you were ever going to show up! Where were you?”

Connor paused to regain his breath before speaking, “I was, huff, exercising, huff.”

“Exercising? For what?”

“Uhh, just to, stay in shape,” Connor was not going to reveal his true motives for running to Scootaloo. It already looked out of the ordinary that a pony his age did not know how to fly, let alone have a cutie mark. To his relief, Scootaloo simply shrugged and accepted the answer before making her way down the road away from town.

“Hey, where are you going? Town is back that way.”

“Well, the crusaders and I are having a meeting today at our club house and our club house is this way.”

“And what does that have to do with me?”

“You said that you were going to join the cutie mark crusaders! So I was going to show you our club house and some of our members.” Scootaloo turned to face him with upset eyes, like she was preparing to cry.

Connor put up his hooves defensively, “Alright, fine. Lets go see the clubhouse.”

“Yes! This is going to be awesome! Trust me, your going to love it!”

Scootaloo ran off with Connor following behind her. Connor had been practicing running for the last few hours and he had gotten most of the essentials down. He could run at about 85 percent of full speed without tangling up and falling down. He still made a few mistakes here and there, but it would suffice for now.

A little ways down the dirt road, the pair made a turn down another dirt road and followed the path until they reached an apple orchard. The trees were tall and thick with bright green leaves. Large, brilliant red, apples hung from each branch and the pattern continued for every tree they passed. Who ever was in charge of this orchard took great pride in taking care of their crops.

They entered the farm through a white archway with a wooden apple plaque hanging in the middle. There was a giant, bold red barn in front with a home integrated in it at the back. A few pens were around with various farm animals in them and a chicken coop near the entrance to the farm. The pigs in the pens were rolling around in the mud and a cow slowly chewed on some hay in its mouth. A dog slept lazily on a bale of hay near the large barn doors. The dirt was well traveled and compacted to a hard surface after so many years of walking on it and carts rolling across it.

Scootaloo made her way to a section of apple trees surrounding them with a purpose in her step. She looked over her shoulder and called out, “Come on, its this way!” before taking off into the orchard. Connor was a little hesitant, but followed after her; at least to do his job in looking out for her. They strode through the trees until they made their way into a small clearing with seemingly random items scattered about and a well built tree house in one of the many apple trees. Connor felt the paint job didn't quite match his expectations a club house for a group called the crusaders. It looked like it was painted with either the idea of peaches or salmon in mind, not adventure and excitement.

“Here we are! This is the cutie mark crusaders' head quarters and club house!”

“Isn't that the same thing?”

“No! One is more awesome than the other.”

Connor rolled his eyes and shrugged and didn't argue any more with the filly's logic.

“Now, I want you to meet some of the other members of our club.”

She turned back to the tree house and put a hoof to her mouth and called out, “Okay guys! Go ahead and do it!”

Connor's eyes followed up to the doorway where she was shouting at. A few seconds passed then a rhythm and beat song started playing from inside. It was a nice beat and had this outdated cool vibe that was considered the standard of cool back in its day. He cocked an eyebrow up wondering if he was to expect pyrotechnics or flashing rave lights next. After a few seconds of the song playing, two fillies came flying out of the tree house yelling “Hiiiyaah!!” and “Waaaahhhh!!!”. However, it looked like they miscalculated the distance between the ground and the doorway because the amount of airtime they had threw them off and they crashed and tumbled on the ground. Connor stood there looking at the spectacular display trying not to laugh at them.

“Oooowww, I think I sprained a hoof.” The white unicorn filly sat up and lifted a hoof.

“Scootaloo, I don’t think being 'Stuntponies' is going to get our cutie marks.” The yellow filly with the red hair and bow spoke with a southern accent while she held her head waiting for her eyes to stop rolling around in their sockets.

“Oh come on guys! It was an awesome idea! All we needed was an explosion or something for when you leap out of the door way like an action hero and practice a whole bunch of times.”

“What exactly were you planning on doing in the first place?” Connor had this dirt eating grin on his face and still had one of his eyebrows raised.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “The plan was, when we got here and after the song played for a little bit, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom would burst threw the door making fighting poses while an explosion of awesomeness happened in the background. Then they would land and roll and pop back up again fight off a whole bunch of bad guys before ending with a cool pose!”

Connor couldn’t help but laugh at little at the overenthusiastic plan. Their ideas of grandeur were similar to those of his own that constantly plagued his mind on boring days. They were so crazy, that it just had to work. The difference being, he never acted on them because they were just that; ideas. But youthful naivety always made even the most impossible things sound legit.

“So are these the other members of your club?”

“Oh yeah! That's Sweetie Belle,” the white unicorn filly waved energetically with her good hoof.

“And that's Apple Bloom with the red bow.” The yellow filly with red hair smiled happily, “Howdy! Welcome to sweet apple acres farm and the cutie mark crusaders head quarters.”

“Thanks, I’ve been finding my first visit entertaining.” Apple Bloom tilted her head to the side as if trying to look around Connor. He wasn't sure what she was looking at so he craned his neck around to look behind him. There was nothing that was out of the ordinary; apple trees rustled gently in the air as the sun shone brightly down on the land. The barn and main house was barely perceptible through the trees. He turned back around to Apple Bloom, “What are you looking at?” he questioned.

“Your cutie mark. Scootaloo wasn't kidding when she said you didn't have one,” Apple Bloom had gotten up to get a better look at Connor's side. He ruffled his feathers and readjusted his wings anxiously. This strange cutie mark was brought up again and he had no idea what it was supposed to mean. He didn’t like not knowing.

But before he started making questions Sweetie Belle, the white unicorn, beat him to it, “How come you don’t have your cutie mark? Did you not try anything when you were young?” She had a look of concern on her face and Connor quickly tried to reassure her.

“No, no, I did. It's just complicated right now. Um, how do I explain this...” He racked his brain trying to think of a way to explain in a way that they would accept without asking too many questions. While he did that, the three fillies were gathered around discussing what to do with Connor.

“You were right, Scootaloo. He really doesn’t have his cutie mark.”

“Of course I’m right. That's why I think we should invite him to join the crusaders!”

Sweetie Belle gave a skeptical glance, “I don’t know. He's a lot older than the rest of us. Are you sure this will be alright? I mean, he probably has other important things to do besides go crusading with us.”

“But that's just it! He's staying at my house right now and my mom and dad have him as a foalsitter. So we can use him to help with our crusading!” Scootaloo said excitedly.

“Yeah, your right,” Apple Bloom put on a mischievous grin, “We could use him to help out with some of our next ideas to get our cutie marks. And who knows, maybe he'll get his cutie mark as well while he's helping us.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo threw a hoof in the air in triumph. However, Sweetie Belle put a damper on the excitement when she brought a fact they had overlooked.

“Um, we don’t have any more ideas right now. The last one for Stuntponies we just did today was the bottom of our list we made last week.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo slowly fluttered down to rest on the dirt and all three stood there trying to plan their next move. Connor, who had been listening to the entire conversation, took this time to interject and put in a suggestion.

“Tell you what, why don't you all go back into your head quarters and make up another list and I’ll play the guard protecting the entrance.”

All three kids cheered, “Yeah!”

“You can be our body guard to our secret base or something!” Apple Bloom shouted.

Scootaloo agreed, “It will be awesome!”

“It would be like being a famous movie star or singer!” Sweetie Belle added.

“Alright then, Connor,” Apple Bloom stood up as straight as possible like a general about to give his orders, “You are to guard the front entrance to our secret base with your very life! You are to, by no means, let any intruder enter unless we tell you to.”

Connor half rolled his eyes and played along, “Yes ma'am.” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo beamed and took off to their tree house giggling all the way and discussing what kind of adventures they should do next. Connor used this opportunity to lay down on his back and rest his head at the foot of the ramp leading up to the tree house to relax. He figured this little distraction would last a few hours and make his current job easier for a while.

He ran a hoof through his hair. He could feel that it started couple of inches above his eyes and ended at around the top of his neck. He was glad that he didn't have hair going all the way down his neck and ending at his shoulder blades. It was less maintenance he needed to do to keep his hair in check. He put his hooves behind his head and stared up at the sky before letting his mind drift away to do its own thing. He thought about home a lot. He missed the ability to pick things up with his fingers and he would love to be able to walk on two legs again. He dreamed about food and all the good stuff he was going to miss. Pizza, burgers, sushi, bread, mashed potatoes, bacon; the list went on. While on the topic of food he drifted over to what ponies in this world would eat. He knew about hay, apples and vegetables, but what else did they eat? Was it all just organic food? Did they have any other poultry here in this world like eggs or cheese? What was considered fancy food? What was considered fancy in general? Did this world have any kind of clothes to wear? His mind trailed off after that thought and he went back to the biggest thing he missed from his home; his motorcycle. The twist of the throttle, the pop of the exhaust, the exhilaration from a perfect upshift into the next gear to go even faster, the danger of going around a corner so fast you could almost touch the road with your knee. If he thought hard enough, Connor could hear the scream of the engine at 15,000 rpm as he screeched down the road. At the thought of speed, he questioned as to what ponies did to get their fix for speed? At that thought, did this world have cops, too?

“Apple Bloom!!” Connor was pulled out of his thoughts as another pony approached the tree house. He raised his head slightly and rolled a little to his right to peer past the ramp to see who was coming. An orange pony with sun blonde hair and tail and wearing a stetson cowboy hat was making her way to the tree house with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo still inside.

“Aaaah shirt,” he cursed in his head. It was one of the ponies from yesterday that he had insulted. If Connor was fast enough and sneaky enough, he could possibly get away without her noticing. But part of him wanted to stay and try to apologize for yesterday. He hesitated there while his mind fought to pick a choice as this pony slowly approached. His mind couldn't come to a decision quickly enough and he was almost completely in view of her, so he gave up and chose to face the angry wrath of this pony.

Applejack approached the tree house and noticed a blue figure at the base of the ramp up to her sister's club house. It shifted and peered at her with a single eye like it was deciding to run away or stay. A few more paces later, she recognized that it was the blue Pegasus they were searching for since yesterday.

“You!” she angrily pointed accusingly at him. Connor gave a pained expression before sitting up to shrug, “Me.”

“What in tarnation are you doing here?!”

Connor glanced up briefly in thought before answering, “Uhm, playing guard to this club house.”

Applejack paused in her anger trying to understand the answer he gave her. It was too matter-of-fact to be a lie, but why would he be a guard for her sister's club?

“What do you mean 'You're playing guard'?”

“Well, I went to pick up Scootaloo from school and she brought me here to see the club house and introduce me to the rest of the members; that being Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. And then they asked me to be a guard to their 'secret base' while they think up new ideas for-”

“Applejack! What are you doing here?”

Apple Bloom had come out of the club house to see what was going on down below. “Apple Bloom!” Applejack was relieved to see her sister safe, “Come down here! Do you know this pony?”

Apple Bloom looked puzzlingly between Connor and Applejack, “Yeah. that's Connor, our secret base guard.” She walked down the ramp and over to her big sister. Applejack pulled her sister closer and placed herself defensively between her and Connor.

“You get off this farm right now, you hear!” still glaring at him, “I’ll let twilight know where you are and then she can take care you.”

Connor stared back blankly still sitting on the ground, “Why do you want me off the farm? I haven't done anything wrong.”

Connor was trying his best to maintain his poker face. The last thing he wanted to do was make this older sister mad. But he knew a possibility was here somewhere in this encounter and he wanted to capitalize on it. Maybe he could get work here on the farm or something if he positioned it correctly and could calm her down to agree with the proposition. It was worth a shot, but first he needed to convince this pony to a reasonable state.

“I don’t want you anywhere near my sister. How do I know that you won't be some kind of bad influence for her? I mean, we found a guard unconscious outside in the hallway when you left, and a guard doesn’t just knock himself silly in the middle of a hall.”

“Fuuuudge, you had to go and bring that up, didn't you; thanks.” Connor broke from his poker face now to put a hoof to his temple and express his exasperated frustration, “Okay, yes. That was a mistake. But that was an extreme situation and I was in an irrational state of mind. It's not something I do on a regular basis. Besides, I’m one of the better examples from the world I come from. There are far worse people than me.”

“Sure, I bet you are the gleaming example of a perfect pony.”

“no, I don't consider myself to be perfect; I am far from it. I’m just saying, you could have gotten someone worse.”

“Uh huh. How about the next time I turn around, you are gone and off the farm or I’ll have Big Mac escort you off the property.” Applejack turned around and ushered a confused and nervous looking Apple Bloom back to the farm.

“Why do I have to go, sis? My friends are still there.”

“I’ll tell them they need to go home and can come get you later. Right now, you have chores to do.”

“Aaaaaww.” Apple Bloom moaned loudly and sulked off back to the barn with Applejack close behind. If Connor still wanted to seize this opportunity, now was the last chance.

“Wait!” he called out. Applejack shot a glare over her shoulder. Connor almost gave up on the idea, but he pushed through.

“Uh, Applejack right? Uh, how about I stay on the farm and, work on it?” This was going to be tough to convince her of this.

“Why, in the whole world of Equestria, should I let you work on the farm?” Applejack had stopped to face Connor again demanding a good explanation.

“Well since you don’t trust me, wouldn't it be easier to keep an eye on me if I was always close by? So if I step out of line, you can correct me at moment's notice. Plus, the work will keep me busy during my stay here. And you can always tell twilight whenever you get free time, uh, not to sound like I don’t want you to tell her where I am.” Connor was sweating a little as he watched Applejack for any signs of disagreement.

Applejack glared at where Connor was standing, but behind her eyes she was honestly considering his offer. It did sound like a pretty reasonable idea. She could keep an eye on him while twilight worked on fixing her portal to send him back. Everything seemed to work out in her head, she had every advantage she needed. But there had to be a catch somewhere. There had to be something that he wanted in return.

“Why should I give you a job on my farm? There has to be some kind of catch to this, right?”

“A catch?” Connor couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had tried to give Applejack every advantage he could think to her and she was wondering if he was trying to play an angle in the deal. He sighed exasperatedly, “What I'm trying to here is,” he threw his eyes to the sky as he prepared himself to swallow the hard pill called pride, “, is say 'I’m sorry'. I didn't mean what I said before and I want to make it up.”

Applejack continued to glare but turned around for a moment before answering him, “You have three minutes to meet me at the barn to start working.”

With that, Applejack continued walking Apple Bloom back to the barn, leaving Connor, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo there at the tree house.

“Hey Connor,” he turned to look up and see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the railing peering down with saddened eyes, “Does this mean you wont be staying at my place any more?”

“No Scootaloo, I’ll still be there. I just won't be your babysitter any more. I’ll have to explain to your parents but I think they will understand. Are you going to be alright while I’m working?”

“Yeah...” Scootaloo cast her eyes down on the railing.

“Come on, don’t be sad Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle comforted.

“Yeah, I’ll still look out for you. Just not all the time. Can you promise you won't get into too much trouble while I’m away?”

“I guess. Do you promise to come back to my place when you're done working?”

“Promise.” Scootaloo brightened at the thought of having her foalsitter/older brother coming back home tonight. With Scootaloo looking better, Connor ran off to the barn before he was late.

~~~

Applejack had Connor following behind her as they walked down one of the many paths into the orchard. They were carrying a few wooden buckets with them for apple collecting which took a few minutes to set up since Connor had no idea how to carry them. Applejack had explained briefly on what Connor was supposed to be doing, so they were headed out to continue where she left off. Applejack stopped at an apple tree and set her baskets down beside it before turning to instruct Connor on proper bucking technique.

“now when you buck apple trees you have to do it just so, alright?” she reared back on her front legs and kicked the apple tree to demonstrate a proper buck. The tree shook violently and the apples fell down into the waiting buckets. Applejack came back looking proud of herself for another excellent demonstration.

“Does that make sense?”

Connor rubbed his chin with a hoof, “I guess? It looks simple enough.”

“Good, I will be over there if anything happens,” Applejack picked up the full buckets of apples to deposit them into a cart before moving off to another tree to continue the process of bucking trees.

Connor walked over to another apple tree still full with apples and set his buckets down near the base like she did. He glanced up at the gleaming apples still hanging in the tree. He pondered on how he should try to kick this tree because trees from his world did not move when you kicked them. He could try to do it like Applejack just did with both legs, or he could try using a spinning back kick like he had always trained with. He picked his spinning back kick as his weapon of choice as it was the one he was most familiar with. He stepped back from the tree and got set in his stance. He took a few practice spins to judge his distance and get the technique down before setting again for his actual strike. He stepped forward and spun to generate as much kinetic energy as possible before planting his three hooves firmly on the ground and firing his rear left hoof at the tree as hard as he could.

CR-SMASH!! the tree shook hard and the apple fell, but he smashed right through the bark causing it to splinter into shrapnel. He cringed in shock and put a hoof to his mouth, amazed at the damage he had just caused to this tree.

“Sshhheeeeeeet! Fooooog did not mean to do tha- HRRNNNGGHHH!!!” A lasso came sailing through the air and wrapped around Connor's neck before a powerful tug yanked him backwards and onto his back.

“What in the world did you do?!” Applejack came running over to assess the damage done to her beautiful tree with the lasso rope trailing behind her. Connor struggled with his fumbling hooves to get the tight rope off his neck.

Applejack whipped around, “I didn't say 'Try to kick the tree down' did I?!”

“Hang on! I didn’t mean to!” Connor eventually got the rope off him and stood up to defend himself, “I thought the trees were a lot stronger than that! It takes a lot of force to do that kind of damage to a tree in my world! I swear, I didn't know it was that easy to break them!”

Applejack collected her rope and slung it around her, “Sure you did.”

“I’m sorry?” Connor threw out the offered apology hoping it might get him back in somewhat good graces with Applejack. The apology sort of hung in the air for a little bit before slowly fluttering to the ground between the two.

Applejack stared at him unconvinced, but it did mean something to her when he said 'sorry'. Applejack may be a stickler for past mistakes, but she was willing to forgive them if somepony was willing to try and fix them. Fluttershy had been working with Applejack to learn forgiveness with discord, so I guess this was an extension of those lessons with Connor. But Applejack was still working on that.

“I’ve got my eye on you.”

Connor could see a long first day of work ahead of him and he could feel he was going to become very familiar with that lasso.

Author's Notes:

So many questions that need to be answered! Will Connor ever get a better job? Will Connor ever learn to fly? Will the author ever overcome his ADD and finish the next chapter in the story? Tune in next time for 'The Games We are Forced to Play'!!

It feels like I have been writing the main 6 like a bit of an a-hole group, and applejack has gotten her fair share this chapter. I have been trying to bring them back into better light, but just doing a 180 flip in attitude is too easy. I want to earn their respect and trust. Don't worry, it won't stay this way very long. There will be a shift in overall attitude soon. But just like in the real world, it takes time and effort to change one's opinion about someone or something. Just give me some more time and the change will become more apparent.

Any kind of constructive criticism would be helpful. i feel these transitional chapters are a bit of a weak spot in my writing ability. Thanks

9: One Missing Pony Found

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Twilight

Twilight let out a long yawn as she walked down the streets of ponyville with her friend Fluttershy. Twilight had spent most of last night replanning out her entire month with the inclusion of looking for Connor, ordering new parts for her portal, and prepping letters to be sent the next morning. When she did go to bed, she had spent most of her time in bed rolling around in anguish before falling into a restless sleep. All in all, another one of her bad nights.

“Are you alright, Twilight? You look like you didn’t get any sleep last night.” Fluttershy looked worried for her friend. She had seen Twilight come out of her tree house with little to no sleep on many occasions.

“I’ll be fine. I just have a lot of things on my mind. Spike has been helping me a lot with sending out notices and letters. We've already sent letters to the authorities in Los Pegasus and Apploosa informing them to be on the lookout for a blue Pegasus with a blonde mane and no cutie mark. Spike is finishing up sending out the last of the letters right now,” she let out another yawn.

“I’m sure everything will be fine. Spike is a reliable dragon and will get the job done.”

“Thanks Fluttershy; and thank you for helping with putting up these missing posters. I Was going to ask Rarity if she had some free time to help out too.”

“It's no problem! And I’m sure Rarity would love to help out,” Fluttershy said kindly.

There was a flash of green and a soft pop and a scroll with Fluttershy's name on it dropped out of the sky. Curious, Fluttershy picked up the scroll and unfurled it to read it.

“You're rescheduling our tea party to next Tuesday?”

Twilight flushed, “Spike is also sending our rescheduling notices as well.”

Fluttershy gave a surprised concerned look, “Spike is sending out rescheduling notices?”

“Yes?” Twilight gave a sheepish grin.

“Uuh, why don't we get Rarity and see if she is available.” Fluttershy tried to ignore the obvious fact of what was going on while they stopped off at Rarity's shop.

Fluttershy and Twilight opened the door to Carousel Boutique and a small door chime rang over head. The designer's dress shop looked lovely as ever. Rarity already had her summer outfits already on main display. But one could still browse and find anything from ball gown dresses to some casual wear. At the moment, there was an open box sitting in the middle of the shop with dresses already wrapped up and ready for shipping.

“In a minute!” Rarity called from a back room.

“Rarity! Its me and Fluttershy!” Twilight called out into the shop.

Rarity came out from behind two shutters that lead into the designing room carrying some freshly wrapped dresses.

“Twilight! Good to see you again! Oh dear, did you say up late again?”

“A little. I had to make another report to Princess Celestia before I could go to bed.”

“Oh Twilight, you can't maintain your regal composure if you don't get your beauty sleep.” she struck a small pose of grace before returning back to concern.

“Are you still worried about that uncouth Pegasus from yesterday?”

“Yeah, this is an unfamiliar world for him and I’m worried how he will take to living here, if he ever learns to accept it.”

Rarity gave off a scoff, “Hah, Twilight, I’m sure that ruffian will be fine for one night. He seems old enough to take care of himself. He'll be fine.”

Fluttershy spoke up for Twilight, “Um Rarity, Twilight was going to ask you if you could help out with putting up some missing posters around town, if you have the free time that is.”

Rarity looked appalled, “Ah! Help find him?”

“You did say that you were going to help yesterday, didn't you?” Fluttershy pointed out sternly.

“Oh very well. But I have one more thing to do before I can help.”

“Oh? And what's that?” Fluttershy exclaimed with excited curiosity.

“I need to drop off some knitting materials at sweet apple acres first. It appears granny smith has taken up knitting and needs more yarn.”

There was flash of green and a small pop and a scroll with Rarity's name on it fell at her hooves. With a raised eyebrow, Rarity picked up the scroll in her magic to read, “You are canceling your trip with me to meet with Hoity Toity? Twilight! Did you spend all last night and morning rescheduling your calendar again?!”

Twilight shrunk a little under Rarity's glare and answered with another sheepish grin. Rarity sighed and put a hoof to her face in response to the answer that she got.

“Very well. Shall we leave so I can make this delivery? Then I can help out with putting up your posters.”

Twilight and Fluttershy headed for the door while Rarity finished putting the new dresses in the open box and left to gather the knitting materials. A few moments later, Rarity exited the dress shop with saddle bags filled with yarn and other knitting tools.

She closed the door and the three friends made their way down the road and towards sweet apple acres. They walked in silence for a little bit before Rarity spoke up again, “Twilight, I understand that you left through your portal after you received a letter. Can you explain to us what that letter was?”

“Who told you that?” Twilight snapped with a worried tone in her voice.

“Why, our Spikey Wikey of course,” she giggled in response. This time it was Twilight's turn to put her hoof to her face.

“When I got that letter, I didn't read the whole message and jumped the conclusion that my Canterlot high friends were trying to contact me for help. When spike and I got back to the library last night, he showed me the letter again. It turns out that the letter was actually an ecoponies' movement flier to help 'save the trees around our beautiful capital'! Now that I think about it, I’m wondering why I ever thought that it could have come from the other world when there are no ways to communicate with them right now.”

The three continued to chit chat down the path to Applejack's farm. They tried to talk about anything to keep everypony's spirits high, however the conversation always seemed to drift back to recent events and Connor's current whereabouts. Rarity and Fluttershy were have particularly heated argument when they finally reached the front gates of the farm.

“... and if others from that world are as rude as he is, I have no intention of visiting.”

“But Rarity, this is not his world! His world probably works differently compared to ours. How would you react if you had to go to his world and couldn't get back?” Fluttershy argued.

“Rarity! Fluttershy! Please stop arguing! I know everypony has differing opinions about Connor, but right now I need your help to find him. Once we deliver granny smith's knitting supplies, I need your help putting up missing fliers in ponyville.”

The quarreling friends put their argument to the side to be resumed later. Rarity let out a huff, “Very well Twilight, you are right. We need to stop fussing about and focus on the task at hand. After I’ve given Applejack the yarn and needles we can go back and start looking for, HIM!!!”

Rarity had stopped in her tracks to point accusingly at something. Twilight and Fluttershy followed Rarity's hoof to see what she was pointing at. Off in the distance, a jeans blue Pegasus was currently bucking trees and filling a nearby cart with the apples that fell off the trees. Applejack was at the animal pens cleaning up the food trays not to far from where Twilight and company were standing.

“Applejack!” Rarity hissed loudly.

Applejack looked up from her work to see who was calling her name. She spotted her friends and waved, “Howdy everypony! What brings you here?”

“Applejack! Come here! Quick!” Rarity continued to hiss trying to keep only Applejack from hearing her.

“What? What's wrong Rarity?” Applejack returned the low tone as she met her friends by the entrance.

“What are you doing with that pony on your farm? Isn't that the same pony from yesterday who was being extremely rude?”

“Who? Him?” Applejack motioned with a hoof to indicate Connor who was finishing unloading another bucket of apples into the cart.

“He's here working here on the farm, right now. What was his name, Twilight? Was it something like 'Condor'?”

“Connor,” Twilight corrected.

“But why, dear Applejack, is he here of all places?” Rarity continued questioning.

“Well he wanted to work as his way of saying 'sorry'. And I’m not one to turn down somepony who is willing to try and fix his past mistakes.”

“Oh, does that mean you're taking our forgiveness lessons to heart? Does that mean you will start forgiving discord as well?” Fluttershy said excitedly.

“Discord is a special case,” Applejack said pointedly, “But he wanted to work so I let him. It let's me keep an eye on him in case he steps out of line and its good to have an extra hoof around to help out with the work.”

“But where did you find him?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, where did you find him?” Fluttershy and Rarity added.

“He was out by my sister's club house playing as a 'secret base guard'. I swear Twilight, I was going to tell you when I had some open time. But right now I needed to get this harvest collected so I can start on the next one.”

“It's okay, Applejack. I’m just surprised as how he ended up in Ponyville and how we found him so quickly. Do you know how he got here or if he as a place to stay right now?”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought, “I heard Apple Bloom mention that he was acting as Scootaloo's foalsitter and is living at her home for the time being. Hmm, I’ll have to let him know that he should tell Scootaloo's parents about him working on the farm now.” Applejack glanced over to Connor who was pulling a cart into the barn filled with tools that were no longer being used.

“So, does this mean that you believe me when I say he really isn’t that bad?” Twilight said hopefully.

“He's not out of the pigs' pen yet, but after hearing his apology and seeing how hard he's working I’d say he's making step in the right direction.”

“I’ll believe it when I hear him say 'sorry'. Are you sure he is not just a meanie trying to seem nice?” Rarity gave a sideways glance to emphasize her disbelief.

“Rarity, if he was just a meanie to the core, would Scootaloo's parents make him their foalsitter while they're busy working. You've heard how those two have to work late to give their daughter what she needs. You and I both know how that feels when you don’t have enough hours of sunlight and you still got to bring the cows in and water half an orchard.”

“I’m not sure about cows,” Rarity commented, “but I understand the necessity to finish a dress order before a deadline. Are you sure about this, Applejack?”

“I’ve got this handled like a lassoing contest at a wild west tournament in Apploosa,” Applejack reassured.

Just then Connor called out to Applejack, “Hey Applejack! Is it alright if I use your punching bag a little bit?”

“Uh, sure! I guess!” Applejack shouted back cupping a hoof around her mouth.

“Thanks!” he shouted back and disappeared back into the barn.

Applejack turned back to her friends, “Well, I better get back to work. Was there anything else I could help you with?”

“Oh! I originally came by to give you these. You said Granny smith needed some more knitting materials so I brought some more yarn and a few knitting needles just in case.” Rarity levitated the yarn and needles out of her saddle bags and over to Applejack and placed them on her back.

“Thanks Rarity. I’ll give these to granny right away. She's been wanting to try some more knitting patterns after she ran out of yarn to knit with.”

“Please don’t be too hard on him, okay Applejack?” Fluttershy pleaded with her.

“We'll see, sugar cube. But if he keeps going like he is, then there won't be any problems,” Applejack said calmly.

“Will you let me know if anything happens?” Twilight gave a slightly worried glance at the barn where Connor was last seen.

“Sure, Twilight. But I think I can handle anything he tries.”

“I’m not sure I would agree with this, but I trust your judgment, Applejack,” Rarity huffed in defeat.

“Well, since we don’t need to go searching for Connor now, I’ll be heading back to the library to write another report to Princess Celestia and tell the other towns to stop their searches. You sure you have everything handled, Applejack?”

“Don't worry, Twilight. Everything will be fine.”

“Okay.” Twilight reluctantly walked away from the farm with her friends by her side as Applejack headed back towards the barn. She bowed her head in concerned thought. Twilight trusted Applejack with the upmost sincerity, so she believed Applejack when she said she had things covered. However, most of her concern was going to Connor. He looked like he was holding everything together with no signs of outbursts or fits of rage. But she was wondering if that was because his spirits were already broken, or if he was trying to conceal a complete breakdown from happening.

“Twilight? Are you sure you're alright? You still look worried.” Rarity's words pulled Twilight back to reality to see both her friends with concerned faces.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just take Connor with you to your home, Twilight? It might make you feel better to have another friend around and you can teach him how to enjoy this world,” Fluttershy offered with a smile.

Twilight shook her head, “No, I think it might be best to just wait and see what happens before I try to step in. He may not need intervention and may learn to adapt here on his own. So for now, I will trust Applejack to keep care of him for awhile. In the mean time, I have to make a list of all the parts that need to be replaced to fix the portal.”

“Well then, since we are not going on a search for your missing pony I can get back to my shop and deliver those dresses to the mail office to be shipped.”

“Oh, well, I guess I could say hello to Mr. Bear today. He looked a little sad today so I could go cheer him up.”

The two mares parted ways as they entered the town leaving Twilight by herself to think as she made her way to her library. Connor was just one of the many things floating around in the storm of confusion and indecisiveness in her mind. She still had a portal to rebuild and that in itself was it's own little storm. Parts she needed to order, components that needed to be hoof crafted by magical theory specialists outside of Canterlot, and other devices that needed to be recreated by her were just the start. It was looking like a experiment that would take several months before it would be finished. Twilight opened the front door to the library and walked over to one of her writing desks. She pulled out a scroll, some ink, and a quill. Spike came down the stairs from the second floor, “Hey Twilight! Did you finish putting up those fliers already?” he hopped off the stairs and jogged over to the writing desk.

“Actually, we already found Connor. Applejack found him at the barn and now he's there working on it. I was going to write another report to the Princess informing her about our findings and some observations on his current condition.”

“Really? How's he doing right now?”

“Well, he looked fine when we saw him. So he could be adapting well to our world, or-”

“Or, he could be trying to hide his true emotions! When deep down, he really, truly loves being a pony and cant wait to start flying around to doing amazing stunts like rainbow dash!” Spike lept off a chair nearby and flapped his arms to imitate a bird flying before landing and running back over to Twilight.

“Or, he could be trying to hold his sanity together and not break down in front of everypony,” she said with a frown.

“Oh, yeah. He could be doing that too. So have you made any progress in fixing that portal yet?”

“Well, I was hoping that the Princess might be able to help out with that. It took me almost an entire year to get the funding to build this portal. I had to use our income from working here at the library and our royal stipend just to get all the parts needed to start construction. And now, I need to build another portal as soon as possible so I can send Connor back to his world.”

“Is that why you've been eating noodles so often for the past year?” he asked innocently.

“I may have been forced to do a little bit of rebudgeting over this past year,” she averted her gaze to avoid eye contact. Meanwhile, the quill was writing furiously across the scroll. Twilight looked back at the scroll to look over what she wrote before giving a decisive nod. She rolled up the scroll in her magic and passed it to spike, “Could you please send this to Princess Celestia?”

“Sure,” Spike took the scroll and let out a burst of green flames. The letter evaporated into green dust and flew off towards the castle.

“Now all we can do is wait and see if the princess can help us.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I sure that the princess wil- buuueeerrrrppp!”

Spike belched out a puff of green flames again and a scroll magically appeared. He caught the scroll and his out stretched arms and unfurled the letter to read. He cleared his throat,

“Dear Twilight, I would be more than happy to assist in the endeavor of returning our new other-worldly resident back to his rightful home. I will begin with routing more funding to your project and bringing in some of Equestria's brightest minds to help in rebuilding the dimensional bridge to the other world. Yours Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

P.S. I understand your desire to further your magical studies and your experiments. But please remember to spend some time to take care of your own health as well. Even princesses need to eat properly.”

Twilight gave an embarrassed grin as spike looked up from the letter with a smug look. He furled up the letter again and set down on the writing desk.

“Well, then I guess that question has been answered. Now, how about I go make you a real meal, Twilight?” Spike started for the kitchen with a smug grin still poised on his mouth. Twilight's stomach gave a loud growl, “Sure Spike, I would like that.”

Twilight followed suit after spike for a home made meal made by her number one assistant.

10: Stage Three and Four of Five

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Connor

Hard. One word can describe any kind of manual labor when someone just starts. Connor found the work on the farm was hard, but it was honest. Even though it was his first time working on the farm, he quickly got into the pattern. Bucking the trees, collecting the fallen apples in the baskets, emptying the baskets into the cart, then repeat. It was a pattern he could get lost in and simply forget the rest of the world as he worked. Kick, collect, dump; kick, collect, dump.

He heard Applejack call out to somepony that just arrived on the farm, but he ignored it. He didn't want to think about anything right now. After he filled up the cart full of apples, he hooked up the cart to himself and took it back to where Applejack told him deposit collected apples. After unhooking himself from the the cart, he gathered up the tools that were no longer being used and tossed them into an empty cart so he could put them away in the barn. He hooked up again and tugged against the weight and headed for the front barn doors. Connor opened the barn doors wide enough for him and the cart to pass through and looked around. The interior was empty of other ponies but had what one would suspect to be inside a barn. Hay was piled up in several places and a work bench was set up on the right hand side beside the doors. He pulled the cart in and started unloading and putting the tools back on the bench, in a tool chest, or on the wall.

Once finished, Connor paused to relax and look around the barn. Something caught his eye as his glaze passed over the barn insides. A few meters away was a heavy looking punching bag hanging on a portable stand. It was worn and faded red and it looked like the bag was repaired by hand on several occasions. Stitches covered the tough skin from top to bottom and recently some tape was put over a new hole as a temporary fix. Connor gave the bag a little push and it swung gently back and forth. He gave the bag a sharp jab as the bag came back on its pendulum momentum. The chain rattled a little as the bag's momentum was stopped with the force of the punch. The bag presented a perfect opportunity as a way to relieve some stress, do some extra training, and give him something that was close to home. But he wanted to ask Applejack for permission first before he started using it.

He walked over to the barn door and looked out to spot Applejack talking with some other ponies. He couldn't get a good look at them because they were so far away, but he didn't care who Applejack was talking to. It wasn't his business.

Connor breathed in to shout at Applejack, “Hey Applejack! Is it alright if I use your punching bag a little bit?”

Applejack turned a little to look at him before cupping a hoof to her mouth to shout back, “Uh, sure! I guess!”

“Thanks!” He entered the barn again and walked over to the bag. He squared up to it setting into his fighting stance with his left hooves placed farther in front of his right hooves. He paused, waiting for the right moment before rearing up onto his back legs to let loose a quick punching combination. He came back down and reset his stance. The pattern continued with the techniques becoming more and more complex and began to incorporate kicks, knees, elbows and a couple of wing strikes as well. When using his wings to hit the bag, he would step out to the side and dip his front end down while bringing his wing over the top to strike down on the bag. The chain rattled loudly as he got absorbed again in his work trying to feel as much as at-home as possible.

“Those are some fancy moves there.”

Connor stopped to see Applejack standing there leaning up against a support beam. He stopped in his barrage on the bag and grabbed it to steady its movement.

“Yeah, there are some fancy moves in there. But not all of them are just for looks.”

“Uh-huh,” Applejack pushed off the beam to stand up again, “And what makes you think that those fancy moves will help win in some kind of fight? It's not like a royal guard is going to stand there and let you spin around like a toy top on a record player before you finally swing.”

“If you're talking about that guard in the castle, he actually did just stand there and let me hit him in the face. But no, I know in a real fight I don’t have time to do a pirouette before kicking someone in the face.”

“So do you think your karate moves would out beat my apple bucking power?”

“What do you mean?” Connor narrowed his glaze slightly.

Applejack strode over to the bag and turned around, “I’m saying that my power can beat your karate moves any day. No need to show off when a good buck will take care of it. In fact, I think I can kick this bag here harder than you can.”

Applejack rocked her body weight forward before unleashing a powerful kick at the bag. The bag swung hard out to just under a 45 degree angle. She smirked and crossed her legs in a confident pose. There was nopony in Equestria that could out-buck Applejack. Her blue ribbons were proof of that.

“Challenge accepted,” Connor thought to himself. He walked over to the bag and grabbed it again to steady it. Applejack moved to get a good angle and see just how high Connor could kick the bag. He set in his stance again and chose to use his back kick again. He practiced a couple of times without hitting the bag to judge distance and to spot his target. Once satisfied, he set again and spun forward and planted his three hooves on the ground again and fired his left back hoof at the bag. The chain clattered loudly and the bag swung out to just past a 45 degree angle. It was just barely past what Applejack did, but it was still a noticeable difference. Applejack stared at the results with her mouth slightly agape. To rub it in even more, Connor struck the same confident pose and crossed his legs in similar fashion that Applejack had.

“How did you do that?” Applejack glared at Connor. Though, the glare was more out of angry curiosity rather than jealousy.

“Can you show me again how you kick?” Connor stepped to the side giving the bag to Applejack. She approached the bag again and prepared to kick, meanwhile Connor's inner instructor looked critically at Applejack to spot any kind of mistakes. She loaded again and kicked hard at the bag. The chain rattled violently again as the bag bounced around in the air. She stood up and looked at Connor for input.

“Okay, so you have lots of power and technique seems fine. That's good. The main thing I want to correct is how you are hitting the bag. When you kick, you are sort of hitting the bag at an upward angle which is deflecting some of your power away from it. You want to hit the bag straight on so all of your energy is being transferred to the bag with zero deflection,” Connor demonstrated by loading back and kicking in the same fashion as Applejack.

“Okay,” Applejack loaded back again but this time she hit a little bit lower and with more of a pushing motion rather than a swing motion. The bag buckled again and swung out to the same angle Connor had hit it.

“Wow! You weren't kidding about hitting the bag that way. I guess your fancy moves do have some use.”

“Well yeah, but it also helps to be a good teacher as well.” Connor stared a the bag as it swung back and forth losing momentum in each swing.

“Wait, you are a teacher too?” Applejack looked at Connor in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m one of the instructors at my martial arts school.” he glanced over in a tired fashion before returning back to the bag which was slowing to a stop.

They stood there in silence for a while, simply staring at the punching bag. Applejack glance out of the barn to see that it was almost sundown.

“Well I guess that will be it for today. It's almost sundown you still need to foalsit Scootaloo.”

“Foalsit? Oh, you mean babysit. Yeah, I do.”

Applejack looked at Connor, “Yeah, about foalsitting. If you're going to work on my farm, you need to tell her parents about working here. I won't have you abandoning one job for another if you are supposed to be looking after her.”

“That's right. I’m going to have to talk to them when they get home tonight. Maybe I might be able to do both jobs if we set up a different way of looking after Scootaloo,” he said in realization and lifted his head up in thought.

“Well, go get Scootaloo and take her home. Once you get everything settled with her parents, come find me and you can get back to working.”

“So, tomorrow then?” Connor asked.

“Tomorrow,” she confirmed. With that final word, Applejack left the barn leaving Connor alone. He stared at the barn doors that Applejack had left through for a few seconds. His gaze drifted back to the punching bag in front of him while he let his mind settle down and organize itself after today's events. He stood there a little bit longer before putting a stop on his mind and refocusing on the things he needed to do before the end of the day. The first thing he needed to do was find Scootaloo.

~~~

Scootaloo was not hard to find. Somehow, Scootaloo and her friends were still in their club house giggling excitedly about their new list of things to do to earn their cutie marks. What were her friends' names again? I think it was Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Connor called out to Scootaloo still inside the tree house saying it was time to go home. There was a loud groan and a disgruntled Scootaloo came out. She said goodbye to her friends before joining Connor's side for the trip home. They ideally chatted about the list and the tasks that were on it as they made their way home.

Once Connor opened the front door, Scootaloo headed to her bed room saying she was going to keep writing ideas down while she waited for dinner. Dinner, Connor did not think about making food for when they got home. He looked at a clock hanging in living room and it read 7:00. not too late, but still too early for her parents to be home since they were no where to be seen in the house. That left him with the task of making a meal for himself and Scootaloo. He headed for the kitchen in the back to see what he could find.

The kitchen looked similar to one from his world. A large sink was placed in the counter top and cupboards lined the walls above and below the countertop. Off to his right, he saw a stove and oven combination at the end of the kitchen counter. It looked weathered and used but still functional. The stove burners on top were coil burners; the ones that use an electrical current passing through the metal to heat up whatever is placed on top of it. Along the back wall was a refrigerator, a dish washing machine and cabinets filled with dishes of both ceramic and glass, eating utensils that looked like forks, spoons, and dinner knives, and miscellaneous items like spices and non-perishable foods. He also spotted a toaster on the counter as well. Out of curiosity, he peered in the toaster to see its inner workings. It was one of those old toasters that cooked two pieces of bread at once before popping its spring loaded tray up and ejecting the toast. All of these appliances and one glaring question was staring him in the face right now. How did all of these things run without electricity? The frig, stove oven, and toaster all needed some kind of power source, but he didn't even see a cord leading out from the toaster. And yet, everything seemed to be working fine. The frig hummed gently keeping the food inside nice and cold and the stove heated up once he finally got a grip on one of the knobs and turned them.

However, his stomach let loose a deep rumble and his hunger said, “Dude, don’t worry about it right now. Just get some food ready and eat.”

He gave up and followed the advise of his stomach. He needed to make a meal for two before telling Scootaloo to go to bed. He couldn't do anything fancy, he didn't have the finesse or control to make something extravagant. He opened the frig to see what was inside. He found an assortment of foods in the frig but his eyes latched onto something from his world that was easy to make, peanut butter and strawberry jam. All he needed now was some bread and a knife. He found some bread in a bread box and a knife in a drawer. Once everything was gathered, he set to making the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Manipulating the knife was a struggle. He had to pinch it just right between his hoof and his arm the get a decent grasp on the knife. He eventually made a couple of sandwiches for the two of them and called Scootaloo down for dinner. He heard hoofsteps bounding down the stairs and Scootaloo come barreling into the kitchen for food. He passed one sandwich to her and she happily took it in her mouth, “Cool! Peanut butter and jelly for dinner! Thanks!” she said through a muffled mouth and ran off to the dining room to eat.

After both of them had finished and had full stomachs, Connor cleaned up the kitchen and put Scootaloo to bed. Once she was sound asleep, he sat down in the living room on one of the open chairs and waited for Scootaloo's mom and dad to come home.

The clock read 12:22 at night by the time they walked through the front door. Connor tiredly got up from the chair and greeted them before asking them if he could talk with them. They sat down at the table and Connor explained the situation to them. He described how he had found work on the apple farm just outside of town and would be working there starting tomorrow. However, he did emphasize his desire to continue foalsitting Scootaloo as that was part of the original deal for living in their home and asked if there was a way to compensate for the new change in schedule.

There was a tense pause for Connor as he watched the father look at him with his judge's eyes again. But his stare lightened and he gave a small smile. He believed Connor when he said he found work on the apple farm and understood his desire to honor their original deal. So, he gave new responsibilities for foalsitting. When the conversation ended, Connor's new responsibilities were as followed: he was required to take Scootaloo to and from school. If she wanted to go out and play she was required to check in with him and let Connor know where she was going. He was to make hourly check-ups with Scootaloo and bring her home by sundown. Other than that, he was glad that Connor found work. Connor eased the tension in his body and relaxed with a smile. The conversation went better than he had expected. He thanked both of them for being so kind and generous before heading back upstairs to his own bed.

~~~

The next day, he explained to Scootaloo what was happening with him and how things were going to play out now that he was working for Applejack. She was a little sad that Connor wouldn't be hanging around the crusaders all day long but she understood the importance of working. She had planned some of the crusaders adventures around him helping with games and such, but Connor told Scootaloo that he would be making regular check-ups to see how she was doing and might have extra time to help out.

Once he dropped Scootaloo off at school, Connor made his way to the apple farm and delivered the good news to her. Applejack was pleased that everything worked out and set to putting him to work.

For the next four days, Connor got into the rhythm of his new life here in this pony world. He would get up have breakfast that was left by mom and dad and take Scootaloo to school. After that he would head over to the apple farm to work until some time after noon where he would break to go pick up Scootaloo from school again. She would tell him about her day before heading off to join her friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle again for more adventures. After telling Connor where she would be, Scootaloo would run off to join her friends leaving Connor to work. He scheduled his hourly check-ups to be every two hours; hey, dad didn't say it had to be every hour on the dot so he gave himself a little lee-way.

Near the end of the day, Connor would put the tools away at the work bench and start pounding away at the punching bag again. He would start off simple every time before slowly moving up to the complex combinations using everything at his disposal to hit the bag, including his wings. He would do that for a good hour or so before tiring out and leaving to collect Scootaloo and head back to her house. His time on the bag was the only thing in this world that made him feel close to his own world and his own home. And the more time he wasn't doing something to distract him, the more homesick he would feel.

As the four days went by, he put more and more energy into his work and hitting the bag. He was trying very hard to ignore the feelings that were becoming more and more apparent in his head. Unfortunately, the feeling of being close to home was gradually fading over time as he spent more minutes on the bag. His body ache and could feel the injuries but he ignored them. He didn't want to think about himself or his home, so he just worked harder and punched harder. On the plus side, he noticed that Applejack was using the lasso less; to the point of never using it once in the day. She even brought out meals for him when she gave him lunch break. Applejack thought it was the least she could do since he was working so hard and didn’t have any money yet. Unbeknownst to Connor, Applejack was considering giving him some kind of payment so he could buy things for himself.

On what would have been Friday in his world, Connor was given half of the day off after lunch. With Connor's help, Applejack has been ahead of schedule with the harvest and thought it would be alright to have a day off. So Applejack told Connor to go and explore around town for the rest of the day. Applejack felt like she had to order Connor to leave because he was being so insistent to help out.

Connor slowly made his way off the farm and into town to look around. He made sure to tell Scootaloo where he was before leaving in case she needed to get him. He browsed around town and looked at all the shops that were available. There were a couple of cafes and restaurants scattered around town and one fast food place around the outskirts. He passed by a bakery that looked like a gingerbread's house. The smell of fresh bread, muffins, and cookies filled his nostrils, but did not fill him with delight. It was simply just another reminder of home and how his family would make their own home made bread and pastries. As he continued his tour around town he spotted more shops that just reminded him of home. A hardware store with bits and bobs, wood, tools, and the smell of grimy work like the one he would shop at for when he needed screws or bolts for replacing ones on his bike. He window shopped at a general store down main street but only saw remnants of his own world. He tried to rationalize the new setting of what he was seeing but there was no way he could accept the fruity colored, sugar coated, problemless world he was in. everything looked too perfect, like they never had any kind of inconveniences outside of bad weather. Of course, this was never true. Any of Ponyville's inhabitants could tell you that, but Connor did not want to talk to any of them.

After a few hours of mingling around town, Connor had enough and went back to the farm where the punching bag was. He could lose himself in the effort to kick the bag as hard as he could. It was the one thing he latched on as being close to home.

~~~

The day after that, Connor came in to work again but found nopony around the farm. He searched all the likely areas that Applejack might be, but didn't find her anywhere. After searching for a couple minutes, he spotted a note on the door that lead into the house attached to the back of the farm. He plucked it off the door to read it.

Connor,

Go ahead and take today off. I know I gave you part of yesterday off, but go relax today as well. I’m currently in Canterlot right now picking up some new tools and supplies that I can't get in town. The rest of the Apple family are on a trip with Pinkie Pie to visit her family on the rock farm. Sorry about not telling you yesterday, it slipped my mind and it was already evening when I realized that I forgot to tell you. There are a few bits in the barn on the work bench for you to buy something in town as thanks for working so hard.

Enjoy your day off,

Applejack

Connor looked at spot where the note hung letting his grasp slip on the note. It fluttered to the ground and landed softly in front of the door. He didn’t head for the barn to pick up the money; what was he going to buy? He felt there was nothing in town that he needed or wanted so the only thing he would buy would be food. But even that felt hollow and empty to him, and he loved food. Connor left the money in the barn and went straight for town again like yesterday. And just like yesterday, he mingled around the streets looking at everything and everypony as they passed by. Every one of them was unique in their own way just like him, But his mood prevented him from actually taking interest in it. It took even less time for Connor to get fed up and head back to the barn where he could take solace in the punching bag.

His movements were sluggish and lacked power but he pushed himself through it. He only stopped hitting the bag when he was too tired to throw a simple punch and needed to rest or to check on Scootaloo and make sure she was still fine. Those were the only things he did for the rest of the day until it was time to take Scootaloo home for the night. He hid himself behind a mask of 'faring well in the new world' so as to maintain appearances around others and not worry Scootaloo, but he could feel it failing as his exhaustion pulled at his every limb.

“Are you all right, Connor?” she had asked as the two of them entered the home again.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Why don’t you head upstairs and wash up and I’ll work on making us some food.”

“Okay...” she looked at him still with worried concern in her eyes.

“I’ll be fine. Go on.” Connor forced a smile to push the point home.

Once she left, his smile dropped and his eyes cast to the ground. He was not fine. He missed home and he was still struggling with coming to terms with his new life right now. He forced those thoughts as hard as he could out of his mind but they slowly crept back in like an undying monster that wanted to pull him down a spiraling path into darkness. He headed for the kitchen in the hopes that work would distract him again. He was getting better in manipulating things with his hooves and his wings after all the work he had been doing on the farm and taking care of Scootaloo, so making a simple meal was becoming easy. After a few moments he called Scootaloo down again for dinner and they ate in silence. Scootaloo didn't know why Connor was acting so differently, but she was afraid to ask so she continued to eat her meal. After they finished their food, Connor cleaned up again and put Scootaloo to sleep before trying to sleep himself.

~~~

The next morning, Connor got up, ate, and took Scootaloo to school again. He pretended to be fine again all the way until Scootaloo left his sight before he dropped his mask. He turned away so that nopony could see him and started walking in a direction. His work habit told him to head back to sweet apple acres, but he couldn't bring himself to go. The time he had gotten off had given opportunity to his mind to build up a ocean of defeated emotions and homesickness and it was ready to come crashing down around him and drown him in sadness. So he walked, not really looking at where he was going or at anything really. He knew Applejack would be waiting for him to arrive at the farm to work again today, but Applejack would not see him today. As a matter of fact, Applejack was waiting for him at the front gates to Sweet Apple Acres with concern. She knew something was up with Connor and was worried about him; uh, only for his general well being, not like as a friend. They were still working on that.

He walked and walked, slowly dragging his hooves slightly across the ground. His eyes stared at the ground not wanting to look at anypony in the face. He somehow found his way along side the river at the park outside of town around noon time. Fillies played in the grass and adults casually strolled through the paths or sat on benches relaxing in the nice weather, except for Connor who sat on a bench near the water's edge. He stared at the water as it flowed down its path to its final destination somewhere far off. He stared off into space as he let his mind spiral down into pit of despair and sadness that looked like it had no way of escape. His mind kept going over his mistakes and how his life seemed like it could never go back to normal. He would have to spend the rest of his days in this sickeningly sweet world. He spiraled further and further down into the dark hole, his minor faults and mistakes becoming as big as mountains that seemed unfixable and would never be fixed. The water shimmered slightly and he caught a blue figure staring back at him. Connor looked at the spot with curiosity and slowly got up from his seat to get a better look at blue figure. As he approached the figure began to take a clearer form and morphed into a faded jeans blue Pegasus. He stared at it as if studying an organism. He slowly realized he was staring at himself in the water. As he stared at his reflection with intrigue, he noticed his outward appearance. His eyes had dark bags under them and his hair was messy with dirt, sweat, and grim. His eyes held a deep sorrow in them. He looked absolutely terrible.

Fascination took hold and he needed to see just how bad he looked. He shifted closer to the water and to his side to get a full view of himself. His wings were in bad condition. Bruises lined the edge of his wing where he hit the bag so many times. His wing joint was swollen to the size of a baseball. A few bruises still lingered from his encounter with the bullies a few days ago. He shifted himself so that he could see the other side of his body, only to find it in a similar state as the other. He raised a hoof so that it was visible in the water. Connor couldn’t see just how bad it was in the water's reflection so he tore his eyes from the water to stare at his hoof. His hoof was cracked and scraped and his wrist was swollen badly. He rotated his arm to look at his elbow and could see fur rubbed off from hitting the bag so many times without recovery time. His knees showed the same kind of treatment. He chuckled to himself. It was a sad chuckle like somepony had finally accepted defeat. His body was a disaster with bruises all over and all of his joints being swollen and damaged to some degree. It was a wonder that he was still able to move as much as he had been while working. He had ignored his mental warnings and pain in exchange to not feel despair. Pain began to take hold again as his mental blocks disappeared and let his body tell him that he was broken. He looked back at the water with a chuckle still on his lips, but it quickly fell away. He looked back at his new face and stared deeply into his reflection. If he could describe his look in one word, what would it be? Hopeless, worn out, sad; depressed.

Depressed. That word stuck to him. It mulled around in his head, slowly growing into thought and analysis. Eventually his mind began searching in it's past memories for comparison and other notes until it finally found what it was looking for. During his earlier years in schooling, like elementary and middle school, he had been picked on and bullied. It wasn't an exorbitant amount that would lead to suicide attempts, but there was plenty enough to send him into the downward spiral of depression. His faults being pulled into light and being blown up to ridiculous heights, being rejected from the group when trying to fit in, and then finally believing the bullies that they were right and beating himself up for having such faults and being unable to fix them. The helplessness and uselessness he felt when he was unable to solve a problem affected him deeply during his childhood. He did have a habit of expecting perfection out of himself or setting the expectation bar higher than his current abilities which added to his depression. At one point, he did consider suicidal thoughts. He never acted on them, but it was the fact of having those thoughts at all is what made them scary. Luckily, he had caring teachers and a loving family to bring him around and tell him that he was alright and to not believe what the other kids were saying. Because of them, Connor was able to grow into a stronger individual. There were still times where he needed to vent, and mom was always a patient listener, but he never considered suicide again.

Now, he could see the downward spiral again and all the other signs that went with it. His change in mood and behavior, his change in eating habit, disregard of self mutilation; they were all signs of depression. His mind drifted further in to the black hole of depression and stood just a few steps away from the door of suicidal thoughts. He stared at the tar black door amongst the black void that surrounded it. It would be so easy to just turn the knob and let everything wash over him.

no.

He wouldn't have to think about anything anymore. His story would simply end and he could close his book to his life.

No.

All his problems would go away and never bother him again.

NO!!!

A fiery will welled up inside of him. He glared at the black door in his mind and turned on his heels/hooves and made his way out of the black abyss. He had stood before that black door before and had touched the handle to open it. That alone was enough to never try it again, and he would never consider giving up in that way ever again. He had too much to lose right now and too many goals that he wanted to achieve back home to throw it all away right now. He was going to make it out of this mess and make it back home even if he had to punch, kick, and bludgeon his way back to the human world. The first goal he needed to do was fix himself back up to full health.

But he needed other goals to aim for while in this world, and he needed somepony to talk to and vent. So the first task on his agenda was find somepony he could trust and vent to. After that, he wanted to apologize to the ponies he had cursed out when he first arrived in this world. Next he wanted to learn how to fly. If he couldn't have two wheels to burn rubber and tear up the streets with, he was going to wreck house with his two wings and shred feathers doing it. Finally, he needed to find some way to leave his own mark on this world; not just live and wait for twilight to fix her portal, but really leave an impression on this world before he left. There was no way he couldn't find something in this world he was good at and make a small career out of it. His fiery will to live grew brighter until it shined with renewed life and vigor and ready to set this pansy world ablaze in epic glory.

He stared at his mental list of changes and picked the easiest one to accomplish right now; he needed to find somepony that he could trust and vent his frustrations. He ran through his list of ponies that he knew after coming to this world like a detective going through a data base looking for clues. He scanned over every pony he knew on a personal level trying to pick the perfect candidate. None of them he really knew well enough to trust with handling his emotional vent. There was Scootaloo's parents, but his relation with them had been mainly business; no real personal connection there. Applejack was another possibility that came up in his profile search. She was trustworthy and had pretty good moral standards, not that everypony else didn't have them but Connor had spent more time with Applejack so he had seen it more often. The only problem was he and Applejack had started on the wrong hoof when he first arrived here; he wasn't ready to dump emotional baggage on her and he knew that she wasn't ready to deal with it either. Scootaloo's name also popped up in his search but he quickly tossed it to the side not wanting to involve the kid with his major dilemmas. Near the end of his very short list was twilight. He paused as he looked over his past experiences with her, how much time he had spent with her, and how she had earned some of his respect during her visit in his own world. He sat on the idea and let it turn over in his head for awhile. He continued to stare out at the river flowing before him. Twilight was the only other pony in this world that he really knew well enough and trusted enough to possibly vent to. He wish he had other options available to him but the more he thought about it, the more twilight seemed like the best pony to do this with.

He had sat there long enough. It was time to act. He was going to find Twilight and ask her to simply listen to him as he vented his frustrations and doubts out to her. His body groaned in protest as he slowly got up, but the fire burning inside him said this would be for the better. He turned to a pony that was just passing by to ask a question, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find Twilight?”

The pony stopped to look at Connor, “Princess Twilight? She is usually in her library. Its the big tree in town, can't miss it.”

“Thanks.” Now that Connor had directions and could see the giant tree in town from where he was standing, he limped his way into town with new determination and goals set in his mind.

Author's Notes:

If you get the reference the chapter title is making, go give yourself a cookie for being smart.
If I really need to spell it out for you, it's the five stages of grief. Look it up.

Depression is a touchy subject for many people, myself included. It is a part of my life that I do not like to discuss openly and freely like talking about the weather. Depression happens differently for everyone, but I think we can agree that we all know what that downward spiral feels like. Thankfully for myself, I really did have caring teachers and a loving family there to pull me out of that dark, deep hole in the ground. Though, there is a lot of people out there who don’t have those kind of people around them to help them out during their dark periods of life. Personally, I find it best to have someone there to vent to when things get rough or really confusing and I start second guessing myself. It's best to have that one person who can be that steady light house in your storm and tell you that things are not as bad as they seem and can be fixed. If you know someone who is going through a tough time, give them someone to talk to. Be that steady light house. You don’t have to counsel them like some shrink with a degree; just be a good, caring listener. That's just my personal preference, it's different for everyone. Okay I’ve gone off enough about this. So this chapter got really deep into emotional topics so next chapter will have a lighter mood, maybe it will make you feel fuzzy inside. Who knows? Again, any constructive critique will be helpful.

On to the next chapter!!

11: Two Goals With One Pegasus

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Twilight

Twilight hummed to herself gently as she reshelved the last of the returned books. It was a beautiful Sunday and everything was going to be just fine. The Library was in perfect condition with every book shelved properly in ascending alphabetical order, all books were returned on time, and Ponyville was as peaceful as ever. The only problem was a tickle in the back of her mind that kept bugging her. That little bug was Twilight's worry for Connor. Ever since she saw him working on Applejack's farm, she had told herself that he must be improving and learning to live here. She occasionally stopped by the farm to check in on Applejack and see how Connor was doing. Applejack had said Connor had taken a fondness to using her punching bag everyday after work. Outside of that, nothing seemed outside of the ordinary. However, she did hear a couple of days ago while she was out doing some errands that Applejack had given the new pony the day off while she was out in canterlot to run errands. Rumor has it, he was an antisocial ruffian or bandit hiding out at the Apple farm since he never spent more than a few hours in town and never bought anything. Twilight knew the rumor about Connor being a bandit wasn't true, but it still had some truth in it. She had tried to question some of the ponies around town if they had any more information on the new pony before scolding them slightly for spreading hurtful rumors.

The next day after she heard the rumors, Twilight actually spotted Connor out and around town through the library window. She couldn't call out to him because she was in the middle of helping a pony trying to find a book he had read before but could only remember a particular picture in it. The old pony was not helping speed up the process as he seemed to constantly change his mind on if it was the picture of Daring Do and her sidekick escaping an angry pony tribe, or the biological and molecular breakdown of a peanut, or something else. When she finally found the book he was looking for, which was a childrens' book for his grandcolt, Twilight tried to head out of the library and catch up to Connor but was too late to find him on the streets of Ponyville. She was getting worried because Connor seemed to be walking in a trance through the streets. It was possible that he was hiding his true emotions and they were slowly eroding away at his insides. Even though Ponyville was a small rural town, it was still sometimes hard to find somepony as one pony might have seen him go one way, and another pony seen him head the other. She would have to wait until a day where she scheduled an open free time to go looking for Connor and question him about his mental state. For now, Twilight would have to do with sending another report to Celestia.

Sunday was actually a day she had scheduled some free time for herself. This worked out perfectly for her because once she finished reshelving all the returned books and had a real meal at lunchtime cooked by Spike, she could head out and search the town for Connor. The last book thunked softly as it was pushed back into it's rightful place and Twilight let out a sigh of relief. Next was to get some food before leaving to track down Connor. She walked down a flight of stairs and into the main library floor and headed for the kitchen door where meal-making sounds could be heard and the smell of delicious food wafted out from the other side. But before she could place a hoof on the door handle, she heard a knocking at the door. Twilight found this peculiar because the library was a public establishment with an open door policy. Knocking was reserved to those who were from outside of town or those who thought the tree house was just that, a house. She walked over to the front door and swung it wide open with her magic to see who was standing at her door.

The first thing she was the awful condition this pony was in. bruises were popping out from behind a blue coat all over the body. The wings' edges were the unnatural color of plums and the wing joints were swollen to the size of her hoof. In fact, it looked like every joint on the body was swollen to some degree. The Pegasus before her was shifting his weight back and forth, trying to favor all of his legs. The hooves were cracked and in bad shape; their condition probably would have made rarity faint. Twilight's eyes finally made the trip up the body and looked at who was standing before her. His mane was a dirty mess and his eyes looked like they have not had a decent night of sleep in awhile. But his eyes held a new fire in them, unlike before where they looked defeated and hopeless.

“Hey,” Connor said.

“Um, hi. Are, you okay? Do you want to come inside?”

“Please.”

Twilight stepped to the side to allow Connor to enter. She winced a little as she watched him limp his way through the door. She closed the door once he cleared the entrance and joined him by his side. She guided him to a pillow to sit on near a table while she levitated a first aid box down from the bathroom.

“Are you okay, Connor? You look terrible! Not to sound rude or anything, but you look like you just had a fight with an Ursa Major.”

“Um, I’ll take your word for it, but yeah, I’ve been better. I was hoping you could help me out a little.”

As Connor spoke Twilight was working on bandaging Connor up as well as using her magic to speed up the recovery on some of the injuries that covered his body. He winced and twitched a little as she applied the medical supplies on him. She was glad that she read so many advanced medical treatment books in case she or her friends ever got seriously injured on their adventures. Most of the injuries were simple fixes for her magic to handle. However some of the more severe ones, like his wings, she was only able to reduce the overall swelling down to a common sprain. It would be a couple days before it would completely heal.

Spike called out from the kitchen, “Hey Twilight! Food's ready!”

“Thanks Spike! I’ll be there in a minute!” She shouted back through the kitchen door.

“Hey Twilight,” she reassigned her attention back on Connor before he continued, “Do you think I could have some food too?”

“Sure,” Twilight turned back to the kitchen to shout again, “Hey Spike! Could you make some extra? We have somepony joining us for lunch!”

“Sure Twilight! You can count on me, no problem!”

Twilight finished up working her magic and bandaging Connor and stepped back to look at her work. It was very well done with every bandage perfectly wrapped in a neat fashion that was both compressive yet not restrictive. Just then, a purple dragon loaded with with a tray full of sandwiches and drinks came out of the kitchen door. The sandwiches were thick with lettuce, tomato, fried eggs, melted cheddar cheese, sauces and topped with dandelions with a side of celery sticks and dip and glasses filled with a sweet fruity drink. He did a double take when he spotted Connor wrapped up like a mummy and sitting before Twilight who was putting away medical supplies in the first aid box.

“Hey! Aren't you the pony that came out of the portal with Twilight about a week ago?” Spike set the food and drinks down on the table that Twilight and Connor were around.

“Um, yeah. That's me. And who are you?” Connor said in a tired tone.

Spike puffed out his chest and jabbed a thumb at himself, “My name is Spike and I’m Twilight's number one assistant and I’m also a dragon!” He ended with confidence rolling off his voice.

“A dragon, huh?” Connor cocked an eyebrow up, “Sure, and back where I’m from, I’m the ruler of a country.”

“Really?” Spike looked up at him with believing eyes while Twilight shot a disapproving stare. Connor got the message and corrected himself.

“No, I was being facetious.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Huh?”

“As in I was lying to you.”

“So if you're not a ruler of a country, then...”

“I was making fun of you!” Connor raised his voice in frustration causing Spike to recoil in fear thinking Connor was going to burst out into another fit of insults. But he simmered down to put his hoof to his temple before continuing, “I'm sorry. The last few days have been tough on me and it has made me grumpy. What I want to say is, 'Hi, my name is Connor. Nice to meet you'.”

Connor stuck out his hoof in offer of a hoof shake which Spike was hesitant to take, but took with a firm grasp.

Twilight and Connor sat there and ate in silence while Spike went back to the kitchen to make himself a meal and to leave the two of them alone. The air had a tense awkwardness to it as they sat and ate. Twilight knew Connor wouldn't be here without a reason. So he must have something that he wanted to talk about. She kept watching him out of the corner of her eye waiting for an indication to start a conversation. But he simply ate his food hungrily and drank from his glass to wash it all down. When they finished, they sat there not looking at each other. The silence and stillness was agonizing. It felt like time had frozen and the seconds that ticked by were like minutes. Twilight stared at Connor who stared down at his plate and struggled with starting the conversation.

Eventually, Connor looked up from his plate, “Twilight, I need to talk to you.”

He paused, as if waiting for the right words to come to him. Twilight looked at him inviting Connor to continue, “And what do you want to talk about?”

He let out a breath before continuing, “Well, there's a lot I want to say...”

~~~

So Connor talked, and ranted, and yelled, and quivered on the verge of tears as he expressed his feelings and thoughts over the past week that he had bottled up after he arrived in Twilight's world. She sat there and listened patiently as Connor stormed around the library floor letting all of his pent up emotions out. She offered words of understanding, concern, sympathy, and even put a comforting wing around him when he was about to break down into tears. Twilight could tell Connor was not yelling at her as if this was all her fault. He was upset about the situation and needed somepony to talk to. He told her about his trip from the castle and how he arrived in Ponyville without hiding any details. He recounted his meeting with some bullies from town and how he came to meet Scootaloo and how he ended up as her foalsitter. Then he described his descent into his depression. By this point, Connor was on the verge of tears and Twilight had put a comforting wing around him. He breathed in a shaky breath several times to calm himself before continuing. When he had finished his story and told Twilight his goals he wanted to accomplish while he was stuck in this world, Twilight waited several moments, not talking or moving and just comforted him to keep Connor from openly crying. When she was sure Connor was stable, she finally let go to look at him.

“Feel better?” She asked in a comforting tone.

“Yeah,” he sniffed a little, still trying to steady himself.

“I'm glad you feel better. And I am glad you didn't keep this to yourself to hide away. The first step to getting better is to share your feelings with somepony, or somebody, else.” Twilight sat down again from across the table and gave a warm smile.

“Yeah, I know that,” He scrubbed at his eyes one final time before his usual hard expression returned to look at her.

“And I think it's great that you have given yourself some goals to aim for while I work on fixing the portal. You said that you wanted to apologize to everypony and wanted to learn how to fly?”

“Yeah...?” he leaned on his elbows on the table and gave Twilight a disgruntled skeptical look while she put a hoof to her chin in thought.

“Well, if you want a really good teacher in flying, I can only think of one other pony that might be willing to help out with that. She is really good; probably one of the best in Equestria!”

“Equestria?” Connor furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Equestria is the name of the kingdom we live in. there are other kingdoms as well, but we can talk about them later. The pony I have in mind was also at portal when we first came through, so you can also make your apology there when you meet her!” Twilight clapped her hooves in glee at her master plan to kill two birds with one stone; figuratively speaking.

[Hey, hey, hey, calm down Fluttershy! It wasn't meant sound like we actually killed birds! All your bird friends are fine!]

Twilight saw Connor look at her excitement with wariness. Twilight knew who she was talking about and thought if she could position it correctly like Princess Celestia could, everything would work according to plan.

“Come on! Let me show you the pony that can teach you how to fly!” Twilight got up and trotted over to the door with a bounce in her step. She opened the door to the bright day outside and invited Connor to join her. He stared for a second before sighing again in his tired fashion and slowly got up. Even though most of his injuries were healed, his body would still be sore for a day.

He calmly walked out and as he passed her he said, “Alright Twilight, show me who this amazing teacher is.”

~~~

It took a little searching, but Twilight finally found the pony she was looking for. Rainbow dash was just outside of town in one of the many fields surrounding Ponyville practicing her stunts. The area around the practice zone had a couple of new craters so it looked like Rainbow was preforming at usual standards; those standards being pushing herself past the point of control and crash landing somewhere nearby. Just another normal day.

As Twilight and Connor approached, they could see Rainbow Dash preforming a couple of loop-de-loops into a barrel roll before breaking off into a long sweeping turn. Twilight waited for Rainbow to come around from her turn before trying to shout up at her.

“Hey Rainbow!” she called out as the Rainbow maned Pegasus flew over them. The Pegasus did a quick split S turn and made a close flyby of the pair before coming to a lazy hover in mid air on her back.

“What's up, Twilight? Haven't seen you around in a while,” She said with an air of calm coolness.

“I've been busy with a bunch of things. But I was wondering if you could help me.”

“You? The great and powerful princess Twilight needs the help of the greatest flier in all of Equestria that has ever lived?” Rainbow Dash twirled into the air and ended her sentence with striking a starfish pose to show case her talents.

“Sounds like an awesome adventure in the making if I ever heard one! What are we doing? Do you need me to do my Sonic Rain Boom again so you can study the effects of awesomeness rushing over you? Or how about you need somepony to lead an expedition down a forgotten temple filled with booby traps just like in Daring Do?”

“Well, actually it has to do with our new friend here,” Twilight stepped back a little so Connor would be in view of Rainbow Dash. She glowered at him as her eyes scanned over his body, taking in the bandages and bedraggled look.

“Oh, him? Yeah, I saw you two coming the moment you passed by sugar cube corner. But I thought you had something else important beside him. That reminds me, this is for that 'Ms. Protein Shake' name you called me!” Rainbow zoomed off into the sky and returned with a rain cloud. She stuck it over Connor and gave it a good kick. The cloud opened up with a downpour soaking Connor from head to hoof. His coat and hair got sopping wet with water and the dirt began to run off his body. Rainbow Dash laughed at his misfortune but he just stuck a hoof in his hair to rub the water in and gave his head a shake. But other than that, he seemed unaffected by it. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying the rain and even had a soft smile on his mouth.

Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight confused about why Connor was not shouting at her for getting him soaked. Rainbow leaned into Twilight to whisper, “Hey Twilight, is he right in the head? Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you: what's a protein shake?”

“I have no idea,” Twilight answered, “But I was hoping you could help Connor learn to fly. He told me that he wants to learn how to fly since he is stuck in this world until I fix the portal.”

Connor stepped out from beneath the rain cloud and shook himself out like a dog after playing in the lake. He was much cleaner now after all the dirt and grime was washed off his body.

“Hah! So you want me to teach him how to fly?! No way Twilight! I'd rather fight a Manticore with one wing tied behind my back than try to teach a jerk!” Rainbow took off again as if to distance herself from the terrible idea.

“Come on, Dash! You taught other ponies how to fly before! What about that one time you and Spitfire taught that class of school fillies?”

“That was a one time thing and Spitfire said it was for a secret mission. And I thought we weren't going to talk about it, It's supposed to be a secret!” Dash shouted over her shoulder, now no longer facing Twilight.

“Well, you did keep bragging about it for a week when you finally got back. But I can understand the challenge of teaching a pony can be quite difficult,” Twilight turned away in false defeat, “Not everypony is cut out to be a teacher.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder at Rainbow dash. She was still not facing Twilight as she hovered in place, but her ears were twitching and swiveling around to listen more closely. Twilight had seen Princess Celestia use this kind of reverse psychology before. Twilight could feel she was close to convincing her strong-headed friend to help Connor; all she need to do was push a little bit harder.

“I guess I could teach Connor how to fly. It's not that hard to learn.”

“Ha!” Rainbow Dash scoffed, “You teach somepony how to fly? Don’t be ridiculous! You're still having trouble getting off the ground, let alone have a steady flight path!”

“I bet I could be a better teacher at flying than you, Rainbow,” Twilight stared challengingly at her friend, “Remember the 'Running of The Leaves' three years ago? I came in 5th over all after just reading a few books on how to run races.”

Connor was darting back and forth between looking at the two mares with a worried expression as the conversation was escalating. He wasn't sure of what Twilight was trying to get out of Rainbow Dash; whether it was just a shouting match or to get Dash to help him learn how to fly.

Twilight could teach Connor how to fly, but she wanted to get Rainbow Dash to teach him. It would give them time to learn about each other and forgive one another all while learning the art of flight.

“That was just luck! If I wasn't so busy with Applejack that time, I would have beaten everypony. And me not able to teach a pony how to fly? I could teach Tank's relatives how to fly.” Dash folded her arms and turned her nose to the sky.

“Oh yeah?” Twilight challenged, “Prove it! Show me that you are a better teacher than me!” Twilight stared down Rainbow dash with savage victory in her eyes because she knew she just won.

“You forget Twilight, I'm the one who taught you how to fly! And I’ll do better than just teach. I’ll make him the best flier in all of Equestria in not time flat; second best flier, I mean.” she rounded on Connor who took a step back and braced himself for the impending insanity.

“Alright you, you... uh, what's your name?”

“Connor,” he answered.

“Alright, Connor! From now on you will be under a strict regiment of training from here on out! For the next few days, you will eat, drink, sleep, and train like you have never trained before! I’ll get those wings of yours so strong, you'll be flying circles around the Wonderbolts!”

“The who?” he tilted his head in confusion.

“Anyways! Your training begins right now, and I don’t want to hear any kind of whining. Now give me 20 laps around the track!” Rainbow Dash shouted in her best impersonation of a drill sergeant.

“Hey Twilight,” he leaned to the side to speak even though Rainbow was in the air, “What about my jobs with Applejack and Scootaloo? I still have to do those.”

“I think I can talk to applejack and let you have half of the day to train with Rainbow Dash. Does the afternoon sound good for training?”

“Yeah, the afternoons would be best.”

“Okay then, I’ll let applejack know. As for Scootaloo, you can still make your check ups on her even during training, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I could. Okay, thanks Twilight.”

“AHEEM!!” a loud clearing of a throat came behind Connor and he looked to see Rainbow still hovering there impatiently.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” he chuckled to himself, “You sound like one of my crazy instructors.” he trotted off at a brisk pace while Twilight and Rainbow Dash stayed behind.

“Don't be too hard on him, okay Rainbow?” Twilight looked at her friend who landed next to her.

“I won't make any promises. He's got a lot to learn if he wants to fly. In the mean time, I’m going to ask him what a protein shake is. See you later, Twilight!” dash streaked after Connor in a blur of Rainbow colors leaving Twilight alone in the open field.

She stared after the two pegasi with a little doubt in her mind, but the doubt was overruled with renewed satisfaction. Connor was tough and was able to withstand everything that happened to him in the last seven days or so before breaking down and needing help. That spoke volumes about his character and perseverance. But it also said something about his willingness to ask for help. It took him to feel absolute sadness and loneliness before he finally asked for her help. After hearing his rant, Twilight realized she needed to take a more active role in monitoring Connor. She was going to need to do more than simply look in to see how he was doing at a glance. Twilight needed to talk with him and get a full understanding of his current emotional state. For now though, Connor was on the right path to accepting his new body and surroundings. Twilight could hear her teacher now saying, “Good job, Twilight. I’m very proud of you.”

Twilight smiled and headed back to her library and home, where Spike was waiting with a full course dinner prepared and a new report waiting to be sent off to the Princess.

Author's Notes:

Hey, look guys! Twilight is doing something useful in this story! Yay!

Sorry, I don’t mean to come off sounding like Twilight is useless or anything. I’m just trying to make the fact that Twilight is still doing things to help Connor and make it back to his world. One thing I want to note now, since we are starting to get into the flying part of the story I will be using more flight terms and such while writing. There are a couple of Wikipedia pages that describe in detail some of the maneuver names I will be using. I will give links here and here for you to read at your own disclosure; they're really cool. So if I say something like a scissor maneuver, or an Immelmann, or a lag roll, or a snap roll to the left to avoid a rock column, you understand what I’m talking about. Oh, and one more thing. A barrel roll is not a spinning maneuver through the air. A barrel roll is like doing a corkscrew through the air. Just wanted to make that clear.

Okay, on to the next chapter!

12: New Alliances

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Connor

Connor grunted in effort as he put his shoulder into the bound hay bale in front of him and gave it a mighty push. He was currently pushing a hay bale through the middle of town while a sky blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane slowly hovered over him.

After Twilight introduced Connor to Rainbow Dash, his days had been split between working on the farm with Applejack and being put through the ringer by Rainbow Dash. Thanks to Twilight's magic, Connor was back up to decently good health. His wings were still sore after how he had treated them and right front hoof still ached when he used it, but working while injured was not a foreign concept. When you are part of a competitive team, you learn to push past your limits and keep going.

It had been about four days of bouncing between Applejack and Rainbow. Working on the farm kept his muscular endurance up while training under the rainbow drill sergeant worked on his cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength, especially on his wings. He wasn't out of shape to begin with, but his wings were still struggling with only 20 to 30 wing push ups. But, out of all this work he was still learning new tricks with using his hooves and wings in conjunction with each other.

He paused in his endeavor to shove his hay bale across town for the umpteenth time to take a break and catch his breath.

“Come on! Push faster!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Well, maybe I would if you would stop changing your mind on where you want these things to go!” He retorted as he glared up at his trainer.

“You want me to change my mind again?” she returned the glare with a threatening glint in her eyes.

Connor glared back, but went back to pushing his large hay bale down the street. His relationship with the headstrong Pegasus had devolved to the two of them shouting at each other and glares. But in their time together, the two of them had discovered a new found respect for one another. Connor never really came out and said 'I'm sorry' to Rainbow Dash, but he felt he didn't need to. The fact the two of them were starting to treat each other with more respect was evident enough that an apology would be irrelevant. Besides, it was easier for his pride and her ego to handle this kind of abrasive acquaintance rather than hugging and asking to be friends.

As he shoved the hay bale out of town, a lone bell tower came into view outside of town where a cluster of hay bales sat. the hay bales were set in a square pattern about six bales long and seven hay bales wide with one final bale missing to complete the square. Connor pushed the final piece into the hay bale puzzle before laying down on top of the bales to rest.

“Alright! Listen up! Today we are doing some special training. You are probably wondering why I told you to move all these hay bales out in the middle of nowhere.” Connor simply huffed in response trying to regain some of his energy in his body.

“Well today is your lucky day, cadet! Today we're going to be doing...” She turned to mumble to herself, “Pause for dramatic effect,” Before turning back to Connor to shout, “Gliding practice!”

“Gliding practice?” Connor asked still lying on his back.

“Yep! You see that bell tower over there? You're going to climb to the top of it before you jump off to spread your wings for the first time and glide back down to this here landing pad that you so happily made for yourself!” Rainbow zipped back and forth between framing the tower and the makeshift landing pad to showcase her master plan for special training.

Connor groaned and got up from his makeshift bed to grumble to himself as he trogged off to the open door at the base of the tower where a staircase lead to the top of the tower. When he finally reached the top of the tower, Rainbow was already there waiting impatiently for him, “Come on, It's easy! Lets see those wings in action!”

Connor glanced over the edge of tower at the distant ground below him. Uneasiness washed over him as he looked at the ground and the distance he had to cover to his landing pad below.

He gulped, “It seemed so much easier from the ground,” He thought to himself. Just to add insult to injury, his mind went off on a tangent and started playing all the different scenarios of how he could fall to his death. His new thinking said that everything would be fine and that his wings would keep him from serious injury. However, the rest of his mind told him his death was now a few steps away and this was all just an elaborate plan by Rainbow Dash to kill him off for insulting her friends. His hooves scuffed at the ledge as he stood there looking out at the landing pad that looked farther away than it actually was. Was he ready for this? Did he do enough wing push ups for his wings to support his weight? Connor was trying to psych himself up for the jump, but it was an uphill battle.

“Hey rainbow, I’m not too sure about this-” he looked over his shoulder to see the sky blue Pegasus loading up her back legs before kicking out and bucking Connor in the rear and off the tower.

His breath caught in his throat as time slowed down. He extended his wings as he decided to go all in on putting his trust into his own wings to save him. He only had one choice now and that was to make it or break it; there was no room for try. His wings unfurled to full extension with a satisfying pop and caught the air below him. He tensed up his wings and tucked his legs close to his body and bent his head forward. It felt like forever for his wings to finally generate enough lift before he finally had some forward momentum. His eyes locked on target and aimed himself for the landing pad in front of him, all while scanning for anything that might come up to block his path. Time finally returned to normal speed as he glided down to the hay bales and landed with a muffled thud on them. Connor stood there, his body still tense and still trying to comprehend the fact he had just jumped from a building and landed safely on the ground without the need of a parachute. His body slowly relaxed and his mind quelled itself. His other senses slowly began to regain function and he could hear Rainbow Dash wooping and hollering from the top of the tower. He turned to see her celebrating his first flight and he would have joined in on the celebration, but his pride told him to yell at her again.

“I aught to come up there and put my hoof in a place where the sun don't shine on you!!” He yelled in anger.

“Well you did fly down and landed fine on the hay bales. So what's wrong? You did want to fly,” Rainbow Dash had glided down herself onto the hay bales to gloat about her successful teaching methods.

“Now get back up that tower and lets do it again!” She said excitedly. She took off for the bell tower again leaving Connor on the ground. Outwardly, he showed distaste and resent. But inwardly, he was giddy with excitement and was barely containing himself with it. Connor had just completed his first flight with no problems and landed with zero complications. His wings had no problem catching air beneath them and were plenty strong enough to hold his weight. He tried to keep up the pouting attitude and dragging his hooves, but his excitement to fly again was speeding up his travel time between the hay bales and the tower.

The more and more time he spent in the air, the more comfortable Connor became as he came to trust his wings. He could no longer hide his enjoyment anymore and he wore a goofy grin on his face. He had no idea how long he was there, but he didn’t care. He was having fun.

Connor started experimenting with his time in the air to see what else he could do. He would try running starts before jumping off the building or let himself dive a small bit before opening his wings. After experimenting with the start of the flight, Connor moved his tests to the landing part of his flight. He tried pulling up before landing as a way to help slow his speed down so he wouldn't land so heavily each time he jumped. It was exciting to finally experience something like air braking. The wind forcing him to slow down as he flared his wings hard was a new phenomenon that just screamed possibilities at him. But that was only a small thing compared to his next challenge. Banking. After climbing the tower again and jumping, he thought of how he could change direction. Maybe if he pulled back on only one wing, the increase of lift on that wing would roll him to one side and from there he could pull back on both wings to turn. It was pretty simple as Connor weaved back and forth on his way down to the landing pad. He could feel his body weight shift back and forth with his turns. It was similar to the same sensation he got when he shifted his position on his bike when leaning into corners. This new rush of excitement and possibilities was getting to Connor and he was beginning to step outside of his abilities.

Connor was getting cocky and wanted to try flapping his wings to extend his flight time. Back at the top of bell tower, he stepped back to load himself before jumping. After his wings caught the air, Connor began to snake back and forth to waste his air time. About half way to the landing pad, his altitude was too low if he wanted to land on the hay bales. He straightened out his flight path in preparation of flapping his wings. He loosened his wings and raised them up like a bird did when they flew. However, the sharp drop in altitude caused Connor to panic. He tried to flap his wings to save himself, but he flapped his wings out of sync. His right wing flapped sooner than his left which caused an imbalance of lift on either side of him. His left side generated lift later which forced his body to roll to the right. Connor tried to return his wings back to a gliding position, but he lost too much air speed to continue flying forward. His wings slipped through the air as he plummeted to the ground. Connor abandoned his attempt to pull out of the crash and chose to just weather the hard landing. His mind defaulted to that of his human body and he flailed about grasping at the air with his nonexistent hands trying to right himself before he crashed. There was a heavy, muffled thud as Connor crashed on the ground, landing on his right shoulder and neck. His body crumpled under itself and he laid there clutching his neck and shoulder. Rainbow on the other hoof, had been watching the entire time and was now rolling around on her cloud laughing; she nearly fell off it while she was rolling around. Connor rolled on his back and let out a chuckling moan of pain. He was in pain, but if he was honest and had seen his crash from the outside he would have been laughing at himself too.

Rainbow dash flew down from her perch to point out his failure, “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen all week!” She laughed some more while Connor remained on the ground softly chuckling along with her.

“Yeah, that definitely wasn't one of my moments of glory.” Connor slowly pulled himself off his splatter mark on the ground and stood up next to Rainbow Dash.

The bell tower rang loudly as it sounded out three o'clock in the afternoon. There was a spark of realization as Connor remembered that he had an appointment with the crusaders today. He was to meet Scootaloo at the school house again at three in the afternoon for some kind of meeting with the rest of the members of her club.

“Sorry Rainbow, but I have to go and check on Scootaloo right now; I think she has something planned for me today. And then after that, I need to help out Applejack on the farm again today.”

“No worries. We can pick up where we left off today. You probably need the break anyways after that awesome crash.”

Connor half rolled his eyes again, “Yeah, see you later Dash!”

“See ya!” with that, Rainbow Dash took off to leave Connor behind.

Connor ran off in the direction of the school house. He was getting really good at galloping now after all his work with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. But since this was his first time with flight, he still had a long ways to go before he could start flying everywhere. But he was still running off of the high he got from flying around. Connor was finally getting his first taste at flight and it tasted the same way when he rode his motorcycle. Connor could see the oh-so sweet drug of speed so close to him and he wanted it. He had the need for speed.

[Wait a minute... No, not the actual drug, speed! I mean like, the need-to-go-fast kind of speed! Drugs are bad, okay? Don’t do drugs.]

By the time he exited the other side of town, the bell tower finally stopped ringing out three o'clock. That meant he was already running late because Scootaloo specifically told him to be there by three o'clock for a special task that he needed to be there for.

“Ah crackers, I’m late,” he scolded himself. He still had a ways to go before the school house came into view. He picked up his pace and ran faster. When he could finally see the front door to the school house, Connor saw an angry orange Pegasus waiting impatiently for him.

“Where have you been?! I’ve been waiting here for like ten minutes already!” she shouted in frustration.

“Sorry, I was busy working with Rainbow Dash.” he shot back in a calm manner.

“WHAT!? You were working with Rainbow Dash today?! Why didn't you tell me?! What were you doing? How long have you been with her? Did she mention me?”

“Well, I have been pretty busy over the past week, right now. So far, after I pick you up from school and drop you off at the club house, I spend the rest of the afternoon with Rainbow who is teaching me how to fly. And today we actually did some gliding practice, so-”

“SHE'S BEEN TEACHING YOU HOW TO FLY??!!! what about me? I want to learn how to fly too...” Scootaloo buzzed her wings trying to lift her body off the ground, but only got an inch or two airborne. The two had been walking towards the farm again and to the club house hidden within the orchard. Connor looked at Scootaloo with pity as he watched her struggle to obtain flight.

“Don't worry, Scoots. I can give you some pointers that I learned from training and maybe we can get you airborne soon,” he smiled reassuringly at her and she smiled back.

“Thanks, Connor. Come on! Lets see who can get to the club house first! Last one there is a rotten egg!” she giggled and ran off to the club house. Connor smirked and ran off after her.

~~~

The two of them came rocketing into view of the club house and skidded to a halt, leaving small trails behind them in the dirt.

“I won!” Scootaloo panted in victory.

“Sure you did. You won when you were a good foot behind me,” Connor smirked.

“Whatever. Come on, you're needed inside the club house for a special meeting,” Scootaloo walked up the ramp, beckoning Connor to follow her. He gave a curious look before following after her up the ramp.

He stuck his head through the front door and saw the interior of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house. There were posters of a certain Pegasus team he didn’t know of, a map of what seemed like Ponyville, and other knick knacks and decorations through out the room. At the center sat a wooden pedestal with Apple Bloom standing behind it and Sweetie Belle off to the left. Scootaloo was on the right behind a pair of drums poised to start pounding on them loudly. All three were wearing some kind of maroon cape with gold lining on the inside.

“Enter, Connor,” Apple Bloom commanded. Connor paused as he did a double take of the situation. He wasn't sure what they were planning but he knew he could always refuse, so he did as he was told and entered the cramped club house and sat down so he would be more comfortable.

“We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Connor to join us as a fellow Cutie Mark Crusader in our search for...” Apple Bloom droned on down the script before her, becoming more and more displeased as paper endlessly unfurled down the front of the pedestal.

“Scootaloo, I thought you said you revised this the last time we tried recruiting a new member,” Sweetie Belle shot a critical glare at Scootaloo who looked away and sheepishly grinned.

“You know what, how about we just tell you the benefits of being apart of our club,” Apple Bloom put down the roll of paper before her and stepped down.

“Oh! Oh oh oh oh! Can I start with our history?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.

“Uh, I guess?” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck.

“Lets start from the veeeeeerry beginning...” she inhaled deeply in preparation of her long speech before getting a hoof in the mouth by Apple Bloom.

“Lets not,” Apple Bloom said pointedly.

For the next few minutes the three foals before Connor went into explaining some of the highlights of being apart of their group. They talked about their expanding branches all across Equestria and how he would have friends everywhere he went. He would have access to all their available resources at any time and could use them however he saw fit. The list continued as the friends argued on what details to leave in and what to leave out.

Finally, it looked like they were reaching the end of their list, “... And you can tell us everything that rainbow dash is teaching you so you can help me, I mean, help us get our cutie marks! And help me learn how to fly...” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared at her wondering how Scootaloo's idea would help them get their cutie marks.

“This sounds more like I am being drafted rather than being recruited,” Connor commented to himself.

“So do you want to join the Crusaders?” all three stared up at him with big, pleading, teary eyed, eyes the same way a dog begs at the table with their signature puppy face. He stared back a little before having to look away without melting into putty in their hooves. But the human side of his mind started asking the question, 'Should he really join their group'? Just how much did he want to invest into this world before he went back to his world? The three fillies before him would be crushed when they found out that he wouldn't be staying here in Ponyville as a permanent resident. But what would a few weeks of fun do? Connor had already done so much for kids in his world, so why not do the same for the kids in this world? He looked back and smiled at the three little ponies before him. He could manage to make their time with him to be enjoyable until he left.

“Sure, I’ll join.”

There were three exuberant cheers from the fillies before him and the bounced around the club house with overwhelming enthusiasm. Their capes fluttered behind them as they jumped, spinned, and hollered for their new member of the cutie mark crusaders. When they finally regained control of themselves they returned to their positions at the pedestal.

“There is one final thing to do before you can be officially accepted into the Cutie Mark Crusaders club,” Apple Bloom announced.

“Oh, this aught to be good,” Connor scoffed a smirk on his face.

“First, close your eyes,” Apple Bloom instructed.

Connor furrowed his brow in confusion, but did as he was told. He closed his eyes and waited. He could hear hoof steps on the floor boards and giggling from the three fillies as they moved around him. He could feel their hoof steps fall on the boards around him. He suddenly felt something fall on his back. It felt soft like a warm blanket during a winter evening and felt comforting to him.

“You can open your eyes now!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly.

Connor snapped his eyes opened and looked at his back. A small, square, maroon colored piece of fabric laid on his back. He could spot the gold lining on the inside and embroidered on the maroon side was a blue shield with a yellow, caped pony rearing back with a smile on his mouth.

“Maybe we should have made it bigger,” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said at the same time.

The crusader cape was a little small for Connor. If he tried to tie on now, it would look more than a little ridiculous on him. But the gears in his head starting turning and thought up a couple of ideas.

“Hang on...” He took the cape off his back and held it in front of him. He folded it diagonally and rolled the folded edge up a couple of times before holding up again in front of him. Satisfied with the length and how it still partially displayed the emblem, he tied it around his neck like a bandana. He tied it behind his neck with a double knot to make sure it didn’t come off at any point and tested it with a sturdy tug. The bandana held strong and the slightly obscured emblem still showed proudly on the front.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo ooo-ed at this new way of wearing their signature cape. It presented itself as slightly rebellious or wanting to do things that were slightly off the book. It suited Connor's appearance as he always did things differently here in the pony world.

“So is that it? Am I apart of the Crusaders now?” he said in half jest.

“Yep! So will we be seeing you more often now?”

“Maybe, Scootaloo. I still got a lot of things that I am doing right now, but I’ll be thinking of you guys more often now that I have this,” he touched the bandana to illustrate his point.

“Okay then,” the three pouted.

“Will you three stop pouting! Its not like I’m leaving forever or anything. I just have to go and help Applejack right now.”

They all giggled and their spirits were lifted with the light mood.

“Okay then. see you later, Crusader! Hey! That was pretty catchy!” they waved goodbye as Connor left the club house and headed off to the barn where Applejack was waiting.

~~~

“Hey Applejack!” Applejack was waiting outside the barn with an empty cart looking a little annoyed.

“There you are! Where were you, I though I asked you to be here by 3:00?”

“I got held up with your sister's club. They needed me present for something.”

“Were they crusading again? I hope you will tell me that it wasn't anything dangerous.” she leaned in hoping to hear a good answer.

“No, nothing to worry about. They were just recruiting me into their club.” Connor waved a hoof in reassurance.

“You don’t say. Is that where that bandana came from? I noticed it when you finally showed up.” Applejack pointed at the maroon bandana hanging around Connor's neck.

“Yeah, it was originally a cape they made but it was too small for me . So I turned it into something that would suit me more. Anyways, what was the job that you needed me to do?”

Applejack straightened up in an effort to return to business, “Right, I need you to run a few pick ups for me while I store some of the apples in the cellar and tend to the chicken coop.”

“Okay, where am I going for the pick ups?”

“You have two place to go for the pick ups. Your first stop will be Sugar Cube Corner for flour and your second will be at Carousel Boutique to collect quilting materials. They will know you are coming, so just walk in and let them know that you are there for the pick ups. You can use this cart here to load everything in,” Applejack tapped the cart beside here.

“Okay, what do those places look like?” Connor hooked up to the cart while still looking at Applejack for more insight.

“Sugar Cube Corner is the building that looks like a gingerbread pony's house from hearth's warming eve. Carousel Boutique is the round dress shop just south of town hall.”

“Okay, I think I can find them. I'll be back soon,” Connor waved goodbye to Applejack and tugged at the cart in the direction of town.

~~~

“Lets see, a gingerbread man's house. I remember seeing one in town. Ah, there it is!” Connor spotted the large pastry shop with a cup cake on top and frosting like trim around the outside. He had passed by it several times before during his stay here, but he never actually went inside. The smell of bread and freshly baked cookies wafted out the doors as he made his approach. He stared at it's pink, brown and wafer's yellow paint as if it was some kind of foreboding castle waiting to do him harm. He unlatched the cart from himself and stood in at the front door, preparing himself mentally.

“Why am I freaking out about this? This should be easy. Just go in, say your here for a pick up for Applejack, then get out.” But Connor still felt uneasy. He shoved the feeling to the side. He was just being paranoid for no reason, so he pushed the door open. A small door chime rang over head signaling his arrival. The inside was just as candy orientated as the outside, but still had this air of normality. It was a strange feeling. Connor realized this was purposefully done as a marketing method to help sell more goods. Have an exotic store front and you attract more customers. The front lobby was quite empty, but that was to be expected at three in the afternoon. Connor theorized the peak business hours for the shop would be during the mornings and nights when ponies were just waking up to get some breakfast or at night when they would need something for dinner. He was just about to relax when he heard a loud gasp and his vision suddenly filled with hot pink and two large, light blue eyes staring directly into his being.

“Oh my gosh, its you!”

“Uuh, wha-”

“That one pony from the castle that came through the portal with twilight and was like really, really mad and everything, and you started yelling at us and it kind of hurt my feelings at the time but then twilight said that you were just upset because you had to leave your home and...”

The pink pony had pulled away from Connor's view to start animating her speech, bouncing this way and that and making every facial expression one could make. He tried to follow this pink ball of hyperactive energy around the room with his eyes, but he only achieved popping the bones in his neck so he abandoned that futile mission.

“Oh! I never really properly introduced myself! My name is Pinkie Pie. What's your name?” Pinkie offered a hoof forward.

Connor popped the rest of his bones in his neck before taking the hoof, “My name's Connor.”

“Hi Connor! Welcome to ponyville! Oh! You know what we forgot? I forgot to give you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' celebration party. And Pinkie Pie never forgets a party; especially one as important as welcoming a new pony to Ponyville.”

“Um, no, you don’t need to throw a party for me. I’m fine,” Connor looked a little shy at the prospect of being the center of attention at a party. He didn’t want to be center of attention when he was still trying to fit in and blend properly in this pony world.

“No, absolutely not. You must have a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. It is written here, rule 58 of the Pinkie Pie Party Rule Book, that every new pony in town must have some kind of party to celebrate their arrival.” Pinkie Pie pulled out an official looking book from her hair to show Connor before putting it back in her hair.

Connor was put in a daze at seeing Pinkie Pie pull a large book out of her hair. The logic in his mind was going crazy trying to rationalize what he just saw into understandable terms. Eventually, the little pony inside of him threw his paper files and hooves in the air and simply wrote a single line on a piece of paper that read, 'Just roll with it. We're in a world with tiny ponies and magic'.

He shook his head to get out of his stupor before responding, “Do I have to?”

“Yes.” Pinkie put on an unusually stern looking face that seemed out of character for her. But once again, the single sentence came back to him.

“Okay, but just a small one,” he sighed in defeat.

Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of joy before jumping right into song. She bounced around him and danced, singing a song welcoming him there. As she danced, Pinkie Pie pulled a cupcake on a plate out from behind the counter to present to him as the song ended. To Connor's surprise, a pair of confetti cannons went off next to him. The cannons were aimed to fire over him in an 'X' pattern, however they were aimed a little too low and the blasts clipped the top of his head on both sides.

“Huh, I thought I aimed those confetti cannons to shoot over you...” Pinkie Pie put a hoof around him as she put her other hoof to her chin. Connor shot an under-hoofed glare at her because he felt the cannon shots were some form of passive aggression against him for the insults he threw at her. But he accepted the passive punishment with grace; the shots only grazed him and didn’t do any permanent damage other than rattle him.

“Well go on, take a bite!” Pinkie offered the cupcake to him again.

Connor glanced at her before leaning forward and biting down on the iced pastry. It was actually really good. The icing was rich and sweet, but not overwhelming on the taste buds. The bread of the cupcake was firm on first bite, but turned to delicious soft mush in his mouth. Pinkie was pleased seeing the delight playing across Connor's face and set the cupcake down on a table.

“So what can I do for you today, Connor?”

“Well, I’m actually here to pick up some flour for Applejack. She wanted me to do the pick ups while she does some more chores on the farm.”

“Yeah! We have the flour ready to go. The flour is in the back room, I’ll help you load it.” Pinkie lead Connor to a room behind the front counter where several large flour bags sat.

“Thanks, I have the cart out front.”

The two of them set to work taking the bags to the front of the shop and tossing them into the cart. Once all the bags were loaded into the cart, Connor turned to face Pinkie Pie again to thank her, “Hey, thanks for all your help Pinkie.”

“No problem, I always enjoy helping!” she was about to head back into Sugar Cube Corner when Connor stopped her.

“Hang on! I, uh, I wanted to apologize for calling you names back when I first came here,” Connor put on an ashamed look. He had recognized Pinkie Pie when she stepped back far enough for him to see all of her as one of ponies there at the beginning.

“I didn’t mean them and I was just upset at the time. I didn't know what to do with myself and I ended up taking my anger out on you and I just wanted to say, I’m sorry.”

The hyperactive, pink pony relaxed and put on a soft smile, “That's okay, I forgive you. I know you weren't trying to be a big meany pants and twilight says you are a really nice pony too. Tell you what, if I throw any more parties I’ll make sure to bring you an invitation.” Pinkie Pie's calm acceptance of his apology set Connor at ease.

“Um, before I go, do you think I could have a couple of cookies to go?” Connor asked politely.

“Sure!” Pinkie Pie, now back to her regular energetic self, disappeared then reappeared in a flash with a small bag of cookies and tossed them into the cart behind Connor, “I'll see you at the next party, Connor. Have an absolutely, rootie tootie, awesome day! Teehee! Tootie...” pinkie disappeared into the bakery again for good this time leaving a dumbfounded Connor standing outside the front door. This pink pony flopped between emotions faster than he could process. Yet, it still put a smile on his lips and made him chuckle. Despite her crazy antics, Pinkie Pie was pretty good at making others around her feel better and she had made Connor feel a little bit better too. A famous quote from his world surfaced to the front his mind as he hooked back up to the cart again and he spoke it quietly to himself:

“Though this be madness, there is method in't.”

~~~

The next stop on Connor's list was a place called Carousel Boutique. Applejack had said it was a fancy dress shop in town near town hall so he looked around the surrounding area of town hall. The only clothing store he found was a place off to the side a little that was built like a fancy tepee. The trims has frills on them and all the windows had some kind of curtains on either side. The whole building had a cool color tone to it, yet all the colors were still pretty bright. His expectation was something with darker colors to express high class and elegant finesse. Connor unhooked himself again from the cart and strode to the front door. He had already dealt with an over-the-top, hyperactive, pink pony earlier so Connor felt he would be hard pressed to find something inside a dress shop that would top that.

A door chime rang gently over head as he entered the fourier of the shop. The interior decoration were many shades of lavender, pink, and blue with ribbons and curtains all along the walls to present an atmosphere of sophistication. An elevated platform with mirrors surrounding it was off in one corner of the room while some changing rooms were in the other corner. There were racks upon racks of clothes placed through out the floor space. Most of the clothes on the racks looked like summer dresses, but he could still see other selections ranging from formal ball wear to casual pullovers; well, Connor couldn't be positive about them because he had yet to see many ponies where any clothes at all.

“I will be right there!” a voice called out from a back room. The voice sounded familiar to Connor but he couldn't quite place it. When a mare stepped through a pair of saloon doors, Connor's brain connected the dots. It was the white unicorn back at the portal room. He was mistaken when he thought Pinkie Pie was his greatest challenge of the day.

When she spotted Connor, the white mare paused, like she was trying to confirm that he was there in the shop at the same time she was there. Her eyes boiled and she shouted, “YOU!!”

“Oh boy,” he thought, “Here we go.”

“Yes, me. Hello; long time, no see.”
“Already off to a rocketing start,” he sarcastically thought.

The white mare calmed down a little after her initial outburst before asking, “And why are you here?”

“Well, Applejack wanted me to come by and pick up a few things for her. I believe they were quilting materials.”

“Ah, yes. They're over there in the boxes,” she waved a hoof to a couple of boxes near a few clothing racks to Connor's left. The mare then turned away so as to not look at him.

Connor eyed the boxes, then looked back at the mare giving him the cold shoulder. He wanted to break the ice with her, but right now this mare was in no mood to talk with him. He slowly walked over to the boxes, keeping an eye on her. He took his time moving one box at a time while trying to wear down the white mare with his presence.

When he was about half way done, he spoke up, “Hey...”

“Yes?” she didn't even bother to look at him when she answered.

“I never got your name. What was it?”

“It's Rarity.”

“Rarity,” he repeated, “Okay then, Rarity. Can I ask why you are still upset at me? Is it because of what I said after I came through the portal?”

“Yes it is. I found it most unbecoming and disrespectful for a lady such as myself,” Rarity turned her nose up even farther to the ceiling.

“Would it help if I apologized for it?” Connor had stopped moving the boxes outside now and faced Rarity.

“Maybe, but I want the upmost respect from it.”

“Then please forgive me, milady. I did not mean to offend you,” Connor took a bow and dropped to one elbow and spoke in a deep, articulate, medieval fashion when addressing her. Rarity had turned around to look at the spectacle happening before her.

“I give you my deepest apologies for my past transactions. I was distraught with grief and anguish upon arriving in your world. My mind was not it's rational self and sorrow took hold of my words that I did not wish to speak. You are a queen, but not of drama. No, thou art a jewel in the eyes of many men and ponies as far as the land stretches across this world. I, a simple peasant, ask of thy queen's forgiveness for this one's foolishness.” Connor had closed his eyes and put a hoof to his chest as part of the act, but he knew Rarity had her full attention on him.

“Wait, so you are not just some uncouth ruffian from another world? You know how to be a civil individual and treat other ponies with respect?”

“Ouch, harsh words from 'Thy Queen'; but yes, I can be civil and professional when the need arises,” Connor opened his eyes and stood up now that his act was over, “I'm not just some dumb kid that twilight found off the streets and brought back as a joke. I had my own life and my own goals that I wanted to achieve, and I had a plan being set up to make those goals a reality until twilight showed up and one of my friends sold me out to the authorities. Now I’m stuck here and I had to make new goals to keep me from going insane with boredom.”

“What kind of goals, if you don’t mind me asking,” Rarity stepped forward now interested.

“For this world? Well after I learn to fly, I want to find something that I am good at and leave some kind of mark on this world. I want to make some kind of accomplishment that will be noteworthy to somepony. I'm not sure what i want to do, but i would like it to be exciting or fun.”

Rarity listened carefully to Connor. She saw Connor had the same ambition that she had when she wanted to start making dresses for other ponies. Rarity wanted to be a major dress designer that wowed everypony at fashion shows and did outfit designs for celebrities. When Rarity thought of how she would react if she suddenly was forced out of her world and was no longer able to strive to her goals, Rarity could understand why Connor was so upset when he first came through.

“Very well,” she stated in her regal manner, “I accept your apology. Perhaps we can begin our new acquaintanceship with helping each other. Would you like help putting the boxes in your cart?”

“Yes please,” Connor turned back to the last few boxes and picked one up while a blue aura surrounded another next to him and levitated into the air. He looked to see Rarity holding the box in her magic.

“Thanks,” he said to her before heading for the door.

“Your welcome,” and Rarity followed after him.

After a few more minutes, all the boxes were in the cart outside. They stood just inside the door to exchange a few words before they parted ways.

“I just wanted to thank you again for helping me, Rarity.”

“Oh no, it was fine. I needed the break anyways. I'm having a little trouble with making this new outfit for summer,” Rarity waved a hoof at him as if she was waving away unnecessary praise.

“You don’t mind if I could take a look at it, do you? I’m just curious.”

“I, suppose? But you don’t seem like one who would be interested in dresses,” Rarity stepped to the side to let him in.

“Well, I don’t really wear 'dresses', but I don’t mind looking good,” he walked back into the dress shop and Rarity lead him into the back room where she was working previously. A mannequin in a pony shape stood in the middle of a room with drawing boards and pieces of cloth laying around. Rarity let Connor walk up to the mannequin before suddenly yelling, “Stop!”

Connor froze where he stood, waiting for Rarity to give the next command. He hadn't even looked at the dress-in-progress long enough to give feed back.

“Could you move a little closer to it? There! Don’t move!” she circled around him and the in-progress dress next to him muttering to herself, “Hmm, maybe... the coat is such a different color than the usual... it's just slightly different to give it that unique edge... if I added this, oooh this is new. It's bold, It's different, It's ambitious! Ideeeeaaaaaaa!!!” she sang out.

Connor was whisked away by Rarity's magic and placed on the podium in the main fourier, much to his surprise. Clothes were flying everywhere around coming up to him as if to see what would best match him. Rarity had put on a pair of red spectacles as she eyed every piece of clothing against him, looking for the perfect match.

~~~

This process of trying on different clothes went on for two hours. After the first couple minutes, Connor vainly attempted to stop Rarity from continuing but she was lost in her world of experimental fashion. They went through everything he could possibly wear. He tried on full tuxedos, casual wear, business suits, hipster, leather jackets, and even some bad boy outfits; as in those stupid baggy pants that barely hung onto him and a crooked hat with a pointless logo on it. Connor sort of gave up after trying on a casual vest and just tried to enjoy the moment of playing dress up. He did like how a tux looked on him and he enjoyed the feel and style of the leather jackets. But once he was forced to put on a pair of pants that were clearly a size too big for him, the fun quickly ended and his displeasure at the ridiculousness showed through. Thankfully, Rarity quickly dismissed the idea of him wearing clothes of that nature and went back to business suits and leather jackets.

“Hmm, that suit would be perfect if it weren't for one thing,” Rarity thought out loud.

“And what's that?” Connor turned side to side looking at himself in the mirror wearing a sharp suit.

“It's that strange scarf you are wearing. It completely clashes with the color scheme and it ruins the professional image,” she began to reach out with her magic and started to untie the knot but Connor's hoof snapped up and clamped down on it.

“It's a bandana and I would like it to stay,” Connor voice spoke in a calm tone, but his face told her to not touch it.

“Very well,” Rarity took off her glasses and set them down, “I guess that will do for today. You have given me plenty of new ideas and I shouldn't take any more of your time.”

Connor took the suit off and handed it back to her in a moderately neat pile. Rarity took the clothes in her magic before she saw Connor offering a hoof shake. She took it and exchanged firm shakes with each other.

“It was a pleasure meeting you again, Rarity.”

“Indeed, you are not what I expected but perhaps that is a good thing. In any case, you have helped me already with my next line up. I’ll call it, 'Modern Leader Chic', featuring sharper angles and a commanding presence,” she stared off into the distance with her imagination forming modern art of fashion.

“I look forward to seeing the outfits. I’ll see you later, Rarity!” Connor opened the door and the bell rang again for the final time. Rarity waved goodbye until the door closed behind Connor and she was out of sight. He fitted the harness around himself again and tugged at the heavy cart away from Carousel Boutique and back to the farm. He smiled to himself as he walked back. Today was a very eventful day and he felt accomplished for it. He was on his way to sustained flight with rainbow dash, joined the crusaders, and remended his relations with two other ponies in the group of ponies he needed to apologize to; well, sort of anyways. Pinkie Pie was still weird and Rarity was high maintenance, but they both had their good sides. Now, it was a matter of time learning how they worked and learning how to function with them.

When Connor made it back to the barn, Applejack was standing there waiting for him.

“I only asked for a simple pick up and the sun is already down. what took you so long?” she said in half jest.

“Well, the first pick up went fine. Pinkie Pie was weird, but alright. The second pick up was the one that took two hours because Rarity got lost in playing dress up with me; she said it was for trying out fashion ideas with me as the model.” Connor threw in a tone of exasperation to let Applejack know that he was not on board with the idea of wasting two hours of the day for fashion.

Applejack nodded her head in complete understanding, “Ah, so that's why you were gone for so long. Yeah, Rarity can lose herself when she gets a new idea for her dress making. Come on, sugar cube. You can help me put the flour in the kitchen before you take Scootaloo home.”

She smiled and Applejack and Connor headed around the barn to the home kitchen for another day at work.

Author's Notes:

Yay! Another one bites the dust!

I know some were worried that Connor might have to do some kind of lengthy redemption process with every main six. But I think word is starting to spread around ponyville about the new pony and his true nature. Perhaps it's progression in the right direction? It's a small town so word travels quickly and not all of it sounds bad. Anyways, I would love any kind of feed back on how well I wrote Pinkie and Rarity. Accuracy is key and I want to be as accurate as possible. Plus, I cant wait for the next chapters because we will finally be getting some action! What kind of action? Well, that would be telling, now wouldn't it.

Forward! onto the next chapter!!

Edit: i forgot to mention, there is a deleted scene here for this chapter! check it out here!

13: Progression

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Twilight

“...Aaaand done!”

Twilight put down her quill and read over her new report for Princess Celestia. She was happy to report that Connor was doing quite well now without any signs of regressing into depression again. Twilight had been taking a more active roll in talking with Connor to make sure that he was doing well, both physically and mentally. However most of her questioning had been during his time with Rainbow Dash, so he was usually preoccupied and unable to answer most of her questions. But out what she could gather, between his grunts of exertion and sweaty puffing, Connor had been improving.

After reading over the report, Twilight sat back to take a breather and stretch out some muscles. A bell tower rang off in the distance and Twilight paused to listen to the rings. She counted the rings and realized that it was sounding off three o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday. She looked at a clock that hung on a wall nearby to confirm the time and the clock matched the bell tower. Twilight couldn't believe how fast time had traveled through out the day with her studying, calculating figures for the portal, and writing letters or reports. Spike came out of the kitchen again holding another tray of food. Twilight was going to have to tell Spike to relax on preparing so much food for her.

“Snack time!” he called out from underneath the tray, “Great! You just finished writing your 14th letter; now you can eat and keep yourself in good health.”

“Spike, you really didn't need to do this for me. I am plenty capable of making food for myself.” It was getting a little embarrassing knowing that Spike was cooking meals and snacks for her like Twilight's mother had when she was young.

“But the Princess said-”

Twilight interrupted Spike, “The Princess said that I need to eat better. Not 'you need to worry yourself with making every meal for me just to make sure that I eat properly'.” She scolded Spike before coming back with a smile, “But thank you anyways.” She levitated the tray over to a table and gave him a small hug.

“So which letter are you writing now?” Spike pulled a bowl of pasta with broccoli and carrots smothered in tomato sauce off the tray and dug a spoon into it.

“Well right now this letter is a report to the Princess about Connor's current recovery. I’ve detailed my findings and the discussions I’ve had with him so far and everything seems to be pointing in the direction of improvement and hopefully returning to normal levels of well being.” Twilight levitated the second bowl of pasta to her and spooned a mouth full in to eat. Despite her previous scolding, Twilight still enjoyed Spike's cooking; when Spike put his mind to something, he definitely put everything into it.

“Hmm, what about your portal? How's that working out?” Spike stuffed another spoon full in his mouth.

“Well, Princess Celestia said that she brought in some outside pony scientists from around Equestria to help speed up the repair process. I could make a trip to Canterlot and see how repairs are going. Let me check my schedule...” she levitated a calendar over to her face while she ate another spoon full of pasta, “I do have some free time right now and my next scheduled letter isn't due until midnight tonight. That gives me about nine hours to fly to Canterlot, check on the portal, and fly back.”

“You could also deliver your letter to the Princess in person while you are there too! And I wouldn't mind another trip to Canterlot.” Spike filled his mouth with more food.

“Would you like to come with me to Canterlot, Spike?” Twilight gave Spike a knowing look.

“Yeah! Hang on, let me finish my bowl,” he shoveled the rest of the food into his mouth before swallowing it all. He set his bowl down on the tray and turned back to Twilight who was just now finishing her own bowl, “Okay, I’m ready to go! Wait a minute, are we flying there?”

Twilight looked at him, “Yes?”

“Hang on...” Spike walked off to a supply closet in the kitchen to grab something. When he came back, Twilight saw him holding a small, brown paper bag.

“What is that for?” she asked.

“In case I get sick from your flying,” he said dryly, “Come on, lets go. I would rather not put this off any longer than I need to.”

Twilight made a repulsive face and recoiled in disgust as he walked by. She knew her flying was not the greatest, but did it really make others want to lose their lunch? She prayed that Spike would have a strong enough stomach today for the flight to Canterlot that she wouldn't have to worry about it.

~~~

To Twilight's relief, the bag that Spike had brought had gone unused on her flight to the capital city and the castle. Twilight took careful precautions to make sure she didn’t have a sick dragon on her back such as making gentle turns and using the air currents to help keep twilight aloft. Her landing at the castle was a little better too; well, the landing turbulence was reduced to at least tolerable levels for her passenger's sake. She still had work to do on her flying technique. Twilight took a few minutes to let Spike settle down after the flight before they entered through the main purple doors of the castle. Her expectation of help from the Princess made her imagine ponies running everywhere in the castle moving documents and research papers between themselves as they tried to help rebuild the transdimensional bridge between the two worlds. However, the main hall was deserted except for the usual guards.

Twilight and Spike glanced at each other, apparently expecting the same outcome. Through an unspoken conversation, the two decided to head for the tower housing Twilight's broken portal and see if anything was happening there. They traversed the familiar path to the one tower that held everything that caused this whole mess. As they got closer to their destination, Twilight and Spike passed more and more ponies that weren't part of the castle staff. A few construction ponies stood off to the side having a break and eating while a unicorn scrutinized some papers that he was levitating in front of his nose. As they approached the room, Twilight picked up a disturbance from behind her laboratory door as they neared it. She could hear ponies talking, yelling at each other, papers shuffling, and a few bangs of a hammer on something.

Her curiosity peaked, Twilight used her magic to push the door open and see the commotion inside. Her eyes fell upon organized chaos in the room. Unicorns in white lab coats were huddled around tables loaded with papers and diagrams. A few pegasi were hovering overhead shouting orders at other pegasi and earth ponies to take measurements or to move equipment around to make more room. Other scientists were crowding around some of the components that Twilight had made by hoof, trying to figure out how they worked and how to reverse engineer them. In the middle of this storm stood Princess Celestia standing tall over the proceedings and overseeing the project.

“Princess!” Twilight called out to Celestia.

She turned around to look at her pupil, “Twilight! It's good to see you again!”

Twilight ran up to give a small bow before exchanging a small hug with the ruler of Equestria. When the two separated from the embrace, Twilight looked around more thoroughly at the work force surrounding them.

“Is this all the ponies you talked about bringing to help?”

“Yes, it is. However, things have been slow to start on repairing the portal.” The Princess gave a hard look at the back of some scientists who were too lost in their work to feel Celestia's glare on the backs of their heads.

“What do you mean, Princess? I thought everypony would be excited to help out with such a major discovery and experiment,” Twilight looked up at the Princess with confused eyes.

“Twilight, what you have been working on has been extremely theoretical and hypothetical. Most of the ponies that I asked to come thought the whole thing was a hoax and didn't show up at all. Everypony here has been spending the last week trying to understand and believe that what you have accomplished was possible and do-able in the first place,” she cast her eyes around the room inviting Twilight to look around at all the scientists trying to comprehend her formulas and calculations.

“Most are still unwilling to believe that you have actually created a portal to another world, but I have been able to convince them to at least look over your findings and see for themselves. It has been a long and tiring process of keeping these brilliant minds to stay and help on the project. Some still think that this whole thing is a waste of time and energy and think their time would be better spent on more realistic research. However, they have all been sworn to secrecy about this so if they decide to share what they have learn or saw here, there will be consequences.”

Twilight was a little put off by the threat of punishment by Celestia, but she could understand why. If the public found out that she had discovered how to travel to different dimensions, there would turmoil and unrest throughout Equestria. Everypony would be worried about possible other-dimensional invaders coming to their cities and harming their homes or families. However, it still upset her a little bit that so many ponies would dismiss her work as bogus or a joke that the Princess was fabricating. But the scientist inside of Twilight would have done the exact same thing if she heard that somepony else had developed a portal to a different dimension. She would have disregarded it as false but her thirst for knowledge would have driven her to see the portal for herself. Why couldn't other ponies have that same drive to discover if things were possible like she did? The irritated thoughts blew around her head becoming a small storm of grouchiness.

“Tell me, Twilight. How is Connor?”

“Huh?” Princess Celestia's voice pulled Twilight out of her storm before it could turn into a hurricane.

“Oh, Connor is actually doing well right now. In fact, Spike and I decided to deliver the report to you in person since we wanted to see how repairs were going. Hey Spike, do you have that report with you?”

“Yeah!” Spike ran back to Twilight side with the scroll in hand after looking at some of the papers that were scattered on a table, “Here you go.”

Twilight levitated the scroll out of Spike's claws and passed it to the Princess to read. Celestia unfurled it before her and scanned the contents inside. A smile slowly spread across her lips as Celestia read further down the letter. After reading the entire report she rolled the paper back up and passed it back to Twilight.

“That is wonderful news, Twilight! I am glad to hear that he has made such progress since he arrived here! Well done, Twilight; keep up the good work!”

Twilight beamed, “Thank you, Princess! Right now he is working on how to fly and he has been improving tremendously with his mood. I haven't seen him since earlier today, but I think Connor is with Rainbow Dash.”

“And how is he responding to Rainbow's rather headstrong personality?” the Princess raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.

“Uhm, I usually see them yelling at each other,” Twilight lowered her eyes, “But I think they are getting along. They haven't gotten into any fights yet,” she quickly added.

“Mmm,” she acknowledged with deeper understanding than what Twilight could comprehend, “Alright then, was there anything else you would like to know, Twilight? Or were you simply delivering your report to me?” the Princess asked politely.

“Well, I was wondering how repairs were going. What have we already done to begin repairing the portal?” Twilight looked at her destroyed and dismantled experiment still standing on top of its platform.

“As of right now, we have removed all of the parts that could not be used or could be fixed. I believe we have a list of all the items that have been considered unsalvageable,” Celestia turned to the Pegasus hovering overhead still relaying orders to those on the ground, “Excuse me, foreman. But do you know where the list of destroyed parts is?”

“Of course, your highness,” he said in his gruff voice, “I believe it is over there on the table next to that purple dragon.”

“Thank you.”

The stern pony nodded and returned to shouting commands to his peers. Twilight walked over to the table specified by the Pegasus and looked over the contents scattered across the surface. There were unfilled order forms, scratch paper with formulas all over them, and mug stains but Twilight found what she was looking for. A detailed list of everything that was considered destroyed or unsalvageable and could not be reused. It was several pages long so it took Twilight a bit of time to scan over it. However the further down she scanned the list, the more concerned she became. A few things were easy to replace or make, but some of the components were more difficult to find or took a long time to manufacture. A couple of items that were on the list were things Twilight had to make because she couldn't find a supplier that made equipment to her specific needs. What really weighed her down was the final part at the bottom of the list. A quantum particle distributor with a time/space synchronizer modification. It had taken Twilight months to find all the materials and tools to begin construction. It took even longer to make the distributor, synchronizer, and the other-world anchor to work together properly without causing a reality breaking catastrophe. Thankfully the dimensional anchor object had come out unscathed, but this was something that could take months to make again.

She set the list down to look up at the Princess who was standing to her right with a concerned look, “Is everything alright Twilight?”

twilight shook her head before relaying the bad news, “Well, a lot of things on the list will be easy to find and order replacements. Some of the more complex items will take some time to find companies who still make them or still make their parts, but it isn't anything too serious. But the last component on the list will be the biggest challenge. It took me months to find everything to craft the distributor and its synchronizer modification and almost longer to figure out how to make everything work together in harmony.”

“Maybe so, but you didn’t have my backing on the experiment to help speed things along. I may be able to expedite the materials to be shipped here faster.”

Twilight shook her head again, “I'm afraid that will only make process a little bit faster. The materials needed to make them are extremely delicate and volatile. We can get them here faster, yes, but it will still take a great deal of time and patience to craft the distributor.”

Celestia nodded thoughtfully in light of this new information, but Twilight spoke up quickly to not discourage her, “But I am sure I can recreate it again now that we have my notes to help along.”

“Indeed, but perhaps you should take more time focusing on our guest instead of worrying about the portal. Let me handle the rebuilding of the portal while you keep Connor contempt with living here. If he is more at ease with staying in our world, he will be more willing to stay a little bit longer if repairs take longer than expected to complete,” she gave Twilight a confident smile to tame any fears that might be brewing.

“Alright then, Princess.” Twilight nodded happily knowing that the repair project was in good hooves.

“Now tell me, how has Ponyville been? Anything new happening in the future?” the Princess changed subjects to maintain the good mood that twilight now had.

“Well,” Twilight began, “We do have an important pony passing through Ponyville in a few weeks. The letters we've been receiving tell us that he is a very successful entrepreneur in the sports industry...”

~~~

Two days after her visit to the castle, Twilight had scheduled another meeting with Connor to see how he was preforming in Equestria. It was Saturday afternoon, so that left Twilight searching around Ponyville looking for either Connor or Rainbow Dash. She had a good idea of where to look for them. Knowing Rainbow Dash, they were probably at one of the open fields surrounding Ponyville practicing.

After a few minutes of searching, Twilight spotted Rainbow just outside the town's borders staring up at something. It was perplexing because Rainbow Dash was never on the ground staring up. In fact, it was more common seeing Rainbow off the ground and staring down.

She joined her friend's side, “Hey Rainbow! How are you today?”

“Hey Twilight,” Dash kept staring up at the sky when she answered, “What's up?”

“I was curious why you are staring up at the sky. What's so interesting?” Twilight joined Rainbow in staring up at the sky.

Rainbow held up a hoof in pause, “Wait for it...”

Just then, a jeans blue Pegasus came flying by and preformed a loop-de-loop before continuing on. Rainbow smirked at Twilight as her mouth hung slight agape. Several emotions played across Twilight's face including shock, surprise, joy, and finally glee. She squealed and bounced around like a foal getting the one gift she had always wanted for her birthday.

“See? Told you I could get him flying in no time flat,” Rainbow Dash brushed some imaginary dust off her shoulders.

Twilight stopped bouncing around long enough to let loose a stream of excited questions, “How well is he flying? Is he having any problems? How long did it take him to get airborne?”

“Calm down, Twilight!” Rainbow took off to get away from the hounding alicorn, “He hasn't been flying that long. Yesterday, we spent the entire time working on take offs and landings. It's only today did we start working on basic maneuvers. He's actually not bad at flying. His take off and landing still need work but once he his in the air, he flies pretty straight.”

She landed and gave Twilight a knowing nudge, “Which is better than what you can do, Twilight. Actually, he's really quick at maneuvering around. He's not as fast as me, of course, but still not bad.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at Dash's comment before asking her next question, “So how good is Connor? Can I have a demonstration?”

“Hmmm,” Rainbow put a hoof to her chin in thought before a light bulb went off and she came back with a devilish grin, “Yeeaahh, I think we can do a little demonstration.”

She turned back to Connor flying overhead and shouted, “Hey Connor! Come down here for a sec!” The jeans blue Pegasus looked down to listen before banking around to his left and come in for a landing. Twilight was both impressed and embarrassed at the same time because his landing was already better than her's and she had been flying longer.

He touched down on the ground before speaking up, “What's up, Dash? Hey Twilight,” he gave a little head nod in Twilight's direction before returning his hard gaze to Rainbow Dash.

“What kind of 'challenge'?” Connor asked with a half skeptical, half sarcastic smirk on his face.

“Ooh, nothing too hard. It'll just be a simple game of tag, that's all,” she strode forward in an overly casual way looking anywhere but at him.

Twilight watched Rainbow Dash stride forward as Connor narrowed his eyes and stared back with his usual hard expression. If Twilight knew her friend, Rainbow Dash actually had something planned; which was a rare occasion with Rainbow Dash. She held her breath, awaiting Connor's response to the proposal.

“Alright then.” Rainbow had moved up along side Connor, facing the other direction.

“Great! On your marks, get set..... 321GO!TAGYOU'REIT!!” Dash blasted off into the sky, leaving a trail of rainbow colors behind for Connor to follow after. Connor and Twilight sighed together; of course Rainbow Dash would give herself a head start. But Connor turned around anyways to face the open sky. He opened his wings gave them a shake in preparation of taking off after Rainbow.

“Well, this should be fun,” he said before taking off. Twilight stood there watching as he climbed higher and higher in the air, both excited and nervous to see what kind of skills Connor possessed and how this game of tag would fare. Twilight could foresee the next few minutes of her life were going to be exciting ones.

14: Test Your Flight

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Connor

Connor flapped his wings to a steady pace as he made his approach to the field. His total time training under his rainbow drill sergeant was now seven days, but his total fight time was about half of that. It was only on Thursday did he start actually flying, but most of that was just gliding down to a make shift landing pad. Even though Rainbow Dash still yelled at him to keep going, the could hear a difference in tone in her shouting. It no longer held that malice of not liking him and was replaced with desire to see Connor excel. The day after that, Rainbow Dash had spent the entire time working on his take offs from the ground, getting his wings to flap in sync with each other, and his landing properly.

Taking off from a stand still felt strange, like he was struggling to get some kind of traction in the air before he actually started moving forward. It was also hard training himself to not panic from the sudden drop of altitude whenever he flapped his wings. It was more of a mental challenge of overcoming the idea his wings will keep him airborne and not plummet to his death. He compared it with overcoming the fear of going over backwards when he first started doing backflips at his martial arts team practices. Landing was probably one of the more easily obtainable skills for Connor. All he had to do was slow down to stalling speeds on the ground before letting himself fall out of the air.

Today however, Rainbow had chosen to make aerial maneuvers the next thing on the training schedule for the next day. So on Saturday, Connor had spent most of the afternoon learning basic maneuvers like banking, barrel rolls, and flying inverted. Right now, Rainbow was having him do loops. None of these maneuvers were new to him; in fact, he was quite familiar with all of them. The only thing he was struggling to cope with was the G forces. The sensation of blood rushing from his head down to his hooves or vice versa was something left to be desired. But Connor was actually pretty good at flying around once he was in the air. He gave all his credit to one thing from his world: video games. Playing those combat flight simulator games were coming in real handy right now.

When Connor finally reached the field where he and Rainbow Dash were training he executed his loop with decent proficiency before continuing on back around to make another pass.

He circled back around and was about to make another pass in front of Rainbow Dash when he heard her calling up to him, “Hey Connor! Come down here for a sec!”

Connor looked down to spot rainbow cupping her mouth to yell louder. Standing next to her was Twilight also watching him flying around.

“Uh oh,” he thought to himself. He sharpened his banking maneuver and came in for a landing. He touched down letting his legs get used to having solid ground beneath them again before speaking, “What's up, Dash? Hey Twilight,” he gave a slight nod in her direction.

“Twilight here, wants a little demonstration on how well you're doing. And I’ve come up with an amazing idea to do that and make it training at the same time. So I’ve got a little challenge for you,” Rainbow Dash motioned with her head towards Twilight while striding forward in an extremely, overly casual way. Her body language was sending up red flags everywhere in Connor's mind.

“What kind of 'challenge'?” his wariness was quite clear in his voice but Connor couldn't hide his nervous smirk spreading across his face.

“Ooh, nothing too hard. It'll just be a simple game of tag, that's all,” Rainbow averted her gaze not looking directly at Connor's scowl.

He narrowed his eyes knowing full well this was not going to be simple, “Just a simple game, she says. Nothing could ever go wrong,” he thought in his most sarcastic voice he could think of. But his time and relationship with rainbow had become something of a friendly rivalry. She would always issue the challenges to him and Connor would see if he could either beat the challenge or prove her wrong. Perhaps this was just another of one of her challenges to him.

“Alright then.” Connor had accepted her duel and it was time to see how well he would preform under pressure. Rainbow had moved up along side him by this point and was looking pleased, “Great! On your marks, get set..... 321GO!TAGYOU'REIT!!”

She jabbed a hoof out and touched Connor's side before launching in to the sky leaving a small dust cloud and a rainbow blur behind her. Connor coughed a couple of times before rolling his eyes and shaking his head, “Every single time,” he commented.

He turned around to face his opponent who was circling overhead waiting for the tagger to give chase. He stared up for a second and smirked to himself. Secretly, he had been wanting to test himself and see how far he had come in training. Just how fast was he? How hard could he break around a corner before his wings gave out? He was about to find out

“Well, this should be fun,” he said to nopony in particular. He pushed off the ground and gave a powerful flap of his wings to get him off the ground. His take off was not his best one, but it got him airborne and flying. He kept flapping to gain more altitude and meet up with Rainbow Dash who was hovering above him. When he finally got close enough, he saw Rainbow Dash flash a grin and turned away to start the chase. Connor followed after her, still flapping his wings for more altitude and gain advantage over her.

The chase started off easy; Rainbow would bank either left or right trying to casually throw Connor off her tail. But the lack of complexity or speed made it easy for him to fly past and jab her in the back before breaking left to create as much distance between them. As soon as he tagged Rainbow she would whip around and give chase after him. Connor banked and jinked back and forth trying to make himself a harder target to hit. He could keep her out of reach for a little bit, but then Rainbow would just power past him smacking Connor in the head yelling, “You're it!”

It was clear that Connor would have to step his game up and start using more complex moves. From the time Connor took off, he had set himself in his energy saving mode; trying to conserve as much energy for as long as possible while still being hard to hit. It was his most efficient setting and used it most often when trying to endure punishment. However, if he wanted to show what he could do, he was going to have to switch his settings to high performance. He would fly faster, but use up more energy. Then again, this wasn't an endurance race so conserving energy was pointless.

He frowned as he changed his strategy, “Alright then, lets do this.”

[you are required to play this to fully immerse yourself in what is about to happen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r9TV5sqfVE

He flapped his wings harder, going faster and faster. The acceleration he generated from his own wings surprised him. Rainbow Dash glanced over her right shoulder to inspect her pursuer, only to duck briefly to avoid a blue rocket flying past her shouting, “You're it!”

While rainbow was distracted by Connor's sudden acceleration, he had tagged rainbow on the back as he sped past her. As soon as he tagged her, Connor broke off to his left into a chandelle, climbing higher to move his kinetic energy into potential energy. He glanced over his left shoulder to see if rainbow had gotten out of her shock. When she finally shook her head clear, a devilish grin stretched across her mouth. She sped up faster than Connor had to give chase and Connor wasted no time switching from offense to defense.

He flapped his wings harder to gain more speed before breaking right across Rainbow's flight path. Rainbow fell in behind Connor in lag pursuit and he could hear the beat of her wings behind him. Connor pulled back into a counter clockwise barrel roll hoping Rainbow Dash would overshoot. Out of the corner of his eye, Connor could see Rainbow Dash hot on his trails. He pulled back harder turning his barrel roll into a lag displacement roll. However this was a mistake as once Connor leveled out, Rainbow Dash put on a burst of speed and screamed past him smacking his right hip and yelling, “You're it!”

The two were headed for the tree house library as the chase continued. Rainbow sliced downward, making a u-turn around the tree with Connor closing fast. Despite Rainbow's experience, she couldn't quite hold her speed through the turn. Connor on the other hand, whipped around the corner with no problem; in fact, his entry speed was fast and his exit speed out of the turn was even faster. Connor grinned to himself. His time with both arcade and simulation racing games was paying off. As a racer, he knew the best way to take a corner was either an apex turn or a late apex turn. They were the quickest ways around corners and it showed. While Rainbow was struggling to regain her speed, Connor zipped by her and tagged as he passed by.

They headed back out into the open field again, trading roles of cat and mouse. Connor was enjoying himself more and more as the difficulty of each tag increased. But he was figuring out that Rainbow Dash was really good in open areas with lots of space to travel in straight lines. He needed to force her into tight corners where maneuverability was key. As Rainbow Dash blew past him for the seventh time tagging him and yelling, “You're it!” , he calculated a plan to get her into town. He banked hard around to fall into a lag pursuit after Rainbow. They rolled, pitched, and dived all around the skies, but Connor was slowly working his way closer to town. Finally, Rainbow made a dive for town and Connor followed after her with victory glinting in his eyes.

They tore through the streets of Ponyville, pulling heavy G turns around every corner. Connor could feel himself slipping into the zone, his mind mapping out tracks and shortcuts before him as he subconsciously planned for an overtake. They ripped through the main market streets and darted in and out of the back alleys behind shops and homes. Connor was gaining ground on his target, inch by inch, as he closed the gap between them. Adrenaline was slowly flooding his veins and his eyes slowly dilated for maximum perception.

You see, Connor discovered during his martial arts training that he had a turbo switch inside of him. At around 80 percent of maximum power, he still had enough restraint to control his actions and plan out attacks; 85 percent if he really feathered it. But the last 15 percent was connected to his internal turbo switch. He didn’t have a way to control that last 15 percent as a gradual increase in power; It was either all of it or none of it. He could feel the finger that monitored his energy and intent slowly reach out for that barely touched turbo switch. It hovered there watching as Connor slowly gained ground against rainbow dash. He watched as rainbow dash took another corner poorly and go wide while Connor executed another perfect turn.

3...

His hooves were inches away from that tag.

2...

Connor's head was level with her back legs and he could feel Rainbow's wings push the air behind her, propelling Rainbow forward.

1...

He could see Rainbow's mark on her side in absolute clarity. A white fluffy cloud with red, yellow, and blue lightning shooting down. He reached out from his superman pose to go for the tag.

*Flck*

As soon as he got that final tag, Connor went all in on everything. He put all his trust in his wings to hold up and perform under extreme stress for what he was about to do next. He jabbed Rainbow right in her mark before pulling HARD to his right and disappeared down an alley way. He didn't even yell 'You're it' after he tagged her because he was so focused on avoiding her.

His speed increased drastically and his wings flexed with all their might to hold the maneuvers he was asking them to do. He had pulled out his booklet of aerial maneuvers and was using everything he could think of to keep Rainbow from ever tagging him again. He made barrel rolls of all shapes, sizes and directions. He made sharp u-turns around buildings and executed high and low yo-yo turns. Connor flew knife edge between stalls, homes, and even a few pegasi hanging the air.

But running at 100 percent power is draining on the body. Even though the turbo provided a huge increase in power and performance, it was extremely draining on his energy reserves. It was only two or three minutes of this extreme flying, but it felt like hours to Connor. The adrenaline was slowly wearing off and he could feel fatigue slowly adding weight to his body. He was slowly slipping out of his zone as his tanks were running out of fuel. Connor could feel his body getting tired with the effort to maintain such peak performance and it was showing.

His wings were misfiring, so to speak, and occasionally sent turbulence through out his flight and would have to fight to regain control over his trajectory. He sometimes stayed too long in a turn and he would have to over-correct his mistake just to stay on the road and not crash into somepony's house or business. His eyes were losing focus and staring off into space before being wrenched back into reality and have to make an emergency break to avoid collision.

The mistakes started off small, but after a while they were building up and becoming more frequent. He risked a glance over his shoulder to spot Rainbow Dash slowly closing on him. He tried to keep up the defense against Rainbow Dash and his own fatigue, but the fatigue was a one sided battle and was in turn, affecting the battle against Rainbow Dash. He skimmed through his booklet of tricks again was coming up blank. He held out on one or two maneuvers left in his booklet because they were reserved for really extreme cases. He was in trouble, but not in enough trouble to warrant the usage of his secret moves. So he searched for other ideas to regain lost ground as he fought with Rainbow Dash in some of the more open streets heading back towards the library and the open field. Connor glanced up at the sky one last time. He had one idea left that he was willing to try. It was a long shot and only prolonged the inevitable, but as of now he was only looking to prolong it by a few seconds at max.

Rainbow Dash and Connor flew past the tree house and back into the open field and into Rainbow's domain. Once Connor cleared the town, he went into a sharp zoom climb using all his remaining kinetic energy into going higher. Once that ran out, he flapped his exhausted wings in an attempt to gain more altitude. He threw a look over his right shoulder and could see Rainbow slowly but steadily climbing up on his right side. He faced back forward as the rushing wind deafened him and he continued to climb. He just needed a few more seconds of this to lead Rainbow into thinking that she got him.

He could now hear the beating of Rainbow's wings behind him and he dared not look back behind him. His vision was getting dark despite the bright blue canvas before him. His mind felt sluggish from the exhaustion; or was it something else? His consciousness was slowly waning and he fought to stay awake for a few more moments. He could hear Rainbow panting behind him trying to keep up the steady pace of a vertical climb. Connor only had a split second to make this work. He flapped a few more times as the light in front of him faded into blackness. With his final effort he rolled to his left and tucked his wings to his sides before blacking out.

~~~

Rainbow panted heavily with the exertion of keeping up with Connor. He had put up one heck of a fight against the greatest flier in Equestria, but in the end, she knew she would be victorious in this game of tag because she was awesome. She was impressed with Connor's spectacular display of extreme agility and determination as he flew through the tight streets of Ponyville. In some of those turns, she had to slow down to avoid a crash landing and a premature end to their game.

The residents of Ponyville were quite surprised to see Connor and herself rocketing through town and some had shouted at them. She had laughed at their yells of anger and continued giving chase after her cadet in training. After a while she was noticing mistakes in his flying. They were minor at first, but after a while it was getting sloppy.

“Come on Connor! I know you're a better flier than that!” she thought to herself loudly. But the mistakes kept growing and Rainbow was steadily making up lost ground after she struggled to keep up with Connor in the turns. Eventually they headed back out to the open fields past the library. Rainbow grinned. Now that they were in the open, she had plenty of room to play.

However, Connor pulled back hard again and went into a steep climb, flapping hard to keep up the climb rate. Rainbow followed after him knowing that she was going to get the last tag of the game before ending it. She couldn't stand losing. She breathed heavily with the effort to keep climbing faster than Connor. She was feet away from scoring that tag and she reached with an outstretched hoof to get that final tag.

“Aaaannd, gotcha! Huh?!”

Connor had rolled at the last possible moment to avoid the tag by centimeters. She threw on the air brakes and came to a hover to watch Connor fall to the ground. At first she was impressed again with his hidden skills as a flier, but something was off. His wings fluttered limply in the wind and he hadn't angled himself for a dive either. His mouth hung agape and his eyes were closed.

She froze in trepidation waiting for Connor to recover out of the fall and glide back down to Ponyville where she would congratulate him on a job well done. But, he didn't. Seconds ticked by and Rainbow gasped as she finally came to a sudden, shocking conclusion. She dived, letting her wings tuck beside her and assumed the flying position. She had to hurry if Connor was going to survive this potentially fatal state.

“Twilight!!” she shouted over the roar of the wind rumbling by. She continued to shout as loud as she could trying to get the alicorn's attention and desperate help. But Twilight simply put a hoof to her ear trying to hear her friend. So Rainbow pointed to Connor still falling uncontrollably with urgency hoping she would get the message. Twilight's eyes darted between Rainbow's frantic pointing and Connor and the terrible realization hit her in the face. She ran while spreading her own wings trying to close the distance between her and Connor as they attempted to save him. Rainbow called out Connor's name hoping it would bring him back to the conscious world.

~~~

Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... breathe. Maintain breathing rate.

Begin system reboot.... Reboot complete.

Current status: Unknown. Current location: Unknown.

Last thought: Searching... Error. Restore previous thought process. Completed.

Last known activity: Tag with Rainbow Dash. Previous location before shut down: Over Ponyville.

Last known altitude: High. Current altitude: Unknown. Time between last position and now: Unknown.

Wait how long have I been out? I feel like I'm still falling. The noise from the wind sounds like I am.

“Connor!”

Is some one calling me? Wait, I think that's Rainbow. Wait, hang on! How long have I been falling? I have no idea how far away from the ground I am. I need to figure out where I am. Come on, open your eyes. I need to open my eyes. Open. Open. OPEN!

Connor's eyes flashed open as everything came rushing back to him. The game, the last ditch effort; his black out. He craned around trying to spot the ground below him. He was getting dangerously close for comfort from hitting the ground and becoming a splatter mark on the road. He needed to start flying again.

He wriggled around in the air struggling to get his hooves facing the ground again. After twisting his body around to face the ground, he had to remember how to use his wings. Time was slowing down as his demise approached closer and closer. His wings finally shot open to his sides and they quickly caught the air. His altitude was just above the tree tops which left little room to maneuver. He locked his wings in a gliding position and followed the road as he slowly descended. The ground rushed passed him, but he had essentially locked up his entire body in a gliding position.

His hooves scraped across the ground and his body released from its lock down. However, releasing from lock down did not mean he was preparing for a landing. So Connor fell out of the sky at speed and tumbled and rolled to a complete stop. He frantically got to his hooves and scanned desperately for anything out of the ordinary. His fight or flight reaction was dictating his actions and was preparing to scramble away from any hostile adversaries. When none presented itself to him, he took a moment to do a field check of his entire body for any kind of injuries.

Memories of training came back as he remembered during desperate situations, the body turns off its pain receptors and basically ignores damage to the body. They had taught to do a pat down of yourself for any signs of blood or other injuries. So Connor took a few moments running his hooves across his body and wings searching for any signs of damage. When his inspection came back empty, he relaxed a little.

“Connor!”

Connor's head snapped up with wild eyes looking in the direction of the disturbance. But he relaxed again when he saw only Twilight and Rainbow Dash running up to him. When they both stopped in front of him, the two mares started talking at the same time.

“Oh my goodness, Connor are you okay?!”
“That, was, awesome!!”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“How did you pull that last move?!”
“Connor, look at me! How many horns do I have?”
“The way you rolled out of the way at the last second! That was amazing!!”
“Rainbow!!”
“What?!”

Twilight glared daggers at Rainbow Dash. Connor's eyes were darting back and forth between the two and he didn't know who or which question to answer, so he simply made a noise.

“Uuuuuuhhhhhh...”

Connor had done a lot of things in his life. Some of them were not his smartest ones, and some of them could have easily gotten him seriously hurt. Riding motorcycles and participating in martial arts held both some of his greatest achievements and also some of his dumbest ideas. Motorcycling held more of the dangerous encounters that could have resulted in his death, but this was a new kind of kissing death. He didn’t have protective gear to wear in case he went down.

Twilight huffed in exasperation before returning to question Connor again, “Connor, are you okay?”

“He's fine Twilight, Look at him! We may have had a bit of a close call, but everything worked out in the end.” Rainbow tried to look confident under Twilight's laser vision and it was slowly melting her bravado; to the point where she looked down at the ground and scuffed it with her hoof.

Connor's stomach let out a loud growl demanding to be fed and his mouth tasted like cardboard, “Um, I am hungry and I could use some water...”

“Alright then! I know of a cafe not far from here. We can have lunch there and relax. And we are walking there, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shot another death stare at her friend who glanced away and laughed nervously. Connor secretly thanked Twilight for forcing everypony to walk there.

~~~

The cafe Twilight was referring to was a nice little place near the outer edges of Ponyville. It was a quaint little shop with outdoor seating for the three ponies approaching. Twilight and Connor sat down while Rainbow remained standing.

“You guys go ahead and eat. I going back out there and try some of those moves you made, hotshot. I’ll see you in a bit!” With that, Rainbow took off again leaving Twilight and Connor alone. They stared off after Rainbow before coming back and resting on the table in front of them.

“Are you sure that you're okay, Connor?” Twilight asked again.

“Yes, Twilight. I’m fine,” he lied. His body was still trembling from shock and over exertion and it was visible to Twilight.

“Maybe some food will help,” she levitated two menus over to their table and set them down in front of each other, “Go ahead and pick what you like. I’ll buy the food.”

“Thanks,” Connor scanned over the menu and picked out something that looked good and some water.

After the waiter took their orders, Connor put his head down on the table to rest and think to himself. What happened to him during the end of that game? He understood that he lost consciousness which was weird for him. He had never been knocked out and the only time he lost consciousness was when he was sleeping.

“So that's what it feels like to be knocked out,” he thought with intrigue. His mind went blank for a little bit waiting for the next thought to come along. Eventually, the next question that came to mind was, “How high did I go?”

He sat on that thought and frowned at the ground. He had no altimeter to gauge how far he was from the ground and no reference points to base off of. The next question that came was, 'How high can I go?' followed by, 'Is there space in this dimension? Is this place a planet in a solar system or just a plane of existence?'. He pondered these question for a while until Twilight spoke up again.

“Is everything okay?”

“Hm?” Connor lifted his head and out of his thoughts to stare at her, “Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I’m just still a little shaky after what happened.” his body let out a little tremor.

Twilight gave a concerned look, but let the subject drop while they continued to wait for their food. Connor breathed out and let himself return to the question of how he had passed out. A couple of ideas came to mind, but he couldn't be sure of any of them. The first idea was possibly lack of oxygen. Pilots from his world have reported blacking out from lack of oxygen and the medical world had labeled that phenomenon as 'Hypoxia'. It was possible that the atmosphere in this world differed from his own, but he had no evidence to support that.

The next one was G forces. Connor knew what G force felt like, it was a sensation that either felt debilitating or exhilarating; like the world pushing against you and in a direction opposite of where you want to go. Perhaps his exhaustion had made it easier for this world's gravity to pull the blood away from his head causing unconsciousness. It made logical sense in his mind, but it raised other questions he did not feel like trying to answer.

His final thought was he simply didn't have enough experience in tolerating and dealing with combat flight. It was the simplest and the easiest to comprehend, so he chalked up his passing out to inexperience and a combination of G forces and less oxygen as he went higher up in the atmosphere.

The food finally arrived and Connor was starving. He inhaled the food in his mouth and downed his glass of water as if he was in a desert and hadn't see water for days. By the time Connor had finished his meal and was now ordering another one, Twilight was only about three quarters of the way done her own. After his second meal came, Connor noticed that Twilight was trying not to stare at him as he wolfed down his food. He slowed down his pace so as to not seem like he was taking advantage of her hospitality and appear more civil.

As they quietly ate their food Connor asked Twilight a question, “Hey Twilight, do you know how high I went?”

“How high did you go?”

“Yeah.”

“Ummm, let's see. I’m trying to think of a good reference point to gauge how high you went...”

She scrunched up her nose in thought looking for something that could be used as a point of relevance. A light bulb went off in her mind as she found a good match.

“Okay, in Equestria we have a city called Cloudsdale and it is a city that is made of clouds and floats through the air,” she paused in preparation of her next words while Connor tried to ignore the absurdity of a floating city made of clouds and just imagine it as some kind of reference point, “Lets use the sandwich to represent Cloudsdale,” she levitated her remaining sandwich to a certain point in the air, “And lets use this rock to represent you,” she levitated a small rock off the ground and showed it to him, “Now, I believe from where I was standing, if we calculate the angle I was looking up and measure distance from where I was standing to the point on the ground you were just above we can conclude that your altitude compared to Cloudsdale was... here!” she placed the rock between the sandwich and the table top. It was a little over half way from where the rock was to the sandwich.

“Really? Only about half way?” Connor was surprised to learn this. On one hand, it surprised him that he made it that far in the first place. On the other hand, it surprised him that he only made it that far. While Connor was lost in thought, Rainbow Dash had returned from her flying.

“Hey guys, how's everypony doing?” she glanced between Twilight holding her sandwich and a rock in the air while Connor was bent forward in deep thought.

“Are we talking about how high my cadet in training got? Because if so, it really wasn't that high,” Rainbow sat down and took a bite out of the flying sandwich before Twilight could snatch it away.

“All I’m saying is,” she swallowed the food in her mouth, “This was only his first attempt so of course it's not going to be that high. We haven't even made it to Cloudsdale's level of altitude yet.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and looked around for another morsel to steal. Connor was hung up on the last thing Dash had said. He hadn't even made it to Cloudsdale. He took this as another challenge to achieve and raised his head with new determination in his eyes.

“Hey Rainbow, I want to change up our training,” Rainbow snapped her head to Connor while in the middle of taking another bite of some food she found.

“What do you mean you want to change up your training?!” she yelled accusingly, “What, is my training not good enough for you or do you think you can make it on your own? Well let me tell you-”

“Let me reiterate,” Connor cut Dash off, “What I mean to say is, I would like to move my training over to handling higher altitudes so I don't black out again,” he gave Rainbow a serious look.

“Oh,” Rainbow simmered down, “Well, I guess we could move on to that,” she put a hoof to her chin in thought, “You know, I’ve been meaning to tell you Twilight, that I recently scored some tickets to the Wonderbolts show in Cloudsdale and I was going to invite everypony to come along when I got distracted training this pony here,” she pointed at Connor.

“How soon is this Wonderbolts show?” Twilight looked quizzically at Rainbow.

“Oh, its only three weeks away from now,” she said nonchalantly.

“wait, three weeks?!” Connor exclaimed, “You plan on getting me to Cloudsdale's altitude in under three weeks. I’ve only had one other time in my life where I was only given three weeks to prepare for something, but that was with a team and it didn't solely rely on me carrying everyone,” Connor put on his best 'are you serious?' face as he stared incredulously at Rainbow Dash's proposal.

“Oh come on, Connor! Did you see those moves you made back there when you were flying around town? You've got some talent that shouldn't go to waste on boring things. And who wouldn't want to go see the Wonderbolts?!” she got up to spread her arms inviting somepony to disagree with her.

“Hmm, well I guess we could take another trip to Cloudsdale for the show,” Twilight was rubbing her chin in thought, “If I remember correctly, we also have an important pony passing through town in about a week and a half after the show. So, I don’t see why we can't go see it,” Twilight concluded.

Connor stared at Twilight as his he was outvoted in the debate. But he picked out one detail that Twilight dropped, “Wait, who is this important pony you are talking about?”

“Oh, his name is Richard Sportsen. He is a business pony in the sports entertainment industry. He has been traveling all over Equestria for months now looking for the next big game. I've heard that he has been stopping in every city and town looking for new ideas. The news paper says he hasn't found anything yet, but he will be arriving in Ponyville in a few weeks looking for possible sports to start up.”

This new information was sparking new ideas in Connor's mind on the possibilities the opportunity presented. This could be his chance to tackle one of his larger goals while in this world. However, he would have to think about this later. At this moment, he needed to be able to reach Cloudsdale for the show. He stuffed his ideas of grandeur away in a filing cabinet in his mind to be pulled out at a later occasion when he had time.

“So, will you help me get to Cloudsdale?” turning his attention back on the sky blue Pegasus.

“Heck yeah, I’ll help! And I think I know the perfect way to do it. You can help with cloud busting with me tomorrow morning! Meet me at my place at 10:00 am, sharp!” Rainbow Dash got up from the table to enter into a hover, “And don't think your training is going to get any easier! We're still going to be working on your top speed and maneuverability!” With those final words Rainbow Dash blasted off into the sky above.

If Connor was switching jobs, he was going to have to take it up with Applejack again. He was already working for her on the farm in the mornings and training in the afternoons with Rainbow Dash. He could try to convince her to switch times from mornings to afternoons, but he felt Applejack had already been generous enough with letting him have the afternoons. She may be kind enough to just let him switch jobs entirely and just help Rainbow Dash with her work and then train in the afternoons.

Twilight and Connor stared after Rainbow Dash for a while before Connor turned back to Twilight to ask, “What's cloud busting?”

Author's Notes:

GOD! DAYUM! that was a blast to write!! what do you guys think? Was that good or was that good? A lot of new possibilities just opened up and I can't wait to cover them! Who is this Richard Sportsen? Will Connor make it in time for the wonderbolts show? What kind of shenanigans will we get into next?! Oooohhh, this is going to be so much fun!! we are finally, getting into the good parts of the story!

I had so much fun writing this chapter. I binged on it for a evening and wrote over 4000 words in one night. I have been dying to write chapters like this one for the excitement and because this is a turning point in the story. Shit is about to get real. Oh, you thought this might be the only time I was going to use music? Guess again; I have been planning, and plotting, and scheming with a whole soundtrack for moments like these! expect more awesome music in the future because shit is about to get even more awesome!

Any kind of constructive criticism would be helpful.

On to the next chapter!

15: H.A.L.O. Training

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Connor

By some divine intervention, Applejack was completely okay with Connor leaving the farm and working for Rainbow Dash with cloud busting. It surprised Connor greatly, but Applejack understood that Connor was moving on to bigger and greater things with his time in Ponyville. Apparently, Applejack heard the story about his game of tag from Fluttershy, who heard it from Pinkie Pie, who was eavesdropping on Twilight while she was having a small panic attack after the she got home at her tree house.

So the next morning, Connor was standing before a house made of white fluffy clouds with rainbows spouting out from a couple of orifices and flying in the air. When he first saw the home, the first word that came to Connor's mind was 'grand'. But after he connected the thoughts that this was Rainbow Dash's home, the second thought that came to mind was 'egotistical'. How Rainbow lived in such a place and not fall through the cloud floor was beyond him. But, he had a job to do and it was about time to get started. He spread his angular wings and took off for the flying home.

Connor circled slowly around the cloud castle looking for Dash inside through the openings. After making two passes around the home, Connor was about to turn and leave to look for her elsewhere when Rainbow Dash came bursting out the front door to greet the new day.

“Helloooo sun! I am ready to start the day and make it even more awesome than yesterday!” Rainbow Dash flew around expressing her excitement for the new day before spotting Connor.

“Ah, good. You showed up. I thought I was going to have to come down and make you start flying again after yesterday,” she said in half jest.

“Heh, yeah...” After Connor had left the presence of Twilight and Rainbow and found himself a little private spot, he let himself have a little freak out from being seconds away from dying yesterday. In fact, he had kept his hooves firmly planted on the ground for the rest of that day until this morning when he needed to fly up to Rainbow Dash's home. It was taking Connor a bit of effort to work up the courage and fly again. Unlike motorcycling, Connor didn't have pavement to slide on and slow his momentum through friction if he screwed up. If he made a mistake while flying, he had one way to go and the ground was a punishing mistress for failures.

“Come on, why do you look nervous? This will be easy work. Just follow me and we'll get through this, no problem,” Dash said with the upmost confidence before flying off into the bleary morning sky. Connor followed suit after her, but at a slower pace. He fell inline next to her before asking his first question of the day.

“So what exactly are we doing?” He spoke over the wind noise.

“We are whipping up today's weather! We're supposed to have partly cloudy skies for the next couple of days so we need to make sure those clouds don’t get too big.”

“Okay, how are we supposed to do that? We can't grab clouds and break them apart,” Connor gave a deadpanned look at Rainbow.

“What do you mean, 'We can't grab clouds'? Just watch,” Rainbow Dash took off for the nearest cloud above them and struck it with a mighty kick, making the cloud break into smaller pieces. Then, she grabbed the pieces with her hooves and scattered them apart so they wouldn't reform again.

Connor stared in disbelief as he watched Rainbow break apart clouds with her bare hooves. The scientist and physicist inside him were having a field day trying to figure out what he just witnessed. What allowed Rainbow to manipulate clouds? Was it something to do with her wings? He needed to test this. Rainbow came back around to hover before Connor who was staring blankly into space.

“Hey! Let's go! Work starts now and we need to get this done as soon as possible before we start training!” Rainbow zoomed off again after another cloud leaving Connor in a dumbfounded hover.

He blinked out of his stupor and flapped hard gaining more altitude to reach the clouds. The low flying clouds were about the same altitude as the top of Rainbow's home. It wasn't anywhere close to his record yesterday, but he could still feel the oxygen thinning out ever so slightly. It felt like the air was becoming more crisp like breathing in the air on a cold morning as he went higher. It didn't feel debilitating, rather it felt invigorating as if the leaner air was enriching his blood with more energy than usual to burn at hotter temperatures.

He came to a hover in front of a cloud and stared at it with uncertainty. There was no way a cloud could be considered a solid object. It was scientifically impossible for a vapor formation to also be a solid, tangible, object. He gave the cloud a short jab and a part of the cloud broke off.

“Are we flunking serious, here,” he angrily shouted in his head, “Are, we, serious, here? I just punched a cloud like a pillow and it broke. How the gunk is that possible?” Connor gave the cloud an evil, wide eyed, death glare for breaking a fundamental rule of physics. Matter can not exist in two different states unless it is a transitional state, like air condensing into water droplets or dry ice evaporating into wisps of air. However, this cloud was supposed to be a water vapor formation and yet, it had weight and density behind it like it was a floating snow mound from winter.

The cloud burst in front of him as Rainbow Dash kicked it, “Come on! Move your flank, cadet!” Connor gave a subdued angry glare, but did as he was instructed, “And use your tail more when flying!” Rainbow shouted after him.

Connor glanced back behind him to look at his blonde colored tail fluttering behind him and flicked it back and forth in the air experimentally. He felt his flight path divert slightly off course giving the same yaw effect as a tail rudder did on a plane. He raised his eyebrows in surprise for not considering using his tail as a makeshift rudder.

Connor and Dash flew around the sky for a couple of hours making sure that today's cloud cover was broken up and let plenty of sunlight through. It was a new kind of work for Connor as he moved between different altitudes for both high and low clouds. It was fun and cool getting used to varying atmospheric conditions and using more of his tail in a rudder-like fashion to help make turns faster. But Connor was wearing out and was in need of a break.

Eventually Rainbow Dash called for a break, “Alright, Connor! Break time!”

“Finally,” he said quietly to himself before speaking to Dash, “So are we landing on the ground?”

“Nope! We can just land right here on a cloud. It's way more comfy than the ground,” Rainbow Dash pushed some clouds together so they both had their own fluffy white pads to land on.

“Alright, stop, stop, stop!” Connor held his hooves up in a stopping motion, “You expect me to believe that I can just land on a cloud and walk around on it? Okay, going up and physically manipulating a cloud and moving it around or breaking it apart; already, that is pushing my limits of believability. Now, you expect me to think that I can land on a cloud and not fall through it? You do realize clouds are just made of water vapors and are not solid objects, right?” Connor growled in disbelief while gesturing angrily between the cloud and Dash. But Rainbow just gave a deadpanned look while she hovered near her cloud and without missing a beat, she side stepped out of the air onto the cloud to prove her point.

Connor withheld his outburst but his eyes said he wanted to flip a table in raging disbelief. How was this feat possible when clouds were not solid platforms? A stupidly simple, yet ridiculously infuriating explanation came from Rainbow Dash, “Its magic. All pegasi have the ability to control weather and walk on clouds,” she rattled off in a bored tone, “Look, just stay here and wait for me until I get back with some snacks.”

She jumped off her cloud bed and dived for the ground in search of food leaving Connor there trying to come to grasps with what he just witnessed. With Rainbow gone, Connor hovered in place giving the clouds a narrowed glare, not wanting to give up his pre-established views on world workings. But his wings ached in protest and demanded rest; so he grudgingly forced himself to relinquish his views on the world just for a little while and test to see if this cloud walking was real or just a fluke happening with Rainbow Dash.

He hovered inches above the cloud waiting for his back hooves to just pass through it with no resistance. But his hooves hit solid ground when he finally let himself drop far enough. Connor gingerly let the rest of his hooves touch down on the cloud but kept his wings open in case he did fall through. He tested the rigidness of the cloud to see if it would hold his weight by giving it a stomp. The cloud met his hoof with equal force and did not budge. Slowly, Connor folded his wings as he glanced around the cloud watching for any signs that it might break.

With his wings tucked neatly at his sides, he bounced a little on it just to make sure the cloud wouldn't break before laying on his stomach. To his surprise, the cloud was extremely comfortable. It was soft in all the right places and supportive in all the right places. He rolled over on his back found this cloud to be an excellent makeshift bed. All the space-age, form-retaining foam back home had nothing compared to this cloud; he could quite easily fall asleep here if Connor laid there long enough.

An apple came whizzing by his cloud and Connor sat up to catch it with his wing. Rainbow Dash reappeared with a bundle of apples for the two of them to share. She landed on her cloud before tossing a few more apples to him, “Nice catch.”

Connor wordlessly caught the rest of the apples tossed to him with either his wings or his hooves. Since he didn't have any fingers, he sort of scooped them out of the air and set them down in front of him. With the last apple caught, he wiped one of the apples on his bandana before taking a bite out of it. The apple was sweet and crisp as his mouth filled with it's juices. At least some things remain constant across dimensions.

They ate in silence relaxing from the morning's work of cloud busting. The two of them had thoroughly beat every cloud flying over Ponyville into smaller clouds and had scattered them evenly across the sky at varying altitudes. Connor found the easiest part of the job was going from high altitude to low to bust up some clouds. All he had to do was drop out of the sky and punch or kick the cloud to bits before pulling up and grabbing the remains and scatter them to the wind.

As they neared the end of their break Connor asked rainbow about his training, “So, how are doing training today?”

“The same way we were training on the ground! We are going to training even harder up in the air and get you used to working with different altitudes for the Wonderbolts show! So after we finish with arranging the clouds, we're going to start with fifty wing-ups, then move into sprints and endurance laps. After that, it's inverted flight practice while flying higher and higher into the sky. Then to end it all, we will doing 100 laps at the higher altitudes to build up your tolerance,” Rainbow rattled off her torturous training schedule with excitement. Connor gave a pained expression and a single, quiet, moan.

“Was that whining I heard?” Rainbow's voice dropped to a dangerous, acid-like tone. Connor sighed and gave a robotic response, “No ma'am.”

“Good, now finish up your snack and let's get flyin'! We've got a lot to do and only three weeks to do it!” Dash took off from her cloud leaving Connor to finish the last few bites of his apples. When he was done, he stood up and gave his tail a small flick before spreading his wings and jumping off his cloud.

Now that he had spent about two weeks in this world, he was becoming more accustomed to having wings and a tail. It still felt weird at times, but he no longer looked at them in disgust and hatred. Now that he was past the harsh stage of accepting his new body, it now felt like a new tool or toy to experiment and play with. He wanted to see the limits of his new body and how far he could push it; if Rainbow Dash allowed him to live long enough to see that end.

It was going to be a really, really, long three weeks before that show.

~~~

There was an old motto from his world that liked to say, 'Things never get easier, you just get better'. Well, if Connor really was getting better he couldn't see it through the sweat blocking his vision. The first week of training was a tough one. Rainbow dash had put Connor on the fast track to reaching Cloudsdale in three weeks and there was no signs of slowing down. About half way through the first week, Rainbow had already pushed him to his previous altitude record before he passed out.

Despite his tiredness and low energy levels, Connor could still function quite well at this altitude. Even though the oxygen was noticeably less, it wasn't a significant difference that prevented him from flying around. The cool air singed his lungs a little as he breathed in and the muscles in his wings burned, but he pushed on wanting to achieve another goal in this world. Connor monitored himself looking for any signs of dizziness, light headedness, or his vision fading in case he was about to black out. Thankfully, he didn't find anything outside of normal exhaustion and fatigue; at least he thought so, he couldn't really tell.

The second week of training was becoming a grueling one. By the end of the first week, Rainbow had Connor flying well above where he passed out at. After a certain point, the cloud busting job could only take them so high before they ran out of clouds. The thinner atmosphere made it more difficult for clouds to form until they reached Cloudsdale's altitude where clouds started forming again. At this altitude, Connor was now feeling the effects of having less oxygen to breathe. He was sucking in air harder and he was becoming fatigued faster. It didn't stop training, but Rainbow did notice the change and switched the schedule to focus more on endurance and tolerance building.

Before, Rainbow Dash's training had consisted of an equal balance between strength building, endurance training, and flight control exercises. But since Connor was having more difficult time breathing at this higher altitude, she moved towards tolerance building exercises and flying laps to help speed the process of getting used to the thinner air.

Connor was glad the Dash wasn't all work and no heart. She was more understanding to giving him more breaks to catch his breath than before and wasn't being so forceful with their lessons. She was still firm and brash, but their was an undertone of 'Don't push yourself too hard'. The rest of that week was spent just getting used to flying around at moderately high altitude levels. The other thing Connor was having to deal with was his slight fear of heights. He never really noticed it when he was focused on flying around, but when he did peer over the edge and look down his gut tensed up a little and he had to wrench his eyes off the ground and stay focused on not hitting a cloud. Despite being water vapor, clouds were surprisingly solid and still hurt when you ran into them.

On the third and final week before the show, Rainbow and Connor had reached a point where if Cloudsdale was next to them, they would be right underneath it. Connor could still feel the thin air burning away at his lungs, but it was becoming bearable. His lungs felt better and more adapted with the thin air after spending so much time in it that he felt ready to try and return to their old routines for practice. Rainbow agreed and she slowly incorporated more strength training and flying maneuver practices again. She still placed an emphasis on endurance and tolerance building, but agreed it was time to start getting back to actual flying.

Rainbow never told Connor, but she noticed Connor was flying faster, his turns were becoming sharper and his wings becoming more capable of withstanding the G forces he was putting them through. He was using more of his tail and arching his body more when turning and was getting into the habit of tucking his arms behind him for more speed. It was more proper to have his arms out in front of him like Super Mare for better stability, but he seemed fine with keeping his arms tucked close to his chest. He also had a funny habit of sticking his forelegs out to the side as he banked left or right; almost like he was dragging his arm through the air to grab onto some invisible anchor point to hook on and yank himself around. Rainbow Dash didn't question it too much, as each Pegasus developed their own unique way of flying.

Outside of training, the group had been preparing for the trip to Cloudsdale. Connor had asked if Applejack had any small bags he could borrow for carrying money around with him to buy food while at the show, and Applejack had loaned him a small satchel for him to use while on the trip. He had been saving this worlds' currency (apparently called bits) for any kind of special occasions that would come up and this show would be a perfect use for the money.

On the day of the show, he stopped by Applejack's place to pick up the bag and money before meeting Rainbow Dash at her home. The two of them were going to meet up with Twilight and the rest of the gang before flying to Cloudsdale to meet everypony at the stadium where the Wonderbolts show was happening at. The plan was everypony would be traveling by hot air balloon, but Rainbow Dash had other ideas of getting to the show.

She was planning on taking a more exciting route there.

Author's Notes:

I feel weird whenever I upload a short chapter; like I could have done more, but I can't think of anyway to expand on what is being said. Especially after coming off of last chapter, this feels pretty subdued. This isn't like when I first started uploading chapters where it was more acceptable to have shorter chapters. So, I ran this chapter through the editing process several times to find ways to expand on my thoughts because I enjoy uploading four to six thousand word chapters, if not more. Maybe I'm just being overly critical of myself; it's not like I’m being graded or anything from people viewing my work or anything...

Well, the next few chapters will have a few nice twists to them, so look forward for those. I hope you will laugh at them as much as I will while writing them.

Onto the next chapter!

16: Trouble Before the Show

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Twilight

Twilight closed the book she was holding with a soft thud and set it down on her reading table. Her reading table was her favorite place to be whenever she had some extra studying to do or just wanted to get lost in her stories again. Next the book was a calendar with markings across it's face and today, Saturday, was circled. Today was the Wonderbolts show that Rainbow Dash had invited everypony to come and watch.

Everypony had been preparing in their own ways for the trip to Cloudsdale. Applejack had set up chores to be done by the family while she was gone and Fluttershy made sure that her animal friends had plenty of food while she was gone. Rarity, of course, had made a new outfit for the occasion and Pinkie was being Pinkie. Twilight wasn't sure about Rainbow Dash or Connor but Dash said she had already made plans to get to the show. As for Twilight, she had been brushing up on cloudwalking spells for the group before they left. After a few refresher courses, she could prolong the spell to last all day which would be plenty of time for everypony to have fun and explore Cloudsdale a little if they chose to.

Twilight looked at the clock hanging on the wall to read the time. 8:00 am; it was time to collect her friends for the hot air balloon ride to Cloudsdale which left at 9:00. Twilight had planned the trip with extra time to spare so she was absolutely sure they wouldn't miss the showing at 1:00 in the afternoon. They would leave Ponyville in the balloon at 9:00 and arrive in Cloudsdale some time before noon. This gave them an hour to find seats and buy some food before the show started. She levitated her saddle bags that she packed the night before with reading material, bits, and a map onto her back and fastened them down.

The first pony Twilight was picking up would be Fluttershy at her cottage followed by Applejack on the farm. After that, the three of them would circle back to pick up Rarity at Carousel Boutique and Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner. Spike wouldn't be coming with them for the show because he was still asleep; but he said he wasn't interested because he was heading for the comic book store in town for the new release of his new favorite series: Flash Fire the Dragon Hero. So Twilight left a note for him before she left to let him know where she was heading and that she might not get back until later that day.

Twilight closed the front door gently behind her before setting off for Fluttershy's home. The walk to the outskirts of Ponyville was a pleasantly calm one. Birds chirped to one another as they began their morning routines and a nice breeze blew through the land, bringing good tidings for the new day. A couple of ponies were already out and about running their own morning errands. Shop owners were setting up by brushing off their welcome mats and cleaning windows before the early shoppers arrived and shop stalls were preparing in their own way as well. All in all, it was good morning to go for a trip.

As Twilight approached the cottage, she could spot Fluttershy already up and taking care of her animal friends. A soft and delicate tune came from Fluttershy as she sang to herself and to her animals.

Twilight announced her presence by calling out, “Morning Fluttershy!”

“Oh! Good morning Twilight,” she returned with a happy smile, “How are you this morning?”

“I'm fine, thanks. So are you ready for the Wonderbolts show, today?”

“Almost. Angel and I are just about finished with preparing lunches for everyone before I leave,” a small white bunny bounced around a bush to give a friendly salute, “All that's left to do is put everything away and then we can leave.”

“Here, let me help you,” Twilight levitated a bag of feed up into the air as the two walked inside the cottage to put the food away. Once all the food was in storage, Fluttershy and Twilight closed the door to the cottage and headed down the road.

“So who are we picking up next, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked cheerfully.

“Next is Applejack's place. After that we're going to pick up Rarity and then Pinkie Pie. Rainbow dash and Connor will be meeting us at the hot air balloon before we leave.”

The two made there way down a dirt road towards the apple farm and the residence of the apple family. Applejack and the family were already up doing chores trying to get in some last minute work done before Applejack had to leave. Applejack looked up and turned towards the sound of the approaching hoof steps of her friends to greet them, “Howdy, all! Are we getting ready to leave soon?”

“Yep,” Twilight confirmed, “Are you almost ready too, Applejack?”

“Sure am. I already packed my bags with a few essentials for the trip. We can leave right now if you would like.”

“That would be great, Applejack. I would like to have some extra time to cast the cloudwalking spells on everypony before we leave.”

“Alright then, give me one second and we can leave.” Applejack trotted over to the home attached to the barn and was out again carrying a pair of leather saddle bags while shouting over her shoulder, “I'll be back by the end of the day, granny! Take care!”

With Applejack now along side Fluttershy, Twilight mentally made a check mark on her invisible list of things to do before turning to lead everypony to the next place on the list: Carousel Boutique. The shop was already open for business, but nopony was perusing the clothes on display yet. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack entered the shop and were greeted with the door chime ringing overhead and Rarity's sister bounding up to them to greet the new arrivals.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Would like to browse our am~azing selection of dresses to choose from?”

“Hello Sweetie Belle, is Rarity available right now?” Twilight looked around the high class clothing store looking for the older of the siblings while Applejack and Fluttershy walked between the aisles of clothes.

“Oh hey, Twilight! Yeah, Rarity is in the back right now working. She's working on her new line called 'Modern Leader Chic'. It's really cool! Come on, I’ll show you!” Sweetie Belle bounced to a pair of saloon doors near the back of the shop where the sounds of creation drifted out. Scissors snipped at cloth and string and a sewing machine whirred quietly in the corner as Rarity circled around her latest creation.

“Rarity,” Sweetie Belle called out but was shushed with a hoof.

“One second, aaannnd there!” Rarity put one last pin in the outfit before taking off her red spectacles, “Yes, dear? Oh, Twilight! Good morning! What can I do for you today? Did you need a new outfit for your princess wardrobe? I noticed that you didn't have one and I would be more than happy to make a new line up for you-”

“Uh, no, that's fine. I don’t need one right now, Rarity,” Twilight interrupted quickly before Rarity got lost in another one of her projects, “Actually, I was coming by to invite you to come with us to Cloudsdale for the Wonderbolts show.”

“Really? Is the show today?” Rarity glanced over to a calendar hanging on the wall with her own notes and deadlines written on it.

“Yes, and everypony is about ready to leave too. Are you almost ready to go, too?”

“Hmm,” Rarity answered, “I suppose I can go. I don’t have any urgent business that needs to be finished at this moment. Just give me a few moments and I’ll be out in a jiffy.”

“What?! You get to go to a Wonderbolts show?! How come I don’t get to come?” Sweetie Belle complained loudly.

“Sorry Sweetie Belle,” Twilight answered her outcries, “But Rainbow Dash only has enough tickets for seven ponies. How about Rarity brings back a souvenir while we're there?”

“Okay...” Sweetie Belle pouted, “But it better be something good! I want to be able to show it to my friends!”

“Don't worry, dear. I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for something you can share.” Rarity walked out of the back room and disappeared up a flight of stairs to pack a few things. They group waited patiently in the main lobby for their fashion sensitive friend to finish getting ready. When she finally came back down, Rarity had a pale white sun dress hat with yellow highlights and some purple shades on with a single saddle bag strapped to her side.

“About time, Rarity. We were about to leave with out you,” Applejack quipped.

“Oh, ha ha, Applejack. Some of us like to look our best when out in public,” Rarity raised her nose and adjusted her shades while Applejack rolled her eyes, “Come on, everypony. We still have Pinkie Pie to get before we can leave on the balloon.”

Applejack opened the door to the outside and left followed by Fluttershy, then Rarity, and finally Twilight. The group strolled down the major streets of Ponyville of their last destination before leaving for Cloudsdale. Sugar Cube Corner was already puffing out steam and baking delicious breads and other morning pastries. As the the quartet approached the shop, their local mail mare was just exiting the shop with smile on her face and a banana nut muffin in her hooves before flying off to deliver today's mail.

The four entered the bakery and was greeted with the warm scent of muffins, scones, bread, and an array of fruits being baked into the treats. Everypony breathed in deeply to enjoy the smells to the fullest while they waited for Pinkie Pie to come to the front desk.

“Ooh, the smell of freshly baked goods can always make a morning better,” Rarity commented.

“Absolutely; what's your favorite one, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.

“Mine is cake and cookies!” Pinkie Pie burst between the two mares with her usual hyper active energy making Fluttershy squeak in surprise.

“Morning everypony! Wow, do all of you want some muffins this morning too? Well don't you worry! We've got blueberry, banana nut, poppy seed, chocolate chip, cheese snickerdoodle, raspberry-”

“Pinkie, dear, that's quite alright but we're here to ask if you would like to go to the Wonderbolts show with us in Cloudsdale.”

“Well, of course. We've only been talking about it for the past three weeks now,” Pinkie rolled her eyes and smiled knowingly.

“Oh, well then; Pinkie, would you like to come with us to the show?” Rarity recovered from the abrupt turn by Pinkie.

“Sure! I would love to! It's always great seeing how devilish, daringly, dazzling the Wonderbolts are when they zoom around the sky!” Pinkie bounced from the front counter top to table to table flapping her hooves like wings and spinning in mid air in excitement before coming to sudden stop in mid bounce, “Wait a minute! I need to check with the Cakes first to see if they need me today to run the store. Wait right here, I’ll be back in ten seconds flat!” with that, Pinkie Pie zipped out of the shop and up a flight of stairs where the shop owners were presumably presiding. Nine seconds ticked by; then before the clock hand could strike the tenth second, Pinkie Pie zoomed into the shop floor and announced, “Okay! Lets go!” she looked at the clock as it struck the final second, “Yes! Ten seconds flat!”

“Uh, do you want to bring anything with you, sugar cube? Maybe some food or something?” Applejack asked with uncertainty.

“Silly Applejack, my bags are always packed for anything that may happen. Look! They're over there by the door!” Everypony glanced at the set of bags next to the front door with Pinkie's cutie mark emblazoned on the side.

“Well, I guess that's everyone. Alright, lets head for the balloon.” Twilight marched out of Sugar Cube Corner with all her friends following behind and with everyone excited to go.

~~~

The hot air balloon sat near the outer edges of town where it was furthest away from any of the tall buildings or trees. The sun was still low in the sky, but the weather was perfect with only a few clouds dotting the blue sea above. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were standing in front of the launch pad waiting to leave.

Twilight stood before her friends in preparation for departure, “Alright everypony, I need you to stand still while I cast the cloudwalking spell again.”

“Too bad, Rarity. I bet you wish you could have those wings again, don’t you?” Applejack chastised with a smug face.

“A lady does not reminisce about her past,” Rarity answered in her best motherly tone getting a skeptical raised eyebrow from Applejack, “But, I wouldn't mind having those gorgeous wings again,” Rarity drifted off into memory lane fantasizing about her wings while Applejack just smirked.

Meanwhile, Twilight had closed her eyes in concentration and focused on her magic. The energy swirled around in an invisible realm as she summoned it to do her biding. She weaved and laced the strands in a web of spell making until it formed the cloudwalking spell she desired. She then directed the spell to the four individuals near her and cast the cloudwalking spells on her friends. The magic enveloped and surrounded the four pony figures like a net, giving their bodies the same properties as a Pegasus with the ability to walk on clouds. When the spell finished, Twilight opened her eyes to inspect her work and look for any abnormalities. With nothing out of place, the five waited patiently for the last two members of their party to arrive before leaving for the show.

They stood there awkwardly, glancing elsewhere looking for the last ponies to show up. If they wanted to follow Twilight's plan, they needed to leave in less than seven minutes and thirty eight seconds to avoid being late. Applejack was the first to break the silence, “Where is Rainbow Dash? Isn't she supposed to be here?”

“Indeed, this was her idea to go and see the Wonderbolts,” Rarity added.

“Well, maybe she got held up by something like she's still packing or she needed to take care of tank before we left.”

“Maybe Fluttershy,” Twilight looked to the sky for her friend, “She could be just trying to get Connor to come along.”

“Oh! Is Connor coming with us, too? Yay!” Pinkie Pie bounced with joy and enthusiasm.

“Well if they don't show up soon, then we are leaving with out them,” Rarity snapped to no pony in particular.

“Here we are!” Everypony looked up to see Rainbow Dash and Connor flying in out of the blue sky. Both had single saddle bags strapped to them, although rainbow's bag was a little bit bigger than Connor's. As they landed Twilight approached them, “There you are! Where were you? It's almost time to leave. If we hurry and board the balloon now we might be able to make it to the stadium in time to find some good seats,” Twilight was already half heading to the launch pad while talking over her shoulder.

“Actually Twilight, we won't be riding with you.”

Twilight turned with confusion, “What do you mean 'You won't be riding with us'?”

“Weelllll, Connor and I will be flying to Cloudsdale for the show. We'll be taking the major airways there.” Twilight stood there for a second trying to think of a counter argument to stay together, but they were late as it is; so she simply recalculated her plan to include waiting for rainbow and Connor arriving at the stadium.

“Alright then, fine. Lets hurry and leave before we're too late.”

“Yes! Alright then, we'll see you at the show!” Rainbow took off leaving everypony behind, including Connor. He watched rainbow fly for split second before wordlessly turning to give a silent 'signing off' motion to everyone before flying after rainbow himself. Twilight watched the two disappear into the blue sea above before returning her attention to the balloon. The group had already boarded the balloon and were waiting for Twilight to join them. Once everypony paid the fare, they took off for Cloudsdale.

During entire trip, everyone was talking about the show or Cloudsdale. The general murmur was about the show, but everypony had their own personal goals to do while they were in Cloudsdale. Rarity was wondering what kind of souvenir to get for her sister while Applejack was curious about what kind of food was being sold there. Fluttershy wanted to make a quick stop by some family while there and Pinkie; well, Pinkie Pie wanted to taste test the rainbow again in the rainbow factory. Apparently she had been training her tongue and taste buds to see if she could handle the spiciness again. Twilight wouldn't mind having another tour around Cloudsdale just to see how everything was going.

The balloon climbed higher and higher until it was level with the floating cloud city. Pegasi flew this way and that around them, all of them with purpose in their flight trying to finish one duty or another. Some pegasi were forced to correct their flight paths with the appearance of the balloon which warranted a few angry yells of surprise. The balloon slowly drifted through city presenting homes and buildings of all sizes and all with the same white fluffy exterior. The show was happening in the middle of the city so the stadium had been moved closer to the heart of Cloudsdale. The balloon flew over to the stadium where it made a gentle touchdown in front of the main doors leading in. the group disembarked and thanked their pilot. The hot pink mare waved goodbye silently before lifting off again to land at the Cloudsdale landing pad.

The group moved closer to the front gates hoping they could spot Connor or Rainbow Dash there. A line of ponies had already formed in anticipation for the air display happening in about an hour. A large face clock hung over the main gates leading into the stadium that read 11:58 am. Twilight glanced at the clock then looked around the gates and the surrounding area but couldn't see a rainbow mane or a stern face with a short, blonde mane.

Applejack confirmed her fears when she asked, “I don’t see rainbow or Connor, do you?”

“No, I don't. Maybe they are already inside?” Fluttershy said in a worried tone.

“Oh, relax, dear. I’m sure those two will be along shortly,” Rarity soothed in a reassuring tone, “Besides, can you feel how soft these clouds streets are? They feel marvelous on my hooves,” Rarity lifted a hoof to inspect.

“Hang on, everypony!” Pinkie Pie cried out, “Let me try looking.” She pulled out a pair of binoculars from her bags and put them to her eyes to peer through. She scanned the crowds while everypony else waited with tense patience. Soon, Pinkie Pie put down the binoculars, “Hmm, I can't see them either. Oops! I forgot to take off the lens caps! Teehee!”

Everypony let out a loud groan of exasperation along with a few face hoof's.

“Lets just go and wait by the front doors and see if Rainbow Dash shows up,”Applejack left with everypony following behind all sharing similar expressions of disgruntlement; except Pinkie, who was snorting and giggling as she bounced behind the group.

The minutes ticked by as everypony waited for the arrival of Rainbow Dash and Connor. The overall anxiety steadily grew amongst the group as they glanced this way and that in search for their friends. Twilight kept glancing at the large clock overhead; they were already eight minutes behind schedule. She was about to take off to look for them but Applejack calmed her down enough to wait a few more minutes.

“What is taking them so long?” Twilight fidgeted, “It's almost 12:11 and they should be here by now.”

“Calm down darling,” Applejack reassured, “Rainbow will be here. She would never miss a Wonderbolts show for the world.”

“Look!” Fluttershy yelled, “There's Rainbow Dash!”

Everypony looked up to see a sky blue Pegasus with a signature rainbow mane glide down and land in front of them panting.

“Finally!” Twilight shouted, “What took you so long?”

She waited for Rainbow Dash to catch her breath before speaking again.

“Dear, are you alright? What could have happened to put you in such a state?” Rarity looked over her exhausted friend with concern.

“Twilight, huff, Connor needs your help, huff,” Rainbow panted out.

“What? Why?! What happened?” Twilight had her full attention on Rainbow Dash, no longer worried about her schedule or the show if Connor was in trouble.

“Take airway I-668 and follow it for a few minutes. Connor's there and he needs you,” Rainbow was finally regaining some of her composure as she pointed in a direction.

“Is something wrong? Is he hurt? Did he crash? What happened?!” Twilight asked frantically.

“There's no time to explain! You have to hurry, Twilight!” Rainbow ushered Twilight in the direction she pointed out.

Twilight gave up on trying to get more information and took off with out Rainbow Dash. She climbed in altitude before rushing off down the major airway dash described. She flapped as hard as her wings could, trying to fly as fast as possible. She cut other Pegasi off and flew more recklessly than she would normally would; which isn't saying much as all she did was fly a little faster than normal and not shout 'sorry' to somepony whenever she passed them. Eventually, she was outside the floating city and in the open sky but she wasted no time joining in the traffic of airway I-668.

Her mind flooded with endless possibilities of what could have happened to Connor. Was he hurt? Was he just not ready to undertake such an extreme task as flying all the way from Ponyville to Cloudsdale? What if he crashed? What if he crashed into another pony and needed serious medical attention?! Twilight shook her head clear of her fears and focused on flying as fast as possible. The wind whistled past her ears as both clouds and ponies blurred past her. Her eyes were scanning every passing cloud looking for any signs of an accident; police ponies and lights or maybe an ambulance parked on a cloud. But she found nothing as she flew down I-668.

She continued farther down the airway until she finally found what she was looking for. A familiar faded blue Pegasus with a short, scruffy, blonde mane was standing on a cloud with two other ponies. Both ponies were dressed similar blue uniforms with hats; one of the hats had slowly rotating red light on it. As Twilight approached the scene, she spotted the two blue uniform ponies put something around Connor's hooves. To her dismay, she realized they were hoof cuffs.

Twilight's blood ran cold as she fully understood what dash meant by, 'He needed her help'. The 'trouble' was much worse than she had imagined. It was the Law.

Author's Notes:

Ooooohhh shhiiit, what happened between the time they left Ponyville and now?! Well, we'll just have to find out in the next chapter! But, I’m going to have to leave it as a cliff hanger for now. I won't be putting out updates as frequently as I have for the last week or so because of a few things. In short, I am moving right now to further my education and pursue my dreams. If you want more information on it, I have a few blog posts floating around here somewhere you can read; not saying you have too.

HOW-FUCKING-EVER!! This does not mean I will stop working on this story when I leave. I'm going to be spending the next few days trying to figure out how this new school works and how strict it is before I can get back to writing. I will be staying active on the site while I’m there just to let everyone know that I’m still busy. Just forewarning you that updates will be coming at a slower rate than before.

Anyways, I can't wait to work to work on the next chapter! What kind of shenanigans do you think are going to happen? Well, we'll just have to find out!

Onto the next chapter!!

17: Messing With Johnny Law

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Connor

The flapping of wings and the whistle of wind filled Connor’s ears as he flew to Rainbow’s house, but his mind was filled with other thoughts. He was thinking about meeting up with Rainbow Dash this morning and about this Wonderbolts show that he was about to see. Rainbow Dash had spoken very highly about them and Twilight had explained some facts about them. From what he could gather from Rainbow’s fan spewing and Twilight’s history lessons, the Wonderbolts were some kind of famous stunt team. Connor sort of glazed over the other facts Rainbow Dash talked about because he didn’t know who they were nor did he care that much.

Twilight had mentioned about the schedule for the trip and how they needed to leave by 9:00 that morning, so Connor was more focused on staying on time rather than pondering about the Wonderbolts team. He was excited to finally leave Ponyville and explore the world a little bit more than he was excited to see the show. He was starting to enjoy his time in Ponyville, but he was becoming curious about the world beyond its limits. Connor knew there was more and he wanted to see them without looking through an angry red filter.

He reached back and readjusted the single saddle bag currently strapped to his left hip. Earlier that morning, Connor had stopped by Applejack’s farm and asked to borrow a small bag to carry some money for the trip. With a little searching, Applejack found a small brown leather bag for him to use for the day. It looked weathered and tired, but still sturdy and strong. It wasn’t a large bag; just big enough to fit a couple essentials in it. But for Connor’s uses, it was perfect. Applejack had been holding on to his bits that he had saved during his work on the farm and the two filled the small bag with them before helping Connor saddle the bag to his side. It felt a little weird having a bag weighing him down to one side during flight, but if he kept the bag snug to his body it didn’t give too many problems.

The coins jingled and bounced to the flap of his wings as Connor flew to Rainbow Dash’s house. The two of them were going to meet Twilight at a hot air balloon on the far side of town for departure to Cloudsdale. He got the feeling that Rainbow Dash was prepping something in the works for this trip, but he wasn’t sure what it was. As Dash’s home came into view, he spotted Rainbow already out at the front door waiting for him. She was fidgeting and bouncing more than a squirrel on caffeine as Connor made his landing approached.

“There you are! Are you finally ready?” Rainbow snapped.

Connor was taken aback by Rainbow’s forwardness but retorted, “What do you mean, ‘finally ready’? Usually, you’re the one who is always late and we have to wait for you!”

“I’m never late. When you’re as awesome as me, you always arrive fashionably on time,” she brushed the comment off with her hoof.

Connor rolled his eyes, “Do you have everything for the trip? I’ve got my stuff,” he lifted his left wing to show the small satchel strapped to his side.

“Yep, I think I have everything. Let’s see: hat, flag, posters for signing… Wait a minute! I still need something for the Wonderbolts to sign with! I’ll be right back; let me go get some quills and ink. Maybe I should get some other things for them to sign too. Oo! Maybe they’ll sign-”

Rainbow Dash disappeared into her home again muttering to herself about what to bring and what not to bring on the trip. Connor stood there for several moments waiting for the enthusiastic fan to return from her abode. He instinctively looked down at his left hoof for the time, but realized that he no longer wore a watch. A pang of sadness hit him as he reminisced about his favorite watch and wondered if he would ever get it back when he crossed back over to his world, or if it was gone forever. He shook his head in disapproval. He had moved past that point of depression from homesickness and he was not going to go back down that path again. He needed to look forward.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash opened her front door again now ready to leave. Her saddle bags were a little more full than before she disappeared, but Connor didn’t want to waste any more time asking exactly what she packed.

“Are you good?” Connor asked.

“Yep, let’s go!”

The two pegasi took off into the sky to meet up with the rest of the group. They had a ways to go so Connor decided to use the time to get some more information out of Dash about the trip’s schedule.

“So we are leaving Ponyville by 9:00, right?”

“Yep! We still have some time before everypony leaves so there’s no rush.”

Connor frowned to himself. He preferred to show up to meetings a little early to give himself some wiggle room with time restraints in case any kind of unpredicted hiccups occurred.

“And how is everyone leaving Ponyville?” Connor continued.

“They will be leaving by hot air balloon, but we won’t be leaving with them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin while flying, “I figured this would a perfect opportunity to test your skills with flying all the way from here to Cloudsdale!” She threw her arms in the air like saying ‘Surprise!’.

Connor frowned even more, “Are you sure about this? Does Twilight know about this?”

“No, not yet. But I think she will be cool with it.”

Connor silently threw his arms and eyes to the sky in exasperation. This was going to warrant a fight with Twilight. But he kept quiet about his opinion and continued their flight path to the balloon. The floral print, lavender balloon was not hard to spot as it stood out amongst the shingled and hay roofs. The balloon was still anchored to the ground and near the carriage was a small group of ponies standing around. Connor recognized Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity standing there. As they came within ear shot of everyone, Rainbow Dash and Connor could hear Rarity say, “Well if they don't show up soon, then we are leaving without them.”

“Here we are!” Rainbow Dash shouted to get everpony’s attention. The pegasi landed silently a couple of meters away as Twilight walked up to them.

“There you are! Where were you? It's almost time to leave. If we hurry and board the balloon now we might be able to make it to the stadium in time to find some good seats.” Twilight turned with the assumption of leading them back to balloon but Rainbow stood her ground while Connor waited for her to give the news.

“Actually Twilight, we won't be riding with you.”

Twilight froze in midstep before whipping around to question her statement, “What do you mean 'You won't be riding with us'?”

Connor glanced at Rainbow waiting for her response. He was not going to step in and help Rainbow Dash if Twilight said no to her idea of having the two of them fly all the way to Cloudsdale. He waited patiently and watched as Rainbow prepared her explanation.

“Weelllll, Connor and I will be flying to Cloudsdale for the show. We'll be taking the major airways there.” Connor mentally face hoofed at Dash’s blatant excuse with no explanation. If he ever went against predetermined plans, he would have thought up of several reasons why they should deviate from the plan. He could see the gears turning in Twilight’s brain as she processed what she just heard and how it conflicted with her schedule.

But Twilight jolted herself out of her daze, “Alright then, fine. Let’s hurry and leave before we're too late.”

Connor’s eyes widened slightly in surprise while Rainbow whooped with joy, “Yes! Alright then, we'll see you at the show!”

Rainbow Dash blasted off again leaving a rainbow trail behind her and everypony else standing there. Connor stood there processing Twilight’s acceptance of Rainbow’s idea. But it was already too late to change plans now. He glanced up at Rainbow Dash flying off into the sky before looking back over everypony else and raised a hoof to the side of his head to salute a farewell. He wordlessly turned around and looked to the sky before spreading his wings and pushing off the ground for take off. He flapped a few times before gaining some air under his wings and steadily gained altitude.

Rainbow was waiting above for him to catch up. When Connor joined Rainbow, the two continued to climb higher in the sky. The steady beat of wings and a dull roar of cold air passing by filled Connor’s ears. Even though the seasons were supposedly entering summer time, the air was still chilly as they moved higher in the atmosphere. The familiar sensation of cold air entering his lungs began to burn. His muscles softly burned and told his mind their craving for more oxygen, but he pushed on. Rainbow Dash looked completely fine and unfazed by the changing conditions. In fact, she smiled excitedly as they rose past the clouds and were approaching another layer of white in the blue sky.

Connor looked up at the next cloud layer and could spot specks moving back and forth through the air, but the movement was not random. No, they were organized and followed a particular path as they moved. Connor looked back down at Ponyville trying to create a reference point and figure out where they were. From the direction they took off and where Ponyville sat, this was a new part of the sky Rainbow was leading him to.

Rainbow looked over her left shoulder to shout, “Okay, are you ready? After we pass through this cloud we’re going to hover for a little bit while I explain a few things.”

Connor’s eyes darted curiously between the cloud they were about to fly through and Rainbow Dash herself. What was going to happen when they passed through this cloud that Rainbow needed to pause to explain things to him? He focused his eyes forward again and let the white abyss surround him as Connor entered the cloud. His vision reduced to less than a meter in front of him, but his equilibrium told him he was still heading up and his ears said that Rainbow Dash was still close by. He remained in this white out condition for a couple of seconds before bursting through on the other side.

Several things bombarded his senses when Connor passed through the cloud. He quickly spotted Rainbow Dash hovering a few feet away from him but movement overhead attracted his attention. About thirty meters above them was a sea of multicolored pegasi flying back and forth. Most of the pegasi were carrying nothing on them; many of them had their own pair of saddle bags strapped to their sides; a couple of larger ponies were hauling trailers behind them and Connor even spotted a team of ponies pulling a crate as large as a semi-truck through the air off in the distance.

The second thing he noticed was the air he was breathing. Somehow, Connor felt like he was breathing normally as if he was on the ground; like the oxygen levels had reset itself and defaulted back to ground levels of saturation. The air no longer burned at his lungs like a smoldering fire. On top of that, the air felt warmer above the cloud. But Connor came to the logical conclusion of the sun being unblocked by clouds so the air was under the full blast of the sun’s heat.

But then his ears finally picked up the sudden shock of noise coming from overhead. It was like standing next to a small pile of generators all running at the same time. It wasn’t loud enough to do serious damage to hearing, but loud enough that if you wanted to have a conversation you had to shout over the noise. It surprised Connor so many ponies could make so much noise despite flying being a near silent task.

“What is this?” Connor shouted over the noise.

“This is called a major airway. They’re sort of like roads in the sky pegasi can fly on to travel long distances. Thanks to pegasi engineering, we’ve been able to develop these airways to speed up travel across Equestria. Instead of taking a few days to move from one end of the kingdom to the other, it only takes a day or two at most; that includes a few stops here and there for breaks,” Rainbow spread an arm across the sky displaying the airway in its full glory before continuing.

“Because pegasi would be traveling across huge distances, they needed to develop magic spells that altered the air around major airways allowing pegasi to survive traveling it without passing out from exhaustion.” Connor stared at the major airway above with the hundreds and hundreds of ponies using it. These atmospheric altering spells could be the reason why he felt like he was breathing normally on the ground even though he was several thousand feet in the air. More questions arose from his mind and he blurted out the first one that came, “So do these airways move around at all or are they fixed roads like on the ground?”

“Kind of,” Rainbow struggled with choosing her next words to best explain her answer, “They sort of move around a little bit when Cloudsdale moves to different cities. But generally speaking, they stay in place.”

“Okay, are these airways labeled or do you fly by cardinal direction?” Connor asked the next question on his list.

“Uum, I’m not sure what card-in-all direction is, but all airways are labeled with a letter and numbers. This one right here is I-668. The ‘I’ stands for ‘Intercity’ meaning this airway is used for traveling between cities in Equestria. There are others like C-86; the ‘C’ stands for ‘Cross-Continental’, but you don’t have to worry about those yet.”

“Oh, so they’re like freeways; okay I get it now,” Connor cast his eyes to the airway again and watched as the pegasi flew by. Rainbow gave Connor a strange look but shrugged her shoulders and let him be. If Connor could understand airways in his own terms, then she didn’t want to change it.

“Come on, we need to get moving if we want to get to the Wonderbolts show on time. And we don’t want to be late with Twilight’s schedule; she can get really mean when things don’t go according to plan.” Rainbow pushed hard out of her hover inviting him to follow after her.

Connor followed suit and fell in behind Rainbow again. They flew a ways higher until they were right underneath the airway. Rainbow banked right and adjusted here trajectory to match that of the flow of traffic. Connor followed after her adjusting his own flight path like her. She sped up and matched the speeds of traffic while Connor nervously sped up after her. Dash looked back over her left shoulder to make sure he was still there and motioned him to hurry up.

This was the first time Connor flew with so many pegasi at once so it was a little intimidating. In addition, he now had to worry about three dimensional traffic instead of a moving two dimensional grid of cars to maneuver around. But he gulped down his fear and focused on how Rainbow flew in the middle of the swarm and tried to mimic it. After a couple of minutes Connor became comfortable enough to relax a little from his focused state and look around.

Dozens of ponies of every color were flying all around him. Burly brown and gray stallions tugged at heavy loads being towed behind them. Families were cheerfully playing in the passing clouds as parents consulted each other with planning their next rest stop. Buddies and friends waved to each other as they passed on opposite sides of airway traveling in different directions. A few ponies they passed were stopped on the clouds nearby taking breaks and watching the traffic pass by them. When he was done ogling the traffic around him, he started looking at the structure of traffic.

The airways were very similar to their counterparts from Connor’s world. There were two directions for traffic to follow with ‘exits’ sprinkled evenly down either side on the edges of the airways. Connor could make out ‘lanes’ as well. Connor and Rainbow Dash were currently flying in the middle lane and there were about two other lanes on either side of them. The slower flying ponies like those towing containers or families flying at a slower rate to keep the kids from screaming, “Too fast!” flew more towards the right hand side of airway. Other ponies who were in more of a hurry or felt like the flow of traffic was moving too slow for them flew more towards the left hand side of the airway.

After looking to his left and right, Connor looked up and down to see the lanes were tripled with duplicates stacked above and below the center layer of traffic. There was less traffic on these different layers, but the rules still applied in the same way as it did on the center layer. Connor noticed at this point that ponies flew on the right hand side of airways like cars drove on the right hand side of roads; minus having to worry about what was above and below them at all times.

“Well, what do you think?” Rainbow slowed down enough to fly alongside Connor and speak with him.

“It’s a little nerve racking having to worry about what is above and below when I’m flying, but it’s pretty cool,” Connor let a small goofy grin cross his lips as he looked over at Rainbow Dash.

“Great! All we have to do is follow this airway all the way to Cloudsdale and we’ll be there in no time flat!” Rainbow did a quick flip expressing her excitement.

Connor smiled and turned back to the road ahead of him. The pair fell silent as they flew towards Cloudsdale. They occasionally switched lanes to get around slower traffic and even moved up and down to the different layers of traffic. Connor was content with flying silently as they made their way towards Cloudsdale, but Rainbow Dash was becoming bored with the mundane tasks of flying in traffic. She would groan loudly when they got stuck behind slow moving traffic or would switch lanes or layers more aggressively. Connor was picking up on Dash’s boredom and was hoping that she would simmer down and simply accept flying quietly. He should have known better than to hope for that.

“Hey Connor!” Rainbow shouted over him, “Want to play a game?”

Connor made a shoulder check over his right before switching lanes to Rainbow, “What kind of game?” he gave his signature slightly disapproving and cautious frown wary of what Rainbow was about to request.

“Oh don’t give me that look; you can trust me. It’s nothing bad or anything, I promise,” Rainbow criticized but Connor still gave a wary look.

“What kind of game?” he repeated.

“Well instead of just flying around in this boring way, how about we make things more exciting by seeing who is the better flier in traffic by chasing each other?” Rainbow put on her best salespony face while Connor considered her offer.

“See who is the better flier in traffic?” he thought to himself, “Chasing each othe- oh, I see what kind of game she wants to play.”

“So you want to play a game of ‘Cat and Mouse’ in a tripled layered, five lane, major freeway; is that it?” Connor explained to see if he was understanding Dash correctly.

“A game of ‘Cat and Mouse’? Yeah, I guess that would be a good name for it. Yeah! I want to play a game of ‘Cat and Mouse’! That way, this trip won’t be so boring!” Joy played across Rainbow’s face.

Connor paused in his response. His first answer was to shoot the idea down as quickly as possible before one of them got hurt; particularly him. This was his first time dealing with three dimensional traffic and he didn’t want to take any risks. However, it would be hypocritical of him if he said ‘No’ because he had played in traffic plenty of times before on his sports bike in his world. Connor had bobbed, weaved, and split lanes by himself and with other riders as they played on the highway at the risk of serious injury and property damage.

He looked back at the traffic in front of him and sat on the idea of weaving in and out of ponies like a motorcycle. His racing eyes started mapping out openings, obstacles, and shortcuts in an attempt to find the fastest and most efficient route possible through the traffic.

“As long as I keep the mindset of a motorcyclist on the road and keep switching traffic layers to a minimal, I should be fine,” Connor looked back at Rainbow, “Okay, I’m game,” he reluctantly answered.

“Yes! Are you ready?”

Connor reached back and tightened the strap on his bag making sure it was safely secured, “This is going to be a baaad idea,” he remarked in his head, “Yeah, let’s go.”

[you know what this calls for? another song! let's hit it!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yr1-BBMaMA

Rainbow sped up to overtaking speeds followed by Connor speeding up as well. Connor’s eyes progressively scanned ahead of him looking for the easiest route. His flight path through traffic no longer moved like on a grid. It flowed and curved and bent around the traffic. He slipped through a gap between a crate and a pony as he switched lanes to get around them. The move had presented him with the reward of an open road which he gladly took. He flapped harder gaining more speed as things blurred passed him.

Rainbow had found her own little stretch of open road to fly down and it had turned into a drag race between Connor and Rainbow Dash. Connor’s competitive side took over and he grinned at the chance to go head-to-head with her again. This was definitely a more exciting way of traveling down the road. But their drag race was running out of road and they would be forced to slow down. Rainbow was the first to throw on the brakes and switched to the upper layer of traffic hoping to find better luck.

Connor spotted a mare and stallion flying side by side sharing the lane in front of him. He looked to the left and right of the couple hoping to spot a larger opening for him to fly down and avoid a collision with them. But the only space he could see was a narrow gap between the two. As a motorcyclist, he had split cars at highway speeds before with little room to maneuver. But this gap was too small for a motorcycle to fit through; but maybe his wings could slip through the gap. It would be a tight squeeze, but if he timed it right he could fly knife edge between the two ponies and keep flying forward. He would have to be fast; so fast that the couple wouldn’t have time to react and force him to over-correct for their panic.

He increased his elevation just slightly so his body would be above the two mares. Connor flapped harder and tucked his arms flat against his sides to reduce drag. The couple was only a few car lengths ahead and it would take too long to throw out the anchors now and stop from crashing. He snapped to flying knife edge and used his tail like a rudder to adjust drops in elevation.

~~~

The mare smiled kindly at the stallion flying next to her, but inside she was groaning. This pony had been hitting on her for the last three minutes and was no longer impressed by him. He had been bragging about his Wonderbolts tryout and how he was hand picked by the Wonderbolts for their tryouts. It was funny at first because she had seen the way he flew when he approached her and thought his bragging was him joking around and goofing off. But after a minute and a half she realized that he was being serious in trying to woo her with his lies of trying out for the Wonderbolts and being an amazing flier. Suddenly, a roar of wind blasted between them and a faded blue and blonde yellow streak rocketed passed and blocked her view from the pony she was looking at and hoping would go away. She yelped in fright and fluttered around in terror trying to avoid the missile that almost hit her. She traced the streak in front of her to find the cause of it and spotted a blue Pegasus in a full tucked position speeding down the major airway with a rainbow colored streak over head following its path. She searched for the bragging pony earlier to confirm what she just saw, but couldn’t find him. She looked behind her and spotted him still floundering in the air like a fish out of water before crashing softly in a white fluffy cloud. She frowned disapprovingly at the pathetic poser that just crashed landed, “So much for being a Wonderbolt candidate.”

~~~

Connor only had inches to spare as he passed between the two ponies. He could only focus on them for so long before he had to look forward again and search for the next obstacle. Since he didn’t feel any impacts along his wing, he assumed he made it through the gap with no contact and no injuries. But traffic was becoming awful ahead and he needed to switch traffic layers. A rainbow streak overhead caught his attention and recognized it as Rainbow Dash. He pulled back and rolled over going inverted as he rose the top layer of traffic before rolling back over and chasing after Rainbow Dash.

The traffic on the top layer was less than the middle layer and the ponies were evenly spaced out amongst the five lanes. This made flying in and out of traffic lanes easier and more fun as Connor chased after the rainbow mane of his instructor. Rainbow threw a glance over her left shoulder to spot Connor and flashed a grin before joining in on weaving in and out of traffic. this game of ‘Cat and Mouse’ went on for several minutes as they threaded their way in, out, and between the fifteen lanes of traffic. They sped past dozens of shocked, surprised, startled, and angry ponies. Some tried to cut them off in an attempt to stop their risky game, but Rainbow Dash was too fast to get in front of her and Connor was too quick to block him.

Near the end of the game Rainbow had taken to just flying as fast as possible down the long straight-a-ways to stay in front. Rainbow wasn’t as maneuverable as Connor was so she couldn’t keep up with him by dodging traffic like he could. Connor actually got to enjoy being in the lead for a while as Rainbow fell farther and farther behind, but once a lane cleared up Rainbow took full advantage to power past him. Connor couldn’t keep up with her pace while filtering between ponies, so he was forced to follow her and hope that he could catch a draft behind her and not fall too far behind.

It became apparent that Rainbow was the victor yet again in this game of speed when Connor could no longer stay with her and slowed down to match traffic speeds. Connor panted and gasped for air from the bout he had against Rainbow Dash. Both had their moments of glory throughout the chase, but Connor still had a long way to go before he could beat Rainbow Dash.

When Dash finally noticed that Connor was no longer behind her, she whooped with joy and slowed down to wait for him to catch up. She fell in line on Connor’s left side panting and smiling at the fun they made. Rainbow opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but Connor noticed her eyes flick behind them. Her eyes filled with fear and before she said anything, Rainbow Dash rolled over and went into an inverted dive leaving Connor hanging and confused at the sudden bail.

Connor craned his neck over his left to have a look at what spooked Rainbow Dash. Behind him were a pair of gray ponies wearing similar dark blue outfits and hats. Both ponies had black utility belts on and one of the hats had a red light flashing on top.

“PULL OVER!” one of the ponies shouted.

“LAND ON THE NEAREST CLOUD NOW!!” the other one added.

Confused with the demands, Connor followed the orders wanting to know what was wrong. He looked around and found a nice small cloud to land on. He exited the airway and glided over to the cloud and landed with a soft touch down. He turned around to face the two ponies with confusion written across his face, but in his mind a sense of dread was slowly washing over.

When the two gray ponies landed, Connor could get a good look at both of them. Both ponies were male, somewhere around middle aged if Connor guessed right. They had gray coats and matching blue uniforms. One had golden blonde hair and tail while the other one had black hair and tail. Connor could also make out two names on both uniforms: Officer Star Sky and Officer Clutch Kick.

“Officer?” Connor thought to himself. He didn’t want to make any conclusions about who these ponies were just yet, but this new information did raise his sense of doom building inside him.

The black haired pony stepped forward, “Son, do you know how fast you were goin’?” he spoke with a New Yorker accent as his voice lowered to a dark tone.

“How fast I was going? No.”

“You were going 120 flaps per hour, kid,” the blonde haired stallion spoke with a more intellectual manner and had stepped forward to join his partner.

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry sir, I didn’- wait, what?” Connor was about to try and talk himself out of this mess, but the pony had said something that confused him greatly.

“You were traveling 120 flaps in a 60 flaps per hour zone!” the black pony shouted.

“Huh?”

The blonde pony pointed out into the blue sky for Connor to look. Way off in the distance, Connor picked out a cluster of red balloons in the air with something dangling underneath it. He squinted and saw what was actually hanging in midair was a sign slowly rotating in the wind. The sign rotated around and had ‘60 FPH’ inscribed on it. The gears slowly churned inside Connor’s head as he tried to figure out what he was seeing. They moved one tick at a time before it finally clicked in his head.

“Wait a minute! Are you tell me, that this world, that you guys, actually have speeding laws?!” Connor was grinning widely, excited for the answer the ponies were about to give him and hoping it would be a good answer.

“Of course, all-” the blonde pony started before was cut off by Connor laughing whole heartedly at his answer. It wasn’t that Connor was laughing at him, he was just laughing at the ridiculous chances that this pony world would have something like speeding laws.

The black haired pony was not taking kindly to Connor’s laughing and pushed forward, “Alright kid, I wanna to see you’re flier’s license and proof of insurance.”

“Wait, this world also has departments of licensing and insurance companies, too?!” Connor threw his head back in another fit of laughter and was clutching his side in pain from laughing so hard.

The two ponies were taken aback from Connor’s response. Usually when Officer Clutch Kick started putting on the pressure, their suspects would start to crack under his demands. He glanced at his partner, Officer Star Sky, for some help but he was just as confused.

Connor could barely contain himself from falling over with laughter. This was too perfect. The possibility of this world having something like insurance was hysterical to him. But his mind didn’t stop there. What if other similarities crossed over from his world to this one? He needed to find out now.

“Wait, wait, wait, let me guess. Do-do you also sometimes hand out DUI’s too? Oh wait, that’s driving under the influence. So flying… Do you hand out FUI’s? Flying under the influence?!” he finally got out through his giggles.

The ponies stared at him weirdly before the blonde one finally answered, “On occasion, yes.”

Connor almost lost it completely there. He was bent forward on his knees holding his stomach as he hollered.

The black haired cop was getting fed up with being made a laughing stock and he took a step forward, “Alright! That’s enough! Get up, you. You’re comin’ with us!”

“Wait hang on!” Connor pleaded, “I got a few more questions!”

He searched his mind as quickly as he could through his laughter looking for something else to ask. He looked for any other similar things that he could possibly ask the cops that were frowning and grumbling above him.

He eventually settled on one item, “Wait, hang on. Okay, here’s my question. Is there a city called…” he frantically searched around his head for a famous city he could ask about, “Uuh, is there a city called Manhattan?”

“Are you talking about Manehattan?” the blonde pony cop asked.

“No, Manhattan.”

“Yeah, Manehattan.”

Connor paused with analyzing what he was hearing before grinning even more (if that was even possible) and asked about another city.

“What about Las Vegas?”

“You mean Las Pegasus, the gambling city, right?”

“And Philadelphia?”

“It’s pronounced ‘Fillidelphia’.”

“How about California?”

“Coltifornia?”

Connor was rolling around on the cloud laughing in hysteria by this point. He even came close to falling off the little cloud a couple of times as he rolled back and forth. Both the cops were now disgruntled and unhappy with being laughed at, including the courteous blonde haired one. The blacked haired cop was now fed up and was pulling out his hoof cuffs to slap on Connor.

“That’s it! You’re comin’ with us!” officer Clutch Kick shouted.

“Wait! I’ve got one last question! How about ‘The United States of America’?”

“Are you stupid or what?!” the black haired cop asked, “Didn’t you learn anything in school or did you just sleep your way through it? And besides, it’s called ‘The United Stallions of A-mare-cia’.”

Connor was on his back kicking his hind legs in laughter at the cop’s answer when the cuffs were finally slapped on his forelegs.

“Oh come on,” he pleaded again, “We were having so much fun!”

“You’re under arrest for flying without a license, flying without insurance, excessive speeding, reckless flying, endangerment of other ponies and property, evading law enforcement, and I bet you’re probably under the influence of somethin’ once we test you!” officer Star Sky bellowed over Connor’s complaint. A second pair of hoof cuffs were used to chain the first pair of hoof cuffs on Connor to officer Star Sky’s foreleg to make sure Connor didn’t try to run off again.

“Come on! Get up, you!” he shouted again and Connor complied, giggling all the way as he climbed back up to his hooves. Connor knew this situation sucked and that he was in big trouble if these two ponies were cops, but the knowledge of remnants of his world also existed in this world and were ponified versions of them was too funny to him.

The two cops turned and were preparing to take off and haul Connor back the precinct when a fourth voice yelled out, “Officers! Wait!”

Officer Star Sky, officer Clutch Kick, and Connor looked up to see the lavender princess of friendship approaching the scene. She landed as gracefully as possible while the two officers quickly took a knee and bowed at the presence of Twilight. Connor stared in confusion at Twilight being there, but he was thankful for the help nonetheless.

The blonde cop, officer Clutch Kick, spoke up to greet her, “Your highness! Uh, how are you this fine day?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Twilight politely nodded to the officer before looking over the scenario displayed in front of her. Connor watched her eyes move between looking at the cops bowing before her, him, and the hoof cuffs connecting him to the police. Officer Star Sky glanced out of the corner of his eye and spotted Connor not showing proper respect to the princess and snapped.

“What d’you think you’re doin’, kid!? Show some proper respect for the princess!” he got up and was about to make out a strike which did not cause Connor to flinch like he intended for. Instead, Connor narrowed his gaze and dropped his chin in preparation to defend himself while darting back and forth looking at the officer and Twilight.

“Uh, officer! It’s okay. You don’t need to do that,” Twilight raised a hoof in worried protest hoping not to make matters worse.

“But princess!” the officer objected, “This pony didn’t acknowledge your authority and is treatin’ you like he’s your equal! I can’t stand for that!” Officer Star Sky’s accent was coming out in full force through his speech as he tried to justify disciplining Connor.

“Officer! It’s okay,” she repeated, “You don’t need to worry about that. I would like to know what is going on here.”

“Ah! I would be happy to explain, princess!” officer Star Sky said with pride, “We caught this ‘ere hooligan breaking the law!”

“What my partner means to say, princess,” officer Clutch Kick corrected, “Is that we apprehended this pony for excessive speeding, reckless and dangerous flying, and flying without the proper credentials.”

“That, and we think he might be under the influence of somethin’. He’s been cackling like a grass hyena the entire time we’ve had him detained,” the black haired cop added.

“Oh, uhh, mmm,” Twilight muttered to herself and scrunching her face up trying to come up with the right words to say next, “Uuhhhmmmm, officers, you wouldn’t mind letting him go for me, would you?”

Twilight’s request stunned the officers. Obviously they have never been asked to release a felony pony on the spot after slapping hoof cuffs on them. Usually, the pair were congratulated on another successful arrest and for upholding the law. The cops glanced at each other with dismay. A silent conversation happened between the two cops before turning back to Twilight.

“Um, your highness,” officer Clutch Kick started, “Please forgive me for being rude, but this pony has broken the law and needs to be judged and punished for breaking such rules.”

“I-I understand. And what I am asking is that you let him go and pardon his crimes, just this once. I will personally make sure that he is punished rightfully so and all who may be involved.”

The cops glanced at each other again, “Are you sure about this, your highness?” officer Star Sky asked.

“Yes, I am positive.”

The officers threw strained looks at each other before setting to work on undoing the binds. This was the first time they had been overruled by a princess and they did not take kindly to letting a valid criminal walk free without even a fine. There was a soft click and the shackles fell off Connor’s legs. He looked down at the metal bands and shook his legs free of the feeling of being imprisoned. He looked up at the cops who were glaring at him.

“You’re lucky you have a princess to bail you out. Otherwise, I would have locked you up and thrown away the key,” the black haired cop growled under his breath.

“Thanks, I’ll be seeing you around too,” Connor smirked.

He walked over to Twilight who was putting on a fake smile and trying to hide her frustration for Connor.

“Well, good day to you princess,” the blonde haired cop bowed respectfully before both officers took off from the cloud to resume their patrol, leaving Twilight and Connor on the small cloud. They watched the blue uniformed ponies go while Twilight maintained her false smile. They waited until the ponies were out of earshot of them before she rounded on Connor with frustration and worry and yelled, “What did you do?!”

Connor jumped back in alarm from the outburst. He wasn’t sure exactly how to answer the question because he was still coming to grasps with the situation himself. But Twilight had yet to do him wrong so he figured what harm would there be if he told the true?

“I-I don’t know!” he yelled back with surprise and worry in his voice, “Rainbow and I were flying around down this airway when she just bailed on me! I didn’t figure out why she took off until I was already detained by those pony cops. But I have to admit, I found it quite funny that this world has speeding laws and D.O.L.’s like in my world,” he chuckled.

“Do you know what kind of trouble you could have been in if the pony police took you away?! If I hadn’t stepped in asked them to let you go, you could have-,” she paused as her brain hooked onto another bit of information Connor had given, “Wait, you said Rainbow left you?”

“Yeah. We were flying around having fun and playing in traffic when she was about to say something, but when she glanced over her shoulder she freaked and disappeared before I could ask what was wrong.” It didn’t hit Connor until Twilight face hoofed that Rainbow Dash had ditched him and left him to deal with the cops while she got off scot free.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash! When I get my hooves on you…!” Twilight shouted to nopony in particular. She huffed and looked at Connor again, “Alright, you and I are heading back to Cloudsdale and we can talk about this later. This time, we are doing the speed limit!” she put extra emphasis on the words ‘Speed Limit’ and Connor understood the message loud and clear.

~~~

The flight to Cloudsdale continued for Connor, but this time he was accompanied by Twilight. Twilight set the pace for flying down major airway I-668 and Connor silently followed. Twilight was still fuming about the situation so Connor kept silent for the rest of the trip.

When they finally arrived at the city, Connor was impressed. And just like every new tourist, he couldn’t stop looking at everything. As they entered the city limits, the buildings were spread out and the roads through the air were less structured. Ponies still flew on the right hand side, but lanes were more open to interpretation. Small homes slowly drifted by and Connor could spot glimpses of families going about their daily business.

As they approached the heart of the city, buildings became more compacted with multistory buildings. Streets formed into a clear grid pattern and traffic laws were more apparent with pegasi stopping at intersections to let others go and the occasional shout of being cut off or blocking somepony or another. Twilight led Connor deeper into the city until they came upon a giant white colosseum. Hundreds of ponies were bustling around trying to get in or needing to get in line to buy tickets. The line at the front gate was massive and must have wrapped around the colosseum. Connor’s hopes fell slightly at the sight of the line thinking that they needed to wait in it before they could get in. but Twilight glided down the front gates where the rest of the group was standing. He was confused as to how everypony who wasn’t a Pegasus was able to walk on clouds without falling through.

As soon as they touched down Connor was swarmed by everypony and bombarded with questions.

“There you are, dear! What took so long?” Rarity asked first.

“We had a few hiccups along the way,” Twilight answered for him.

“What kind of hiccups, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Somepony thought it would be okay to leave Connor alone to deal with the pony police!” Twilight shot daggers over the group at Rainbow Dash who was hanging back behind everypony.

“Wowee zowee! Already?” Pinkie Pie bounced on the cloud road behind Applejack.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy added with wide eyes.

Everypony slowly turned around to face their rainbow haired friend in the middle of kicking at the ground.

“Heh heh, I wonder who that could have been, heh, heh,” Rainbow rubbed behind her head trying to look anywhere and ignore the hot glares she was getting from everypony, “Uh, ahem, I uhh... Okay look; every time I try to practice a new trick, routine, or the sonic rainboom I am constantly hounded and stopped by the pony police in the middle of practice for noise complaints, asking if I have a permit to practice somewhere, or safety concerns for other ponies around me. You have no idea how many times I’ve been stopped and talked to even when I am practicing in the middle of an empty field nowhere near anypony. It drives me nuts and I didn’t want to deal with them today; especially when there is a Wonderbolts show going on.”

“You and Connor were flying dangerously through traffic and could have gotten somepony hurt! The police had every right to stop you two, but you used Connor as a scape goat to escape while he had to deal with them!” Twilight accused.

Rarity gasped in shock, “Rainbow Dash! How could you! I thought you never abandoned friends when they are in need.”

“What do you have to say for yourself,” Applejack said sternly.

“Yeah! What Applejack said!” Pinkie yelled in between bounces; Pinkie was now bouncing about three meters in the air and was still going higher.

“I’m sorry?” Rainbow Dash half apologized.

“Do you have anything to say, Connor?” Twilight glanced over to ask.

Connor took a few steps forward so that he was level with Applejack and Rarity at the front, “I’m more upset that you ditched me without even telling there were cops behind us, but it’s not the first time I’ve had to deal with them. In my world, cops don’t like motorcyclists having too much fun on the road. So I’ve had my share of encounters with cops on the road,” he took a few more steps forward and leaned in so he could whisper in her ear, “but come on Rainbow; give me some more credit. I think we could have lost those cops together without leaving one as bait,” he stepped back and gave a smirk at Rainbow’s wide eyed expression before returning with her own knowing smirk.

She laughed and put a hoof around Connor, “Ha hah! You know what Connor? You’re an alright pony! You’re right, I think we could have done it together!” The tension in the air loosened like a knot being undone and everypony relaxed. Twilight sighed and shook her head exasperatedly while everyone else sighed in relief thankful that the problem was resolved.

“Um, what’s a motorcyclist?” Rainbow asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Connor dismissed with a roll of his eyes. The party let the subject drop and made their way to the front gates. Twilight passed out the tickets Rainbow Dash gave to her for safe keeping to everypony before they went through the ticket booth. Connor waited in line behind Rainbow Dash and in front of Fluttershy as they were ushered through one by one. When it was Connor’s turn to step up to the booth and bored looking Pegasus looked back at him.

“Ticket please,” she said.

Connor lifted his right wing where he was holding his ticket and picked it out with his teeth before setting it down on the counter. The mare took the ticket and tore it in half before giving it back to him.

“Enjoy the show,” she robotically said.

Once he stepped through to the other side, he stopped and looked about the interior. Every single structure surface was made of clouds. It was a blanket of whiteness the blurred together and made it a little difficult to see ledges or stairs. In fact, he would have not noticed that there were stairs leading up to another landing if other ponies weren’t already walking up or down them. He could hear stands filled with excited spectators pouring in from the landing above, all antsy for the demonstration to begin.

The group gathered around Twilight at the foot of the stairs to discuss plans while at the stadium.

“Alright, is everypony here?” Twilight scanned the group to make a quick head count.

“Yes, Twilight. Everypony is here. Can we hurry up and get to our seats now? I don’t want to miss a single second of it!” Rainbow buzzed overhead unable to hold back her enthusiasm.

“Hang on, Rainbow. Does everypony know where our seats are?”

Connor raised his hoof, “I don’t,” he said matter-of-factly.

Rainbow Dash let out a groan while Twilight gave a gentle smile, “Our seats are on the level above us on the east side of the stadium. We are all sitting together, so it won’t be too hard to spot us.”

“Okay, is it alright if I grab some food before we sit down?” he threw a hoof to his side gesturing to some invisible food stands that he wanted to shop at.

“Sure, we’ll go ahead and find our seats while you buy some food. Just remember that the show starts in about thirty minutes, so don’t be late or I think Rainbow Dash will have a problem.” Twilight glanced up at her friend doing the happy dance in the air ready to get moving.

“Alright, see you then,” Connor gave a small wave before climbing the stairs and turning right down the corridor while everypony else walked outside to search for their seats. Connor looked over his should and made a mental note of where he left everyone and where they were headed that way it would be easier to retrace his steps and find everyone again. After walking a ways down the cloud corridor, he turned right again, then left where it opened up on an open aired landing with food stands of every kind lined up down the entire length with periodic hallways that lead back into the stadium and stands and bathrooms.

He slowly perused the food stands looking at anything and everything the ponies were selling. As he walked the line of stands, his mind was drawing up flashbacks to the stadiums he had visited before in his world. The design was quite similar with it being a round stadium with food and concession stands tucked underneath the seats. Connor eventually stopped at one stand and decided to hop in line for food. He stared at the menu that hung overhead depicting what they sold and at what price.

“Carrot dogs, hay burgers, mushroom burgers, onion horse fries, cheesy corn chips, soft drinks… cherry changas?” he read the menu quietly to himself looking for anything that sound good to eat. The few items that he read to himself were only a hand full of items that seemed remotely close to what he might find in his world. Everything else he was not familiar with and didn’t want to take the risk of buying something and finding out that he didn’t like it. So, Connor went with the most basic thing that was on the menu that he thought he could stomach.

“Hello! How may I take your order?” the turquoise and green cashier mare asked with a cheery voice. Connor didn’t realize that the line had been moving forward while he was standing in line and it was now his turn to order.

“Uuh, I’ll take… two carrot dogs,” he blurted out the first item on his list of possibly edible items on the menu.

“Certainly! That will be fourteen bits, please,” the cashier smiled again while scribbling down a few notes on a pad of paper.

“Fourteen bits?! That’s 7 bits for one dog! Geode, the stadium food here is as expensive as it is back home.” He silently lifted the flap to his satchel bag and dug out fourteen bits for the food and dropped them on the counter. The cashier grinned again and took the bits to store in a safe box while she disappeared in the back to place the order. A few minutes later, the food was finally ready. Two hot dog like objects wrapped in aluminum foil were placed on the counter in front of him.

“Thank you, and have a nice day!” she said.

Connor grunted a thanks and scooped the food in his right hoof to hold. He remembered that behind him was a table full of toppings to put on the food and figured he might as well try dressing up his dogs. He took a step backwards and turned to his left to prep his food, but Connor smacked into another pony that was standing behind him.

“Oof!” the pony grunted in pain and a soft splat was heard on the ground. Connor snapped to the food he was carrying and relaxed when he counted two dogs in his arm. He then looked down at the food the fell on the floor. It was a small cardboard tray that was overturned during its decent to the floor. The contents were hidden underneath it, but it was easy to assume that the food was probably ruined. He heard a loud, sad groan and Connor looked up to see the pony that he ran into.

His fur was a very, very pale blue. It was almost white, but with a blue tinge to it. His hair and tail were a dark navy blue like heavy rain clouds on a stormy day. His eyes were an emerald green saddened with seeing his food a mess on the ground. He had a mark on his hip that looked like lightning piercing through stormy night as dark clouds swirled around the lightning.

“Aw maaan! My food!” The pony spoke with a bit of a surfer’s drawl, like those guys on the beach who use the word ‘Dude’ and ‘Narly’ as part of their daily vocabulary.

“This is awful. I’m so hungry right now and the show is about to start,” He continued to look at the mess on the ground while Connor stared at him and the mess.

“Ah shirt, Sorry man. Hey, look, how about you have some of my food to make up for the mess,” Connor offered one of his carrot dogs to the pony hoping it would make things a little better.

“Really? You would do that, for me?” the stallion was watering up with the kindness Connor was showing him.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not that hungry anyways,” Connor tossed a carrot dog to him.

“Thanks!” He ripped the foil off and devoured the dog right there. He slurped and snarfed the food down as Connor flinched from the nearly horrid display of table manners. Connor knew slobs existed in the world and some had terrible manners, but to see it in person was a little disgusting.

The pony finished the dog and wiped his mouth on his hoof before speaking again, “Thanks, man! You’re a life saver!”

“No problem…” Connor put on a fake smile to hide his disgust.

“Well, I’ll see you later at the show. Bye! And thanks again!” The Pegasus flew off down the corridor and disappeared around the bend.

“Good gravy, that was disgusting,” he thought. But his own hunger growled loudly and reminded him that he needed to put garnishes on his carrot dog. But when he looked around again, he noticed that everypony around him was staring at him like he was completely oblivious to what just happened to him. Some had their mouths open while others were glared at him with jealousy.

He stared back at them unsure of how to respond. He decided it would be best to simply leave the area and forget about putting condiments on his dog and eat it plain. After all, his main goal right now was to blend in with the rest of the ponies before going out and looking for attention. He hurriedly walked back the way he came feeling the stares on his back as he passed by the onlookers. It was time to take shelter with the group he came in on and hide from the prying eyes; besides, he could hear noises outside that the show was about to start anyways.

18: Fun in Cloudsdale

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Twilight

The stands rumbled with anticipation as all the fans waited excitedly for the show to start. Twilight smiled vicariously as she watched and listened to all the excited ponies chatter about their world famous stunt team and proud hometown favorite. The Wonderbolts were a shining achievement of the city of Cloudsdale and every Pegasus who once called it home were extremely proud of them; Canterlot can have their princesses and Manehattan could make as much money as they pleased, but Cloudsdale had their Wonderbolts.

Rainbow Dash was bouncing as much as Pinkie Pie in their seats waiting for the show to start while Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity sat contently in their seats. True to Pinkie's word, she had packed everything that may have been needed for the trip including food. Once the six of them had sat down, Pinkie Pie began passing around snacks and drinks from her bag. Twilight politely took a small bag of popcorn and popped a kernel in her mouth. It had the sweet flavor of melted butter and caramel while keeping the mild tang of sea salt on the sides of her tongue.

“Twilight, is it starting yet?” Rainbow asked for the hundredth time.

“For the last time, I don't know! It should be starting any minute now,” she huffed in annoyance.

“Well it better start soon, and where's Connor? If he doesn't show up now, he's going to miss the show!”

“Raindow Dash, please calm down,” Rarity cooed, “I'm sure he is on his way right now to join us. And will you please stop bouncing; it's going to give me a headache just trying to watch you.”

Rainbow Dash let out an agitated sigh and settled down in her seat. Twilight glanced around everypony to see if she could spot Connor trying to find them. She wasn't worried yet, but concern did cross her mind as she wondered where Connor could be. Just then, a faded jeans blue Pegasus with a short, dirty blonde mane stepped out from a corridor off to the left with a wrapped carrot dog in one hoof and looking around for somepony.

“Connor!” Twilight called out and waved a hoof. The stallion looked up and to his right and spotted Twilight and the gang. He trotted over to join everyone and sat next to Twilight on her left.

“There you are! Did you find something to eat?” she asked.

“Yeah, the food is a little weird but I’ll manage. Has the show started yet?”

“Not yet, but it should be starting any second now.”

As soon as Twilight finished her last sentence, the decibel level in the stadium picked up as the crowd cheered for the start of the show. At one end of the stadium, a blue Pegasus with wavy white hair stepped out onto a cloud with a microphone headset on. The crowd roared with joy as the announcer for the Wonderbolts came on the invisible speaker system.

“Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome, to the Cloudsdale Colosseum. It is always a pleasure to see so many fans come out here today from their busy schedules to show support for this show,” the announcer paused to let the thousands of ponies scream and holler with joy, “Without further delay, I wish to present you the reason you've all come here for! They are known all across Equestria as the greatest fliers ever known! They have preformed in every city imaginable, but they still claim Cloudsdale as their favorite,” there was another roar of approval, “They are called, the Wonderbolts! Today we have flying with us: High Winds, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, Soarin, and finally our team captain Spitfire!!!”

“Spitfire, eh? Okay, not bad. Never thought I would hear a name in this world that sounded half decent.” Connor nodded in approval at the announcement of the team captain. As each name was called out, a Pegasus came Soaring out from an opening near where the announcer was standing. Streaks of blue and red smeared the sky above before lining up together to make a few low speed flybys over the stands. The crowds screamed and cheered as the fliers passed over their fans waving as they went by. Twilight cheered and threw her hooves in the air as the Wonderbolts went by, but it was nothing compared to her friend, Rainbow Dash. She whooped and hollered with all her might while Applejack let out a 'Yee-haw!' next to her. Rarity was in the middle of stopping Pinkie Pie fire her celebratory party cannon and Fluttershy let out a quiet 'Woo-hoo'.

The team of five waved and saluted thanking their fans for their love and support before flying off to start their demonstration.

They started off easy with synchronized flying formations and high speed passes to get the crowd riled up. The Wonderbolts formed a flying 'V' formation over head to show off their coordination and teamwork as they seamlessly flowed between switching formations. They flew single file, diamond, circles, and other shapes and patterns that Twilight and Rainbow could name off.

Soon, they broke off to make single fly-bys over the crowd coming feet within crashing but pulling up at the last second. The mares and foals screeched in fright while the stallions yelled in surprise before coming back to shout appraisals. Twilight yelped in surprise as fleetfoot dove for them before yanking back and flashing a grin. Connor didn’t yell, but he did duck a little from reflex. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hadn't flinched at all while Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity nearly dove for the floor.

The Wonderbolts returned to formation to begin the next phase in the routine. The trails behind each member lengthened as the Wonderbolts sped up to draw patterns in the vast blue canvas. Lights danced across the sky and across Twilight's eyes as she stared up in awe at the beautiful designs made by the Wonderbolts. Flourish patterns drew themselves across a blue background only to turn around to meet itself back at its origin and explode in a shower of sparks and explosions. The fans oo-ed and ah-ed at the display of pretty lights before the Wonderbolts transitioned to the next routine.

The Wonderbolts continued on with more fantastic demonstrations of speed and skill before the announcer came back on the speaker system.

“And now, please hold your applause for today's grand finale! It is a new routine the Wonderbolts have just completed and have dubbed it, 'The Explosive Cyclone'!”

The hoard of ponies roared in excitement and in anticipation of being the first city to see the newly created stunt. Everypony hushed their neighbors and gazed wide eyed up at the Wonderbolts reforming a single horizontal line in preparation of their last trick of the day. The team flew back into the stadium and banked to fly in a counterclockwise fashion. Slowly they gained speed, flying faster and faster around the outskirts of the field. The team had rolled far enough to be flying knife edge around the Colosseum. The wind whipped by the seats and blew food and drinks everywhere including Twilight's popcorn.

As the Wonderbolts flew, those flying closest to the ground began to tighten their turns around the Colosseum. The process continued all the way up except for the last member. Slowly, wisps of cloud began forming inside of the funnel being carved out by the Wonderbolts. The clouds swirled and churned faster until it was a solid wall of dark gray storm clouds rumbling around inside. The Wonderbolts were forming a twister inside of their cone. The stunt ponies were still maintaining their perfect line positions while this natural disaster monster came to life and demanded to be unleashed. But they held firm against the torrent of the uncontrollable, ferocious twister. They held the twister in it's pony-made prison for a few seconds while the crowd clapped and cheered to express their amazement. After the crowd died down, it was time to finish off the beast they had created.

One by one, the Wonderbolts broke off from the line to dive down into the belly of the twister. The first pony to go was the one closest to the rim of the cyclone. After that, the next closest one followed after their team member and the process continued until all members were inside the tornado. Their was a moment of suspense as every pony held their breath waiting for the Wonderbolts to appear. The twister wobbled a little bit and everypony gasped with uncertainty. Were they alright? The cyclone bubbled again and flashes of light could be seen and heard from the inside.

Suddenly, the tornado began to collapse in on itself and a few screams could be heard from the stands. Rainbow yelled in horror and looked ready to jump out of her seat to save her idols once again, but Twilight reached out and tugged at Dash with her magic to ease her friend. The tornado continued to collapse until it formed a sphere before bursting into a huge explosion. Sparks and fireworks rained down from the sky and the Wonderbolts burst forth into the sky from the remains of their twister. The Colosseum roared to life at the triumphant Wonderbolts for putting on another spectacular show.

“Thank you everypony for coming out to the Cloudsdale Colosseum! This concludes the demonstration today. Food, concessions, and souvenirs are located out through the corridors near the outside edges of the stadium as well as bathrooms. There will be a small opportunity to meet today's Wonderbolts as you leave the Colosseum in a few minutes. Thank you, and please have a safe trip home.”

~~~

“THAT! WAS! AWESOME!!!” Rainbow Dash zipped and twirled around in the air above their seats while everypony else was picking up their trash.

“No doubt about it, sugar cube. That was some pret~ty fancy flying,” Applejack agreed as she picked up a soda cup.

“I have to admit, I was impressed,” Connor stated.

“What?! Only a little impressed?! Let me tell you-”

“Okay Rainbow,” Twilight interjected before things got ugly, “We get it. It was a really good show. If we hurry we just might be able to meet the Wonderbolts as we leave the stadium.”

“Oh yeah! Come on everypony, double time! We have to make it to front entrance before the Wonderbolts leave!”

There was a wave of rolled eyes from the group at Dash's command and everypony continued at the same steady pace cleaning up their food before leaving the seats and heading for the exit. Everypony threw some debris in the trash can as the walked out. Connor threw out the foil for his carrot dog and some popcorn kernels. Twilight tossed out her popcorn container and a disposable lid to a plastic cup. Applejack had dumped a small stack of cardboard trays and Rarity disposed of a few straws. Pinkie Pie helped by wiping off their seats before they left leaving them ready for the next spectators to enjoy.

The entrance hall was a crowded mess of Pegasi trying to leave or shake hooves with the Wonderbolts team. Twilight shook her head slightly in disapproval; if she was organizing this, there would be neat lines for ponies who just wanted to leave and those who wanted to meet the Wonderbolts. But she calmed herself; she did not need to add more worry to her life with trying to run the Cloudsdale Colosseum.

The group followed their rainbow maned friend to join the hoard of ponies trying to meet and greet their hometown heroes. Rainbow Dash already had a few items ready for her heroes to sign. The rest stood patiently in line and shared in their friend's excitement to meet the Wonderbolts again in person. Twilight led the group with Applejack and Fluttershy right behind her with Rarity, Connor, and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear.

Eventually, the seven were next in line to speak with the Wonderbolts. Currently, there was the team captain Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin at the meet-and-greet table that was set out for fans to come and visit. Spitfire was standing in the middle of the table with Fleetfoot off to the captain's right and Soarin on Spitfire's left. Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight so she could be face to face with them.

“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire called out in half greeting, half command, “Good to see you again!”

“Thank you, ma'am! It is good to see you too,” Rainbow snapped a salute to captain Spitfire, “I really enjoyed today's show. That last trick was awesome, ma'am.”

“You think so, huh?” Fleetfoot nudged her way in between the captain and Soarin to speak, “Yeah it was a pretty difficult trick when we were making it, but it was no problem for us,” she jabbed a hoof in her chest as she faked a humble brag.

Soarin simply rolled his eyes, “Sure, I’d like to see you hold your flight path at full speed while on the bottom rung of the twister ladder. Hey Rainbow Dash,” he gave a sheepish wave to Rainbow who returned the wave, “Uh, he-hey Soarin.” There was a bit of an awkward silence after that moment as Twilight looked between Soarin and Rainbow who was busy scuffing the ground with her hoof. Was is it possible that Rainbow Dash may be blushing a little right now? No, it was just a trick of the light; but this silence was becoming almost unbearable. If only somepony would break it.

“Hey, aren't you that one pony I gave a carrot dog to before the show?” Connor blurted out.

Okay, maybe not the best way to break the awkwardness.

“Huh?” Soarin looked up and past Rainbow Dash to spot Connor peering between everypony else at the Wonderbolts. Connor parted a path to the front so that everypony could get a better view at him.

“Oh yeah, I remember now. You did give me a carrot dog to me. I just want to say thanks again for it.”

“Oh Soarin, are you bumming food off of fans, now?” Fleetfoot nudged Soarin in the side with a coy grin while Spitfire gave him a disapproving frown.

“No, no, it was my fault,” Connor waved to dispel any suspicions, “I accidentally bumped into him and knocked his food on the floor so I offered to replace it with some of mine.”

“I'll bet you five bits that he ate like a mess!” Fleetfoot pointed at Connor excitedly with the bet.

“Eeh, aah, yeah,” Connor finally admitted. There was a chorus of laughter from Fleetfoot and everypony else with a few chuckles from captain Spitfire. The only ones who weren't laughing was Rainbow Dash and Soarin himself.

“Hey! Knock it off guys!” Rainbow defended from her friends. Rainbow spotted Connor giving her a funny smile and she quickly defended herself, “I-I thought this was supposed to be a team.”

The laughter quieted down and Spitfire turned her attention back to the rest of the group, “So is this the first time everypony has come to one of our shows?”

Everypony including Twilight shook their heads in disagreement. Everyone had, at one point, seen the Wonderbolts preform since the team traveled to almost every city in Equestria; or ponies from nearby towns would travel to the closest town that was hosting the Wonderbolts. The only pony who nodded was Connor.

“Yeah, this is my first time seeing you preform,” Connor said while he nodded slowly.

“Really?” Spitfire took an interest in Connor. A sense of dread crept into Twilight's face as it was unusual that a pony, especially a Pegasus, to have never seen the Wonderbolts preform. Earth ponies and unicorns had to travel by train or walk some distance to see the famous stunt team put on a show, but pegasi could fly anywhere which left little room for excuses.

Twilight feared the captain may become suspicious of Connor for never have seen the Wonderbolts preform and start asking more prying questions as to why he never saw them. But Connor spoke up as Twilight was planning an escape route.

“I've never really set aside enough time to come out and watch you preform as I had other things that had more priority. But I’ve always been a quiet supporter and everypony finally convinced me to come out and watch you guys.”

“What do you mean 'You've always been a quiet supporter'? You've never- ow!” Twilight stepped hard on Rainbow's hoof to stop her mid sentence and glared, “I mean, you've never seen the Wonderbolts before? Wow, gee, who'd of thunk?”

Spitfire's stern, analyzing eyes darted between the three ponies for a second, but relaxed and seemed to drop the subject; much to Twilight's delight.

“Well then, I hoped you enjoyed the show.”

“I did, thank you. And I look forward to meeting you all again,” Connor stepped forward to exchange firm hoof shakes with the three Wonderbolts, “It was nice meeting you, Soarin. And I never quite caught your names.”

“I'm Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts; and this is Fleetfoot,” the two mares shook hooves with Connor, “And what was your name?”

“Connor, nice meeting you. And thanks again for a good show,” he waved goodbye and Twilight took that as a good time to leave. Everypony filed out of the entrance and into the open air of the city streets. There was a pleasant murmur all around them as pegasi talked excitedly amongst each other discussing the show. Twilight and her friends were stopped just a few meters from the Colosseum entrance so they were out of earshot of most ponies.

Rainbow stopped in front of the group and turned to face Twilight and Connor, “What was all that about, Twilight?! And Connor, you've never even heard about the Wonderbolts in your life until you came here! So what was that whole story about you being a 'Quiet supporter' for?” she raised her hooves to form quotation marks in the air when Rainbow Dash said 'Quiet supporter'.

Twilight was the one to answer rainbow first, “Rainbow Dash, we do not need to be spreading around the fact that Connor is not from this world. It's best that we keep that little secret to ourselves for as long as possible.” Rainbow scowled at Twilight who scowled back.

“But that doesn't mean he has to lie about living here,” she pointed an accusing hoof at Connor while still looking at Twilight.

“I didn't lie,” Connor stated which got Dash's attention.

“Yes you did! We all heard it,” she faced Connor again.

“No I didn't. Everything I said was true. Since I’ve come here, I had no time to spare while I was getting... acclimated to living here. And I don’t have to be a raging fanatic to show interest in something; I didn't show that much interest in the Wonderbolts, but I was still interested.”

Rainbow turned her nose up in distaste, “You still didn't have to lie to my favorite team and my superiors.”

“You're just upset that I’m right,” Connor quipped.

“Fluttershy? Honey, is that you? Dear, I think its Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy was the first to turn around to see a older couple standing a couple of meters off to their sides.

“Mother! Father!” Fluttershy ran over to give her parents a hug. Everypony became distracted with the arrival of Fluttershy's parents and began to huddle around the small family reunion. Twilight and Connor stayed back behind everyone to watch the heart-warming exchange of hugs between parents and daughter before talking about how everypony was doing.

Twilight smiled as Fluttershy introduced all her friends and began sharing their adventures over the last few months. Connor stood next to Twilight also smiling which Twilight noticed.

“Wow, are you actually smiling right now?” she jested.

“Hmm? Oh come on, I’m not that much of a hard ash, am I?” Twilight smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, yeah. I am that much of a hard aft, but I can appreciate family reunions. Besides, I’m laughing at Rainbow more than anything else,” Connor's gaze fell over the reunion again and focused on Rainbow who was in the middle of telling the daring tale of when they went to rescue Daring Do.

“Why is that?” Twilight asked with a curious raised brow.

Connor rolled his head to the side to stare at Twilight with a whimsical smile on his face, “Come on, Twilight. You didn't see it when we were talking with the Wonderbolts?”

“See what?” Twilight continued to give him a look of ignorance and bafflement as to what he was implying.

Connor rolled his eyes to the sky and shook his head in disbelief, “Honestly, if you couldn't see the hearts flying everywhere, we need to get your eyes checked.”

“But the eye doctor pony said my vision was fine a few weeks ago.” Twilight watched as Connor slapped his hoof hard against his face and let out a powerful sigh. Twilight still didn't understand what Connor was talking about so she turned to look at her friends finishing up with Fluttershy's parents. They all waved goodbye to her mother and father before rejoining Twilight and Connor.

“Wow Fluttershy, I never thought your parents were like that,” Applejack commented.

“They were really fun! We should invite them to visit Ponyville soon and I can throw them a welcome-to-Ponyville party!”Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly.

Fluttershy politely declined, “Thanks girls, but I think it will be a while before they get some free time from their other hobbies.”

“Well, now that the show is over what should we do with the rest of our time here in Cloudsdale?” Applejack asked everypony.

“How about we go visit the rainbow factory?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Why in Equestria would we want to do that, Pinkie? I’ve already shown you the factory and how rainbows are made,” Rainbow Dash huffed with indignation.

“Yes, and I still need to find a souvenir for Sweetie Belle before we head back to Ponyville,” Rarity touched her chin with a look of worry on her face.

“But I want to go again! You have no idea how long I’ve been training my tongue to handle spicy foods and I want to see if I can taste the rainbow again!”

“Wait, hold on! What's this 'Rainbow factory' that everypony is talking about?” Connor took a step forward upset with disbelief.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that rainbows are made here in Cloudsdale at the weather factory,” Rainbow shrugged at the missed detail.

Connor looked at Twilight incredulously for some answers, but Twilight looked back asking, 'What do you want me to do about it'?

“See? Connor hasn't seen the rainbow factory so this would be a perfect opportunity to show him!”Pinkie Pie bounced at the idea.

“Hmm, I guess we could stop by and take another tour around the weather factory. Rarity can look for something to get Sweetie Belle while we walk there and Rainbow can show everypony how rainbows are made again,” Twilight offered the idea to the group and there was a murmur of agreement.

“Then its settled!” she announced, “We can head over to the weather factory and have some fun touring around again.” Rainbow huffed again and slowly flew in the direction of the weather factory.

“Yeah, I want to see this. There is no way you can simply manufacture a rainbow,” Connor commented as everypony followed after Dash.

~~~

The walk to the weather factory was a pleasant one for Twilight. Everypony was enjoying themselves in Cloudsdale while Rainbow Dash lead them down the many streets. Applejack had found some snacks to try when they passed by a convenience store and was sharing with Fluttershy. Rarity managed to pick up a little figurine of the Wonderbolts captain in a knick knack store a few blocks down the road from the Cloudsdale Colosseum.

Since the Colosseum was moved closer to the city center, the weather factory was only a short distance away. As the group finally approached the factory, old memories came flooding back to Twilight from their first visit to the weather factory from a few years back. Rainbow was competing in the young flier's competition and was experiencing severe cases of stage fright. It didn't help that Twilight's friend, Rarity, had decided to enter in the competition as well when Twilight was first trying to figure out how to get non-pegasi ponies to Cloudsdale without falling through the clouds.

As the weather factory came into full view, Twilight saw pegasi flying in and out of the front doors on a regular basis. A couple ponies were getting off their working shift while others were going in for the start of theirs. Some ponies were hanging out outside the front doors presumably on break.

“Welcome back to the weather factory, everypony!” Rainbow Dash introduced to the group, “You know the drill like last time; once we enter the building, grab a hard hat, a white coat, and a visitor's pass. Once everything is settled, we can begin the tour.” Rainbow Dash flew off to the front door of the weather factory where (Twilight assumed) she would be taking care of the necessary paperwork.

After everypony signed a few documents and put on the proper equipment, Rainbow Dash lead the group through the factory to show how every type of weather was made. They stopped at the cloud vapor machines to explain the process of how clouds were made. Water was poured into the basin at the top where the machine would super heat the water to evaporation before cooling it back down so the water droplets would condense and cling to each other to form a cloud. From that stage, the machine would blast the cloud out with a burst of air so that the next cloud could be made.

Next after the cloud making process, they stopped by the snow flake R&D department to see next winter's snow flakes be hoof-crafted by the pegasi. It was a tedious process and required a steady hoof and attention to detail; something that was too boring for Rainbow Dash in her opinion.

As tour continued, Rainbow explained more and more tidbits of information while they walked down the hallways between different sections dedicated to different parts of weather patterns. Finally, the group stopped in front of large double doors and Rainbow turned around to talk.

“So, what do you think so far?” The question was more directed to Connor than to anypony else in particular.

“It's not bad. So far, everything makes logical sense,” he nodded in deep thought, “I'm still waiting to see this rainbow factory part.”

“Well don't you worry! Behind these doors is where all the rainbows in Equestria are made!” she tapped the large doors behind her while Connor let out a dubious snort.

“Hang on!” Pinkie shouted, “Let me warm up my tongue first!” Everyone stared in odd fascination and repulsiveness as Pinkie Pie manipulated here tongue in ways everypony thought not possible.

After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie finished her tongue exercises and put on a determined look, “Oakahy evfferyponahy, ah'm reaffdy,” she spoke with her tongue still hanging out.

Rainbow pushed open the doors and Twilight's eyes fell upon the rainbow factory. Every color from red to purple fell from waterfalls and pooled into different tubs where each individual color was inspected for imperfections before pouring down another waterfall and disappearing into another section of the rainbow making process. Everypony filled the entrance as they gazed in awe for the second time looking at the amazing process for making such beautiful colors in the sky.

“Alright Pinkie, which color of the rainbow are you going to taste?” Rainbow looked at the different tubs of individual color as she asked Pinkie.

“Red!” pinkie said defiantly. She trotted over to the nearest pool of red and stuck her hoof in it. Everypony watched in slow motion as Pinkie brought her hoof to her mouth to taste the bold red color. Her hoof touched her mouth and she paused. Suddenly, Pinkie shuddered and cringed as her tongue turned rosy red from the heat. Her face contorted in pain as she tried to withstand the spicy onslaught against her tongue, but it was too much for her to handle. She ran out of the room screaming, “WATER!!!!!!”

Everypony laughed at their friend's vain attempt and misfortune against the rainbow. As everypony calmed down, Rainbow dove into explaining more about the process of how rainbows were made. She explained how each color of the rainbow was pulled out and manufactured, but was interrupted mid-sentence from Connor.

“Stop!” he yelled.

Rainbow peered back at the faded blue Pegasus who was glaring angrily again, “What is it this time, Connor? You've been asking so many questions that it's getting annoying!” she snapped.

“I am going to have to call bull-hockey on this whole thing! This whole thing of pulling out colors from the sky is utterly impossible and stupid!” he hollered as Twilight recognized a scientific rant coming.

“What do you mean, 'This whole thing is impossible'?! Weather ponies have been doing this, for like, forever!”

“I'll tell you why! Rainbows only happen when white light reflects off of water droplets in the atmosphere and scatter into the visible light spectrum! Rainbows are literally, made of light! You can't manipulate light like you do with matter! Visible light is just a state of energy, not a state of matter! Whether they are just radio waves, visible color, or gamma rays, they are all just electromagnetic waves at different frequencies and are therefore, not matter but different levels of energy!” Connor fumed as everypony around him was giggling and laughing at his inability to comprehend their world.

“Oh Connor, you are worrying about it too much, dear. Just let it be,” Rarity giggled.

“No!” Connor half yelled, half laughed out as the laughter was becoming contagious, “I will not just let it be! This bull-logni is ridiculous and I am not just going to let it slide by like I don't notice it!”

Twilight caught Applejack sticking her hoof in the red pool like Pinkie and came out with a large hoof-full of the liquid and a devilish grin on her face.

“Connor,” Applejack called.

He turned around at the sound of his name, “Wha- ppphhhffffffssssftttt! Phfst, phfst, phfst! Ah!”

Applejack stuck the hoof full of red rainbow coloring into his mouth and said, “Lasso that mouth shut.”

Everypony laughed, including Twilight, as Connor sputtered, coughed, and spat out the spicy red liquid as it burned his tongue. He bounced around and trotted back and forth trying to cope with the shockingly hot liquid and trying to get it out of his mouth by scraping his tongue or swallowing. They laughed even harder as he found out that swallowing the liquid was even worse than just having it sit in his mouth melting his tongue away.

Pinkie Pie had just returned chugging some water down. When she finished Connor snatched the water and poured it down his mouth.

“Hey! I wasn't done with that!” Pinkie complained.

“Don't worry, Pinkie,” Rainbow explained, “He needs it more than you do right now!”

“Why? What happened? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!”

A few seconds later, Pinkie was on the floor laughing with everyone else. Even Connor was now laughing along side everyone while tears streamed down his face from the heat.

After everypony gave their last 'Ha!', Twilight looked up at a clock on the wall to read the time. It was 8:13 and if they wanted to get home before midnight, they needed to leave now.

“Alright everypony, we should probably head back now so we can head home.”

Everyone chuckled one last time and started filling out.

Connor was the last one in line behind Applejack, “That was mean, Applejack.” Applejack chuckled and threw a grin over her shoulder.

“Come on, you two; lets go.” Twilight spotted Connor's eye twitch, but she ignored it.

They made the long trip back to the front of the weather factory and returned everything they borrowed before rushing over to the hot air balloon landing pad a few blocks away. The sun was setting over the horizon and they only had a few hours left of daylight. Thankfully, the balloon was still there and hadn't returned back to Ponyville. Everyone piled into the carriage and sat down ready to head home. Connor also chose to ride in the balloon as well, against rainbow's protests. So rainbow decided to fly back to Ponyville by herself while everypony else rode the balloon.

The trip back was a calm and pleasant experience. Everypony was talking about the day and laughing at all the things they did. Connor even came into the conversation a few times and put in his two comments, but for the most part he happily listened to the banter between Twilight and her friends.

When the balloon finally touched down in Ponyville, the friends said their farewells and headed back to their homes and their waiting beds. The sun had finally set and most of the populace in Ponyville had turned in for the night. Twilight sighed as the day came to a close and she tiredly walked back to the library. There were a few lights still on which meant spike was probably inside reading one of his comic books. Before Twilight touched the door knob, she heard Connor call out.

“Hey Twilight!” Connor few in and landed on the ground near Twilight, “I've been wanting to ask you; ever since we saw that Wonderbolts show, I’ve been wondering what other kind of moves I could learn for flying. I was hoping if there was any books on flying or aerial maneuvers.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, “Hmm, I think we do have a few books like that. Come on in and I’ll see if I can find them.”

“Thanks.” They entered Twilight's home and she shut the door behind them.

“Spike! I’m home!” she announced.

“Hey Twilight!” Spike bounded down the stairs from the second floor, “How was the Wonderbolts show?”

“It was great. Spike, do you remember where I put that book on basic flight maneuvers for pegasi, again? Connor would like to read it,” Connor waved a hello to Spike.

He waved back before answering again, “Hmm, I think you left it on the desk upstairs. Let me go get it,” Spike dashed off again up the stairs and was back carrying a textbook with writing on the cover that read, 'Basic Flying for Young Pegasi'.

“Here you go,” spike held up the book for Twilight to take in her magic.

“Thanks, now go get ready for bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes, myself.” Spike groaned and trudged back up the stairs trying to stall for more time before he had to go to bed.

Twilight opened the book for Connor and her to read a little while she explained about the book.

“Its a pretty simple book that only explains the basics of flying, but its a good resource to read. I think we also have more advanced books on flying too, somewhere in the library. If you would like to read them, just let me know.”

“Thanks,” Connor took the book in his wings and cradled in front of him to continue reading as he slowly walked over to the table to sit. Twilight let him be while she reshelved a few books that were left out from the night before and grabbed some ink and paper to make up another letter for the Princess.

But when she turned back to look at Connor, he was sitting at the table with his eyes closed and his head slowly bobbing as he nodded off to sleep. Twilight giggled at his sleepy form, but had to wake him because he couldn't sleep in the library. She quietly trotted over to him and prodded him awake.

He jumped and his eyes shot open again before slowly closing again to half lidded eyes. He yawned and rubbed his eyes and asked, “What time is it?”

Twilight looked at a nearby clock, “Its 11:23; its pretty late. Maybe you can come back tomorrow and continue reading then. I’ll make sure to set the book aside for you when you come back, okay?”

“Mmph, yeah; sure, okay then,” he let out another yawn and stood up from his seat, “I'll see you tomorrow then, Twilight.”

Connor tiredly walked to the door and fumbled a few times with the handle, but got it opened in the end.

“Have a good night, Connor!” Twilight called out after him.

“ 'Night!” he called back before the door shut behind him.

Twilight let out her own yawn and stared at the parchment and ink sitting on the writing desk off to her side against the wall. She contemplated if she should write her letter now to the Princess and send it off in the morning, or write the letter in the morning and send it with the rest of her mail. Twilight could hear the calling of her bed, coaxing her to go to sleep and put it off until the morning.

She blearily stared at the desk and let out a small sigh of resignation. If she didn't write it now, she would forget it later and run the risk of being tardy on a report. She still needed to do some work on finding parts for the portal and still needed to prepare for the important pony that would be arriving in Ponyville soon. Maybe she could only write half of the report now and finish later in the morning when she was well rested.

She levitated a quill and dabbed it in the jar of ink before setting it against the paper and began writing.

Author's Notes:

Why did it take me so long to get this chapter out?! Procrastination, that's why; plus it didn't help that my initial outline didn't really cover this part of the story and sort of glazed over it. I knew what I wanted, but again, putting thought onto paper is hard for me.

I would say that this concludes act one as we move into bigger events in the story. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves because shit starts taking off pretty soon.

If you are wondering why I made a comment about Connor's eye twitching, its because that is my que that there is a deleted scene here! Yes! I will be releasing deleted scenes for this story as I continue my journey down the creative path of writing! Look for a second story titled, 'Deleted Scenes' as I will be updating that with crazy outtakes, disturbing twists, and others as we move further along with the story.

I will leave a link here if you would like to check out some of the insanity that happens in my brain while I am writing.

Onto the next chapter!

19: The Seven Day Challenge

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Twilight

Over the next couple of days, Twilight was visited by Connor on a regular basis in the library for reading. He would come in at around late morning or early noon and would read nonstop until closing time. The only times Connor would take a break from reading were to stretch out a few tight muscles from sitting so long or to get some food and drink outside. Twilight didn’t find his presence intrusive or mind him staying so long in the library. In fact, she was happy that Connor was taking so much time to learn about proper flying technique and about their world’s history. He never raised any issues about being unable to read her books so Twilight assumed that Connor was able to understand Equestrian writing.

The day after Twilight and Connor came back from the Wonderbolts show, he spent the entire afternoon reading basic and advance flight patterns, some history texts on the Wonderbolts and its organization, and other noteworthy events about spectacular flying feats. He would occasionally ask Twilight for clarification on some more obscure topics he was reading or ask for a second way of describing something than how it was described in the books, and Twilight was more than happy to help Connor learn more about her world.

The next day Connor spent the first half of the afternoon reading more on flying, but his interest seemed to wane from tiredness or boredom and he began drifting around the library looking at the other available books on her shelves. He would pull a couple of books off the shelves to take them back to his table that he was using and set them down to crack open and begin reading again. Twilight was too focused on other things to notice exactly what books he was pulling off the shelves as she was more concerned with preparing a speech for the new arrival in Ponyville.

On the third day in the afternoon that Connor was in the library, Twilight’s curiosity finally got the better of her. She paused in her writing and set her quill down to look at Connor who was laying on an arrangement of throw pillows set up like a couch and his face buried in a hard backed book.

“Hey Connor,” Twilight called to get his attention, “What are you reading right now?”

He placed a hoof in the book to mark his reading spot before flipping the book closed to read the title, “Daring Do and The Crystal Head,” he replied.

“Really? How do you like it so far?”

“It’s interesting,” he raised his brow and glanced down at the book, “I’m surprised at how similar it is to another famous fictional archeologist I know of from my world; though I think my world only had movies about him and didn’t have any books. It’s still pretty cool, though.”

“Hmm,” Twilight hummed, “I was wondering, how come you aren’t working with Rainbow Dash right now? I thought you and her would still be cloud busting or doing some more flying practice.”

“Rainbow said that the weather schedule was supposed to be a little bit more cloudy right now for the next few days,” Connor answered without looking up from his continued reading of the Daring Do book, “Since we don’t have to break the clouds up as much as before, she’s giving me some time off to relax.”

“Are you enjoying your time off?” Twilight asked.

“Very; I am enjoying the peace and quiet.” Connor took a moment to look Twilight in the eyes before going back to his reading.

Twilight smiled contently and turned back to her speech writing. She was glad to hear Connor was enjoying his time here and was finding things that he could like. Twilight always enjoyed a quiet evening to relax after eventful days and after the full day of traveling to Cloudsdale, saving Connor from the pony police, and touring around Cloudsdale again, she could understand Connor needing some time to relax. Even Twilight took a day off to relax from the stress of protecting Connor and the frustration she felt for Rainbow Dash when she found out about her temporary scape-goating.

The silence returned to the library for a while as Twilight continued writing her speech and Connor continued reading his book. The minutes slowly ticked by as the day went on while Twilight finished writing more of her announcement speech. The mayor had requested Twilight to announce the upcoming arrival of the important pony coming to Ponyville.

A clock in the room struck two o’clock in the afternoon when a knocking was heard at the front of the library followed by an opening and closing of a door. Twilight looked up and spotted Mayor Mare standing there with her usual gentle smile.

“Good afternoon Princess Twilight!” the mayor greeted, “How are you this afternoon?”

“I am doing well, thank you,” Twilight set her quill down on her desk and stood up to face Mayor Mare, “how can I help you?”

The mayor entered deeper into the library so as to be closer to Twilight and not have to shout, “I was just coming by to see if you had finished writing your speech for today’s announcement. I was planning on holding the meeting at 3:00 this afternoon, but if you needed more time I can postpone it to later in the day.”

“Actually,” Twilight’s expression brightened as she glanced over to the writing desk, “I’m almost done! I just have a few more lines to write and then I will be finished; I will be ready to go by 3:00.”

“Excellent!” the mayor shared in Twilight’s good news, “Then I will start gathering everypony in town at 2:30 at town hall for the announcement at 3:00. I will see you then, Princess Twilight!” with her final words, Mayor Mare left the library to begin preparations.

Twilight watched the mayor leave for a little before trying to head back to her desk and continue writing, but Connor spoke up before she could start.

“What was all that about?” he asked.

“Oh, the mayor wants me to give a little speech today for the arrival of an important pony soon,” Twilight made her way and sat back down at her writing desk. There was a slight pause as Twilight finished up the last few words of her speech before Connor spoke again.

“I got that, but what is exactly happening? What’s this whole ‘Announcement’ about?” He set the book that he was reading down to focus his attention on Twilight.

“Well if I told you,” Twilight finished writing and rolled the scroll up before giving Connor a coy grin, “It would ruin the surprise!”

“Oh come on!” Connor whined, “You can’t even tell me anything?”

“Nnope!” Twilight took the scroll in her magic and got up to leave all while holding her head high and her eyes closed, maintaining her coy smile and refusing to give any details.

“Are you sure you can’t tell me anything? I just want to know if this announcement is going to be important enough for me to see.”

“Well if you want to know more about it, then you will just have to come to the town meeting at three o’clock and find out,” Twilight smirked again.

Connor groaned loudly, “Fine! I’ll go and see your little speech!” he said in half play annoyance. He got up and trudged over to follow Twilight out the door while putting on a fake pouting face before smiling again with his crooked smile. Twilight giggled while he passed by and she flicked her tail playfully as she followed after Connor who was heading for the town hall.

~~~

At around 3:00, the area in front of town hall was filled with everypony from Ponyville. Mares and stallions greeted each other again while the foals trotted off to join their friends before being pulled back to stand next to their parents. A soft murmur of confusion fluttered around the crowds as they stood there anxiously. Rumors flowed in and out of the crowd as everypony speculated on what the announcement would be. Many were sure that it was another festival or another town wide party that would be happening. Some thought that Princess Celestia would arriving in Ponyville again while others thought another monster was heading for their homes. A couple of rumors said that the announcement was about the world ending soon, but that idea was quickly laughed off.

At the town hall, a small pedestal sat at the top of the stair case that lead to the large, pink, front doors. Mayor Mare was standing behind the pedestal with a curt smile waiting for the crowd to slowly die down. Twilight was standing a couple of meters off to the right of the mayor waiting patiently for her to begin. At the front of the crowds surrounding the town hall, Twilight could see all her close friends smiling cheerfully; even Connor was standing at the front of the crowd. Although his face was more of a neutral expression then smiling, Twilight could tell he was still a little excited to be there.

The mayor cleared her throat before announcing, “Fillies and Gentlecolts!”

The low rumble of the crowd was quickly hushed by neighbors and all attention was focused to the front.

“I am glad to see everypony here. Today, I would like to announce a special occasion that will happen in one week. For those who have read the newspapers recently, there has been a business pony traveling all over Equestria looking for new and exciting opportunities,” Mayor Mare paused to make sure she had everypony’s attention before continuing, “His name is Richard Sportsen and he has been traveling from city to city looking for new and unique games to become the next big hit. I have invited Princess Twilight Sparkle to elaborate more the subject, so if you would please give your attention and a warm welcome to our princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

Mayor Mare stepped down from the pedestal inviting Twilight to take the spot light. She glanced at all the ponies cheering and looking excited to hear more about this ‘Richard Sportsen’ and how it was going to affect Ponyville. The nervous butterflies started to fill her stomach, but the supportive smiles of her friends and years of presenting research papers and scientific projects to teachers and Princess Celestia quickly pushed the butterflies out. Twilight stepped out onto the pedestal as cheers for Twilight met her ears. She pulled the scroll with her speech written on it out from under her wing and took one last, deep, calming breathe before opening her mouth to speak.

“Thank you. Yes, as Mayor Mare has already stated, the well-known entrepreneur pony Richard Sportsen will be arriving soon in Ponyville; in one week to be exact,” the crowd oohed a little before letting Twilight continue, “As you have heard, Sportsen is looking for a new idea or game to promote as the next big thing in Equestria. He has offered sponsorship and compensation for the winner who presents the best game as well as an invitation to a party at the Canterlot castle.”

The ponies cheered at the prospect of becoming rich and famous as well as a trip to visit the castle in Canterlot. Twilight was thrilled at the enthusiasm shown by the crowd, but she still had a few more details to explain so she waited for the crowd to quiet down again before pushing forward.

“Since the mayor thought it would be a good idea to involve the entire town in this, she has suggested that every pony try to come up with a game to show Mr. Sportsen. Everypony has seven days to create a new idea to present to Mr. Sportsen and on the seventh day we will hold try outs in the Ponyville elementary school sports field when he arrives.”

As Twilight was about to end her speech, Mayor Mare jumped in to add one last detail, “If by some chance one of our Ponyville residents is chosen as the winner, I would like to request the winner, if they would be so generous, to donate some of the winnings to helping fix some of Ponyville’s structures and parks to keep our lovely town beautiful!”

There was another small cheer from the assembly of ponies, but most were too focused on trying to get a head start on developing their new game ideas. Twilight took this opportunity to finish the speech and end the announcement, “Thank you everypony who came out here today. If there are any questions about preparation or the schedule, please do not hesitate to ask mayor mare or myself. Enjoy the rest of your day and good luck to everyone!”

Twilight gazed upon the riled members of Ponyville as they chattered and discussed excitedly with their neighbors or by themselves as each pony tried to quickly think up a game that was both new and unique compared to everypony else. Everyone from young fillies and colts to full fledge adults were talking together to see who’s idea would be the one to be picked by Richard Sportsen. Even Twilight’s friends in the front had their heads bowed in concentration on what to make.

She stepped down from town hall and joined her friends’ circle, “Hi girls! So what did you think of the speech?”

“It was wonderful Twilight,” Fluttershy complimented.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “You’ve got me pumped for this next week! I’ll bet you that I will come up with the most spectacular, most amazing, most awesome game you have ever seen!” Rainbow pumped her hoof into the air in confidence.

“What makes you so sure, sugar cube? What if I get picked as the winner for this little show and tell?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow challenging her Pegasus friend.

“Oh ho ho, oh Applejack,” Rarity chuckled, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t see your game being something that everypony would want to play. Some of us prefer a bit more class and finesse. Why, if I was picked, this would do wonders promoting my fashion lines to the top and even on magazine covers!” Rarity fluttered off into her dreams while everypony else gave her a quizzical look.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so nervou-cited! I don’t know what kind of game to make! Should it be for foals or adults? Do I want music with it or dancing? Do I want pie eating or juggling? I can’t decide!” Pinkie Pie buzzed between acting out her thoughts.

“Calm down Pinkie,” Applejack yelled, “We have a whole seven days to figure it out. That’s plenty of time to get ready before Sportsen arrives.”

“Yeah! Alright everpony, we have a whole week to get ready before Sportsen arrives. So let’s see who can make the best game out of the seven of us! We’re going to have to work extra hard to make the best games this Sportsen guy has ever seen!” Rainbow put her hoof in the center, “Who’s with me?”

Everypony laid their own hoof on top of her’s; everypony except Connor. They looked up at the last member in the circle, “Come on, Connor! This is going to be awesome!” Rainbow pleaded.

“Come on, sugar cube,” Applejack drawled, “Let’s see what you can do with that sharp head of yours.”

“Huh?” Connor looked up out of his daze, “Oh sorry, I was thinking about what kind of game I should make. Yeah, there’s no way I’m going to let this pass by. I want to see what kind of things you ponies can come up with!” He put his hoof on top of the pile in the middle.

Everypony grinned, “That’s the spirit! Now let’s, DO THIS!!” they threw their hooves in the air and they all cheered.

~~~

Somewhere else in Ponyville, a similar cheer was shouted by three distinct fillies.

~~~

Twilight laughed with the rest of her friends, but soon realized a small fact that they overlooked.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash, but I won’t be able to participate in this little competition. I’ll be busy organizing everything and getting ready to welcome Mr. Sportsen to Ponyville, but you can probably help each other out with your games.”

“That’s alright dear, I think we will do just fine for now.” Rarity put a reassuring hoof on Twilight.

Twilight smiled and waved good bye to everypony and left to meet with Mayor Mare for a little bit to discuss preparations for Mr. Sportsen’s arrival and how the show and tell would be held. It was going to be a lot of planning and Twilight could expect a sleepless night and at least one headache over this next week. Even though Twilight was a princess, Ponyville was still her town and she was still the best organizer in Ponyville; her repeated performance of making spring arrive on time during winter wrap up for the last four years was proof of that fact.

This week was going to be a stressful one and she wanted to get a head start on it. So she left for the mayor with plans already forming in her mind.

20: Seven Days of Stress

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Twilight

The day after Twilight’s announcement, Wednesday, Ponyville was surrounded by a constantly buzzing atmosphere as everypony hummed with energy and creative sparks trying to create their own unique game. Ponies were constantly bouncing ideas off of each other or had some quill and paper in front of them to write ideas down. There were a few who were already trying out rough designs of their game, but were repeatedly stopping to make new adjustments or stopping the game all together to try a different one.

Twilight was constantly in motion doing one task or another. The day before, Twilight and Mayor Mare had spent the rest of the afternoon talking and planning the arrival of Richard Sportsen and what was needed at the school field for the show and tell. Their first priority was to inspect the field to make sure it was in excellent condition and ready for whatever kind of demonstration that could happen on the field. Secondly, they needed to make arrangements for food and refreshments during and after the tryouts. Lastly, Twilight and the mayor needed to devise an orderly way that allowed every pony in town to have at least one chance to present to Mr. Sportsen.

All of this needed to happen before Sportsen arrived at the Ponyville train station and Twilight was already starting on the list. Her first stop was the Ponyville elementary school and the sports field behind it. She wanted to make sure that it was in peak condition when tryouts came because Twilight knew that one of the games was going to damage the field; she was half expecting it to be Rainbow Dash’s game.

She slowly trotted up a familiar dirt path as the town slowly faded away behind her and the school house came into view over the crest of the hill. Twilight could hear the cries of children playing behind the school and she smiled softly to herself. She approached the school house and walked around to inspect the field. Behind the elementary school was a large, flat field currently occupied by the school fillies who were out on a recess break.

The children whooped and cheered as they played their games back and forth across the field. There was an ongoing kick ball game in part of the field while others foals played tag with others who weren’t interested in playing kick ball that day. The last of the school children were off playing on the play sets, sliding down the slides and pushing each other on the swing set to see who could go the highest.

Standing near the edge of the field was a maroon red pony with pink highlights in her mane and three smiling dandelions as her cutie mark. Twilight trotted over to join Ms. Cheerilee in watching over the children.

“Good afternoon, Cheerilee!” Twilight greeted as she stopped next to her.

“Princess Twilight! Good to see you today!” Cheerilee took a small bow before standing up again, “How are you? We haven’t seen you here at the school in a while now.”

“I’m doing okay, right now. I’m busy with preparing the town for when Sportsen arrives for the games tryouts.”

“Ah, yes. I was there when you made the announcement,” Cheerilee nodded, “All the school children were so excited when they came in today. Everypony wanted to see what kind of ideas they could come up with to see who could be chosen by Sportsen!” Cheerilee chuckled to herself.

“How are the school fillies? I only get to see some of them in passing and the only ones I really get to talk to are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo during their ‘Twilight time’.” Off in the distance the three fillies Twilight just named came into view with some kind of kite strapped to Scootaloo while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran ahead with rope in their mouths.

Cheerilee chuckled again, “Oh don’t worry, Princess. Eveypony has been doing well with the lessons and have been growing up quite nicely. The crusaders have been causing no more trouble than usual and they still somehow end up with more ideas for their next ‘Adventure’. It’s great to see so much creativity and enthusiasm, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to pull them out of trees or untangle them during recess.”

This time it was Twilight turn to giggle in laughter, “Well it’s good to see that you are always there to help them. Have any of the fillies decided to enter in the show and tell for Sportsen?”

“Actually, yes; almost all of my students wanted to attempt at making a game for Sportsen,” Cheerilee took a moment to stop watching the field and look at Twilight, “In fact, I’ve decided to make a class room project out of it! I’m having everypony in class to try and come up with a new and original game to present to the class at the end of the week. We’re going to have our own little show and tell just like Mr. Sportsen! And the winner of our show and tell is going to receive a little prize.”

“Ooo, what kind of prize is it?” Twilight raised her brow in curiosity.

“Well, I was thinking on a small ice cream party for the class and the winner would get first pick of what ice cream they wanted and get a double serving of their ice cream.”

The two mares giggled together at the perfect idea for a prize. When they finished, Twilight let her attention return to inspect the field. The field was already in pretty good condition; there wasn’t a whole lot of fixing that needed to be done to it. The grass needed to be trimmed a little bit and some patches of dirt could be fixed with a little grass, but the field looked relatively good.

Cheerilee noticed Twilight looking at the field, “Was there anything else you needed, Princess?”

“Well, I really came here to see how the field looked and if any kind of repairs were needed before Sportsen arrives here in Ponyville.”

“Ah, well don’t worry Princess. The groundskeeper is scheduled to mow the grass tomorrow and I will have the school children help out as well with picking up toys and any kind of trash that may be laying around,” Cheerilee smiled with confidence.

“Excellent! Thank you so much Cheerilee,” the school teacher beamed even more from the Princess’s praise, “The only other thing I would like to ask of you is if we can borrow a few cones to mark off lines.”

“Don’t worry Princess Twilight, I am more than willing to help out and lend some of our activity cones to you,” Cheerilee reassured.

“Thank you, then I’ll leave you to the rest of your day. Have a good day Ms. Cheerilee!” Twilight waved good bye as she took off to fly back to Ponyville. Cheerilee waved goodbye before turning back to watch the children; only to gasp and shout, “No Apple Bloom! You can’t fly with a kite like that!” and ran off to stop the crusaders from causing another catastrophe.

~~~

On Thursday, Twilight wanted to take care of getting refreshments available. The easiest drinks that could be procured would be water; there was no making process needed, no mixing time, and if they ran out it was easy to replace. However, Twilight needed something to hold all the water in like a tub or a barrel.

A barrel. Twilight paused in her listening of some ponies asking her to help with deciding whose idea for a game was better than the others. Barrels wouldn’t be too hard to get because the Apple family had plenty of barrels available that were used to hold liquids. In fact, Twilight could ask to use some of the apple cider barrels that were in storage waiting for apple cider season.

“Princess Twilight?”

Twilight refocused her eyes on the two ponies looking at her with concern, “Yes?”

“We were wondering which game you thought was better? Do you think ‘Four Base Relay’ is better, or ‘Hoops and Shoots’ is better?”

“Uhh,” Twilight had been stopped every few steps today by ponies asking if she thought their games were a good idea and it had been impeding progress, “I think both games are good ideas, but only Mr. Sportsen will be able to give a final answer. I’m sorry, but something just came up that I need to take care of; could you excuse me?”

Twilight quickly trotted off leaving the ponies to continue arguing by themselves while she headed for the Apple farm again. Luckily, nopony had stopped Twilight again on her way out of town and her surroundings were quickly replaced with an open field to one side and the apple tree orchard on her other side. When she walked through the front gate of the apple farm, she glanced around looking for Applejack. She brightened when she spotted her putting some hay in the big red barn and quickly closed the distance between her and Applejack.

“Hey Applejack!” The farmer pony stuck her head out from behind the barn doors and smiled.

“Howdy Twilight! How’s it going?”

“It’s a little hectic right now with everypony running around trying to come up with their game ideas,” Twilight gave a tired smile, “Applejack, can I ask of you a favor?”

“Sure Twilight, what do you need?” Applejack shut the barn door behind her and faced Twilight ready to lend a helping hoof.

“Well, I need to borrow a few of your apple cider barrels for next Tuesday when Sportsen arrives for the tryouts.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Cider barrels? Why would you need those? I thought you weren’t competing in the tryouts.”

“I’m not,” Twilight corrected, “I need them for a refreshments stand we are setting up during the tryouts. Mayor Mare and I agreed that it would be a good idea to have snacks and drinks out when it gets hot or when ponies are finished with their presentation during the day.”

“Oh; well then, sure Twilight. You can use a couple of barrels. We store them in the apple cellar just around back. Give me a minute and I’ll go get them.” Applejack headed around the barn with Twilight following behind.

A couple minutes later, Applejack had procured three large, empty barrels for Twilight.

“Thanks Applejack. These will do perfectly for the refreshments stand.”

“Aw shucks, it’s no problem Twilight. If you want, big mac and I can help carry them carry them out to the field for you and help set them up with nozzles for easier serving!”

“Really? Thanks Applejack! I wouldn’t mind the help taking them over to the school house. Each of us can grab one barrel and head over right now.”

“Uh, that’s great Twilight, but…” Twilight paused in her step to pick up her barrel in her magic to stare at her friend, “Before we do that, there’s something I want to ask you first before we take those barrels.”

Twilight looked at Applejack with concern and a hint of worry. Usually Applejack was reluctant to ask for help with a lot of tasks; so when Applejack did ask for help, it was often for something important to her.

“What’s wrong Applejack? Is everything alright?”

“No, everything is fine. I’m doing just fine…”

“Did something happen on the farm? Another bat infestation?”

“No no, it’s not that either. I just don’t want to be too much of a burden for asking this…”

“Well, what seems to be the problem, then?” Twilight was stumped now. If it wasn’t a problem with Applejack and her family or something on the farm, she had no idea what Applejack needed.

“I was just hoping, that maybe, you might be able to give your opinion on the game I’ve come up with!” Applejack said hopefully.

“Really?” Twilight did a double take, “You want my opinion?”

“That’s right! It would mean a lot to me to have an honest opinion from somepony on the outside to tell me what needs improvement.”

“Um, sure; I guess I could do that. What kind of game is it?”

“Now, I don’t want to share too many details about it because I think Rainbow Dash might be trying to steal my idea,” Applejack’s eyes darted around to the nearby trees for possible eavesdroppers, “But let me show you what I have so far. Wait here and I will be right back.”

Applejack galloped off around the barn again, leaving Twilight standing there at the cellar entrance and three large barrels beside it. She stood there awkwardly waiting for Applejack to come back with whatever she was bringing. A few moments later, Applejack came back with three apples bouncing on her back. She stopped in front of Twilight and set the apples down in front of her in a straight line before sitting down on her hind legs.

“Now, I’ve only been able to get the basics down and I’ve sort of have some rules made, but I’m still working on it. Let me show you what I’ve been practicing.”

Applejack scooped up the three apples in her arms and tossed them in the air. The apples collided together in midair and bounced off of each other in different directions. They landed on the ground with a soft thud and rolled around. Applejack scrambled to collect all three apples again in her hooves before returning to sit in front of Twilight again.

“Hang on, let me try that again,” Applejack said while trying to focus on her apples again.

She tried tossing the apples again in the air. This time the apples didn’t bounce off each other and fell back down to the ground while Applejack struggled to catch the apples again and toss them back up. The apples hit the ground again kicking up a small amount of dust. Once again, Applejack quickly collected the fallen apples off the ground to try tossing them up again. She repeated her attempts over and over again leaving a baffled Twilight to decipher exactly what Applejack was trying to do.

On Applejack’s final attempt, one of the apples collided together again and hit Applejack in the head with a noisy bonk.

“Uh, not exactly what I wanted to show but I think I am getting better each time,” Applejack rubbed her head where the apple landed on her, “So what do you think? Be honest, I want to know if something needs to be changed or not.”

Twilight stared in confusion, “Uum, I’m not exactly sure what you were trying to do. Were you trying to juggle the apples?”

“Yes! I was thinking on either adding a few things or changing a few rules I have in mind to make some ideas easier. So what do you think so far?”

“Well,” Twilight gave a pained expression, “Without knowing any details about your game like rules or the main objective to win, there is not much I can comment on.”

Applejack’s head drooped slightly and her eyes fell but Twilight quickly continued, “But I think it seems like a good idea! Keep practicing and I’m sure you will have it ready by the time Sportsen arrives,” Twilight tried to comfort with a forced smile; but like she said before, there wasn’t a lot for her to judge if she didn’t know anything about Applejack’s game.

“Thanks Twilight. I will make sure to keep practicing and try to work out some of the knots in the game too. Now, let me get big mac and we can take those barrels over to the school field.”

Applejack picked up the apples and trotted off to put them away as well as collect her older brother to help Twilight move the barrels. Once everypony had their barrel secured, they made the journey to the school house. They walked in silence with Applejack smiling quietly to herself and Twilight happy that she was getting her barrels. They set the barrels down next to a table that was set aside for the tryouts and the three ponies said their farewells to each other.

~~~

Now that Twilight had barrels to hold water for drinks, she needed to fill the barrels with water. But the barrels were quite large and would take a lot of water to fill them. There were several ways to fill the barrels, all with their pros and cons. The easiest way to would have Rainbow Dash gather a rain cloud to use and fill the barrels there; it wouldn’t require the need for a long hose and it was faster than waiting for the faucet to pump enough water out. So Friday, Twilight set out to finding her weather Pegasus friend for help.

However, it was easier said than done; it took longer than it should have to find Rainbow. Twilight was stopped several times by ponies asking her to judge their less-than-half finished games. A few ponies asked Twilight about the scheduling of tryouts and Twilight was genuinely happy to answer those questions, but they were only few out of the many other questions ponies asked.

Eventually, Twilight spotted Rainbow Dash lying on a cloud over the parks of Ponyville. She had her hooves folded behind her head as she lazily drifted in the air without a care in the world. Twilight stopped just below the cloud and call Rainbow Dash’s name.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted. She got no response.

“Rainbow Dash!!” This time, the cyan Pegasus jolted awake and rolled over to see who was calling her name.

“Oh, hey Twilight! What’s up?”

“I was wondering if I could help me with something for the tryouts.”

Twilight’s friend glided down from her makeshift bed and landed before her, “I don’t know. I’m kind of busy with this whole ‘Making a new game’ thing and I’m in the middle of some very important ‘Making’ business.”

“‘Making’ business??” Twilight thought to herself as she raised a skeptical eyebrow at Rainbow, “But weren’t you just taking a nap on your cloud?”

“Twilight, you should know that greatness comes in mysteriously awesome ways to me. I wasn’t sleeping, I was… planning. Planning what I’m going to do when I win that show and tell with that Sportsen guy.”

“Something to do with the Wonderbolts, I presume,” Twilight mussed to herself.

“Don’t worry your princess head, I’ve got this in the bag,” Dash finished patting her chest with her usual bravado.

“Why should I be worried?” Twilight narrowed her eyes, “I’m not the one trying out for Sportsen. Besides, I just need your help with filling up a few barrels with water.”

Rainbow slowly shook her head, “Sorry Twilight, I need to finish making that game before I run out of time. I want to make extra sure that it’s the most awesome game out of everyone else’s game. But if you do a little something for me, I might be willing to do a little something for you,” she leaned closer to Twilight offering the deal.

Twilight gave an upset huff, “Fine, what do you need me to do?”

“Relax Twilight, it’s nothing hard. I just want you to tell me what you think about my game that I have made.”

“That’s it?” Twilight raised her brow in surprise.

“Yeah! I told you that it wasn’t hard.” Rainbow grinned at the prospect of Twilight helping her out.

“Hey Twilight!”

Twilight turned looking for who had called her name to see Connor, of all ponies, approaching them.

“Hi Connor, how are you?”

“I’m doing fine. Listen, I was wondering if I could borrow Spike for a little bit; is that alright?”

Twilight tilted her head a little in curiosity, “Sure, he’s in the library right now. What do you need him for?”

“I was going to have him help me write a few things down for me, that’s all. It’s for the game that I have in mind.”

“All right then,” Twilight nodded in understanding, “Good luck with your game!”

“Thanks, I’ll see you later!” Connor waved goodbye and he trotted off back into town.

With Connor gone, Twilight turned back to her Pegasus friend, “Alright, let’s see what you have so far.”

“Great! So, right now the game is called ‘Extreme Kick Ball’. It starts off with somepony kicking the ball,” Rainbow Dash ran over to a place and pretended to kick a ball being rolled at her, “Next, another pony has to run and catch the ball,” she flew to a point in the sky to catch her imaginary ball, “Then, the pony has to run back and tag the kicker all while doing super cool tricks!” Rainbow did a few speedy loop-de-loops and barrel rolled towards the ground to tag Twilight in the side.

She landed confidently with her head held high waiting to hear to adoring praises from Twilight, “Isn’t that just like normal kick ball?”

Rainbow did a double take, “No, it’s not like normal kick ball! ‘Extreme Kick Ball’ is different because it’s more awesome.”

Twilight rubbed her chin planning her next words, “Okay, it’s different. But maybe you should trying something new so it doesn’t get confused with normal kick ball.”

“Hmm,” Rainbow lowered her eyes in thought, “Yeah, your right! It needs to be more awesome so that there’s no way it could be confused with any other kind of kick ball! Thanks Twilight. Now, what was it that you needed help with?”

“I need a rain cloud to fill up the barrels with water at the school field for next Tuesday at the show and tell.”

“No problem, you can count on me!” Rainbow snapped a salute, “I’ll have those barrels filled by the time you get to the elementary school! I’ll see you there!” Rainbow soared into the blue sky again collecting clouds and pushing them in the direction of the Ponyville elementary school. Twilight took off herself and left the field in a hurry to meet Dash at the school to watch the barrels be filled to regulated capacity.

As she approached the school, a cluster of rain clouds were hanging over the field with Rainbow Dash bouncing on top of them to pound the rain out of them. Just as she landed, the rain had stopped and the barrels were laden with fresh, cool water.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash, I really appreciate it.” Twilight smiled thanking her friend.

“No problem, always happy to help. Now if you will excuse me, I have a game to make!” Rainbow busted the clouds she gathered and left the field to return to designing her game. Twilight let out a tired sigh and began her slow walk back to town. Now that the water issue had been dealt with, the next thing on her agenda was food and snacks for tryouts.

~~~

Saturday was the perfect day to see Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner and arrange snacks at the field. The business would be relatively low compared to the week days which would give time for Twilight and Pinkie Pie to talk and set up a deal for a food stand at the tryouts. However, since most of the ponies were not in the shop buying cupcakes and muffins, they were outside in the streets.

The streets were becoming quite crowded with games being reviewed and groups of ponies testing each other’s game idea. Everypony had less than half a week to perfect their game and were taking every moment they could to test and revise their ideas. For Twilight, it was almost impossible to take more than a few steps at a time before being stopped and questioned by Ponyville residents. It was an endless stream of ‘Who’s game do you think is better, Princess?’ and ‘What do you think about this idea, Princess?’. It would not have been so bad for Twilight if these questions were intermittent between other questions instead of the same question right after another. It was upsetting Twilight to the point of almost losing her cool when a young colt asked her about his game for (what felt like) the millionth time.

By the time Twilight reached Sugar Cube Corner, it was already past mid-day and the sun was beginning its journey down towards the horizon. Twilight felt like she had ran another ‘Running of the leaves’ marathon as she fought to regain her breath in front of Sugar Cube Corner. After a couple of seconds of controlling her breathing, she opened the door to the bakery and stepped inside.

The familiar smells of bread baking and sugar filled her lungs and Twilight visibly relaxed in the cool, quiet lobby. The bakery was almost barren of ponies except for Pinkie at the counter and the Cakes currently nursing Pumpkin and Pound Cake. Summer theme pastries like strawberry short cake and watermelon-mango muffins sat on display inside glass cabinets or on trays laid out on counter tops.

“Hiya Twilight!” Pinkie bounced behind the front counter, “How are you today?”

Twilight sighed, “It could be better. I’m almost done with preparing for the tryouts, then I just have the paper work to fill out when I’m done.”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot of work to do! But I know you can do it Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said encouragingly while she set another tray of pastries down to cool.

Pinkie dipped down below the counter top and popped back up with a cookie for Twilight, “Here Twilight, have a snack from me to turn the frown upside down!” She tossed the cookie to Twilight who caught it out of the air in her magic and took a bite.

The taste of sweet brown sugar and tangy lemon played across her taste buds and she smiled pleasantly at the treat in her mouth.

“So what can your best friend Pinkie help out with today?” Pinkie stepped out from behind the counter to place herself at Twilight’s disposal.

“Well, I do need your help with the tryouts. The mayor and I decided it would be best to have a food table there for ponies to eat while Sportsen goes through all the games. So I was hoping you might be willing to bake a few things for the games!” Twilight chirped now that her mood had bounced back from her grumpiness.

“Well yeah,” Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and smiled, “I already know about that. I was wondering if there was anything else I could help out with.”

“You already knew?” Twilight raised her brow, “How did you hear about it?”

“I have my ways,” Pinkie chimed, “So what else can I help you with?”

“Uh, really that was everything I was going to ask from you Pinkie Pie. I was wondering if you and the cakes would like to bake some food for the show and tell.”

“No problem!” Pinkie zipped behind the counter and pulled out a pencil and note pad, “So, what kind of snacks were you thinking of having for the show and tell?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. Now that she thought about it, it never really crossed her mind what kind of snacks she wanted available to ponies out on the field. Did she want something that was just filling to the stomach or something healthy? What kind of theme did she want to have? This was a major flaw that was over looked in her planning with the mayor as she had no idea what she wanted.

Twilight turned to Pinkie with uneasiness in her eyes, “I’m not exactly sure, Pinkie. I thought the mayor and I had discussed it, but I can’t remember exactly what kind of food she wanted. If you give me a few moments, I can check my notes in the library to see if I wrote it down.”

“Don’t worry Twilight; I can make a suggestion,” Twilight paused in her motion to leave, “How about we make it ‘A healthy summer’ theme! We can have short cakes with strawberries and blueberries for that fibery goodness,” Pinkie rubbed her belly, “Some muffins topped with sliced bananas for that awesome potassium,” Pinkie Pie zoomed in and out of the shop and back room, “And some peanut butter and oatmeal cookies for powerful proteins,” Pinkie hopped up on her hind legs like a boxer and threw a few quick punches, “And a whole bunch more!!”

Twilight recoiled slightly from the outburst of predictable energy and unpredictable knowledge of nutritional chemicals. But Twilight knew better than to question Pinkie’s antics. So Twilight smiled and agreed to the proposal.

“That would be great, pinkie. If you could have all of that ready by Tuesday that would makes things easier for me.”

“No sweat, Twilight. I always loving helping my friends,” Pinkie slowed down enough to give Twilight a caring hug.

“Thanks again, Pinkie! I’ll see you later!” Twilight turned to leave Sugar Cube Corner, but was abruptly stopped by Pinkie running in front of Twilight to stop her.

“Wait! Before you go Twilight, I have a teensy-weensy favor to ask of you,” Pinkie smiled innocently.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Twilight raised a skeptical eyebrow again. At the rate ponies were asking Twilight for her help these past few days, she could probably guess what Pinkie Pie was about to ask her.

“Could you possibly (if you had time), maybe (you know), help me with my game idea?” Pinkie Pie sheepishly smiled again while Twilight’s frustration flared.

“Pinkie, I would really love to help; but I have a lot of things to do by Tuesday and I don’t want to be late on them.”

“Oh don’t worry, Twilight. I promise this will only take a second!” Pinkie repositioned herself in the middle of the shop floor, “I just need your help figuring out what kind of name I should use for my game idea!”

“And how am I supposed to help with that?” Twilight’s frustration was starting to bleed through into her speech as she struggled to keep herself in check.

“I’m just going to throw a few names at you and I just want you to tell me what you think, okay?”

Twilight’s eye twitched slightly, but she pushed herself to be a good friend and at least hear the names.

“Okay: what do you think about, ‘Magical Mystery Magicians’?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight began but was cut off by Pinkie.

“How about ‘Musical Cake Parade’?”

Twilight shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped again.

“Maybe ‘Beach Volleyball Madness’?”

Twilight tried again to interject, but Pinkie kept going, “what about ‘Gone with the Wind’? ‘Frisbee Champions’? ‘Balloon Bombardment’? ‘Ultimate Muffin Eater’? ‘Master of Fighting Gummies’? ‘ULTIMATE HARD-CORE BATTLE ROYALE’!!!!???”

“PINKIE!!” Twilight shouted over her enthusiastic friend.

“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie sat down in front of Twilight in a neat and orderly fashion, seemingly oblivious to her friend’s near boiling frustration.

Twilight took a few moments to calm herself before continuing, “I think that you should pick the name for your game. If I picked it, then it wouldn’t have the entire ‘Pinkie Pie’ experience that I think is very important to making your game, yours. I couldn’t possibly pick out a name that complete encapsulates the joy you are trying to bring, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight smiled as she finished her political answer in the hopes that Pinkie would accept it and let her go.

“Hmm, you’re right Twilight. I think you just gave me the perfect idea for a name! Thanks Twilight! You were a really big help for me!” Pinkie gave one of her crushing hugs for a second before letting Twilight go.

“No problem, Pinkie,” Twilight panted trying to regain her breath, “So I will see later?”

“Later!” pinkie said confidently.

Just then, the door chime rang through the shop and Twilight glanced over to spot Connor standing in the door way.

“Hey Twilight,” he glanced amongst the occupants in the room before continuing again, “you don’t mind if I talk to Pinkie Pie real quick, do you? I wanted to ask her something.”

“Sure, go ahead. I was just leaving. Good luck to you, Pinkie!”

Twilight took her leave and waved goodbye to Pinkie Pie who was smiling and heading back behind the counter to the baking room to get started with Connor following behind.

Twilight let her head fall and let out an exhausted sigh once the door shut behind her. She wasn’t tired of her friends or the Ponyville residents, but the constant stream of the same question was forcing Twilight to the end of her tolerance. Thankfully, tomorrow would a simple day of just filling out paperwork authorizing the use of the town’s budget to be spent on food, refreshments, and usage of the Ponyville elementary field for Tuesday’s tryouts.

Twilight was actually looking forward to doing paperwork as it meant that she could stay in her comfortable library away from every pony looking for her approval on their unique and different games.

~~~

Sunday was a beautiful day to relax. The sun was out, it was clear skies as far as the eye could see, and everypony was outside playing; well, testing would be a better word to use as some ponies were finishing up their game ideas for next Tuesday.

As for Twilight, she was enjoying a quiet, cool day in the library methodically filling out forms and filing them away. She hummed pleasantly to herself as she nibbled on some snacks that Spike made for her to enjoy. Today was going very well with hardly a single pony coming in to bother her.

It wasn’t until lunch time that Twilight heard a knocking at the front door. She looked up from her work to see the door open and reveal Rarity standing there.

“Hi Rarity!” Twilight set her quill down to take a break from her work.

“Hello Twilight! How are you, dear?” Rarity trotted over to Twilight and her table filled with papers, forms, and requests.

“I’ve been taking care of some paper work that needed to be done. I planned on using all day to finish all of it before heading over to town hall to deliver them.”

“Really dear? All day? You’re not even going to take a break and step outside for a little bit?” Rarity looked at Twilight with concern.

“Uh, no, thank you,” Twilight chuckled with uneasiness, “I’m just fine staying here for now. I sort of needed a break from going all over town to get things ready.”

“Oh, well then, why don’t we take a break now and head over to Carousel Boutique!” Rarity beamed at the suggestion but Twilight was hesitant.

“Why? What’s happening at carousel boutique? Are you trying to ask me about what I think about your game?” Twilight narrowed her eyes at Rarity.

Rarity laughed, “Oh of course not, dear! I’ve seen how you have looked for the last few days and I can only guess what you have been going through!” Twilight continued to analyze her friend as a single bead of sweat trickled down Rarity’s forehead.

But there was another knock at the door. Rarity and Twilight glanced over at the door just as it was opening to reveal Connor standing there.

“Hey Twilight, I’ve been looking for you,” Connor calmly walked over to Twilight and Rarity standing by the work table.

“Hello Connor, how are you this day?” Rarity politely asked.

“Not bad, and yourself?”

“I am doing well; I was just talking to Twilight.”

“Well is it okay if I borrow Twilight for a minute? I just need to ask her some directions.”

“What are you looking for, Connor?” Twilight jumped into the conversation between Rarity and Connor.

“I was just at the hardware store looking for some supplies for my game and it turns out that they ran out of blue powder. Do you know where I might be able to find some more?”

“What kind of blue powder are you looking for?” Twilight asked with her curiosity peaked.

“Just some basic blue powder, kind of like chalk powder. Do you know somepony I might be able to get some more powder from?”

“Hmm,” Twilight thought a little bit, “Maybe Zecora might have something that is similar to what you are looking for.”

“Great where can I find this ‘Zecora’?”

“She lives in a hut in the Everfree forest; Spike can help lead you to her,” Twilight turned in her seat to call up to the second floor, “Spike! Can you come her for a second!”

A few seconds later, Spike the purple dragon came bounding down the stairs, “What’s up Twilight? Hey Rarity.”

“Hello my Spikey Whikey,” Rarity cooed as she batted her eyes and brought herself down to cup a hoof under his chin. Spike nearly fluttered off the ground. Needless to say, Twilight and Connor both rolled their eyes in unison.

“Spike,” Twilight refocused her assistant, “I need you to take Connor to Zecora. He needs to talk to her to find out if she can help him with his game.”

“Sure, no problem. Follow me Connor!” Spike jogged out of the library with Connor trotting behind him.

“Thanks Twilight!” Connor shouted over his shoulder before he was out of ear shot.

Rarity and Twilight waved goodbye after Connor and Spike as they disappeared from the doorway.

Rarity turned back to face Twilight again, “Well, would you like to come with me to my shop? I could show you my next line of outfits,” she offered to Twilight to entice her.

Twilight sighed and set her quill down again and stood up, “Okay, let’s go. I could use a small break.”

“Wonderful!” Rarity bounced with joy, “Let’s go now before it’s too late!”

“Too late for what?” Twilight questioned like a detective.

“Nothing!” Rarity snapped to hide her intentions.

Twilight kept eyeing her friend but followed her out nonetheless. She was still suspicious that Rarity might try to get her opinion on her game, but she gave Rarity the benefit of the doubt.

The walk to Rarity’s shop was an interesting one. Rarity was almost able to fend off every pony trying to approach the princess asking for appraisal of their games. Twilight felt weird with Rarity defending her like a royal guard, but was thankful for her efforts. When the door finally shut behind them and they were safe inside Carousel Boutique, they both let out a sigh of relief.

“Goodness, Twilight; I didn’t know you had it that bad!” she huffed with exhaustion.

“Yeah, I think it’s becoming a problem. But it should settle down once Tuesday comes and Mr. Sportsen arrives.”

“I surely hope so! No princess should have to go through that!” Rarity straightened up before clearing her throat, “Now, would you like to see my new line up?”

“Sure Rarity; that would be great!” Twilight smiled and stood up to take a seat in front of the pedestal where many outfits were tried on by customers to view in the many surrounding mirrors.

“Excellent! I will be back in just one moment!” Rarity disappeared into her downstairs work room, but could still be heard as she shouted out to Twilight.

“I actually had to make a few last minute changes and use one of my previous line ups, but I think you still like them!” she shouted out to Twilight.

After a moment, Rarity came out from behind her saloon doors dressed in a beautiful gown. Twilight oo-ed at the marvelous design and Rarity took a slight bow.

“Now, if I remember right; you are to go here first,” she stepped out and did a little twirl, “Then before you get on the platform, you must strike a dashing pose!” Rarity struck a dignified posture and cast her eyes into space, “Then, when you mount the platform, you must finish the routine with pizazz before the judges give you your final score!” She giggled as Rarity did another fancy move and ended with a slow pirouette.

Twilight applauded vigorously, “Oh, that was nice! What else do you have?”

“Oh! You liked it? Well, let me just get another outfit that I have!” Rarity hopped off the elevated platform and cheerfully trotted back into her back room to change.

Rarity went through two more outfits and two more routines while Twilight was there. Each one, Twilight enjoyed the show Rarity put on. Every routine was different; one routine would be very graceful and delicate and the next one would be energetic and dashing! After the fourth routine with a new outfit, Rarity was feeling fatigued and needed a break.

“So, how did you like that one?” Rarity huffed.

“I really enjoyed it. Thanks Rarity, I really needed that. I think I’ll head back to the library now; see you tomorrow!”

“Wait!” Rarity almost screamed.

Twilight froze in her place, “What?! What’s wrong?!”

“Um, actually, I was showing you what I had made so far with my game for Sportsen…” Rarity nervously looked at Twilight whose face was falling with shocked realization.

“So this entire time, you were showing me your game?”

“Yes; I was hoping you would be willing to give me a few pointers on what to change, but I knew you were a little flustered with the past few days; so I needed to find a way to get you to come with me without actually saying that I needed your help.” Rarity smiled softly hoping Twilight would make this one exception for her friend.

Twilight was shocked that Rarity would do this to her. She had been dealing with every pony for the last five days constantly asking whether their game was good enough or not. It was even more difficult when her friends were asking if their game ideas were good ones or not. Twilight had almost specifically chosen this day with paperwork as a day she could get away from all of it. It was time she needed to put her hoof down on this.

“I’m sorry Rarity, but I can’t help you on this,” Twilight mimicked Connor’s almost signature hard expression she had seen so many times, “This is something that you need to do with another pony. I can not be the only pony that you can think of to help you on making improvements on your game. I wish I could, but I have other things that I must take care of.”

Rarity’s face fell from shame and disappointment at the deception she made. Twilight relaxed her hard expression a little at seeing her friend crushed by her words. Twilight took a few steps forward and put a reassuring hoof on Rarity’s shoulder.

“Tell you what, after the tryouts I will tell you everything I can think of about your game, okay?”

Rarity’s face brightened at hearing her friend’s kind words and scrubbed at her eyes, “Sure, Twilight. I would like that.”

Twilight gave a confident nod, “Then good luck to you on Tuesday with Sportsen!”

“Thank you Twilight, and I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

“Your welcome; I’ll see you tomorrow Rarity!” Twilight stepped back a few steps and teleported back to the library.

Twilight popped back into the library where Spike was dusting some of the shelves.

“Welcome back, Twilight!” Spike called over his shoulder while he dusted one of the shelves above him.

“Your back! How was the trip to Zecora?” Twilight walked back over to her work table where more papers needed to be filled out.

“Pretty easy. Nothing attacked us along the way and Connor said he could find his way back to Ponyville when we got there; so I came back here.”

Twilight hummed in acknowledgement as she picked up the last form she was working on. She needed to get the rest of this work done before she could really take the next day off to relax. If everything worked out correctly, Monday was her scheduled day off for setting up the tryouts; then Tuesday was the day Sportsen was due to arrive in Ponyville. So Twilight set to work finishing her paper work.

~~~

Monday finally arrived and Twilight was ready to relax. She had finished all of her paper work last night and she had food and refreshments ready to go at the field when Sportsen arrived. Today was her day to have some fun and enjoy herself. Twilight had arranged a tea party with Fluttershy that afternoon to help with unwinding. So after lunch, Twilight teleported over to Fluttershy’s cottage to avoid any ponies who were scrambling to finish the last bit of their games.

Fluttershy’s cottage was peaceful as ever with birds lazily washing in the bird baths or chirping happily to each other. Butterflies drifted through the air on a current while little critters hopped around going about their daily business.

Twilight trotted up to the front door and knocked three times and heard a gentle, “Come in!” before she pushed the door open and smiled. Inside was a table set out in the middle of the main room of the cottage adorned with a tea set, two sets of tea cups, tea addings, and two cushions for Fluttershy and Twilight. Fluttershy was just in sight through the kitchen door and was in the middle of heating up the water for the tea. Twilight smiled even more; if anypony knew how to make someone feel relaxed, it was Fluttershy with her kind and gentle nature.

“Hi Fluttershy! It’s me, Twilight!” Twilight walked into the cottage and closed the door behind her.

“Oh, hello Twilight! Go ahead and take a seat; I’ll be right there!” Fluttershy called in her quiet voice.

Twilight sat on the cushion closest to her and waited as Fluttershy came into the living room with the hot water and poured it into their respective cups.

“How are you today, Twilight?” Fluttershy set the tea pot on the table and grabbed a tea bag of her favorite blend to dip.

Twilight let out another tired sigh as she grabbed her own tea bag, “I’m a little tired, but I’m hoping that I can recuperate today before the hassle tomorrow when Sportsen arrives.”

“Really? And how is that going?” she added about two and a half spoons of sugar to her tea cup while the tea bag soaked in the water.

“Well, I have all the preparations done as well as all the paper work that I finished last night; I managed to get here without too much trouble and right now I’m enjoying a cup of tea with one of my best friends!” Twilight added exactly one teaspoon of honey and one and a half teaspoons of sugar to her own cup.

“Well, everything seems to be going well. Has there been any trouble over the last week?” Fluttershy fanned her cup of tea a little before taking a small, delicate sip.

“You have no idea,” Twilight took a drink from her cup before delving into her story, “This last week, every single pony in town has been asking me whether or not their game idea was good or not and what they should change about it to make their game better. I’m always glad to help, but I felt it was just becoming too much that I needed a break.”

“Oh my, that does seem rough. Were you able to get through it?”

“Almost,” Twilight let her expression fall a little bit, “When Rarity tried to have me help with her game, I had to put my hoof down and say no. but she has apologized and I have forgiven her so everything should be good.” Twilight took another sip of tea.

“Mmm,” Fluttershy hummed, “I guess she thought it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.” Fluttershy took another sip of tea.

“I guess so. But I am glad everything worked out in the end,” Twilight smiled again at the end of her sentence.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement before changing the subject, “Um Twilight, if you don’t mind, I have something I would like to show you.”

“And what’s that?” Twilight took another sip of tea.

“Um, maybe it might be easier to just get it,” She got up from the table and disappeared up the flight of stairs to the bedrooms, “I’ve been working on it for the last couple of days and I was hoping you could help me.”

Twilight set her tea cup down on the table and waited patiently for Fluttershy to return from upstairs. A few seconds later, Fluttershy returned carrying a few objects under her wing.

“Here they are!” she exclaimed, “This is what I wanted to show you!” She set the objects down on the table for Twilight to look at.

“What are these?” Twilight picked up the objects in her magic, “They look like dolls.”

“Well, they are. They are for the game I am making.”

Twilight froze and her eye twitched as she fought back the urge to yell in frustration. Fluttershy sat patiently waiting for Twilight to make a move.

Eventually, Fluttershy spoke, “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission, right?”

Twilight let her head fall and slam on the table before her and held her head against the table. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden noise and stared at Twilight with her face down in the wood.

“Goodness! Was it something I said?”

Twilight couldn’t wish for tomorrow to come any faster than she could at that very moment.

21: Seven Days to Create

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Connor

“So, I have seven days to create any kind of game, huh? What the hall do I want to make?”

Connor casually strolled through the streets of Ponyville Wednesday afternoon with his head bowed down in concentration while his eyes gazed into space. He had spent most of that late morning and lunch time wandering aimlessly down main streets, back roads, and everything in between. Since Rainbow Dash was extremely hyped about this little competition, she had rushed through their cloud busting job before most ponies finished their morning routines and had given Connor the rest of the day off while she tried to come up with ideas for her game.

Connor didn’t mind having extra free time, as he was entering in the competition as well. The spare time would give him room to think about what he wanted to. He casually maneuvered through a crowd of ponies down the main market street in his never ending walk around town. When Connor had free time back in his world, he would usually go for night time walks with his dog off leash. The calm night air and quiet surroundings as he walked down the forested back roads of his home town watching his dog explore the nooks and crannies had a special calming effect on him that allowed him to think a little more clearly.

Since his mind never completely stopped moving and coming up with random ideas, the exercise and subconscious focus of tracking his dog helped distract and occupy part of his brain while his cognitive side was allowed to formulate plans and schedules. Even though he didn’t have his dog with him, Connor could still let his subconscious eye focus on the ponies around him while he pondered and waited for inspiration to come.

Connor knew that he didn’t really have that much time to make this game before this Sportsen guy came to town, but he had two options available to him that other ponies didn’t have. One path he could take was to create a whole brand new game from scratch and present that to Sportsen at the presentation. It was possible to complete such a task in such a short time span and Connor was capable of it, but it didn’t seem like the most enjoyable route.

The other option Connor could do was bring a game over from his world into this one and present it that way; with a few modifications to make it more accommodating to ponies. It would be a little bit easier that way as Connor would already have complete knowledge of the game and he could easily modify it for the pony world. However, the knowledge that some things from his world, like certain cities, have bled into this one would imply that even sports and other games would have already made the conversion into the pony world as well.

It was a difficult decision for Connor to make. He didn’t want to take the easy way out and bring a game from his world over to make a few small changes then call it good, nor was he creative enough to choose the second option and make a new game that was unique to both world. He had his moments of creative inspiration and would think up something new, but even the things he thought up were still based off of others’ works or used others’ ideas as a foundation to build off of; it could be a song that he heard and wanted to make a music video to or saw a video of someone preforming impressive feats and wanted to make his own version of them. In short, Connor was more of a modifier taking ideas that were good to begin with and seeing what he could do to improve upon it rather than being an inventor of something completely new.

Connor frowned to himself more as he side stepped another pony through the main market street. There were so many ponies in town that it was starting to annoy him. Usually, there was about half as many ponies on the street as today. Maybe he could think better if he headed out of town for a while to think. As he replotted his course out of town, his vision was filled with a surprising, familiar pink pony in front of him.

“Hey Connor!” Pinkie shouted.

Connor started in surprise before relaxing when he saw it was just Pinkie Pie, “Hey Pinkie Pie, how’s it going?”

“Not too bad,” she answered, “I’m just taking a break right now from the shop. Aren’t you excited for this whole ‘Show and tell’ thing, next week? Look how many ponies are out here making their own unique game!” she pulled Connor beside her to point out all the ponies discussing and experimenting with new game ideas.

Connor wiggled himself free, “Good to see that you’re still doing okay. Have you made anything yet with your game?”

“Kind of,” she put a hoof to her chin, “I was thinking of using some tubas and a tennis racket for mine but-”

“What were you going to use a tuba and a tennis racket for??” Connor interrupted and did a double take as his brow furrowed in bafflement.

“Well, I was going to have a pony play a song on the tuba while trying to play tennis with another pony playing the harmonica. But when I had a filly test it out for me, it didn’t go so well…” Pinkie Pie lowered her head in shame while Connor let out a laugh.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “I don’t think that would have been the best choice of instruments,” he laughed again.

Pinkie giggled along, “What about you? Have you made anything yet?”

Connor’s smile dropped a little, “Not yet; I’m still thinking on what to make. I’m not sure where to begin with my game. I don’t know if I should make a brand new game or if I should try using something that’s from my world.” He started walking again on his path out of town with Pinkie following beside him.

“Oo! What kind of games do you have from your world? Are they fun, exciting, strange?”

“Well, they’re fun to me. But I don’t think Sportsen would be looking for video games.”
“Plus, I doubt this world would be interested in war-like games either,” he thought to himself.

“I don’t think he would mind something with a little more punch to it,” Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and flashed a dangerous smile and threw a few quick jabs, “Something with a bit more edge and danger than what’s already in Equestria,” Connor stared at Pinkie who was giving him a mischievous grin and an adventurous glint in her eye.

“You know what I mean?!?” she bounced back to her energetic and happy self like her slip into daring Connor to be a little bit different was just a normal thing.

Connor was rattled by the sudden change in tone by Pinkie Pie, “Uh, are you sure? I mean, this world seems pretty peaceful and it doesn’t look like competitive fighting is a popular thing.”
“Did she just read my mind as well?”

“Don’t worry about it Connor; just do what you do best and be yourself. That’s the best anypony can ask of you,” she poked Connor in the chest encouragingly.

He eased himself from Pinkie’s reassurance and slowly smiled, “Alright then, I think I can do that. Thanks Pinkie, I think I know what I want to do now. I’ll see you around!” he waved goodbye to Pinkie as he trotted off to leave Ponyville.

Pinkie smiled and waved after him, “Good job Pinkie. Another frown turned upside down,” she took a few steps in the opposite direction when she realized something, “Oh my gosh!! I completely forgot to ask him if he could help out with my game and now I have no idea what I want to make!!!”

She whipped around and bolted after Connor at top speed.

~~~

Thursday was very similar to Wednesday for Connor. Rainbow Dash rushed through her work and let Connor go early by late morning while she rushed off somewhere to continue working on her project. He wasn’t sure what Rainbow was working on, but he shrugged and decided he didn’t need to worry about it.

After Pinkie Pie flagged him down and had him babble off a few random musical instruments, Connor was back to wandering the streets again except for a few differences. This time, he was wandering around the less crowded streets of Ponyville. Secondly, he had a direction for what he wanted to do for the tryouts. He was going to use something from his world to base his game off of and build from that point forward.

Unfortunately, there were probably the same number of games available as there were different shades of color. There were thousands of possibilities flying around in Connor’s head from things as easy as ‘patty cake’ and card games to complex like designing video games. Most of the sports from his world he quickly dismissed. He enjoyed baseball when he was younger, but it required quite a bit of gear to play. Football was just a mindless show of muscle in his world with a lot of extreme, and sometimes violent, fans; but he did like joining in on the overall excitement when he felt like it.

[Shots fired!!]

Most of the other sports from his world he dismissed because he didn’t have any experience or seemed too easy to recreate to some degree of accuracy. His mind slowly drifted over to some more obscure sports and games. Things like racing, swimming, and airsoft floated through his mind’s open window. All had their pros and cons, but he eventually dismissed them for one reason or another. So he returned to wandering the streets waiting for his mind to ping off in a direction with a new idea.

He sighed to himself as he took a step back in his thinking. He needed to stop thinking about what he didn’t have and start thinking on what he did have; or what was easily accessible to him. He was a pony now, a Pegasus no less, and that had to have some kind of advantage to it. He glanced back at his wings and ruffled his feathers slightly. He had wings so he could use them in his game; maybe make a Pegasus specific game?

What else did he have access to? There wasn’t much he had to use. He still had that one saddle bag that Applejack loaned him, but he still needed to return it. Bags are useful for carrying anything you can think of. He could use the bag for something, or he could use the leather material for something else. He shook his head and tossed the idea of taking apart the bag for resources; he would only have a mess on his hooves and Applejack would be furious for destroying something of hers.

His martial art skills bubbled to the front of his mind. Connor considered just starting martial arts as a competitive sport in this near idealistic world, but he didn’t want to do that. Something told him it wouldn’t work as it would be too direct in its aggressive nature and would not work in this world. But he did want something that required some kind of skill and aggression.

He glared at the imaginary table in his mind filled with everything he could think of using and stared at it waiting for something to happen.

“HEADS UP!!!”

Connor’s head shot up in time to see an object sailing through the air headed straight to him. He dodged and made a quick sidestep to his left to avoid the object as it splattered on the ground. Water splashed onto his legs and he growled at the inconvenience. He looked up to search for the pony responsible and recognized three particular fillies with a knack of getting into trouble running up to him.

“Sorry Connor!” Scootaloo yelled as the three crusaders came to a stop in front of him.

“We weren’t trying to hit you with our water balloon; we swear!” Apple Bloom pleaded.

“It was an accident!” Sweetie Belle added.

“Calm down you three!” he raised his hoof to ease the fears of the crusaders before him, “You didn’t hit me, so you are fine. Just tell me what you were trying to do right now.”

The three perked up, “We’re trying to design our new game right now!” Sweetie Belle bounced with energy.

“Yeah! And we’re in the middle of testing our water balloon catapult, too! It’s going to be awesome!!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed and she pumped a hoof in the air.

Connor gave a stupefied look, “What in dog’s name are you going to use a catapult for in your game?!”

“We’ll show you! Come on, follow us!” Apple Bloom took off with the other two giggling behind. Connor shook his head in disagreement but trotted after them nonetheless.

A little ways away on a small hill was a miniature catapult not unlike a medieval catapult from his world. It was a little bit bigger than him, but it was perfect size for the crusaders’ use. Near the catapult sat a small pile of water balloons ready to be fired from the ballistic weapon. He stared dumbfounded at the weapon wondering how such a thing could be present in this world.

“So, how exactly are you planning on using this thing?” he frowned at Apple Bloom.

“It was going to be one of the positions you could play as in the game. We have the catapult shooter, the ballooner, the water ninja, and the long thrower,” Apple Bloom counted off a few roles in the air.

“And we’re thinking about adding more roles too! Like the flying dropper, the trap setter, the-”

Connor put a hoof to Scootaloo’s mouth, “I think that is good, Scootaloo. I don’t need to here anymore,” he lowered his hoof, “So what are you calling your game?”

Sweetie Belle was happy to answer this question, “It’s an amazing name that I came up with while I was sitting in our thinking spot in the Crusaders’ Headquarters!”

Connor’s mind flashed back to when the Crusaders were recruiting him into their group and were giving him the tour around the club house, “Oh yeah, I remember that. That one spot that had a bullseye target painted on the ground.”

Sweetie Belle continued, “We’re going to call our game, ‘Ultimate Balloon Battle’!”

“I added the ‘Ultimate’ part in the name,” Scootaloo commented.

“Cool,” Connor said.

“So have you made anything yet?” the Crusaders asked in unison.

“Not yet, but I’ll get there.” The Crusaders’ faces fell a little in disappointment but quickly rebounded with Scootaloo shouting an idea.

“Guys! I just got another awesome idea for our game!”

“Really? What is it?”

“Trust me, you two; this is going to be awesome! All we need is a couple of shovels!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shrugged and all three fillies jumped up together to scream, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GO!!!”

Connor could feel his ears ringing as the three fillies took off again to find some shovels in town. He shook his head clear and looked out after his fellow Crusaders.

“What do they plan on doing? Adding trench warfare to their game?”

Suddenly, a familiar pinging sensation of his mind shooting off into a random direction went through him and he eagerly awaited what the results of this new random thought would be. The thought ran through his head and he scrutinized his face in deciphering the idea. His eyes widened and he smiled his crooked smile in excitement once he finished processing.

“Ooohhh, this is an awesome idea. Oh my fog, this is amazing! It’s so good, it has to work!!” Connor bounced on his hooves in excited anticipation as the puzzle pieces fell together in his mind.

“Oh my log! I have to go get things started, like, right now!” he looked up into the waning daylight, “Argh! I’ll have to do it tomorrow! I’m going to need Twilight’s help for this one…”

He galloped down the small hill and spread his wings taking flight, angling himself back into town. His mind was racing with ideas like the wind was racing past his ears. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow to get these ideas down on paper.

~~~

Friday was a bit of a poor start for Connor. Last night, he had spent most of sleeping hours lying awake in his makeshift bed at Scootaloo’s house planning out different things for his game. If he had his watch, it probably would have read 3:52 in the morning before he could quell his excited mind to get some sleep; even then, he still tossed and turned in his sleep.

So when he finally woke up, it was already late morning. He cursed himself for oversleeping and rushed to get some food before heading out to see if there was still work to be done with Rainbow Dash. To his dismay, the sky looked to be in order for today’s weather schedule and Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. He cursed himself again for oversleeping as he grudgingly stepped out into the day. He was going to have to apologize to Rainbow about this later, but it was going to have to wait until tomorrow.

As he began his walk down the road again, he refocused his thoughts and planned out his schedule for today. He already had a plethora of ideas for his game ready in his head to be made a reality, but he wanted to have them written down so he could see them and not forget them. If he had everything written down in front of him, it would be easier for him to spot flaws and make changes. He couldn’t think of any other way of holding a pen or pencil other than in his hoof but he didn’t have any fingers to grasp a pencil or pen, nor did he have that fancy magic that every unicorn around him had. His hoof dexterity was still not good enough to grasp anything smaller than a kitchen dining knife, so he needed to enlist somepony to help with writing.

Or maybe some dragon…

An idea sprung into Connor’s mind and he quickly formulated a plan around it. The first step was finding Twilight.

By the time he made his plan, Connor was already trying to filter his way through the hordes of ponies crowding the streets of Ponyville. Now that he had a purpose for being there, the constant flow of ponies were beginning to irritate him for impeding his progress.

“Bog, so many ducking ponies,” he grumbled to himself.

Movement overhead caught his eye and his eyes quickly darted up to catch a Pegasus flying overhead. It struck Connor in the face as he glanced back at his wings that he didn’t need to be on the ground anymore and was only here out of his habit of politeness. It was sort of similar to how he rode his motorcycle while on the roads. He only acted like a car on the road out of politeness; he could have easily split traffic lanes any and everywhere he went when there was traffic.

“I forgot I had these,” he chuckled to himself as he spread his wings and pushed off into the air.

“Despite how I have been using these wings almost every day for over a month now, I can’t believe I forgot that I had them,” he half scolded, half chuckled to himself.

His take offs were becoming a lot more consistent now with all the work and training he had been doing with Rainbow Dash. It no longer took him a couple of seconds to become stable in the air and fly off. Now, it only took him a second to push off the ground and fly off.

“See you later, yuckers,” he said to himself as the annoying crowds of ponies disappeared below him.

Now that Connor had room to breathe, he began scanning the crowds for a familiar purple pony. The pony sea below him churned and shifted, but did not reveal Twilight to him. So he moved his search onto different parts of Ponyville. After an hour or so of searching, Connor finally spotted Twilight.

Twilight was standing in one of the fields surrounding Ponyville conversing with Rainbow Dash.

“Ah ha! Finally found you,” Connor aimed himself towards the pair and landed on the edge of the field to approach on hoof.

When he touched down, the sounds of a heated discussion could be heard from Twilight and Rainbow. It didn’t matter to Connor as he had other things that were more important to worry about.

“Hey Twilight!”

Connor called Twilight’s name to get her attention as he slowly approached the pair. Twilight turned to look at him and smiled.

“Hi Connor, how are you?”

“I’m doing fine. Listen, I was wondering if I could borrow Spike for a little bit; is that alright?”

Twilight tilted her head, “Sure, he’s in the library right now. What do you need him for?”

“I was going to have him help me write a few things down for me, that’s all. It’s for the game that I have in mind.” Connor threw a hoof over his shoulder as if implying it wasn’t anything bad.

Twilight bobbed her head in acknowledgement, “All right then, good luck with your game!”

“Thanks, I’ll see you later!” Connor waved goodbye and he trotted off back into town. When he was a good distance away, he spread his wings and took off for the library.

A few minutes later, Connor pushed the library door open and entered the tree house. The outside noise was reduced to a deafening silence as the door closed behind him to be replaced with the calm and serine quietness of a library.

Connor glanced around the main room looking for spike the purple dragon.

“Spike!” he yelled.

“I’m up here!” Connor looked up to see the purple dragon doing some dusting on a window seal with a ladder leading up to the window. The dragon glanced down from his work to spot Connor standing below.

“Oh hey Connor! What’s up?” he finished his dusting before starting his journey down the ladder.

“Not much. What have you been doing?”

“I’ve been doing some dusting around the library,” Spike set the feather duster down on a table and dusted himself off as he stood before Connor.

Connor raised an eye in slight surprise, “Dusting? Really? What other things does Twilight have you do?”

“Let’s see, I do dusting, trash, help with reorganizing books, help with Twilight study, help with her experiments, sometimes make her food…” he continued listing random tasks off on his claws.

“Well don’t you like going above and beyond,” Connor rolled his eyes slightly and smiled jokingly.

“Well I am Twilight’s number one assistant after all,” he folded his arms proudly.

“Sure,” Connor chuckled, “Say Spike, do you think you could help me out real quick?”

“Sure! What do you need help with?”

Connor took a seat on a nearby chair to rest, “Well, I’m trying to make a game and right now I have been trying to make some of the rules for it,” Spike nodded as he listened, “The problem is I don’t have any way of writing them down in a timely manner as I am still learning to use my hooves more effectively.”

“So you want me to help write some of these things down for you?” Spike offered.

“Yes! Exactly!” Connor brightened at Spike, “Do you think you could help me with that? It would be a really big help to me.”

“Sure,” Spike smiled and walked over to a drawer filled with paper, ink, and quills, “I’ve done this hundreds of times for Twilight, so it’s no problem for me.”

Spike brought all the necessary materials over to the table Connor was sitting at and laid everything out in front of both of them. He took a quill and dabbed it in the pot of ink and poised over the parchment.

“Alright, just tell me what to write,” he looked up at Connor with a smile which he returned and bent over the paper before them to begin writing.

“Okay, let’s start with the number of players for my game. I’m thinking of having one-on-one, two-on-two, and tag team. Actually, in parenthesis, put three-on-three next to tag team…”

~~~

Connor and Spike spent the rest of the day at the table until closing time for the library. The two of them had come up with about two to three pages of ideas and rules for the game Connor had in mind. He spent a lot of the time studying what Spike had written down for him making changes, adding some tweaks, or moving around ideas to different groups.

When they were done, Connor had a pretty good idea of what he needed now for the demonstration happening in a couple of days. The gear needed to play his game was pretty simple compared to what Connor had seen from others. Connor already had one of the things he needed or could easily borrow a pair from somepony else for a little bit. The next thing he needed to get was the ammunition used in the game. That meant he needed to find a pony who currently had a whole bunch of balloons on stock for him to use; which means he needed to make a stop at Pinkie Pie’s place.

When Saturday rolled around, the crowds filling Ponyville’s streets were becoming horrendous as the deadline slowly approached on the game designers. Games were littered across the roads like trash on a city street as everypony tried to find any kind of space to start the final testing of their games ideas. On several occasions, Connor had to air-hop over clusters of ponies or games blocking his way.

“Connor! Yoo-hoo!” Connor stopped in his tracks as he scanned the crowds for the pony calling his name.

“Connor! Over here!” he snapped his head around in the direction of the voice to find Rarity waving him down.

“Ah, hey Rarity! What’s going on?” Connor trotted over to meet Rarity who stopped for him.

“Finally! I’ve called your name at least five times now! Did you not hear me?” she gave Connor a pouting face which made him chuckle.

“Sorry,” he laughed, “I was in my own little world. What’s up?”

“I have been looking for somepony to help me with my game all week and you are one of the few ponies who have given me the chance to ask for help at all! I’ve tried asking Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but they’re too concerned with their own attempts at games. I’ve tried asking Fluttershy to give her opinion, but she barely gave any critiques if at all; and don’t get started on trying to have Pinkie sit still long enough watch!” Rarity acted out her frustrations as usual while Connor stood there and listened.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be to you, Rarity,” Connor grimaced, “I’ve kind of have my own game that I’m working on and if I get too distracted, I’m going to forget important details.”

“Oh please, Connor! Please just give me a moment of your time to help me! This is extremely important to me! If I fail this, this will be, The; Worst; Possible; Thing; to Ever; Happen!” Rarity to a step forward on each word she emphasized pressuring Connor into helping her.

“Ffffoooot; come on Rarity, you’re going to guilt trip me into doing this?” Connor whined to himself.

He sighed, “Fiiine, I’ll look at your game real quick.”

Rarity squealed in delight, “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Connor!”

“But only a few minutes!” he shouted over her delight, “I still have things to do today.”

“I promise you, it won’t take a moment of your time! But I’ll need you to come to my shop to see it first.”

Rarity galloped off as fast as she could while Connor let loose another exasperated sigh and followed after her.

Once inside the dress making shop, Rarity wasted no time in sitting him down in front of the dreaded raised platform with mirrors surrounding half of it. Connor feared that he would be put through another two hour dress up session. If Rarity came back with a full wardrobe of clothes floating behind her, he was going to exfiltrate the shop in the most violent manner possible.

Thankfully, it was Rarity who came out dressed up in an elegant dress. Connor watched as she pranced around the room with some kind of routine that included twirls, posing, and a few slow moving dance moves. Eventually, she ended her showing off with striking a dramatic pose on the display pedestal in front of him. Rarity smiled at him when she finished while Connor gave a disgruntled look at her.

“What? Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Is this your game?” Connor asked in a harsher than necessary tone.

“Um, yes; it is. I’ve called it ‘Battle-istas’ as a play between the words ‘battle’ and ‘fashionista’. Rather clever if I do say so.”

Connor wanted to just get up and leave without saying another word to express his opinion on the game, but his good nature stopped him from being too much of a jerk.

“Rarity, are you trying to put on a fashion show, or are you trying to make a game?” her expression fell like her hard work was being crushed before her eyes.

When he saw Rarity’s face fall, Connor quickly eased up, “What I am trying to say is, ‘I’m not sure if this game is going to be a big hit’. Some things just don’t sit right with me when I see this.”

“I see. Perhaps this is a game that is not suited for everypony,” Rarity’s saddened face rebounded with new determination, “Even so, I will not give up hope that at least one pony will like it! Maybe I’ll try to get a second opinion…” she put a hoof to her chin in consideration.

Connor shifted awkwardly trying to find an acceptable moment to leave, “Look, I have to go right now. I still have things to do and I need to get them done by today.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You go ahead and do what you need to do,” Rarity waved a hoof in dismissal.

“Sorry I couldn’t be any of help to you. I’ll see you later, okay?” he shrugged as he slowly made his way to the door.

“Goodbye Connor! And thank you for trying to help!” she waved goodbye as the door closed behind Connor.

He sighed, glad that he was finally out of the shop and able to return to his original task of finding Pinkie Pie. He needed to get to Sugar Cube Corner first to see if she was currently working there. He spread his wings and pushed off into the sky to get to the bakery as soon as possible before the shop closed or Pinkie Pie left.

He landed with a soft thud in front of the bakery as his hooves touched ground again. He hoped that he wasn’t too late as he pushed the door open. A door chime rang above him and he scanned the room for any occupants and his target. He spotted Pinkie a few feet away talking with Twilight.

“Hey Twilight,” he greeted, “You don’t mind if I talk to Pinkie Pie real quick, do you? I wanted to ask her something.”

“Sure, go ahead. I was just leaving. Good luck to you, Pinkie!” Twilight walked past Connor and waved goodbye to the both of them.

As the door closed, Connor focused on Pinkie Pie again as she was heading back towards the rear of the shop.

“Hey Pinkie,” he followed her back behind the counter.

“Hi Connor! Nice to see you again!” Pinkie Pie’s head popped out from around the corner with her usual smile before disappearing again in the kitchen.

“Um Pinkie, I was wondering if I could have something from you. it’s for the game I’m making,” he moved a little closer to the kitchen door way to see her already throwing baking materials and fruit on the counter to make another batch.

“Sure! What do you need?” Pinkie put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl as she used her mane to hold a running mixer.

“Well, I was hoping I could have a few balloons, particularly red and blue, for my game. They need to be about the size smaller than a hoof when filled and I need about two dozen of both colors,” he leaned on the door seal as he watched Pinkie work.

“No problem! I have tons of balloons of every size possible! I think I even have some that you are looking for! Give me one second to check my room and I’ll be back with your balloons!” she stopped her work for a moment to zoom past Connor and up the stairs.

Connor pushed off the door seal and casually walked up to the front counter to wait for Pinkie Pie, who was back in two seconds with two bags of balloons; one bag filled with red balloons and another with blue balloons.

“Here you go! One bag with really, radical, racing, red balloons, and one bag with beautiful, blazing, blue balloons!”

“Thanks!” Connor inspected the balloons, “So what do I owe you?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it Connor; you can keep them. This can be my way of saying thanks for helping me out with my game. Those ideas you gave me really helped!”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Thanks, Pinkie! I’m glad that I could help out. If I need more help, do you think I can come back to you?” he scooped the bags of balloons in his hooves and tucked them under his left wing.

“No problem! You can count on me!” she pounded her chest, “I love helping my friends and I love having fun! And I’ll bet your game is going to be a whole bunch of fun!”

“Great, thanks Pinkie! I’ll see you later!” he walked around the front counter and opened the door before he waved goodbye.

“Bye Connor! Good luck to you tomorrow!” she franticly waved goodbye as the door shut behind Connor.

Connor let out a sigh as he made his walk back through the town with his newly acquired balloons. One thing that did stick out to him as funny was when Pinkie said ‘good luck’ to him for tomorrow, but the tryouts weren’t until another three days. He shook his head. He still wasn’t used to Pinkie Pie’s crazy antics, but he had accepted the fact that he may never be able to understand them. He was just glad that he now had another piece for his game.

~~~

Connor was feeling good about himself the next day. He was getting tasks completed and his plan for his game was moving along quite nicely. After he collected the balloons from Pinkie Pie, the next step was to acquire the substances that were going into the balloons. This would require a trip to the local hardware store in Ponyville.

After a few directions from ponies, Connor found the shop he needed. Despite it being Sunday, the hardware store was still open for business. He pushed open the doors and was given a nod of a greeting which he returned before browsing the shelves of miscellaneous items. The bits jingled slightly in the single saddle bag strapped to Connor’s hip as he walked to the paint section of the store. He made a quick glance at the colors in front of him and grabbed a bucket of red paint and set it on his back temporarily.

He spent a few more minutes browsing the shelves looking for one other thing he needed for his game. He was looking for any kind of blue powder to fill the blue balloons; he was hoping it was the chalk powder kind as he theorized it would give him the best results for its planned usage. However, the shop only had a limited supply of what he needed with only carrying a box or two for carpentry purposes. Nonetheless, he took the paint and chalk powder to the cash register in front and paid for the goods.

Connor exited the hardware store while saying a farewell to the owner. Once outside, he frowned to himself again. The bucket of paint he bought should be enough to fill all the red balloons, but he definitely needed more blue powder for the blue balloons. He took off to head over to Scootaloo’s house to stash his supplies while he thought of another possible supplier for the elusive blue chalk powder. But his contacts were limited in this town, so he could only turn to a select few who might know of another supplier.

He walked inside the house and trotted upstairs to empty out his bag next to his bed before heading back out.

“Maybe Twilight might be able to help me. She hasn’t let me down before, so maybe she might know someone who sells more of that blue powder,” he shut the door behind him with thud and looked up at the tree house standing over the town. Once again, Connor kicked into the air and flew for the library.

He landed with a soft thud and a small ruffle of his feathers in front of the door to Twilight’s library. He knocked twice on the door before pushing it open. Inside, Connor spotted Rarity standing next to Twilight who was sitting at a table covered with neat stacks of papers.

“Hey Twilight, I’ve been looking for you,” he walked over to stand beside Rarity who was next to Twilight’s table.

“Hello Connor, how are you this day?” Rarity politely asked, but Connor could feel a slight undertone of resentment.

“Not bad, and yourself?” he curtly returned hoping to distract Rarity from her grumpiness.

“I am doing well; I was just talking to Twilight.”

“Well is it okay if I borrow Twilight for a minute? I just need to ask her some directions,” He subtly motioned towards Twilight.

“What are you looking for, Connor?” he looked at Twilight who had set her quill down to focus on him.

“I was just at the hardware store looking for some supplies for my game and it turns out that they ran out of blue powder. Do you know where I might be able to find some more?”

“Hmm,” Twilight lowered her head and put a hoof to her chin, “Maybe Zecora might have something that is similar to what you are looking for.”

“Zecora?” he thought, “Now that is an exotic name I’ve never heard before.”

“Great where can I find this ‘Zecora’?”

“She lives in a hut in the Everfree Forest. Spike can help lead you to her,” Twilight turned in her seat, “Spike! Can you come her for a second?”

A few seconds later, Connor saw Spike come bounding down the stairs to join them, “What’s up Twilight? Hey Rarity.”

“Hello my Spikey Whikey,” Rarity cooed as she batted her eyes and brought herself down to cup a hoof under his chin. If Connor found a way to use Spike as a power source, he could have powered a dozen homes with the amount of excitement spike was radiating off himself. Connor rolled his eyes at the ridiculous teasing happening in front of him.

“Spike,” Twilight called bringing him out of his love stupor, “I need you to take Connor to Zecora. He needs to talk to her to find out if she can help him with his game.”

“Sure, no problem. Follow me Connor!” Spike shook his head and snapped a salute before jogging out of the library with Connor quickly following after him.

“Thanks Twilight!” Connor shouted over his shoulder before he was out of ear shot.

The door shut behind them and Connor slowed down to a walking pace. He turned back to Spike who looked ready to go on another road trip adventure.

“So, where are we going?” Connor asked as the two of them started walking.

“Didn’t you hear Twilight? We’re going to the Everfree Forest to meet Zecora!” Spike mocked.

“I know that! But where exactly are we heading?” Connor gave a soft, playful whap to the back of his head and flashed a coy grin.

“Hey!” Spike rubbed the spot Connor hit and chuckled. His eyes told he was displeased with the hit, but his smile said he knew it was all in good fun.

“We’re going to be heading out in this direction to the edge of the Everfree Forest. When we reach the edge, there is going to be a small path leading into the forest and to Zecora’s hut.”

“So tell me about Zecora. Who is she? What’s she like?” the two left the outskirts of town and slowly made their way to the forest beyond the town limits.

“Zecora is awesome! She’s really good at potion making and knows all kinds of things about plants and the Everfree Forest. Like this one time …”

The conversation continued on as Spike recounted moments with Zecora as they walked through the forest. Connor was nodding along and laughed a little at some of the crazy stories, but was more focused on watching his surroundings. The forest seemed like a less-than hospitable place when Connor first encountered it and now it felt like it was waiting for an opportunity to surprise them. But their trip remained calm as they approached a small hut built into a sagging tree.

“Here we are!” Spike announced.

Connor looked around the hut for signs of life but could only see a light coming from inside. But he pushed his doubts aside and readied himself.

“Thanks Spike, I think I can take it from here. Tell Twilight I said, ‘Thanks for the help’.”

“Are you going to be okay getting back to Ponyville?”

Connor scoffed, “Come on spike, it can’t be that hard. If I fly high enough, I should be able to see Ponyville from here. I’ll see you later!” he saluted another farewell and made his way over to the home letting Spike to make his own way back to Ponyville.

He stopped in front of the door, knocked twice and waited. His eye twitched a little but he ignored it.

“Come in!” Connor raised his brow in surprise hearing such a unique accent from inside. He pushed the door open with curiosity wanting to discover the source of this voice. Inside the hut was a curious set of decorations from masks to bottles with unknown mixtures and ingredients set out on a table. Near the tabletop sat a zebra sipping a cup of tea waiting for a cauldron to boil its contents.

“A zebra???” the statement echoed loudly as his eyes finally fell on the single resident of the home.

“Hmm, I have not seen you before; tell me, what is your name, I implore.”

The zebra’s inclination in its use of rhymes stunned Connor even more, “Uh, my name’s Connor. Are you Zecora?” he stuck out his hoof for a hoof shake which she took.

The zebra nodded, “Indeed, that is me,” she smiled kindly.

Connor returned the smile with his own, “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Zecora!”

“The pleasure is all mine,” she let go of his hoof, “So what can I do for you at this time?”

“Well, there is an event going on in Ponyville right now with everypony trying to make their games,” he started but Zecora raised a hoof to stop him.

“I am well aware of Ponyville’s affairs. In fact, the cutie mark crusaders stopped by seeking assistance with their own nefarious wares,” she chuckled at her little joke.

“Oh; okay then. Well, I guess I’m also here for the same reason. I was wondering if you had any kind of blue powder I could borrow for the game I’m using.”

Zecora raised her head like a parent wanting a good reason, “And what task, do you need this blue powder for, if I may ask?”

“Well, the powder I need would be used as like a distraction and to obscure vision temporarily, so I was hoping you might have some that didn’t have any adverse effects.”

Zecora closed her eyes in thought while Connor prepared himself for the worst outcome and hoped that Zecora would be reasonable. After a moment, Zecora smiled and opened her eyes.

“I believe I have what you need; follow me, if you please.”

Zecora turned around and walked over to a cupboard that hung nearby. She opened it and brought out a large jar filled with some kind of blue powder and set it down on the table. Connor watched as Zecora popped the lid off to show its contents to him. He lowered his eyes to get a better look at it and got a whiff of its smell.

“It smells like chalk or charcoal,” he thought.

“I believe this is what you desire. Almost little was done to this powder as it was made from the ashes of fire.”

He nodded in satisfaction, “This is perfect; do you think I could have some?”

“Of course,” Zecora smiled and pulled out a medium sized bag and began filling it with the blue powder.

Connor watched as the jar slowly emptied itself and he worried how much Zecora was going to give him.

“I hope I don’t take too much from your supplies,” he said in a worried tone.

“Do not worry,” she reassured, “This powder is used to cure stomach aches and is not very difficult to make.”

Connor relaxed as Zecora handed him the now full bag of blue powder.

“Thanks Zecora, this should be plenty for what I need. I hope to see you again!” he waved goodbye as he headed for the front door.

“Any time! Please come again! I always enjoy making new friends!” she shouted as Connor exited her home.

Connor stuck the bag of blue powder in his saddle bag and grinned to himself.

“Wow; spike was right! Zecora really is cool!” he thought.

He opened his wings and took off for the skies again. Once above the tree canopy, he spotted Ponyville not far from where he was and flew back to town. His plans were nearly complete for his game and he only had a few more steps to do before he was finished. Connor tried to keep his excitement under control from being so close to finishing, but he couldn’t keep himself from smiling a little to himself and weaving back and forth through the air.

~~~

It was finally Monday and everypony in town was scrambling to make last minute adjustments for their game before Sportsen arrived the next day. There was a nervous air about the town as ponies hurried to finish the final design for their game or started second guessing their final design and going back to make some changes. Connor wasn’t too nervous about his game, but being surrounded by so many scared ponies was starting to rub off on him and his own nerves were starting to spark.

But he calmed himself and went back to his plan. He only needed a couple more things done and then he would be finished. The last things he needed was to have the balloons filled with their respective contents and then set up a partner to help demonstrate his game.

Anypony could fill the balloons up, but they probably wouldn’t be done by the time Sportsen arrived and it was time to present. He needed someone who was fast and efficient and eager to help. Pinkie Pie was one of the first ponies to pop into his head that fit the requirements and he wasn’t going to argue with his mind. Pinkie was somehow really fast and efficient at doing things despite her ridiculous notions and she did say he could come back to her for help; so everything seemed to work out in his head.

The other spot that needed to be filled was a partner to play with. He needed a Pegasus to fill that role and they also needed to be a decent flier too. Twilight could potentially fill that spot as his partner since she also had wings, but he had already seen first-hand how well Twilight could fly; plus, she didn’t quite have the attitude Connor wanted for his game. He needed somepony that was a good flier and had a competitive disposition.

As he finished that thought, Rainbow Dash popped into his head as the pony to take the spot. She was a great flier and loved to compete with others over anything. The only problem would be convincing her to help. She had rushed through cloud busting work that he never had any time to ask about her game or if she would be willing to help him. Well, Connor was just going to have to find out today.

It didn’t help that every pony in town was on the street working on their game. On several occasions, Connor had to take to the sky to get over a large mass of ponies blocking his way then circle back to scan the large group to see if he could find Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. He tried looking in Sugar Cube Corner, but Pinkie Pie wasn’t there. Rainbow Dash wasn’t in her home either when Connor went to look for her.

When he finally expanded his search outside of the streets of Ponyville, Connor finally found both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie outside in one of the fields again. He spotted them while flying over one of the many dirt roads around Ponyville and adjusted his trajectory. As he landed nearby, Connor could hear Pinkie Pie and Dash arguing with each other.

“Pinkie, when I said ‘Kick the ball’, I didn’t mean ‘Kick the ball half way to Baltimare’!”

“But it’s just so much fun to kick the ball! It’s just so bouncy!” Pinkie giggled.

Rainbow groaned, “Uugh! But I asked you to help me with my game, not slow me down! You already finished your game so you don’t have to worry about anything!”

“But Dash,” Pinkie whined, “Games are supposed to be fun! And I’m having fun right now!”

Rainbow let out another loud angry sigh and Connor took this moment to make himself known.

“Hey you two!”

Pinkie and Rainbow looked up from their argument to see Connor standing there.

“Hi Connor! Rainbow was just asking for my help with her game. She’s not quite ready with it, yet.”

“No I’m not! I have everything under control and I am not panicking right now about how Sportsen will crush my game as inferior and not being awesome enough for him. And then he will show my failure of a game to everypony in Ponyville and maybe even the Wonderbolts, proving just how much of a failure I am and-”

“Rainbow Dash!!!” Connor hollered in his most authoritative voice and grabbed one of her hooves to bring her into close eye contact, “Pull yourself together and chill the puck out!!”

He bored into her eyes with his steely stare until she finally calmed down, “Y-you’re right. I just need to calm down and play it cool; just be awesome like I usually am.”

Connor relaxed and let go of Rainbow who slowed her breathing and frantic flapping to normal rates, “Relax Rainbow. You haven’t even met this guy yet and you are doing what I sometimes do and assume the worst.”

“Yeah Dash,” Pinkie joined in, “Just relax; you probably already have most of your game finished. You just need one good practice round and then you are set.”

Rainbow visibly relaxed even more and took a deep breath, “Yeah, all I need is one good run and then I’ll be ready for Sportsen tomorrow! Okay! Let’s make more try, but this time don’t kick it so far.”

Rainbow flew off a little bit into the sky and got into a ready stance while Pinkie grabbed a ball that was set off to the side. Pinkie turned and kicked the ball high into the air where Rainbow snatched it out of the air and dove back to the ground while preforming a string of air stunts before she blasted past both Pinkie and Connor in a gust of wind.

“Yes!” Rainbow whooped, “That was the one! Now everything is ready to go!” she continued to celebrate.

“Woohoo! Go Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie yelled.

“Great job! Now, I have a few things I need to ask of you two,” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash settled down to listen to Connor.

“I need help with finishing my game. I need a partner to play my game with me as well as somepony to help make some of the gear needed for the game.”

“I’ll be your partner!” Rainbow stuck her hoof into the air, “Don’t worry, even though your game may not be as awesome as mine when I win, I’ll make sure your game is more awesome then everypony else.”

“Just a minute ago, you were about to have a mental break down about not being good enough. Now, you’re bragging that no one is going to have a better game than you?” Connor gave a deadpan expression.

“Anyways,” Connor refocused on Pinkie Pie, “I wanted to ask Pinkie if she would be willing to help fill some balloons with some red paint and blue powder that I have.”

“Aww, that sounds boring,” Pinkie complained again.

“Pinkie, I really need your help on this. You can probably make a game out of it to make it fun,” he argued, “It can be like, filling your cupcake trays with dough. Just pour the red paint into the red balloons and pour the blue powder into the blue balloons.”

“Ooo, I love making cupcakes! Okay, I’ll do it!” Pinkie bounced at the idea of making cupcakes.

"Great! Can I have ready by tomorrow before I present to Sportsen?”

“Abso-toota-lutely! I’ll even Pinkie Promise to have it done before then.”

“What’s a Pinkie Promise?” he tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s a promise you have to keep no matter what; otherwise you will lose your friendship with that pony foreveeeeerrrrr!!!” Pinkie hissed her last word making Connor retreat a little in hesitation.

“Uum, I don’t think I need that serious of a promise,” Connor said uncertainly.

“Nope, I Pinkie Promise to have those balloons filled by tomorrow before you show Sportsen; cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie preformed a strange pattern of motions before Connor which just confused him even more.

“Um, great. All the balloons, red paint, and blue powder are in Scootaloo’s room next to my bed on the floor. Just give me a minute and I’ll-”

“Don’tworryIgotitI’llseeyoutomorrow’kaythanksbye!!” Pinkie yelled as she screamed into town presumably going to get the items Connor mentioned.

With Pinkie gone, Connor turned back to Rainbow Dash, “Okay, if you’re going to be my partner you are going to need what my game is and how it works.”

“No problem, I can handle anything,” Rainbow nonchalantly brushed aside.

“Perfect, because it is going to be right up your alley of expertise. So here is how it works…”

It was going to be a big day tomorrow, so Connor wasted no time bringing Dash up to speed on the workings of his game. As Connor explained his game to Rainbow, the two slowly made their way back into town for the end of the day and for the preparation of Tuesday with the arrival of Sportsen.

Author's Notes:

Woo! Another chapter down! Sorry it took so long to get this out; dat college life, yo…

… Sorry, just lost a couple of brain cells by doing that.

Anyways, this is the end of the week of shenanigans with both Twilight and Connor so now we move into presentation day! Are you excited? Are you ready to see what kind of games everyone has been making?! I’m not! I have to write it all and make it all cohesive so that you guys will understand the mad ramblings inside my brain!

Actually, I am really ready to move forward and show everyone the games.

So, any bets on what Connor’s game is? Place your bets everyone, place your bets! The one who is the closest will… I don’t know, get a cookie or something, maybe a special mention for guessing right. So let’s get to it and start on the next chapter!

Onto the next chapter!

22: Now Arriving...

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The wheels on the train cars rattled rhythmically down the rail road tracks as it steadily made it's way across the lands of Equestria to its next destination. Steam puffed periodically into the air from the smoke stack of the elegantly designed train. The train was not the pony express that the common pony used. This was a privately owned trained specifically designed by its owner with smooth lines and classy angles through out the engine and all the cars attached to it. The maroon red and brown paint of the train gleamed in the sunlight as it travelled down the tracks to the next station.

In the caboose of the train was a unicorn mare arranging a few items before she left. The caboose was designed like a small bedroom apartment. There was a decently large bed that was comfy and a few dressers for clothes. A mirror hung on the wall over the dresser and the attached bathroom was stocked with all necessities including a shower.

The mare finished putting things away, collected a note pad and pen in her magic and walked out of the caboose. The unicorn mare had a darkened gold color coat with a teal mane done up in a tight bun. Her dark violet eyes gazed harshly out from behind thin spectacles. She wore a form fitting, black, secretary suit that went down to her hip and still displayed her paper and quill cutie mark. The gentle clatter of the wheels could be heard as she left the caboose and transitioned to the next car in the line.

The next car in the line was the staff quarters. Here was where the kitchen staff, janitors, and butlers of the train slept and lived while the train travelled between cities and towns. It wasn't as nice as the room that belonged to the mare, but it was sufficient for the dozen or so ponies that resided in here. As she passed through, she received a few nods and a greeting or two which she returned before making her way to the next car.

She frowned to herself as she left the staff quarters. Even though everypony was generally friendly in there, she found dealing with them annoying as she had a much more important job compared to them. She continued on and opened the door to the kitchen and dining car. The clinking and clanging of pots and pans filled her ears as she passed by the on duty cooks and into the dining hall. The kitchen was always stocked with the most exquisite foods from around Equestria and always had at least one cook on duty at all times of the day. She always enjoyed eating the food here; the vegetables were always crisp and sweet and she liked trying some of the foods from around the kingdom.

The mare opened the door leading out of the dining car and closed behind her with a click and opened the next door into the recreation car. This car had things like a billiard table, a table for card games, and other various things of entertainment. She completely ignored the contents of the room as she preferred reading over playing games. It was far more relaxing to lose herself in a story and enjoy the quietness than listening to the loud noises of pointless chatter. She moved on to the next car in the chain.

She opened the door to her favorite car on the train and smiled. The next car was the study and lounge with large cushion chairs and velvet couches to relax on. The car had several sound proofing spells on it making the wind noise and clatter of the train wheels an almost nonexistent disturbance. She loved being here to unwind from the stresses of work during her off time. She loved reading her romance novels here while drinking some strawberry and grape juice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to relax in her favorite red velvet couch and pick up on the last chapter of her book she was reading; she had other duties she must attend to.

She forced herself to leave the lounge and go into the next car. She shut the door behind her and gazed upon the car that was designated as the master bedroom. The bed itself was about twice as large as her bed and was even more luxurious. The bed and blankets would cradle a pony in warmth and comfort creating the most refreshing night of sleep. There were a couple of dressers filled with clothes as well as a wardrobe set aside for coats and suits. The master bedroom even had a walk-in bathroom complete with a bath tub and a large sink and counter combination with a large mirror hanging on the wall. The mare would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't jealous of the living arrangements the owner gave himself while travelling; but she didn't complain as the room she had was still considered middle class luxury compared to others. She strode through the room and to her final destination.

The final car attached to the train's engine was the office room. It was, in essence, an office away from the office. Several filling cabinets were lined up along the walls with drawers filled to the brim with supplies placed strategically around the room. Against the opposite end of the car was a drinks cabinet filled with the owner's personal selection of drinks that he enjoyed to refresh himself while he was busy working. Near the adjacent wall, was the a large, dark oak wood and mahogany desk with a tall office chair placed behind it. In the chair sat an earth pony stallion looking over some paper work. He had a tan coat and a brown mane that was swept back and combed neatly in place. He had a few age lines that put him around the beginning years of being considered middle aged. He wore a sharp, navy blue business suit with a red tie that was slightly loose at the collar for comfort.

The stallion's piercing blue eyes looked up from his work at the sound of the door opening and glanced at the mare standing before him.

"Ah Ms. Note Pad, I’m glad to see you. how are you?"

The mare cleared her throat in a prim and proper fashion before responding, “Good morning Mr. Sportsen. I am doing well right now and I have the schedule for today,” she levitated the note pad up to present to him before bringing it back down in front of her.

“Excellent!” Sportsen put the papers he was holding down to fix his attention on his secretary, “So what do we have planned for today?”

Ms. Note Pad gave another curt clearing of her throat before bringing the paper in front of her eyes, “Today at 9:30 in the evening, we have a dinner arrangement with Mr. Strike Out in Applewood to discuss sales for the baseball department. Before that, Ms. Shunt will be arriving on the train to talk about the distribution of a new line of roller skates for the roller derby sport. At around lunch time, we should be receiving the mail for today and there should be last month's pay roll invoice for the toy making and merchandise department. And for this morning we will be arriving in the town 'Ponyville'.”

Sportsen had closed his eyes as he listened to his schedule being read off by Ms. Note Pad. He opened them again when she finished telling him about his arrival in the next town and sighed.

“Ms. Note Pad, how many towns and cities have we been to on this trip so far?”

She made a quick flip to a certain page, “274 locations in total, sir.”

“And none of them had an idea that I was looking for, correct?”

“Correct sir.”

Sportsen let his head fall back and sighed again. He had put several million bits into this trans-Equestrian trip to look for the next big hit. Out of the hundreds of thousands of ponies he met, nopony had the one thing he wanted. It was tough seeing thousands upon thousands of different game ideas all across the land and rejecting all of them. Many games that were presented to him were extremely well made and could easily sweep across Equestria as the next fad that would last for a good while. But Sportsen had turned them all down. He was looking for something really special that would really 'Wow' the masses, and he was determined to find it; even if he had to go through another hundred thousand games to find it.

“Alright then, what is this 'Ponyville' like?”

“Well sir,” Ms. Note Pad studied her pad of paper again, “The town is a small place with a population of less than three thousand ponies. It is a relatively rural town with the well known apple orchard, 'Sweet Apple Acres' nearby and sits on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Currently, Princess Twilight Sparkle is claiming the town as her place of residence and is also the home of the elements of harmony.”

“Mmm,” Sportsen hummed, “Well, at least there won't be any mountains that I have to climb. What time will we be arriving in Ponyville?”

“Our scheduled arrival in Ponyville will be at around 10:46, Mr. Sportsen.”

He gave another tired sigh, “Very well; lets make this quick when we get there. I don't want to spend all day shaking hooves with ponies who don't have any games to offer like the last town. I swear, some of these towns are lucky enough to just have me pass through and to only have four ponies who actually decided to make games was really a waste of my time; and none of them were good to begin with! Don't these ponies know that I have a plan I’m trying to accomplish...” Sportsen continued to grumble to himself while Ms. Note Pad took the cue to leave the office and preform other duties around the train that needed to be taken care of. They only had a couple of hours before the train would arrive in Ponyville.

~~~

The maroon red and brown train rattled and screeched to a halt in the Ponyville train station. it bellowed out a cloud of steam from it's chimney stack as it sighed into a relaxed state from it's long haul across the country side. several cooks and kitchen hands stepped onto the platform to stretch their legs and breathe in the fresh air of the outside for a few free moments before having to go back to work and restock the kitchen with food and other supplies.

Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were amongst the group to step off the train. He stood there briefly to stare at his employees and to readjust the red tie on his suit before taking his first steps in this small town. He glanced at his surroundings with bored interest and passed judgment on the exterior condition, the internal design, and the ponies of this town. Most of the ponies wore content smiles on their faces and greeted each other pleasantly. There were a couple of ponies that caught his attention and his eyes lingered on them briefly before losing interest.

“So what is next on my schedule in this town,” he said without turning to look at Ms. Note Pad.

“First, we are meeting the mayor at the town hall for a short meeting. Then we will have a short break for lunch, followed by holding auditions for the ponies who have made games.”

“Mmm,” he grunted in response, “Do you know where the town hall is?”

The pair paused outside of the entrance of the train station. Ms. Note Pad stopped a pony that was passing by to ask directions.

“Pardon me, but do you know where town hall is?”

“Sure,” the stallion obliged, “Just head down this road until you enter the center of town. After that, take a small right and it should be on the left.”

“Thank you,” Ms. Note Pad turned back to Sportsen and gave a small nod, “Shouldn't be too hard to find.”

He nodded and the two pressed forward into town.

Ponyville had the same friendly atmosphere as the train station did when Sportsen arrived. All the ponies were cheerful and seemed to know each other in one way or another. The town had a warm color palette painted across it's homes and businesses with a few exceptions to a select number of buildings; in particular, one bakery that was designed like a gingerbread house.

Finding the town hall was not too difficult for Sportsen or Ms. Note Pad. After asking one more pony to point out the town hall, they found the tower-like building that was their destination. Sportsen opened the double doors to the lobby of the town hall and strode inside with Ms. Note Pad following behind. The lobby had its space filled with the usual things like a receptionist's desk, a few chairs for waiting, ponies moving back and forth across the floor to different rooms for different tasks, and a couple of plants for decoration. Standing at the center of the casual bustle were two mares.

The first mare on the left was an older earth pony with a tan coat and a wispy white mane in a relaxed business hair cut. She had a pair of gentle, soft, blue eyes that peered out from behind a pair of light yellow spectacles. She had a soft smile on her lips as she spotted Sportsen's arrival. The second mare standing to his right was a younger pony with a lavender coat and a purple mane and a single highlight slightly off center. She had a horn which made Sportsen assume she was a unicorn, but when he noticed the wings neatly tucked at her sides he quickly dismissed that conclusion. She had a pleasant demeanor around her as her purple eyes portrayed a planned and calculated encounter.

“Mr. Sportsen!” the older pony greeted, “A pleasure to finally meet you! My name is Mayor Mare and this is Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She stuck a hoof out to shake with Sportsen which he politely took.

“Pleasure to meet you Mayor, and greetings your highness,” he took a small bow towards Twilight, “It is an honor to finally meet you.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a hint of uneasiness, “It's nice to meet you too.”

“I assume that you already know why we are here Ms. Mayor,” Sportsen directed himself back towards the mayor.

“Indeed. We are aware of your tour around Equestria in search of the next big hit game,” she gave a soft chuckle.

“We have already made arrangements to hold tryouts for the everypony who have developed game ideas they would like to present to you,” spoke Twilight with a sense of accomplishment, “We will be holding the tryouts in the sports field behind the elementary school house not too far from here. We have also taken the liberty to provide drinks and snacks for everypony during the event."

"How will the participants be organized at the field? will you be holding several contestants at once while others wait, or will there just be a single line?"

"The field has a table set up for you with a list of all the ponies who have made a game to present, so there will be a single line formed in front of the table with room off to either side for ponies to demonstrate their ideas," Twilight responded with the practiced answer.

Sportsen put on a surprised face, " Impressive, Princess. I have heard of your organizational skills from others and I am glad to see that the rumors are true. It sounds like you have planned out the entire event.” Twilight blushed slightly at the flattering words from Sportsen.

“So when will the auditions be held today?” he continued asking.

“The Princess and I have decided to hold the trials some time before lunch. If you would like, we can head out now to eat before we head to the field to begin.”

Sportsen nodded at the offer from the mayor, “Yes, that would be the best course of action. If you would be so kind as to show us to a particularly good restaurant for myself and my secretary to eat, we would be most grateful,” he put on a charming smile as he asked the two mare in front of him.

The mayor nodded with a little bit more vigor than usual, “Oh, of course Mr. Sportsen! I know of a nice little place that serves excellent lunch meals!”

The mayor briskly trotted out of the town hall with a slightly confused Twilight who smiled nervously after the mayor. Sportsen smiled to himself as he and his assistant followed after the two for lunch.

~~~

The field that Princess Twilight and the mayor talked about over the early lunch was not too far from town. It was a short walk from where they dined for lunch to the school house on top of the small hill outside of town. The school house was a small red building with a couple of play sets a few meters to the side of the main building. The group strolled between the play sets and the red school to the field behind.

It was a large, flat field with a border of trees surrounding the edges of it. The grass was neatly cut to a short length with sparsely any dirt patches on the field implying that it was a well maintained field. However, Sportsen's eye caught a few patches of grass were colored with a lighter green then others spots. He deduced that the field was just recently repaired for his arrival and wanted to make a good impression on him in the hopes that he would choose somepony from their town. He let an amused grin cross his lips; it was an admirable attempt, but ultimately a futile one.

Near the middle of the field was a single table with a couple of chairs set out and some papers on it. There was already a line forming in front of the table. Sportsen let out a silent groan to himself as he saw how long the line was before he even sat down. The line was wrapping around the edges of the field on the opposite side and was beginning to follow the tree line behind the school house with more ponies filing in behind them. Sportsen was happy that so many ponies came out with possibly new and different ideas for games, but was discouraged by how long it could take to go through so many ponies.

He sighed again, “Ms. Note Pad, what time is it?”

“Almost ten minutes to noon, sir,” she answered.

“Well, we might as well get this started. I still have a schedule to keep if I don't find what I’m looking for here.” He stepped over to the table with a few chairs set out and sat down along with Ms. Note Pad.

Sportsen looked down at the small stack of papers on the table and flipped through them briefly to get a sense of the names and how many ponies would be attending today. After glancing at the first three pages, he noticed that all three pages were written in a triple column style with names written from the top of the page down to the bottom. He quickly skimmed through the rest of the pages to see if there was any break in the three column format pattern only to find the last page not completely filled. He did a double take through the stack again.

“Is every single pony in town showing up to this thing?!” he wondered to himself.

He glanced up at the first pony in line who smiled haphazardly at him. He looked back down at the list of names and passed it to Ms. Note Pad sitting beside him. Ms. Note Pad pulled out a quill and dabbed it in an ink jar before setting it close to the paper ready to scratch names off the list. Sportsen looked back up at the first pony still standing a couple of feet away from them.

“Alright, lets begin. Please tell me your name and what kind of game you have made.”

The stallion took a few nervous steps forward and cleared his throat before speaking, “Hello my name is Gizmo,” he spoke with a slightly nasal voice, “And here is the game I created...”

~~~

The ponies quickly blurred together as Sportsen trudged his way through the list of contestants. He was glad so many ponies took an enthusiastic approach to his offer, but it felt like the entire town was participating in his tryouts today. The town mayor and Princess Twilight were standing nearby working at the drinks and food stands or keeping the line of ponies organized and flowing.

Sportsen took a sip of water from his cup that was brought to him and set it back down on the table as the next pony stepped forward. He glanced at a nearby clock as it read 2:14 in the afternoon. Sportsen had already gone through dozens of ponies and all of the games they presented were declined. He spotted a couple that he liked and had Ms. Note Pad make a note on them for future reviewing, but none stood out as a real eye catcher. However, many of them were simple variations of games that had already been shown to him before or were just lazy copies of somepony else's game with one change or two to avoid being seen as a mimic; but he could see right through their ploy. One memorable one from today was a group of fillies with the idea of making a giant water balloon fight. Although, he quickly turned down the idea when they pulled out their catapult for demonstration.

He rolled his head back to face the pony in front of him as she tried to convince him of a game about flower picking. After listening for only about 45 seconds he dismissed the mare.

“NEXT!” he shouted as the mare with a rose for a cutie mark started crying and whining about how 'Horrible this was'.

The next pony stepped forward and Sportsen eyed the mare with a cowboy hat.

“Howdy, sir,” she said, “My name is Applejack and this is my sister Apple Bloom.”

His eyes darted between the two obvious farm ponies. “Hello,” he said in a friendly tone, “And what kind of game have you made?” he asked for probably the billionth time in his life.

“Well, its a rather simple game if you ask me,” Applejack absentmindedly replied as she began pulling out a couple of apples, “All you need is three small things that are the same and are some kind of food.”

“Okaay,” Sportsen motioned to continue.

Applejack smiled, “First you start off with juggling the three things in the air,” she sat back and tossed the apples in the air and began to expertly juggle them in the air, “You have to juggle them for at least a few moments before you have to pass them to the next pony,” she quickly passed the apples to her apparent, little sister as she began to juggle with some skill, “And there is a time limit to the whole thing. The last pony caught juggling has to catch one of the foods in their mouth and eat it. If you miss, then you are out of the game.” The little sister tossed the three apples in the air. Applejack and her sister caught two of the apples in the air with their mouth and smiled as they bit happily into them. The third apple landed with a heavy thud on the table in front of Sportsen who stared at for a second disapprovingly before raising his gaze to the ponies standing on the other side of the table.

He let them finish chewing their snacks before speaking again, “Tell me Applejack, how exactly do you plan on mass producing the juggling apples for your game? You said that any kind of food item will do, but if I were to choose your game how would you or I make any kind of earnings off of it?” he said with a scowl.

“Um, I do understand the point you are trying to make Mr. Sportsen, but I do have an apple farm we could use to supply the apples,” Applejack admitted.

“What's to stop a pony from going to the grocery store and just buying the apples there for a cheaper price then buying them from you?” he said pointedly, “I’m sorry ms. Applejack, but I don't think juggling is going to be a big hit as very few select ponies are even able to learn how to juggle in the first place. I’m sure if you wanted to join the circus, they would be more than happy to apply your skills at juggling there,” he shot back with a hint of annoyance.

The underhoofed insult did not pass over Applejack and she stared at him in stunned dismay.

“Hey! That wasn't very nice!” the little sister shouted in defiance.

“Apple Bloom! That's enough!” Applejack hissed to quiet her sister. She looked back up at Sportsen and shot daggers at him which he returned with his own cold stare. She grudgingly tipped her hat in respect and wordlessly walked away and led her sister away who was sticking her tongue out at him.

“NEXT!” he shouted.

The next pony in line stepped forward and Sportsen raised an eyebrow in surprise. An ivory white unicorn with an impeccable purple mane stepped forward up to the table. She gave a soft smile with half lidded eyes. He smiled in return, but with a courteous and polite one as he did not allow himself to be swayed by good looks and flattery.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Sportsen!” she said with a high class voice, “My name is Rarity. How are you today?”

“I’m well, thank you,” he nodded curtly, “And what game do you have to present?”

“Oh, I think you are going to love this one,” Rarity gave an enticing chuckle. Sportsen steeled himself against falling in to this mare's charms.

“I call my game, 'Battle-istas'. Its a really fun game and is really easy to play. You need at least three ponies to play the game; at least two ponies for judging and one for preforming. The other thing you need is a lovely selection of dresses which I have some right now!” The mare levitated several elegant and finely detailed dresses off of her back to hold in front of Sportsen. A frown began to crease his lips as he inspected the designs.

“All of these dresses I have made myself in my store, Carousel Boutique. This one in particular,” Rarity pointed to a certain royal purple and yellow dress with blue jewels embedded on it, “Is one I am very proud of. It was originally designed for the-”

“Stop!” Sportsen interrupted Rarity before she could continue.

“Miss, I have been in this the business for a really long time; and I have seen more sales pitches than I can count. Now I must ask you, are you planning on trying to sell me an idea for a game or are you trying to sell me some clothes?”

“Uh, uhmm, buh,” Rarity stuttered, “Uh, how about I interest you in some uniforms?” she gave a half hearted smile.

Sportsen gave a deadpanned look, “...No, NEXT!”

Rarity gasped, “Ah! How rude!” she angrily collected her clothes and stomped off with a defiant 'Hmph'.

~~~

A few more ponies went by before another interesting pony came up to the table. This pony was a Pegasus with overly confident grin on her face and a ball tucked under her wing. He looked the Pegasus up and down before giving a pleasant smile.

“Hey there!” she flashed a coy smirk at him.

“Hello, how are you?” Sportsen asked politely.

“Pretty awesome right now. My name's Rainbow Dash! Ever heard of me?” she leaned her head in and wiggled her brow hoping to get a response.

He furrowed his own brow, “No, I’ve never heard of you before. Should I have?”

Rainbow looked offended, “I’m only the greatest flier of all Equestria and the only Pegasus to have preformed the sonic rainboom! I've saved fillies and colts from danger and am one of the greatest heroes of Equestria!”

Sportsen gave a disinterested look and shrugged, “Sorry, doesn't ring a bell; do you have a game you wanted to show me or was that it?”

Rainbow gave a huff, upset that her name didn't give her an advantage but she pressed on, “Well, even if you haven't heard of me I think you're going to like this game that I made anyways.” She flashed another confident grin.

“So what do you have for me, kid?” Sportsen leaned back into his seat giving Rainbow dash the stage.

“So, its called 'Ultimate Extreme Kickball' and I think you are really going to like it!” She pulled the ball out from under her wing.

“I’m sure I will, but unless you have made a really new variation on 'Kickball' I’m not sure it's going to be that big of a seller.”

Rainbow's eyes widened slightly in panic, “Wait! Let me show you how awesome it is; it will just take a second!” she held up a hoof hoping to dissuade him from brushing her off like a dirt on his shoulder.

“I really don't think that will be necesasar-”

“No, its cool! Just watch!” she took off into the air with her ball.

“First, a pony kicks the ball really high in the air!” she tossed the ball in front of her and gave it a swift kick sending high into the air, “Then a pony has to fly up and catch the ball!” Rainbow put on a burst of speed after the ball and caught it in mid air high above the ground, “Finally, who ever catches the ball has to preform as many tricks and stunts as they can before tagging the pony!” she pulled a flurry of stunts and maneuvers on her way back down to the ground while carrying the ball and blasted past the table where Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were sitting at scattering papers everywhere. She skidded on the ground and stood proudly of her amazing display of skill and speed.

Sportsen grumbled to himself as he and Ms. Note Pad fought to collect all the papers that were scattered to the wind.

“So what do you think of my game now? Pretty awesome, huh?” Rainbow trotted back over in front of the table and stood with her eyes closed and a smug smile on her face.

“I think you've showed off enough and need to let the next pony in line to come forward. NEXT!”

Rainbow's mouth fell open in shock before her head fell again in grumpy acceptance.

When Sportsen sat back down with all of his papers collected, the next pony stepped forward. It was another Pegasus with a long flowing pink mane and a shy demeanor. Sportsen softened his expression and gave a warm smile to invite the pony in and make her feel comfortable.

“Afternoon!” he spoke in a kind tone, “How are you today?”

“Oh, um, just fine thank you,” she said quietly.

“And what is your name?”

“Um, my name is Fluttershy,” she was slowly opening up to him with more confidence when she saw that he wasn't going to yell at her.

“And what kind of game do you have to show me, today?” Sportsen asked politely.

“Um, well, its not really a game. But I was wondering if you might be interested in looking at what I have made anyways.” She reached back and rummaged around in the saddle bag she was wearing.

Sportsen gave a slight pained expression, “I’m sorry dear, but I am really looking for a game right now,” he looked at Fluttershy's deeply dejected and downcast eyes and felt a pang of remorse. He winced slightly as he watched Fluttershy's potential creation be rejected before even being seen.

But it was too much for him to handle and he caved in, “How about I give it a quick look and we'll see what it looks like.”

Fluttershy's instantly brightened and quickly dug back in her saddle bag to grab her things. Sportsen grinned at seeing this pony eager to prove herself with her creations. He threw a sideways glance at his secretary and received a disapproving stare.

“Oh come on,” he mused at her in a whisper while they waited, “I bet even you could not have said no to that face.”

“Yes I could, actually; and quite easily as well.” she quipped.

“Sure,” Sportsen chuckled at Ms. Note Pad.

Fluttershy finally pulled out all of the items she was carrying with her and placed them delicately on the table. Several pony-like figurines were arranged in a semicircle for the two of them to look at.

“I spent a lot of time designing these and finding the right color for each one and I still have several other designs ready to make too,” Fluttershy explained excitedly.

Sportsen reached out and picked one of the pony figures up to examine more closely, “These are really well made,” he commented.

He rotated the doll over in his hooves looking at every aspect of it from its finely carved body to the soft string used for its mane and tail. Fluttershy waited with baited breath unsure if Sportsen was going to like her toys. Eventually, Sportsen set the doll back down on the table and addressed Fluttershy again.

“I really like how well made they are,” Fluttershy brightened a little bit more at the praise, “But like I said before, I’m currently looking for a game right now.” Fluttershy's face fell again in despair which caused Sportsen's own heart to fall in despair.

“But,” he paused to make sure he had Fluttershy's attention, “I’ll tell you what I can do. I can definitely pitch this design for a new toy line to my sister company that I own called 'Hashbrown Inc'. They're the company that deals with all the toys and dolls that we make. When I have the time, I will definitely make sure to bring this to their attention because I think this will really sell well. In addition, I will send you a letter to let you know how things go.” he smiled along with Fluttershy as she beamed with joy.

“Oh thank you so much, Mr. Sportsen! I’m so glad that you like them! Would you like to have them for later? I can always make more!”

“Yes please; I can definitely use them to show to the board when I give them the idea. Ms. Note Pad, will you please have them placed in a bag for when we leave?”

“Yes, Mr. Sportsen,” she answered in an exasperated tone.

“Thank you; and thank you Fluttershy. I wish you luck on your toys,” he grinned.

“Thank you, and you have a really nice day, Mr. Sportsen,” Fluttershy smiled as she stepped to the side to allow the next pony to step forward.

He grinned to himself as he watched a satisfied Fluttershy walk away before facing the next pony in line, “NEXT!”

The next pony in line practically bounced up to the table. Sportsen had to let his eyes adjust to the vibrant colors that was standing on the other side of the table. A wild eyed earth pony mare with an untameable mane smiled broadly at him. He put on his own smile to hide his unpleasant feelings.

“Hiya! My name is Pinkie Pie!” she said with a hyper bounce in her voice.

“Nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie. And what kind of game do you have to show me?”

“Oh boy mister, do I have a game to show you,” she turned her head slightly to the side with a knowing grin.

“I’ll bet,” he muttered to himself in his head.

“I have this really fun game that I made and I call it, 'Musical Fun Games'!!” A small burst of confetti flew into the air as the pink pony made the big reveal.

Sportsen struggled to stop his eyes from rolling as he said, “And how do you play 'Musical Fun Games'?”

“Oh, it's super easy,” Pinkie giggled, “First, you need some music playing!” she dashed off and returned with a small beat box that began to play music from its speakers while Pinkie Pie started bouncing around in a circle.

Sportsen noticed Ms. Note Pad's usual stoic face cringe a little at the selected music that was playing. He could agree that the music playing was not his first pick in musical choice, but he did not stop the pink pony from continuing her demonstration.

“You bounce around for a few seconds and if you hear somepony shout 'Flugel Horn!',” she disappeared in a flash and returned a moment later carrying some kind of an instrument, “Then you have to start playing a Flugel Horn!”

Sportsen could only describe the next few moments of sound as loud, grating, metal sounds and horror. Pinkie took a deep breath filling her lungs to maximum capacity and blew as hard as she could. A terrible screeching noise of vibrating metal and spit came from the other end of the instrument and the faint sound of the word 'Flugel Horn' could be heard through the abomination that could be called sound. Sportsen clapped a hoof over one ear and winced in pain. Thankfully, the cruel and unusual torture ended as quickly as it began.

“Then, you have to go back to dancing around in a circle again!” Pinkie tossed the horn to the side and went back to bouncing around in a circle.

Sportsen stuck a hoof in his ear to clear it out and hopefully reduce the ringing in his ears. But before he could talk, Pinkie Pie spoke up again.

“You keep dancing in a circle until you hear somepony shout, 'TWITCHY TAIL'!!!”

Pinkie Pie dove for cover underneath the table where Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were sitting. He and Ms. Note Pad stared in bewilderment at the spot Pinkie Pie once occupied to where she was hiding below the table top. Pinkie Pie was glancing in the sky with a terrified face looking for some unknown danger.

“Ms. Pinkie, what in Equestria are you hiding from?” Ms. Note Pad asked with an air of annoyance.

“My twitchy tail was a-twitchin'. And a twitchy tail is never a good sign,” Pinkie continued staring at the sky while she explained herself.

“And what exactly does a twitchy tail mea-” Sportsen tried to ask when a soft splat was heard and felt on Sportsen's head.

Pinkie came out from under the table to investigate, “What was that? Ooh, is that frosting on your head?” she stepped forward to smell the white 'Frosting' that was slowly smearing down Sportsen's head.

Pinkie retracted in disgust after smelling the substance, “Ugh! That is not frosting!” she pinched her nose to block out the smell.

Those who were close enough to hear the entire exchange between Pinkie Pie and Sportsen began snickering and laughing at the realization and disgust slowly creeping across Sportsen's face. He grit his teeth in anger as the pungent smell crept it's way up his nostrils.

“Ms. Note Pad,” he stood up from his chair, “Please take care of things for me while I am gone. I need to go clean up and change before this gets any worse.”

“Yes sir.” Sportsen pushed his chair back in and headed back for his train while Ms. Note Pad took over the proceedings.

“Wait!” Pinkie shouted, “What about my game?!”

“NEXT!!” Sportsen shouted over his shoulder.

Pinkie Pie's face trembled slightly as she stood there before she lowered her head in defeat and walked away.

Sportsen bit back his frustration as he trudged back into town and hoped that a quick shower and some fresh clothes from his private train would make him feel better when he came back.

Author's Notes:

I lied. I’m going to reveal Connor's game in the next chapter.

But now we finally meet Mr. Richard Sportsen! He is quite the business pony, isn't he? Throwing millions of bits around like a baller and rolling up in his own private train. And not only does he own one multi-million bit company, but two multi-million bit companies! This guy has got it made.

Last chance to make any guesses on Connor's game! I've seen some pretty good guesses already, but what else can you guys think of? Even if it may not be related to Connor, what other games do you think would be cool to see in this world that would be some kind of variant of a game from the human world? What are you're thoughts on games that were made so far? Yeah, I can admit that they may not be the most creative ones but do you think this is what the main six would think up of?

Anyways, I can't wait to start on the next chapter with Connor's game. We will finally be able to see what it is and how it plays. It should be lots of fun.

Onto the next chapter!

23: Let the Games Begin

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Connor

It’s never the actual show that gets to you; it’s always the waiting that kills you.

Connor saw one of the ponies get up from the table and walk away for some reason while Pinkie Pie exited the line with a downtrodden expression. While he was several places back behind Pinkie, he had no idea how long that other pony was going to be gone before it was his turn to step up to the table. He leaned to the side to see who was still at the table. The dark yellow unicorn mare was still sitting there as she levitated a quill over the note pad that was laying on the table top.

The line barely moved one step at a time while the next pony stepped forward to show case his idea for a game. After some time, the stallion at the table turned away with a saddened face as well. Time after time, ponies left with worried or dissatisfied faces as Connor slowly moved closer to the table. He bounced lightly on his hooves in trepidation.

Now that he was closer and could see the pony sitting at the table clearly, it looked like the mare was some kind of secretary for the other pony that left. That probably meant if there were any good games that came before Connor, they would only be written down for future reference. That meant Connor would be competing with a list of ponies, and the only thing that would be going for him was whether his game looked good on paper. There would be no opportunity to tip the odds in his favor with face-to-face interaction and cunning word positioning. He assumed if the other pony did not return before he had to present his game, his chances of being picked were pretty slim.

He felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his head and he wiped it way with a hoof. The wait was killing him and he needed to calm down. He tried to close his eyes and slow his breathing in a meditative manner hoping it would calm him down. It only seemed to help slow the pace of his steadily growing nerves as the table was only a couple of spots away. If only he could just get up and do it right now, he would be fine. It was always during this waiting period that he would most often psych himself out and would have to spend a few moments trying to calm himself down and reaffirm his confidence in his own abilities.

He was now second in line and the pony from before still had not returned. The pony at the table began talking to the secretary who gave a bored look at him. But the voice was a mindless drone in Connor’s ears while he waited. He glanced around praying that the other pony would be back any minute now. If he wanted any chance in being selected, he wanted to speak to the actual pony judge rather than this substitute. His eyes brightened as Connor spotted the pony return from wherever he went and took his seat again behind the table.

He leaned over to his secretary and whispered to her. She showed him the note pad and he gave a short nod before looking at the stallion standing at the table. He shook his head and the stallion's head fell with disappointment. He stepped out of the way for the next pony to approach.

“NEXT!”

Finally, it was Connor’s turn. He steeled his eyes and face in preparation. It was finally time for him to show off his game that he made and he doubled checked his bag he was carrying to make sure he had everything ready. With all items set, Connor stepped forward to the table.

“Good afternoon,” Connor spoke with confidence in his voice as he stepped up to the table and made eye contact while he presented a hoof shake, “My name is Connor. It’s nice to meet you.”

The tan stallion with a navy blue business suit stood up to exchange a sturdy hoof shake with Connor, “Likewise; my name is Sportsen. So what kind of game do you have to show me?”

“It’s a unique game that is rather exciting and could easily grab the attention of any pony,” Connor rummaged around in the bag with him and began laying out several items on the table. The first thing was a small stack of papers with the title 'Game rules' written on it. Beside that, he set two balloons the size of small apples next to it; one red and one blue. After setting the balloons on the table, Connor finally put a pair of saddle bags next to the balloons.

The stack of papers were from the afternoon Connor spent with Spike while they were making the rules and guidelines of his game. The saddle bags actually belonged to Applejack and he convinced her to lend him a pair for his demonstration. The balloons he managed to snag on his way to the field were from Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie was still filling the balloons when he came in and took two of each type. He wanted to test each one to make sure they worked the way he wanted them to when thrown. After a successful quick test, he stored the last two of his four balloons in his bag to show.

Sportsen scanned the items in front of him with a discerning eye while he asked, “What is all this for?”

“They are the gear needed to play my game. I have called my game, ‘Paint Wars’ until I can find a better name for it.” Connor picked up the stack of papers and hoofed it over to Sportsen to flick through while he gave a brief explanation.

“Here is how the game is played: each player starts off with two saddle bags of red and blue balloons. The red balloons I call ‘Markers’ as they are used to mark a hit on the opponent, while the blue balloons are called ‘Chaff Balloons’ and are used as a defensive measure. The markers need to be in the right hoof bag while the chaff balloons need to be in the left hoof bag. However, they are limited to a total of eight balloons they are allowed to carry at once, so each opponent has to decide how they want to play. Whether they want to be trigger happy and throw a lot of markers in the hopes that they will be lucky and one of them will hit, or they want to play it cautious and carry more chaff balloons and pick a single opening to throw their limited number of markers is up to the player.

“In one-on-one matches, each player has to carry at least one marker. But in the two-on-two or tag team matches, players can carry any kind of loadout they choose and are able to exchange balloons with teammates. However, one particular rule that I want to bring your attention to is that a player is not allowed to come to a complete hover in the air while playing or risk disqualification. To win the game, one side must eliminate the other. A player is eliminated when they are hit with a marker balloon.”

Sportsen nodded along as Connor explained how his game worked while he flipped between different pages of his makeshift rule book. He tossed the packet on the table with a soft thud and looked Connor square in the eye.

“It seems like a pretty solid game. But it sounds like it’s a game designed for pegasi only. What about earth ponies or unicorns? What if they want to play your game?” it felt like his eyes were boring into Connor’s brain as he stared back at his vibrantly blue eyes.

Connor quickly glanced to the sky in thought as he adjusted his game for other ponies, “Now that I think about it, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to adjust the rules for earth ponies and unicorns to play. The balloons can be picked up either by hoof or by magic and instead of the sky being the playing field, we could design a playing field on the ground with obstacles for cover.”

Sportsen nodded and hummed in agreement, “Mmm. Well, you had my attention and now you have my curiosity. I want to see a match of your game; do you think you could give a little demonstration right now or do you need time to make enough balloons for two players?”

Connor’s face lightened in surprise, “I-I can definitely do that for you! I already have plenty made up for a match right now if you would like to see one. If you give me a minute, I can have my partner and I ready to go.”

“Go ahead then,” Sportsen smiled with subdued excitement, “I can wait while you get ready.”

“Thank you!” Connor beamed, “I’ll be right back!”

Connor grabbed the saddle bags on the table while he left the rules and example balloons on the table. He turned and rushed over to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and the rest who were gathered in a partial circle around a couple of bags filled with balloons. He skidded to a stop just outside the circle before joining it.

“Good news! Sportsen wants a demonstration of my game!” There was a chorus of excited voices mixed in with some sour tones.

“Lucky…” Rainbow Dash muttered aloud.

“Now Rainbow, don’t be too upset just because Sportsen wants to see more of his game,” Applejack said.

“I know; but I wanted my game to be picked as the winner,” she whined.

“I haven’t been picked yet,” Connor corrected with a stern look while he started fastening the saddle bags he was carrying on his sides, “He wants to see a demonstration of my game before he makes a final decision. And besides, you get to help out with the demonstration! You get to show off your skills on how good you are at flying again. Hey Applejack, can you give me a hand with getting these bags on?”

“Sure Connor,” Applejack stepped over to help out while Rainbow brightened a little.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Alright then! We’re going to put on the best show he is ever going to see! We’re going to show him moves he never even dreamed of seeing!” Rainbow gave a hoof pump.

Connor turned to Pinkie Pie while Applejack finished synching the bags to his sides, “Hey Pinkie, are all the balloons ready?”

“Yep! Actually, there is one thing I should tell you. I know you wanted these balloons filled up with what you gave me, but I kind of ran out of it, so I sort of, kind of, teensy weensy, had to use some other things to fill up the balloons. Hope you don’t mind!” She gave a small bounce of energy at the end of her confession with a sheepish smile.

“What?” he gave a quizzical look, “What do you mean, ‘Other things’? Actually, no; never mind. We don’t have time to argue.”

Connor thrusted a hoof into each bag on the ground and loaded his right saddle bag with four marker balloons and his left saddle bag with four chaff balloons. With his loadout set, he looked up at his partner and opponent for the first match ever of his game.

“Are you ready Rainbow?”

“Yep! All set and I have my balloons ready to go!” She flashed her saddle bags at Connor.

“Great,” he smiled, “Just remember, we are trying to show as much as possible here. Which means try to use both types of balloons.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow waved a hoof in dismissal, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

The two trotted over to the more open side of the field to play. Sportsen paused in his reading of the papers on the table to watch them. Rainbow Dash moved to one side of the field while Connor trotted over to the other side. They stopped to face each other with a good fifteen meters between each other. They stared each other down for moment as they set their stances. Everypony around them seemed to hold their breath waiting for the two ponies on the field to make the first move. The tension in the air rose until it was taut like a cello string.

“Okay, are you ready?” Connor nearly hissed in a low tone that was barely audible to everypony.

“Yeah,” Rainbow hissed back, “Ready…”

“Set…” They both opened their wings in preparation.

“GO!!”

Connor kicked off the ground with as much force as possible and took off for the sky. The tension in his body unsprung itself like a compressed coil as he could finally let his actions speak for themselves. But his relief was short lived as a red balloon marker went whizzing passed his head and his mind came rushing back to the present. He looked at Rainbow Dash who was giving him a devilish grin and was digging back into her bag for another balloon to throw.

Connor quickly forgot about his other worries as his mind focused on calculating, understanding, predicting, and defeating his newfound opponent. He gritted his teeth and flapped his wings harder to gain more altitude. If he wanted to win, he needed to start with a good bit of altitude.

But it was a different game now and he wasn’t playing tag with Rainbow Dash. She now had projectiles to throw at him. As he climbed, he spiraled upward changing directions in a seemingly random pattern hoping to keep his pursuer off his tail. He glanced back every so often to keep track of his target while he tried to shake Rainbow.

After climbing a good distance, Connor pulled back at an angle and looped over to level off heading into a different direction. Simultaneously, he stuffed his own hoof in his left bag to pull out a blue chaff balloon. He crushed it his hooves and let the obstructive cloud of blue powder trail behind him before yanking back to loop over the top. He glanced back as Rainbow Dash rocketed through the cloud disorientated and with a confused look on her face searching for her target.

He smirked and banked hard to his left to come back around to chase after Rainbow Dash. The roles had been switched and now Connor was on the attack. Rainbow spotted him and shock replaced her confusion as she made her own attempt to out-maneuver Connor. She turned away from him putting Connor in a lead pursuit. It was the perfect opportunity to throw a marker and score a hit.

He dug into his right bag and pulled out a marker balloon. It was an awkward position trying to reel back and prepare to throw his marker, but he managed and threw it at a spot slightly ahead of Rainbow. If everything went as planned, Rainbow would fly right into the path of the balloon and Connor would score the hit. He watched the marker streak to his target as Rainbow came closer. Suddenly, a blue cloud exploded in front of Rainbow Dash as she and the marker disappeared in the cloud.

He cursed as his marker vanished from view and he passed by the cloud desperately searching for a rainbow haired pony. He looked left, right, down, and around the blue cloud but couldn’t find anything. Eventually, he squinted and looked up into the sunny day looking for his opponent. A shadow danced across his eyes and realization hit him in the gut.

Rainbow Dash had somehow used the blue cloud and timed herself perfectly to fly above him and hide in the sunlight. He squinted again and saw a figure above him lift an arm above them. He panicked and made a quick inverted dive while pulling out another chaff balloon and popping it behind him to hide in as another red marker zipped by. Connor altered his dive into a late lag displacement roll flying to the right from his original flight path. A pair of wing beats other than his own caught his ear and he twisted around to see Rainbow tailing him again.

He pulled back again into a barrel roll hoping to force her to overshoot past him. But she followed suit and went into her own barrel roll after him. They spun perpetually around each other through the air trying to bleed off air speed faster than the other and put them into an advantageous position to go for the score. But the tree line blocked their way and the two of them had to break off in separate directions to avoid a crash.

Connor and Rainbow Dash craned their necks around trying to keep each other in view. She gave a grin while Connor frowned. Both were surprised at each others' prowess of combat flight. Connor had hoped that Rainbow’s stunting and showy mind set of flying would be a disadvantage in the serious nature of combative flight while his experience of combat flight through his video games would give him an advantage.

The reality was, the stunts that Rainbow preformed were the exact same maneuvers used by combat pilots from Connor's world. The only difference was a stunter preformed the moves with the intent of entertainment and putting on a show while the combat pilot preformed the moves with the goal of getting the hit in mind. Connor frowned more as his mind came to this conclusion and he discovered that he had a new disadvantage against Rainbow; her experience in flight. Rainbow had years of experience in actual flying while Connor had only flown in passenger planes during his travels around his world or piloted virtual jets in his video games. In conclusion, Connor was rookie fresh from training while Rainbow Dash was the seasoned veteran rethinking old tricks into new ones.

~~~

Back on the ground, Sportsen watched the game with raptured attention. His eyes darted across the sky watching the two pegasi dance back and forth trying to get an upper hand on one another. His heart raced with excitement as he silently cheered for one Pegasus to achieve victory over the other. The two dove for the ground and made a high speed pass just feet over them. The air gave a low rumble as they passed overhead and Sportsen whipped his head around trying to keep the ponies in his sight.

But a roar of cheering ripped him from his engrossed spectating and he turned to gaze over the ponies who were still waiting in line. Ponies of all ages including elderly earth pony mares, unicorn fillies, and fellow pegasi screamed and cheered in encouragement for both fliers as they fought for air superiority. Despite the crowd being outdoors, it sounded like Sportsen was standing the middle of a stadium during the major play of a game. He looked back to the sky and even spotted some pegasi from the airways stop in their travels to watch the fantastic display of skill and give their own cheers of encouragement.

Sportsen noticed just how involved the ponies were while they watched the match. They were practically entranced with watching the match overhead. Sportsen bowed his head in concentration as plans began to formulate in his mind. Advertising campaigns, equipment marketing, the formation of competitive teams, sponsorships… This was more than just a game here; this was a competitive sport in the making! It would be easy to make this a wide spread sport; and with the reaction he was seeing from the ponies here as well as making even passersby from the airways to stop and watch, he knew that this was the game he was looking for.

“Yes, this will fit perfectly for my plans,” he thought to himself.

He fixed his attention to the match again and smiled to himself. It looked like he had found his winner.

~~~

Meanwhile, back in the air Connor was struggling with Rainbow Dash with a lot of difficulty. He had wasted two red markers and another blue chaff balloon in a futile attempt to displace Rainbow Dash and score a hit. This left him with one marker and one chaff to use. He looked back and could see Rainbow getting really close to him.

He stuffed his hoof in his bag again and pulled out his last chaff balloon for one last ditch effort to gain some space and make one last plan. He rolled onto his back in the air and held the balloon in front of him. He crushed the balloon in his hooves again and was going to throw more blue powder at Rainbow. However, the balloon exploded in his hooves in a shower of confetti, streamers, and the sounds of noise makers going off.

He stared in bewilderment at the oddity that happened mere inches away from his face. His mind raced as to how this could have happened, but quickly stopped as he remembered what Pinkie Pie had said earlier before the game.

“So that’s what she meant by ‘Other things’” he growled under his breath.

Another marker zoomed past him and grazed the hair on his chest wrenching him out of his harsh mental scolding of Pinkie Pie and back to Rainbow chasing after him. He cursed himself again and rolled back over.

He started to bank to his right hoping that Rainbow would fall for his ruse. He rolled right like he was going to turn before flipping back and rolling to his left in a snap roll to force another overshoot. But Rainbow Dash simply rolled underneath into a barrel roll of her own and came up on the outside on Connor’s left wing while he was banking right again.

She pulled out another red marker and lined up the shot against her slow moving opponent and fired. The balloon flew true and hit her target squarely in the left side of the face knocking him silly and sending him into spiral towards the ground.

Connor felt a heavy impact against the side of his head that dazed him and sent his mind spinning. He couldn’t tell what was going on, but his wings went slightly limp sending him into a downward spiral of confusion as he fought to regain his bearings. He could see the ground approach in a dizzying manner and he tried to level out his crash landing approach. But one final roll made one of his wings catch the ground sending him to cartwheel wing-over-wing on the ground in a spectacular crash landing that kicked up grass and dirt in the air while his limbs flailed about.

While Connor was busy with his crash landing, Rainbow was in the middle of making victory passes over the spectators and posing while she let the praises wash over her. Ponies rushed over to congratulate her while another set of ponies ran over to help Connor out of the dirt and give their own approvals to him for putting on an amazing show.

Connor groaned as dull pain covered his body and dirt clogged his mouth and nostrils. He slowly righted himself spitting out dirt and grass from his mouth and lips and brushing himself off. He sat up and reached up to touch the side of his face that got hit with the marker. He smeared some of the red off his face and brought it in front of his eyes to glare at. But his clogged nose picked up the faint smell of something sugary. Now that he thought about it, the red paint was unusually thick on his hoof and sort of clumped together. Connor furrowed his brow in confusion and brought it to his nose to sniff. It definitely didn’t smell like paint; it smelled like sugar. He tentatively stuck his tongue out and brought the red substance to the tip of his tongue. Sure enough, it tasted like sugar frosting that was put on top of pastries or cakes.

He looked at the frosting in bafflement and turned to yell at Pinkie on the other side of the field.

“Hey Pinkie! Did you fill these red balloons with red paint like I asked you to?”

Pinkie Pie gave him her own look of confusion, “Red paint? Oh!” she gasped, “I thought you said you wanted to have those red balloons filled with red cake! So I thought, ‘What could he mean by red cake’? And then it came to you me that you must have meant to say red cake frosting! So then I was like, ‘Oh! He must have meant to say red cake frosting!’ and then I asked, ‘Why does he give me this can of red paint?’, And then I realized that you must have given it to me for painting Applejack’s barn again! Teeheehee!”

Pinkie Pie giggled and laughed to herself while Connor groaned and threw his arms to the sky and fell back down in his crater. He laid there for a second while ponies finally reached him and started congratulating him on a great show and helping him stand up. He let the extra hooves pull him up to a sitting position where he slowly pulled himself out of the dirt and started walking back to the table.

Rainbow Dash had finally landed and was surrounded by several ponies and friends. Connor could spot Scootaloo gushing over how awesome Rainbow had been and could imagine what kind of night he was going to have when to two of them headed back to her home. But he refocused his eyes on Sportsen who had stood up to approach Connor. He quickly tried to rub off more of the red frosting off his face to make himself a little bit more presentable before Sportsen would arrive.

“That was an excellent show, kid!” Sportsen slapped a hoof on Connor’s back and pulled him closer, “Where did you ever come up with such a brilliant idea?”

Connor chuckled a little, “Well, it sort of just popped into my head.” There was no way Connor was going to reveal exactly what influenced him to create such a game. He did not want to share the fact that he was from another world and had pulled most of his inspiration from it.

The rest of the crowd was slowly congregating around the two with Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the rest coming to the front of the circle. There were a few more shouts of excitement and praises coming from the crowd while everyone wore a broad smile.

“Is that so?” Sportsen gave a whimsical look and Connor chuckled again, “Well, I like what that brain of yours has come up with. This game you have here; it’s exciting and energetic. It really gets your heart pumping with the danger of making one wrong move and being taken out of the game!”

“Thank you,” Connor gave a shy smile, “Um, did you have any questions about my game would like to ask me?”

“Yes I do,” Sportsen poked Connor in the chest, “How would you like to make your game into a sport?”

Connor studied Sportsen’s knowing smile and raised his brow in excitement, “I would love to!”

“Excellent, kid! Now, tell me what the name of your game was again?”

“Paint Wars, sir,” Connor offered.

“Paint Wars, huh? I think we can work with that. And you can drop the sir’s, we’re all friends here. Actually, I haven’t fully introduced myself to you. My name is Richard Sportsen; CEO of Sportsen enterprise. My friends like to call me ‘Rich Sports’ as a bit of a joke.” Sportsen laughed at his funny name and Connor politely joined in while he shook Sportsen hoof for the second time.

“My name is Connor; creator of the game ‘Paint Wars’.” Sportsen laughed again at Connor’s own little joke.

“That’s a very interesting name, kid. But I like you; you seem like one of those ponies filled with ideas in their head. Ms. Note Pad! Will you please set up a meeting for Mr. Connor tomorrow after lunch? We’re going to have to discuss dealings and contracts with this fine gentlecolt now that we have found our game and our winner!”

There was a roar from the crowd as Sportsen announced the winner of the search for the next big game. Connor beamed with joy and looked at Twilight and the rest standing by. All six of them were cheering for Connor’s victory; well, except Rainbow Dash who was pouting and giving a very unenthusiastic clap. The crowd slowly calmed down for Sportsen to be able to talk again.

“Now that the main business is out of the way why don’t you tell me about yourself, if you don’t mind. I want to know what kind of ideas ‘Pop’ into that head of yours.”

“Not at all! Uh, hey Twilight! Do you think we could talk afterwards when I’m done?”

“Sure Connor!” she waved goodbye as Sportsen walked Connor away while striking up a conversation with him. She smiled as she watched them head off around to the front of the school house then disappeared around the corner. She turned back to her friends who were talking excitedly with each other.

“That’s so cool that our Connor got picked!” bounced Pinkie Pie.

“Sure does, sugar cube! That show they put on was something fierce!” she swung a hoof in front of her.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow exclaimed loudly, “It was only thanks to me that he had such an awesome opponent that he got picked as the winner!” Rainbow folded her hooves as she pouted some more.

Everypony around her laughed. “Oh come now, dear. I don’t think ‘Extreme Kick Ball’ or even ‘Musical Fun Games’ were going to win.”

“And what about your game, Rarity?! Your ‘Battle-istas’ didn’t do too well either!” That got Rarity to purse her lips and Twilight stepped in before things escalated.

“I think we all had good chances at winning. Connor’s game just seemed better for what Sportsen was looking for,” Twilight gave Rainbow a stern look which quieted her down, “But you still did an amazing job helping Connor. I’m sure you played a big part in helping Connor being selected.”

Rainbow gave Twilight a tired grin, “Thanks Twilight.”

Twilight returned a sympathetic smile, “Come on, why don’t you help clear the field with me?”

There was a chorus of agreements amongst the friends as they started picking up food and drinks and disposing them in the trash.

Author's Notes:

Holy shit! Did I just write this whole chapter in one day?! Go me, yeah!!!

And now for our special shout out to the person who got the closest in guessing Connor’s game. Actually, I’m not sure I should give this out because they were so dead on with their guess!

Greycait: Sounds like it could be an aerial dog fight type game. Blue powder for chaff and the red for either ammunition or marking hits.

Mr. Greycait, just what do you have to say for yourself?! You ruined the surprise for everyone! Have you been spying on me or hacking into my personal files?! I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!!!!!

Ahem…

Now that I have made the big reveal, the game doesn’t seem as special anymore or it wasn’t that much of a surprise. And yes, I know the game name is cheesy; ‘Paint wars’… Come on! Let’s see you try coming up with a cool and catchy name for the game!

Anyways, can you guess what’s going to happen next now that the game has been revealed? I bet you can…

Onto the next chapter!

24: A Meeting in Canterlot

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Twilight

The alarm clock on Twilight's desk rang and rattled loudly jumping Twilight out of her slumber. She climbed out of bed and groggily hit the snooze mechanism on her alarm clock while her schedule came to the front of her mind. Today, she and Connor would be travelling together for the meeting with Sportsen that was happening after lunch.

Yesterday afternoon, Connor approached Twilight asking for her help. During his conversation with Sportsen, he found out that the meeting was going to be held in Canterlot and he remembered a couple of things during the discussion. The first problem Connor had was he did not know the area of Canterlot, the layout of the city, or where exactly the building he and Sportsen were supposedly meeting in. the second problem he asked Twilight's help for was for the actual business part of the meeting. He confessed to Twilight that he had no understanding of her world's business and contracting laws and he wanted her help to make sure that Sportsen did not try to deceive him during the meeting.

Twilight had accepted to help Connor. He genuinely looked concerned when he asked her and she would not deny help to a friend; even a tough friend. In fact, she was so eager to help him Twilight spent the rest of that day studying and refreshing on her Equestrian business and trade laws as well as inviting Connor to sleep in her tree house so that they could leave extra early in the morning.

Twilight gave a small yawn and began her morning routine. She took a quick bath, brushed her teeth, combed her mane and tail, and collected her saddle bags filled with extra commerce books to brush up on bargaining techniques. In exactly thirty five minutes, she was ready with everything and made her way down stairs for some breakfast.

Laying on a couch downstairs was Connor still fast asleep. His head rested on a pillow he borrowed from the storage closest with one of Twilight's spare blankets wrapped around him in a tight cocoon of warmth. Twilight walked up beside him as quietly as possible and started nudging him with her hoof. After two pokes, he sucked in a sharp breath as he was roused from his sleep. He sighed into his pillow and readjusted his position before cracking his eyes open to see Twilight's smiling face.

“Good morning!” she said in a cheerful but quiet voice so as to not disturb Connor too much as he slowly woke up, “It’s time to get up and get ready for your meeting today.”

“Ookaay.” Connor raised his head to look around the room through his bleary eyes. He looked for a clock to see what time it was but couldn't see anything in the dark room. His head turned to the window on the other side of the room and he squinted to see the outside world. But the window was nearly pitch black.

“Hnnnmmm, nuahh, what time is it?” Connor sighed as he stretched his body on the couch.

Twilight glanced up in the dark to look at the clock hanging on the wall, “It's 4:52 right now.”

Connor stopped in his stretching to stare into space for a long second before his body went slack and flopped back down on the couch with a groan.

“Twiliiiight, why did you wake me up at five in the morning, before the sun has even risen yet, to get ready for a meeting that isn't happening until after lunch?”

She gave a sheepish smile, “Well I just wanted to make sure that we have plenty of time before the meeting to talk about some basic laws in Equestrian commerce. That way, we don't walk into the meeting without knowing something about business.”

Connor dropped his head back on the couch again, “You got me up at o-dark-thirty in the morning for a meeting that is, like, eight hours from now. And without even breakfast yet. Yeah; like I’m doing that.”

He tried to roll back over to sleep in while Twilight gave a dignified huff, “Connor, this is very important if you want my help. We have to go over the basics of bit transaction before we can move onto the concepts of investments for the future!” she added a sense of urgency to her voice as she tried to convince Connor to get up.

“Twilight, I know how flicking money works. Talk to me after we've had breakfast.” Connor muffled his growl through his pillow.

Twilight rolled her eyes and decided to head for the kitchen to start on breakfast. Perhaps she could lure Connor out of his sleep with the smell of food. It always seemed to work with spike so Twilight theorized it would work with Connor too. She entered the kitchen and looked around at the available breakfast items that would most likely draw Connor out the fastest. She settled on making some pancakes with a side of fried eggs done over easy, and some milk for a drink.

In a few minutes the kitchen was a flurry of pans, ingredients, mixers, and plates. Twilight flipped a couple of fresh pancakes onto one of the plates and sidled two eggs cooked to exact specification next to the pancakes. She pulled out some syrup and drizzled it over the food before setting the aside to make some food for herself. Three-quarters of the way through making her own breakfast, the door banged open and Twilight glanced over to see a zombified Connor walk in and grab the plate of food and set it down at the table to eat.

She smirked to herself. “Works every time.”

~~~

After bearing witness to zombified Connor pour even more syrup over his pancakes and replace his milk for water then devour the whole meal, Twilight quickly ate her own food and made quick work of clean up. After everything was put away, Twilight exited the kitchen to find Connor already back on his couch.

She trotted up to the couch and gave Connor a stern look, “Connor, we have to hurry and leave now if we want to make it to the meeting!”

Connor pulled his head up and out of his pillow to return his own glare, “And how do you plan on getting to Canterlot right now?”

“We are going to fly there. If we set a good pace, we can arrive in the city in 37 minutes and have plenty of time to find the building we are meeting Sportsen in.”

Connor continued to glare at her, “Great, that puts us at about, oh 6:30-ish in the morning. Before the sun has even risen or any shops have opened. That gives us over seven hours to wait!” he yelled his last sentence making Twilight blink.

“Seven hours?” She looked confused wondering how this was a bad thing.

“Yeah, seven hours. What are we going to do in that time? Grind me on what two bits plus two bits equals? Or pester me on the financial benefit of having a savings account for future investment?”

Twilight paused in her pestering and reevaluated her first assumptions. After her own long moment, she gave him an embarrassed smile, “Umm, maybe?”

Connor let out a powerful sigh, “How about you show me around Canterlot instead? I've never been there so it would be nice if someone could give me the tour.”

Twilight gave a puzzled look, “What do you mean 'You've never been there'? That was the first city you were in when you first came to Equestria.”

“Oh,” he realized, “Well then, all the more reason to show me around.”

“Fine. Should we get ready to fly, then?”

“Why?” Connor asked, “Why not take the train?”

Twilight looked at him with even more confusion, “Why would we take the train? It's much slower than flying there ourselves.”

Connor sat up from the couch, “I don't know, because it would be fun?”

“Fun?” Twilight was not following Connor's thought process. The only time she had used the train was because it was the fastest way to travel before she had wings; or she was going with her friends and wanted to stick together. They were always enjoyable trips, but there was always a hint of business needed to be done when she arrived.

“Yeah,” Connor continued, “You've never taken the train just for the fun of it?”

“No, I mainly took it because I was usually travelling with a group.”

“Well in my world, riding a train is a bit of a special thing; or at least in my opinion it’s a special thing. So I thought it would be okay to take the train since we have so much time.”

Twilight thought about it and recalculated her time schedule with the inclusion of the travel time on the train. She nodded as Twilight finished her equations and looked at Connor again.

“I think we can accommodate that. The train ride will take less than two hours, still leaving us with five hours to make a quick trip around the city than spend the rest of the time preparing for the meeting!” She grinned as she finished describing her master plan to Connor.

He shook his head and stood up, “Sure, whatever. We should probably leave now or we're going to be late for the first train of the day,” he threw his eyes to the ceiling while putting an extra amount of sarcasm in his voice.

Twilight gasped, “Oh my gosh! You're right! Let's hurry and we might be able to squeeze onto the train with all the other passengers!” She rushed out the door while Connor called back to her.

“I was joking!!”

~~~

The pony express train chugged its way down the familiar tracks towards the capitol of the Equestria. The cars rocked side to side gently like a large baby's cradle as the engine pulled the many cars behind it. There were only a hoof full of ponies on the train as it snaked its way up and around the mountain to the Canterlot train station.

In one of the mostly empty cars, Twilight and Connor occupied one of the many empty seats available to them. They sat across from each other at the seats closest to the window. Connor had his eyes closed as he tried to use some of the travel time to sleep in some more while Twilight glanced up every so often to check on him as she read one of the books she was carrying.

She smiled to herself as Connor opened his eyes to stare out the window at the passing landscape between Ponyville and Canterlot. Even though this meeting was important, Connor's example of remaining calm and collected was probably best as she was more than likely overreacting. She continued to watch out of the corner of her eye before focusing on her reading again.

The train puffed clouds of steam in the air as it approached the capitol's train station. The wheels screeched loudly as it rolled to a stop at the platform and the conductor came by to open the doors. Twilight and Connor stepped out into the cool morning air before the sun rose to warm the area in its glow. Twilight grinned as she stepped off the relaxing train ride with Connor following behind. Even though train ride took about two hours longer than flying, it still left around five hours before the meeting started.

Twilight watched Connor look around the station with new-found interest as they trotted into the open.

“It’s strange,” he commented, “I sort of remember this place in bits and pieces and now that I'm back here and not viewing everything behind a red haze… it’s weird.”

“A red haze?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, it basically means viewing the world while angry. It's an expression from my world. Anyways, let’s check out the city! Give me the grand tour of this place and have some fun!”

Twilight perked up at his enthusiasm, “Okay then, let’s start at the outer parts of the city!”

Near the city walls lay the outskirts of the capital of Equestria. Twilight and Connor drifted down several different streets as Twilight explained some of the history behind this section of the city. To Connor, it looked like the part of the city were the lower working class of the city lived and breathed. The ponies here looked gruff and slightly disheveled as everypony had a working job of some sort.

The living standards in this part of the city felt close to bare bones with only a few luxuries that could be scavenged from the streets. The streets were grimy and gray and looked beaten. Connor pointed out to Twilight that he saw mostly earth ponies and pegasi here in this section of the city which Twilight replied that most ponies who held many of the manual labor and hardworking jobs were earth ponies and pegasi as they were the two races most adapt at that kind of labor. The two also picked out a hand full of homeless ponies living on the streets as they passed onto the next section of the city.

As the pair exited the lowest section of the city and transition into the major heart of Canterlot, the buildings and overall quality of the surroundings improved. The paint colors were livelier and the ponies were cleaner and light hearted. The majority of Canterlot city was like this; clean streets where ponies of every kind bustled about doing their jobs, having meals, or relaxing. There were a few more commercial businesses like grocery stores and specialized product stores intermingled amongst the industrial production factories and seemed to steadily outnumber the industrial buildings the further you walked towards the castle until the only businesses you saw were commercial based.

Connor's mind compared this part of the city as like the middle class. While Twilight and Connor walked the streets heading closer to the castle, she explained how most of the population of Canterlot lived in these conditions unlike the outskirts. There was more luxury to be had here and more to be earned if one could find a good paying job while in the city.

Connor noted the subtle differences between the different sections of this 'middle class' part of the city. The ponies closer to the outskirts were filled with less quality housings compared the individual homes that ran down the streets closest to the castle. It reminded Connor of his home. He didn't live in a shabby two room apartment, but he didn't live in a huge house with excessive space to spare. It was somewhere in the happy middle and it was this happy middle that Connor felt most comfortable. He expressed his liking in this part of the city. There was a broad selection of jobs from the usual office jobs to the more active jobs like a carriage repair shop they passed a few minutes ago.

The ponies that lived in this part of the city were definitely more optimistic about themselves and showed a drive to improve their standings compared to the slightly depressed citizens of the outskirts. One interesting note that Twilight made was she and her family used to live in the upper parts of this middle class section, but stated they wouldn't visit her family right now. However, there was a feeling of smugness that seemed to hang in the air as Connor and Twilight passed others that put Connor off; and it only seemed to increase as a pony walked towards the upper crust of the city.

Soon, the two crossed the threshold of the upper middle class residential houses and into the mansion homes of the rich and prestigious. Here Twilight described the part of the city that lay just outside of the castle walls. The pearly white cobblestone roads showed off the mansions of important politicians, nobles, famous celebrities, and those ponies with enough bits to buy their way into one of the many mansions. The houses were kept in perfect condition with small lawns and gardens decorating the fronts and the occasional statue strategically placed in a part of the front yard.

Connor looked with disdain as the competition to out-show their neighbors slowly became more apparent as the front yard displays became more extravagant. Twilight went into depicting some of the individual owners of each mansion describing the history behind one noble pony's family and how they came to be, to the tales of certain political ponies bringing in enough earnings to purchase a home here in the top part of the city.

Twilight could see Connor was not enjoying himself in this part of the city so she quickly wrapped the history of a certain noble pony and moved onto the final part of the city; the castle.

Twilight and Connor walked through the front gates to the castle grounds and smiled broadly as favored memories came flooding back to her. Memories of her first time meeting the princess during her magical entrance exam into Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, becoming Princess Celestia's personal student, her brother's wedding, and her coronation were some of the biggest memories to come back to her.

They walked around the castle grounds for a little bit and Twilight even pointed out Celestia's school just outside of the castle walls when they were at a high enough vantage point. Though, Connor did notice that the guards seemed to be giving him a harder glare from their usual hardened stare.

“Well, you did knock one of their fellow guards out when you left the castle,” she reminded him in a harsh tone.

“Oh yeah!” Connor laughed, “I forgot about that; my bad!”

It was Twilight turn to roll her eyes at him and the moved on to finish the tour around the castle grounds so they could take a break for lunch then head for the meeting.

~~~

Twilight and Connor moved back down to the middle section of the city where they sat down in some outside seating for a restaurant that Twilight picked out. Twilight checked the time and it read 11:18. She reassured herself that they still have plenty of time to eat, do a quick flash card session for review and make it to the meeting with half an hour to spare.

The food they ordered arrived and both started to dig in on their respective foods. After a few bites Connor struck up a conversation.

“That was really good tour of the city; Thanks Twilight.”

“You’re welcome, Connor. It was nice to properly show you around the city without hurting other ponies,” she jabbed at him.

“Oh come on, that was different from now. I wasn't just dropped into another world and told I couldn't go back for an indefinite amount of time,” he shot back and smirked.

She chuckled in response, “Alright, that is true. So how do you like the city?”

“It’s not bad,” Connor said with a raise of his brow as he took another bite of his food, “It's nice to see even in your little idealistic world, everything about it is not perfect.”

Twilight lowered her gaze, “I know, but we try to do everything we can to make it as peaceful as possible and give everypony the best opportunity we can.”

“But that's just it,” Connor pointed at Twilight who looked up at him in mild surprise, “If everything was perfect, then nothing would seem special or fun. There would be no point in trying to improve something or trying to add something to their life.” Twilight looked at Connor as she thought his words over in her head.

“Plus,” he continued, “It would be incredibly boring living in a perfect world. I think you have to have some downs in your life to go along with the ups. How else would you be able to tell if you are doing good without some kind of reference point?”

Twilight gave him one of her knowing grins and finished her food. “Now then, I need to give you a quick session of Equestrian business and commerce law before the meeting starts.”

Connor let a deep, pained moan, “Twiliiight, the main reason I asked you to come along with me is so that you could stop Sportsen from trying to pull some underhanded trick during the meeting. I don't know what sets me off with him, but something just tells me that I don't like him,” he glanced to the side as if looking for eavesdropping ears.

“Relax Connor,” Twilight waved a hoof at him unabashed, “It will be a quick and painless flash card reading and then we can find the building we are meeting Sportsen in.”

Connor groaned again but decided to indulge in Twilight's obsession to get him to learn about Equestrian law.

It turns out, many of the laws Twilight explained and quizzed him on were similar to the laws that Connor knew of from his world; or the few laws that he bothered to learn from his world. He nodded along mostly to Twilight's ramblings as she lost herself in explaining the finer details of law and legislation. Occasionally, Connor perked up on a piece of info here and there that peaked his interest before being drowned out again from Twilight.

He almost lost track of time if Twilight didn't freak when she realized it was a quarter past noon and rushed to pay for the food and practically drag Connor to another part of the city in her magic.

~~~

The pair ran through the main streets dodging the pony traffic searching for the Sportsen enterprise headquarters building. Twilight had let Connor go from her magic and was running behind her as they moved to the upper part of the middle class section of the city. In this part of the capitol, most of the buildings were businesses and shops. All of the buildings had a modern design to them near the base of the building.

The buildings were made with a square base for easier construction and space efficiency of the many shops and company buildings along the streets. However, the further you went up, the more the square buildings were morphed to have a cylindrical shape. It was more visible on the much taller buildings as the company buildings transformed into castle towers as one's eyes travelled up the length of the building. If one were to view the buildings from afar, you would think that the buildings were simply more towers to the castle. It was a strange design choice, but it made sense when trying to keep a similar architecture theme throughout the city.

They stopped in front of a particularly large building with golden revolving doors at the front as business ponies of all kinds entered and exited the building. Twilight stared in awe at the impending tower and the butterflies in her stomach began to squirm.

“Come on, let's go.” Twilight started out of her daze and shook herself mentally as Connor made his way to the door. She quickly caught up to him and the two pushed through the revolving door into the lobby. The lobby was a large room filled with formal decorations. Shiny, gold chrome and wood brown were the main colors with green plants and multicolored paintings used to accentuate the room. Modern styled chairs and coffee tables were expertly placed around the room for ponies to sit and review papers or talk with colleagues over snacks and drinks.

The front desk covered a good portion of the back wall with several polished metallic doors flanked on either side of the desk with ponies coming and going from behind the double sliding doors. The front desk was staffed with four ponies either helping direct ponies to appropriate destinations or had their heads bowed over paper work.

Connor approached the front desk and a unicorn mare wearing another business suit glanced and gave a warm smile.

“Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?”

“Hello, I have an appointment with Mr. Sportsen today that is to happen sometime after lunch.” Connor watched as the mare glanced down while Twilight looked at the clock hanging over the front desk. The clock read 12:32 and Twilight's mind screamed tardiness.

While Twilight had a miniature panic attack in her mind the mare behind the desk looked up from her papers and smiled again, “It looks like you are early as I have you written down for one o'clock!”

Twilight stopped her panic attack and Connor visibly loosened a bit of the tension in his body.

He smiled back, “Perfect! Do you know where the meeting is being held?”

“Yes. Just beside us are some elevators. Your meeting is on the twenty-first floor. Once you reach that floor, head to your left and look for room 21-385. There will be some chairs to wait in outside until you are called in.”

“Thank you.” Connor turned with his eyebrows raised in surprise while Twilight followed behind. She heard him mutter, “Really? They have elevators?” to himself as the both of them approached the polished chrome doors beside the front desk. Twilight stood shoulder to shoulder with Connor and stared at the double doors before them with confusion. She had never seen these kind of things before and had no idea how they work. She saw a pair of buttons beside the door with an arrow pointing up and down on each button.

She watched Connor push the button with the 'up' arrow on it and the doors gave a soft bing as they opened. She stared in amazement as they entered the empty carpeted box and the doors slid close behind them. A single light overhead lit the tiny room with soft music playing in the background. Along the side of the door was a panel filled with buttons. Connor stepped forward to look over the wall of buttons. He wrinkled his brow before lifting one brow high in amazement. The buttons read from 'L' to '25' going up, but below read from 'B1' to 'B11'. Unbeknownst to them, there was a law regulating how tall building could be in Canterlot when they started making taller and taller buildings in the city. Buildings were not allowed to be higher than the castle walls when within a certain distance to the castle walls. Twilight did not know about this law as it was a fairly recent law made in the past few years and she was more focused on her magic studies at the time then learning about business and architectural laws.

Connor punched the button with '21' on it and the sensation of going up took hold. As they waited for the box to reach the desired floor, Twilight noticed Connor was starting to bounce on his hooves a little. His eyes seem to stare off into space and he ruffled his wing feathers more than usual. Connor looked nervous to Twilight.

“Hey Connor, are you okay?” she asked with concern.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine,” he said a little too quickly.

“Are you sure? You look really nervous.”

“What? I’m not nervous, not at all,” he lied as he began shifting his weight among his hooves.

“Connor, I can tell you are nervous right now. Just relax and everything will be okay,” she told Connor as much as she told herself.

Connor let out a breath and tried to relax, “Okay. This is just something I’ve never done before. Well, not something this big,” he corrected himself when he saw Twilight give him another coy look.

They both chuckled together as they waited for the doors to open again. After a minute of silence, the doors pinged open again and the floor opened up again. The hallway split off into three directions with doors lined down them and the chatter of ponies could be heard everywhere. But Twilight and Connor turned down the left hall searching for room 21-385.

When they finally found it, they sat down on some chairs just outside the door and waited. Time passed by slowly for them as they waited for the meeting. A couple of ponies would pass by once in a while, but nothing else interesting happened. The clock struck 1:06 and Twilight huffed at the tardiness.

“Ah, Connor!” Twilight and Connor looked up to see Sportsen briskly approaching them with a grin painted on his mouth.

They stood up to greet him as he shook hooves with Connor again, “Sorry I am late, but I had other work come up that needed to get done.”

“It’s no problem, Mr. Sportsen. We didn't wait too long.” Connor and Sportsen released hooves and he gave questioning look.

“We?” Sportsen asked.

“Yes, I brought princess Twilight to help me out with this meeting.”

Sportsen glanced behind Connor to see Twilight smiling kindly behind him. He returned the smile and addressed Connor again.

“That’s very good of you to bring the princess for help, but I can assure you that I am more than capable of helping you along with writing the contracts.”

Sportsen put on his charming smile, but Connor resisted his charm and gently smiled back. “I didn't mean to say that you were incapable, sir. But Twilight can act as a neutral party to make sure both sides don't use any kind of underhanded tactics to make an unfair deal.”

Sportsen strained his smile but conceded, “Very well, perhaps it’s for the best that we have some friendly company and I don't accidentally scare you off,” he laughed as he opened the door to the meeting room.

Connor laughed lightly with him as he and Twilight entered the room. It was a simple room with a table in the center and two couches set on either side of the table. A large window let in light from the outside while it over looked the city below. Twilight and Connor took their seats on one side of the table while Sportsen sat down on the other.

Once everypony was settled in, Sportsen and Connor started the meeting. It started off casual with Sportsen and Connor talking about various topics while Twilight aimlessly listened to them. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Connor's nervousness from before had completely vanished and was replaced with determination again. She smiled to herself as she watched the two talk.

When the talk finally turned to business and discuss the dealings of Connor's game, Twilight paid more attention to what exactly they were saying. Connor asked her to save him for any kind of unknown deals that might damage the deal Connor wanted, so it was up to her to pick through the finer details and pick out any hidden traps.

She would explain things in greater detail to Connor so he could make a better educated decision or point out details that were skipped over in the discussion by Sportsen. Eventually, the discussion turned to money and how Connor would be paid for developing the game.

“...And so I propose to offer you a salary of four percent of earnings,” Sportsen offered.

“Is that with gross earnings or net earnings?” Connor asked.

“Gross earnings,” Sportsen stated.

“Well, if you say 'Paint Wars' is going to be as big as you say it will be I think we can do more than four percent. How about we look at ten percent net earnings?” Connor countered.

Sportsen laughed, “You do realize you are asking a lot by wanting ten percent of net earnings, right? That is something that I cannot do.”

“Then what is the next best thing you can offer?”

Sportsen paused before answering again, “I can go up to six percent net earnings for your monthly payments for letting my company handle your game.”

Connor shook his head, “let’s try nine percent net earnings. I do believe you have several other departments’ worth of sports that are bringing millions of bits at a time that it can cover nine percent of one sport.”

Sportsen frowned and narrowed his eyes, “I have more than just myself on the pay roll and I’m going to have to hire more employees to handle finances and logistics of your sport as well.”

“Actually,” Twilight interrupted again, “The law states that the inventor of a product can claim up to fifteen percent of earnings according to the commercial encyclopedia of patent laws from article twelve, section five paragraph-”

“Alright!” Sportsen stopped the princess again before she could fully dive into another rant. He glared between Twilight and Connor before speaking again.

“I’ll go to seven and a half percent net earnings.”

“Eight percent net earnings and we have a deal.”

The tension seemed to hold for a tight for a minute before Sportsen conceded.

“Very well, eight percent net earnings and not a bit less.” He sighed and leaned back to stretch while Connor grinned victoriously.

When Sportsen finished stretching he stood up and headed for the door. “If you give me a few minutes I will have the contracts written up and ready for you to sign.” He left the room with a soft click from the door.

Connor sighed and leaned back in the couch himself while they both waited for Sportsen to return. After ten minutes went by, Sportsen entered again and set a small stack of papers on the table.

“Here are the contracts written up describing what we just discussed and describing your recurring monthly payments of eight percent net earnings. You will receive your first payment in about a week once we have begun production and advertisement,” he spread out the papers to point out signature lines, “Just sign in these places here as well as give us an address to send your first pay check.”

“Hang on, let us read the contract first,” Connor mumbled as Twilight and him read over the papers.

When they were both satisfied, Sportsen gave him a pen to use for signing. It was a little awkward, but Connor eventually signed all the papers and Twilight helped him write down the Ponyville library's address for mailing the check. After Connor finished, Sportsen signed his name in a flourish on the provided lines followed by Twilight as the acting witness of the signing.

Once the paper work was done, Sportsen smiled again and shook hooves with both Twilight and Connor.

“Well today was a productive day! I hope everything was to your liking.”

“It was, and thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future,” Connor smiled and respectfully shook hooves with Sportsen before standing up, “Alright Twilight, let's head back.”

Twilight stood up to follow Connor, “Sure. Have a good day Mr. Sportsen!” she waved goodbye and Sportsen waved back as the door closed behind them.

Connor let out a heavy sigh and slowly made his way back to the elevator.

“Wow, that was tough,” he commented, “I never thought it would be that hard to negotiate. Thanks Twilight for all your help.”

“Your welcome, and you actually did pretty well!” Connor smiled at Twilight's comment as he pushed the down arrow button for the elevator.

“Well, I’m ready to head back to Ponyville right now. I don't know if I’m crazy, but maybe it was just Sportsen's business attitude that was probably putting me off.”

The two entered the elevator and pushed the 'L' button for the lobby and elevator began its decent to ground floor.

“It was probably just Sportsen trying to create the best deal for his company; he was just doing his job. I’m still curious about how this 'Elevator' works and how such a useful invention hasn't become wide spread?" twilight pondered.

The doors opened again into the lobby and Twilight and Connor made a beeline for the front revolving doors.

“It’s probably open to anypony right now, but hasn't become financially available to everyone yet. It looks like only the bigger company buildings would be able to afford and maintain it if they had one installed," Connor suggested.

They pushed the doors open in the fresh air of the afternoon and walked away from the massive building back into the main streets of Canterlot.

“So, do you want to take the train back to Ponyville or do you want to fly?” Twilight asked.

“No, I’m ready to fly back. I need to burn off some of this energy I have.”

Twilight laughed again and the pair spread their wings and took off in the direction of Ponyville.

~~~

Back in the meeting room, Sportsen was staring out of the window at the city scape below. A frown creased his lips as he stared out lost in thought. This 'Connor' was an interesting pony to say the least. He held himself with dignity and comfortable confidence in himself, yet he could barely manage to manipulate a pen to sign papers. A stallion of his age should have adequate control of a pen. Another oddity was Connor's mannerisms.

Sportsen was quite adept at finding personal quirks and habits of a common pony. But Connor didn't have many of those habits. For one, his seated position was different of a normal pony. For the most part, Connor sat like a normal pony but he often preferred sitting in a different position that could be considered unusual; and he often liked using both of his forelegs when gesturing or folded his hooves in front of his body. They were small differences and one could easily over look them if you weren't looking for it, but it was part of Sportsen's job to spot the differences in a pony for business dealing advantages.

The last eyebrow raising fact was his acquaintanceship with the Princess of friendship. Very few ponies were granted the privilege of being considered close friends of a princess. To have the ability to ask Princess Twilight to come out for a simple meeting spoke volumes about his relationship with her. There was definitely some history between those two and Sportsen wanted to find out about it. But it would have to wait for a later time.

His frowned deepened as his thoughts and theories tumbled around in his mind like a leaf in the wind. He was going to have to watch this 'Connor' a little more from now on.

25: First World Problems in A Second World

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Connor

It took a couple days, but eventually Connor was spotting fliers and advertisements for his game 'Paint Wars' everywhere in town; literally everywhere. Fliers hung from the walls, the street posts, over shop windows, on venders' stalls; if fliers weren't hanging from it, they were practically falling for the sky. It was quite impressive that Sportsen could mass produce this many fliers and distribute them in such a short amount of time.

However, the townsfolk of Ponyville were not too pleased to have their homes and businesses covered in ads for Connor's game. Many of them just grumbled to themselves as they removed the intrusive ads from their windows and doors while a couple actively blamed Connor for making a mess of their beautiful town. Even though Connor denied in having any say on how his game was advertised, some of the ponies thought it would only be right if he cleaned up the town. After much arguing, Connor agreed to help with the town clean up.

So for the rest of the week after Connor finished work with Rainbow Dash on cloud busting, he spent the rest of his afternoons helping the removal of the excessive advertisement.

Despite the excessive advertising, Connor's game was becoming a big hit. News reports passing through Ponyville said that towns and cities were picking up and playing paint wars with a newly-discovered passion. Ponies of every kind were picking up bags of markers and chaff balloons to throw at each other. Earth ponies and unicorns were starting games in any place they could find enough room to play in and cover to hide behind while pegasi cluttered the skies with matches of their own.

Even in Ponyville, ponies were trying out this new exciting game in their spare time. The school fillies and colts brought their own stashes of balloons to play with during recess while some of the older ponies would make quick trips out to forested areas to play in. unfortunately, Connor was too busy trying to help clean the town to indulge himself in his own creation.

When the weekend finally arrived, Connor had pulled down the last of the fliers that were not wanted. Twilight had invited him over to the library to relax in celebration of completing the clean-up. It was just a small get-together with only Twilight, Connor, and the rest of her close friends. Pinkie Pie brought some balloons and streamers to decorate the interior while spike, Fluttershy, and Applejack busied themselves with making food and snacks.

Once everypony settled in, the group relaxed around main floor of the library holding pleasant conversation. Connor sat on the couch up against the wall with some sandwiches to snack on and a glass of cool, refreshing water to wash it all down. He casually listened to all the conversations around him while watching over the proceedings. A knocking from the door made Connor instinctively snap his attention to it.

Twilight broke off from her conversation with Fluttershy to see who was knocking at the door. When she opened the door, a grey Pegasus mare in a mailmare's uniform gently hovered in the air.

“Mail delivery for Princess Twilight!” she said cheerfully as she reached into her mail bag and pulled out a small stack of letters.

Twilight took the stack of envelopes from the mail mare and gave a kind “Thank you” to her. The mailmare nodded happily and flew off for her next delivery.

Twilight closed the front door and walked over to a table to sort the mail. Connor watched with half interest before letting his eyes drift across the room again. His attention was brought back to Twilight when she called his name.

“Connor, you have some mail!”

“I have mail?” he echoed back and got up from his seat on the couch and joined Twilight at the table.

Twilight side stepped a little to let him look, “Yes, it’s the top envelope. It looks like it's from Mr. Sportsen.” Everypony had stopped to gather around Connor and Twilight to see what would be in the letter.

Sure enough, Connor examined the envelope on the top of the pile that had both his name and the address of the Ponyville library as well as the return address to Sportsen enterprise.

“Come on, open it! Let’s see what's inside!” Rainbow Dash egged on.

Connor picked up the letter and tore it open and pulled the contents out to read. It was a tri-folded piece of paper with a smaller piece of paper inside of it. He first read the letter addressed to him. It looked like a normal paycheck letter describing how much he was being paid and all of the taxes and fees that went along with it. He briefly scanned over the numbers and what they were for before setting the letter down for everypony else to read while he looked over the check.

His brow shot up and his eye widened when Connor looked at the check he was holding in his hooves. Everyone noticed Connor’s surprise as they all looked up from the letter and watched Connor.

“Well dear, what does it say?” Rarity prompted.

“How much pay did you earn, sugar cube?” Applejack asked while lowering her head to look Connor in the eye and get his attention.

“I hope you made a bunch of bits! Then we could throw the biggest party, EVER!!” Pinkie bounced in the air and threw confetti everywhere.

Rainbow Dash was finished waiting for a response from Connor, so she hovered over his shoulder to look at the pay check in his hooves.

“WHOOOAAAA! That’s a lot of zeros for a first paycheck!” she exclaimed disbelievingly.

“I know,” Connor finally answered and showed the check for everypony to see clearly, “Six hundred thousand bits for the first week.” He put extra emphasis when he said the word ‘Thousand’ as he presented the check.

Everypony gasped in amazement as they saw the check valued at an exorbitant amount of bits was in fact real. Connor watched as their faces shifted from disbelieving, to believing, and finally to amazement as they read and reread the number on the small piece of paper. Excited chatter broke out amongst everypony there as they talked about the surreality of the situation and what they would use that much money for.

“Holy cow! Do you know what I could do with all that money?!” Rainbow Dash yelled excitedly.

“I could make an endless amount of dresses with the most beautiful gems around!” Rarity fluttered her eyes dreamily at the idea.

“I could give all my animal friends the most wonderful homes ever and buy the best kind of animal food for them to munch on when they’re hungry!” Fluttershy said in the loudest voice Connor had ever heard from her.

“I could possibly restock my entire book collection with new copies and even have some left over to finish my old experiments and start new ones!” Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she thought about all the possible tests she could perform.

“I know what I would do; hire one of the Wonderbolts to be my personal trainer as they get me ready for a spot on their team!” Rainbow Dash hoof pumped into the air and made a few quick loops in the air in mock practice set up by her imaginary Wonderbolt trainer.

“I might be able to rebuild the barn again with enough left over to hire some new farm hands to help so we don’t have to worry too much about our apple fields!” Applejack beamed at the thought of future investments and the easier living for her family.

“I could throw the biggest party Equestria has ever seen and invite everypony from Las Pegasus to Manehattan to come and join in on all the fun we would be having!!” Pinkie Pie fired off her party cannon all over the room showering confetti, streamers, delicious cupcakes, and games of every kind.

Connor smiled gently as he watched all of them continue their fantasies about having so much money. He looked back at the check again and reread the number again in his head.

“Six hundred thousand bits, huh? Wow…” his smile faded slowly the longer he stared at it until he wore a sad frown.

“Connor?” he looked up to see everypony staring at him again, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah!” he answered Rarity and smiled to everypony else to hide his thoughts, “I’m just shocked to see myself holding this much money! I mean, this is probably going to be the biggest check entitled to me that I will ever hold in my entire life and… I, have no idea what to do with it…” Connor’s voice trailed off and his smile fell off his face again as he stared off into space while his mind fully grasped his situation.

He was standing there with probably the equivalent salary of a CEO of a large company in one check and he had no idea what to spend it on. He had always imagined what he could buy in his world if he ever had a million dollars and had dreamed about getting expensive and exotic cars and motorcycles. He thought of starting up his own race team and start racing both cars and motorcycles. Connor even thought about starting his own business with that much money so he could invest in his retirement and live a comfortable life when he retired.

But he was in a world that didn’t have many of the things he desired. So that limited his choices to mostly housing, food, and owning a business. Although it was tempting, he had no desire to set up a permanent living here in this world. Then there was also that little voice in the back of his head asking, what he would do after he got everything he ever wanted? What would he do afterwards? What would Connor strive for? What would drive him to simply get out of bed every morning?

It was a philosophical question that was asked during one of his high school classes and they had spent most of the time discussing it. But Connor pushed it off as if he would never get that much money at once in his life to buy whatever he wanted, so he would always have something to strive for. Now, irony had laughed at him in the face and dumped a bag of money in his lap to use as he saw fit.

Everypony around him looked at Connor’s conundrum with worry as they watched the gears in his head turn slower and slower until they almost stopped. They quickly searched around their own heads trying to think of an idea to cheer him up.

“Um, how about we, search for a place of your own to stay in!” Rarity offered.

“Huh?” Connor looked up out of his stupor and stared at Rarity with glazed eyes.

“Yes, dear! What if we searched for a place of your own here in Ponyville instead of living with Scootaloo? I’m sure her parents don’t mind you sleeping there right now, but I bet they would be ecstatic to hear that you have found your own home!” Rarity said more and more energetically as if she was working out the idea in her head as she spoke.

“Oo, oo, I know of a few places that we can check out!” Pinkie shouted, “There's always somepony looking to rent out rooms for really good prices too!”

Connor mulled the idea over in his head and brightened at the thought of having his own room to come back to at the end of the day.

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea! Then afterwards, we can think about storing some of the money for later.”

“I have an idea for how to use your money too,” Twilight spoke up drawing Connor's attention.

“I know that the mayor has some projects that need some funding to complete and you could possibly try investing in some of the businesses around town. I’m sure owners would appreciate the extra money to brighten their stores up for better business.”

Connor hummed in concentration as he did some quick budgeting with his check. He wanted to save about half of his check in savings before he started spending; hey, old habits die hard and trying to save as much money as possible was one of those smart habits taught by Dad.

Connor nodded in affirmation, “Okay, I think that's a good idea. Do you think you can show me some of these places for rent, pinkie?”

“Absolutely! I already have a couple of great places to show you!”

“I’ll come along to help set up the saving account at the bank in town, once you finish picking out a place that is,” Rarity said as she shuffled beside Connor with a few flutter of her eye lids.

“Uh, I’ll come too!” Spike shouted over the top of everypony. He had been listening to the entire discussion on stairs reading one of his comic books, but had stopped reading when he saw how much money Connor now had; and how Rarity was becoming far friendlier with him. Spike ran between everypony's legs and jumped onto Connor's back and forced a friendly smile while giving Connor a subtle dagger eye.

Connor darted between watching Rarity suddenly become a little more friendly with him and resisting to urge to slink away from Spike's new wrath for him. He nervously chuckled as the two under tone signals of Rarity's flattery and Spike's displeasure intermixed to make a confusing and uneasy atmosphere between the three ponies.

Everyone else was either unaware of the silent stand off or preferred to not get involved in it. Twilight was one part of the former, clueless group.

“Well, I'll meet you at town hall to show you all the projects you can fund when you are finished with finding a new home and starting a savings account. See you later!” Twilight cheerfully waved as she trotted out of the library with everypony following behind leaving Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, and Connor together in the room.

Connor mentally whined as he was left with Pinkie ready to give him the grand tour around town again, Rarity who (he thought) was trying to earn some money off of him, and Spike trying to make sure Connor did not take the love of his life.

It was going to be an awkward few hours with the group.

~~~

Pinkie Pie showed Connor several different options available to him in his search for a new home in Ponyville. There were whole buildings open to him to own all by himself as well as simple one bed room apartments being rented out. Some options were in better quality then others, but the price range between each place was erratic at best. A couple of places wanted more than what the place was worth, while the others seemed undercut enough the make Connor think there was a hidden problem.

Connor wasn’t looking for an entire home to himself, nor did he want a single room that was cramp with barely any space to add things that he might find during his stay here. He liked the idea of having a room that was large enough to be comfortable enough to relax in and store some mementos from his travels in Equestria, but still have some life to it as to not feel completely disconnected from the world around him.

At the sixth spot on Pinkie Pie’s potential spots, Connor stood before an average sized, two story home that resided down one of the several streets that branched off from the main market street. It was a decent looking place and the interior looked like it used to be a family home, but most of its occupants must have moved out for one reason or another.

“Mrs. Meadows is a really nice pony. Come on, I’ll introduce you to her!” Pinkie bounced up to the front door and knocked.

An older unicorn mare opened the door and greeted Pinkie Pie. Mrs. Meadows was a widowed wife and the mother of three children who had long since moved out to follow their own paths in life. After a brief exchange of words and an explanation, Pinkie Pie told her of Connor looking for a room to rent. She nodded and brought the group inside. They followed her up a flight of stairs and down a short hall way where she opened the door to a room that had a window to overlook the street outside.

It was a cozy room that was fairly large with a big bed up against the left wall. The room was furnished with a couple of dressers for clothes and room on top for other items to set on it. A small closet was set in the right wall while a door led into a bathroom complete with tub and shower combo and cupboards to store hygiene products. The bed had a small night stand beside that Connor greatly appreciated. Outside of the furniture, the room was void of any belongings with the walls a barren tapestry.

Connor loved it. The room had a comfortable and broken-in feel to it, like a family home you come back to after a long trip. Everything was lightly worn with use and familiarity the same way a father’s lounge chair in the living room becomes his favorite spot to relax while he reads a book and enjoys his time being with his family. The room wasn’t extravagant, but it wasn’t run down; it was that happy middle Connor desired.

Despite her age, Mrs. Meadows still held herself with dignity as a strong willed mare still able to handle life’s hardships. But she still managed to have the sweet demeanor of a mother that only furthered Connor’s liking of her. After some talking, Connor was able to get the room for around 350 bits a month with a down payment of 750 and utilities included; but he had to help out around the house when asked. Connor saw it as an acceptable trade for the room and agreed to the mare’s terms. He would stop by at a later time with the money once he had everything else settled.

Now that Connor had the ‘New home’ portion of his to-do list done, Pinkie said farewell to Connor, Rarity and Spike. Rarity took the lead this time and had Connor follow her to the small bank in Ponyville to set up an account for the check.

As they walked down the streets of Ponyville, Rarity would continue trying to make small talk. Connor respectfully indulged in her small talk, but the small spikes of pain from his back where Spike was sitting were beginning to annoy him. Connor was mostly confident he could see Rarity’s ulterior motive to mooch money off from him and he wanted to find a way to politely turn her down, but the claws digging into his back were impeding his thought process.

“… And I know our relationship has been a rough one, but I was hoping we could forget all that and perhaps we could start anew with a more comfortable friendship.” Rarity finished her babbling with a warm smile and a flutter of her eyelashes.

“AGH!” Connor cringed as a particularly sharp stab of pain shot through his back. He swung his left wing back to hit the envious dragon in the head and shot an angry look at him.

Ffwap! “Ow! Hey, what was that for?!” Spike stared angrily at the back of Connor’s head until he saw his angry stare thrown back by Connor and Spike looked away in shame.

“Goodness, you two! What on earth is going on?” Rarity stopped to look at both of them glare at each other but she shrank a little when Connor turned his disapproving stare at her.

“I appreciate the idea of trying to make up for past attitudes, but trying to earn favors from me with sweet talk is not working.”

“W-What are you talking about, dear? I was merely trying to make small talk with you Connor,” Rarity tried to avoid the subtle accusations with another smile.

“I can tell when somepony is trying to suck up to me and it doesn’t work on me. So please stop trying to get money out of me,” Connor stated a little bit more bluntly to get his point across.

Rarity gaped slightly at him and his claim. She tried to counter his claim a couple of times, but gritted her teeth and continued walking again. Connor trotted after her hoping to regain some good graces and not anger the unicorn.

“I understand everypony needs money, but let me decide who and when it goes to them,” Connor gave an apologetic smile.

Rarity grunted in response and the group fell silent the rest of the way to the bank.

Once at the bank, Rarity helped Connor go through the process of making a savings account. Once all the paper work was signed and set to the side for filing, Connor was free to divide his bits as he saw fit. He wanted to keep half of his money for his own purposes and the rest for anything else he wanted to help fund. He made three different accounts. The first one was his saving account for emergencies or for buying things he needed like food or clothes. The second account was for rent. Even though he may never have to worry about missing a payment or not having enough to pay, Connor made it anyways to satisfy his need for organization. The last account was for project funding. This was where he would store the majority of his money to use on whatever idea or project he came across that he wanted to help complete.

Connor explained the stallion behind the counter that he wanted 200,000 bits to be deposited in the rent account, 100,000 bits to be deposited in the savings account, and the rest to be stored in the project funding account. The bank teller gave a tired “Yes sir,” before turning around with Connor’s check in his magic and sighing loudly to himself. Connor paid no sympathy to the bank teller and was glad that he did not desire to become a banker and have to deal with all the paper work that this poor fellow was going to have to fill out; not his chair, not his problem.

With the banking taken care of, Rarity departed Connor to return to her shop as she had orders to finish. That left Spike and Connor to finish the last order of business with Twilight at town hall.

The trip to town hall was equally silent with Spike as it was with Rarity. Neither of the two spoke to each other, but Connor wanted to glance behind him to see how Spike was doing. Temptation won out and he looked over his right shoulder to see Spike gloomy and downtrodden. Spike glanced up and locked eye contact with him before looking away in shame.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Connor asked with a hint of seeing the situation as a small annoyance.

“I-I just want to say I’m sorry for the way that I acted,” Spike confessed, “It wasn’t nice and I should have known-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Spike glanced up to see the back of Connor’s head turned slightly to the side with the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile visible.

“I can get why you probably did that, but you have to remember I’m not from here and I have no intention of staying in this world for long. Which means, I have no intention of stealing your girl.” Connor watched Spike squirm uncomfortably which made Connor grin even more.

“W-What?! That’s not-, Rarity is not my girl!” Spike sputtered in his defense making Connor laugh.

“Relax! I won’t tell anyone!” he comforted, “I’ll just tell Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie…” Connor paused to see Spike’s face grow more and more red as he listed off all of his closest friends before laughing again.

Spike dug a heel into Connor’s side making him jump a little.

“Hey! Easy back there, or I’ll throw you off and let you walk the rest of the way!” They both laughed together as Connor pushed open the door leading into the town hall where Twilight was standing not too far off by the front desk.

“Ah, there you two are!” Twilight trotted over to Spike and Connor and met them half way, “I have a few projects already picked out that I think you might like Connor!”

Spike hopped off of Connor’s back and waved goodbye. “You can have fun with that, I’m going to head back so I can read the next issue of the Power Ponies!”

Spike waddled out of the building leaving Twilight and Connor together. Connor shrugged and faced Twilight to see what kind of ideas she had.

“Whatever, so what kind of projects did you have in mind?”

Twilight drew her attention back to Connor and led him over to a back room with filing cabinets and a table with papers scattered over the entire surface with a pony pouring over them with a calculating eye. On a small table set aside sat three stacks of forms, reports, and notes.

“Alright, so I have come up with three different projects that I think will be good to start with. You can put at many bits as you like into each project and depending on how much you decide to put into each project, I can give you are good estimate on what will happen. Most of the forms and paper work will be taken care of by the town hall staff so all you have to do is say how much funding you want to put into each project and I’ll have the necessary paper work filled out.”

Connor listened intently to Twilight's explanation while he stared at the three piles of paper with his chin in one of his hooves.

“Okay, sounds pretty easy. But can I trust you and everypony involved that my money will be put to good use and not wasted?”

Twilight gave him a hurt look, “Of course! Why would you think that somepony would do something like that?”

He closed his eyes and raised his hoof as if to apologize, “Sorry Twilight, it was just a reactive question. My Dad taught me to be careful with how I use my money, so whenever I deal with money I get really cautious. I always ask that kind of question even if it’s someone I know I can trust. I know you won’t do anything bad. So what kind of projects do you have?”

Twilight turned back to the table and pointed her hoof at the first pile of papers, “The first project that I wanted to suggest is with construction and repairs. This project would deal with fixing any kind of major damage done to the roads and buildings of Ponyville. Despite this being a small town, a lot of the buildings and roads get damaged and need to be fixed. So funding this one would help pay for materials and labor costs required to repair any of the buildings and streets in Ponyville.”

Twilight moved her hoof and pointed at the second pile of papers. “The second project that I have in mind is investing in some of the businesses in Ponyville. This project would focus on improving some of the stores around town like improving store fronts, importing better products to sell, and overall improving the look of stores to entice more sales from visitors. This project would put more time and effort into increasing the sales from tourism and creating a bigger flow of money for Ponyville.”

“Tourism?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, eventually ponies are going to want to visit Ponyville to see the ‘Princess of Friendship’ just like ponies travel to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia.”

Connor raised his brow even more, “Okay then; continue.”

Twilight pointed at the last pile of papers, “The last project I wanted to show you was our parks and recreation project. This one handles the repair and maintenance of our parks and fields that surround Ponyville. It keeps them clean of any trash and makes sure all the plants and lawns are trimmed properly. It also makes sure that the fields are not filled with craters from Rainbow Dash's crash landings.”

Connor chuckled at Twilight's deadpan statement.

“So which project do you want to fund and how much would you like to contribute?”

Connor scanned over the three piles and let his mind start planning out the rest of his budget for the three projects.

“Well, keeping the town in good repair is always a good thing. No one likes to live in a run-down town. However, increasing business through the town would be best that way Ponyville can support itself without having to rely too heavy on outside funding from somepony like me,” he smiled at his own little jest, “Keeping the parks and fields looking clean and in good repair would be nice, but it’s not entirely needed.”

Connor looked at Twilight with his decision made, “I have about 300,000 bits left over from my check. So I'm going to put 100,000 bits into the construction and repairs project to make sure the town is looking at its best. I'm putting 150,000 bits into the business investment project; that way, Ponyville will have a better chance at raising its own money easily. Finally, I’ll put the last 50,000 into parks and recreation. It’s nice to have good looking parks around town, but it’s not my priority. We'll start with this for now until I get my next pay check and then readjust funding as needed.”

Twilight nodded in agreement, “That's a very wise choice. I can tell you right now that the town and businesses are going to look a little better now and have some new items to sell. The parks will have to make due with a few dirt patches and the fountains will take some time before they are repaired. But this will definitely help Ponyville! I'll get all the forms ready and filled out with the amounts you want to donate. I'll talk to you later once everything is done.”

“Thanks Twilight,” Connor turned and headed for the exit, “I’ll see you later, then!”

He waved goodbye and left the town hall wondering what he was going to do now.

Author's Notes:

Man, first world problems are a bitch. All the money in the world and virtually nothing to spend it on.

We all dream about somehow getting millions of dollars suddenly out of the blue and talk about what we would spend it all on; whether it be exotic cars (or motorcycles if you’re like me), mansions, women, etc. But once you bought everything you wanted in life, what’s after that?

A bit of philosophical question for everyone; I want to hear your thoughts on it. What would you do in this kind of situation?

Anyways, hoped you like this chapter. I have no idea when I will get the next one up now that college has started again and homework is mounting faster than the beer can pile of an alcoholic. I will do my very best to keep the chapters coming.

Onto the next chapter!!

P.S. since I’ve been gone for over two weeks, I’ve had the past three chapters ready to go when I could finally upload them. You can show me your love by the usual means: like, comment, and subscribe! Lol!

Actually you really don’t have too…

26: Formal Attire Required

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Connor

Three days had gone by after Connor received his check. And within those three days, Connor had done absolutely nothing; again. Rainbow Dash had given him some days off indefinitely as her own haphazard way to earn favors from Connor. He told Rainbow that he would be fine as the weather schedule for the days to come were pretty easy and he didn’t mind having the work. But Rainbow Dash insisted on him taking leave days for ‘Working so hard’ for her.

He eventually gave up with arguing and accepted the leave from work. He tried to think of things to do for the first day he was given off and eventually just went on a small shopping spree. He bought some hygiene products for his bathroom, an alarm clock for his nightstand, a pair of saddle bags of his own, and some snacks to store in his room. He browsed around the shops for any kind of knick-knacks that he may want, but found nothing of interest.

After stashing his new things in his rented room, he wandered aimlessly around Ponyville again. But it wasn’t like the previous times he had walked down the streets. Before now, it was to allow him to think while trying to plan out his game. And before that, it was to cope with his depression. Now, he did it to give the illusion that he was still moving, or that the world around him was still moving. He didn’t have any clear goals in mind and no random ideas were popping into his head. It was that phase of simply existing and waiting for something to happen.

For the next two days, it was the same routine. He would get up some time late in the morning, clean himself up before heading down stairs to make some food for himself before he would wander around town like a lost ghost or find someplace to sit and stare blankly at the masses. Despite having made a hit game, he couldn’t find the desire to ask somepony to start a game with him. He still enjoyed watching others play and it brought a smile to his lips every time he saw children and ponies of every age screaming and yelling in delight as one either scored a really good hit or made an epic dodge through a cloud of blue powder.

On the fourth day, Connor was sitting on a park bench that was recently repaired watching the grass grow and the water from the stream flow. Boredom radiated from Connor as ponies passed by happily talking about their day. He didn’t even notice Rainbow Dash trying to get his attention until she waved a hoof an inch away from his nose and punched him in the shoulder.

“Equestria to Connor, come in?” Rainbow chided in an irritated voice.

Connor yanked himself out of his trance to stare wide eyed at Rainbow before relaxing, “Oh, hey Rainbow. What’s up?”

“Uh, I just finished cloud busting for today. What’s up with you?”

Connor returned to staring at the fields again, “Uhhmmm, nothing much. Just, sitting here, doing nothing…”

“I can see that,” she commented, “Shouldn’t you be doing rich pony things, like buying mansions or something?” she waved her hoof in the air trying to come up with ideas.

“No, that would be boring…” Connor sighed.

“More boring than staring at a mare sniff some flowers?”

“Wuh??”

Rainbow pointed at a pony standing several meters away in front of a flower bed with an uncomfortable smile on her face as Connor realized that he was indeed staring in her direction without even knowing.

“Oh crab, sorry,” he quickly adverted his gaze in embarrassment.

Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Connor to get his full attention, “Alright, what’s the big deal? A few days ago, you were doing just fine with working and having time off. Now after you got that sweet pay check, you’re all mopey and zombie like. I haven’t seen you once in the air or playing your Paint Wars game. What’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know,” Connor admitted, “I can’t really think of anything to do. I mean, I don’t have anything to aim for and I can pretty much get anything I want, so…” he trailed off unable to explain himself any more.

Rainbow Dash stared at Connor for a second before sighing angrily, “Alright, come on you!” she grabbed Connor under the forelegs and started flying him back into town.

“Rainbow, what the hen are you doing?” Connor didn’t resist, but questioned her nonetheless.

“You and I are going to go a few rounds in Paint Wars! And I don’t want to hear any whining about it!”

“Well, my bags are at my place right now-”

“Great! Go get them and I’ll be back in a few seconds!” she dropped Connor and he skidded across the ground a little before coming to a halt.

“Hang on, wait!” Connor shouted after her. But Rainbow Dash was already gone to retrieve whatever she was going to need.

He groaned and mumbled incoherently to himself as he trotted back to his apartment room to get his saddle bags. He briefly greeted Mrs. Meadows on his way up to his room to get his bags before leaving and travelling back to the place where Rainbow had dropped him. a minute passed by and Rainbow returned with her own saddle bags on and carrying two large, brown, paper bags filled with red markers and blue chaff balloons in her hooves. She set them down in front of her before barking another order.

“Alright, load up!”

Connor looked at Rainbow with his annoyance like he had so many times before, but started placing four of each into his saddle bags.

“Uh-uh, we’re not playing by your rules! I want you to fill those bags up to the top!”

“Rainbow, we really don’t have to do this,” Connor complained but Rainbow wasn’t taking ‘No’ for an answer.

“I said, START FILLING!!!” she bellowed at the top of her lungs.

“FINE, JEEZ!!!” Connor dumped the balloons in his bags until they were bulging. Rainbow did the same thing then tossed the bags to the side.

“Okay, we’re going to play until both of us run out of balloons.”

“Are you serious!?” Connor shouted in angry dismay while eyeing both his and Rainbow’s stuffed bags.

“On your mark, get set, GO!!” Rainbow Dash pulled out a blue chaff and pelted Connor in the face.

Connor coughed and spat out the blue powder from his mouth while waving a hoof back and forth to clear the air. When the blue cloud had dissipated, Rainbow was circling above waiting for Connor. He gritted his teeth in anger and glared at Rainbow.

“Alright, fine. I’m going to knock you out of the sky faster than you can count to twenty without using your feathers for help!” He pushed off the ground and followed after Rainbow Dash. She let out a smug laugh and headed for the fields.

The two fliers twirled around each other as they fought in the air. They dipped, sliced, weaved, looped, stalled, and rolled in every available space they could find. They flew through the open airs of the fields, danced between the clouds high above the town, and blasted down the town streets throwing markers and chaff with reckless abandon.

Since neither of them had to worry about balloon count, Rainbow Dash and Connor threw as much as they could hoping that one of the many balloons they threw would hit. Connor was pelted repeatedly with red paint and blue powder and his coat was becoming sticky with dried and powdered paint. But Connor was landing just as many hits on Rainbow as she was on him.

They fought with each other for several hours, only taking breaks to get drinks or snacks. By the time they were finished, the sun was starting it’s decent behind the horizon with the moon slowly peeking over the other side waiting for the sun to fully set. Rainbow Dash and Connor laid sprawled out on the grass lawn in the park gasping for air after they had finally called it quits for the day. Their bags were completely empty of any markers and chaff balloons and every part of their bodies were crusty with dried paint and blue dust falling off them with every movement

“Hah, not bad, hah, for my cadet-in-training, hah,” Rainbow said a little breathlessly.

“Yeah,” Connor gasped while trying to recover. He wasn’t quite as fit as Rainbow was when it came to endurance flying, but he was getting better.

They both began chuckling at each other’s fatigue before it rolled into hearty laughter. They laid there in the grass relaxing as a pleasant breeze blew across their bodies cooling them off. As their laughter died down to happy smiles, Connor stared up at the sky glad that he still had others around him to pull him up from those annoying static moments in life and brighten his day. He stared at the waning sunset colors streaked across the sky as he felt another pinging sensation of his mind taking off into another tangent. He face dropped to a neutral expression again as he laid there and followed this new train of thought.

Rainbow sat up to get a better view of Connor. She recognized that blank expression before and gave a worried frown.

“Hey Connor, you’re not about to go back to being all weird again where you stare into space, are you?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I was just thinking. I had another idea pop into my head again and I’m wondering if we might be able to do it.”

“Really?” she asked excitedly, “Come on, tell what you got! If there’s one thing I can do, it’s make things awesome!”

Connor sat up and smiled at her eagerness to hear his idea. “Okay, so you know how Paint Wars is becoming this huge thing everywhere in this world, right?”

“Yeah…”

“And you’ve heard how almost every pony around is starting up games everywhere?”

“Yeah…!” she urged Connor to hurry up and get to the point.

“Well I was thinking that maybe-”

“Delivery for a Mr. Connor!”

Connor and Rainbow looked up a grey Pegasus mare hovering overhead wearing a mailmare’s uniform and a bag laden with envelopes and small packages. She gave a cheery smile as she looked at Connor.

“That’s me,” Connor answered the delivery pony.

The mailmare’s smile broadened and she dug in the bag to pull out an envelope and gave it to Connor.

He stood up tried to wipe some of the paint and dust off one of his hooves (which didn’t do that much) before grabbing the letter from her.

“Thank you,” Connor tossed the response at the mailmare while he was distracted with turning the envelope over in his hooves.

“Your welcome! Have a nice day!” The mailmare flapped a little harder continuing her last few deliveries for the day.

Connor flipped the letter over to look at its addresses and postage while Rainbow butted in to look as well.

“What do think it is?” she asked before Connor could finish reading.

“I don’t know. Why don’t I open it and find out?” he said mockingly.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at Connor’s teasing which made him smile slightly before ripping the letter with his teeth. He poured the contents out into his waiting hoof and was rewarded with another tri-folded letter and a small pile of tickets tucked inside the letter. He looked at the contents questionably as he felt the small pile of paper inside the letter wondering what this could all be. He dumped the tickets back in the envelope and unfolded the letter to read.

“Dear Mr. Connor,” he read out loud, “You are hereby invited to attend the party in celebration of your achievement of making the next biggest game in Equestria, to be held in the royal castle in Canterlot this Thursday at 7:30 PM.”

“What?! A party at the castle just for you?! Let me see!” Rainbow tried to snatch the letter out of Connor’s hooves, but he moved outside of her reach.

“Hang on! I’m not finished reading yet!” Rainbow growled to herself as Connor continued reading, “Okay, let’s see here... more congratulations… we would appreciate your presence at the party… ah, as for such a momentous occasion in your success, we have given you the opportunity to bring a party of up to ten ponies, including yourself, to join you in your great accomplishment; formal wear is required. So those things in the envelope are tickets for me to pass out to others to bring with me.”

He looked up from his letter to glance at Rainbow to his left and found her mere inches away from his face hovering excitedly. “Please, please, pleeeeaase will you take me with you to the party? It would be so cool to go and visit the castle again for a party like this one!”

Rainbow had her hooves clasped together in a begging manner while Connor leaned back to get some breathing room.

“Uhhh, I guess? I mean, I don’t have anyone else to give these to.”

“Yes!!” Rainbow Dash swooped up the envelope and dumped one of the tickets in her hooves while giving the rest back to Connor, “Wooohooo!! I can’t wait to have another party in the castle! And it’s only two days away!”

“Wait, only two days?” Rainbow paused in her excitement to answer Connor’s question.

“Yeah, today’s Tuesday.”

“Oh crate! I don’t have anything to wear that’s fancy enough for a castle!” Connor’s eyes shot wide as his mind started panicking.

“Oh don’t worry! I think Rarity wouldn’t mind helping you out with this.”

Connor stopped and listened to Rainbow’s words for a second to stop his mind from spiraling out of control. Rarity was good at making formal wear and was probably generous enough to do him a favor this one time. Connor slowed his mind and reassured himself that he had plenty of time to get ready for the show.

“Okay; do you think Rarity might be willing to make a suit for me when I ask her tomorrow?”

“Probably,” Rainbow shrugged.

“Alright then, I’ll see her tomorrow about getting me a suit. I’ll talk to you later, Rainbow!” he waved goodbye to her as he trotted back to his apartment in town.

Before he arrived at his place, Connor made a quick stop off at Twilight’s library to give her the news about the party in Canterlot. She was overjoyed to hear about the party and gave her own congratulations to him. He thanked her for the kind words before offering a ticket to her to join Connor at the party. Twilight told him that she would love to come along for the party. Connor thanked Twilight for joining him and asked if she could pass out the rest of his tickets to her friends since they were kind enough to help him during his first moments in this world. Twilight was more than willing to do that and even offered a ticket to Spike who gladly took it.

With the rest of his tickets taken care of, Connor headed home to end the day and get ready for his talk with Rarity in the morning.

~~~

The next morning, Connor’s alarm went off at around 9:30. He fumbled around with the off switch on it for a second before silence finally graced his ears again. But he couldn’t fall back to sleep because he had things he needed to get done by the end of the day. After a quick cleaning up of himself and some food, he left the home of Mrs. Meadows and set out for Rarity’s shop, Carousel Boutique.

His plan was to arrive sometime after 10:00 to give the shop some time to open up. He didn’t want to arrive as soon as the store opened so he wouldn’t look desperate, but he didn’t want to arrive too late and not have the suit ready to go by tomorrow. If Rainbow Dash and Twilight’s word were anything to go by, Rarity was capable of pumping out multiple outfits in a single day.

The shop came into view and pushed the door open to enter. The door chime rang overhead as his eyes fell upon the somewhat familiar shop floor. The racks filled with various clothes still took up a portion of the room while the other was filled with mirrors and stands. But Connor was looking for Rarity amidst all the high class clothes.

He spotted Rarity come down the stairs from across the room wearing a welcoming smile.

“Welcome to-, oh Connor!! It’s so good to see you!” she trotted up to give him a brief hug. Connor froze from the strange affection and peered over his shoulder hoping to not see a furious purple dragon behind him.

“I’m so glad you stopped by when you did. I just wanted to thank you for your generous investment in my shop! Who knew you could be such a gentlecolt.” Rarity had thankfully ended the hug long before she stopped talking and Connor stared at Rarity in a daze.

“My investment?”

“Why yes! You put quite a lot of bits into Carousel Boutique that I was able to get some more quality string for some well-paying customers’ outfits.”

“Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, no problem Rarity.” Connor faked a smile of appreciation. He was going to need to speak to Twilight afterwards and get a report on just how much his ‘Investment’ was divided amongst the businesses in Ponyville.

But he shook his head and refocused on what he needed to do, “Rarity, I need to ask a favor of you.”

“But of course, dear! What I can I help you with?” she smiled warmly.

“Well, I have a party at the castle in Canterlot tomorrow, but I don’t have anything formal to wear. I was wondering if you might be able to help with that in return I could give you a ticket to join the party.”

“Really? You would give me a ticket to your party at the castle?” Rarity gaped in amazement.

“Sure. I mean, you were willing to give me a second chance when I first got here so I guess this is my way of saying ‘Thank you’. Do you want to come?”

Rarity bounced with joy, “Oh Connor, I would love too! And all you need is a suit to go, correct?”

Connor nodded, “Yes.”

“Then right this way, dear. Oh, it’s always exciting when there is a party at the castle no matter what’s it’s for! Would you please stand on the display pedestal over there please while I get my note pad?”

Connor nodded again and took his place on the stand while Rarity levitated out a pencil and a note pad to draw ideas on. She paced around the stand muttering ideas to herself as she drew out a couple of quick sketches of ideas.

“Is there anything in particular you would like to have with your suit?” Rarity asked as she made her third trip around Connor.

“Well, I would like this to be a full piece suit with pants and everything. But I would like the suit to be cut a little bit on the relaxed side; not baggy though.”

Rarity hummed to herself in concentration, “Hmm, well I still have your measurements from the last time you were here… I think I can manage a request like that! Why don’t you come down here and see which design you would like.”

Connor gladly hopped down from the pedestal and looked over the drawing Rarity had on her note pad. As his eyes drifted over every detail on the drawing, his smile grew broader and broader until he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Wow Rarity! That looks amazing! Yeah, that will definitely work!”

Rarity gave her own confident smile, “Excellent! Then I will start on it this instant and have it ready before sunset.”

Great! Thanks Rarity, I’ll see you this afternoon then!” Connor turned like he was about to leave the shop when Rarity shouted to stop him.

“Oh, no no no no, where do you think you’re going?!” she said accusingly.

Connor flinched as he realized that they still needed to discuss pay. “Right, sorry Rarity. I guess I forgot to talk to you about how much this whole thing is going to cost.”

“Cost?” she said in a confused voice, “Oh, no no no dear. This has nothing to do with cost. This is my little favor, remember?”

Connor tilted his head in his own bewilderment, “Okay, then what is this about?”

“Well Connor, dear. You simply can't go to the castle looking like that!” she gestured to all of Connor’s appearance.

“What do you mean?” Connor retorted slightly hurt.

“I simply cannot allow a pony go to the castle looking like he was raised in barn! Your coat is all, igh, dirty and your wings could easily do with some care; and your mane! Your mane could use a bit of a touch up and some brushing at the very least!”

Connor frowned at Rarity’s critique of his hygiene, “I shower every morning, thank you very much.”

“Well dear, you could use a bit of help,” Rarity pointed out, “Tell you what, why don’t you go down to the spa in town and get freshened up for the castle while I work on your new suit. Just tell them ‘Rarity sent you and that need to get ready for a party in the Canterlot castle’. The lovely attendants will take care of everything else.”

Connor grumbled to himself, but turned back to the door to leave for the spa. Rarity waved a graceful goodbye before she walked back into her work room. Connor thought this whole ‘Spa’ thing was going to be a waste of time, but he wanted her help and he guessed this was part of her help. Just one problem; he had no idea where the spa was in Ponyville, or if it even had one.

After asking several ponies for directions, Connor eventually found the spa in Ponyville. He had fabricated an excuse to tell ponies who asked why he wanted to go to the spa as a couple of them tried to hide their snickering. His excuse was to pick up something for Rarity and he tried to scold them with his glare whenever they failed to hold back a snicker.

Now that he was standing outside of the relaxing exterior of the day spa, Connor was viewing it as like an evil castle he had to plunge into its depths to retrieve a pointless artifact that seemed more trouble than what it was worth. Plus, the whispers of a few ponies snickering behind his back was only making the situation worse for him. He tried to glare at whoever was laughing at him, but Connor couldn’t see anypony staring at him. Maybe he was going crazy.

He huffed one last time as he tried to hide his embarrassment of his first excursion to a spa in his entire life.

“This is soo stupid!” he complained to himself.

“Why do I need to go see a spa when a shower and some quick work on my hair will do just fine?”

He stepped into the lobby to find it empty to Connor’s relief. The less witnesses, the better. The lobby had the design of a children’s underwater adventure with baby blue and pink being the primary colors. It reminded Connor of the pediatric hospitals for children from his own world and how they were designed to be as relaxing and friendly as possible. The lobby itself was pretty small with only a couple of chairs to sit in and the reception desk at the other end with a doorway next to it leading into the back where the treatments were performed.

At the reception counter, a pink mare with baby blue hair smile softly at him.

“Greetings, and welcome to the Ponyville day spa!” the mare spoke with an accent that Connor could not place, “My name is Aloe. How can I help you?”

“Hi,” Connor stepped up to the counter, “My name is Connor and, um, Rarity sent me here to, ahem, get ready for a party in the Canterlot castle…” He adverted his gaze trying to hide his nervous and embarrassed feelings. He was praying that no pony was going to spot him while he was doing this.

The spa pony gave a gentle chuckle at his embarrassment, “Oh don’t worry. This is nothing to be ashamed of. Ms. Rarity has sent plenty of ponies here for one reason or another. Please, come this way and we’ll get you ready in no time!”

She waved a hoof to the side door inviting Connor to come through. On the other side of the door, the building opened up into a large room where everything from bathing to hair grooming happened. A second earth pony mare was waiting on the other side wearing a kind smile of her own. She looked like the flipped colors of Aloe where her coat was baby blue and her hair was pink.

“Good morning!” the second mare greeted warmly, “I’m Lotus and I’ll be helping with your rejuvenation process today.”

“Thanks, I just need to get ready for a party in Canterlot castle per Rarity’s orders.” Connor was ready to get this whole thing over as quickly as possible.

“Ah, of course. We know exactly what to do. Aloe?”

The two mares quickly set to work by first circling Connor several times while they babbled to each other on the treatment plan.

“Where do you think we should start first? The mane?”

“It could use a little work; some trimming here and there.”

“We are definitely going to need the softening shampoo for the coat.”

“The wings need some work and be preened; I can see dried paint on some of the feathers.”

“Do you want to work on the hooves while I work on combing out the mane and tail?”

“What do you think the ratio between the shampoo and conditioner should be?”

Connor could follow along with most of what the two spa ponies were saying, but he was just hoping that they wouldn’t keep him waiting too long before he lost his nerve and just did it his way. But the two stopped their circling and joined Connor on either side of him and guided him over to the first station of his treatment.

~~~

The treatment as a whole wasn’t an unpleasant experience for Connor. If he really wanted to be honest to himself, he might admit to enjoying it. The spa ponies started with his hair first. They trimmed up the dirty blonde trailing down the back of his neck to a neat spot. After the neck, they spent a good amount of time cutting the rest of his hair to a uniform length so it looked tidy instead of unkempt with random strands of hair sticking up. After the haircut, he showered then bathed in a bath filled with special shampoos and conditioners.

When he climbed out of the bath and dried off, the spa ponies led him to the final station in his rejuvenation process and had Connor lay down on his side on a bench. One of the spa ponies worked on filing his hooves and combing his tail while the second one preened his wings. This was the funniest feeling part of his trip. Even in his own world, Connor would always trim his own nails so having someone else do it was strange experience; coupled with the pulling and plucking of his feathers, Connor twitched in pain and shivered from the vibrations in his hooves several times.

Once that was all done, the spa ponies took one last moment to style his hair. Connor like the idea of having a cool haircut, but he didn’t want something that was over the top. He wanted to stand out just enough to seem interesting, but not obnoxious. Thankfully, the spa ponies came to the rescue and had the perfect haircut for him. With a little bit of styling gel, they took the front bangs of hair and slightly raised them so they were sticking up into the air at an angle. Now that the hair was in place, one of the ponies took a pair of scissors and cut the hair a little bit to a shorter length. The end result was a rather good looking Ivy League style haircut.

He thanked the spa ponies and asked how much it was going to cost. To his surprise, they told him it was no extra cost. They had a deal with Rarity that whenever she sent a pony to their spa before they tried on their outfits, the spa would get a portion from the sale of the outfit to cover some of costs of prepping her customer. He asked how much it would cost if a pony came in of their own accord and got the same service and did a double take when he heard the amount. He made a mental note to leave Rarity a nice, big tip for her work.

He thanked the spa ponies one last time before stepping outside to smell the fresh air. He felt like a new pony with his coat radiating in full color, his fresh haircut already catching the eyes of a few passersby, and his feathers primmed and cleaned to perfection. He still caught the whisper of a snicker of some pony nearby. He glared the direction of where the snicker came from, but decide to drop it.

“Aw, forget them. I’m actually feeling pretty dawn awesome right now!” he smirked to himself and headed back for Rarity’s shop.

The sun was already touching the tips of the horizon when he got back to Rarity’s shop and pushed open the door. Rarity was currently humming to herself as she finished putting away a few sewing supplies in a drawer. Rarity looked up from the drawer and marveled at the new and improved Connor.

“Oh, my, goodness, darling!! You look absolutely stunning now! I told you that spa treatment would do wonders for you!”

Connor spread his wings and bowed from her appraisals as he approached Rarity, “Alright, I’ll admit that you were absolutely right about the spa treatment. I look and feel pretty dang good right now. So, is the suit ready?”

“Yes it is,” Rarity answered, “Why don’t you go into the changing room and I’ll pass it through for you to try on.”

Connor grunted in agreement and trotted over to the room that was hidden behind curtains. He closed the curtains and a small pile of neatly folded clothes floated in over the closed curtains and landed gently on the table nearby.

“Go ahead and try them on dear, then come out and let me see how they look on you.”

Connor moved over to the clothes and unfolded them before putting them on. Despite being very skilled in putting his own clothes on, it was frustrating process of fumbling with his hooves while trying to grasp the all the pieces of the suit and putting them on. He eventually got all the pieces to go on and figured out what some of the holes were for like his wings and tail.

Once everything was on and in place, he stepped out from the changing room for Rarity to inspect. The suit was in fact a tuxedo outfit complete with a white button up shirt, black coat, and black pants. The clothes fit well to his slim form yet still felt comfortable to move around in. however, the eye catching detail to the suit was its design stitched into the black fabric.

The colors were like those from the northern lights from Connor’s world; the aurora green and blue intermingled and danced with each other in a kind of flourish design starting from the front on his chest, across his shoulders, and down his sides ending around his hip. The bright aurora green was vibrant at the front and shone proud on Connor’s chest before drifting around Connor’s body and twirled around with the bright aurora blue before the green slowly disappeared and was replaced with just the blue completely to end the tendrils of color at the hips.

Connor had smartly removed his red bandana so that the red wouldn’t clash with the tuxedo’s design. He ran a hoof over himself trying to smooth out any wrinkles in the clothes before looking up and gave a laughing smirk at Rarity’s reaction.

“Well, how do I look?” Connor asked but already knew the answer from her gaping mouth.

“My word! This is definitely something new, but it’s dazzling all the same; and yet, the colors have a subtle feel to them like a hidden gem buried at the bottom of a chest. It’s not something that grabs your attention with force, but coaxes you to gaze in with awe and subtle persuasion. Oh, I really have outdone myself with this one!”

Connor grinned more broadly and trotted over to a mirror to look at his reflection. He rotated this way and that to view himself at different angles. A half goofy half confident smile was plastered on his face as his eyes soaked in the spectacle.

“Gob, SPAM, do I look good!” he said to himself as Rarity smiled behind him, “This is awesome Rarity!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“This will do perfectly for the party. Thanks so much Rarity; I can't wait to wear this tomorrow.”

“That’s lovely, now why don’t you go change out of your tuxedo so we can save it for tomorrow.”

Connor nodded again and returned to the changing room to take his outfit off. After a few minutes of bumbling around with removing the clothes Connor returned with a semi-neat folded pile of clothes in one hoof. He hoofed back to Rarity who took it in her magic.

“I just wanted to say thanks again for all of your help, Rarity. And I just wanted to double check with you on how much this is going to cost.”

“Oh Connor,” Rarity huffed at him, “I told you before to not worry about it. This my favor to you as a good friend and for the investment in Carousel Boutique.” She gave him a wink.

“Are you sure?” Connor asked one last time.

“Positive. I’ll take care of the outfit and you just make sure not to get dirty by tomorrow evening, agreed?”

“Agreed,” Connor smiled and waved goodbye, “I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“Goodbye Connor!” Rarity called out as the door shut close and she heard the sound of wings carrying Connor away.

She smiled to herself and got back to cleaning the rest of her shop. She put away all the spools of thread and fabric and organized all the scissors in their appropriate drawers. She made one final check around the shop floor checking every spot for anything out of place. She looked above and below all the clothing racks to find nothing wrong. She sighed as she made her final check in the changing room where Connor was last at.

She pulled back the curtains and let the floor lights shine into the dim room. Rarity smiled at the immaculate room and the perfectly clean floor but did a double take when she noticed a bag on the table with a note. She walked over to the table and picked up the note curiously in her magic to read.

“Dear Rarity, I found out about your little deal with the spa and figured this would help pay for the trip. Enjoy, Connor.
P.S. if you still can't take the money, than just view it as another ‘Investment’ or ‘Donation’.”

Rarity’s eyes darted to the bag and hefted it in her magic to gauge how much was in it.

“Oh, Connor! I told you not to worry about it!”

Author's Notes:

Well that was an interesting chapter. I kind of liked the design that I made for the tuxedo for Connor to wear; well, it looks awesome in my head. I wouldn’t mind having a suit or tuxedo with that kind of design embroidered on it or something.

And now we have Connor looking clean and suave like a motherfucker! Look out everyone! We’ve got a lady killer and a badass coming through! Oh man, I think everyone is going to like the next couple of chapters.

Onto a more serious topic though. You all should have heard about the mass shooting that happened in Roseburg, Oregon that happened recently by now. I wanted to let everyone know that I was present at the college when the shooting happened, but I was thankfully nowhere near it when it did happen. I have two blog posts up about my experience and after-effects from the experience; one was sort of like an initial effects and how I felt right afterwards and the second one is like an update on myself a week later. I guess this was like my way of dealing with the incident and my psychiatric evaluation of myself; I just wanted to get my thoughts out and share them with other and hopefully help those who are still affected by it. The first part will be here with my initial writing and the second part will be here with me writing about it a week later.

Just to clarify right now, I am doing okay and no one I know was hurt. But my condolences still go out to the families and friends hurt by this unfortunate bump on the road of life.

Talk to you all later.

Onto the next chapter!

27: Business Tactics

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Twilight

Twilight could barely contain her excitement. Today was the party Connor had invited Twilight and all her friends to join him at the castle. Twilight was overjoyed to hear that Connor was doing so well with his new game and that is was gaining so much popularity. It had concerned her to see Connor looking like a lost pony for the last couple of days and Twilight was about to take some time off to intervene, but thankfully Rainbow Dash beat her to it as she spotted her energetic Pegasus friend dragging Connor in and out of town for whatever adventure she had planned for him.

Twilight had sent all the tickets Connor had given her to everypony else in a letter explaining the invitation to the event. Connor wanted to tell Rarity himself about the party and hopefully use it as a way to persuade Rarity into making him a suit for the party. Twilight had assured Connor that wasn't necessary as she would have done so anyways for a friend, but she obliged and left Rarity's letter out of the messages sent. She had placed her and Spike's ticket safely on a table for safe keeping while they waited for the day of the party.

Twilight was finishing up noting the rest of the returned books that day in her check-out list while she magically reshelved each book that she marked. Spike came bounding down the stairs with a large grin on his face and his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Twilight! It’s time!” he shouted as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Huh?” Twilight paused from her distraction of marking her returned book list and magically reshelving the books.

“The party, Twilight! Connor's party is today and we're supposed to meet at Rarity's place to get ready at 12:30!”

Twilight's eyes shot for the clock hanging on the wall as it read 12:25. “Oh, you're right Spike! Come on, let’s go now and we might still make it there in time!”

Twilight grabbed Spike in her magic and levitated him onto her back as she set the rest of the books held in her magic down in a neat pile for when she would return later that night. She hurried out the door and headed for Carousel Boutique where everypony was preparing for the party happening later that day. She shut the door with a solid click and trotted off for the dress shop.

“Oh, this is so exciting! Who knew that Connor’s game would do so well!” Twilight said to Spike with excitement.

“I know! This is so cool! I wonder what kind of ponies are going to show up? It’s not exactly a Grand Galloping Gala, so who do you think is going to show up?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight responded to Spike’s question, “But I think it can be fun either way!”

“Cool!” Spike fist pumped the air and Twilight smiled as the pair drew closer to the shop. Twilight wasn’t sure what to expect from this party. She understood that it could be business party with major company pony representatives there to make a presence, but she hoped that the party might be more open to other members of society who simply enjoyed the game Paint Wars thoroughly.

Twilight pushed opened the door to Carousel Boutique to hear the familiar chime go off as she and Spike entered Rarity’s shop. Carousel Boutique was closed for the day as Rarity had gathered everypony who was going together to prepare for the party the same way they prepared for Grand Galloping Galas. Twilight’s ear twitched and swiveled towards the ceiling as muffled chatter and the sound of running water radiated through the floor above.

“It looks like they’re already started upstairs,” Spike pointed out.

“Yeah, it sounds like it. Let’s head up and join them.”

Twilight trotted up the stairs near the back of the main floor into the home above the shop where Rarity and her sister, Sweetie Belle, lived. She slowly walked down the hallway turning her head trying to pin point where the noise was coming from. A few paces down the hallway, Spike tugged on her mane to get her attention and pointed to a door that was slightly ajar and voices echoing out.

She smiled and nodded a thanks to Spike. She walked over to the door and pushed it open with her magic to reveal the self-made beauty parlor by Rarity along with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all occupying the room. Applejack was in the middle of toweling off her mane while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were busy brushing out their coats and tails; although, Pinkie was having little success with combing out her curly hair. Rarity was currently fighting with Rainbow Dash near the mane dryers over grooming for the party, again.

“I thought we agreed that the only parties I would let you dress me up and go through your whole ‘Grooming process’ was for the Grand Galloping Gala! Do you know how much time you take with just combing my mane? Too much!”

“Rainbow, I will not have you looking like a slob and an unsophisticated rapscallion in front of so many important business ponies while representing what kind of friends Princess Twilight associates herself with! As her closest friends we should put our best hoof forward and show just how civilized we can be and display such grand dresses that they must have a dress like ours and will want to order one from me as soon as possible!”

“Ah ha!” Rainbow flew right in front of Rarity’s nose and poked her, “So this is all just a big scheme to get new high paying orders, isn’t it?”

Rarity blushed furiously at her slip up, but tried to recover. “It is not! That might be a nice outcome for the night, but it is not the main focus! And don’t change the subject!”

“Rarity!”
“Rarity!”

Applejack and Twilight shouted in unison as Applejack removed the towel from her head and Twilight closed the door behind her. The arguing pair stopped in their tracks to see who had interjected to spot Twilight with Spike standing amongst the occupants in the room. Rainbow back off from Rarity and landed softly looking a little ashamed while Rarity blushed with embarrassment.

Twilight shook her head in disgruntlement, “You don’t need to worry about that, Rarity. This is a party and we’re supposed to have fun,” Rarity nodded in agreement while Rainbow looked victorious, “But I do think it’s a good idea to look nice if only for your own sake.” Rainbow Dash quickly lost her victorious smile and followed Rarity’s example by nodding affirmatively.

But to lighten the mood again, Twilight smiled and stood next to Rarity, “Come on, it’s a party you two! Let’s have some fun and make a good time there. Besides, this is Connor’s party we’re going to for making a really great game!”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity returned the upbeat thinking with smiles and gave a single nod in agreement.

“You’re right, Twilight. This isn’t something about us, this is a party for Connor’s great success! And we shall make it a great night for him as well!” Rarity relaxed her stance and walked over one of the many mirrors hanging on the wall with a table full of beauty products and picked up a brush to work on her mane.

“I guess you’re right, Twilight. It is a pretty awesome game and I always have a blast playing it. I think I can do one more night of dressing up. Hey Rarity, could you help me out with getting ready?”

“Of course, dear,” Rarity brought the brush she held in her magic over to Rainbow Dash who sat down next to her in front of the mirror, “And I’ll try not to spend too much time on your mane. I’ll have to think of something simple but still goes nice with your Grand Galloping Gala dress as well.”

“We are using the Grand Galloping Gala dresses for the party?” Twilight asked.

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie entered the conversation, “Isn’t it awesome?! I get to wear my candy dress again, and it smells like gum drops too!” she licked her lips at the thought, “Haah, sweet, sugary, strawberry gum drops.”

“It turns out that Rarity likes to have a few days’ notice with these kind of important parties so she can have enough time to design new outfits for everypony to wear. She says it’s for testing designs and making adjustments.” Applejack finished brushing her own mane and tail out and grabbed the hoof brush and polish.

“Actually, I think she said it was one day for designing all the dresses and one day for making all the dresses for castle parties,” Fluttershy added from her spot in the room as she brushed out the rest of her coat.

“Anyways,” Rarity said a little loudly to get off the topic of her creative process, “Twilight if you would like to go ahead and start, there is some lovely shampoo on the table next to the window. Oh, and Spike, could you be a dear and grab the hair gel next to Pinkie Pie?” she half-lidded her eyes smiled at the baby dragon for his help.

“Sure Rarity, no problem.” Spike hopped off of Twilight’s back and ran over to where the pink pony was trying out different hair dos that used the sticky gel.

~~~

The process of getting ready for castle parties was always a slow one, but enjoyable nonetheless. Rarity fussed over every little detail on everypony as they cleaned their coats, brushed out their manes, and slowly got into their Gala dresses while adding the final touches to every pony’s outfit. Twilight was already in her dress alongside Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Rarity was the first to finish with her outfit and had helped everypony else get into theirs; she was currently working on Rainbow Dash fiddling with her mane and the last few folds of her dress.

“I’m almost done, I just need to finish with tying your mane and then we can go.”

Just then, the door chime to the shop downstairs rang out followed by shutting of the door.

“Who could that be?” Twilight raised a brow confused, “Isn’t your shop closed?”

“Oh, no that must be Connor just now! I told him to come to the boutique at a later time for his own dressing.”

“I think he’s a little late for that. Aren’t we about to leave soon?” Rainbow Dash asked Rarity as she struggled to stay still for a few more seconds.

“Oh no dear, he is already clean and ready for the party. He just needs to put on his outfit before we leave.”

Rainbow sighed and winched as a particular hair was pulled by Rarity, “Hmm, I just need to finish tying your mane and then you can go. But I need to give Connor his suit before we leave; Twilight, could you finish this up while I head down stairs?”

“Of course.” Twilight took over where Rarity had left off as she disappeared out the door and downstairs.

“Are you almost done, because I’m getting really tired of standing here.” Rainbow painfully asked once Rarity was out of ear shot.

Everypony around giggled at Rainbow’s dismay, “What, you don’t like looking more pretty than a polished red apple on a summer’s evening, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack chided.

“I think you look lovely, Rainbow,” Fluttershy offered to Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe we should take a picture and show it to everypony!” Pinkie Pie bounced around pulling a camera out of her mane.

Rainbow flushed slightly, “Pinkie! Stop it!”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight assured with a small chuckle, “Everything will be just fine.”

She finished tying the mane and let it fall gently against the Pegasus’s back, “There! All done!”

Rainbow turned around glad that it was all over, “Finally; let’s get going and head for the castle.”

There was a murmur of agreement and everyone left the room and trotted down stairs.

“So Twilight, how are we going to get to the castle this time? Are you going to try teleporting all of us there like the last Grand Galloping Gala?”

Twilight laughed nervously, “No, I don’t think we need to teleport on top of a group of party guests like the last time we went. Princess Celestia has sent us a carriage of our own to take us up to the castle after that little mistake.”

“Little?”
“Mistake?”

Rainbow and Pinkie asked simultaneously.

“You landed on top of that one noble so badly, he demanded that you be banned from coming to another Grand Galloping Gala ever again or he would never show up for another one!”

“Are you kidding?! That was the greatest way to show up to a party ever!!!” Pinkie exploded in a shower of confetti and party noise makers as everypony stepped into the shop landing. Rarity was busy standing over by the changing room waiting.

“I don’t think the mare I landed on was too pleased with me. She said that party was too rich for the likes of me being there,” Applejack fumed a little at the memory.

“Don’t worry Applejack, she was just surprised at all of showing up so suddenly like that. I know I would be surprised.” Fluttershy soothed.

“Hey Rarity, are you coming?” Rainbow called over.

“Yes dear, I will be outside in a minute!”

The group continued on outside where a golden and white carriage was waiting with palace guards at the lead and Spike in the driver bench. There were several oohs as everyone gazed at their fancy transportation for the night. Spike hopped down from the bench wearing his own tuxedo and pulled open the door for everypony to get in.

“Miladies, your carriage awaits,” he said in a dramatic tone.

“Thank you Spike!” Pinkie Pie said sweetly, “You are such a sweet, cute, little dragon! And you are looking sharp!”

“Thanks!” he brightened at Pinkie Pie’s compliment.

The rest of the friends climbed aboard the surprisingly roomy carriage while they waited to leave. Twilight was one of the last ones to climb on but she waited a little still looking for Rarity to come out of the shop with Connor. A moment later, Rarity came running out of the shop.

“Rarity, is everything alright?”

“Hm? Oh yes, everything is fine. I just want to make sure nopony sees Connor just yet until we get to the party. I want to surprise everypony with the outfit that I made for him!” Rarity started pushing and trying to shove Twilight into the carriage before Connor could step out in to the open.

“But Rarity, wait! Why do you want to hide Connor until we get to Canterlot?!” Twilight tried fighting the fashionista’s efforts with little success. She glimpsed Connor slowly walking towards them from inside the shop, but still not easily seen with what he was wearing. She caught a small glimmer of green and blue before Rarity gave one final shove and pushed Twilight inside the carriage with a yelp.

Everypony inside stared in mild surprise as Twilight landed on her rear before everypony while Rarity stayed outside for a few more seconds before joining everyone inside as the door closed behind them.

“What was all that about?” Fluttershy helped Twilight to a seat as she glared at Rarity.

“Yes Rarity, why is it so important that we not see what Connor is wearing until we get to the castle?” Twilight gave an angry look at her friend.

“Well Twilight, I think you are really going to love what I have made for him!” Rarity was practically giggling with excitement at her secret, “It is such a dashing design that I came up with and the way the colors and lines flow across the fabric, oh I can barely hold myself because it just wants to pull your attention to him!”

“We noticed,” Applejack deadpanned with a straight face.

“Well, come on! Spill the beans! What does it look like?”

Rarity breathed out a calming breath and held up a hoof in shunning, “I cannot possibly ruin such a wonderful surprise for you all by revealing it now! You will just have to wait until we get to the castle.”

The bickering continued for a while longer until everypony gave up on trying to convince Rarity to reveal the surprise. They quickly turned to other topics to talk about as the carriage lurched forward down the road to the castle.

~~~

The carriage rattled down the dirt roads and the wheels clattered loudly as the group travelled to the castle with the party waiting inside for them. The anticipation inside the carriage was growing with each passing minute as everypony drew closer to Canterlot. The sun was just touching the tips of the horizon and a clock struck seven o’clock somewhere in the distance.

All side conversations stopped as everypony watched their carriage roll closer and closer to the castle draw bridge and front gates. The hoof steps coming from outside slowed their pace to a walk before stopping all together and the carriage halted its movement with a slight jolt.

“We’re here,” Twilight sang out with glee. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were beside themselves with joy, though for different reasons. Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait to see what kind of fun she could find at this party while Rarity wanted to show off her latest creation with Connor.

There was some movement from the front of the carriage like somepony dismounting from the driver’s bench along with some faint whispering like instructions being given. Soon, the door opened to reveal the castle looking regal in the sunset colors of the sky and Spike and Connor flanking the door on either side. Spike was easily visible with his black tuxedo and red tie bowing forward with an arm sweeping towards the castle. Connor was also visible, however only down to his neck as he bowed in the same fashion as Spike. The rest of him was obscured by the door he was standing behind and holding open for the mares.

“Madams, the party awaits,” Connor spoke in an eccentric voice like a mansion’s butler and swept one of his legs to the castle waiting in the distance.

Twilight was first out the door and down the stairs set out for them to walk down into the evening air. But nopony was paying too much attention to the castle as their focus was placed on trying to get a good look at Connor. Twilight’s mouth fell open as she stared at the amazing tuxedo Connor was wearing. The design on it was of an intricate design of smooth flowing lines weaving in and out of each other as they danced down his sides and stopped around his flank. But the colors are what really caught her attention. The green and blue shimmered ever so slightly in the light which whited out some parts of the strands across his body while the others glittered alluringly. It definitely wasn’t the eye wrenching attention that one would get with Rainbow’s dress; it sort of caught your attention out of the corner of your eye with curiosity and make you want to search for the unique outfit that was catching your eye.

Twilight couldn’t help but gasp as she stared awestruck at the spectacular work of Rarity. There was a chorus of gasps behind Twilight followed by pleased cries of joy once everyone else had stepped out of the carriage and got a good look at Connor. The mares huddled in front of Connor who took notice of them staring at him. He paused as he looked around at them all before straightening up and displaying his tuxedo to its fullest for everypony to see.

“Oh my goodness, Rarity! It’s beautiful!” Fluttershy was the first to speak.

“Wow Rarity, you were right to make this a surprise! That is awesome!” Rainbow Dash hovered overhead shifting from one side to another looking at Connor from every angle.

Applejack pushed the tip of her hat up a little and let out a whistle, “You have really outdone yourself this time, sugar cube.”

Rarity smiled smugly seeing all the responses from her friends, “Thank you everypony. But I do need to thank Connor for giving me the inspiration too. I didn’t do all the work.”

“Oh come on Rarity,” Connor finally spoke, “All I did was stand there and tell you what I wanted for the tuxedo.”

Everypony laughed a little at his comment. Once they were done chuckling, Rarity looked up to the castle again.

“Should we head inside now? I think the party is still waiting for the arrival of the guest of honor.”

Twilight nodded, “I think you’re right. Let’s get in there and make this one of the best nights ever!”

“Ooh, ooh! I have an idea!” Pinkie Pie bounced enthusiastically, “We can make this just like at the Gala!”

Pinkie bounced in front of the group and started marching down the cobblestone path to the castle as she started the first line of her new song.

~ Like the Gala, there will be music, fun and sweet! ~

Everypony laughed and followed after Pinkie Pie’s example and joined in on the song. The only ones not seen jumping into the song were Connor and Spike. They laughed and danced and sang all the way down the road, across the bridge and through the castle gardens until everyone stood just outside the main entrance to the castle where party going noises and talk could be heard. Twilight stopped the group as they finished their songs and turned to address everypony.

“Alright everypony, the party is just inside and it looks like we are right on time!”

They all cheered happily, ready to get inside and make some new memories. Twilight let her eyes cast over every one of her friends waiting for them to finish whooping in excitement. Her eye caught a slight glimmer of green and blue and spotted Connor approaching the rest of the group. However, what really caught her eye was Fluttershy walking next to Connor with one of her hooves hooked through his elbow, like a gentlepony escorting a mare to a ball room.

“Ooh, I’m going to have to ask about that later,” she thought to herself as Fluttershy quickly let go of Connor and took a step away from him when she noticed Twilight staring at the pair. She tried her best not to linger too long on the pair and refocused on everypony else.

“We will all meet back here in a few hours when everypony is ready to leave. How about we meet back here at around 10:30?” Twilight asked her friends.

Everypony nodded in agreement and headed inside together. Everyone walked through the entrance with Applejack and Pinkie Pie flanking Twilight and everyone else following behind. There were a few party goers hanging in the hall away from all the noise coming from one of the grand ball rooms. They trotted up a flight of stairs to the next floor and followed the noise of ponies talking and music to a large door way on the right side about 30 meters down the hallway.

Once there, the hallway opened up to a grand ball room that looked similar the ball room downstairs that usually held the Grand Galloping Gala. The stone floor was polished to a mirror and red carpets were rolled out between doorways. At the opposite end of the room, an elevated platform was set up with a pedestal placed in the middle. To the right of the stage, an orchestral band and DJ booth was set up beside each other. The music being played seemed to drift back and forth between the hum of string instruments and the thump of the electronic beats coming from the speakers. The music would bounce between the two genres and sometimes intermingled with each other as they played.

To the far right wall was another small staircase that lead up to a balcony outside with a couple of ponies already there getting some fresh air. The sun was still setting outside but the moon was starting its own ascension into the night sky. In the left corner closest to Twilight was a food table set out with countless trays of snacks and food for those who got hungry. A chef stood behind the table smiling and taking personal orders as they came. In the left wall was another doorway leading to a second, smaller ball room but was less crowded.

The majority of the main floor was crowded with high class business ponies wearing their own midnight black tuxedos and various business suits. There were a few ponies that didn’t look related to business and were possibly just fans of the game, but there were few of those kinds of ponies in the room. Some very successful ponies could be picked out from the crowds from where Twilight and her friends stood. Fancy pants was seen standing near the musicians conversing pleasantly with the ponies around him. Twilight even recognized Mr. Job from the meeting several weeks ago with Princess Celestia present on the floor. But what caught Twilight’s attention was Mr. Bunsen Burner, one of her personal scientific equipment suppliers, currently eating a plate of food by the snack court.

She wanted to talk to Mr. Bunsen before the night was over for a couple of reasons. Twilight needed to discuss about her next shipment of parts to be coming in for the portal repair project and wanted to see if she might be able to speed this delivery up as several important replacements were in that particular shipment. Any way to speed up the repair process would be gratefully appreciated and Twilight could try using some of the negotiation strategies that she learned while sitting in with Princess Celestia’s meetings. The rest of Twilight’s friends had dispersed amongst the guests already, but she didn’t worry too much about it. She slowly weaved her way in between ponies giving polite nods and curt greetings to those who said hello to her as she passed by.

As she got closer to the food court she could hear Mr. Bunsen laugh boisterously with another pony at some joke that was told. She levitated a few snacks onto a plate as she passed by to seem like she was only coming over to get some food. Actually, Twilight was a little hungry as she missed lunch when she and Spike had to hurry over to Rarity’s shop. She placed one of the crackers topped with various condiments of different flavors in her mouth and chewed happily as she got closer to Mr. Bunsen.

She was about two meters away when Mr. Bunsen noticed the princess approaching.

“Ah! Princess Twilight! So good to see you here tonight!” he let out another deep rumble of laughter.

Mr. Bunsen was a large and heavy set unicorn pony with a light-hearted personality and loved to let loose a loud, jolly laugh at a good joke. His ash colored coat contrasted greatly from his usually wild, fire blue and orange hair that was combed back for the night; though a few strands were already coming loose from their confinement. Twilight came across the pony when she needed to speak to someone about a missing delivery of supplies for one of her experiments and he had personally come by to assure her that the supplies would be ordered again at no extra cost to her. Even though he was a pony that distributed scientific supplies to thousands of schools across Equestria, he still saw himself as an eager young colt who loved to conduct experiments in the search for fun and learning.

“Oh, good evening Mr. Bunsen! How are you tonight?” Twilight put on a surprised expression and smiled kindly. Twilight was already beginning to plan out how to take the conversation just as Princess Celestia had instructed.

“Oh I’m doing just fine, Princess. The food is marvelous, the music is lovely if not different, and the night is still young! I can only imagine what can happen before tonight is over.” He place another few snacks in his mouth.

Twilight did the same before continuing to speak, “I didn’t know somepony like you would be here at a party for a game? I thought you might be busy with trying to get more supplies shipped to me at the library in Ponyville or here at the castle.”

Mr. Bunsen’s chest rumbled with another chuckle, “Oh Princess, this is not just some game we are celebrating here. I can see that this ‘Paint Wars’ is going to be big! So big that it might even become a full-fledged sport! Wouldn’t that be something entertaining!”

Twilight laughed a little at Mr. Bunsen’s enthusiasm, “Well it certainly would seem like it could be that. I have heard that a lot of ponies have started playing Paint Wars and are enjoying it.”

“Exactly!” Mr. Bunsen pointed out in a slightly hushed tone as he stuffed a few more treats in his mouth to eat and swallowed before speaking again, “This is a perfect opportunity to make some new business! Why, think of all the research and development that can go into this game! I could set up deals to figure out the best powder composition for that chaff balloon, I think it’s called. Or, perhaps we could develop some new storage system for the balloons instead of having them bounce around in saddle bags and possibly break! Now what pony wants to reach in and find paint covering the insides of their saddle bag? Oh, the research and experiments are endless!”

“Um, Mr. Bunsen there was something that I wanted to talk to you about. It is business related and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind taking this conversation somewhere more privately.”

Mr. Bunsen eyes gleamed with excitement, “Ooh, a new experiment that needs some supplies? Or maybe you would like to get a head start on some of the research ideas that I just mentioned?”

“Something like that,” Twilight laughed, “Do you know of any place that we can speak privately right now?”

“I believe there might be some open rooms just outside in the hallway that we may be able to use,” he put a hoof to his chin in thought, “I think I know of one room that we can use. If you would follow me, Princess Twilight.”

Mr. Bunsen set his tray of food down on a table and started walking back towards the ball room entrance. Twilight placed her own plate down and quickly caught up to Mr. Bunsen before he got too far away. The two slowly walked back out into the hallway where ponies were still trying to get into the party or mingling outside for a break. He turned to his right away from the castle entrance hall and walked a short distance deeper into the castle. He stopped in front of a side door and pushed it open for Twilight to enter.

She smiled gratefully as she walked inside and inspected the room. It was side room that looked like it held more private dinner parties since there was only one or two tables pushed end to end in the middle of the room. It was dimly lit with only a couple of candles on the table when the door shut behind her with Mr. Bunsen standing there.

“Princess Twilight, let me just say right now that I am excited that you have decided to lead the research project of Paint Wars. This will be an excellent opportunity for us both.” He approached Twilight with the same eagerness as before like a young Pegasus ready to try flying for the first time.

“Actually Mr. Bunsen, I had something else that I wanted to talk with you.”

Mr. Bunsen paused in his babbling and looked confused. “And what might that be, Princess?”

Twilight cleared her throat and squared her shoulders before speaking again; she hoped that the direct approach in negotiating would work best here. “This is about an important order that was placed several days ago and it has not arrived yet. It contained several important replacement parts including a grid coordinate calculator and a reciprocating magic inducer to be shipped here at the castle, and it was scheduled to arrive here this Tuesday.”

“Ah yes, I remember that particular order,” Mr. Bunsen’s eyes darted to the ceiling in recollection before quickly returning to Twilight, “Those are very specialized pieces of equipment and only the most serious of researchers use them. I’m glad to see that you have continued doing your experiments even while being a princess!”

“What I am wondering is when it will arrive at the castle. It is for a very important project that I have to complete as soon as possible.” Twilight put a hint of urgency in her voice.

“Ah, well there were some complications in trying to find everything for the order but I am happy to announce that everything has been acquired and is ready to ship soon! Actually, I think we might be slightly ahead of schedule.”

“’Slightly ahead of schedule’?” Twilight irked in her head.

“Mr. Bunsen, how is the order ahead of schedule if you have missed the delivery date?”

“Well Princess Twilight, the equipment and parts you ordered are not always easy to come by, but I can assure you that we will never let an order go unfinished so long as we can find it or make it ourselves!”

“Well, is there any way we might be able to have the parts shipped by tonight, perhaps? As I said before, they are for a very important project that has to be finished as soon as possible.” Twilight tried shifting negotiation tactics by tweaking her tone to sound more pleading in the hopes that it might yield better results.

Mr. Bunsen shook his head, “I’m sorry, but the order was made with standard shipping. It will be mailed by tomorrow morning and should arrive at the castle in about three to five days. So you could expect it to arrive by next Monday or Tuesday at the earliest.”

“Is there any way we might be able to change that and have it shipped sooner?”

Mr. Bunsen thought for a moment, “There is the possibility that we could try to expedite the delivery, but the soonest it could arrive would only be Monday.”

“But there must be something you can do, Mr. Bunsen! Is there no way you can have it shipped by tonight and show up at the castle before the week is over? Not even your own ponies could send it here? I would pay any extra costs that would come to shipping it right now.”

He shook his head, “I’m sorry Princess. The postal service is something that is out of my control and there is nothing I can do about it. Even if I had my ponies send here, it would still take time for it to come.”

Twilight closed her eyes in frustration. The conversation wasn’t going according to plan and she wanted to have some hoof in helping the repair of her transdimensional bridge. She tried to remember other ways Princess Celestia had used to persuade ponies. There was one other method that came to mind; it was a risky maneuver putting so much pressure on a pony and it could easily backfire. The princess had warned that the technique only works once with every pony; after that, they become more aggressive with their defense making it harder to talk to them. But this was a special case and she wanted to help Connor get back home.

She made her decision. Just this one time, Twilight would allow herself to say what she was about to say to Mr. Bunsen; but she made sure to not make a habit of doing this.

Twilight opened her eyes and when she did, her face hardened and her stare turned cold. “Very well, I understand that this is the best that you can do Mr. Bunsen.”

She turned and slowly walked around him but paused to stand next to Mr. Bunsen. “However if I remember correctly, I am one of your biggest clients in buying your scientific supplies and equipment; and I am quite sure that you are one of the few ponies to do good, reliable business with a princess. I need this shipment to be here before the week is over, but if you are unable to make this one exception and deliver I am sure there are other suppliers that would be willing to do better business with me as this would be our last transaction.”

Twilight took a few more slow steps to the door letting her words sink in. she could feel Mr. Bunsen quickly calculating out all the consequences of losing a princess as one of his major clients. He loved doing experiments and enjoy learning, but he was still a business pony.

“Wait!” he shouted, “Y-You couldn’t possibly leave me just like this! I-I’ve been one of your best suppliers for several years now! Who else would be able to complete every order you make needing more chemicals or equipment that needs replacing?”

Twilight craned her head around to see Mr. Bunsen with panic slowly creeping across his face, “Mr. Bunsen, I am a scientist as much as you are and you should know the importance of doing thorough research. I think I can find other, smaller suppliers who would be more than willing to overlook one shipment at a princess’s urgent request.”

Twilight turned back to the door and was only inches away from opening it before he shouted again.

“Wait! I-I-I think we can do something like that! If you could give me until the end of tonight, I can contact the warehouse where the box is and have some ponies personally ship it here to arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon! It would cost a deal more than shipping an expedited package through the postal service, but I will assure you that it will get here before the tomorrow is over; if not, it will be first thing in the morning the next day!” He put on his eager smile again but came out as a pained grin as he tried to keep Twilight’s business.

Twilight looked back at Mr. Bunsen, “I have no problem paying the costs; in fact, I will pay for it with my own account. But are you sure that it will show up by tomorrow afternoon or the next morning?”

“Yes! Absolutely! You have my word that it will show up by tomorrow afternoon or first thing in the morning of the next day!”

Twilight smiled coolly, “Thank you Mr. Bunsen, this is very important to me and will be a great help. Please send the bill to my personal account for the shipment and I look forward to our continued business.”

She reached out a hoof to shake which he took, “You’re welcome princess Twilight, and thank you. If you don’t mind, I would like to enjoy the rest of the party before I go and have somepony gather up a team to deliver the order.”

“That’s fine; I would also like to finish the night on a good note. Thank you again Mr. Bunsen.”

She headed for the door again and this time opened it back into the lively atmosphere of the castle party. She left the room leaving a shaky Mr. Bunsen to follow after her as Twilight went back to the main ball room and to the food court. Her stomach growled rather loudly as she entered the main floor again, but she was looking quite pleased with herself at a successful deal.

Twilight levitated a clean plate over to her as she filled it with more substantial foods that would make a meal. She glanced over her shoulder at the front entrance to see Mr. Bunsen finally entering again still looking shaken up from the grilling Twilight had given him; he had apparently lost his appetite for the night as he did not return to collect his own food.

Seeing him so shaken up by Twilight created an internal conflict with herself. As she ate, Twilight thought over her talk with Mr. Bunsen trying to find ways she could have done better rather than resorting to threatening him with taking her business somewhere else over one shipment. Now that she thought about it, it seemed petty of her to do such a thing over something so small and could have mitigated it if she just had been more patient and waited for the delivery.

She felt slightly ashamed of herself. It didn’t feel right to throw her weight around like that and she felt that it would have been more beneficial to her if she could keep Mr. Bunsen as a friend rather than just a cold business partner.

Beside, Princess Celestia had tasked her with keeping Connor content with staying in her world for as long as possible while she focused on repairing the portal. Celestia had said that if Connor was okay with staying in Equestria, then he would be more understanding if repairs might take longer than expected.

A flicker of fear crept to the front of her mind. What if she tried doing this again with another pony? Bullying them into doing what she wanted and enjoying the power? What if she started bullying her friends because they couldn’t help out for simple task or were busy with problems of their own? Twilight’s mind began spiraling again into dismay about all the possibilities that could come from this one indulgence. She didn’t want to be cruel like that! She wanted to keep her friends, not drive them away!

She was shaken out of her panic induced trance when a pony spoke to her. “Princess Twilight? Are you all right? Are you not feeling well?”

She looked up at the pony like she was caught in the act of doing something wrong, “hmm?! Oh! No, I am feeling okay. I was just thinking. I’ll be fine.”

She smiled at the business pony as he shrugged and walked away.

She let out a sigh as the pony left and went back to looking at her food. Twilight figured it would be best to talk to Princess Celestia about this and maybe get some guidance on how to handle this experience. She wouldn’t like that Twilight pressured another pony to do something, but Twilight was sure that she would be happy to console her through this.

She smiled to herself and took a bite out of her meal. Princess Celestia would help out like she always did. But right now, Twilight was at a party and wanted to enjoy the rest of it before it was over. It was Connor’s party celebrating his success after all, so why not have fun?

After several minutes of eating and filling her hungry stomach, Twilight got up to join some of the party guests on the floor. Almost everypony she spoke to was some kind of a business pony in one form or another, so most of the conversations she had with them were roughly the same. Some saw the party as an investment opportunity to earn more revenue while others were there simply because they wanted to make impression when the ponies had no interest in the game. There were a few ponies at the party that were genuinely interested in Paint Wars and twilight took great pleasure in with them about where Paint Wars would go from here with the announcement made that evening.

Twilight was intrigued with this new information, but would discuss about it later as the conversation moved to knowing the ponies on a more personal level. They chatted for some time until they said that needed to leave for the night. Twilight bid them a good night and looked at the time. It was past 10:32 and the party was already dying down with a few of ponies leaving the ball room. She stared around trying to spot all her friends amongst the crowds. She picked out Connor standing at the top of the stairs leading to the outside balcony over watching the party. She trotted over to the stairs and began climbing them to speak. Connor noticed her approaching when she was at the foot of the stairs and gave her a tired smile as she joined him at the top.

“Its past 10:30 right now; are you ready to leave or do you want to stay a little longer?” she asked.

“No, I think I’m ready to go. It’s been a long night with so many things happening at once and I’m ready to pass out for the night.”

Twilight smiled, “Okay then; let’s go see if we can find everypony else at the entrance hall and then we can leave.”

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Author's Notes:

I will admit that this kind of felt out-of-character for Twilight when writing this. I even questioned if it was a little too harsh for Twilight to do, and it kind of was. But I have to remember that I am going for a more realistic approach to this world, and realistically, business negotiations are not always easy or nice.

I’m sure Princess Celestia will be more than willing to help teach her on the proper way of negotiating without resorting to bully tactics.

Anyways, sorry this took so long to get out. I had something to deal with on the site one week, then I was sick for another week, and I’ve only just gotten the energy to write this chapter this week. Shit has been crazy.

Oh my god, I have been waiting to write these chapters with the party! Twilight’s side was pretty fun and unique to write, but I think you are all going to love the next chapter with Connor! Because I am an impatient bastard who can't hold back his excitement, I am going to give you all a little hint.

…….. Did you catch it? No?

Onto the next chapter then!

28: Forgiveness

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Connor

He breathed deeply through his nose and let out a calming breath as he walked to Carousel Boutique down the main market street in Ponyville. Connor was trying to keep his nerves in check the closer he got to the shop by hiding them under a façade of not caring and being nonchalant. He had a habit of behaving this way whenever he was nervous about something important like having to perform in front of judging crowds or attend a meeting. In his pursuit of projecting an air of casualness, he would become sloppier and fumble a lot more than usual; at least, in his own eyes he thought he did. He almost made a mess this morning for breakfast when he nearly missing the sink when putting the dishes away to wash.

He wasn’t sure what kind of party to expect at the castle. Connor wasn’t much of a ‘Party animal’ in his world as he didn’t go out that much after school nor did he get invited to parties other than birthday parties for some of the kids at his martial art studio he worked at. This was new territory for him and he wasn’t sure how to behave while there.

He tried taking another steady breath as the shop came into view. Rarity had told Connor to come by the shop at around 2:30 in the afternoon for dressing and then they would all leave together for Canterlot. Connor noticed a large ivory white and gold carriage parked just outside the shop with two earth pony guards hooked in and a small purple dragon in a black tuxedo siting in the driver’s bench reading what looked like a comic.

Spike lowered the comic as he heard Connor’s hoofsteps draw closer. He smiled and waved to him as they came within earshot of each other.

“Hey Connor! How’s it going?”

“Not too bad,” he answered, “Why are you up there in the driver seat?”

Spike set his comic down, “Well, I’m the driver for the carriage so I’m waiting for everypony to come out when they are all ready to leave.”

“But don’t these guys already know the way to the castle?” motioning to the stoic castle guards hitched to the carriage.

“Uuh…”

Connor smirked and shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just poking fun at you; looking good by the way.”

Connor pressed forward to the store’s front door while Spike thanked him from behind. He gave a half hearted wave as he pushed open the door. The door chime overhead gave a loud cry as it rang throughout the empty shop. Connor was expecting to see Twilight and her friends on the shop floor all wearing something for the party, but found the shop floor deserted of anyone. A voice or two could be heard on the next floor above him and he craned his ears to get a better understanding of who was speaking and what they were speaking about.

But he heard a different noise coming from the stairs as he strained to listen. Hoofsteps thundered down the stairs and Connor was greeted with Rarity wearing what was the equivalent of a queen’s dress complete with crown and glass shoes.

“Ah! Connor, you are just on time! Quick, let’s get you into your suit and then we can leave.”

“Sure, just what are you wearing though? Isn’t that a little much for a simple party?”

Rarity made a noise of unbelieving shock, “Heavens, no. this is an old design that I have been using for the Grand Galloping Gala for a while now. I still need to make up a new one.”

Connor threw his eyes to the ceiling again.

“Are we ready to go yet, or do we still need more time?” he asked.

“We are ready to go, but you still need to change. Are you ready for your outfit?”

“Ready as I will ever be.” He retorted.

Rarity gave a single nod and trotted into the back room to get the clothes. Connor stood there waiting for only a minute when Rarity returned with the bundle of clothes in her magic. The outfit floated into the changing room while she nudged Connor inside.

“Now, here is your outfit and don’t come out until I tell you!” she gave a good push sending Connor into the dark changing room.

“Okay! Calm down, jeez!” Connor picked up the clothes that were set on the changing table and started working to put all the clothes on. While he fumbled with the buttons on the pants and worked to get the first shirt on he asked Rarity a few questions.

“Hey Rarity,” he called out.

“Hmm?”

“Could you answer a few questions for me?”

“And what’s that dear?”

“Well, this is my first party here in this world and I was a little curious as to what the proper, etiquette, was for castle parties; like how do you behave, what is acceptable, how to address the Princess…” He trailed off letting Rarity speak, but Connor realized that he just opened up a can of worms as Rarity let out a faint squeal of delight.

“Oh, I am so glad you asked, Connor! So few ponies actually know how to act during such important events like castle parties or how to be proper mares and stallions! Now, whenever you attend a party, you have to make sure you stand up straight and your head held high as walk with pride in yourself. No, wait, we should talk about how to eat properly without making a single crumb. See, when you take a bite out of anything you have to take small bites of it; that way any crumbs will be caught in your mouth and not on the plate or on the floor.”

Connor put his head in his hoof as he had stopped from dressing to listen to the spew of information that held little worth to him. He already got the basics of table manners and they didn’t seem that different from his world. He was looking for any kind of specific differences in their culture that would be considered rude compared to his world. Connor was about to say something when Rarity let out a loud gasp.

“I almost forgot to mention about how to address Princess Celestia! Connor are you listening to me because this is very important!”

“Yes, I am listening,” he answered from inside the changing room. He genuinely was listening this time as this information would be important if he ran into the Princess at the party; it was her castle after all.

“Now, when you greet Princess Celestia you absolutely must give a proper bow, otherwise ponies will think you are disrespecting her.”

“Well, it hasn’t been the first time I disrespected a Princess,” he muttered under his breath. He worked on buttoning up the white under shirt to his outfit.

“Now to give a proper bow, you must place one elbow on the floor and bow from the hips as you lower yourself close to the floor. You cannot make eye contact with the Princess so it is best to just keep your eyes closed when you bow to her.”

Connor let out another pained sigh, “Never mind Rarity, I think I can figure it out when we get to the party and I see some other ponies doing it. Thanks for the help anyways.”

Rarity went silent from the other side of the curtains of the changing room, but Connor could tell that he had cut her off from a speech that she wanted to give. He was okay with not hearing the full thing. Although there was one fact that had escaped him.

“Hey, uh, Rarity? Which Princess are we talking about? What does she look like?”

There was an awkward pause as gears slowly turned inside heads before clicking into place. “Which Princess? Well Princess Celestia of course! You have already met her before!”

“I have?”

“Yes!” Rarity emphasized, “It was when you first came to this world! She was the one that-,” she paused as voices could be heard coming down the stairs.

Connor turned his ears to the curtains and to the wall where the stairs were in relation to the changing room as he listened to identify the voices. He recognized Twilight’s, Rainbow’s, and Applejack’s voices as the entered the shop floor and were recounting one of their previous parties they attended.

“Hey Rarity, are you coming?” Rainbow called from beyond the curtains.

“Yes dear, I will be out there in a minute!”

Connor remained silent instinctively trying to stay hidden within the dark room. He wasn’t quite sure why; it was one of those things he did since he was young while trying to eavesdrop or sneak around his house while getting a midnight snack.

When he heard the front door close, Connor finished the last button he was working on and wiggled around in his suit to get situated and comfortable in it. Once done, he threw back the curtains to reveal himself in his aurora green and blue, flourish patterned tuxedo. Rarity stared in awe again at her work but jolted herself out of her trance.

“Right, I need you to wait here for a moment while I make sure everypony else is in the carriage before you come out.”

“Why?” Connor asked in a tone that clearly asked why this was necessary.

“I want to save your outfit for when we get to the castle as a surprise! It will be priceless to see everypony’s reaction when they see you!”

“Fine,” Connor gave in while casting his eye skyward again, but smiled jokingly.

Rarity bolted from the shop and burst outside to check on everypony still getting into the carriage. Once Rarity was gone, Connor started jumping in place going higher and higher with each bounce until he gave one final jump in excitement. He could barely contain himself now with Rarity wanting to show him off. It wasn’t often he was shown off for doing something, usually because he didn’t like being the center of attention or he messed up when put on the spot. But all he had to do was look good in the tuxedo when Rarity revealed her work. How hard could that be?

After waiting for only a few seconds he trotted over to the front door that was still hanging open from when Rarity burst out. He was just able to glimpse Twilight being pushed roughly into the carriage when he came out into the sun light.

“What was that about?” Connor raised an eyebrow in suspicion as he approached Rarity.

“Just trying to make sure that the surprise isn’t ruined!” she said slightly out of breath.

“Okaay,” he raised a single suspicious eyebrow, but let the issue drop, “So am I riding in there, or…?” he glanced at the opened door leading inside the carriage.

“No, you can't ride inside; that would ruin the surprise,” she said like it was obvious, “You can join Spike up front.” Rarity climbed the steps into the carriage leaving Connor to stare in dumbfounded amazement.

The door shut behind her and Connor gape in astonishment at how he was so quickly shunted off. He grumbled to himself as he walked to the front of the carriage and climbed up to the bench where Spike was sitting as gracefully as he could. Spike looked up from his comic a second time at Connor and his eyes glowed in envy.

“Whoa, Connor! That’s an awesome suit you got there!”

“Thanks,” Connor smiled at him as he got comfortable on the bench, “Are we ready to go?”

“Almost. Just going to give the girls a few more moments to get settled before we leave.”

“Sounds to me like they’re already settled in,” Connor reported as he leaned over to the side of the carriage with the door and heard muffled, excited chatter from inside.

Spike listened as well before shrugging, “All right guys, I think we’re ready to leave for the castle.”

The guards nodded and started tugging the carriage forward down the road heading in the direction of Canterlot. The Ponyville bell tower struck fifteen minutes past three as the carriage rolled through Ponyville at a steady, brisk pace. Connor leaned back in his seat as he started to fall into his trance of waiting for time to pass by and arrive at the castle. But before he got too far into zoning out, Spike broke the silence between them.

“Hey Connor, what’s your world like?”

“Huh?” Connor readjusted his seating and sat more upright to focus.

“Your world; you have never said anything about your world and I want to know more about it.”

“You haven’t already been to my world before?” Connor gave Spike a questioning look while raising one of his eye brows.

Spike shook his head, “No, I’ve been there before, but I want to hear your opinion on it. Do you like it? Is it nice like Equestria? What do you do for fun?”

“Fog, so many questions,” Connor commented to himself before turning to answer Spike’s questions, “Alright, well, my world is definitely not like Equestria; that’s for sure. I guess we have a lot more fights than what seems to happen here in this world. Does Equestria ever have any wars?”

Spike paused for a moment in concentration, “I’m not sure we have wars as we have more battles. I know that Princesses had to fight off evil before like in the crystal empire and with the god of chaos.”

“Well in my world, wars are a lot more common. Well, maybe not wars, but we have a lot more…” he paused searching for the right word, “Conflicts between interests; that is putting it in nice terms. But we are still somehow able to come together for a common goal and when we really put our effort into it, my world has done a lot of amazing things.”

The carriage rattled down the country roads as Spike sat there hanging onto every word,” Whooaaa, that’s really amazing!”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Connor shrugged, “Most of it happened before I was born, but I still like my world.”

“What do you do for fun?” Spike pressed.

Connor leaned back again in his seat as he thought about all the things he did for fun, “Well there is a lot of things I do for fun…”

For the rest of the trip to the castle, Connor and Spike traded stories about their respective worlds. Connor learned about Spike’s massive enthusiasm for comic books and loved telling him about the adventures of some of his favorite series like the power ponies and their greatest villain, the Mane-iac. Connor shared his stories of riding his motorcycle (after he explained what a motorcycle was) and his adventures from traveling the world for martial art competition.

Their talks soon turned to arguing over world differences and how they operated. Spike pointed out that the ability to control weather was vastly important as it gave no room for error for weather forecasts while Connor rebutted it took too much energy and resources to constantly manage every cloud in an entire world. The pair quickly turned to sports where Connor rolled his eyes and scoffed at Spike explaining this world’s equivalent to football, or hoofball as he called it.

~~~

Spike and Connor laughed and joked around the rest of the trip as the carriage finally entered the city of Canterlot. The city was cast in a golden orange glow as the sun was setting for the day. The guards took the most efficient route to the castle where several other carriages were lining up drop off their occupants. Spike and Connor had stopped talking as they slowly pulled to a stop in front of the stone pathway leading up to the castle.

Once the carriage stopped moving, Spike hopped down and Connor followed behind him.

“Okay, so here’s how we are going to do this. You and I are going to stand on either side of the door with you opening it. When we open the door both of us are going to bow and welcome the girls to the castle party. You are going to be the one greeting them, okay?”

Connor threw his eyes skyward again but smiled and shrugged to say ‘Why not’. He took his position on the door and placed his hoof on the handle. He looked at Spike one last time and got a nod from him saying to open the door. Connor nodded himself and pulled open the door. He stepped back still holding onto the door handle and gave a bow with his eyes closed.

“Madams, the party awaits.” Connor chose to speak in a deeper voice and add a little cultured accent to it for added effect. He swept his free hoof towards the castle while holding onto the door handle to keep himself from falling face first into the ground.

He heard hoofsteps as the passengers disembarked their carriage and into the evening air. But the hoofsteps ended shortly after that, which confused Connor. He was expecting to hear everypony walking around a little to stretch or start making their way to the party inside the castle. He heard a gasp very close by to him, then several more followed by ponies oo-ing and aah-ing. He decided to risk a glance at what was going on and cracked an eye open.

Everypony was gathered around Connor and was staring directly at him. He opened both of his eyes and glanced around at each pony looking at their smiling faces. Despite everyone around him looking at him in joy, he still felt that small urge to disappear into the background and return to his outside observer position where it was safe and away from prying eyes. But he held his place and instead stood up to his full height and tried looking as strong and confident as possible.

He got a few more coos from the small crowd around him and he inwardly grin.

“Oh my goodness, Rarity! It’s beautiful!” Fluttershy was the first to speak out of the group.

“Wow Rarity, you were right to make this a surprise! That is awesome!” Connor watched Rainbow Dash fly back and forth above trying to look at him from different perspectives.

He heard a shrill of a whistle coming from Applejack to Connor’s left, “You have really outdone yourself this time, sugar cube.”

Rarity was standing above everypony looking extremely smug with her work as everyone gawked at Connor. “Thank you everypony. But I do need to thank Connor for giving me the inspiration too. I didn’t do all the work.”

“Oh come on Rarity,” Connor scoffed, “All I did was stand there and tell you what I wanted for the tuxedo.”

Everypony laughed at what he said and he tried to hold his embarrassment. Rarity turned to look up at the majestic, ivory white castle in the distance and where the party was still going on.

“Should we head inside now? I think the party is still waiting for the arrival of the guest of honor.”

Twilight nodded in agreement, “I think you’re right. Let’s get in there and make this one of the best nights ever!”

Connor nodded as well ready to move on from being scrutinized by everypony.

“Ooh, ooh! I have an idea!” Connor groaned to himself as Pinkie Pie started bouncing erratically, “We can make this just like at the Gala!”

Her bounces carried her to the front of the group and began something that he never thought possible from this world.

~ Like the Gala, there will be music, fun and sweet! ~

Pinkie Pie started to sing and dance down the stone pathway to a tune that only she seemed to know. He gaped in stupidity as the ridiculousness of the scene unfolded before him. But things only got worse for Connor. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash followed along after Pinkie singing along with her and dancing to the music.

He tilted his head to the side and let his mouth hang loose as his mind sputtered and died from disbelief. Out of all the things he had to endure from moving clouds to manipulating the color of rainbows, this was the oddity to end all oddities for him. It was such a disastrous display of social suicide that he couldn’t look away.

Without looking to his left, he asked Spike, “Does this happen often?”

Spike was nodding along to the beat of the singing as he answered. “Yeah, they actually come up with some pretty good songs too.”

Connor finally broke his staring to look between Spike and the group slowly making its way to the castle while ponies around them paid no attention to the spectacle.

“Really?” he asked pausing to look at everypony before looking back at Spike.

“Yeah! Even Fluttershy has done a few songs!”

Connor stopped his mental breakdown and focused on the name Spike said. “Fluttershy? Who is that?”

“That yellow Pegasus right there. She is really nice, but really shy too.”

Connor fixed his gaze on the Pegasus that Spike pointed out not too far from them. She was in the back of the group singing along while remaining obscured from everypony except behind her.

“I don’t think I have really introduced myself to her yet,” Connor mulled to himself.

“Was she there at the portal when I first came here?”

“Yeah; why?”

“I still need to talk to her and apologize for a few things.”

Spike nodded not really sure what Connor was talking about, but understood that it was important. Connor nodded a thanks to him and ran after the group before they got too far away.

“Uh, hey Fluttershy!” he called out the yellow and pink Pegasus’s name and she stopped in her singing to see who had called her. The rest of the group didn’t notice Fluttershy stop in her tracks or ceased her singing.

Connor ran up to the Pegasus while the rest of the group continued their journey down the stone path. As he stopped in front of her, Fluttershy visibly shrunk underneath him and downcast her eyes to the floor.

“Aaah shift,” he cursed. When Spike said she was shy, he didn’t expect him to mean social anxiety levels of shyness. He was going to have to be delicate when he talked to her.

They stood there in silence as Connor looked down at Fluttershy below him while she looked down at the ground below her.

“Um, hey,” he tried to sound friendly.

Fluttershy whimpered out an almost inaudible “Hello.”

“Wow, this is going to be hard,” he thought.

“Um, how are you tonight?”

“I-I-I’m fine,” she answered just barely louder than her last response.

“You look nice tonight,” Connor offered.

“Th-Thank you,” she answered in the same quiet voice.

“Okay, this is going nowhere. I need to just jump into what I need to say.” Connor breathed in and held it as he prepared himself for what he was going to say. He absolutely had to pick his words with the upmost care otherwise this could end worse than a boat on fire stranded in the middle of the ocean with no chance of recovery.

“Um, Fluttershy right?” she nodded without making eye contact.

Ah, look, I wanted to talk about when I first came here,” Connor said hesitantly.

“Uh, about what I said when I first came here, when I was mad and yelling at everyone around me and calling everypony names?” he paused to see what kind of reaction he was getting from her but saw no changes in her body language. Why was this becoming so difficult to get out of his head and just say it? He breathed in again and sighed as he pressed forward with his next sentence.

“So I, um, just wanted to, say that I am sorry about that. I didn’t mean to call everyone names; and, I’m sorry about the name I called you. it was mean and uncalled for,” his ears folded back on his head and he let his own gaze fall to the ground like Fluttershy, “So, I just wanted to say, that, I’m sorry for what I did, and, I hope that we can maybe move past that start over.”

“……. I forgive you.”

Connor looked up to see Fluttershy still looking nervous around him, but looking directly in his eyes with surprising willpower.

“R-Really? Just like that?” he asked slightly disbelieving.

“Of course. I know you were upset and scared when you first came through Twilight’s portal and you were just trying to deal with being in a new world. I was more surprised when you started shouting at everypony then when you starting calling us names.”

“Really?” Connor asked still disbelieving.

“Well, I may have been a teensy-eensy bit hurt when you called me that name,” Connor’s face fell slightly, “And I may have gone home that day and cried myself to sleep that night,” Connor’s face fell even more, “And I may have needed an entire three days to recover and feel better about myself with the help from my animal friends…”

“Oh rod, will you please stop foot-ing guilt tripping me, here?! I feel bad enough as it is!!” Connor shouted inside his head while he hung his head.

“But I still forgive you.”

Connor glanced up from his view of the ground to stare up at Fluttershy with a grumpy, pained look. Fluttershy shrank back again from his glare again.

“Oh, sorry. Was it something I said that made you feel bad again? I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“No, its fine. It was only hearing the consequences of my actions that got me down. But I’ll be fine,” he smiled to show that he was recovering.

Fluttershy smiled, “Oh, thank goodness! I thought I might have upset you!”

Connor sighed, “I’m not always angry or mad at everypony. I just have a more, serious attitude; that’s all.”

The pair stood in silence looking at each other for second before both broke out into chuckling and giggling. Connor looked down the pathway to the castle to see the group a fair distance away from them.

“Uh, we’re going to get left behind if we don’t head in now. Are you ready to go?”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. Connor smiled as he saw the mare brighten a bit and opened herself up to him more. An idea hit him as one last move to solidify his position in Fluttershy’s good side.

“Um, if you don’t mind, would it be alright if I walked you in to the party?” Connor offered his right elbow as he turned to make his way to the castle.

Fluttershy smiled and slipped a hoof through his arm, “I think that would be okay. Um, hopefully nopony will get the wrong idea.”

“Don’t worry about it, we will just say that we are friends and that’s all.”

She smiled gratefully as they started walking down the stone path.

~~~

As Connor and Fluttershy walked down the pathway, he tried striking up several conversations to understand the mare a little more. Most of the topics he brought up ended quickly as she didn’t have much to say about them. But as soon as he brought up his pet dog from his home, Fluttershy dived into everything about her animal friends and how she adore them. They swapped stories briefly about each other’s pets, but Fluttershy had far more stories (and animals) to talk about. So Connor let her happily chat about her animals as they neared the castle entrance.

Connor enjoyed talking with Fluttershy, but his mind drifted to other things as he half listened to her babble on. Fluttershy was a nice pony once she opened up to you and wasn’t diving for cover, but Connor didn’t like the fact that she basically had to be cuddled through almost everything in life. In the short amount of time talking with her, Connor had gathered enough to know that her social anxiety had been a constant hindrance for her. Connor was understanding and willing to work around it, but he preferred to have someone that he could count on without fear of being let down, disappointed or having to compensate for some handicap.

Connor had already spent most of his life trying to seem self-sufficient and fully capable of doing anything that was asked of him when around other people. The stigma of being labelled as incapable of doing anything for any reason infuriated him, and it didn’t help that his brothers were glaring smudges against him when people found out they were related. Even though mental disability sort of ran through his family and all three of them were labelled with some form of attention deficit, he fought as hard as he could to stay focused and be thought of as ‘normal’ and dependable.

Fluttershy was nice, but Connor wanted someone dependable.

His thoughts were cut short as they approached the group from behind. Connor heard Twilight speaking to everypony as they approached.

“Alright everypony, the party is just inside and it looks like we are right on time!”

The group yelled in joy as Connor and Fluttershy came to a stop just behind them. Connor spotted Twilight looking directly at them and heard Fluttershy give a small yelp in shyness and took a quick step to the side away from Connor. He glanced at Fluttershy sad that their little bonding moment was over, but understood that she was still nervous about the whole arm-in-arm thing. He glanced forward at Twilight still looking at them and saw a knowing smile slowly grow across her face.

“Funk,” he cursed, “That is going to be a ship storm to explain.”

He sighed as he started theorizing about how to handle the prying discussion with Twilight while she explained when and where everypony was going to meet up after the party. He caught the time 10:30 being the dead line and absent-mindedly nodded an affirmative. The group entered the castle and up a flight of stairs to the next floor until they stopped in front of a large doorway that opened up into a huge ball room.

He put his Twilight discussion simulations on hold as Connor stared in amazement at the room. It was practically filled to burst with ponies inside and there was a food court set up and music playing in the background. It surprised him that so many ponies would show up for his game. There was a silent que dismissing everypony in the group to go off and do their own thing and Connor was left standing there in the doorway.

But a fact caught his attention as he glanced at all the ponies in the room and compared it to what he was wearing.

“Well schist.”

Everypony in the room was wearing black tuxedos or dark colored business suits. Not one had any kind of interesting design on it. Connor glanced down at his own elegant and alluring tuxedo and grumbled a few more choice words to himself.

“Well, so much for fitting in,” he said out loud.

But he couldn’t just leave. He was already here, so he might as well make the best of it. His ear twitched as the notes of music drifted from the corner of the room and out into the hall. The hum of string instruments caught his attention followed by the heavy thump of an electronic bass hitting him in the chest forced him to identify the orchestra band and DJ booth set up in the corner.

“Ooh, this is something I have to check out,” he thought as more notes flowed into his ears creating an intriguing and enjoyable song. He sidestepped and weaved his way through the crowd until he was standing in front of the band and speakers listening to the song with rapt attention.

The song ended and the musicians got up to take a break. Connor watched the pony musicians disperse amongst the crowd except for two ponies. One was a grey earth pony mare with straight black hair wearing a purple tie around her neck. She was talking with another unicorn pony who seemed like the complete opposite of grey mare. Her white coat and crazy blue hair screamed energy as she nodded to the grey mare, or nodded to the beat of her headphones; he couldn’t tell.

He felt an urge to talk with those two ponies and his body began moving on its own. He climbed up the stage and headed for the two ponies. The grey mare noticed him approaching and stopped her conversation with the white unicorn who eventually figured out what her friend was looking at.

“Hello, how are you this evening?”

The grey earth pony spoke in an accent that sounded like high class British to Connor. “Ooh, a British accent! Already you have my attention!”

“I’m doing fine, thanks. I couldn’t help but hear you two playing and I really enjoyed it.”

“Oh, well thank you. This was a first with my friend and I doing a performance like this.”

“I thought it was really neat combining orchestral music with electronic. So, thank you.”

“Your welcome. Oh, we never introduced ourselves. My name is Octavia,” she stuck out a hoof which Connor shook, “And this is my friend, Vinyl. She is the DJ for tonight.”

The white unicorn gave a toothy smile at Connor which Connor returned with a ‘What’s up?’ head nod. Vinyl seemed to like the response as her smile broadened while she continued to nod to the beat of her music pumping through her head phones.

“I was wondering,” Connor began, “I am a bit of a music fan as I listen to all kinds of music. So when I heard both of you playing individually, followed by mixing the two genres together, I was really hoping I could get a copy of a recording of that kind of playing.”

Octavia and Vinyl seemed to share a silent conversation as they glanced at each other with uncertain looks. Connor glanced between the two and could draw an inference from their daunting expressions.

“Right, I guess that’s not really an option since we probably don’t have the technology to do that. Well, thanks anyways and have a good night.”

“Wait just a moment,” Octavia said to stop Connor from leaving, “It’s not that we can't do something like that. It’s just that this is a first that somepony has requested such a record from us wanting both orchestra and Vinyl’s music together.”

“Well, I was thinking like a few songs that were orchestra, a few songs that were electronic and dubstep, and a few songs mixing the two together; if that is okay with you two.”

Octavia put a hoof to her chin for a moment then smiled, “I think we can do something like that. It will take some time for both of us to come up with a decent amount of songs together, but I think we can do it,” she grinned at her friend who seemed to be sharing in her creative possibilities.

Connor smiled as well, “Great! That would be awesome to have. Don’t worry about taking too long, I think I will be here for a while.”

He chuckled at his inside joke while the pair in front of him gave him quizzical looks. “Um, alright. Where would you like to have the finished record sent when we are done?”

“Send it to Princess Twilight at the Ponyville library when it’s done. I can pick it up from her, then.”

“The Ponyville library?” she glanced at Vinyl again, “Very well then, we will have it delivered to her when we are done.”

“Thank you so much for this,” Connor shook hands with both Vinyl and Octavia, “I can't wait to hear what kind of songs you come up with. Have a good rest of the party!”

Connor waved farewell to the pair as he left the stage. He would have never had guessed that such a thing was possible in this world. Now that he knew ponies could record music, that meant he could have something to look forward to while living here in this world. His stomach growled at him as he walked along the outskirts of the party floor. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until he heard his stomach tell him. He made a beeline for the food court and stopped right before the trays of food set out on the tables.

He scanned the available foods looking for something that looked delicious to eat. However, a thought hit him when he realized he didn’t know what the proper way to eat was. He tried to glance around for another Pegasus to see how they selected food and ate, but he could only see unicorns around him. His hunger overruled his judgement though and he started picking up a few snacks in his wing and eating.

But his snack was short lived when somepony started calling his name.

“Ah, Connor!”

He looked around for the source and found Mr. Sportsen approaching quickly wearing his own black tuxedo.

“Connor my boy, how are you tonight! Are you enjoying yourself?”

He quickly swallowed his mouthful as Sportsen put a hoof around his neck, “Yes! I am enjoying myself thoroughly!” he cleared his throat before speaking again, “How can I help you right now?”

“Ah, I found you at just the right moment Connor,” he pointed at the stage at the back of the room with a pedestal set atop it, “I was just about to make an announcement when I found you and I want you to be there when I do it.”

“Um Mr. Sportsen, there was something I wanted to discuss with you. It was another idea that I had-”

Connor was interrupted by Sportsen, “Hmm? Oh, yes, please tell me afterwards. Right now, we need to be on that stage.”

Sportsen hurried off through the crowd to take his place on the stage. Connor crammed a few more snacks in his mouth and followed after him.

Standing on the stage, everypony had quiet down to watch Sportsen stand at the pedestal with Connor standing next to him. Sportsen waited a few more moments waiting until he had everypony’s full attention before speaking.

“Fillies and gentlecolts! I want to personally welcome you all for coming to tonight’s party and hope you are all having a good time!”

There was a chorus of applause from the crowd. Connor stood as stern as ever watching everything that was happening. Sportsen was smiling to himself enjoying the clapping before continuing his speech.

“I want to thank everypony who came out tonight to show their support for Paint Wars and its major success across Equestria. It was a surprise seeing so many ponies take up the game with such enthusiasm, but I am glad that it has been met with outstanding reviews. I would also like to thank its creator, Connor, for coming up with such a brilliant idea and for being here tonight!”

Sportsen motioned at Connor and another round of applause went around the room. Connor smiled and waved thanks to every pony in the room. But a suspicion crept into Connor telling him that he might only be there to help boost Sportsen’s popularity and increase sales.

The applause ended soon and attention was returned to Sportsen.

“Again, I would like to thank everyone who came out tonight. Before we return to the party, I believe our creator would like to say a few words.” Sportsen stepped back to allow Connor take the stage. Connor grudgingly took the stage as he was forced into the spot light again and made to say something.

He stared out at the crowd of ponies all politely clapping for him with a few genuinely energetic claps coming from select ponies in the crowd. He waited as the crowd quieted down for him speak, but he was using that time to think of something to say rather than trying to get attention. What was going to say?

“Screw it; just wing it like the politicians back home.”

“Thank you everypony for coming tonight. It is amazing to see that my creation has garnered so much popularity in such a short amount of time; I never would have thought this was possible for such a small game.”

There was another round of clapping and Connor stopped himself from speaking to smile at the crowd before continuing.

“I am excited to see where Paint Wars will go from here and I hope it will bring many hours of entertainment to everyone.”

He paused for a moment and debated whether or not he should reveal his idea right now while on the stage or later with Sportsen in private. It took him a second to decide to reveal the idea now and discuss it later. He was already on the stage so why not entertain the crowd?

“There is one thing I would like to bring to everyone’s attention. For the past few days, I have been thinking about taking Paint Wars in a direction that will help bring communities a little closer together.”

Connor stopped again to plan out his next words. The crowd however, now had their curiosity peaked by the opportunity.

“We haven’t made any official decisions yet, but I would like to offer the possibility of starting a tournament with Paint Wars; possibly one for regional and one for national level. There would be three different regional tournaments with the east, west, and central part of our nation. For the central regional tournament, I was debating on holding four rounds in competition in…” Connor quickly thought of the map he once glanced over in Twilight’s library trying to think of some cities’ names to use for tournament spots. A few names came up.

“…holding four rounds of elimination in Cloudsdale, Appaloosa, our great capitol Canterlot, and maybe Ponyville as well to provide different environments and playing conditions. The winners of the regional tournaments would be invited to participate in the national tournament to be held in Manehattan.”

The buzz of the crowd became even more excited at the idea of different cities holding competition with a final national championship at the end. Connor felt he had stirred up the crowd enough and thought it was time to go.

“No official action has been made yet, but I believe a decision will be made soon in the future. Thank you again for coming and please have a good rest of the evening.”

Connor stepped down from the pedestal and off the stage, only to be tracked down by Sportsen and pulled to a quiet corner on the side.

“Connor what were you thinking?! Why did you make that announcement before talking with me?” His was tone serious.

Connor wilted slightly, “I was going to sir, but we had to rush off for the stage. I wanted to talk to you about it and see what you thought before we went on stage. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you-”

“That was brilliant making such an announcement!” Sportsen’s face quickly lit up like a kid on his birthday, “When did you come up with such an amazing idea?! Holding a multi-round tournament across different cities and to have it all come down to a national level competition for the grand finale?! This is great!”

Connor loosened the tension in his body as he realized that Sportsen was congratulating him instead of scolding him, “Uh, well, it sort of just came to me one day after I finished playing a few rounds of Paint Wars with somepony.”

Sportsen bellowed a laugh, “Ha ha! Connor this is excellent! I knew that brain of yours would come up with something great! This will work perfectly for the next phase in my grand plan!” Sportsen face seemed to darken before Connor’s eyes.

“Uh, your ‘Grand plan’ sir?”

Sportsen seemed to realize what he said and quickly recovered, “Ah, yes! My grand plan to make Paint Wars a massive sport for everypony to get lost in and have a great time! Yes, that is what I meant.”

Connor tried to act like he brushed it off, but the way he said ‘Grand plan’ sent off some warning flags in his head.

“Anyways,” Sportsen tried diverting the conversation away from his slip up, “This is a great opportunity for the both of us. The cities you picked for the central region of Equestria sound like a good mix of places to play in and I think we can come up with some different flying condition to play in as well. I’ll have my ponies working on it right now and we’ll have this tournament started in no time! You go ahead and enjoy the rest of the party!”

“Thank you, you enjoy the party too!” Sportsen ushered him away as he turned to another pony and started whispering instructions to him.

Connor slipped away through the party as ponies congratulated him on a good speech and wished him luck on the tournament. He thanked them briefly as he passed by looking for a quiet place to cool off. The pressure of being on stage, making the risky move of announcing a nationwide tournament involving hundreds of thousands of ponies, and almost being grilled by Sportsen made him more than a little hot under the collar.

He spotted a stair case that lead up and outside as a viable exit and began his climb up the steps. Once outside, the night air began its work cooling him off. He fanned his wings a little to help speed up the process until he got too cool and headed back to the head of the stairs for some warmth.

He stood at the top step overlooking the ponies below and let his mind calm down and wander across the ponies below him. The stairs were actually quite high as he could see every single pony from where he stood. As he relaxed, he wondered if he could spot Twilight and her friends amongst the party guests.

It didn’t take too long until he found each one as their bright colored dresses made them stand out from the see of black tuxedos. Rainbow Dash was the first he saw with her multi-colored hair and dress being a strong contrast against the black. She was looking bored and staring absent mindedly at the crowd with her back near the wall while two guards stood on either side of her. He could just pick out the minute movement of their eyes and head as they continuously glance at the Pegasus like some delinquent. Rarity was in the middle of a circle of ponies laughing and enjoying herself, but she kept throwing evil glares at a white unicorn stallion with long blonde hair. The stallion seemed to glance nervously at her while trying to ignore the daggers being shot at him.

Applejack was at the far side of the food court arguing with the chef there. He strained his ears trying to guess what they were arguing about, but they were too far away. Fluttershy was seen being marched back to the party by a single guard while she pleaded with him for something. The guard shook his head and mouthed the words ‘No gardens’ to her and she let her head droop. Pinkie Pie was somehow popping up between ponies at random parts in the room doing whatever Pinkie Pie did. Connor watched the strange pink pony pop in and out of the crowds like a whack-o-mole with a bemused smile for a while until he started searching for the last pony.

He finally picked out Twilight just as she reentered the main floor looking quite pleased with herself about something and heading for the food court. Another large pony seemed to finally drift back into the party as well but looked like he had seen a ghost. Connor chuckled at the idea of Twilight scaring a pony and thought it unlikely that she was the cause of the poor pony looking faint.

A set of hoofsteps were heard to his right and stopped next to him, but Connor didn’t bother to look and see who it was. He was content with just watching over the party.

“Are you enjoying the party?” said the pony beside him.

Connor shrugged not really caring how he spoke or who he spoke to. “Eh, I feel like I was just a figure head being used and show cased, which was stupid, so I feel like I could be doing better things right now instead of this. Other than that, could be worse.”

“Hmm, it seems Twilight’s reports about your general well-being improvement over the past few weeks were true. It’s nice to read it from her reports, but it’s always a pleasure to see it with my own eyes. I am glad you have come so far.”

Connor froze in place as his mind processed what the voice just said. It sounded far too knowing for its own good. How did it know about his struggle with comprehending and adapting to this world? Why did it sound like it knew Twilight on a personal level? Why was Twilight sending regular reports about him to this voice without him knowing?

His brow furrowed more and more as the questions quickly piled on top of each other and pushed to be the first in line to be answered. Connor turned to his right ready to interrogate the owner of the mysterious voice only for his view to be filled with tall white legs. His eyes travelled up the legs to find a tall white pony with wings and a horn with a crown placed on top of her head and mystical, flowing, pink, blue, and green hair billowing in the nonexistent wind.

She smiled gently down at Connor as he recognized the pony as the last one in the portal room when he first arrived here.

“So this is Princess Celestia,” he thought.

Rarity’s words came rushing back to him and he remembered that he need to bow.

“Oh shin, right! Bow! Uh, execute bow command!”

He tried to remember Rarity’s exact words on how to bow properly when addressing Princess Celestia, but trained habit kicked in as he forgot what Rarity told him was a proper bow and defaulted to his martial arts bow. His hooves snapped together at attention with a click and he tried to imitate his martial arts bow as much as possible by bowing his head forward. This only resulted in a funny, low head nod from his shoulders and the base of his neck.

“Ma’am…” he uttered without making eye contact. Even though he was before the ruling Princess again, he still couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘Princess’ as it just felt too weird to say yet. So he went with the next best thing.

She laughed softly at seeing Connor trying to show respect to her in his own way. “Please, you can call me Celestia if that helps. If it is okay with you, you don’t mind if I call you by your name as well?”

Connor raised his head and warily looked up at the tall alicorn Princess, “Uh, I don’t mind if you call me ‘Connor’. But, I think I will just stick to ‘Princess’ for now.”

“Alright then,” she chuckled again, “How are you this evening, Connor?”

“Uh, quite well, Princess. The evening has been fun with the exception of a few, unexpected turn of events. But other than that, I have been enjoying myself right now.” He picked his words carefully and tried to be as political as possible.

“Oh really?” she turned her head to the side and gave a playful grin, “Then what was that about you ‘Feeling like a figure head being used and show cased’, hmm?”

“Ehh, ahh, that was- uhh, umm, mmmm…” Connor sputtered out trying to defend himself as he was caught red handed.

Princess Celestia laughed again letting him know that she was only playing and poking fun at him. He chuckled along with her and relaxed as he let himself return to staring at the party happening below. They stood there in silence for a moment or two letting the tension lessen to a more comfortable and friendly interaction.

He watched the shift and flow of ponies below as he asked a question sitting at the front of his mind.

“So, has Twilight really been sending reports to you about my ‘Well-being’?”

“She has,” she sounded truthful which caused Connor to sigh, “And the reports have been saying good things about you if that makes you feel any better.”

“Not really,” he admitted, “It’s a little weird knowing that my every move was being recorded and sent off for someone to read about, but I’ll get over it.”

Silence fell again as Connor waited for the Princess to ask a question of her own.

“So how are you, Connor?”

“Fine,” he replied vaguely.

“No, I mean how are you doing since your arrival in Equestria? Have you been adjusting well? Have you been able to find somepony to call friends yet? How are you holding up with Twilight and her friends?”

“Isn’t it in some report that Twilight sent you? Can’t you just read one of her reports to get the answers?” Connor flinched as he finished what he said coming out a little too coldly than what he intended.

“I could,” she suggested, “But I want to hear it from you personally instead of through one of my student’s reports. I would like to hear it in your own words, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Connor breathed in through his nose and exhaled through his mouth as he considered the consequences of speaking so openly.

“I can trust you, right?” he glanced up at Celestia, “You won’t tell anypony or Twilight or get upset if I speak my mind?”

She nodded. He took another cautionary breath as his gaze went off into space as he prepared his speech.

“Well, I’m currently stuck in a world full of ponies painted every color of the rainbow and seem to have more mental cases than I have ever met in my life. I’ve been turned into a pony myself, a Pegasus no less, and it has taken me forever to relearn how to work everything. This world seems to have more scientific problems and inconsistencies than a poorly written fanfiction that’s its unbelievable. On top of that, this world is so sweet and perfect with almost no problems that it’s almost sickening. I wouldn’t exactly call them friends yet, but I have met some ponies that I don’t mind hanging out with.

“Twilight is alright, but she can get a little annoying when she gets overly cautious and plans things way too far in advance. Rarity can be a bit of snob and overly dramatic as she gets carried away with things, but she at least knows how to be mature when need be. Rainbow Dash is a tool and can be really tough to work with, but she seems dependable. Fluttershy is so afraid of her own shadow you could give a casual ‘Hello’ and she’d dive for cover. Pinkie Pie, I can't understand how she does the things she does and I probably will never understand. Though she does like to help out. Applejack I don’t mind that much. She can be tough, but it’s all within reason; for the most part. She seems like the most straight forward or sensible one out of Twilight’s friends. Though, she does have a strange addiction for apples.

“As for the rest of my time here, I’ve made, what looks like, a brand new sport and I am now making thousands a month. I have my own place which is nice, but I still would like to go home and ride my motorcycle. So that’s really everything that has happened to me. It was a little rough at the beginning, but I think it’s starting to work out.”

“Mmm,” Princess Celestia hummed cryptically. The conversation lapsed into more dead air as they watched some more of the party. it was a little strange confiding so much into somepony that could easily take what he said as offensive and punish him for it, but she seemed okay with listening to him speak his mind. There was still one matter that rose to the front of his mind he wanted to get off his chest that involved her before she left though.

Um, Princess, there was something else that I wanted to tell you.”

“Yes?” she directed her eyes back to Connor.

“It’s about when I first came here.”

“I’m listening.”

He took a steadying breath and let it out as he prepared for his last final goal in the conversation. His eye twitched a little and he crunched his eyes shut to make it stop.

He turned to face the Princess as he said the next line, “I wanted to say I’m sorry for what I said when I first came here. I didn’t mean what I said and I’m sorry for insulting you.”

“You are forgiven.” He stiffened at her response expecting something different.

She chuckled, “What? Were you expecting something else? Did you think I was going to take what you said personally when you were clearly upset at the situation and not everypony around you?” she lowered her head to speak more quietly with him.

He stared at her still like a statue before stiffly nodding at her inquisition. She laughed that kind and relieving laugh again smoothing Connor’s turbulent mind and massaging the tight muscles in his body. He let the breath he was holding out and relaxed as Celestia finished laughing and smiled down at him.

“You should realize that the ponies around you care about your well-being and are willing to overlook a few missteps on your first visit to Equestria.”

“Well, maybe now, but before-”

“That was the past and this is the present,” Celestia said while shaking her head at his pessimism, “You’ve earned their respect and they see you as a somepony worth being around, Connor. Trust them, and they will help you achieve many things.”

He pondered her words for a second before nodding in agreement and smiling up at her. “Alright Princess.”

She smiled back and turned around to head out into the night, “Have a good rest of the evening, Connor.”

“You too, Princess.”

He waved goodbye as she flapped her powerful wings and took for the sky. As she flew away his body felt heavy all of the sudden like he just did a full body work out. So much happening in one night with Fluttershy, the musicians, Sportsen, the possible tournament, and now the Princess sapped him of his energy. Despite his nagging hunger, he was ready to head back to Ponyville where his bed waited for him and snacks stored in a drawer called his name. They may not be a health meal, but at least it was in a familiar and comfortable environment.

He turned back to the party and stared out again hoping he could pass the time faster until the deadline of 10:30 came for him and the group to head back. After only a few minutes of standing there, movement heading in his direction caught his eye and he locked onto it to identify what it was. A purple dot amidst the sea of black tuxedos was quickly approaching him looking directly at him.

He recognized Twilight before she even got to the stairs and he smiled as he waited for her to come up the stairs.

“Its past 10:30 right now; are you ready to leave or do you want to stay a little longer?” she asked once she was on the same step as him.

Connor shook his head, “No, I think I’m ready to go. It’s been a long night with so many things happening at once and I’m ready to pass out for the night.”

Twilight smiled comfortingly, “Okay then; let’s go see if we can find everypony else at the entrance hall and then we can leave.”

Connor nodded after her as they moved towards the entrance hall.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Author's Notes:

Oi! Mate! Wher’d ‘is ‘ere crowd come fr’m? Mate? Mate??

Son of’ bitch ditched me…

Wow guys, I cannot believe how far this story has come. We’ve hit several milestones with this chapter that I just want to point out and thank you all for.

As of right now, we have made it over 150,000 words, over 1400 people decided to give my story a shot and check out the first chapter; and out of the 1400 of you, over 100 of you decided you liked the story so much, you took the time to give it a thumbs up.

Just, wow.

I never would have expected to see this creation of mine entertain so many of you, nor would it be received so well despite the somewhat slow beginning, my opinion. This is really cool seeing this story grow and evolve over time and it is surprising how far my writing quality has come since I first started this. Thanks again everyone; you have been a wonderful help to improving me and I enjoyed talking with all of you!

So how about that chapter! So many things happening, where do we start?! The announcement should already set some expectations of where we’re heading next. Yep, road trip! Let’s see what kind of interpretation I can put on the cities we know and love and try adding some twists in there. Oh man, so many more opportunities to explore now! Where will they take us?!

Onto the next chapter!!

29: Tournament Training

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Connor

Sportsen surprised Connor yet again with his resourcefulness and expediency. In less than four days Sportsen already had fliers designed, final-drafted, and printed before the week was over after the party. So the following Monday, fliers were raining down from the sky again and covering every window in town. It was an impressive feat that somepony could command something to be done in such a short amount of time and have it finished on time.

Connor would have spent some time reading some of the fliers that littered the ground of Ponyville if it weren’t for several ponies running up to him again to complain about the annoying advertising. He tried to argue with them for his innocence, but decided to save his breath and not waste his time anymore with arguing against ponies who clearly did not care if he was right or not. After the first argument, Connor outright ignored any other ponies who came to him to whine about the ads.

He spent the rest of Monday trying to dodge and avoid ponies who wanted to pick him apart for the second intrusive wave of advertising. Since Connor didn’t want to deal with all the whining, he figured the best course of action would be to hide himself away for a while until the storm blew over and everypony calmed down.

So Tuesday, Connor slept in longer than he usually did. He laid in bed and loafed about until his clock read about 10:30 and chose that time to finally get up. He sat up and let out a long groan as he stretched. A knock at his door broke the morning silence and he answered by yelling through the door.

“Yes?” he shouted after he finished his stretch.

“Connor, could you get up and help take down all the ads that are covering the house please?” Ms. Meadows called back through the shut door.

“Do I have to?” Connor complained.

“It would only be the front yard,” Ms. Meadows negotiated.

Connor sighed, “Yeah, I guess I could.”

“I would really appreciate it,” she pleaded back to him.

“Yes mom,” he chided back at her pleading with a smile.

He heard a chuckle from the other side, “Thank you dear.”

Connor chuckled to himself. During his first couple of days living with Ms. Meadows, Connor accidentally slipped up his wording when she was nagging him to do some chores around the house; the same way his own mom nagged him to do something. He wasn’t really thinking when he responded to her as he was trying to say ‘Yes ma’am’ to her, but what came out was ‘Yes mom’. When he caught what he said, the damage had already been done. Ms. Meadows started laughing and said that he sounded exactly like how one of her own sons used to talk to her.

The laughed at the slip up and from then on started joking around each other with Connor calling her ‘Mom’ and Ms. Meadows calling him her ‘Son’. Connor didn’t mind this new development. In fact, he found joy in it. It wasn’t odd to him to consider someone else as like a second mom to him. Actually, that was how his martial arts studio considered everyone who came through their doors to learn and train.

All the adults, parents, and instructors were friends with each other and helped look out for all the younger students with learning martial arts, their homework, and dealing with the stresses of school. Connor was thought of like an older brother with how he behaved and helped out the students. He could be strict, but capable of poking fun of his students in jest to make a good laugh for everyone. Connor didn’t mind the connection and even looked up to his master instructors like a second set of parents for help and advice. Everyone was just one big martial arts family coming together under one roof to learn and improve.

Connor climbed out of bed and started his morning routine. He showered, brushed his teeth, cleaned up his room a bit from the night before, and then did his hair a little bit. Since the spa treatment, Connor liked his new hairdo and wanted to keep it for as long as possible. Thankfully, whatever the spa ponies did kept his hair in the same Ivy League style haircut since the night of the party, so he only had to do a little bit of work.

Once finished, Connor was ready to leave and walked over to his door to head down to have quick breakfast and get to work. Before he opened the door, he heard a knocking from his window overlooking the street. He had closed the curtains the night before so he wouldn’t have to look at all the ads outside or see the ponies glaring up at him. Curiosity got the better of him as the rapping outside intensified and the he threw back the curtains to reveal Rainbow Dash hovering outside his window.

He furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes cautiously as he undid the latch and opened the windows.

“Hey Rainbow. What’s up?”

“Hey Connor! Have you seen the ads yet?!” she yelled in excitement.

“No, I’ve been busy,” he said warily.

“Busy? With what, sleeping in and walking around town?” she spread her forelegs out as if to gesture at everything he may have done.

“No, I’ve been avoiding every pony trying to get me to clean up a mess I never made,” he pointed out with a dash of irritation.

Rainbow Dash let out an “Ugh!” before she disappeared from Connor’s view and returned with a flier in her teeth a second later. He took the flier from her and looked it over while Rainbow bobbed up and down with anticipation.

Connor had only briefly glanced over the fliers the day before as he was preoccupied with getting away from everypony. Now that it was right in front of him, the green and yellow colors exploded from the paper with bold, red text shouting to spread its message.

THE FIRST EVER PAINT WARS TOURNAMENT!
Want to fight on the ground or in the air in epic battles against others from around Equestria? Come and compete against other Paint Wars players from all over the land in a battle to be the number one Paint Wars fighter in Equestria! All species are welcome to compete in the tournament!
Locations for first round of competition:
If you live along or near the western coast of Equestria, you will be competing in the western regional tournament. The first round will be held in Las Pegasus.
If you live along or near the east coast of Equestria, all competitors will report to Fillidelphia for first round of competition.
If you live closer to Canterlot, all other competitors will be playing the central regional tournament and the first round will be held in Appleloosa.
Required equipment:
All competitors are required to bring their own bags to hold markers and chaff balloons in as well as protective eye wear at the minimum. Markers and chaff balloons will be available for sale at the tournament. All competitors will be responsible for their own belongings as the tournament holders are not responsible for lost or stolen items.
Charges and fees:
……
……

Connor glanced up at Rainbow Dash from his reading to gauge her reaction. It was bubbling like a volcano ready to explode.

“So, what do you think?” she asked barely able to contain herself.

“Okay, so they’re holding a tournament.” Connor stated matter-of-factly.

Rainbow Dash gaped at him, “Just a tournament?! This is going to be a huge competition! We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of ponies all over Equestria competing to see who the best Paint Wars fighter is!”

“Sooo….” Connor motioned with the flier still in his hoof asking how this involved him.

“Well,” Rainbow began which put Connor on edge, “Since this is going to be one of the greatest tournaments ever, I’ve decided that we are going to compete in it!”

“Great, have fun with that,” Connor brushed off without caring.

“What are you talking about? You’re competing too! I’ve already signed both of us up!”

Connor smacked his face with his hoof, “Dog, fan-it Rainbow Dash!”

“Trust me, you’ll love it!” she cheered, “Besides, what were you going to do if you didn’t compete, huh?”

“Well, clean up ads in the front yard,” he sheepishly admitted.

“We’ve got no time for that! You are to meet me out in the field behind Twilight’s library in half an hour, sharp! We’ve got a lot of training to do and not a whole lot of time to do it!”

“Why? When is the tournament and where is it being held at?” He questioned with a displeased voice.

“The first rounds are happening next Tuesday in Appleloosa. So we only have a few days to prep before we leave.”

“Next Tuesday?” Connor echoed, “That should give us about six days to get ready.”

“Well actually, we only have five days,” Rainbow admitted, “I told Twilight that we were competing in Appleloosa, so she wants to take everypony on a trip down there to watch and cheer us on.”

Connor planted his head in his hoof again.

“Alright, time to get moving! You’ve got less than 25 minutes to be in the field!”

“But I still have to clean up the ads in the front,” Connor tried to dissuade with his other duties.

“Well then you better hurry and get to it,” she replied not caring, “See you later!”

Rainbow blasted off into the sky again rattling the open windows in her wake. Connor sighed heavily and shut his windows to the outside world. Why did Rainbow Dash have to be so headstrong? Why did she have to sign Connor up without his permission? He grumbled more to himself as he headed downstairs to get some food and make quick work of the ads outside. Whether or not he competed would be up for debate. But in the meantime, this training would give him something to do.

After twenty minutes of taking down ads from Ms. Meadows home, he flew over to the specified field where Rainbow told to meet him.

When he got there, he was greeted with clouds cluttering the air low to the ground with Rainbow Dash making a few practice runs. The clouds were set up with different training exercises in mind and an obstacle course lying in wait off to the side where Rainbow was testing it to see if it was hard enough. Connor watched her finish up her lap around the complex course before she broke off from her track spinning into the air and came in for a fast landing next to him.

He squinted and raised a hoof against the dust cloud kicked up from Rainbow sliding across the ground. He gave a single cough as the dirt settled to reveal an arrogant looking Rainbow Dash brushing the dust off her shoulder and ready to start their special competition training.

“Good work making it here on time, Cadet Connor!” she shouted, “Today is a big day for us. I’ve set up several exercises for us to perform to get ready for the upcoming tournament that we are flying in!”

Connor gave a bored expression but couldn’t resist cracking a smile. “Alright, what do you have for us?”

“I’m glad you asked!” she said happily, “We’ve got routines that I have made and all of them are important if we want to win! Follow me and I’ll show you some of the stations I have ready.”

Rainbow flew off again and Connor followed after her. She came to a hover above all the stations and started pointing out all the tasks she set out with growing enthusiasm.

“Over there we have the weaving exercise, that one right there is barrel roll maneuver, there’s the hoops for practicing loops, I finished setting up the sprints section with a start and finish line, and that right there is the awesome obstacle course I just finished making!”

Connor scanned over all the stations Rainbow eagerly pointed out nodding along to her explanations. When she finished talking about her new obstacle course, she stared at him with excitement sparkling in her eyes.

“So are you ready to train, or what?”

He stared off into space contemplating his decision before shrugging, “Might as well. It will give me something to do,” he resigned.

“Yes!!” Rainbow punched the air.

“So what’s the first exercise we’re going to do?” Connor asked.

Rainbow Dash beamed, “So our first training exercise we are doing is weaving. This will help build basic maneuverability and confidence so you can pull those awesome turns I’ve seen you make before. Follow me!”

The pair landed on a cloud with several tall cloud columns lined up in front of them. Connor looked at the columns curiously wondering how they were going to perform this exercise. Rainbow stepped closer to the edge of the cloud and craned her neck around to speak.

“Okay, we’re going to start off easy and fly in between these clouds here and practice our banking. Once you feel comfortable, we’re going to speed it up and fly as fast as we can through them; you ready?”

Connor nodded and Rainbow jumped back into the air. She demonstrated how she wanted the obstacles maneuvered and banked back around once she was finished.

“Okay, your turn!”

Connor nodded and jumped into the wind. His wings carried him up and he circled around until he was lined up with the row of cloud pillars. As he approached the first pillar he rolled to his right and began his weaving between the columns. He took an easy pace as he rolled back and forth banking around the cloud pillars. His face was that of concentration as he focused on getting around each one and preparing for the next obstacle.

He soared past the last obstacle and leveled himself out to a glide. As he slipped out of his focused trance, something was bugging him. Something felt familiar while Connor moved in and out of the cloud pillars. He creased his brow as he fought to remember exactly. It had something to do with the act of turning, finding the best possible route, timing the moments of when he would switch direction, the feeling of momentum pushing down trying to force him to continue going in a certain direction.

“Hang on…!” he said out loud with a hint of an excited smile touching his lips.

Connor banked around again to get back in line with the pillars for a second pass at them. He stared down the pillars with determination and excitement slowly kindling in his eye. He sped up, trying to increase his entry speed to his first turn into the slalom exercise. He breath quickened as the first pillar rushed forward at him. At the last second, he snapped to flying on his left wing and banked hard to his left into the first turn.

His first two turns through the cloud columns were not his best as he banked harder than expected and spent the next two turns overcorrecting his mistake and trying to stay in the air. But after the fifth corner, Connor found the rhythm and tore through the turns with viciousness. Connor grinned savagely as he felt the same feeling before and realized why it felt so familiar.

It was the same feeling he got when trying to carve corners on his motorcycle. That feeling of centrifugal force squashing you down as your blood gets forced to the bottom of body, fighting against physics’ desire to keep you going in its predetermined forward direction. And yet somehow managing to stay on course with your chosen path around a turn was a thrill that Connor loved to experience.

He ran the course a few more time getting closer and closer to flying knife edge around every corner without slipping out of the air. Connor couldn’t keep the grin off his face. This wasn’t like last time when he played tag or paint wars with Rainbow Dash. That was a fight between Connor and Rainbow’s skill. While Connor wasn’t against testing himself against others, he didn’t like how competition brought out the less appealing side of people.

This was just a battle between him and his ability to overcome his limits. He only had himself to beat and if he lost, the only thing damaging Connor was the fact that he failed. It was slightly less damaging to his ego than losing to a superior opponent.

After his fifth pass through the course, Rainbow Dash finally stepped in and stopped his fun so they could move onto the next training exercise in her regiment.

The next five days was the filled with nonstop training from the time Connor woke up to dinner time when he was finally able to rest and relax. During training, Rainbow Dash and Connor worked on maneuvers and speed. They spent several hours working on performing barrel rolls around a long bar of clouds trying to get as close to it without touching it, doing loops through cloud rings, banking through the row of cloud columns, and running mock tournament rounds with each other.

By far, Connor’s favorite exercise was weaving around the slalom of cloud pillars and discovering new ways of getting through it. After being able to go through the obstacle while flying knife edge through most of it, Connor looked for other methods of faster cornering.

One method he thought up was to use the G forces acting on his body and wings as a type of preloading action. When he cornered around a column, Connor could feel the air pushing his wings up trying to keep him aloft in the air. He used that pushing force on his wings to build tension in his muscles like a rubber band and spring-launch him into the next corner. But to continue using that preloading technique, he would tuck his wings in after the last flap and roll over the top before snapping his wings open to catch the wind again while preloading for the next turn and repeating the process.

It was a valid way to maneuver around the pillars and was extremely fun looking like he was bouncing between clouds, but he felt that it wasted too much time with trying to catch the right amount of preload and required a lot of fine skill to use effectively. It was a method that might work best on sharp corners, but would require more practice before mastering; so he saved it for later usage. The other technique Connor developed made use of trying to barrel roll through the turns.

Connor was becoming well versed in the use of barrel rolls since he was coming within a foot of touching the cloud bar at moderately high speeds. So Connor theorized when he rolled to bank around the cloud column, what if he continued the roll as he passed the column to set himself up for the next turn and continued the pattern through the entire course? The result was a smooth, continuous looking barrel roll through the slalom.

It was far less jerky than spring boarding off the air and maneuvering through the course, but it felt only a little bit faster than flying through it by knife edge. Although Connor did like the smoothness and controlled manner of barrel rolling through opposing turns, he felt it would work best when used on long sweeping corners or trying to dodge other obstacles that have some distance between them.

While Connor enjoyed pulling fast turns and experimenting with new ways of flying, Connor noticed a difference in flying ability between him and Rainbow Dash. While Connor was becoming exceptional with maneuvering around sharp turns and overall cornering ability, Rainbow seemed to lack a little bit in handling. She could still pull some fast snap turns and maneuver around the obstacle course, just not as fast as Connor could in the tighter sections. Where she really showed her expertise were in the long straights and sprints during their training.

Rainbow Dash had a lot more power at her disposal than Connor when it came to top speed and acceleration. It became more apparent during their sprinting exercises and drag races. No matter how hard Connor tried, he could not outrun Rainbow Dash whether they started from a standstill or a rolling start. He could manage to get the initial jump and hold the lead for a second or two, but afterwards Rainbow Dash would rocket past him like she had finally reached her optimal power output and could now put it to use propelling her past any competition.

It frustrated Connor that his efforts were returning with the same results of losing. But he came to the conclusion that maybe top speed wasn’t going to be his greatest strength and needed to think smarter to use his better maneuverability to his advantage. It was a strange notion to him, but the first comparison to his situation felt remarkably similar to the battle between cars and motorcycles back home. While motorcycles had better handling and acceleration than most cars on the road, they still fell short on top speed compared to the bigger, high performance engines used in high end sport cars. So while Connor saw himself as the motorcycle taking corners at double the speed, Rainbow was the big muscle car doing triple the speed on the straights.

~~~

The week of training for Connor was over before he knew it and it was already the day for him and everypony else to leave for Appleloosa. While his skills did improve during his time with Rainbow Dash, he wish he had more time to prepare since he had no idea what to expect when it was time to compete. The night before, he packed his saddle bags and explained to his land lord that he would be gone for the next couple of days for the competition and would be back some time on Wednesday. Ms. Meadows understood and wished him good luck in the tournament.

Connor closed the house’s door behind with a soft thud the next morning and headed for the train station in town to meet up with Twilight and everyone who would be travelling to Appleloosa. It was extremely early in the morning with not a single pony in sight. Not even the sun had risen over the hills yet as Connor approached the small crowd of ponies hanging outside the train station.

He recognized Twilight standing there, then Rainbow, followed by the rest of their friends all waiting outside for him to arrive. Rarity was the first to point him out and wave to him. Connor barely recognized the gesture as he trudged his way to join the circle of ponies.

“Good morning Connor,” Fluttershy said cheerfully.

Connor let out the groan of a dead pony in response with his eyes closed still three quarters asleep. The group gave him a weird look while glancing between each other.

“Uhm, are you alright, dear?” Rarity asked cautiously not wanting to wake the sleepy beast.

“It’s morning,” he moaned out, “no, scratch that; its super early morning, like, too early before the sun has even risen.” He took a long yawn before letting his head droop again.

Rainbow followed suit with a yawn of her own. “Yeah, I know what you mean. If it was just us with wings, we could have flown there.”

“Muck you,” Connor spat out tiredly with his eyes still closed, “Flying for who knows how long this early in the morning for a competition; uugh.”

Applejack rolled her eyes at Connor whining and started pushing him inside the train station to buy tickets. “Come on everypony, let’s get our tickets so we can board the train before it leaves. The trip is supposed to take all day and we don’t want to miss it.”

Connor vaguely followed the instructions with assistance from Applejack leading him inside followed by everyone else behind them. The inside wasn’t that big, but had enough room to hold a good amount of ponies with three booths available to purchase tickets. Everypony got in line for the two open booths to buy their tickets for Appleloosa. Connor fell in the back of the line so he could see how the transaction was supposed to work.

One by one, everypony bought their tickets and headed outside to wait on the platform. Connor was the last one in line and when he walked up to the counter, a stallion greeted him.

“Good morning! Welcome to the Ponyville express! How can I help you?”

“You are way too happy for this early in the morning,” Connor sighed to himself.

“I’d like one round trip to Appleloosa,” he answered the stallion in his still-tired fashion.

“Certainly! One moment please.”

The pony busied himself with printing the ticket for Connor while he pulled out the money to pay for it. But while he waited, his mind drifted back to his first ‘Ride’ on the Ponyville express. He remembered how he snuck onto the train during his fit of rage and remembered how he wanted to repent for his mistake.

“Guuuuuuck; fine…” he sighed to himself.

“Here you are, sir! One round trip to Appleloosa,” the pony passed a small ticket to him under the bars guarding the teller.

Connor took the ticket from him and stuck it in his saddle bags. “Thank you. Do you think I could also have a round trip ticket to Canterlot as well?”

The pony behind the counter raised a questioning eye brow, but nodded nonetheless. Connor paid for both tickets and thanked the teller and walked out to join everyone outside. As he was leaving, he took the Canterlot ticket and ripped it in half and tossed the remains in the trash can.

“There, fixed. Happy now? A round trip should be more than enough to cover an unpaid one-way…” he scowled at himself and his high morals as he joined Twilight on the platform.

Once the train arrived, he boarded along with everypony else and followed them into one of the carriages with bunk beds built in. everyone dispersed amongst the carriage and set their bags in their respective beds. Connor quickly found his bunk bed assigned to him and climbed into it to catch some more sleep. His was bunk bed on top with no one below him and Fluttershy and Rarity occupying the beds across from him.

Connor took the time to sleep in for a little bit longer before the train started moving and chugged down the rail roads towards Appleloosa. For the first few hours of the trip, the carriage was silent with no other ponies coming aboard and several the current occupants catching a few more moments of sleep while the sun slowly peaked over the hills and mountains.

Once everypony was a little more rested with the extra sleep and some food was shared amongst the friends, Pinkie Pie struck up a conversation with her friends and the carriage was soon filled with excited talk about Appleloosa and the upcoming tournament. Connor eventually gave up trying to sleep in anymore with the chatter happening around him and chose to listen to their conversations hoping to get a glimpse of what to expect.

From what he could gather, Appleloosa sounded like some kind of country western town similar to those he had seen in spaghetti western films. Though, one major difference was this town was an apple tree farming town with good relations with the pre-established local inhabitants; so no chance of ‘Cowboys and Indians’ fights and no quick drawing duels.

“Oh well,” he shrugged. It was no surprise to him that he probably wouldn’t get to see any gun slinging during his stay there but he should have expected the apple farming; the name ‘Appleloosa’ should have been a big indicator. He took a moment to look over the contents of his saddle bags while he half listened to Applejack explain some of the letters she had been receiving from one of her cousins.

In his bag were a few items. He packed a few snacks for himself to eat, a pouch full of bits, some water, and a book for some reading when he got really bored. Rainbow Dash had been kind enough to pack a spare pair of goggles for him in her own bag to use during the tournament since he didn’t find any to buy while in Ponyville. His training with Rainbow took up most of his time during last five days that he barely had enough time to have a good dinner, let alone go shopping for gear to participate in the tournament.

It felt strange seeing his bags so empty to him. Whenever he went on trips, even small ones, his bags were always a little stuffed with extras of things that he may need. Usually, it was just extra clothes he brought in case something happened and needed to change. But now he had all this extra space for things since he didn’t really need to pack with extra clothes in mind. Maybe he could by some souvenirs or other equipment he may need in the future.

He flipped the covers back over his bags and returned his attention to the conversations. The talk had turned to mundane topics like discussing how the town might be doing and recounting past adventures there. Connor made a few comments here and there during the talks, but was losing interest in the conversations.

He rolled over on to his back to try and get some more sleep and hopefully speed up the waiting time until they arrived in town. He closed his eyes listening to the rattle of the car’s wheels below and the soft noise of voices as he let sleep take hold of him.

Author's Notes:

Oh boy, Appleloosa here we come! Bit of an easy chapter compared to the last one in terms of length. I’m still a little surprised that the last chapter actually went that long. But fear not! I have plenty of things to do for the next town and I think you will all love it!

And yes, the motorcycle thing is still a thing with me. I’m a rider and slowly turning into a motor head as I learn more about automotive mechanics and electronics and how they work. Fascinating how everything works. Plus, it was the easiest thing I could think of when making the analogy between Connor and Rainbow.

Speaking of Rainbow, please hold your comments about how Rainbow Dash is supposed to be the greatest flier in Equestria and is supposed to be perfect at every flying aspect from speed to maneuverability and is in no way able to be beaten by some newbie who has only been flying for a couple of weeks now. I have reasons and explanations why I am doing this, so I ask you to trust me and wait for the details to come out. I have a lot of cool ideas that I want to share and I think you will all like them when we get to them.

Onto the next chapter!

30: Welcome To Appleloosa

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Connor

“Hey, wake up! Time to get your rear in gear!”

Connor shifted awake at Applejack’s incentive and opened his eyes to see that the train had stopped moving and was parked at another train station. He stretched in his bed to loosen up the muscles in his body before he gathered his things and hopped down from his bunk bed. Everypony in the train car was already set to leave and were waiting on him before the group departed. Once Connor secured his saddle bags, he nodded to signal everyone to start moving and they all left the train.

Once off the train, Connor’s eyes fell upon the country town of Appleloosa as the sun was slowly setting over some of the taller buildings. From where Connor stood, he could see a good distance down the center of town until it branched off into two different directions at the ‘T’ junction at the end. Shops and establishments lined both sides of the road with a sheriff’s building at the end. Ponies trotted back and forth across the main road that ran through the center of town going about their business as Connor watched from the train station platform.

The buildings were, for the most part, what Connor expected. The wooden buildings had varying amounts wood stain on them with dirt and dust filling in the cracks giving a weathered texture to everything. However, all the window blinds were vibrant colors of green, blue, red, and yellow with colorful signs hanging from each building depicting different goods and services offered. Some of the roofs were a strange pink or light teal color that felt weird and out of place to Connor, but that was a small matter compared to the multitude of strangely colored ponies filling the streets.

Despite the slightly fractured picture of a Wild West town in Connor’s head, he was still impressed by the sight of the town.

“Wow, this is actually a pretty cool place,” Connor said out load to himself.

“Glad you think so partner,” Applejack smiled, “Appleloosa has come a long way when it first started several years back.”

“Really,” Connor asked with mild interest, “What kind of things have happened here?”

“Well, a lot of the stuff that has happened here I have only heard through the letters I get from my cousin here. but he has told of some exciting stories since the last time I visited here.”

Everypony stepped down from the train platform and into the street as Applejack was about to dive into one of her cousins letters when Pinkie Pie burst through to the front of the group.

“Where’s Ms. Jubilee?! I need to speak with her as soon as possible!”

She ran over to the closest pony from the group and grabbed him by the shoulders to get his attention.

“Excuse me mister, but can I ask you a really, really, really important question? I have a really important thing that I need to talk with Ms. Jubilee about and I’m not sure where she is. Do you know where I can find her?” she asked in a hurried tone.

“Uhh, I believe I saw Ms. Jubilee over by the post office not too long ago, if I remember right.”

“Greatthanksbye!!” Pinkie shouted and tore down the road towards the post office somewhere in town. The confused stallion stared after the pink blur for a second before looking at Connor and the group of ponies around him wondering what just happened.

Twilight gave an apologetic wave to him and he shrugged to himself hoping that would be the only strange occurrence to him for that day. Twilight sighed tiredly and Connor gave her an inquisitive look at the back of her head.

“What was all that about?” he asked.

Twilight straightened her posture before answering him. “Pinkie Pie has been talking about starting a new food with Ms. Cherry Jubilee for a while now. Ever since she came up with the idea of a ‘Cherry changa’, she has been wanting to speak with Ms. Jubilee and suggest starting a business deal to make ‘Cherry changas’ a new food that could be made and sold.”

Connor raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie has been needing a new source of income-”

“Why would she be needing another source of income when she works at the bakery in Ponyville and is living with the owners in the shop??” Connor interrupted his voice raising in volume.

“How do you know that she lives with the cakes?” Rainbow Dash asked surprised.

“It’s not that hard to figure out when you fly past the bakery often enough during whatever task that I am doing and notice that she has a private room in the attic with a strangely toothless alligator who she has one sided conversations with like it can understand her,” Connor deadpanned.

Twilight blinked twice before she returned to her previous statement. “As I was saying, Pinkie Pie has been needing another source of income for her party planning.”

“Wwwhhyyyy??” Connor asked again.

“Because,” Twilight said exasperatedly her annoyance becoming clear in her tone, “When she first developed the party cannon several years ago, she managed to get a deal and be promised a certain amount of sales profit from any and all third party companies that sold her party cannons.”

“So like a patent of sorts,” Connor interjected.

“Yes,” she hesitantly answered, “If it makes it easier to understand it that way. Anyways, the party cannon did pretty well with sales, which is how she was able to throw so many parties.”

“But then how does Pinkie Pie work at that bakery come in to play?”

“Pinkie Pie lives with the cakes so she needed a way to pay for rent while there. So Pinkie Pie managed to get a job with them in their bakery as a way to pay for rent. As a little extra, the cakes also gave her some bits to buy a few things for herself since she works so hard in the shop and helps out with their kids a lot too.”

The group started walking slowly into town as Connor and Twilight continued their conversation.
“So what about the party cannon deal?” Connor pressed.

“That deal ended about six months ago according to Pinkie Pie. That’s also how Cheese Sandwich was able to get his party howitzer without having to pay an extra fee that was Pinkie Pie’s promised profit.”

“Who?” Connor asked again with another raised brow.

“Never mind about that,” she dismissed, “What is Pinkie’s major concern is getting another income source to fund her party throwing habits. The costs of buying confetti, streamers, balloons, and anything else she gets can become quite expensive with the number of parties she throws in town.”

“Let me guess, you took the liberty to calculate all the costs for one of Pinkie Pie’s party out of curiosity?” Rarity chuckled.

Twilight shook her head, “No, Pinkie Pie showed me the invoice for just one of her parties when I tried asking how much it cost to put on so many parties.”

Everypony laughed at the crazy antics of their pink friend as they walked deeper into town. As the laughter died down, Applejack’s ear twitched at the sound of her name being called.

“Applejack!!”

she turned to see who was calling her name and smiled at what was quickly approaching them.

“Braeburn!!”

The rest of the group finally noticed the pony quickly approaching and all cheered at the arrival of him. Connor hung back behind everyone to see who this new pony was. He seemed pretty friendly as he exchanged a quick hug with Applejack and beamed at the rest.

“howdy cousin! Glad to see you again!”

“You too, Braeburn. How is everything?”

“It’s fantastic with the tournament that about to happen soon! I’ve never seen this town have so many visitors. How has everything been in Ponyville?”

Applejack smiled warmly at his question, “Everything is just fine back home; the farm is doing pretty well too. We’re all here for the big tournament that will be happening tomorrow.”

“Right, about the tournament,” Braeburn focused on, “It’s actually been delayed until the day after tomorrow so construction on the field can be finished.”

“What?! Awwww,” Rainbow Dash whined.

Braeburn nodded solemnly, “’Fraid so. This is the first time something this big has happened in Appleloosa and it’s taking them a little longer to get everything set up safely. They will be ready by tomorrow night and then we can start the tournament bright ‘n early the next morning!”

Rainbow sighed and scuffed the ground clearly not swayed by his attempts to make the bad news not sound all that bad. Braeburn was unaffected by Rainbow’s sour mood and faced Applejack again.

“Applejack I forgot to tell you in one of my letters, but I’ve actually become one of the ambassadors between Appleloosa and the Buffalo tribe!”

“The Buffalo tribe?” Connor thought, “Is that like this world’s equivalent to native American tribes?”

While Connor was lost in thought, Applejack and her friends were ecstatic about the news.

“Yee-haw! Way to go Braeburn!” she slapped him on the back, “I would have never had guessed you would be given such an important responsibility! Good for you!”

“Aw shucks, thanks Applejack. Even Little Strongheart was appointed the tribe’s mediator between the Buffalo and the town, so both of us have been work together to handle any kind of problems that come up between the town and the tribe!”

“Little Strongheart too? Way to go little guy!” Rainbow Dash punched the air in triumph.

Braeburn nodded again, “She has been a big help with coming up with ways to get the best of both sides when an argument starts up between folks.”

“So was that what the big party you had a few months back was about? Celebrating the appointment of you two as the new middle ponies between Buffalo and pony?”

Braeburn shook his head at Applejack’s assumption, but beamed anyways as he dived into another story. “Nope! That party was for something else entirely. We were actually celebrating about using the Buffalo’s stampede as a way to collect one of the apple harvests in the year.”

Everypony around Braeburn gave him perplexed looks not understanding what he meant.

“Well, after you and your friends left about four years ago and the Buffalo tribe had settled into the new shared usage of the orchard field, one of us noticed that some of the ripe apples had fallen during their stampeding. So we tried planning out our harvests in time with the yearly stampeding as a way to make one of the harvests easier to collect. It took us a while, but we finally got the timing right!

"The first time it happened, we were giddier than a school filly on the last day of school. But we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t luck that we managed to get it right. So this year, we made sure it was us who got the timing right and not luck. The whole thing went off without a hitch and everypony was ready for a night of celebrating. Actually, this was around the same time that strange fella, Cheese Sandwich, came to town come to think of it.” He put a hoof to his chin as he focused on remembering the exact details of that day.

Applejack tipped her hat back in amazement, “Hoo-wee, I didn’t know you managed to do that! That is some smart thinking!”

“Thanks, but it wasn’t my idea. It’s still pretty impressive.”

Everyone nodded in agreement while Connor quietly noted their surprising ingenuity. He wasn’t sure about all the exact details, but the idea of working around another’s tradition followed by finding a way to use said tradition to improve one’s life while still maintaining original tradition is brilliant to say the least.

“Hey cous’, I know I’ve met all your friends before but it’s been a while since you all came to town together. Would you mind introducing them all to me again?” Braeburn asked sheepishly.

“Sure, no problem!” Applejack stepped beside to point out everypony in front of the pair, “That there is Princess Twilight.”

“Well, you don’t have to call me princess. Twilight will be just fine.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck blushing.

“Nice to meet you again, your highness,” Braeburn tipped his hat.

“There’s Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy…” Applejack pointed to each of her friends as she called them out. They exchanged waves with Braeburn who smiled and waved back.

“… And that one in the back is Connor,” Applejack finished.

“Connor?” Braeburn asked.

Connor walked forward through the group to shake hooves with him. Now that he was in the front, Connor got an unobstructed view of Braeburn. His yellow coat and partially orange hair contrasted greatly with his brown vest and cowboy hat he was wearing. Pinned to his vest was shiny gold star with a ring around it signifying his apparent status as ambassador. He was about the same height as Connor, if not a little bit taller than him.

He shook hooves with Connor with a firm grasp which told Connor that this pony was sure of himself now that he was appointed an important position. Connor also noticed Braeburn’s eyes glance slightly to the side and down at something. Connor held back his desire to ask what he was looking at and smiled to hide inquisitiveness.

“That’s a funny name if I’ve ever heard one,” Braeburn stated, “Where are you from anyway?”

Connor felt his insides stiffen a little at Braeburn’s question. He needed to make a quick cover story that would play this question off. But Braeburn sounded honest as was merely curious so he didn’t want to outright lie to him. Connor shifted his body to buy a few more seconds as a plan formulated in his head and to shake his body free of that stiff feeling.

“I’m not really from around here. I’m from a little farther north than most ponies so we do things a little bit differently.”

“Like farther north than Canterlot?”

“Yeah, a little more like to the north west. My name isn’t really that strange where I’m from.”

Braeburn nodded and smiled, “Well, welcome to Appleloosa, Connor!”

“Thanks, this is my first time here.”

“Really? Then why don’t I give you the grand tour of our town?”

Connor turned to the rest of the group looking for any objections to the idea. When he found none, turned back to Braeburn and said, “Sure.”

Braeburn beamed even more, “Well then follow me everypony and let me show all about Aaaaaaa-ppleloosa!” he reared back excitedly and trotted off to start the tour.

Braeburn took everyone to every part of the town pointing out every highlight he could think of for everypony to see. There were designated dancing areas for different kinds of dancing from slow moving to square dancing. He showed off the carriages used in town and the many drawings of them, which confused Connor because he didn’t understand why they would need carriages for small town or why there would be only drawings of said carriages. Couldn’t ponies draw other things besides fancy carts?

In between the bits of random facts about the town, Braeburn supplemented it with the history of Appleloosa and how it grew to be the bustling town before them. he told the tales of how the first apple family searched for weeks in the desert looking for the best soil to plant their future apple tree orchard before they ran out of food and drinking water. It was by sheer chance they happen to find this land while looking for a river to refill their nearly empty supply of fresh water.

They quickly set up their homes there and had an orchard growing faster than you could eat the corn off of a cob. Within a few weeks of getting their apple farm started, other ponies started arriving and making their homes along side with the apples and in less than a year, a small town was growing up around the late apple family founders. Unfortunately, the town did not know they had planted their homestead on lands that the nearby Buffalo tribe had deemed sacred. The fields where the apple trees were planted had been used by the Buffalo tribe for their yearly traditional stampede for generations.

The townsfolk and the tribe argued against each other two years until one side finally snapped. Braeburn couldn’t recall who was first, but the two sides started fighting with each other by damaging each other’s homes or crops. The fighting was still happening when Braeburn first arrived in Appleloosa and after a couple of weeks of constant battle Braeburn wrote to granny smith for help. She wrote back saying she would be sending Applejack along with an apple tree to implant in their fields but forgot to tell Applejack about the fighting.

Applejack was upset about hearing this part of the story and wondered why she would keep such an important detail from his letter away from Applejack. Braeburn could only shrug and continued his story.

After Applejack and her friends arrived almost four years ago and helped ease the fighting between the tribe and the town, the two managed to find ways to prosper after the resolution. Since then, both the tribe and the town have been steadily growing and expanding until it was the lively town today; though, Appleloosa made sure to be expanding in a direction away from the tribe to prevent any future confrontation with each other.

Connor was intrigue hearing about the history behind the town and it made for nice background chatter as the party strolled down the main market street. Braeburn began pointing out the different businesses that were set up. A general goods store held just about every odd item one may need while living in Appleloosa. A couple of grocery stores followed afterwards with food grown here in Appleloosa and imported on the train were sold. Braeburn particularly pointed out a store that was completely dedicated to selling cowboy hats.

Applejack took great interest in this. “Really? A store just for buying hats? Braeburn, you have to let us stop and see this! I wouldn’t mind checking to see what kind of hats you have for sale.”

“Don’t you already have a hat there, Applejack?” he mused.

“True, but who says I can't try on different hats just to see how they look? I may decide to try wearing a different style.”

“Oh come on Applejack,” Rainbow Dash interjected, “Everypony knows that will never happen.”

The group exchanged laughter with each other, including Connor. however, he peered out of the corner of his eye at the supposed hat shop with great interest. He wouldn’t admit it openly, but he really wanted to check out that shop and see what he might find; it could be fun seeing how he would look wearing a cowboy hat.

But a pair of swinging shutters to the left of the shop caught his attention. A little ways down the road, a pony came out of a pair of saloon doors with a bit of a stumble to his walk. Connor watched as the pony walked down the road catching his hooves every few steps before he returned his attention to the building he came out of.

The building was a two story establishment with a balcony over the entrance and a piano playing drifted out of the front door. The windows lining the bottom floor were a little dingy and faded with time, but clean enough to see that ponies were there having a good time. A sign hung from the balcony with the word ‘Saloon’ printed in red.

“A saloon?! Oh, that is one I have to check out before we leave!” Connor couldn’t stop the corners of his lips curling up into an excited smile so he looked away to feign interest hoping nopony saw him eyeing the town’s saloon.

He notice that he was falling behind the group, so Connor sped up to chase after them. Once he was close enough, Connor could overhear some of the conversations being held between Braeburn and the rest of the party. Braeburn was just finishing up talking with Rarity when Twilight jumped into the conversation.

“Hey Braeburn, we have a few rooms reserved at an Inn here in town. Do you think we could stop by there to set our bags down before we continue the tour?” Twilight asked.

Braeburn nodded and motioned to follow him. “Sure thing, Twilight. I’m pretty sure I know what Inn you are talking about and it’s not that far from here.”

Everyone followed Braeburn down the market street and made a left at the end for a ways until a he stopped in front of another two story building with piano music pouring out of it. He walked up and pushed the saloon style doors out of the way and disappeared inside with everypony close behind him.

The interior of the Inn was similar to what Connor would expect to see in a western style Inn. The main floor had several chairs and tables set out for patrons to sit in and enjoy while a piano played some tunes in the corner. A couple of ponies were already seated and having a few laughs with each other over a card game and a few drinks. Along the right hand side of the first floor was long bar with stools and a wall filled with all kinds of glasses and various bottles of liquid.

Braeburn waved to the chubby pony behind the bar, “Howdy, tall glass! Did you have a couple of rooms reserved for some ponies coming in?”

The bar tender was cleaning a glass as he responded with a smirk, “Yep, party of eight supposed to be showin’ up at around this time. Is that them?”

Braeburn nodded as the bar tender set his glass back on a shelf behind him. Pony smiled and pointed to the stairs near the back. “Their rooms are up those stairs and about half way down the hall. They got three rooms to split between them with three ponies to a room. I’ll leave it to them to decide who gets what room.”

Braeburn waved a thanks and lead the party to the second floor. Connor glanced around taking in more of the place as he subconsciously followed behind everyone. A few painting were hanging on the wall and a rug or two covered what little open space the Inn had left after the tables were set up. It was a nice place that Connor liked as the owner had decided to go with a more natural feel with the walls unpainted and the floor softly creaking beneath their hooves. One thing that was on his mind was how comfortable the beds were going to be.

He slowly made his way up the stairs and down a hall way where two ponies could walk side by side comfortably with enough room to squeeze a third pony by going in the opposite direction. Several doors drifted passed until Braeburn finally came to a stop half way down the hall.

“Alright everypony, here are your rooms,” he gestured to the doors behind him, “You’ve got the two doors on the left and the one on the right to choose from. I’ll let you all decide who wants to go in which room.”

There was a few seconds of the friends glancing around at each other as a silent conversation was held between them all. Connor watched awkwardly as their gazes bounced from one pony to the next looking for a que of some sort indicating who would go into each room. After a couple of seconds watching the silent debate go on, Connor decided to take action and pick a door.

He strode to the front of the group and pushed the door on the right open. This spurred the rest of the group to follow suit and pick a door at random. The room itself that Connor entered was decent sized. Two beds were pushed into the far corners of the room with a third tucked into the corner to his left. A writing desk was placed in the last corner of the room. The beds had a spring mattress with a blanket folded at the end with a pillow on top and a small stand beside the head of the bed. A window was placed opposite of the door, but the window was blocked by a building so the only thing you could see was into the alley way.

Connor headed to the far left bed and started undoing the saddle bags strapped to him and set them on the bed. He heard hoof steps enter the room behind him and he glanced behind him to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy entering behind him. Looking past Rainbow and Fluttershy, he could just see Twilight and Applejack entering the door on the other side of the all with Braeburn following behind them while spike hopped off of twilight’s back to enter the last room on the left. Rainbow set her bags down on the bed on the other side of the room from Connor while Fluttershy took the bed closest to the door.

Connor turned back to his bags to pull out what few possessions he had brought with him. He set the book on the stand next to him, tossed his snacks in the corner where the bed met the wall and tucked his bag of bits under his right wing for safe keeping; a little trick he learned on how some pegasi still held money on them without having saddle bags.

Rainbow Dash flopped onto her bed loudly and groaned, “I’m bored! What are we going to do for the rest of the night and tomorrow?”

“I don’t know; something,” Connor vaguely remarked half paying attention to her.

Rainbow readjusted on her bed causing it to squeak. “There has got to be something we can do. Connor, do you have any ideas?”

“Not really, no. try asking Fluttershy.”

The yellow Pegasus gave a small peep as eyes fell on her looking for ideas. “Um, well, we could try exploring the town on our own. It’s been a long time since we were in Appleloosa so maybe some new things have been added since our last visit.” She softly put her bags on her chosen bed.

Rainbow groaned again, “But do you have any ideas of what to visit first? Make it something exciting!”

Fluttershy nervously tapped her hooves together not putting forth any ideas. Rainbow sighed again and flopped down on the bed.

“Well, there was that saloon I saw when we were walking through the market street…”

Rainbow sat up and looked at Connor musing over the idea he had offered.

“Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?”

Connor hesitated before nodding and glanced at Fluttershy who was looking scared now.

“Then it’s settled!” Rainbow hopped off the bed with a huge grin on her face.

“Uh oh,” Fluttershy quietly squeaked out.

“WE’RE GOING DRINKING!!”

Author's Notes:

Oh god, who’s ready for a night of drinking?!! Show of hands! A-all of you?? ……. FUCK YEAH!!!!

Oh man, can’t wait until the next chapter with our first bar scene! It’s going to be hilarious and I guarantee everyone is going to laugh when they read it.

On another note, I think it’s time I revealed what I have been working on over the site with a talented artist who kindly offered to do some art for the story. Let me present to you, the pony form of Connor!

Man, is he looking sharp and ready for action! Credit goes to the amazing talents of Mr. Mix-up for his great work in drawing this. Check out his page here on the site as well as his Deviantart page here. He’s got some great works there using different art styles and even more to come. I’ll put up a blog post with more details about the development of Connor plus some other hints on things to come in the future. Check out the blog post here.

Let’s hurry up and get that next chapter out! Plenty of shenanigans await us!!

Onto the next chapter!!!

31: First Night of Drinking

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Connor

Their hooves softly kicked up dust behind them as the trio made their way back down the main market street while the sun set into the distance. The setting sun’s rays cast the town of Appleloosa in a fiery red and orange color while the day shoppers finished up their errands and the night time goers started to fill the streets. A few lamps were lit down the street in preparation of the night as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Connor approached the saloon.

Piano music could be heard dancing out of the swinging front doors as loud shouting and laughter bellowed out from the guests inside. Despite it being late in the evening, the saloon sounded like it was packed. Several ponies moved back and forth behind the dingy windows of the saloon and a shrill whistle screamed from inside. Rainbow Dash pushed open the doors and walked inside with Connor and Fluttershy following behind her.

The noise levels from outside only told part of the story to how packed the saloon was. Tables were filled to max with waitresses running between chairs and tipsy ponies to take orders and deliver drinks. Ponies of all sizes sat were with friends telling jokes and talking about their day with drinks and cards covering many of the tables they sat at. The only clear pathway was a straight line to the bar with three stools miraculously still open.

Rainbow pointed to the open seats at the bar and shouted to be heard over most of the noise. “Let’s sit over there!”

Connor looked to where she was pointing and nodded, then motioned for Fluttershy to follow. The three quickly took a seat on the open bar stools and waited for the bar tender to come by and take their orders. Connor took the middle open seat while Fluttershy sat in the stool to Connor’s left and Rainbow Dash took the seat on his right. The ponies around them were becoming rowdier as the drinks began to set in while the sun fully set outside. The air inside was hot and smelled of sweat, but lacked the distinct scent of alcohol. Connor didn’t notice this as he was too busy with being excited about bypassing the drinking laws from his world and finally be able to get a hard drink without getting in trouble for it.

A few moments later, a gruff looking pony wearing a black vest with white stitching stopped in front of them. He wore a stern face beneath his thick mustache and seemed to slightly glare at his new patrons for the night. Connor inferred that this pony must have seen enough bar fights, and participated in enough bar fights, that he did not want to mess with him. But Connor didn’t mind the glare; so long as he kept himself out of trouble, he wouldn’t have to deal with him.

The bar tender leaned one of his elbows on the dark Oakwood counter and grunted, “What can I do y’for, tonight?”

Connor eagerly answered with a drink he had been wanting to try back home. “I’ll take a shot of whiskey.”

The bar tender gave him a puzzled look, “Whiskey? I’ve never heard of a drink like that.”

The news slightly disheartened Connor, but he came back with another drink to try. “Okay, how about tequila? Do you have any of that?”

The bar tender answered again with arching an eyebrow. Connor was feeling a little self-conscious about his requests, but soldiered on with trying to find some drink he knew from his world that they might serve.

“Uhm, what about rum? Scotch? Maybe vodka? You have to have at least beer, right?” he asked hopefully.

The pony gave an irritated sigh, “Son, I don’t know where you are from, but I’ve never even heard of any of those things. Down here, we don’t have any of those fancy city drinks; we serve ‘Rocks on the sea’.”

Connor was taken aback. “Not even beer?! What kind of saloon is this?”

“Uh, alright, we’ll take three ‘Rocks on the sea’, please!”

The pony nodded and turned away to make their drinks. As the bar tender left, Connor eyes followed him until they drifted to Rainbow sitting on his right. She was watching the bar tender pony leave with some anticipation smiling on the edge of her lips.

Connor nudged her and ask, “Hey Rainbow, what are ‘Rocks on the sea’?”

Rainbow turned back with an excited twinkle in her eye, “Trust me, you are going to love it. I think even you could handle a handful of those drinks.”

Connor just raised a skeptical eyebrow at her but remained silent. He had never really gone out drinking before, but he was sure he could probably handle more than just a handful of drinks. He waited patiently for their drinks to arrive and passed the time observing the rest of the ponies who were drinking and having a good time in the saloon.

Chatter filled the floor and there were already a few stumbling ponies tripping over chairs or their own hooves. Friends pointed and laughed while they tried to leave or were escorted out by sympathetic bystander ponies. Rainbow tapped Connor on his shoulder to get his attention and he whipped around to see what she wanted.

Rainbow Dash pointed at the bar tender returning with three large and tall glasses set on a tray balanced on his back. He stopped in front of them and placed the three glasses filled with a clear liquid before each of them followed by a small white cube next to each glass. Rainbow waved a thanks and the pony nodded before walking away.

Connor gave his drink and cube a baffled look. He nudged the white cube with his hoof unsure of what it was made of. The cube gave no reaction to his touch. He moved his investigations to the glass set in front of him and brought it to his nose to smell. It certainly didn’t smell of alcohol as he breathed in the drink. He set the cup down and picked up the cube and brought it to his lips to feel the texture and smell it. The cube felt grainy against his lips like tiny Rocks grinding his skin, but held no distinct smell either.

He set the cube down and looked at Rainbow Dash with perplexed disgruntlement. “Alright Rainbow, what is this? What’s this cube for?”

Rainbow Dash stopped her licking of her lips and looked at Connor. “The cube? That’s a salt cube and you’re supposed to eat it.”

“A salt cube?” he repeated.

He looked back down at the cube and picked it up again. He stuck his tongue out and licked one side of the cube once. Sure enough, the cube had the familiar dry taste of salt. He set the salt cube back down on the counter and glanced at the cup filled with the clear liquid. Curiosity and dread filled the front of his mind as he picked it up and tipped the liquid into his waiting mouth. A few drops fell down his tongue and throat and he instantly recognized the liquid as water.

He set the drink back down and stared at it with disappointed shock. Not a single drop in his cup had a hint of alcohol. Connor couldn’t believe what he had; a large glass a water and a small salt cube on the side. His disappointment and irritation started to boil as he stared longer at the drink and salt cube.

“What the heck am I supposed to do with this?!” he asked loudly while throwing his arms in the air.

“Well, you can lick the salt cube, you can suck on it, you can eat it then drink your glass, you can dissolve it in your glass then drink it, you can bite the cube in half, drink half of your cup, eat the rest of the cube, then finish the rest of your drink, you can put the cube in your mouth then drink your glass and eat what is left of your cube…”

Connor and Rainbow Dash did a double take as Fluttershy listed off the many ways a pony could enjoy this drink. Connor leaned back from Fluttershy eyes wide in surprise while Rainbow Dash had to lean forward to gape and stare at her.

“How do you know all of that, Fluttershy?!” Rainbow asked still gaping at her.

Fluttershy blew a bit of hair out of her face while glancing at the two out of the corner of her eye, “Well, the last time we all came to Appleloosa, you, Applejack and Pinkie Pie took me to the saloon and started having fun. And since I had never been out like this before now, you all explained to me how a pony could drink ‘Rocks on the sea’.”

“But how do you remember all of that? I was there and I barely remember that night!”

“Well, you all decided to have a drinking contest with each other to see who could have the most drinks. It came down between Applejack and Rainbow Dash to see who could finish their ninth glass. By the time we finished, Twilight had to come and carry you all back to the train so you wouldn’t get left behind.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said accepting the explanation. She sat back down unusually quiet thinking about the tale Fluttershy just told while Connor glanced between both of them.

“These ponies are weird,” Connor thought to himself.

“Welp, these glasses are going to empty themselves!” Rainbow grabbed her glass, “Bottom’s up!”

“Wait a minute!” Connor stopped Rainbow before she could start, “That’s just water and a salt cube!”

She picked up her cube and bit it into two, chewing one piece while she dropped the other in the cup. “Yeah, so?” she asked with her cube crunching in her mouth.

“If it’s just water and a salt cube, then how are you ponies supposed to get dru- ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh…”

The term ‘Over hydration’ came to mind as the gears finally clicked in his head. The use of salt to dry out the mouth and create a feeling of dehydration followed by the very large glasses of water could potentially overload the system with excess water to create a feeling of intoxication without the use of alcohol. It was a genius idea of tricking customers into getting drunk with just water and make easy money, but it infuriated Connor as he would not get any kind of buzz tonight.

Connor put his elbow on the counter and his head in his hoof and growled angrily at the realization that he wasn’t going to get drunk tonight. Rainbow Dash gave him a funny look not understanding his silent dilemma, so she shrugged and went back to downing the rest of her drink. Connor hatefully picked up his own salt cube to glare at it before he stuck it in his mouth to suck on while Fluttershy daintily licked her own salt cube between her hooves.

“This is so stupid. I’m wasting money on buying stupid stuff like salt cubes and tall glasses of water that I can get for free. I could be spending my money on other things right now that would be better than this.”

Connor already knew that wasting money wasn’t really a big issue for him since he had thousands of bits waiting in a bank account back in Ponyville; but it was the principal of wasting money that he didn’t like. He was always frugal with his money and only used it when he found something that he needed, or absolutely wanted. He didn’t like spending money on things if he wasn’t sure he was going to use it or need it.

He spat out his cube onto his hoof take a sip of water to wet his mouth before the cube returned to the insides of his mouth again. Rainbow was already having a good time and had ordered another ‘Rocks of the sea’ for herself after she finished her first one. The sounds of laughter and good times being made only upset Connor more as he sat there at the bar. He found no excitement in getting wasted with water and he found those ponies having fun with it to be stupid. It was going to be a long and boring night here in the saloon for Connor.

~~~

The three of them sat there at the bar for over an hour and a half drinking. Even though lots of ponies were giggling and stumbling around like fools, Connor was the only one not partaking in their water intoxication. Rainbow Dash was plastered in her seat and giggling incomprehensibly while Fluttershy was swaying just as hard in her own seat.

The final count of drinks were as follows: Connor with only two drinks, but he obviously wasn’t trying very hard to see how many tall glasses of water he could drink. Rainbow Dash had almost six and a half drinks and was in danger of falling out of her seat; but she kept saying she could do one more drink. Fluttershy was sitting on a whole half of a drink and was currently resting her arms and head on the counter top so she wouldn’t fall backwards.

It was mostly bearable with just sitting there wasting his time and watching Rainbow drink glass after glass of ‘Rocks of the sea’ and taking her salt in different ways. But it became ridiculous when Rainbow Dash started asking her drunk questions.

“Connor, I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks or so, but I have to ask you; do you love me?” she slurred out.

Connor sighed heavily in his seat, “No Rainbow, I don’t.”

She gave a mighty sway and landed with her head resting on his shoulder. “Aww, that sucks; because if it were me, I would want to go out with me. But really, I didn’t know you had a thing for Twilight and Rarity.” Her words slurred heavily between each syllable she managed to get out.

Connor raised his left free hoof and planted his head in it. “Oh my gob, Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash rotated her head so only her chin was resting on Connor’s shoulder but was completely facing him now. “Then Pinkie Pie? Maybe Fluttershy?”

Connor shoved Rainbow off his shoulder with an aggravated groan and downed the rest of his water still left in his glass. Rainbow Dash rocked back in her seat catching herself on the counter so she wouldn’t fall over.

She then put an apologetic hoof. “Sorry; Applejack.”

“Okay then! I think it’s time we leave and head back to our room!”

Connor hopped off the bar stool and turned around to watch Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy debate on how they would get down. Rainbow Dash nearly fell out of her chair, but manage to get her hooves underneath her. But her sense of balance was completely off and she soon started careening into a nearby table. Connor manage to catch her before she disturbed the ponies sitting at the table and pulled her into his side to secure her with his wing. She was still giggling that drunken giggle as she leaned heavily into his side. For a pony of her size, Rainbow was surprisingly heavy.

He grabbed his bag of bits and tossed a good amount onto the bar counter to pay for everyone’s drinks as Fluttershy struggled to get out of her own chair. Her back hoof reached out to feel the ground below while she still hung onto the bar. She finally climbed off her stool and stood there on the floor trying to regain her balance; but Connor could see her tipping and he reached out with his hoof to catch her. Apparently, his wing was thinking the same thing as his other wing shot out and hooked around her side and reeled her in to safety. Thankfully, Fluttershy was a lightweight in more ways than one and Connor didn’t have to work too hard to control her.

Once both mares were secured under his wings he turned them around to face the door. All Connor had to do was march them out the doors and back to the inn where he could have the mares sleep off their stupors. It should be an easy task for him since he was the sober one and the inn wasn’t that far from the saloon. However, he didn’t realize that every pony in the room was watching as he began making his way to the doors.

And soon, chanting and cat calls began ringing throughout the room.

“Whoa there, cowpony! You sure you can handle those two mares at the same time?”
“Looks like somepony is getting somethin’ special tonight, ye ye!”
“Woo, look at that stallion go! Getting two mares at the same time? Be sure to be gentle with them ladies when you take them home! Ha ha!”

Connor’s anger was reaching to a boiling now. After his complete and utter disappointment of no alcohol, the pointless drinking, having two drunken mares to take care of right now, the annoying cat calling from the ponies around him, and his incredible need to use the bathroom very soon, he was ready to snap. And the more he listened to the chanting, the worse his mood got.

Thankfully, he managed to get to the doors that lead to the outside world and was about to push them open to leave when one last nasty call echoed across the floor.

“Looks like the pony from out of town is going to get his first rodeo here in Appleloosa! You best not pull too hard on the reins or you just might pull their manes out!”

Connor whipped his head around his shoulder and snarled, “You shut your mouth before I make you eat your teeth and pull your tail hairs out through your fog, bam nose!!”

The room went deadly silent; even the piano that had been playing the entire time he had been in the saloon stopped. The only noise came from the streets outside the doors and windows. The ponies stared at Connor incredulously and unsure how to proceed from their current stand still. Connor however was giving every pony he could see the angriest look he could. If he heard one more taunt come from any one of them, he was going to drop everything and start committing atrocious acts of violence against them all.

They smartly remained quiet and Connor snorted as he turned back to the doors and kicked them open. He stomped out into the night time streets and took a steadying breath glad that he was out of there. Rainbow was still giggling and fighting to get out of her restraining wing while Fluttershy looked woozy and ready to fall over.

Connor sighed at his ridiculous situation and wondered how he got himself into this.

“Oh wait, this whole thing was my idea…. Muck…” Connor mentally kicked himself but refocused on his current task on getting everyone back to their beds.

The walk back to the inn went uninterrupted from the time they left the saloon until they got to the inn again. Connor thanked his luck that he didn’t have to deal with any more complications and hurried to get Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy up to their room for some well needed sleep. They spent a few minutes trying to get each other to climb the stairs without tumbling down them and soon found themselves standing in front of their room.

Connor pushed it opened and ushered them inside. Once inside, Connor shut the door and put the two mares to bed. He practically tossed Rainbow into her own bed while he gently nudged Fluttershy into hers. They both nearly passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillow and Connor place a bucket beside each of their beds just in case.

With Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash taken care of. He rushed off to the bathroom to take care of himself. When he finally came back, Connor let himself flop into his own bed to sleep. The beginning of the day had gone so well compared to now. He was having a good time here in Appleloosa when he arrived and enjoyed listening to Braeburn go on about the history behind the town; and now he found out that this world doesn’t have any kind of liquor or beer that he knew of and he had two mares sleeping off their drunken state.

“Maybe Twilight is having a better night than me…”

He rolled over on his bed and closed his eyes hoping to sleep off the rest of the night, but a powerful snore from Rainbow Dash woke him back up. Connor groaned; he was too tired to get up and try to muffle her and he just wanted the night to end. It seemed his night was not over yet as he was forced to listen to Rainbow’s snoring for the next two hours while he tried to fall asleep himself.

Author's Notes:

Can you imagine, being punched so hard that you swallow all of your teeth then have your tail being pulled up through your insides and out your nose all in one motion? Yeah, I don’t think you would live after that experience.

But man, what a bummer! No liquor at all in this world! I don’t know who would be able to make it through this world without a hard drink every now and then. Even I feel like I need a drink sometimes when shit gets ridiculously stupid and hard. Speaking of which, for those of you who are of legal drinking age, what is your favorite drink to have? I think mine would be whiskey. That stuff goes down smooth.

And while we are having a drink right now, I wonder how Twilight’s night went? We’ll just have to wait and see!

Onto the next chapter!

32: Business Practice Disputes

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Twilight

Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she set her saddle bags on the bed nearest the writing desk. She was happy to finally get the bags off her back to relax a little from their travels and enjoy being in Appleloosa. Twilight had a bit of a soft spot for Appleloosa; though Ponyville may be her home and she knew Canterlot like the back of her hoof, the ponies of Appleloosa were just more enjoyable to be around with their can-do attitude like Applejack.

“You look happy to be in Appleloosa again,” Applejack commented as she passed by to take one of the beds near the window.

Twilight smiled and nodded, “yes, it’s always a pleasure being here and I really like how this town seems to change and grow every time we come back.”

“You can say that again,” Applejack smiled as she set her own bags down on the bed.

“Whew, I' m beat!” Pinkie exclaimed as she trotted through the door and jumped into the last open bed by the window, “I just managed to find Ms. Jubilee before she went back to her cherry farm.”

“And how did your talk go with Ms. Jubilee?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, it was great!” Pinkie Pie sat up from laying down on the bed, “She thought a 'Cherry changa' would be amazing and she totally wants to start making a recipe for them so we can sell them!”

“That’s great Pinkie! I hope everything goes well.”

“Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie said, “I’m ready to have some fun right now.”

“Everypony finding everything alright?” Braeburn asked as finally stepped into the room with the door closing behind him.

“Yep, everything is going just fine,” Applejack stated happily.

“That good to here. Hey Applejack, it’s been a while since we sat down and shared some stories over a few good drinks. Are you up for it? We can bring your friends along too!”

Applejack hesitated with her response as she glanced at Pinkie Pie and Twilight, “I don't know Braeburn; we just arrived in town and we're all pretty tired. Maybe we can share stories over some food instead?”

“Okay then,” Braeburn submitted but quickly came back with a smile, “I know of a place that serves some really good food not far from the inn! We can go there and share stories; I wouldn't mind hearing some new tales from everypony.”

“WE'RE GOING DRINKING!!”

Everyone paused in their conversation at the sound of their friend proudly declaring her plans for the night. Twilight glanced between everypony in the room with uneasiness as several hoof steps could be heard outside their door and moving away towards the stairs. She listened intently as the hoof steps faded away into the background noise.

“Was that one of your friends?” Braeburn asked the group.

“Yep! That sounded like Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie clarified for the group.

“Do you think we should do something about it, Twilight?” Applejack straightened up like she was ready to chase down Rainbow to stop her.

Twilight hesitated then shook her head, “No, I think she will be fine. She has Connor with her.”

“You think Connor will keep Rainbow Dash out of trouble? Do you remember how wild she gets when dash has a few cider drinks in her?” Applejack raised a skeptical eyebrow at Twilight's faith in Connor.

“Yes, I remember; and that's why I think Connor will be able to stop her before she gets to that point. He is the most mature one out of two, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.” but even Twilight didn’t sound too sure of herself.

Applejack clearly wasn’t convinced of Twilight's argument, but let the matter drop. Applejack wasn't sure how well Connor could hold his drink, but she was sure that he could handle himself in a scuffle or two if it ever came to one. The two went back to unpacking her bags while Braeburn darted between his cousin and Twilight.

“Well then, shall we get going?” he offered to the three mares in the room.

“Yes please! I am super hungry right now!” Pinkie jumped off the bed and tossed her bags in the corner. Braeburn grinned and opened the door to the hallway and waited for everyone to join him.

“I’ll go get Rarity and Spike to join us. They're the room right next to ours!”

“I would just leave Rarity be, Pinkie,” Applejack cautioned, “She probably wants her beauty rest or something after the short walk we had when we got into town.”

Twilight rolled her eyes while Pinkie Pie just shrugged. Once everyone was done setting their bags down, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie joined Braeburn out in the hall where he waited.

“The place isn’t too far from here. They serve some great baked potatoes with vegetables on the side and drinks are col-!”

“Braeburn!!”

Braeburn paused in his description to look behind him and see who was calling his name. A pony wearing a dusty vest and grease smeared on his face ran up to him with a frantic pleading in his eyes.

“Braeburn, we need your help! There's a problem on the main market street that really needs you!”

“What’s happening?” he asked with his tone turning serious.

“A few ponies from out of town are causing a scene over one of the buffalo tribe's stalls. Little Strongheart is already there trying to talk to them but they won’t listen and say they want to speak to a pony!”

Braeburn nodded to the pony while he turned to face Twilight and her friends with an apologetic smile, “Sorry everypony, but duty calls. I'd hate to leave you all behind like this, but I need to take care of this before it gets out of hoof.”

“We understand Braeburn,” Twilight answered, “But do you think we could come along and see what kind of work you do? I am curious to see what the average day would be for an ambassador of Appleloosa.”

Braeburn gave Twilight an uncertain scowl, “I don’t know; it’s not very exciting work if that's what you are looking for.”

“Oh come on Braeburn,” Applejack stepped in, “It won’t be that bad if we just come and watch. Besides, you can never too many apples helping on one job.” she tipped her hat back.

Braeburn took a second of consideration before smiling, “Alright then, come on everypony! Let’s hurry before we're too late!” he turned around a looked at the pony who brought the news, “Lead the way!”

The pony nodded and galloped back down the hallway with everyone following behind them. The group burst onto the street and thudded down towards the main market street they had just recently walked down.

As the market street came into view, lanterns were just being lit for the night time activities. There were a few ponies doing some late shopping while most were heading into the dining establishments for some dinner. A couple of ponies were finishing putting together their concession stalls for the tournament happening in just a couple of days as the group ran past. Various trinkets and souvenirs were on display as Twilight dashed past the stands, but she didn’t pay too much attention to them.

About three-quarters way down the street, one particular stand was set up with a pair of buffalo selling different wares from their tribe with charms and strings of beads hanging from hooks. A pair of ponies that didn’t look like locals were dressed in some expensive looking clothes and stood on the other side of the stand looking very displeased with the buffalo for some reason. Little Strongheart, who was wearing a few new tribal bracelets and a pendent around her neck to represent her new role as the tribe's mediator, was standing beside the buffalos' stand with look of irritation growing on her face as she tried to keep both groups from attacking each other.

Braeburn and the rest skidded to a stop just outside the arguing group. Little Strongheart looked up to see who had joined the fray and was relieved to see Braeburn there along with some old time friends beside him.

“Braeburn! Thank goodness you came when you did! It has been very difficult to talk with everyone here and I need your assistance.”

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked as he took in all that was happening.

Strongheart opened her mouth to speak but was rudely interrupted by one the ponies from out of town. “We are here to dispute the legality of allowing them to sell their trinkets here while others, such as ourselves, have more important wares to sell.”

Twilight looked at the high class unicorn ponies more closely and recognized the same mannerisms used at the Canterlot castle. Braeburn however, regarded the ponies with growing irritation and directed his full attention to them.

“And would you please introduce yourself, sir,” he asked with an authoritative voice.

“Sir Regal Tongue of Canterlot at your service; and this is my partner, Mr. Graph Sheet. We are important business ponies here trying to get an early start on generating profit for my sports hat company with this new game that has been sweeping the nation by storm.” He spoke with elegant and snooty tone as he introduced himself.

Braeburn mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “Nobles...” to Twilight.

Regal Tongue continued by pointing at Braeburn, “And just who are you supposed to be?”

“My name's Braeburn and I am the acting ambassador between Appleloosa and the local buffalo tribe,” he pointed at his star pinned to his chest, “This here is my partner, Little Strongheart, who was specifically chosen by her tribe as their own ambassador for her great skills at finding compromises. What exactly seems to be the problem?”

Regal Tongue let out a loud scoff while Graph Sheet rolled his eyes, “Please, you 'Ambassadors' think you suddenly have the power to do whatever you please now that you have a title, when really you are just a figure head. I want to speak someone with real authority; a pony with real authority,” Regal Tongue eyed Little Strongheart as he said his last bit.

“Well I’m all the authority you are going to get!” Braeburn snapped sharply. Regal Tongue grumbled to himself while Graph Sheet glared at Braeburn, but the two remained quiet.

“I’ll ask one more time,” Braeburn tried again, “What seems to be the exact problem?”

“I’ll make it simple for you,” Regal Tongue growled, “I do not want some buffalo selling their useless things in a pony town.”

Applejack finally had enough of listening to the conversation growing worse and worse with every passing moment and stepped forward to say a few choice words.

“What makes you so special that you think the buffalo don’t get the same opportunity as you, huh?!”

“Applejack...!” Braeburn warned, but the regal tongue was already responding to Applejack's challenge.

“Because, my fellow pony, the buffalo are not as sophisticated as we are when it comes to business. There is a reason some of us ponies have become owners of large and profitable businesses, such as myself,” he replied smugly while turning his nose to the sky.

The two buffalo standing behind their stall growled angrily and stomped the ground in retaliation. Their glares held fiery anger within them as they prepared to charge the disrespectful ponies. However, Little Strongheart was quick to jump between them and the ponies and worked to calm them down before anyone did something to worsen the situation.

“See what I mean? They are unsophisticated compared to us. Therefore, I believe my business is more important here than theirs is.” he turned to look at Applejack and Pinkie Pie standing off to the side while he motioned the buffalo Little Strongheart was still working on restraining.

It took regal tongue a moment, but he quickly recognized princess Twilight standing there alongside Applejack.

“Princess Twilight! Surely you can agree with me that these wild cows don’t belong here with their useless beads and dream catchers?”

“Wild cows?!” she almost screamed disbelievingly.

Twilight stared agasp at him. She couldn’t comprehend the amount of insensitiveness coming from this one pony. She understood that it was statistically possible to meet somepony with these kinds of viewpoints on the world, but she had always hoped that she may never run into a pony like that. Did he not understand that she was the princess of 'Friendship' and not the princess of 'Business that benefits only them'?

Pinkie Pie took this opportunity of silence from everypony to try her own way at cheering everyone up. “I know! How about we try singing a song! Or maybe we could play a game together and forgive each other for being rude!”

Pinkie Pie wore a hopeful smile but was only met with peculiar looks from the Canterlot unicorns and apologetic stares from her friends.

“I don't think a song would be good right now, Pinkie,” Twilight put a hoof on the saddened mare's shoulder, “These ponies are going to need a bit more than that before we all become friends.”

“Yeah, they're going to need more than just a song to get better when I’m through with them,” Applejack growled in a threatening tone as she glared at Regal Tongue and Graph Sheet.

Braeburn took a step between Applejack and Regal Tongue with a hard expression.

“That’s enough, Applejack!” he barked.

He stared at Applejack iron determination and she slowly backed down from her fighting stance. Once she was subdued, Braeburn went back to face the Canterlot newcomers. He squared himself with them and brought himself to his fullest height before addressing them again.

“I don't care who you are or how big your company may be, but I will not have the buffalo move their business elsewhere for the sake of a few ponies.”

It was Regal Tongue's turn to gape. “What?! B-but I have important hats to sell and profits to make! My company has sold several million sport hats to fans all over Equestria and I demand to have my business unobstructed by them! If my demands are not met, then I will leave and this town will not get its portion of my sales during the event!”

“Then I guess you will just have to find somewhere else to sell your goods,” Braeburn stated matter-of-factly.

Regal Tongue stared in amazement for a split second before snorting in disgust and turning away with humph. Graph Sheet followed after his superior as the two headed back for their room at a local hotel; but not before Regal Tongue could get one last word in before he left.

“I swear, I will take this up with the mayor of Appleloosa and I will have my demands met! You have not heard the last of Regal Tongue!” he shouted over his shoulder.

Braeburn grunted at his exit before turning back to Little Strongheart and the buffalo.

“Thanks for your help, Braeburn,” the older of the two buffalo said.

“Yeah, that guy was a jerk!” the older one nudged the younger forcing him to be quiet.

Braeburn chuckled, “No worries; he'll have a nasty surprise when he finds out sheriff Silverstar is the one in charge and is the one who made me to be one of the ambassadors between the tribe and the town.”

“You’re not afraid that sheriff Silverstar will go against your decision and let those ponies stay?” Twilight asked apprehensively.

Braeburn shook his head, “No, the sheriff and I have dealt with these kinds of ponies before in similar situations. Every time ponies said they would go to the sheriff, he and I would talk about what happened and would agree that I made the right choice and would turn down the ponies making crazy demands or threats.”

“Thanks again for your help Braeburn,” Little Strongheart added with a smile, “I have been arguing with those two ponies for over half an hour when you showed up.”

Braeburn chuckled and tipped his hat, “Aw, it was nothing. You would do the same for me if it was someone from the tribe.”

“Well, I must return to the tribe. I have something that I must attend to before it is too late. Have a good night everypony!”

Everyone waved a goodbye to Little Strongheart as she disappeared into the night. Braeburn let out a tired sigh and returned to face his cousin and her friends.

“I’m sorry you had to see that everypony,” he lowered his gaze, “And I’m sorry for yelling at you Applejack. I know you meant well, but I needed to keep the situation under control; not make it worse by beating ponies up.”

“I know,” Applejack forced out through her tight jaw, “But I still have half a mind to chase after them and teach them a lesson!”

“Well that wouldn't be very nice! I mean, I know those ponies were a bunch of meanie pants, but that's no way to make friends.” Pinkie Pie finally spoke up from the heavy atmosphere.

Braeburn nodded in agreement, “While I may not want to make friends with them, I don't want to give them something to use against us if they decide to take this higher than sheriff Silverstar. Being the middle pony between two groups is not easy and there are a lot of hidden rules you have to play by.”

Applejack sighed in defeat as she accepted his explanation. “Alright then, I trust you Braeburn to make the right choice.”

“Thanks Applejack,” Braeburn smiled, “Maybe now you would like that drink that I offered earlier?”

Applejack grunted, “I think now would be a good time for that drink.”

“Are you going to be okay Applejack?” Twilight asked cautiously, “You won't go overboard like Rainbow Dash, right?”

Applejack giggled, “I’ll be fine, sugar cube. I’ve got more control than Rainbow does when it comes to drinking. Besides, Braeburn will be here to make sure that I don't, just in case.” she gave Twilight a wink to reassure her.

Twilight grinned at her friend, “Okay; how about we all meet back at the Inn in an hour?”

“No problem,” Applejack waved a goodbye, “I will see everypony in an hour. Now about that drink?”

Braeburn and Applejack left for a local bar leaving Twilight and Pinkie Pie still standing there in the street. Twilight let out a frustrated and exhausted groan. Listening to those ponies talk about how much better they were mentally drained Twilight and she needed some relief herself.

“Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, “Do you want to do something fun to get your mind off of today?”

Twilight nodded tiredly, “Sure Pinkie. Did you have something in mind to do?”

“Well, we could walk around town again! I know I saw a few shops that I haven’t visited yet and I would love to see what they sell!”

“Sure Pinkie, that sounds like fun,” Twilight turned around to face down the main market street again, “Why don't you lead the way this time.”

“Sure thing! Oh boy, I can't wait to check out apple store over there, and the pie store over there, and the shovel store waaaaaaay over there…!”

After an hour of exploring Appleloosa again, Twilight and Pinkie Pie headed back to the inn with higher spirits. Pinkie Pie knew exactly how to cheer Twilight up as they explored the town with cracking jokes and her crazy antics to make some great laughs. Twilight was glad she knew someone like Pinkie Pie to lighten her mood whenever she was feeling down about something; especially after the fight with regal tongue.

They arrived at the inn just as Applejack and Braeburn were about to enter through the front door. Twilight and Pinkie Pie ran to catch up before they disappeared inside.

“Hey Applejack, you have a good time?” Twilight watched for any signs that might indicate her friend being intoxicated.

Applejack glanced over her shoulder and grinned, “Yeah, it wasn't too bad. It was nice to sit down and share stories with Braeburn again. How was your time?” her words were clear and without a slur.

Twilight relaxed and grinned too. “It was alright. Pinkie and I walked around town a little bit and explored some of the new shops.”

Braeburn nodded, “well, I’ll leave you girls to it,” he started heading for the door, “I won't be able to see you again until the tournament since I will probably have some paper work I need to fill out after tonight's argument. But you can all check out the playing field where everypony is competing tomorrow if you like. The pony behind the bar can point you in the direction of the fields if you’re interested. Have a good night everypony!”

They all waved goodbye to Braeburn and started heading towards the stairs near the back of the inn. Everyone was tired after today's events and Twilight could hear her bed from her room calling her name. The three walked down the hallway to their room and opened the door. Twilight paused to listen for sounds coming from Connor and Rainbow's room across from theirs. But the room was silent, indicating that they must have gotten back before they did. She shrugged and felt her eye twitch little from sleep. She rubbed at it to make it stop as she entered her room with Applejack and Pinkie Pie following behind.

She slowly climbed in bed and blew out the lantern on the writing desk to darken the room. Applejack did the same with the lantern on the window seal and the room fell into darkness. Twilight laid in bed and pulled the covers over her and let herself drift off to sleep with plans of seeing the playing field tomorrow form in her mind.

Author's Notes:

Wow, stereotypical racist asshole is stereotypical; but still a racist asshole.

A much darker tone compared to last chapter, but this is something I wanted to bring in. you can't tell me that racism is not a thing in this world when Twilight and the rest of the main six flipped out over zecora. So I see it logical that some ponies outside of Appleloosan culture and its mutual relationship with the buffalo tribe would see the buffalo as inferior.

I know some of you do not care for reading the 'deleted scenes' that I make, but this one I would recommend checking out if you want something to brighten your mood after reading this. I debated back and forth with myself over whether or not I should have kept the deleted scene in as part of the chapter, but settled on making it a deleted scene for a final decision. I promise this deleted scene will not be a gore filled one or some other 'M' rated material. It’s just Twilight jumping to conclusions too quickly and leaves her in a bit of an awkward situation.

Anyways, hope everyone is having a good holiday and you're welcome for busting my ass to get this out to you all before/during Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate; it’s cool with me).

Onto the next chapter!

Edit: update on when next chapter will arrive here.

33: Meet and Berate

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Connor

Connor finally thumped down the stairs and into the bottom floor with a loud yawn escaping his mouth. It was late morning with only a few ponies still hanging around lost in chat with friends or trying to drag out the final moments before going to work. The few ponies left on the floor and quiet chit chat created only a very low hum of background noise. Connor would have preferred absolute silence that morning, but it would suffice.

More noise from outside drifted in as he took a seat at one of the many empty stools at the bar and let out another yawn. The bar tender walked over with a content smile on his face, glad that the morning stampede for breakfast was finally over.

“What can I do for you, today?” the bar tender asked with a skip in his southern drawl.

“Breakfast,” Connor muttered out.

The bar tender nodded, “Comin’ right up.” He trotted off to a kitchen somewhere in the building leaving Connor to sit there while he slowly woke up. He propped his elbows on the counter top and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he grumbled to himself.

“Stupid, stupid, snoring, stupid, stupid…”

Saying Rainbow could snore loud enough to wake the dead was an understatement. She probably could have woken the dead here in this town, the dead all the way back in Ponyville, and the dead all the way back from his world. He mumbled some more unintelligible words to himself as he waited for the bar tender to return with his food. The bar tender pony quickly returned with a plate of food balanced on his back and set the plate down in front of Connor.

“Here you are! A full breakfast dish complete with eggs, hay bacon, hash browns, and two buttermilk biscuits on the side. Would you like anything to drink?” he set a fork down beside the plate of food.

“Water,” Connor spoke a little bit louder than before now that the scent of fresh food wafted to his nose and started making his mouth water.

The pony pulled a glass out from underneath the counter and a pitcher of water. He poured the glass and slid it next to the plate. Connor grunted a thanks as he picked up his fork and dug into his eggs.

When he filled his mouth the first mouthful, Connor literally shuddered at how delicious it tasted. The eggs were warm, fluffy, moist, and felt like heaven inside his mouth. Connor melted in his seat and rested his head on the counter as he slowly shoveled more of the amazing food into his mouth like a lazy dog trying to eat from his bowl. The bar tender just chuckled to himself and walked away leaving Connor to enjoy the meal.

Connor only got through about half of his eggs when a new voice appeared.

“Hey Connor!”

Connor lazily glanced up from his position on the table and around his plate to see Rainbow Dash sitting next to him. She wore her usual confident smirk and energetic spark in her eyes this morning as she lazily leaned back against the bar counter. Part of Connor’s mind wondered about the absent effects from last night’s outing, but the food he was eating was just sooo good right now…

“How are you doing today?”

Connor just moaned as he stuck the strips of crispy (and surprisingly greasy) hay bacon in his mouth and munched down on them.

“Wow, you are really into that food, aren’t you?” when she got no response from Connor, she continued, “Well I’m doing great right now! I feel ready to bust out a few stunting sessions before flying in that competition and kicking some butt!”

Connor was still biting down on his bacon as Rainbow continued to talk. “Last night was pretty awesome! I never knew you could be such a party pony. Or was that somepony else? I can't really remember right now. Hey, are you even listening to me right now?”

"Yeah, I'm listening!” Connor half mumbled as he started on his hash browns.
“Kinda, sort of..."

“Sheesh, somepony can't hold his drink. But It looks like Fluttershy had fun last night too if she is still in bed right now! Usually, she would be up a lot earlier than now. Well, she seemed fine when I left our room, though I made sure to let Twilight know about Fluttershy before I left.”

The two paused in their one-sided conversation to stare at one another and comprehended exactly what Rainbow Dash just said.

~~~

“Rainbow Dash, I’m going to kill you when you get back!!”

Twilight gritted her teeth in anger and wanting to yell at her Pegasus friend for dumping this on her, but she shuddered and looked away as another wave of retching noises came from Fluttershy hanging off the side of the bed.

“Eeeeewwwwwwwwww…!” Twilight groaned as she heard liquids hitting a wooden bucket. She managed enough restraint to not mutter out “Gross…” as she used her magic to keep Fluttershy’s mane out of harm’s way. She heard a whimpering noise come from Fluttershy and she took that as a sign that she needed a change.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight yelled out into the hallway, “Could you bring me another bucket please?! And bring some towels too!”

~~~

The two averted their eyes quickly.

“Yeah, we should probably leave soon…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head nervously.

Connor nodded as he swallowed his third bite of hash browns, “So what do you think we should do?”

Rainbow sat in her seat thinking for a bit before a light bulb went off. “I know! How ‘bout we go check out the playing fields for the tournament tomorrow!”

“And do you know where they are?” Connor asked.

“Well, no,” Rainbow admitted, “But it shouldn’t be that hard to find. Wait right here! I’ll be right back!”

Rainbow flew out the door of the Inn and out of sight leaving Connor to stare doubtfully out after her. After last night’s mistakes, doubt crept into his mind like tendrils and began warping his confidence of those around him. The bar tender pony was just passing by behind the counter and Connor reached out to stop him.

“Excuse me, I was hoping you could give me some directions,” the bar tender stopped and listened, “I was wondering if you knew where the fields are that will be holding the tournaments tomorrow?”

“Oh, that?” he leaned one arm on the counter, “That place is just over there to the southwest; about a fifteen minute jog from here.” He pointed in a direction somewhere behind him and to his right. “It’s not that far from here and shouldn’t be too long for a Pegasus such as yourself.” He grinned at Connor and he returned the humor with a chuckle.

“Thank you.” Connor finished off the last biscuit in his hoof and downed his water while the bar tender waited for him still leaning on the counter. Once his meal was finished, Connor reached back for his bit pouch but found his wings to be empty. He patted himself down a couple of times looking for the money before giving up and letting out a sigh.

“Don’t worry about paying for the meal right now; you can do it later today when you come back. Besides, you looked like you needed a break after how you dragged those two mares back last night,” he chuckled again.

Connor wanted to throw his arms in the air and yell “Thank you!!”, but he restrained himself to simply touching his temple with his hoof and tipping his head in a nod. He finished the last few drops of water in his glass and set down on the plate for the pony to take, then got up to leave to find Rainbow Dash. It just so happened that Rainbow was about to do the same thing with him as they met each other at the door.

“Ah, there you are! Come on, the fields are this way!”

Connor held his tongue from questioning Rainbow Dash and simply nodded as they took to the skies. If Rainbow Dash started flying the wrong way, then he would speak up and point them the direction the pony behind the bar had told him. To Connor’s relief, Rainbow Dash started heading towards the direction the bar tender had pointed out earlier.

The flight had them heading towards a section of land that was littered with tall canyon walls, large flat top mountains, and boulders of every size on the ground. As they flew closer, they landed on the first flat top mountain and walked the rest of the way to the edge. Connor mouth fell open in awe as his eyes fell upon the spectacular sight.

The mountains had created several tall pockets of open space like bowls. Each bowl was sprinkled with rock columns of all shapes and sizes with valleys leading out into a spider web network of canyons. It didn’t have one set path through the dusty red and brown rocks of the area, but a plethora of routes that twisted and snaked its way around the jagged rocks and abrasive canyon faces of the fish bowls. The whole field felt like it was teeming with endless possibilities of excitement, risky maneuvers, and opportunities to overtake one’s opponent

As the warm sun beat down on him, his fur bristled as chills ran through Connor’s limbs while he stood at the edge of the windy canyons listening to the empty stillness; it was the quiet before the storm of tournament fighting and competition.

The summer air brushed past his face and over his body as the scent of dry dust and dirt filled his nose. Not a single hint of moisture hung in the air with clear skies all around, making the wind feel light and wispy and easy to maneuver around in. it was the right conditions to create the perfect day for fun.

“And a perfect day for a ride,” Connor grinned to himself.

“Hey Connor, did you hear me?”

“Huh?” Connor looked away from the great view to refocus on Rainbow Dash who had apparently been talking to him while he was lost in the spectacle.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. What were you saying?”

Rainbow sighed, “I asked if you were looking at how you were going to fly in this field for tomorrow’s tournament?”

He took a second to register what she said before shaking his head and giving a sheepish smile. “Uh, no; I was a little bit distracted by the view.”

She groaned, “Connor, I know it’s a great view and all, but we need to focus! How are we supposed to win if you don’t pay attention to things like this? What if we were competing today and you had no idea what you were doing? I would hate to see us lo-”

“’CUSE ME!!”

Connor and Rainbow Dash both looked around for the voice shouting at them. A green Pegasus with a red apple for a cutie mark flew down and landed a few feet away with a scowl on his face and the brim of his hat pulled low to shield his eyes from the sun. His hazel eyes analyzed the two standing before him as if he was figuring out how to tell them off.

“May I ask what you two are doin’ here?” he asked in his young southern drawl.

“Just sight se-”

“We’re checking out the fields for tomorrow’s tournament! We’re hoping to get a head start on everypony else so we have the best possible chance at winning!” Rainbow interrupted Connor as she puffed out her chest.

“Is that so?” the green pony’s scowl morphed into a cocky grin as he pushed his cowboy hat up a bit to get a better view of them, “Well then, y’all can just move along and wait like everypony else until tomorrow. We can’t allow other ponies’ havin’ an unfair advantage over others, now can we?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Rainbow waved off nonchalantly.

Rainbow and Connor turned like they were about to leave, but the green Pegasus called them back before they even took a single step.

“Hang on a sec; you said you’d be competin’ in tomorrow’s competition, right?”

Rainbow beamed, “That’s right. We plan on winning the whole thing and showing that I am the best flier around! And maybe even get another time to hang out with the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow fluttered as she saw her dream become a reality.

“Well ain’t that precious,” the green pony said with a smug tone, “I plan on competin’ myself in tomorrow’s little tournament. If we’re lucky, we just might see each other on the field tomorrow.”

Rainbow dash laughed, “Lucky? You would be lucky to not go up against me tomorrow! By the way, you never told us your name.”

“The name’s Sour Patch,” he gave a wink and tipped his hat while putting on his winning smile, “And what’s your name, little miss pretty?”

“Uuuh, m-my name’s Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow took a second to recollect herself, “Nice meeting you; and this here is Connor!” she waved a hoof at Connor who gave a half wave in return.

“Howdy,” he greeted with an enigmatic smile.

“How-dee??” Sour Patch smeared in disgust, “Wow, that almost sounded like you were tryin’ to act country there for a second. Did you spend more time practicing that in the mirror back home, or is your acting about the same as your flying?”

“What do you mean by that?” rainbow dash asked pensively.

“I’m saying his flying skills are about the same as his acting skills; terrible.” Sour Patch sneered.

Connor’s smile quickly turned into a scowl of disinterest and annoyance as Sour Patch started berating him. While he was ready to leave, Rainbow Dash took far more offense to his distasteful comments.

“Hey, Just who do you think you are, huh?!” she stepped between Connor and Sour Patch to get right in his face, “what makes you think you’re a better flier than him or me?”

“I’m just saying he should quit acting like something he’s not,” he mouth curled up into a dirt eating grin, “I’ll bet he was pretending that he was a great flier when you first met him, too.”

“Well, he couldn’t even fly at all when I first met him. But thanks to me,” rainbow dash pushed out her chest in pride, “he’s not too bad. I was able to whip him into flying shape in less than ten days flat! And since I’m the greatest flier there ever was, I’m sure my truly amazing and awesome skills rubbed off on him and should be more than enough to beat you! Connor, show this guy what you’re made of! …Connor?” Rainbow Dash turned to look at Connor already a few meters away from the arguing pair and slowly moving farther away.

“Connor, where are you going?! You’re not going to let this pony talk down to you like this, are you?!”

Connor paused in his leaving of the scene to shout over his shoulder. “When you two are done arguing like four-year-olds and are ready to act like adults, come find me! I’m not going to waste my time fighting a pointless argument with someone who is acting like a child!”

“What, are you runnin’ from a fight? Boy, you city folk sure don’t have much of a back bone! You know what, that’s what you are! A city boy, hah!”

“City boy?!?” they said in unison.

“Oooooh, I think it’s time I had some fun…” Connor smirked devilishly to himself as he turned around to return to the group.

Rainbow was having a fit yelling at Sour Patch, but his eyes were locked with Connor’s with both of them wearing confident smirks. Connor finally got close enough to make out exactly what Rainbow Dash was raving about.

“A city pony?! Do you even know who you’re talking to?!”

“Rainbow…”

“I’m pretty sure that Connor could beat you, no problem. But if you went up against me? Hooh boy, you wouldn’t even know what hit you until after your ears stopped ringing from the sonic rainboom!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Don’t you know that I am the Rainbow Dash? The only pony ever to perform the rare and legendary sonic rainboom known to pony kind? And has single hoofedly saved Equestria at least three times over? I could beat you anytime, anywhere, with one hoof tied behind my back and while sleeping!”

“RAINBOW DASH!!”

“What, Connor?!”

“I can take care of this myself!” she did a double take at his hard expression, “Don’t worry, I can handle this. Just let me speak for myself, thank you.”

Connor faced Sour Patch again and was met with another one of his dirt eating grins.

“Okay then, let’s see what you got.”

Connor returned the smirk, “What was your name again?”

“Sour Patch,” he answered confidently.

“Sour Patch, huh? More like a sour bit!.....”

There was a strange pause as Sour Patch looked at him funny.

“Dang! ‘Wish I could have said the full word…!” he muttered to no one in particular.

“Wow, you city boys sure are weird,” Sour Patch continued his insults, “I didn’t think the city could spit out such weirdos. Now that I see a gleaming example of that, I’m not sure I want to go visit one anytime soon.”

Connor hardened his expression as he tried attacking from a different angle. “First off, I am not a city boy; not even close. Secondly, Weirdo? Have you seen yourself with your hat and stupid tie thing on in the mirror? I bet you aren’t even from the country side if you thought that was what they wore out here! You’re just wearing that stupid cowboy hat to make yourself feel like you fit in. If I didn’t know any better, you’re more of a fake than I am!”

“You can’t call me a fake!” Sour Patch snapped back, but Connor grinned knowing he hit a nerve, “You city boys can’t even handle one day’s worth of a real pony’s work!”

“And you can’t even be called a country boy, let alone a cowboy, with the way you act like a little kid bragging about his toy gun and cowboy hat! Real country folk don’t need to do any of that!”

“Oh yeah? You wanna know what a country boy can do that a city boy can’t? A country boy can get any girl that he wants with a single wink!” his smug grin returned in full force.

“And how is that important right now?” Connor asked cynically.

“You’re just jealous you can’t get any mare you want. Here, let me show you what some real country charm can do!”

Sour Patch scanned around and spotted an earth pony mare standing on a lift about thirty meters away that was currently offloading some wooden boards. Sour Patch called out “Hey!” loudly to get the mare’s attention. The pony mare looked up from her work to stare at Sour Patch who gave a charming wink and a smile to her. She giggled and sheepishly waved back at him with a hint of a blush on her cheeks.

Connor scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes.

“You think that was just a one-time shot? Here, let me show it again!”

Sour Patch glanced around until he spotted another mare not too far away. He let out shrill whistle to get her attention before tipping his hat and winking at her with that toothy grin of his. The mare snorted and laughed while she fluttered her eyelashes back at him.

“See!” Sour Patch turned back to Connor, “I told you! I can get any mare I want with just a lil’ country charm!”

“And how does this relate to flying, at all?” Connor snapped back, “All you’ve done has been nothing but talking big and flirting with the girls; you’ve done nothing to show that you can back up everything you’ve been saying other than getting a wave from another pony. So for all I know, you’re just some kid talking big when really he can't do squat! Man, I can't wait to see you to end up with a two-by-four in your face when you walk around the next corner because I guarantee you that somepony is going to knock you out for all the useless bragging you’re doing.”

“And you’re just some city boy with a fifty bit haircut who can't even stand up for himself!”

“You wanna bet?” Connor threatened.

“I think I do,” Sour Patch smirked, “Tell you what; if you beat me in tomorrow’s tournament, I’ll give you my trusty hat here.” he patted the cowboy hat on his head.

“That’s if we go up against each other tomorrow.” Connor clarified.

“Yeah, sure,” Patch dismissed before continuing, “And if I beat you tomorrow, you have to shave your whole head and lose that pretty little haircut of yours!”

The hair on the back of Connor’s neck bristled slightly and he ran an instinctive hoof through his hair. “My head, huh?”

“Yep! That’s the deal; unless you’re too chicken to do it!” Sour Patch laughed.

“Alright, fine! I’ll take your bet. You best be ready to have your butt handed to you on a silver platter tomorrow if we’re going against each other!”

“The same goes for you!”

The pair exchanged hoof shakes to seal the deal while each wore their own brand of confident smiles; Connor with his dangerous and thrill-seeking smirk and Patch with his toothy, dirt-eating grin.

“I’ll see you ‘round, city boy!” Sour Patch took off for the skies once again to return to whatever work he was doing leaving Connor standing there.

“Tod, what an idiot and a twig! Oooooo, I really hope I’ll get matched up with him together; I can't wait to beat his ash tomorrow in the games! Hey Rainbow Dash, sorry about snapping at you before, I- Rainbow?”

Connor spun around looking for Rainbow Dash, only to find that he was standing alone on the mountain. He wondered where she could have gone and why, when it hit him.

“Well, he may be right about one thing,” he sighed in shame, “I am definitely not a people’s pony…”

~~~

“Ugh, city folk; always poking their noses into place where it don’t belong. ‘Couldn’t wait just one more day to see the fields…”

Sour Patch mumbled to himself as he flew back to his work station where he was currently helping build a spectator’s tower for tomorrow’s tournament.

Whoever was paying for this tournament had a lot of bits to throw around if they could pay for these kinds of towers being set up. The spectator towers were dozens of wingspans high with enclosed seats at the top that could hold about twenty ponies or more at once. Each tower being built was specifically designed to withstand the windy conditions that blew across the tops of the mountains, as well as take several impacts from accidentally crashing pegasi before breaking down. They even paid to have unicorns magically reinforce and anchor the towers to the ground; and doing that ain’t cheap either.

There were a lot of towers sprinkled across the tops of the mountains so spectators could see the action from almost anywhere on the field. Most of them were already finished and were just having the final touches being done to them, but the tower Sour Patch was working on still needed more time before it was finished.

He landed next to his pile of support beams he was supposed to install before the day’s end and grab one. He grunted as he strained to get the beam up to where he left his bucket of nails and hammer and inserted the beam diagonally in the wooden box frame. He just picked up a nail and his hammer was about to get to work when he heard three familiar (and very annoying) voices approaching.

“Hey look everypony! Sour Pout is finally back! You finally done telling lies to those new ponies?”

Sour Patch sighed as he lined up his first nail and struck it with his hammer. “Here we go again…”

The leader of three was named Silver Spurs who was some kind of nephew or something to the town’s sheriff, sheriff Silver Star. And as usual, he had his two lackeys with him; Snake Oil who was the horseshoe licker of the group and Boot Straps who was the slow one and the butt of many jokes when the three weren’t picking on those around them. Together, they called themselves “The ‘S’ Gang”! I think it had something to do with Silver Spurs being the leader of them; or maybe it was because they all had an ‘S’ in their names? Who knows…?

“What lies did you tell them this time, Sour Pout? That you’re a real Apple family member and you plan on winning the little tourn’ment tomorrow?” Silver Spurs chided as the three bullies hanging by the base of the tower began another fit of laughter.

This wasn’t anything new to Patch. He’d been teased before by these three in the past and when it first started, sour patch gladly exchanged insults. But when they started getting really nasty, hooves started being thrown. That’s when the sheriff stepped in and put a stop to the fighting, but that didn’t put an end to the insult throwing; and it had been getting worse over the last week or two.

“Just ignore them, Patch,” he mumbled, “Just ignore them and they’ll go away eventually…”

“Oh come on!” said Snake Oil, “We all know that ain’t true! Everypony knows that the Apple family ain’t got no pegasi in their family; they’re all earth ponies!”

Sour Patch kept hammering away at the new nails he was putting into the board while the S Gang continued their shouting from below.

“I bet he was adopted by the Apple family because they felt sorry for him,” Boot Straps said slowly.

“Ha! Yeah, why else would an all earth pony clan have a Pegasus in their family? Who wants to place bets on them feeling sorry for Sour Pout and because they wanted to keep all the apple cutie marks to themselves?”

Silver Spurs laughed at Snake Oil’s joke. “Yeah, I bet they only have him because his cutie mark just so happens to be about apples. Hey blank flank! How come it took you so long to get your cutie mark, huh? You’ve only been here a year and what, you just got it? Lame!”

The three ponies laughed again as Sour Patch finished hammering the last nail and dropped it with a heavy thud; teeth marks were showing in the handle.

“Shud’up…”

“Sorry, what was that, Apple fake?” Spurs yelled, “’You say somethin’?”

“I said, ‘SHUDUP’!!!!”

Sour Patch dove for the ground and landed with a heavy thud and stomped over to the bullies. “I SAID SHUDUP! JUST SHUDUP! You know NOTHING about what it means to be an Apple!!”

Silver Spurs smiled wickedly, “I know enough that there isn’t a single Pegasus in the Apple family; which means you were adopted out’f pity. You’re nothing but a fake trying to act country by wearing that stupid hat and working on the orchard.”

“You’re wrong! You don’t know nothing! You’re- you’re…!” Sour Patch was almost shaking with anger. He reared up and cocked back a hoof to swing at Silver Spurs’ face, when he was suddenly shoulder tackled to the ground by both of his flunkies. There was some struggling as they tried to disentangle themselves, but Sour Patch pushed himself free and stood up again.

Silver Spurs showed his teeth, “You know the rules; we’re not allowed to fight anymore! Otherwise my uncle will have to throw your flank in the jail cell for a few hours until you’ve simmered down like the good little colt you are!”

Sour Patch gritted his teeth while Snake Oil and Boot Straps barred his way to his smug target. He flared his wings preparing to pounce like coyote on a rabbit, but instead he whipped around and stormed off in the opposite direction.

“Hey look! Sour Pout is running away again like a little filly!” Silver Spurs shouted after Patch, “If you were a real Apple, you would’ve stayed and fight me like a real stallion!”

Sour Patch quickened pace to the cliff edge not sure if he could trust himself from stopping and going back to pound some respect into that worthless pony.

“Yeah, a real Apple wouldn’t run away! Ha ha ha ha!!” Snake Oil’s laughter spread through the gang as Sour Patch broke out into a sprint and dove off the cliff and into the air.

The sounds of their continued chants and howling laughter was almost completely drowned out by the wind rushing past Patch’s ears; almost. But the further away he got from them, the less he could hear them. He sniffed back his anger and flew through the air. Flying always helped calm him down when he was angry; it wasn’t as good as bucking a few apple trees to take out his anger, but it was still pretty good.

It wasn’t his fault that his cutie mark just so happened to be a big red apple; He just really liked working on the farm and putting in good honest day’s work. He didn’t ask to be a part of the Apple family either, they just sort of welcomed him like a new cousin when he finally got his cutie mark.

Yeah, he was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to getting one’s cutie mark… Okay, a really late bloomer. Jeez, not even those Sour Patch had talked to who took a long time to get their cutie mark said it took them this long to get their cutie mark! Over sixteen years of his life without a cutie mark; boy, who of thought it would take this long just to get one.

“Well, at least I’m not the only one…”

Sour Patch’s thoughts turned back to that city pony he just met and remembered how he didn’t have a cutie mark. He looked to be even older than he was and he still didn’t have a cutie mark! That fact made Patch smile, but it faltered slightly.

“But it didn’t look like he even care about it, or even worried about it.”

His body flipped over to auto pilot has he flew around the playing field with practiced motion. Sour Patch folded his thoughts for now and stored them in the back of his mind for later; he needed to focus for tomorrow’s tournament.

“Okay, so this section here has a lot of open area for good open flying with a few pillars scattered in it; and those two rock columns over in the corner would make a great place to lose somepony by making a blind spot in their view, but it depends on how close they are following me. And that canyon over there leads to another section of the playing field where I can make good use of the archways in there for cover…”

Ever since he heard a week ago that Appleloosa was going to be the town to hold the first round of the tournament, Sour Patch had spent every waking moment of free time trying to memorize the entire field to get as big advantage as he could before everypony else came to compete.

“I’ll show them,” he mumbled to himself, “I’ll show them all! I’ll show them that I can win this tournament, and that I can fly. I’ll prove that the Apple family can have a Pegasus and be proud of it! And- and- and…” his voice trailed off barely being audible in the wind.

“And maybe I can impress Apple Slice enough to go out with me…”

Despite all of his flirting and winking with all the mares, there was one mare that really made Sour Patch’s heart flutter like a butterfly on a spring-summer day. Her name was Apple Slice and she worked in one of the general stores in town where he always went to pick up a few things needed on the farm.

Her cinnamon brown coat and candy apple red mane always looked good no matter what state she was in and he was constantly dazzled by her beautiful emerald green eyes. She was sweet like a candy apple treat, kinder than a mother duck on Sunday, and the cutest thing he had ever seen.

And she was the one mare that Sour Patch really wanted to get to know better; like in a real relationship.

“Oh Apple Slice; truly, you are the Apple in my eye…”

Author's Notes:

Wow, one week after my last chapter to finish relaxing during winter break, one week after getting back to college to get back into the swing of things, another week to write the next chapter, another week of putting myself through a self-doubting nightmare, and ANOTHER week of editing the chapter to make it better! Good, god, what have I been doing with my time?

Boy, I sure took my sweet time getting this chapter out...

Sorry everyone, I guess I needed to use all this time as this chapter is sort of like my new benchmark for myself and my writing quality. But now that I am back at it, I will (supposedly) be back on track with my writing schedule!

I actually like sour patch. Despite him being a bit of a shit-eating douche bag, he is pretty fun to play with! I can't wait until the next chapter where we will finally get our hands on this tournament that has been building up for ages now! It deserves some time in the spot light and hopefully the pay off with be worth it. I hope everyone will enjoy it!

All credit for the amazing artwork goes to the artist Mix-up. Links to his FiM page here and his Deviant Art page here.

Onto the next chapter!

P.S. Bonus points for those who can pick out the throw back made in this chapter!

Edit: Happy birthday to me!

34: Canyon Carving

View Online

This was it; the day everypony had been waiting for. It was finally time to compete in the Paint Wars tournament and the competition looked something fierce! Rainbow eyed every pony that passed by them like a lion scouting its next meal as she casually stretched out her limbs and wings. There were a lot of tough looking pegasi that showed up at this competition and everypony was playing the intimidation game to psyche out they’re possible rivals. This was going to make for some awesome matches today!

Rainbow Dash smiled to herself. “Not bad, but I’m the greatest flier in Equestria! There’s no way I am going to lose to these newbies!”

She flexed her wings and displayed them proudly like stripes on a tiger. A small dust cloud billowed up behind from her display of power and Rainbow spotted a few heads turn her direction. “Aw yeah! Look out everypony; Rainbow Dash is here to win!”

Rainbow Dash glanced to her side to see if her cadet-in-training was paying attention on how to beat somepony before the match even began. Connor, however, was not paying attention. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t even there in the first place. His eyes had this wide blank stare to them and he was slightly fidgeting and shifting his weight around a lot.

“Hey, Connor!” she elbowed him in his side, “You doing alright?”

“Huh?!” Connor jumped back to reality. His eyes still held that frantic look to them.

“I said, ‘Are you doing alright’? You look like a scaredy cat right now and it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“No, no, I-I’m fine,” Connor tried to play off, “I was just, thinking about things and- augh, Rainbow!” his voice dropped to angry hiss, “Why did you sign me up for this at all?! This is crazy!”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash said loudly, “This is going to be awesome! Just look; it looks like half of Equestria came to watch me wipe the competition in these canyons! And just you wait; soon everypony will know the name Rainbow Dash as the greatest Paint Wars player ever!”

“No, this is crazy and stupid! Everyone around here has been flying all their lives and a few of them actually look pretty good. I’ve only been flying for like, what, a few weeks now? And I’ve only been training for this for only a week! These ponies look like they’ve been training and practicing a lot more than I have since the announcement of the whole tournament thing! How do you expect me to win like this?!”

Rainbow was taken aback at the sudden outburst from him. Was he really this nervous about a simple tournament? Wow, she really needed to work on his confidence when it came to competing. Alright, time to pick Connor up with one of her signature, awesome pep talks!

“Alright, listen Connor. Did I ever tell you the story about how I performed my second sonic rainboom in my entire life, ever?”

“Only a few dozen times…” Connor commented.

“Well let me tell it one more time. I’ll never forget it; the rush of speed from going so fast, catching Rarity inches before she hit the ground, being with the Wonderbolts…!” Rainbow reminisced for a few seconds in one of her best memories of her life while Connor exasperatedly motioned for her to move on with the story.

“Oh! Right, sorry about that. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah! So before the whole competing thing, I was having a lot of trouble getting my sonic rainboom to work before the actual Best Young Flier’s competition. Now, I won’t say I was scared because I am just that good, but I was just the teeny bit nervous; nothing too bad I couldn’t handle.”

“Really?” Connor rolled his eyes, “How bad was it?”

“Weeellllll, I might have, possibly, not saying that it ever happened or anything (!), but I might have been freaking out just a hair.”

“Oh really?” Connor’s mischievous and teasing grin returned, “And you weren’t freaking out so badly that you didn’t almost bail from the entire thing, huh?”

“Yeah! That’s right! I would never be scared away from a challenge!” Rainbow boasted while cracking a smile.

They stood there for second before they laughed together at the joke, both knowing the actual truth behind the story thanks to Rainbow’s friends. Connor finished chuckling and Rainbow smiled at seeing his mood come back to normal.

“See, you’ll do fine,” Rainbow put a hoof around Connor, “Just go out there and do your best! Don’t worry about if you’re going to lose. If you do, I’ll make sure to win for both of us!”

Connor laughed again, “Thanks Rainbow.”

“Attention all pegasi competitors!” a loud country voice came over on a microphone, “Please report to officials’ table for competition. Again, please report to the officials’ table; thank you.”

Well, that’s our call,” Connor said, “Let’s do this.”

“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s go!” Rainbow trotted off for the officials’ desk with Connor following behind her.

~~~

Connor

He was glad things were finally happening again because Connor was more than just a little nervous. A lot more ponies showed up for this competition than he expected; like hundreds more than he expected. Competitors for both aerial and land based had shown up to fight against each other in Paint Wars with spectators of all ages showing up to watch the exciting matches. A lot of fans were friends and family showing up to support those competing in the matches while some ponies were coming to see what all the fuss was about.

The land based fighters had been playing all that morning up until noon where everypony took a break for lunch and, what looks like, an opening speech/ceremony. The whole deal felt similar to the martial art tournaments he had competed in. but this was a different tournament.

He wasn’t just competing for a score rating and hoping he got a better score than the other guy. This was a fight he was going into willingly, or unwillingly since Rainbow Dash was the one who forced him to compete. The was competition looked really good today; like good enough to make him look like ‘Slow moving target practice’ good. Rainbow Dash’s story had helped, but that fear was still lingering in the back of his mind like a predator stalking its prey.

He made his way to the officials’ table and stood in line with the rest of the ponies forming in front of it. The ponies working behind the table were pouring over papers and probably drawing up different divisions for all the competitors that showed up along with brackets for each division; just another item on the list of delays trying to prevent the inevitable.

Just off to the side of the table on an elevated stage, Connor’s eye caught a pony standing behind a megaphone. His silver star badge on his blue vest glinted in the clear sun’s rays and his black cowboy hat was clean of dust.

“Is that pony is the sheriff? I think Braeburn might have mentioned something about Appleloosa having one.” Connor mused.

“Howdy everypony, my name is Sheriff Silver Star and I wanted t’ thank y’all fer comin’ out to the very first Paint Wars comp’tition!” he announced with a twang confirming Connor’s suspicions.

There was a cheer from the crowd gathering around the stage from both competitors and fans alike. The sheriff waited for the crowd to simmer down before he continued. “I’m happy to say that today has been goin’ smoother than butter on a fryin’ pan and we’ve had some excitin’ matches from the ground battles! But now that they’re done, we’ll be movin’ on to the Pegasus fights in the air!”

All the pegasi lined up in front of the officials’ board let out an extra loud yell, eager to get in the air and start playing. Connor just smiled still working on keeping himself calm, but the uplifting enthusiasm of everypony around him was spreading like a virus making it easier to forget his worries and join in on the fun. The sheriff waved a hoof to quiet them down so he could speak again.

“Now hold on to yer saddles, I hav’n’t finished talking yet. Yer all so eager to get out there, but we still have to go over some the ‘Special’ conditions for y’all. The first one is by request of the event sponsor; during the pegasi matches we will be havin’ an announcer to commentate over y’all’s flyin’.”

“Goood Afternoon, Fillies and Gentlecolts!!”

Connor’s eyes went skyward as a large hot air balloon gently drifted in on an air current high above the canyons. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a small basket dangling precariously under a grey bag of hot air. But inside sat a goldenrod unicorn with wild red drab hair, excited blue eyes, and a microphone plastered on his side.

“Welcome, to the very first regional Paint Wars Tournament! I’m your host, Radio Play! I’ll be your commentator for today bringing you all the action Live, here in Willow’s Bowl Canyons! On every Daring to downright Dangerous Maneuver!”

The crowd roared as the contagious energy and enthusiasm poured out of the announcer high above. He had this 1940’s feeling of a fast paced sports announcer like he was trying to stuff as many words as possible into a single minute.

“Wow, this just got a whole lot more awesome!” Connor bristled with pent up stress ready to be released. This was new thing to Connor; even he didn’t know Sportsen was going to add an announcer to the tournament. But he was loving the surprise new addition regardless of being informed. He bounced on his hooves slightly while the line moved forward at a painstakingly slow rate wanting to get to flying soon.

“Ahem; yes, this will be our announcer,” Sheriff Silver Star begrudgingly said, “Now before we get too squirrelly, there are a few more things y’all need t’know. First-”

“Now since this is going to be our very first time holding this competition, there have been a few unique rules put in place!”

The sheriff grumbled to himself as Radio Play bellowed into his microphone again. “As you all know, there is a limit to how many balloons a pony can carry. That’s right, you’re only allowed to carry eight balloons, Total! The other special rule in place is a height restriction for all you high fliers out there.”

Some whining and complaining rose up from some of the pegasi who apparently liked flying to the stars and back in their matches. Connor rolled his eyes as their complaining fell on deaf ears.

“You heard it right, folks! You are only allowed to fly to the top of the flat top mountains before you must back and face your opponent, or face disqualification! So don’t spend too much time giving your fans the flyby.” The crowds laughed and chuckled at Radio Play’s jest.

“One last announcement before we begin! Alongside yours truly, I will also be having a guest host to comment on today’s action! Please give a warm welcome to our local buffalo mediator, Little Strongheart!”

There was another applause from the ponies in the surrounding area as the balloon drifted out of sight. Silver Star took this opportunity to finally regain control of the wild mob of ponies and get the tournament back on track.

“All competin’ Pegasus players move in to the holding pen, please!”

Connor furrowed his brow at the sheriff’s new command. Weren’t they supposed to go to the officials’’ table first before they went to the holding pen? The flow of ponies disagreed with the objection as everyone shuffled forward in the direction of the pen. Connor shrugged at the new improvised solution; maybe this would be a faster way to get the tournament moving again.

“Show time…” he chased after the crowd feeling his nerves tingle with more electricity. Hopefully, the tension wouldn’t tear him apart before he got to compete.

~~~

The wait was torture! Connor felt like he had been waiting there for forever listening for his number he was given to be called, only to be forced to wait even more when he didn’t hear it. That sudden burst of excitement and bravery from earlier had turned to in fear and self-doubt. The whole announcer idea was also backfiring in his face too; listening to him call out every move and shot made during each match was just adding more clouds to the already brewing storm of self-doubt in his mind.

It was almost like waiting for your execution as Connor sat there in a pen filled with agitated ponies and listening to the cheers and screams of the spectators. His metaphorical death would be slow and painful as Connor imagined himself being completely and utterly stomped by an opponent with way more experience and have to face the embarrassment of being beaten so badly.

Finally, he heard his number called up. “35!” the official called. He jumped at the sound of his number and his heart rate quickened by a few beats. He stood up and headed to the front of the crowd where an older stallion was directing traffic.

“Follow me.” the pony trotted over to a table with several open boxes. Connor walked up to the table and glanced in the boxes to see them filled with fresh marker and chaff balloons. “Pick yer load, but keep it below eight; and make sure you have at least one marker balloon.”

Connor nodded absentmindedly as he stared hard at the balloons contemplating what load out he should go with. He could go for an aggressive one and take spare red marker balloons, or he could play it cautiously and load up on extra chaff balloons. He debated with himself for a few seconds before he decided to go with a balanced load out and started packing four red markers and four blue chaff balloons in his saddles. Once he was done, he cinched his saddle bags to his back and put his goggles on top of his forehead.

The stallion nodded and directed Connor over to a lift. “Once you reach th’ top, you will meet the referee and your opponent before you play; understood?”

Connor nodded. As the lift started moving up the cliff face, the world melted away to only the sounds of rotating wooden gears and eerie silence. It created a strange sense of serenity inside of Connor as the world around him slowed to a crawl at his impending match. His gaze finally steadied itself and his face hardened; He didn’t know who his opponent was or how good they were, but he was going to give it his best shot against them.

The lift breached the edge of the mountain top and sound came rushing back to Connor. Hordes of crazed ponies lined every cliff edge scrambling to get a good view of the action. The screams and cheering reverberated off the canyon walls like the field itself was shouting its own desire for more entertainment; and they were loud shouts from the canyon walls. The current playing field they were in was huge! The single canyon bowl alone had to be at least two or three football fields big! Collectively, all the space they were allowed to play in could cover a good portion of the Grand Canyon from his world if Connor had ever visited it to make the comparison.

Words of encouragement or chanting from the fans vibrated his ears to the point of almost being painful. Mixed in with all the shouting were the wandering calls of food vendors and trinket vendors alike, selling snacks, noise makers, hats, and number one hoof gloves. The warm, dry air smelt like a blend of dust, paint, and chalk powder as he filled his lungs with oxygen. A nice, light breeze from the rear was brushing past his feathers with tantalizing lures of danger and excitement daring each competitor to push their limits to the max!

In the middle of the flat mountain top, the referee stood waiting dressed in a typical black and white striped polo along with his opponent; none other than Sour Patch himself. He still wore his cowboy hat and dirt-eating grin from yesterday, but now he was sporting a pair of saddle bags on his back as well. He spotted Connor still standing on the lift and his dirt-eating grin grew even larger.

“Well, well, well; look what the cat dragged in! ‘Thought you’d never show up. I was goin’ to ask if you were going to let your marefriend do all the flyin’ for you since she seemed like the better flier of th’ two of you!”

Connor stared for a second before bellowing a hearty laugh. “Rainbow and I are not going out together. Not even in the slightest, thank you very much.” He trotted over to him and the referee, “I hope you are ready to have your ash beat today.”

“We’ll see about that, city boy,” Sour Patch sneered, “I know these canyons like the back of my hoof, so there’s no way you’re beatin’ me!”

“AHEM!!” the two looked at the referee scowling at them over his thick bar mustache. It actually reminded Connor of the same kind of thick mustaches he imagined on old, small town police officers in movies. But the two arguing pegasi backed off under the hard stare of the ref and reluctantly fell in line next to each other.

“Gentlecolts,” he said in his gruff voice, “This will be a one round match. You will fly around Willow’s Bowl Canyon, trying to hit the other with a marker, then come back. There will be no bumpin’, no grindin’, no fightin’, no bitin’, no eye pokin’, no wing cuttin’, no feather slashin’, no air hoggin’, no tail pullin’…”

“Ham, just how many things are there?!” Connor asked rhetorically, “I don’t even know what half of these things are supposed to be!”

“… And no lollygaggin’!” the ref finished.

Connor half nodded in semi-understanding when Sour Patch psst-ed at him. He leered to his side and watched Sour Patch point at him, then raised his hoof and made a whistling noise as his hoof crashed back down in the ground. Connor rolled his eyes in response.

“Do I make myself clear?” the referee asked loudly.

The two nodded again and the old Pegasus gave a huff.

“You,” he pointed at Sour Patch, “Will start on that rock pillar.” Sour Patch flew to where he was directed.

“And you,” he pointed at Connor, “Will start on that rock pillar.” Connor looked at the rock pillar in question and nodded as he took off for his starting position. It was pretty small and thin, barely any room to get a running start on it. He landed and position himself as far back on the ledge as he dared to get as much running space as possible.

When Connor was satisfied with his position, he surveyed his surroundings. In front of him about fifty meters away stood Sour Patch making his own final preparations. Sour Patch turned to Connor and shot another smirk his way. He removed his cowboy hat to reveal his luscious, wavy, brown hair underneath that billowed slightly in the wind with a natural sheen to it like he was some kind of Prince Charming. Somehow while still working on an apple farm, he had managed to keep his hair looking this luxurious amidst all the heavy work of a normal working farm day.

There were more than a few whistles and ooo’s from the female sections of the crowd and Sour Patch entertained their fantasies by shooting a few with his signature wink at them before stuffing his cowboy hat in his bags and replaced them with flight goggles.

The sheer audacity of this guy was borderline stupid and Connor couldn’t help but crack up like a hyena. Of all times, this guy had to keep his mare fans going with flirting and teasing them like that. Connor pedaled around on his small launch platform trying to work off his giggle fit as fast as possible before the match started. “Hooohh my gosh! This guy is more wheat-hearted than I thought! Man, I’m almost envious of this crick with how all the girls are wanting him!” he cackled in his mind.

The referee hovered between the two competitors in the air and growled at Sour Patch. “You! Pay attention or I’ll call the match right here!”

Sour Patch frowned, but did as he was told. The ref glanced between the two pegasi making sure he had both of their attention.

“Gentlecolts!” he bellowed, “Spread! Your! WINGS!!”

Sour Patch flared his wings forcibly like a peacock kicking up an impressive cloud of dust behind him. The spectators grew even louder at the show of strength and impending start of the match. It was an impressive display of power, but anypony can make themselves look big and tough with making a big mess.

Connor snickered to himself; he could take this guy. He was all show and no skill, so he had to have him beat. He unfurled his own wings, though not as dramatically, and gave a few practice flaps to work out any kinks in his muscles. The ruffling of his feathers, the sound of his wings beating the air below him like a drum; it was spurring his excitement like a race car driver revving his engine waiting for the green light of a race. He pulled down his goggles over his eyes and the world around him turned to a tinted version of itself.

The ref raised his hoof high in the air and made one final check for their attention before beginning his count down.

“3!”

Connor lowered his body like a wolf building tension to pounce.

“2!”

His back hoof slid against the ground to get better traction for a better takeoff.

“1!”

A bang like a gunshot rang out as the referee’s hoof fell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDBU8W03K-U

Connor dug his hooves into the ground as his body launched forward like a compressed spring. He galloped as fast as possible for the edge which felt like it was miles away. Time seemed to be slowing down more and more the closer he got until he finally jump into the air.

Time froze around Connor as he hung in the air. He couldn’t pick one detail to focus on, so his eyes chose for him and stared at the ground miles below him. A sinking feeling washed over him starting from the pit of his stomach to the tips of his hooves. The ground was getting closer to him. Was He falling or was time speeding up to normal again?

Something hooked underneath his shoulder blades as the ground came closer and closer. Connor was running out of time staring blankly forward; he needed to do something now before it was too late. He arched his back feeling those hooks dig in more and pull him out of his dive and past three rock pillars. A giant wall loomed in his way and he veered right alongside it to not crash. He finally remembered to breath and he sucked air down in his lungs before yelling, “WOOOOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Never mind! Flying was actually pretty awesome! It was so refreshing hearing wind rush past his ears! He couldn’t stop smiling as his worries flaked off his body and into the wind. Nothing could hold him back right now! He was free to carve his own path! Nothing-

Whzzz, splat!!

“Holy yuck!”

A red paint marker just barely missed his head by a few inches and impacted the wall on his left. Connor snapped back at the marker that almost hit him, then looked up to see who had thrown it. Reality came back like a mother with a list of chores as he spotted Sour Patch coasting on the air ways high above him waiting to snag his catch of the day.

He gritted his teeth; how could he let himself forget about the match? He stuffed his hoof into his bags and popped a chaff balloon and disappeared into his cloud. He ducked and leaned through the impeding forest of rock columns hoping he was making a hard enough target to hit. A red marker struck his left wing tip as he was pulling right. Connor shot a quick look at his wing; the balloon didn’t burst on impact so he was still in the game, but it meant that Sour Patch was zeroing in on him.

Connor slowed down a hair and glanced up searching for his target. He squinted into the sun’s glare to see Sour Patch slowly flying around near the top of the canyons picking his shot at Connor. He growled at him for being good enough to put him on his heels, and to himself for allowing Sour Patch to put him on the defensive. He needed to do something soon or he was going to lose this.

He glanced back to his flight path and panicked as he was heading straight for a rock column. He flared his wings and pulled back into snap canopy roll to the left to just barely miss death with his open arms.

“Glob gambit!” he swore out loud. “Hucking focus!”

~~~

“Ooo, that looked like a close one!”

Sour Patch chuckled lightly to himself as he casually flapped to keep himself afloat. Since the start of the match, he had set up a plan to take down his rival while he was more intent on playing around in the canyons far below him. Looks like all that talk from the pony from the city was really just that, talk. But he had to admit, Connor was actually pretty good.

“Not bad, city boy. You’re actually pretty quick,” he smirked to himself again, “But all that speed is useless like a rotten apple core if you don’t know how t’use it. And I know these canyons like the back of my hoof!”

He reached back to recheck his ammo. “’Got three markers left; gonna need to save them for when I get closer,” he thought out loud. Sour Patch peered back down at his prey like a hawk, “Shouldn’t be too hard. The city boy’s more shaken up than a leaf blowin’ in the wind.”

Sour Patch glanced ahead of where Connor was flying looking for opportunities to strike. He had plenty of time to look; with him being so high up here and his opponent scurrying around so far below him. But something from the city boy caught his eye. He squinted through his goggles to see exactly what he was doing.

As Connor was banking around another rock pillar, he rolled over on his back and made a gesture like he was rowing a boat. Hang on a sec! He wasn’t rowing, the hotshot was egging him! He was taunting him even though he clearly had the upper hoof!

“Oh, so the city pony thinks he’s the big apple here, huh? I’ll show him!”

Sour Patch nose-dived grinning maliciously when he saw Connor turn tail and run. Now both of them were darting through the forest of rocky trees like foxes and rabbits. Connor rounded one pillar, then darted back the other direction trying to throw Sour Patch off and simultaneously score a hit on him. He guffawed when the first throw went high but he swallowed his laughter and popped a chaff balloon when a second balloon sailed for his face.

He swung out of the way and back into pursuit trying to close the gap. The city boy may be faster, but Sour Patch had home field advantage. Just ahead were two stone pillars lined up in a straight line with a pocket of open space to flying in; that’s where Sour Patch would make his move. Connor swerved right and pulled back around first column and into a predictable counter clockwise barrel roll.

“Nice try, city boy, but I’m already two steps ahead of you!” Sour Patch smeared in his head. He swung left outside, then darted back in planning to catch Connor just as he was finishing his roll around the second pillar. He dug out another red marker and readied his throw as he passed the second pillar.

“Where is he?” Sour Patch glanced left, right, and down looking for him with little success. He finally looked up to see his blue body flapping furiously up towards the cliff’s edge high above them. “And just where do you think you’re goin’?” Sour Patch growled loudly as he pumped his own wings to give chase.

He fixated his eyes his blonde tail bobbing up and down to the beating of his wings as they flew faster and faster. Sour Patch was getting closer to Connor, but not quite close enough to risk throwing his marker. The cliff face was getting awfully big in his peripheral and Connor wasn’t slowing down.

“Is he tryin’ to get himself disqualified? He knows we’re not allowed to fly above the canyon tops for too long!”

He watched Connor slowly rotate over into flying inverted. Sour Patch felt his own body rotate over against his will until he was flying just like Connor. The cliff edge was right in front of them and it could only be a miracle if they made it without crashing.

“Oh sweet Luna, help me!!” he mentally screamed as they rocketed past the cliff edge.

~~~

The crowd roared ferociously as the two pegasi traded blows with each other as they zig-zagged in, out, and around pillars in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. It was pretty clear in the beginning which pony had the upper hoof over the other. The local favorite was getting quite a lot of support from Appleloosan residents and out-of-towners as he pummeled this foreign blue Pegasus from who knows where.

But their cheering slowly shifted to panic screaming as the pair aimed for a head-on collision course with the fans. The spectator ponies scattered to the wind fleeing in every direction away from the cliff edge to avoid being hit. And just in time too; the pair blasted past the cliff edge at deadly speeds kicking up dust clouds while flying low n’ fast and upside-down over the heads of the spectators with only feet to spare.

“Unbelievable!! What a Daring Move from the New Pony! These two are struggling to keep up with each other in their fight to see who will step back from the edge first! Literally, on the edge of crashing into the cliff!”

Flying high above all the action, Radio Play was gripping his microphone with a fervor while his guest, Little Strongheart sat quietly enjoying the show below. Radio Play had been a nonstop chatterbox since the matches had started and now was no exception.

“Never in all my years have I seen such Desperate moves from players fighting for Attack Position! Have you, Miss Strongheart?”

Radio Play turned his spotlight to the young buffalo sitting beside him. Little Strongheart jumped slightly at being reminded that she was still in a hot air balloon and was supposed to be commenting on the games.

“Oh! Well, no; I don’t believe so,” she awkwardly admitted. Didn’t this pony understand that she was a buffalo? “But didn’t these games only start just a few weeks ago? How could-”

“Well, my dear, these aren’t my first sporting events I’ve done. Have you seen hoofball before? Good stuff! But I was feeling like I needed to mix things up a bit, and that’s exactly what these two Fighters are doing right now!”

Little Strongheart pouted slightly as she was cut off again before she could finish her sentence.

“Tell me, Miss Strongheart; how would you describe these two fliers duking it out in the skies right now?” Radio Play stared at the buffalo mediator like a little colt eagerly waiting for story time.

“Well, I am not sure how I would explain the match right now, but I do remember seeing a similar thing during one of our last stampedes. Shortly after stopping for water at the river, I witnessed a snake chase after a small, white mouse as its next meal.”

Little Strongheart’s eyes drifted off as she gazed back up the stream of life and memory trying to recall the details. “The mouse darted across the ground looking to escape the snake through bushes and rocks, but in the end, the snake caught the white mouse and devoured it.”

Somewhere in the stands, Fluttershy was currently crying into Twilight’s shoulder as she listened to the sad story of a cute, little, white mouse becoming some monster’s meal.

“My father caught me watching the two and explained to me-”

“Fascinating!” Radio Play said resting his head in both hooves with rapt interest like a child, “You’ll have to tell me the rest of the story later. Let’s get back to the Action! And it looks like our little blue mouse is looking a little white as local farm pony, Sour Patch, move in for the Score as he comes down the inside!”

~~~

“Come on, come ooon! What’s my plan, here?!” Connor pumped his wings trying to evade Sour Patch right on his tail while dodging rock pillars everywhere. He couldn’t waste more shots like last time; he needed to make them count.

He curled around one particular pillar only to be forced to barrel roll around the second behind it. Connor instinctively used the momentum generated by his barrel roll to sling shot him to the right when a crazy idea hit him. He pitched back sending him up and towards the cliff. The cliff wall was in stark contrast against the bright blue sky behind it. Connor squinted against the intense glare trying to find the edge of the cliff.

“What am I even doing?”

The cliff was fast approaching while Connor was still trying to see through the intense sun. His mind was on overdrive working on making the next step of his insane plan. He was inbound on a collision course when his mind spat out the next move. “This could be close,” he thought uneasily as he read over his crazy plan.

The cliffs were becoming close enough Connor could make out individual silhouettes now scampering to get away. “Okay, like, really close!”

He twisted his wings just a hair sending his body into a slow roll until he was inverted and heading straight for the horizon.

“Too close!! TOO CLOSE!!!”

He curled his body forward just enough to miss the cliff face and scream over the edge at blistering speeds! His mouth felt dry as he inhaled and his limbs went limp by his sides letting gravity control his flight path over the tops of ponies’ heads.

But he couldn’t stay above the mountains for long; he needed to get back in the canyons. He looked ahead for other edge of the mountain. Something about the incoming ledge sparked an idea in his head and his body acted on the new plan. As soon as his head was just over the ledge of the next cliff, Connor’s hoof slipped out a chaff balloon and clapped his hooves together bursting the balloon. A split second later, Connor pulled back hard again and rolled back into a hard right turn, then left along the cliff wall again.

The wall blocked off another section in the canyons filled with at least a dozen archways. Mother Nature had not been kind to this section of the playing fields as she had ground down every surface to a smooth sandstone finish. It definitely made for a different flying surface as it felt like the wind was slipping out and escaping out underneath Connor’s wings. But the bonus to Mother Nature’s abuse was that it carved out a very nice path that snaked back and forth from wall to wall and down to a small river flowing at the bottom of the sloping region.

Connor spotted the track and slid down the wall into the first bend. The archway guarding the first bend cast him in shadow before the sun blasted him again in its sweltering heat. The rocks below him was cooking him like a ceramic oven. He could feel the sweat beading down his forehead streaking off his face from the force of the wind.

But Connor didn’t care! The thrill of the speed, the smoothness of the path felt like a race track! With its twists and turns feeding his racing addiction, Connor suddenly felt like the king of the world! If this had been a race, he would have easily left Sour Patch in the dust. A red marker balloon brought him back to reality and passed right through his tail hairs.

“Holy Sweet Cheese’s, Mother Of Tod!!!” Connor flinched. The shot had come from the direction of the cliff. He glared up through the sun to spot Sour Patch looking like an angry bull ready rip him apart for making him do such a dangerous stunt.

Connor sped up down the rest of his section before it made a sharp U-turn at the end and doubled back down another straight. Another arch way reached over the top half way down the track. Connor prayed that he made it past this arch way before Sour Patch tried for another shot, he would have enough time to think of a counterattack. But Sour Patch skidded into view on the other side of the arch way wearing a triumphant grin before Connor could reach it.

“Bad time! Bad time!!” He flared his wings trying to brake, but there wasn’t enough distance. He used the archway to assist him by flying along the edges in a wingover maneuver to double back the way he came. Suddenly, an unexpected escape route opened up. It was a thin crevice tucked away behind the last corner he passed. Connor thanked his lucky stars as he put on a burst of speed and plunged head first into the little canyon. Just as Connor dove in, he popped another chaff balloon to obscure the entrance and hide his getaway.

The close quarters of the ravine left little room for error at these breakneck speeds. The path twisted back and forth on itself with a never-ending blind turns and surprise snap-back corners. It tested the utmost limits to those brave enough to take it head on. A challenge Connor accepted with fierce determination. He flapped harder, trying to weave every corner with pin-point precision. This time, he kept his mind focused. Using this small break from being hunted, Connor fished around in his bags to recount his remaining balloons. He was stunned to find he only had one chaff and two marker balloons left!

Connor cursed himself, he was hoping to beat his opponent before running low on ammo. His momentary lapse in concentration made him break late, causing him to come ever closer to the rock wall and earning a new scratch under his belly. He flinched in pain, but pressed on. Connor could feel it coming, his last shot at victory. Finally, the valley relaxed giving him some flying room.

Finally, the valley relaxed giving him some flying room. Despite the extra room, Connor was still moving rather fast. With his options running out, he decided to try out a maneuver stashed in his back pocket. It was untested and he only saw in a video once, but he needed to do something big if he wanted to catch Sour Patch off guard.

After a final right turn, the end of the alley came into view. Connor swapped to the other wall with a roll over the top and snapped his wings open catching the compressed air between him and the wall. He grunted and strained his wings as the path curved into a long sweeping left into the open world beyond.

The second the canyon opened its mouth, Connor pulled back up the cliff face for a barrel roll. But just as he passed by the cliff gates, he popped his last chaff balloon and twisted his wings and body forcing himself into a tight roll in the opposite direction of his original roll at dizzying speeds. The rush of blood was on an entirely new level. It felt like all of his blood was being sucked out of his head by a high powered vacuum hose.

Like a poorly made paper airplane, Connor felt himself unable to control his rolls. His eyes rolled back in their sockets as he flexed his wings fighting to regain his balance. He was finally able to level himself out into a stable left turn as blood came rushing back to his head giving him a massive headache. He squinted against the pain as he tried to figure out where he was again.

The open space surrounding him was an open plain of harsh and unforgiving territory; not even the grass dared to venture that far into the wastelands that was outside of Appleloosa. It also marked the edge of the map of what was considered legal play.

A good ways below him, his blue smoke screen lingered in front of the canyon exit blocking everything from view. And right on schedule, a green and brown missile shot out from the canyon exit taking a small blue trail behind him and banking to the left in search of his kill.

“This is my chance!” Connor dove for the befuddled Sour Patch still looking for his opponent. It was now or never! He dug out one of his last remaining red markers, cocked back his arm, and fired. His marker flew through the air and collide with the side of Sour Patch’s head and in his ear just as he was turning to look left.

“Yes! I can't believe I got him!” He watched with glee as the red paint splattered Patch’s face and sent him into a dizzying spiral before crash landing in the dirt with as much grace as a car wreck.

“Ooooooooo!! That looked like it hurt…” he laughed to himself.

“TWEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!” a whistle blasted through this ears breaking his concentration. Sounds from elsewhere hit him like a wall as ponies flooding the edge of the nearest cliffs screamed with glee at a spectacular match!

“Oh My Goodness!! What an amazing comeback! Our blue friend forces a huge overshoot on Sour Patch and snags the win out from under his hooves! Fantastic flying!” the announcer from earlier drifted in on his hot air balloon practically screaming his words into his microphone.

Little Strongheart nodded in agreement. “Yes, it was quite an enjoyable ma-!”

“Sour Patch was right behind him, and yet still just out of reach!”

“Y-Yes! I’m sure if given enough time he could have-!”

“And an Excellent getaway made from the New Pony! Absolutely Stunning turn of Events!!” Little Strongheart scoffed angrily falling silent again as Radio Play babbled on again by himself.

Connor panted to catch his breath, but he couldn’t resist smiling and give a weak wave to the fans. Despite the really rocky start, he was still able to put up a good fight and came out as the victor. He looked back down at his fallen enemy who was just now rolling back onto his stomach with pained efforts. Connor smiled with a mean glint in his eye and flew down to meet him; he still had a bet to settle.

He landed a few feet away and lifted his goggles up. Sunlight blasted his eyes forcing him to squint. He walked over to stand over Sour Patch. It was just hilarious seeing how this guy bragged so much and to see him now beaten and humiliated in front of so many ponies. Connor couldn’t resist the opportunity to return the favor.

“Ooooohhhhhh!! Guess what?! Look who won! What now?!” he got in his face before backing away, “And according to our bet, I think there is something that I am supposed to get.” Connor stepped over Sour Patch and rummaged around in his bags until he found his prize; his favorite cowboy hat! He shook it off to get any kind of dirt that might be on it and set it on his head.

“I wonder how good I look with this on. Probably better than you did, heh heh…” He wiped a hoof across the brow of the hat and glanced down at Sour Patch.

Sour Patch really and truly did look pathetic. His goggles were askew and his hair was a mess still sticky with paint. He was covered in dirt from head to hoof and worst of all, tears were welling up in his eyes and beginning to drip down his cheeks. He looked like a little kid pouting because he didn’t get his way with the way he was glaring up at him.

“Oh my gosh, is he really crying about this? He talks soo much crab and he can't even take a little back?”

His desire to gloat switched to bitter sourness and dissatisfaction. To be honest, Sour Patch did surprise him with his skill, but he had come back from the disadvantage and beat him; he earned this victory as well as the right to brag. But Sour Patch was living up to his name with looking bitter and was only souring Connor’s triumph.

Connor snatched the hat off his head and threw it back into Sour Patch’s face just as the paramedics were arriving. “Oh my go- look, if you are going to act like a little hitch about this, then here, take your stupid little hat back!”

Sour Patch pulled his hat out the way to look up at him with tear streaked eyes. “Bu-but, you won fair and square! You’re just goin’ to give up on our bet like this?”

“It’s no fun beating someone if they’re going to act like a sore loser,” Connor growled, “So stop crying about it and get over it!”

Sour Patch looked at Connor still standing over him, then at his hat. He dried his eyes off with the back of his hoof and gave a loud sniff before putting on his signature hat. When finished, he came back to Connor with his face dry and a hard facial expression.

“Much better.” Connor thought with satisfaction. They held eye contact with each other for a few more seconds with only a single eye twitch from Connor before he turned around to leave Sour Patch with the paramedics.

“I’ll see you ‘round, Cowboy!” he shouted without even looking back at him just as another pony rushed by him.

~~~

Sour Patch stared disbelievingly after Connor as he walked away. He watched until Connor took off again still replaying his final words he had said to him before he left. “’I’ll see you ‘round cowboy’, ‘see you ‘round cowboy’, cowboy…” He rolled that final word around in his head over and over as its meaning slowly sank in. maybe, just maybe…

He couldn’t think too hard on it right now because just as Sour Patch looked up from his deep thinking, the love of his life, Apple Slice, was rushing to see her fallen hero.

“Oh my goodness, Sour Patch! Are you alright?” she skidded to a halt in front of him but the medics kept her back. Sour Patch waved the medics off and slowly rose to his hooves again. He had to look cool for her; he couldn’t look weak. This was his time to woo her with his charms and make something from this under-hoofed defeat!

“I-I’m fine, Apple Slice; thanks.” He tried to smile but it came out as a pained grimace. Why of all times did his confidence have to fail him now? This was his big chance!

However, his acting did not work on Apple Slice as she tended his wounds. she got close, close enough for Sour Patch to smell her warm, apple cinnamon scent in her mane, feel her worried breath against his face, and be lost in the endless emeralds of love that were her eyes. He could have stayed there all day just enjoying her presence so close to him.

“Are you sure you’re alright Sour Patch? Is there anything I can do to help?” her sweet voice felt like soft fur in his ears.

“W-W-Well, a-a kiss might make things better.” Sour Patch added his signature wink and smile combo. There was no doubt she was about to give a big, loving smooch on the lips right there; and after that, it was going to be smooth sailing from here on out! He might even be able to get married with her and start their own family and maybe their own apple farm!

A sharp smack across his head jolted him out of his dreams. “OW! What the-!”

“I’m married, Sour Patch.”

“Wha-what?”

“I said I’m married.”

Married?! But what about all his plans he had with her like his marriage and his family and his apple farm he wanted to start? “Bu-bu-bu-but…! You’re married?! When did you get married? You look so young!”

“Thank you, Sour Patch. That is really sweet of you to say,” She kindly smiled, “But I got married almost five years ago before we moved to Appleloosa. Plus, I’m a little too old for you and you are a little too late.”

“But then, what was with all the sweet talkin’ and playin’ around with me when I was in your shop?” he pleaded.

“Well, you did kind of remind me of my little brother who also got in a fair bit of trouble when he was younger,” she admitted.

“S-so, that other stallion in the shop is…”

“My husband, yes. What? Did you think that was my boss?”

Sour Patch glanced about avoiding eye contact for a second before nodding. Apple slice covered her mouth and let out an endearing laugh. He felt his cheeks redden. “Augh, Why do mares do that!? It doesn’t make me feel any less stupid when they laugh like the whole thing is a joke!”

“Well, you should be fine now,” she patted Sour Patch’s shoulder, “why don’t you try going after some of the other mares you like to flirt with. I’m sure they would like that instead of being teased all the time by you.”

Apple Slice turned without second thought while Sour Patch gaped at her dumbfounded. All this time, all this planning, all this dreaming had been for a lost cause because the mare was already taken! And to top it off, the lady had told him to chase after the other girls he had been flirting with for practice! No, it’s not right, it’s not fair!

“This is all your fault, city boy!!”

Author's Notes:

Oh my Jesus fucking Christ!! Where the hell have I been?!?!! It’s been like, weeks since I’ve posted!!

Okay, long story short, life kicked my ass across the street like an old can with crushing me with homework, kicking me with stress about looking for more certifications for my automotive career and finding an internship to work at a dealership, and watching me bounce up and down with week after week after week of terrible luck. I didn’t even know I was having a shit week one week until someone pulled me aside and pointed out to me, “Dude, have you noticed how much of shit week you have been having?”

To be honest, I have been living it day by day trying to make it by. But thankfully, it’s all over with finals being done and spring break begins right around the corner for me! Well, not really; I’ve been voluntold to attend classes on how be employable and how to apply for jobs. Yeah, I really need that when I’ve already applied and got hired onto at least three different jobs beforehand.

On a side note, I’ve been having an idea to do some stat sheets for some of our competitors in the tournaments. Here’s one for Sour Patch!

Sour Patch

Speed: [x] [x] [x]
Acceleration: [x] [x]
Maneuverability: [x] [x]
Technique: [x] [x]
Accuracy: [x] [x] [x] [x]

Bio: On the outside, Sour Patch may be an apple farm pony; but on the inside, he still has Pegasus blood running through his veins. So even though he tries to be like a work horse common to the Apple family, he just won’t be as strong as say some of the other stallions in the family. So, he has to find easier, smarter ways of doing the same chores; and pegasi have a knack for finding more efficient ways of completing tasks. In fact, he helped get the timing down for the stampeding apple harvest after secretly pouring over three years’ worth of partial data on harvest dates and apple growth rates compared to the yearly stampede date. He could do more if wasn’t constantly chasing after every mare in town, but he would never admit to that; mostly.

artwork property of Mix up.

I will see you all in the next chapter!

35: Questionable Victories

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Connor

Connor sighed in relief as he walked through the crowds of the vendor's section. The match had been more draining than he imagined; he could still feel the adrenaline slowly fading from his sore muscles. But, he was glad to get out the public eye for a bit; he really didn’t feel comfortable there, being stared at by everyone, even if it was for praising his victory. He stashed his goggles resting on top of his forehead in his saddle bags hoping to regain some anonymity, like he was another spectator there to watch.

“Speaking of the goggles,” he remembered, “I really need to find some way to get some tinted lenses for these things; that sun was really giving me problems. Actually, I wonder if they do make tinted lenses?”

He rolled the idea around in his head while he continued walking around the vendors hoping to catch a glimpse of somepony he might know. It was a bit of a long shot of running into somepony he knew down here, but he hoped luck would be on his side this time. He walked around for a few more minutes glancing this way and that until a voice called out.

“Yoo-hoo, Connor! Over here!”

Connor’s ears stuck up and swiveled around as he searched for the source of the voice. A quick scan revealed Rarity wearing one of her overly fancy, white hat (as usual) and Fluttershy not too far away at a caramel-apple-on-a-stick stand. He brightened at finally finding somepony and trotted over to meet them.

He smiled as he got within speaking range. “Ah, there you guys are! I was wondering where I could find somepony I knew.”

“Well, we were actually looking for you when you finished,” Rarity stated, “But we decided to get a little snack while Fluttershy and I were looking.”

Fluttershy smiled, “You did a really good job during your match!”

“Yes, you did a marvelous job flying!” Rarity added, “Everypony in the stands were practically on their hooves when you managed to turn the tides against that Sour Patch pony; you made it look so elegant as you made those daring moves over the canyon wall!”

“Oh, I just hope he’s alright,” Fluttershy interjected meekly, “It sounded like he landed really hard when he got hit.”

Connor grinned, “Thanks Rarity, though, it definitely didn’t feel elegant. It felt more like I was just trying to survive the match than win it more than anything else. And Sour Patch should be fine; he’s tough.” He added the last bit trying to brush off Fluttershy’s worry.

“Well, I have to say it was definitely more exciting than the Hoofball games my father used to make me sit through when I was a filly,” Rarity rolled her eyes, “He would always try to impress me with outrageous throws and liked to call himself the ‘Star player of the team’ when he still played.”

“Wait a minute, Hoofball?” Connor cocked a perplexed look as the gears turned in his head, “Hoofball? Hoof- oh, I see what you mean; Football…” Connor rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I wasn’t much in to the regular sports as well. I really only tried baseball when I was really young, but that’s about it; still enjoyed it though.”

“Ugh, baseball is just as boring as hoofball, if not more,” Rarity scoffed, “All that waiting around just to hit a ball for other ponies to catch and not to mention the grass stains and,” she made an ick face, “Dirt.”

“Wait, if you are so bored with sports in general and hate dirt that much, then what did you even come out here for if you were so afraid of getting dirty like some high class prep pony?” Connor asked dejectedly.

“Um, I don’t mind watching sports or dirt,” Fluttershy tried to step back into the conversation.

“See? Even Fluttershy doesn’t mind it here.” Connor pointed out.

“It's not that I don’t mind being here or getting dirty if I have to; I am more capable than most ‘High class prep ponies’ you talk about,” she dignified, “I was just going to say that I came out here to support Rainbow Dash since she is one of my close friends after all,” Rarity paused for a moment before adding, “And to support you as well, I suppose.”

Connor raised another eyebrow, “wow; thanks Rarity. That makes me feel so special and appreciated right now.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean in that way, dear,” Rarity quipped.

“Uh-huh, suuure.”

GGRRRRRWWWuwwwRRRRGLLLLLL!!!

Everypony took a step back in surprise at the roar coming from Connor’s belly, including Connor. The match with Sour Patch must have really drained him if his stomach was making this much noise. A caramel covered apple floated in front of his face as Rarity offered the treat. He smiled sheepishly and gratefully took the food.

“Well then, I suppose we should head back up to rejoin everypony else in the stand. Shall we?”

“I guess,” Connor crunched down on another bite from his apple and covered his mouth, “But, I was wondering if they might sell tinted lenses for flight goggles here; that sun was really getting in my way.”

“They do,” Fluttershy piped in, “There’s a shop not far that was selling different lenses for flight goggles near the shop that was selling sport hats.”

Connor’s eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. “What?! Are you serious?! Ponies can actually make tinted lenses too?”

It was Fluttershy’s turn to give Connor a weird look. “Well, yes; its not that special, really.”

“Darling, of course it is!” Rarity flipped her hair, “How else do you think a pony is supposed to get sun glasses that look this good?” A pair of pointlessly, prominent, pink shades with rose red lenses levitated off the top of her hat and placed themselves in front of Rarity’s eyes.

Connor stared at the sun glasses with a mixture of bafflement and a gift from above. How did he not see those huge things sitting on top of her hat before? He dismissed that mistake and quickly turned back to Fluttershy. “Do you know where the store is?” His eagerness barely contained.

“yes, its over that way-” Fluttershy tried to say before Connor almost bolted in the direction of where she pointed. She waited a few seconds before Connor paused and walked back.

“Um, do you think you could lead me to where it is, Fluttershy?” He admitted embarrassed.

She smiled warmly and nodded.

~~~

A couple of minutes later, the three of them were walking in a different section of vendor stalls and tents. The products being sold quickly changed from food and drinks to merchandise and trinkets as they moved. Connor felt like a kid with trying to crane his neck over the crowds desperately searching for the one thing that would be his saving grace against the harsh sun rays. He nearly jumped for joy when he finally spotted the fabled vendor stand next to a stand selling sport hats.

Connor broke off from the group to run ahead and be the first one there. He skidded slightly before stopping in front of the shaded tent with tables and with racks upon racks of sunglasses, goggles, and different lenses with varying shades of tint and colors. He stared around at the displays like a kid in a candy store as he perused the available selection while wearing a goofy grin on his face.

“Greetin's there, son!” Connor looked up to find a red color unicorn pony with an impressive mustache behind a table with even more lenses available, “How can I help you? Are you looking for any particular or are ya just browsing?”

Connor didn’t even know where to start with answering his question. He had so many different ideas buzzing in his head that he didn’t even know what to pick. he could go with just normal smoked lenses, or, should he try something different with colored lenses? He could try some angry metallic red shades to scare off other ponies, or maybe he could use some cool blues to look cool, calm, and collected; so many options to choose from! It all felt similar to trying to pick out a new visor for his motorcycle helmet back home.

“Mmmmm, good memories...!” he hummed gleefully.

“Connor,” Rarity and Fluttershy finally stepped under the shaded tent, “Shouldn’t you ask if your goggles can even take new lenses first?”

Connor paused, “Oh, cran, your right,” He pulled out his goggles from his saddle bags and placed them on the table in front of the salespony, “Can you see if these can be replaced with different lenses?”

The salespony picked up the goggles and made a humming noise. “These goggles look like they’re second gen. It may be possible, but we haven’t been using these things for a several years now since they released the fifth version of flight goggles.”

He rotated the goggles over several times as he inspected it. after a few tense moments for Connor the sales pony went, “Ah-hah!” and popped the goggles apart. He laid everything out on the table in the order of how it would be reassembled and smiled; “No worries kid, we have plenty of different lenses we can get you for these goggles! So what can I getcha?”

Connor was clapping for joy in his head at hearing the good news. He took one last glance around the selection before deciding on what he wanted. “I’ll take two sets of lightly smoked lenses, two dark smoked, and one extra clear lens, please!”

“Sure thing!” The vendor got up from behind his table and collected five small boxes in his magic before setting them down on the table, “Lets see, each of these cost about 45 per set of lenses and since we have five pairs of lenses your total comes out to,” he paused to make quick calculations, “225 bits, son!”

Connor’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “225 bits for five lenses?!? I don’t think they even cost that much for new visors for motorcycle helmets back home!”

“Now don’t worry too much there,” the salespony sang with a happy note, “Since you are being such a big customer to me right now (which I greatly appreciate), I’ll give you a discount! I’ll knock about ten percent off each pair of lenses for you which would bring you down to only 200 bits!”

Even with the ‘Generous’ discount from the salespony, 200 bits still sounded a lot to him. he looked at the stack of lenses on the table next to his disassembled goggles and started weighing pros and cons to himself. But he knew within a couple of seconds, the pro of not having to deal with sun glare greatly outweighed the exorbitant price the vendor was asking for; especially since he was getting into a competitive sport where any little advantage to him could mean winning and losing.

He reached back into his saddle bags and fished around in them for a few seconds when he realized something.

“Aw man, I forgot I left my money bag back at the Inn; fam it!” He glanced over his right shoulder and the first pony he spotted standing there was Fluttershy. “Um, hey Fluttershy, I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could lend me the money right now and I could pay you back later?”

She blinked once before putting on an apologetic face, “Um, I’m sorry Connor, but I don’t have that much money with me right now. I only brought enough to get a few snacks,” she dropped her head slightly, “I’m sorry; please don’t be upset!”

Connor stared blankly at her as the gears turned in his head processing what Fluttershy said and trying to come up with a new plan.

“If you want to go grab some extra bits, I wont stop you; but you need to do it quickly because there's a long line forming behind you!” the salespony called from behind.

Connor glanced over his shoulder again at the salespony just as another single pony stepped under the tent to browse. He raised a serious eyebrow at the 'Long line' forming behind him. He knew the salespony was pressuring him to buy right now and Connor really wanted to, but he needed the money first. He refocused his gaze back in front of him in concentration. He needed another pony that may have the bits he needed right now to make the buy and could pay back later. a glimpse of ivory white caught his peripheral vision and he traced it back to Rarity standing there.

“Heeey, Rarity!” he forced a smile, “Do you think you could possibly…”

Rarity blinked once at him in astonishment before turning her nose up at him. “Aw! Absolutely not! I will not pay for something so small and overpriced like that! why can't you pay for it with your own bits?”

Connor’s smile twitched, “Well, I didn’t pack them in my bags because I didn’t want to be carrying around extra weight while I was flying; so I left it in my room.”

“Not to rush, but I have other customers waiting!” the vendor piped in again from behind. Connor was running out of time; he needed to switch approaches. He dropped the smile completely; “Listen, I really would like to get this but I need help buying them. I promise to pay you back completely as soon as we get back to the Inn, I swear!”

Rarity cracked open an eyelid to look Connor up and down and gauge him. He hoped that his face was expressing the most pleading look it could make without looking like he was begging. She stared at him with one eye and a frown for a few seconds before a mischievous grin stretched her mouth.

“Hmm, I suppose I could work out a better deal to make such a purchase,” she nonchalantly glanced back at her saddle bags while Connor’s ears and eyes perked up, “And I may be willing to part with a few bits,” she paused again and directly eyed Connor like a prankster ready to spring her trap, “But I want something in return.”

“Okay, sure,” Connor was on pins and needles, “I can pay you back plus extra as soon as we get back!”

“Not just bits, darling,” Rarity added a little extra honey to her voice, “I want you to compliment me.”

He did a double take, “Compliment you?”

“Yes, I want you to compliment me for a full minute and apologize for every mean thing you said to me!”

“For what!?” Connor was racking his brain trying to figure out this strange request from Rarity.

“Oh, perhaps the time you called me a Drama Queen? What about the time where you so rudely called me a ‘Suck up’? And lets not forget the time you didn’t let me finish explaining how to give a proper bow to a princess?”

“Rarity, he didn’t really mean those things when he said them!” Fluttershy looked ashamed by Rarity. “Can't you make just this one exception and let him buy the lenses?”

“Drama quee-, ‘Suck up’? Really? I thought we had already gotten over those-!”

“If Connor would like to buy them, these are my terms,” she stated flatly.

Connor was astounded and outraged by Rarity's demands. How could she be holding onto something so small that happened so far in the past that even he barely remembered the supposed offenses. He readied his retort, but one look back at the salespony with the stack of boxes sitting on the table forced him to bite his tongue. “Alright, Fine! I’ll do it!”

Rarity smiled devilishly and she flipped her hair confidently, “I’m waiting, then~!” she sang.

Connor growled under his breath wanting to fight back, but the little voice in his head said he might not get another chance at having these lenses while in this world. He faced down the fashionista with an angry glare and forced a grating smile; He was going to hate himself for this later. Connor sucked in air to try and say something nice, but his mind stalled.

“Come on! Think of something! There has to be something nice I can say right now!” His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he dug around his brain for things to say. “Uuuuhhh, I’m sorry for saying such things…”

“Like~…!” Rarity egged him on enjoying the show.

“Uh, I’m sorry for calling you a drama queen and a ‘Suck up’; you, are really, ahmm…” he frantically searched his vocabulary for something that would earn him a few points, “Good at what you do and, have a really nice, mane?”

This was so embarrassing to him. it felt like he was trying to sing in public and was only receiving snickers and pointing. His mind, for some reason, just could not come up with anything really flattering at that exact moment in time. He ground his teeth and glanced anywhere that wasn’t Rarity’s smug face. He tried taking a few more stabs at kissing her hooves before he bailed on the whole thing and just left out of sheer embarrassment.

“Uum, you are a really spectacular, clothes maker-”

“A clothes maker?!” Rarity jabbed at him.

“Uah, fashion designer!” he choked out desperately, “You’re a really good fashion designer! And all of your outfits are, fascinating and, uhh, interesting and, unique! Yeah, that’s it! and-!”

Connor was cut short when Rarity couldn’t hold back her laughter and started giggling and chortling uncontrollably; she had to cling to Fluttershy’s side to keep herself from falling to the ground in hysteria. He stared at her incredulously as he struggled to come up with nice things to say off the top of his head.

“No! No more! I can't take it!” she blurted out between laughs, “Its just too funny watching you, squirm, like a, like a little colt! Hehe haha haha!!”

Connor’s face flushed red as he realized that he was being played for a fool which only doubled Rarity’s laughing fit. He couldn’t fight off the small smile crawling up his face as he tried to continue to look upset. If he was really honest with himself and viewed everything from the outside, he'd bet that he looked really silly right now. A few chuckles slipped out as he stood there with Fluttershy and Rarity now both giggling at the shenanigans.

“Times up!” the salespony shouted, “Are you going to buy or not?”

Still giggling, Rarity got up from hanging onto Fluttershy. “Hehe, hmhmm, yes, we are still buying.” She stopped in front of the counter and batted her eyelashes at him. “However, I don't think we have enough bits; perhaps you would be willing to give us a little, discount?”

The salespony swallowed, “Hmm, for a sweet thing such as yourself, i'd think I would be willing to do that. How about 175 bits?”

“Only 175 bits?!” Rarity choked, “Ahem, I think we can do better than that for such a, generous and smart stallion such as yourself,” Rarity placed a tender hoof on his.

“Heh heeh,” he giggled. “Alright, how about 165 bits? I still have to make a sale here.”

“Fluttershy!” Rarity called back without breaking eye contact, “How much money do you have with you?”

Fluttershy jumped, “Eep! I mean, I think I only have 45 bits left...” she lifted the flap to her single saddle bag and pulled out her pouch and it was magically levitated to the table along with Rarity's own bag.

“Good sir,” the bags hit the table with a thud, “The most we have right now is 157 bits right now. That is our final offer and no higher.” Rarity said tersely.

“Sold!” the salespony swept up the bags of money leaving the boxes of lenses and goggles. “Thank you for your purchase madam! Enjoy the rest of your day!”

Rarity looked a Connor with a kind smile while he was doing back flips in his mind. “Thank you so much, Rarity! This will really help me a lot!”

He jumped up to the table where his dismantled goggles laid and tore open a box with dark tinted lenses. He swapped the lenses with the original clear ones and frantically put everything back together. When the lens lock finally clicked, he gave his work a quick once-over before he threw them on to test out the new look. He sighed as the world instantly darkened to a more shaded version of itself with substantially less sun glare making everything easier to look at and less painful.

On the outside, Rarity and Fluttershy could no longer see Connor’s eyes through the lenses. His face had now become an unreadable frown as he seemed to stare at some unidentifiable thing in the distance; it was little unnerving seeing this new unreadable and stoic look.

On the other hand, connor was thrilled now that he had a way to see clearly again. He could spend more time focusing on his flying instead of trying to squint through every sun glare and bright reflection in his eyes. With one distraction dealt with, he took off the goggles and beamed. “Thanks a lot, Rarity! I really appreciate this!”

Rarity sighed, “Your welcome. Now lets get going and head back to the stands! Rainbow Dash should be competing soon!”

“Oh, yeah!” Connor scooped the rest of the boxes of lenses into his saddle bags and stuffed the goggles after them before running after Rarity and Fluttershy already heading back to the stands. He caught up to them and matched their pace for a few seconds before Rarity whipped her head around to give him a hard look.

“Connor, why did you insist on buying those horribly overpriced lenses in the first place?”

“Huh?” Connor looked surprised by the sudden questioning.

“Well, it just seems so, cluttered, to always be carrying around different lenses like that when Rainbow Dash says she has several different goggles with different lenses in them for flying around. I mean, you could easily lose a lens in a pair and wouldn’t be able to use them until you found it again; but if you had several pairs of goggles, you wouldn’t have to worry about that problem.”

Connor smiled apologetically, “Old habit. Back in my world, I used to have a couple different lenses so I could swap them out based on weather conditions.”

Rarity scoffed, “I still think you should talk with Rainbow and see if you can't get anymore goggles. Or, I could perhaps help with that! I could help you find a few nice pairs that would look dashing on you!” she piped up at the opportunity to another fashion shopping trip.

Connor chuckled, “Thanks, but I’ll stick with my interchangeable lenses.”

Rarity gave a humph, “Suit yourself.”

~~~

The three took another lift up the cliff side to where all the screaming spectators were currently engrossed with the ongoing match. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Connor trotted up the many flights of stairs to the top of one of the spectator towers in the canyons where the rest of the gang was sitting. As soon as he stepped into view of everypony, a bombardment of voices flew at him.

“Nice goin' there, sugar! You really showed off some fancy flying!” applejack smacked connor on the back.

“Wow-zers! Pinkie Pie shouted, “That was really, really amazing! You were like 'Woosh!' and 'Zoom!' and at that one part in the canyons you were like 'NNIIIEEEERRRRRRrrrrrrr!!' and then you pulled up at the last second,-!”

“excellent job, Connor! That was really impressive when you offset the lift on your wings to increase your turning ability and avoid collision with the stone pillar!”

Connor gave an uneasy smile; “Thanks everyone, I’m glad you all like it! Though, it definitely needed some improvement.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it!” Applejack reassured, “Ya did great for your first time!”

He glanced out from the stands and into the playing field. The view from up here encapsulated the entire starting bowl of the canyons and a little bit of neighboring canyon bowls as well. As he approached the edge of the spectating box to glance at the ground far below, his sense of vertigo grew in his stomach rocking him back and forth and side to side the closer he got.

The ground seemed so much farther below him while he was standing still in the tower compared to when he was flying. However, he unexpectedly rammed his face into an invisible wall with an audible ‘Dnng!’ just before he could stick his head over the railing. Everypony behind him including some random ponies behind them burst into laughter as he rubbed his nose from the impact.

“That’s about as close as you’re gonna get to the action from here sugar cube!” Applejack chortled out.

“Oh, whoops.” Connor gave a sheepish grin and an embarrassed laugh as he returned to his seat. “What was that, anyways?”

“It was a shield spell,” Twilight explained, “They are used to help protect any possible crashes into the stands from competitors; or,” she smirked, “Prevent any overly enthusiastic spectators from falling over the edge!”

“Oh, I would have been fine,” Connor shot back, “Its for those who don't know how to fly that its meant for!”

there was some more laughter shared from everyone as he chuckled to himself and picked a seat to enjoy the view.“Well, it doesn’t seem like I was the first pony to make that mistake.”

Connor sat down in between Twilight and Rarity to watch the ending of the current match; a griffon was currently hunting his opponent down with vicious instinct. “Well, I’m glad that I managed well for my first time, but I need to work on a few things,” Connor watched as the griffon finally shot the other Pegasus down and was declared the victor by the referee, “Do we know when Rainbow Dash will be competing?”

“It should be any minute now,” Twilight glanced down at a pamphlet she had, “You and Rainbow are in the same division, so she shouldn’t be too far behind you.”

Connor hummed as he let his body relax in his seat. The field was cleared of its previous competitors and reset for the next pair to fly. Although, the cozy sun shining down on him coupled with his exhaustion was making it extremely hard to keep his eyes open. But just as his lids started to flutter shut, Pinkie was bouncing in her seat again and yelling at the top of her lungs.

“Look!” she pointed out, “There’s Rainbow Dash right now! GOOO RAINBOW DASH!!”

Connor snapped awake and sat up. Way off in the distance just visible over the railing was a instantly recognizable rainbow colored mane lightly flapping in the wind. Next to her was a dark gray Pegasus with orange hair; he was fidgeting around a bit and bouncing on his hooves.

“Perhaps he’s new to the whole competition thing? Or is he just working himself up?” Connor theorized. The ref sent the two to their respective starting points and prepared to start the count down. The referee raised his hoof high in the air, paused, then swung it down with a blast from his whistle.

Rainbow Dash was off like a bullet and in the air ready to fight while the gray colt with the orange hair was just getting his hooves off the ground. She flew past a few rock pillars before circling back to make her first pass against her opponent just as he leveled himself off in the air.

Connor watched as she shot past him with incredible speed looking for the impact of a red balloon, but found the new player clean of any paint. her opponent didn’t seem to like the flyby as he dropped a few feet in the air before catching himself and tried to break left. Rainbow doubled back again to line up another shot on the kid; this time, from a little bit above him.

“Oh, this guy is done for…!” Connor concluded with a confident smile. But Rainbow Dash just flew past him again forcing him to pull right in fear of colliding with her. His smile contorted into a look of confusion at Rainbow’s decision; “He was sitting right there, Rainbow! what, was the shot not good enough?”

Her opponent was spinning his head on a swivel desperately trying to keep Rainbow in his sights. He readjusted his flight and began gaining altitude in the direction of where Connor was sitting in his seat. Just over the corner of his shoulder, Rainbow Dash was lining up another pass behind him.

“Just what are you doing, Rainbow?” Connor furrowed his brow. Something wasn’t right here; Rainbow Dash had three perfectly good opportunities to score a hit on her opponent and yet she didn’t take them. Rainbow just let him go and flew past him.

The gray Pegasus dared a look over his right shoulder just in time to see Rainbow Dash rocket past him for the fourth time. Connor gaped as Rainbow blasted past the poor competitor just as the crowd roared with uneasiness. The particular angle at which the fighters were flying at displayed a perfect view of Rainbow Dash coming within inches of clipping her opponent’s feathers.

She looped around in time to stay underneath the altitude limit to make another dive at her opponent. The blast of air washing off of Rainbow’s wings sent the kid blustering in the air and flailing his hooves around. His wings slipped through the air as he lost control and he continued to flail about trying to twist his body around enough to regain control.

Connor gaped as Rainbow Dash repeatedly made near miss after near miss at dangerous speeds. Her opponent was in a panic now just trying to avoid the hawk flying above him, hunting with him. This wasn’t a match, this was abuse! Anger and rage bubbled through his shock and dismay and he ground his teeth. Just what in the world was Rainbow Dash trying to pull here? just what was she trying to prove?! If she wanted a fight, then how about she pick on someone her own size instead of some kid!

Rainbow finally had enough of toying with her opponent like a cat with a ball of yarn and threw a red marker as she was making another close flyby. Her raw speed added to her throw and the balloon struck with a heavy impact against the young gray Pegasus's back. The shrill whistle of the referee screech through the canyons signaling the end of the round. Connor was almost shaking with fury while Rainbow Dash was making a victory flight around the canyon. Though, she broke off early from completing it when everypony watching applauded uncertainly as she flew by not wanting to seem disrespectful.

“yeah, that's right you should be ashamed of yourself you arrogant, honorless, worthless piece of-!”

“Connor!” Connor’s head snapped around and fixed his fiery gaze on Twilight. “Connor, why are you standing right now?”

He gave a quick glance around himself which did confirm the fact that he was out of his seat and less than two feet away from the railing and invisible wall separating him from the field. Connor paused in his anger to reel it back in for a moment before he spoke again.

“Its nothing; don’t worry about it...” He turned back to the field and spotted Rainbow Dash disappearing over the ridge of the canyon bowl where the competition staging grounds were. “I’ll be right back; I need to go talk with that punk, Rainbow Dash…”

“Now hold up there, partner!” Applejack stood up from her seat, “I know you may be a little upset with Rainbow, but that don’t mean you need to go around calling-, Connor!”

Applejack was cut off by Connor leaving the stands and down the stairs with a blazing purpose in his step. Connor was not going to bother listening to ponies who didn’t understand the full extent of the damage that was caused here. that last thing he saw before he marched down the steps of the tower was the young Pegasus landing on top of a rock pillar and curling up into a shivering ball.

36: Rising Tensions

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Rainbow let out a sigh of relief as she finished gulping down her water from a free water stand. Today couldn’t have started any more awesomely! It was the first day of competition and already it was weeding out the weaker fliers. But for some reason, she didn't feel as awesome as she thought she should. She tossed the rest of her water in the trash and began her way through the crowds back to the stands.

Rainbow Dash knew she had to have turned some heads with her sheer amount of raw talent and awesomeness in flying and proved it today with her victory! But, Rainbow was expecting to have cheering crowds and screaming newfound fans, not a simple applause from the everypony. She casually glanced around at some of the passing ponies and at the commodities on some of the nearby vendors before taking flight again to meet up with her friends again.

Her mind drifted back to the newbie she flew against and his skill level. she could have beaten him with one hoof tied behind his back and one eye closed; heck, even Connor could have beaten him with ease! Though, there was that one fleeting memory of doubt with the gray kid falling out of the sky after one of her amazing flybys. Maybe she had been just a little too rough with him, but then again he was up against the greatest flier in Equestria, of all ponies. So it was understandable that he might not have been able to keep up with her. But she couldn’t let her match end before anypony could have taken one bite of their popcorn; she had to prolong it somehow.

She pushed the second guessing out of her mind. this was her moment of victory and she was not going to let it be spoiled by doubt; this was a competition and not everypony could be a winner. She touched down on the mountain top and found the spectator tower that Twilight had mentioned where they were going to watch the games. She jogged up the entryway that lead to the stands high above. Just as her hoof touched the first step, she heard a loud thumping above her and found Connor standing just a few steps up.

“Oh, hey Connor! what’s up? Did you see my flying out there? Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Rainbow Dash, we need to talk.” Connor pushed passed her and waited outside for her to follow. She felt an unsettling wind trailing behind him as he walked by; like, it was more angry than usual.

“Uh, okay…” she hesitated.

She followed him to backside of the spectator tower and away from prying eyes and ears. Just as he stopped, Connor whipped around and sucked in air through his nose like he was trying to steadying himself before exhaling harshly and leveled a glare with her. “You mind telling me what you just did back there?”

“Back there? You mean during the match?” Why did it feel like she was being interrogated by a police pony for a murder? And his burning gaze was really making things uncomfortable. “Well, I won the match, right? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”

“Oh, really?” Connor spat back while putting on a surprised look.

“Yeah!” she smiled, “I just went out there and proved I was the best flier!”

“No,” Connor cut her off, “What you did was go out there and make a practice dummy out of that little kid!” He pointed an accusing hoof at Rainbow Dash.

“Practice dummy?!” Rainbow Dash growled, “What do you mean by that?!”

“Oh, I’ll tell you! You were pulling flybys so close to the kid you could have poked him in the eye with your hoof! Any closer and you would have clipped his wing and made him a gray splatter mark across the canyon wall!!” Connor was almost shouting by this point and was moving closer and closer to Rainbow getting in her face.

Rainbow snarled and got right back in his face, “And what makes you an expert on competing, huh?! This is a competition! You’re supposed to try and beat your opponent! I mean, yeah, it could have been a tiny bit much for mine, but how else am I supposed to show off my moves if the match ends before they can even get the name ‘Rainbow Dash!’ out of their mouths?!”

“A-Are you for real, right now? Are you fussing serious!?! You are more concerned about some hucking pony cheering your got-spam name then beating your opponent to a pulp?! Oh my cod! I can't believe you right now! I thought you were better than this! But you are Un-Tucking-Believable right now!! how would you feel if a Wonderbolt came by and kicked you around the field like a piece of trash!!!” Connor jabbed Rainbow in the chest.

“Don't you dare think the Wonderbolts would do something like that!!” Rainbow Dash shoved Connor back a bit. “They are way cooler than that to fly all over somepony!! You’re stupid for even thinking that!!!”

He regained his balance and came right back; “And you’re a bully who thinks its okay to gang up on smaller ponies!! and I bet your 'Wonderbolts' wouldnt be able to hold a candle in a real fight without the whole team there to back them up!!!”

“I DARE you to say that ONE more time!!!!”

“Connor! Rainbow Dash!!” Applejack rounded the corner just in time to force a hoof between the two raging Pegasi as Rainbow was in the middle of loading a hoof back. “Alright, that’s enough y'all! Lets not get hasty and say somethin' we don't really mean.”

“No!” Connor hollered, “I won’t stop! This stitch is more concerned about hearing her name called out by other ponies that she’s willing to beat the spit out of a kid to get it!!”

“Listen here, feather brain!! If you keep going, I’m gonna-!!!”

“Do absolutely nothin', Rainbow!” Applejack blocked Rainbow away from Connor. “You two need to simmer down and take a walk right now! Do I make myself clear!?”

“You can’t be serious?!” Rainbow glanced at Applejack then back at Connor motioning with her hoof. “If that High Horse thinks he can make fun of the Wonderbolts, he’s got another thing coming!!”

“Come say that to my face!!” Connor yelled back. Rainbow flared and tried to push past the obstacle in her way. However, 'Applejack the Mediator' instantly changed to 'Applejack the Brick Wall'.

“I said, that’s enough!!” Applejack bore down on the fighters, “y'all 're gonna come back with me to the stands with everypony else and we're gonna talk this out! And you!” she flipped her heavy stare onto Connor, “Yer gonna take a long walk and calm down, ya hear!? We've got a little hoedown later with Braeburn at the Inn and I won't have you two fightin' at it! We'll talk about this later once you two can act like normal ponies; but right now, you two need to back off!”

Connor stood there for a second grinding his teeth before whipping around with a roaring, snarling growl and stomped off. Rainbow wanted to slug Connor right now in the back of the head as he walked away, but there was an orange colored, green eyed brick wall standing between her and him. Applejack gave another push and said, “Stairs. Move. Now.” Rainbow gave one last angry glare over Applejack before complying with her orders and turned around. She marched back around to the entrance of the stairs and began the long climb up to the top.

There was a heavy silence as soon as Rainbow Dash entered the top of the tower. Everypony watched as the fuming Pegasus storm into one of the empty seats and sit with a heavy thud. Applejack sat in the spot next to her to keep an eye on and a restraining hoof ready just in case. Nopony wanted to say anything or even look at each other, but they all knew what everypony was thinking.

After several minutes of awkward and uncomfortable silence, Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “Stupid Connor, sticking his nose into things where it doesn’t belong…”

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight chided.

“No!” Rainbow Dash stood up to glare at her, “He was accusing me, the greatest flier in Equestria, of beating up somepony for fun! He called me a bully! I would never in a million years be a bully, and I would never do something like that!” she rounded on the rest of her friends sitting there, “Do you think I would do something like that?”

All of Rainbow’s friends suddenly tried to avoid her gaze either by glancing all about or rubbing the back of their necks. “I can't believe you, guys! My own friends think that I might be a bully! When have I ever done something that might, in a million chances, might make me a bully!?” She snorted.

“We saw ya do it just now, Rainbow.” Applejack stated bluntly.

Rainbow dash gaped at her best friend before shaking her head violently. “No I didn’t! I was showing everypony who the better flier was!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight stood up from her seat, “The colt you were up against landed on the nearest rock pillar and curled up into the fetal position after you finally scored your hit on him.”

“Huh?” Rainbow looked at Twilight funny.

“Darling, the poor child was crying his eyes out down there!” Rarity finally spoke up.

“He was? There’s no way that could have happened!” Rainbow Dash turned to her oldest friend for support. “Fluttershy! Come on, there’s no way that actually happened, right?!”

Fluttershy was still staring out at the field; “The poor thing looks so sad down there. It looked like one of the bullies from flight academy was picking on him the entire time.”

Rainbow Dash stood there like she was slapped in the face. Her oldest and closest friend had compared her to the one thing that had started their friendship so long ago and now, it seemed like the roles had been reversed and now she looked like the bully. She darted between all of her friends giving reluctant but honest stares at her.

“Pinkie Pie!” she looked to the last pony who had yet spoken hoping to find any kind of reprise.

Pinkie Pie folded her forelegs, “Not cool, bro. Not, cool.”

“So-So you all think I was being a bully during my match, huh?” Rainbow received a unanimous (albeit, somewhat hesitant) nod of agreement from everypony. Rainbow Dash gawked, “I can't believe you guys! You would all think that I, me, would bully another pony? That’s just-, well, no! That’s not-…!”

Rainbow Dash bolted from the stands and down the stairs before anypony could yell stop. Twilight stood up and tried to follow after her, but Applejack was right there next to her holding her back. “Applejack, we have to go after her!”

“Let'er go, Twilight,” Applejack said stoically.

“What? But why?”

“She needs to blow off some steam before she can talk again; but she’ll be back,” Applejack reassured, “We can talk about it later; for now, let's give her some space.” Twilight stared a long time at Applejack throwing a second glance at the stairs debating at going on her own. She glanced back at Applejack, “But what about Connor?”

“Don’t you worry about him. I’ll be talking with Connor later once he’s done bein' all huffy and puffy.”

Twilight stared at Applejack’s knowing smile for a few seconds longer before sighing and slowly returning to her seat. “Alright Applejack; I just hope that they will be okay for now.” Applejack gave a comforting pat on the shoulder before sitting back down in her own seat to enjoy the rest of the competition.

~~~

Connor gave a ragged sigh as he bore his way through the crowds of Appleloosa. After Applejack broke up his fight between Rainbow Dash, he removed himself from any signs of life for a couple of hours before slowly making his way back to civilization. It had taken him forever to finally be confident enough to walk amongst other ponies without looking like he wanted to melt them all down with his stare. If it was any indication of time, the sun was now beginning its path below the horizon as he was making his first trip around town.

He still had a bit of a scowl on his face, but his anger had calmed down enough to a low boil. He was shocked to see Rainbow Dash, the pony who had taught him how to fly and seemed like the most capable of controlling herself, now beating up on another pony and traumatizing him into possibly quitting Paint Wars forever. She clearly had never seen somepony get utterly devastated or irreparably changed because of reckless actions or actions not taken.

If it were up to him, Connor would have kept going with Rainbow Dash until she finally understood what she had done. He knew he was in the right and his anger was well reasoned, but since Applejack had stopped him short before he could get everything out it was like putting in a plug in a volcano that was already about to blow.

Memories of how a couple of his students had been affected from being in a real fight at school and openly humiliated in front of the dozens of classmates. He remembered one day expecting to see all of his students' smiling and excited faces again for class when he noticed one of them was missing. Hilton, one of his favorite students to work with wasn't there; he was a new student who was always eager to learn from Connor and very respectful, but always seemed like he was carrying a weight on his back.

Class had just started today and everyone was rushing to line for instruction. today was going good so far as connor scanned and waited for all the students to get settled. however, he noticed that Hilton wasn't here today; usually, he was here every day trying to get as much teaching and practice as possible. He spotted the child's parents come through the front door with somber faces talk to the master for a few moments before disappearing into the main office. He handed leading the stretches to one the older students before he darted after parents. He tipped toed to the door so he could eavesdrop enough to hear the conversation.
“I'm afraid he refuses to come back to class anymore,” the mom said, “After what happened at school with the bullying turning into a fight, he would rather stay home than come here.”
Connor felt his blood chill a bit. What had happened to him? He knew Hilton had been dealing with some problems at school with a couple of the kids, but he didn't think it was that bad.
“I'm sorry to hear that,” the master replied, “What exactly happened with the bullying that made him want to quit martial arts? Maybe we can try to teach him how to overcome this so it doesn't happen again?” he sounded downtrodden like he knew he wasn't going to be able to retain this student.
“Apparently, when he tried using his martial arts to defend himself, the kids decided to gang up on him and beat him down to the ground.” the dad wasn't too pleased with the situation either; it sounded like he blamed us slightly for the mess. “Hilton was in tears from the time we picked him up all the way to his bedroom-”
Connor couldn't bare to listen anymore; if he tried to, he would just end up feeling more terrible about himself. Hilton had kind of looked up to Connor and when he was finally able to share his school problems with him, that being the bullies, he had brushed him off like it nothing important. Connor had actively pushed his complaints aside and told him not to worry about it; they were probably just goofing around and just giving him a hard time and would pass in time. Now, Hilton had just gotten beaten up from said bullies and Connor blamed himself for not helping to intervene.
He didn't know how to feel about himself. He was angry with himself for partially being the cause of this, but he didn't know how to fix it. Its not like he could go back in time and try again, though he really wish he could. And Connor couldn't force Hilton to come back and try to make it up to him; that would probably make the situation worse. Unfortunately, he didn't have anymore time to think about it as classes was still waiting for him.
A couple of days later, some the students who went to the same school as Hilton came back telling stories of him saying martial arts was a 'Waste of time' and 'Pointless'. He flat out told them that he was never coming back. Hilton never outright blamed Connor for the fight, but that didn't stop him from blaming himself for letting a student down. Connor promised himself to never make this mistake again if school bullies ever came up. He wouldn't let a person get bullied around by someone who was stronger without any back up.

He shook his head trying to get his memories, anger, and Applejack out of his head. He didn’t want to think about it right now and wanted to just forget it for now. But his wish to forget was disregarded as a familiar country twang called out to him.

“Connor! Hold on there a second!” Connor growled under his breath as Applejack slowed down to match his slow, grumpy pace down the road.

“Howdy there,” she greeted; Connor grunted in response. “How' ya doing right now?”

“Mm’fine…” Connor answered vaguely.

Applejack paused for a few more steps before pressing again. “So, ‘you feelin' any better?”

“For now, I guess…” he grunted.

Applejack scoffed, “Oh come on now, you can stop yer poutin'. We’ve already talked to Rainbow Dash about what happened an' she understands that she made a mistake. Can ya at least forgive her for that?” she pleaded.

“It’s the fact that she did it at all in the first place that I am upset about,” Connor stated tersely, “I thought she was better than that. There’s a difference between winning with grace and beating the snot out of someone to get a few cheap thrills.”

“I know sugar cube, and she know that too; we’ve already talked to her about it. Please don’t hold a grudge against her.” Connor averted his eyes from the look that Applejack was giving him, tugging him with pleas of forgiveness on the back of his head. But he didn’t want to let go of his sourness just yet.

“Y'know, Granny Smith once held a grudge against one of my aunts for 15 years at one time; did you know that?” Connor turned back to shake his head. “Yep, Granny Smith held a grudge against aunt Ambros fer not liking her cooking at a family reunion. I was still young at the time, but they had somethin' fierce to say over how the apple fritters should have been cooked. After that, they refused to speak to each other. But y'know what that fight came down to?”

“No…” Connor rolled his eyes.

“Nothin'; absolutely nothin'.” Connor cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. “After 15 years of not speakin', Granny and aunt Ambros apologized to each other at the next family reunion. In fact, aunt Ambros had sent a dozen letters tryin' to apologize for the whole hullabaloo. The family had a long talk about how grudges can hurt longer than burning your mouth on a hot apple fritter fresh from the cooking pot. Come t' think of it, Rarity and Sweetie Belle had a fight not too long ago.”

“No, really?” Connor chided sarcastically, “Siblings fighting in this world? Unheard of!”

“That’s enough, and yes they did. Rarity told me her sister was mad at her for helpin' too much with a play she put on. I think that night before Rarity left for Manehattan, Sweetie Belle got up to ruin a new outfit for Sapphire Shores the next day. But somehow, Sweetie Belle had a change of heart and followed her sister all the way to Manehattan with her friends to fix it.”

“Wait, what?” Connor broke into a smile, “Sweetie Belle went all the way there just to fix something she broke for her sister?”

“Sure did! Boy, was I furious with Apple Bloom when they finally got back, but they managed to fix the problem between those two.”

“And you heard all this from who?”

“Apple Bloom told the story after she got grounded to her room, then Rarity filled in some of the missing details when I swung by her shop.”

Connor laughed, “Wow! That’s quite a story; I’m impressed!”

Applejack joined in the laughter glad to see that his mood was lifting. “Now, are ya gonna cheer up or are you gonna stay a sour apple for the rest of the night?”

“I guess; it depends…” His laughter dying down to a soft chuckle as he stared ahead of where they were walking.

“Depends on what?” Applejack questioned.

“I don’t know, depends on a lot of different things. Depends on what happens for the rest of the night.”

Applejack let out a frustrated sigh, “Will you at least cheer up for the party an' not start anything with Rainbow Dash?”

Connor answered Applejack’s question with one of his own annoyed sighs. “Fiiine.” He cracked a smile as a memory of his mom nagging him the same way shot through his mind like a lightning bolt followed by a twang of homesickness. Man, he missed her so much.

“Great!” Applejack smiled before he could get lost in his self-pity. “Because we’re here right now!”

Connor halted beside Applejack with a confused look and glanced around. They were standing outside the inn where voices and music floated out from the first floor of the Inn with the occasional sound of clinking glasses and laughter intermingled.

Connor silently groaned, “Aw, Duck!”

Author's Notes:

The second chapter of three ready to go. I will have the third up tomorrow.

Now, I know some (and by some, I mean most of you) are pretty upset about how Rainbow Dash is behaving and have/will be declaring it as 'Out Of Character'. For the most part, we have seen Rainbow as the energetic and head strong pony who loves a challenge. But if I remember right, hasn't Rainbow Dash gotten angry at someone before for getting in her face or questioning her position? I think back in season 1 in 'Over a barrel' Rainbow and Applejack got into it over who should get the land of the apple orchard.

Also, wouldn't you get a little defensive if someone was pissed at you for something you thought was in the right? And dont give me that bullshit of, 'Oh, I would never do that!'. I'm sure you have gotten into one or more fights with someone and felt like it could have gone to a fist fight if it escalated more; there are plenty of videos on YouTube that show that exact situation happening.

I'll see you all in the next chapter!

37: Battle-Born Friends

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Connor

“Aw, Duck!” Connor complained, “I didn’t think she was actually being serious about the whole party thing!”

“Come on!” Applejack cheered, “Everypony at the party is waiting for us!” She bounded in through the doors and a cheer sounded out as she disappeared inside.

Connor really, really didn’t want to do this; he was still ticked off from the events at the competition and wanted stay away from public eyes right now. He didn't want to test how long he could keep up a fake smile at a party before he broke and stormed off again; but it didn’t look like Connor had much of a choice at the moment. He was already here and Applejack was expecting him to follow in behind her, so he was just going to have to suffer for a little bit more before he could seclude himself again from the world or sleep off the rest of the night.

“Alright, I can do this,” he told himself, “I can make it through one party without seeming like an bass; I just need to put on a smile and pretend to be fine. Just put on a good show for a little bit longer and then I can get out of here.” He exhaled one last time before taking a step forward to the saloon doors.

He pushed the doors open to find the first floor of the Inn packed with ponies. The volume jumped several decibels higher as music, voices, laughter, and hoofsteps all fought for dominance in the muggy, sweat smelling room. Competitors circled around each other exchanging congratulations and swapping sides of stories about their own matches. A lot of them still wore their goggles and saddle bags from the competition and a few didn’t even bother to wash the paint or blue powder from their fur.

Connor thought he might get lucky and be able to avoid most of these ponies tonight when Braeburn appeared from the hordes of loud ponies and crushed his hopes. “Connor! Weclome to the End-Of-Competition party! Glad you could make it!” he shouted over the noise, “Come over here, the rest of everypony are at a table! By the way, congratulations on your win!”

“Thanks!” Connor yelled back as he and Braeburn pushed their way through the bodies. The table Braeburn spoke of was near left side of the first floor next to window overlooking the market place. They maneuvered through a few more crowds and around a couple of tables before they sat down at a round table where everypony was seated.

“Howdy everypony! Look what the cat dragged in 'n finally showed up!” Connor smiled as everyone else cheered and whooped at the announcement of his arrival. He sat down in one of the few empty seats with Pinkie pie next him on his left while Applejack and Twilight were off to his right.

“Woo, way to go, Connor!!” Pinkie slugged Connor’s shoulder as he sat down, “That was the most super-ific flying I have ever seen in a while! Except for Rainbow Dash; she’s always doing the most amazingly, daringly, devilish tricks ever!”

“Thanks Pinkie, it was one heck of match for me.”

“Well you certainly earned yourself a celebration!” Rarity piped in from across the table, “You most definitely earned a break for tonight.”

Connor smiled again at the praise from everypony and swung his gaze to the left. He accidentally locked eyes with Rainbow Dash slowly nursing a mug in front of her. His smile faltered and he frowned disapprovingly at her. She retorted with her own glower, but didn’t say anything and went back to her mug. He didn’t say anything either, but his happy mood didn’t come back when he finally moved on to look at other things.

“Well, have fun everypony!” Braeburn cheered to fill the empty silence between everypony, “This party is to celebrate y'all competitors today and to cheer'em on to the next round. So relax, have a few drinks, and enjoy! I need to talk with some of the pony officials about the competition schedule; don’t have too much fun now, you hear?” He waved goodbye as he maneuvered his way to the front doors again.

Connor waved back; “You know, I’m actually going to go get myself a few drinks.” Turning back to the group he stood up, “I’ll see you all later!” He smiled as he left for the bar and started picking his way through the sea of Pegasus ponies. He overheard snippets of conversations about who did this move and which scored this point as he passed by some of the crowds. But he didn’t feel like stopping and mingling that much right now and just wanted to stay anonymous amongst the crowds.

He spotted an empty stool in the middle of the bar counter and made a bee line for it. The bar tender pony approached him just as Connor sat down. “What can I getch'ya?”

“Just a water, thanks!” Connor called back over the noise and rested his elbows on the counter. Today had been a roller coaster of ups and downs for him and right now, being able to drink away his time felt like the best thing to do even if it was only with plain water. But just as he was getting comfortable, another pony sat down to his right.

“Howdy there, partner!” he drawled. Connor glanced out of the corner of his eye to see a white Pegasus wearing a black vest and a flamboyant pink cowboy hat. “You were one of them fliers in today's little competition right?”

“Yeah, I was competing today...” Connor vaguely answered as his drink was placed in front of him; he nodded at the bar tender pony and brought the generous shot glass up for a sip.

“I think I remember seeing you flyin' up there, yeah! You were going up against that youn' gun, Sour Patch right? Hoo-Wee! That was some impressive flyin' there kid! Hey, how 'bout I buy your next drink for ya; hey bar tender!” he waved to the pony behind the counter, “Another round here me and my friend here!”

Connor groaned on the inside as the drink in his hooves hovered just before his lips. “Hey man, you don't need to do that-”

“Oh, don't worry about it! In this town, nopony drinks alone! I insist that I buy you your next drink as a job well done!”

“No, seriously, you don't need to do that. I'm fine as it is.” Connor's voice dropped to a more serious tone. He was getting impatient with this guy and wanted him gone soon.

“Hey now, listen here,” the random pony's voice dropped to match Connor's seriousness, “I want to buy you a drink. That was some darn tootin' flyin' out there and I want to help congratulate you on winning and my way is going to be buying you a drink.” The bar tender swung by and dropped off two fresh drinks that didn't look like water; they looked and fizzled more like root beer or something.

Connor dropped his glass with a heavy clink! “listen here numb-buts, I appreciate the offer of you buying me a drink but right now, I don't need you or some other idiot trying to chauffeur me around on how to have a good time. Right now, I would just like to have my one drink in peace. And later, if I want another one, I'll let you know! But right now, just hiss, off...!” Connor narrowed his eyes at the pony to drive his point home before dropping the conversation and raising his right hoof to take a shot. These ponies in this town just don't know how to let somepony be sometimes and always have to butt into other ponies business.

A splash of sugary smelling liquid hit his face from the right.

“Alright, that's it!”

His anger exploded again like a volcano. He raised his right arm for cover and twisted in his seat to throw a left hook at the pony's face. His hoof connected solidly on the guy's jaw before the drink Connor dropped had hit the table. The pony spun out of his seat and fell heavily on the ground, knocked out.

Connor stared at the pony on the ground the rest of the world disappearing in a red haze. A punch blind sided across the right side of his face and he stumbled out of his chair. He growled at the new attacker; an orange pony with sickly green hair who looked ready for a fight.

Connor retaliated with flurry of punches. Two jabs, a cross; he spotted an opening below as the new pony was distracted with blocking. Connor ducked low then popped back up with a nasty uppercut and a battlecry escaping his mouth. The satisfying sound of clacking teeth rang through his ears and it delighted him!

A second fighter barreled in and tackled Connor from his left side. The two slammed into the bar counter jostling Connor's senses. He snarled again like an angry wolf and twisted in his crushing prison to drop an elbow onto the pony squeezing him.

The previous pony took the opportunity of Connor being distracted to regain his balance after the uppercut. He reached back behind him to grab something off the counter, then rushed forward for another attack.

Glass shattered against Connor's right face. He buckled a bit, but fought to hold on to his footing. Pain and liquids ran down the side of his face, but he shrugged it off. He dropped another elbow down on the pony pinning him. The strike landed on the spine and his pinner buckled under the electrical shock he received.

Connor twisted again in the loosened grip and pried a gap enough to throw a few well-placed punches to the side of the pony's face. He felt some vibrations bouncing off of his back like someone was trying to get his attention, but he ignored them; right now, the pony in front of him was his current prey.

A stray punch from somewhere caught Connor in the nose. He threw his head back and snorted as every fluid from his face started running and blinding him. He stumbled then fell backwards onto his back trying to shake the snot, tears, and blood clear. Something hit him in the gut getting a grunt out of him. He instinctively put his guard back up again as more and more strikes rained down from above. The blows bounced off his guard as he tried to recover; if Connor could just regain some strength and get his bearings, he could come back to the fight and finish it.

“THAT'S ENOUGH Y'ALL!!!”

Sounds of more fighting came through the grunts of ponies trying to pound down on Connor. For some reason, the punches were fading away. What was going on out there? Suddenly, a strong hoof grabbed him by the neck and hauled him up dragging him across the floor.

Connor swung blindly at the assailant man-handling him, but the vice like grip just tightened itself around him like iron clamps. He couldn't see anything so he kept swinging and swinging as the pony pulled and twisted him around the room. He heard doors being kicked open and the sounds of city night life filled his ears. Just has he registered what kind of sounds were hitting him, he felt his head being picked up and flipped upside down.

Everything disappeared in a rush of cold water and pain shot through the top of his head. He flailed about and tipped forward again. His neck was bent backwards over an edge and he tumbled out of the water trough outside the Inn sputtering in shock and soaking wet.

“You can just cool yourself off in th' river and when yer ready to act like some normal pony, ya can come back!!”

Connor whipped his aching neck and head around to see Applejack storm off back into the Inn. His anger flared again; “FINE! DUCK ALL OF YOU GUYS!! You couldn't even handle a real beer even if you wanted too!!” Connor kicked and scuffed at the ground before letting a scream out. “COD, SPAM IT!!!”

He stomped off to leave all the stupid ponies behind. If he couldn't go back in, then he didn't need to be there; he didn't want to go to that stupid party anyways.

~~~

What, a, mess. Applejack was fuming as she stepped back inside to assess the damage done. The three ponies involved in Connor's fight were slowly being picked off the ground. Twilight was tending to the one with a broken jaw from Connor's uppercut that was heard more than seen and Fluttershy was looking over the other two now sitting on the ground.

Chairs and tables had been kicked out of the way from the fight and the one glass that had been broken was currently being swept up. The smell of sweat, blood, sarsaparilla, and foul angers hung around in a repugnant cloud mixture that wafted all throughout the first floor of the Inn. It was clear to say that the party had taken a bad turn.

Applejack marched up to one of the ponies sitting on the ground where Fluttershy was placing a small bag of ice on his eye. “What in the name of Celestia, Luna, and all of Tarturus happened here?!” She demanded.

“The snobby city slicker thought he was too good for my drink!”

“What city slicker, Buck?” Applejack asked but she felt she already knew who he was talking about.

The pony named Buck (or Bucky to his friends) answered while throwing a weak hoof at the door. “That blue feather plucker with the city boy mane-cut! I tried to offer him a drink, but he just wouldn't take it and say thanks! Said he just wanted to, 'Have my one drink in peace'! The smug stump-head... Ow!”

While Buck sat there tending to his wounds, a bolt of realization struck Applejack and she facehoofed. How could she have forgotten one of the most basic rules in Appleloosa! It just seemed so natural to her that she never even bothered to tell any of her friends about it because all of her friends were free spirited and courteous to other ponies. When somepony offers you a drink in Appleloosa, you never turn it down; its just down right disrespectful! Just then, the saloon doors were kicked open again and Applejack groaned to herself as Braeburn's angry voice echoed over the bustle of hushed whispers and work of ponies fixing the Inn.

“I leave for a few minutes to talk and I come back to find a bar fight breaking out in the middle of a celebration; and its not even sundown! Cousin Applejack!” Braeburn stormed over to question her, “What in tarnation and Equestria happened here!?”

“Now Braeburn,” Applejack raised a hoof reassuringly, “I know this may look bad, but I can promise ya my friends and I are takin' care everything and will be dealing with the pony responsible for this.” As much as she was angry at Connor, she didn't want Braeburn going after him too.

“Darn tootin' they're going to fix this mess! I've been workin' my flank off tryin' ta set this here tournament up an' I didn't want it smudged with a bar fight! Who was this pony!? What's their name!? I'm going to find him and have him apologize for this!”

“See, here's the problem,” Applejack grimaced, “Its Connor who started this and-”

“Connor?!” Braeburn cut off, “You mean that really nice pony you brought with you? I never pegged him for somepony who would start fights!? Why that no good, cheap talkin', thrill seekin', troublemaker! Where is he!?” Braeburn turned to the door but was stopped by a hoof from Applejack. “Cousin, what are you doin'? I need to go find this pony and have him right his wrongs!”

“He will, Braeburn! But right now we cant go after'em!”

“And why's that, cousin!?” Applejack froze at Braeburn's question. She had to pick her words carefully or this could go south real fast. she was afraid of what Braeburn might do to him; throw him in prison? Force him to work off the damages? Whip him? It was something that she might do if Applejack was in Braeburn's position and had to deal with a violent bar fight on a night of celebration.

The cogs turned in her head when an idea came. “Braeburn, how do you catch a worm from destroying apples?”

“What are you tal-”

“How do ya stop a pesky worm from eatin' all your apples in a basket?” she repeated.

“Why, you bait it with an apple and catch the darn thing there, but what does this have to do with Connor?”

“If ya want to catch Connor, you have to let'em come to you. If you chase after him, he'll scatter to the winds like an apple leaf. But if Connor is the worm, then his bed is the apple! He's gonna be dead tired after tonight and will wanna hit the hay soon. So if you wait until he comes back, then you can get'em there!”

Braeburn snorted in anger while he rolled Applejack's words around in his head. After some silent debating he came back with his decision. “Fine then, we'll try it your way; we'll let the worm come to the apple. But if Connor leaves town-!”

“He won't, Braeburn. I promise Connor wont leave; he'll come back before the cows come home.” Braeburn narrowed his eyes at Applejack, but stayed silent. He wheeled around and marched out the door leaving Applejack on the floor. She let a tense sigh slide out. She hoped this plan would buy enough time to let Connor calm down and hopefully find him before Braeburn did.

~~~

Connor hated Murphy's law; it usually came at the worst possible moments to make anything good turn bad. He was having such a good day in the beginning then everything started to go down hill after the competition. For some reason, whenever Connor felt like he was having a good day (or a great day for that matter), Murphy came by and dumped a bucket of garbage on him and leave him with wanting nothing more than to see the world around him burn in a fiery blaze. This was one of those days.

Connor stormed down the street giving every pony that looked his way a glare that he hoped would set them aflame and melt them into a pool of goop. Every colorful building he passed he imagined burnt down with hell-flame and stamping on the ashy remains.

Pain was throbbing throughout his limbs and a roaring headache was ringing his ears like church bells. He could still feel a trickle of blood running down the side of his right face and he raised a hoof to pick at the shards of glass still wedged in the side of his face; but without fingers all he could do was poke and prod painfully at the sharp pieces stuck there. He tried to blow the snot and blood clogging his nose out which made a mess everywhere on his hooves and down his front. He just growled and ground the mess with dirt from the road.

Great, now he was in pain and he was a snotty, bloody, dirty mess. Fan-jucking-tastic.

“Hey!” Connor shot a low glare in the direction of the calling and spotted an annoyingly sour green pony wearing a cowboy hat. He quickly wished a thousand deaths upon the pony before continuing on his march out of town.

“Whoa there, city boy!” Sour Patch called as he matched Connor's angry pace, “What's got you in a stampede? Did a pretty little mare turn ya down and give you the what-for when you kept pushin'?” Sour Patch laughed.

“Eat Fish and Die!” He snapped back.

“Hey, what's your problem?! Do you always act like a bull on a rampage or do you just have those sudden city boy mood swings because you've been away for too long?” He sped up to look Connor directly in the face.

Connor sped up even faster to try and lose him. “Do you always act like an idiot who cant take a hint when someone wants him to HUCK OFF!?”

“Sweet cider, you're angrier than a filly throwing a tantrum over not getting her favorite lollipop at the sweet shop!” Sour Patch yelled as he chased after Connor.

“And your dumber than a door knob who should go hang himself from one of his apple trees!!” Connor was in a full out run trying to get rid of his taunter. Connor was just outside the town limits as he tried to outrun his pursuer. He didn't want to deal with this nonsense right now and wanted it to just disappear. A body jumped on top of him trying to tackle him to the ground.

“Raugh, dog ram it!!” He slowed and stumbled to a stop as the extra weight tried to throw him forward. On the rebound, Connor threw his left elbow over his shoulder. It connected and Sour Patch tumbled off his back. The two wheeled on each other, Connor tired but still able to fight and Sour Patch angry and clutching one of his eyes. They charged and swung blindly at each other.

“You are so stupid, it is unbelievable!” Connor landed a blow on patch's head, “You are so stubborn its like talking to a brick wall!” another landed on his neck, “And I have to break it just to get my point across that I ducking hate you right now!” he shoved patch back, “I hate all of you right now!!”

Sour Patch shoulder charged him and threw him back. “Grr, I wish you would all be burned alive at the stake while you watched your families being torn apart and fed to do-!” Sour Patch slugged him in the nose followed by another in the gut. Connor grunted in pain and brought his arms up to guard.

“Don't you ever talk that way about the Apple family!” Sour Patch gave a mighty shove sending Connor back a few paces. “Say whatever you want about me, but I wont stand you disrespecting the family I love!” he swung left, then right throwing Connor teetering from the impacts. “And besides, all I want to ask was how you pulled that last move from our match!”

Sour Patch rushed forward for another push, but Connor braced himself. The pair locked arms and grunted back and forth trying to overpower the other's strength. “But you're so hot headed, you cant tell when somepony sees that you need help!!”

“RUCK!!” Sour Patch wheezed clutching his stomach as a knee flew up and knocked the wind out of him. Connor tossed his wheezing body to the side as he threw his arms up in the air, spun, and collapsed on his back panting and gasping for air.

The pair laid there in the dirt together gasping like fish out of water. Connor was exhausted; he could barely move his body let alone be angry. He stared up into the night sky as the sweat beaded down his matted fur and a cool desert breeze swept by them. The wind carried the scent of serenity and peace of mind as the lands slumbered around them with the exception of the town. The air current seemed to carry away what little remained of the anger that was hanging between the two.

Connor heard movement outside of vision. Sour patch was finally catching his breath as he sat up to glare at him. “What's got you so riled up like a rattlesnake being attacked by a coyote?”

“Guck you,” Connor weakly threw back as tried to roll to his side away from Sour Patch.

“Oh no, you're going to let the cat out of the bag and spill the apples right now!” Sour Patch pointed.

“Fine, you want to know what's going on?” Connor sighed as he rolled back and star-fished out on the ground. “The pony who has been teaching me how to fly just competed today against some kid who looked like he just got the courage to fly against another pony in a tournament and used him like a practice dummy. I tried to blow up on her, but was stopped before I could get everything out; I just finished a bar fight over somepony offering me a drink and now I cant go back until who knows when and now I just finished fighting you!” Connor waved his arms about animating his long winded speech over each point until he let them drop back to the ground when he finished.

There was a moment of silence as both ponies digested what was said.

“You are a sad, angry, little pony...”

“Go die in a hole,” Connor snapped back.

“Go sit on some broken feathers and get infected.”

“Go get rearly impaled by a unicorn horn!”

“Go get bum-plugged by a herd of buffalo!”

There was a snicker; then a chuckle. Then Connor burst into full stomach holding, leg kicking laughter! He had no idea why he found that last insult so funny, but he couldn't stop himself from rolling around in the dirt. Maybe it was how Sour Patch had said it with such venomous hostility and despise at him that it just sounded ridiculous. Sour Patch joined in on the laughs and the pair who were just trying to pulverize each other were now laughing like a couple of old friends.

The laughter finally died down to a few lasting chuckles as the pair worked to catch their breath again. “Hoh hog, that was good... Why are you still here?” Connor asked without even looking.

“Well the mares love a stallion who never gives up.” Sour Patch ran a hoof through his hair and grinned his signature grin. Connor laughed, “Shut up!”

“Well, you had so much chili pepper in your eyes that I had to beat you out of your little rampage to see it clearly!”

Connor rolled his eyes. “Whatever...”

“So are you going to tell me?”

“Hm? Tell you what?” Connor raised his head enough to look at Sour Patch.

“That fancy move; the one you made at the end of our match.”

“Oh, that one,” he let his head rest again, “Maybe...”

“Come on! Tell me!” he egged, “How about a trade? You tell me how you pulled that move off and I'll tell you how I was able to keep you runnin' like a mouse the entire time?”

“Bog, you're stubborn,” Connor muttered to himself, “Fine! I'll tell you.”

“Hoo-Wee!” Sour Patch cheered and stood up, “How 'bout we do it over a few drinks?”

“Fine,” Connor rolled over and slowly picked himself up, “I'm too tired to fight anymore anyways- good sod!” Connor laughed at Sour Patch, “You look like you tried to block a punch with your face! Your eye is already turning black!”

Sour Patch laughed; “You look like you tried to fight the 'S' Gang with glass bottles and sticks!”

“Who are the 'S' Gang?” Connor raised a curious brow.

“I'll tell you over drinks.”

“Cool, can we also get some food too? I'm starving right now...” the two continued their light hearted talk as they made their way back into town laughing and having a good time.

~~~

Connor sat staring out the train window with his chin in his hooves again sporting a new bandage on his face as he waited to depart for Ponyville. Last night had been crazy between the party, the fight, and Sour Patch. Connor had actually enjoyed himself after hanging out with Sour Patch.

Connor found that he loved to egg him on trying to better each other over random things like drinking and shooting hay fries into cups. This lead to a lot of fun battles between the two. In between battles, they talked about funny stories, about each other, and little secrets they learned over time. Sour patch had actually spent the entire week trying to memorize every part of the canyons before the competition to get the upper hoof on everypony. After saying their goodbyes, Connor caught himself wondering if he was going to get another chance to hang out with Sour Patch again; despite his overly confident attitude, he was a pretty cool guy to be with. That's not to say that the night ended without its retributions.

As soon as Connor walked through the door of his shared room at the Inn, Applejack was there to give him an earful and a smack across the back of the head along with everypony else; and boy did everypony have a lot to say to him. Twilight didn't say much as she was busying with pulling the glass shards out of his face, although she didn't have to as her violent and painful yanking of the shards out was clear enough on how she felt about the whole catastrophe.

At breakfast, Braeburn burst through the shutter doors of the Inn with last night's victims leading the charge. After keeping the ponies back from starting another bar fight, Braeburn forced him to apologize to him and everypony else for ruining last night's party. Amongst the embarrassing apologies to each pony in the room, Connor thought this was a very light punishment to last's night brawl but he wasn't going to question it; if he wasn't going to jail, then he wasn't going to push it.

Now he waited on his train car bed for the train to leave. While staring at the rustling crowds, he picked out Sour Patch looking at him with a large, shining, left black eye. He gave his cocky smile and tipped his hat. Connor returned the gesture with a smirk and a salute back.

“Connor?” Connor turned around to see Twilight hovering over him. “Are you doing alright?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine,” he gave a tired smile, “I'm just ready to get back to my bed and relax.”

“Oh no you don't!” Rainbow Dash dropped into view from above and Connor's smile went sour. “We have a lot of training to do before the next round and we only got another week to do it! I need you up and ready to fly in every kind of bad weather condition possible!”

“What are you talking about?” Connor asked coldly.

“Well, after your little, dispute, at the bar,” Twilight narrowed her eyes at him, “There was an announcement made by one of the pony officials.”

“Yeah, they said the next round of flying is going to be held in Canterlot!” Rainbow clapped her hooves, “And you know how the special condition here was that altitude limit thing? Well, there's rumors going around saying that Canterlot's going to have one too! And its supposed to be bad weather flying!”

“Nothing has been confirmed yet,” Twilight pointed.

“Well, whatever it is I want him ready for anything! Tomorrow, Nine o'clock, at the field, and ready to go! Don't be late!” Rainbow pointed at him before flying off. Connor grunted angrily but paused when he noticed a large white medical patch on her side that had been hidden before she turned.

“Hey Twilight, what's up with that patch on Rainbow?”

“Hm? Oh, that; Rainbow got injured during the fight trying to stop more ponies from hitting you.”

“What?!” Connor tore his eyes from the Rainbow's patch, “She was fighting too?!”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, she was.”

“I thought she would have liked to see me get pummeled a bit...”

“She's not as cold hearted as you may think. Rainbow Dash is one of the most loyal ponies I have ever known. She would jump into any fight to help a friend whether its against dragons or other ponies.” Connor turned back to watch Rainbow start talking it up with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stunned by the new information. “I know you may still be upset with her, but please don't take it too seriously. She really is a good pony and a friend.”

Twilight left Connor staring off into space lost in his thoughts. He watched Rainbow Dash bounce in excitement over what might to come for the competition in Canterlot and how she was going to win again. He watched for a few more seconds before turning his gaze out the window again to think.

Author's Notes:

Phew! This took me forever to do! Okay that is all the chapters I have made; now lets see here-, hang on...?

*looks at outline*

Umm... Well, the next bit is... *looks back at story*

Ummmmm... *looks at outline again*

Well, shit; that's the end of my written outline. Looks like we'll be flying by the seats of our pants now, boys! Lets see where this crazy train goes!

Yeah, for the most part, this was the last point I got to in my 'Written' outline before I started writing this whole thing. So from here onwards, I don't really have a set path of where the story is going to go. I know where I want it to head, but all the little details I am going to have to come up with on my own. But hey, sometimes the greatest adventures we have didnt exactly have a plan to them either.

i'll get started on writting the next chapter so we dont have another little hiatus like before...

I'll see you all in the next chapter!

38: W.W.P.

View Online

Connor

Connor let out a loud yawn as he trudged his way to the usual field he and rainbow liked to practice at. The morning air after yesterday’s trip felt cool against his skin as it slowly helped him wake up from his usual zombified state. The train ride back from Appleloosa had given him ample time to think over the events of the competition and Rainbow Dash. But even with that much time, he still wasn’t sure how to think about it.

On one hoof, Connor really wanted to condemn Rainbow for her behavior and unfavorable sportsmanship. But in the other, there was the fact that Dash watched his back during the bar fight; and that part confounded him. To have somepony watching his back felt weird and foreign and, curiously comforting. Curiosity wanted him to see more of this strange phenomenon, but doing that felt like admitting being wrong in his actions; and Connor knew for a fact that wasn’t true. He gave up trying to dwell over that back-and-forth conundrum in his mind last night. There were other priorities that needed more attention, like his next week of training with Rainbow Dash.

The grass rustled softly under his hooves as a summer breeze blew through the empty fields. Connor closed his eyes and breathed in deeply trying to take in the tranquility that was the early morning hours. That breeze, however, exploded into a ferocious gust of wind forcing Connor to flatten himself against the ground.

“FFFFFFFFF-AWDGE!!!” he swore stupidly.

“You’re LATE!!” a voice yelled over the roaring wind in his ears and he peeked through an eyelid at a familiar rainbow colored hair and a pair of angry magenta eyes glaring at him. “Do you know what time it is!?”

Connor sighed as he peeled himself off the grassy knoll; “Its morning?” his answer came out more as a question rather than a statement.

“Its 9:11 in the morning right now, you’re over ten minutes late!” Dash bellowed, “Do you even know what kind of training we could have been doing in that time?”

“Eh,” Connor shrugged to himself, “Close enough.” He wasn’t too eager to be on time today after what had happened the day before. Though, it didn’t look like Rainbow was too affected from yesterday’s events.

“I’ve got a brand new training program for you that will make you ready to take on any kind of weather they can try to throw at us in Canterlot! You’ll be bustin’ through clouds and kicking through lightning in no time!” Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs proudly.

“Well, good morning to you too,” Connor mumbled out before blearily scanning the rest of the field. He furrowed his brow as an orange blob came into view. “Hey Scootaloo; what’re you doing up this early in the morning? And when did you get here? Last time I saw you was…” He tried to recall through his still groggy mind.

The young Pegasus rolled her eyes, “Since you ditched me after making Paint Wars; and I’ve been standing here the whole time!”

Connor cringed at that jab. “Sorry.”

“Whatever, I know you were busy with it and having to deal with that meanie, Sportsen.” She waved dismissively and smiled. “Rainbow Dash specifically asked me to help out with today’s training and I couldn’t say no to that! I wouldn’t want to miss a single minute of training with Dash!” she bounced energetically.

She leaned in a little closer to whisper to Connor. “Plus, we’re going to Sugar Cube Corner afterwards as thanks!” Connor smirked and shared a hoof bump with her.

Connor turned back his drill instructor. “So what are we practicing today?” Rainbow’s eyes glinted; she coiled up then blasted by Connor again making him slide back a few paces.

“Fffff-ob!!” he grunted a second time as Dash circled back around. “This has got to be one the worst awakening I’ve ever had!” he thought as the roaring and ringing in his ears slowly subsided.

“Today is the first day of Rainbow’s special ‘Worst Weather Patterns’ training, cadet; or WWP for short!” she announced while pulling out a whistle and cap.

“Does it constantly require trying to blow me off my hooves…?!” Connor stuck a hoof in his ear trying to get the last of the ringing to stop, “And did you spend all night trying to come up with that name?”

“Quiet, Connor!” Scootaloo hissed, “I want to hear this part!”

“This is a special program that I came up with to make anypony ready to fly in the worst possible weather in just one week! During your training, you will be put up against the worst storm clouds and winds so strong they will literally throw you all the way to Canterlot!”

“Cool,” Connor sarcastically thought, “It will save me the effort of having to flying there.”

“After this training, you can be ready to rock n’ roll in any kind of weather they might try to throw at us in the tournament! Plus, I wouldn’t mind practicing some new tricks with some of the clouds we’ll be using.”

Scootaloo stared up starry eyed; “Whhoooooaaaaaaa…! So awesome…!”

Connor rolled his eyes at Rainbow’s overenthusiastic idolizer and yawned. “So what is the first training exercise?”

“Today is going to be about heavy winds and random gusts! I’m going to fly around and whip up some nasty winds for you while you try to fly through a few routines that I made.” Rainbow pounded her chest, “Meanwhile, Scootaloo is going to be using this, fan, thingy, here to see how strong the winds you are flying in.”

Scootaloo nodded; “Yep! I’ll be using this anemometer here to keep track of how fast the winds are and writing them down on this paper! Rainbow wants me to keep a record of how fast she’s going and how you’re flying so she can see how well you’re doing during the training.”

“And where did you get the fan?” Connor inquired.

“From twilight’s lab,” Scootaloo stated without hesitation.

“So was it asked for, or ‘borrowed’ without telling?” he pondered to himself.

~~~

Meanwhile in Golden Oaks Library, Twilight was searching her downstairs storage closet where she put all of her small test equipment. She shifted through box after box searching for on particular piece of equipment she was going to use for her current experiment she was studying on her own time. She grumbled to herself as she went through the current box for a third time in a row.

“Spike!” she called from inside the box, “Spike, do you know where the anemometer is!? I can’t seem to find it!”

“The what!?” the purple dragon called back from outside the closet.

“The anemometer! You know, the fan we use to measure how fast the wind is blowing! We used it a long time ago when we had the Wonderbolts come by about needing to use Ponyville to supply the rainbow factory with water from one of our lakes!” She let out another sigh of exasperation and tossed the box back on the shelf to search another box.

Spike poked his head inside. “No, I have no idea where it is. By the way, have you seen some of our quills and paper? I thought we had more than what we have right now?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, but we can always get more from the store. I would just like to find the anemometer.” She scratched her head trying to remember where she might have left it. She left the closet as Spike was finishing up his chore of sweeping the floor. “Come on, why don’t we go shopping for a bit as a break. There are some groceries we need to restock and we can always pick up some more quill and paper. Maybe I’ll remember where I left it when we come back.”

“Awesome!” Spike dropped the broom in his claws and jumped onto Twilight’s back eager to leave some of his chores. A shopping list levitated in front of him to hold on as Twilight’s magic opened the front door.

~~~

Connor hummed to himself for a moment letting the knowledge roll around in his head. He paused as he stared at the instrument next to Scootaloo as a devious thought formed in his brain. “Hey Rainbow,” the hint of a smirk forming on his lips, “How fast was that last wind?”

“Huh?” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, “Uuhh, it would be, umm; actually, I might say it was about, uhm-”

“Twenty two flaps per hour!” Scootaloo jumped in like she got the right answer on a quiz.

“Uh, yeah!” Rainbow Dash clapped her hooves, “That’s what it was; Twenty two flaps an hour! It’s so easy to make a wind like that, even Scootaloo could do it in her sleep.” She winked at the little filly who beamed at the compliment.

“Oh really…?” Connor shuffled a little closer to the device. “Okay then, how fast is this?” Connor swung his wing in front of the fan and it whirred quietly as the wind spun its fins. Rainbow Dash gulped as she stared at the wind speed fan for second.

“Well, um, the wind you just blew with your wing was, um, about, probably-”

“Three flaps per hour!” Scootaloo chirped.

“Yeah!” Rainbow brightened, “Three flaps per hour!”

“And how about this one?” Connor leaned down and blew on the fan like a pinwheel. The fan slowly rotated from the force of the breath for a few seconds, then came to a stop. Connor glanced up expectantly.

It was like watching an ill prepared student trying to pull the answers out of test questions through sheer will power. Rainbow Dash was scrutinizing every inch of the fan hoping to find something that might tell her the answer.

Scootaloo took a quick glance at the instrument. “Two flaps per hour!” she stuck out her chest confidently.

“Having a little trouble there, Rainbow?” Connor raised his eyebrow even higher trying to maintain his composure.

“Look, it’s not my job to know how fast the winds are going, alright?” she folded her forelegs again and lifted her nose, “I’m just supposed to make sure you can fly in them.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Connor rolled his head to peer at Rainbow with a smug grin and a twinkling eye, “Scootaloo is smarter than you because she knows how to read measuring instruments and you don’t?”

……...

A snort escaped Scootaloo’s mouth.

“Boooom!” Connor laughed and hoof pumped, “Rrrrrroasted!!”

“Sh-Shut up!” Rainbow flattened her ears, “I can read it just fine; I just haven’t done it in a long time! A few quick practice reviews and I could read it no problem!”

“That’s not the only thing you probably need to practice with!” Connor laughed.

“Hey, stop it! That’s not very nice!” Scootaloo gave a weak shove at Connor in defense of her hero, “Rainbow Dash is awesome and can be as smart as she wants to be! How come you can’t read it, huh?”

“Well, I haven’t learned your measurement system yet and I’ve only been here for a few weeks; so I have an excuse.” Connor motioned to Rainbow with his hoof, “She’s been here all her life and still doesn’t know how to measure speed.”

Scootaloo looked at him puzzled; “Only been here a few weeks…? Haven’t learned our measurement system yet? Didn’t you go to school when you were a colt, Connor?”

Connor’s pupils shrank at the realization of what he said. “Uuuuuhhhh-” he fumbled trying to think of a quick cover story.

“Alright, enough talking about egg-head stuff!” Rainbow butted into the argument and to the relief of Connor, “We gotta start training right now! We’re going to start with heavy winds first!” she rocketed off into the skies again leaving a cloud of dust.

“You should probably start studying mathematics while you’re at it too since you don’t know how to count miles per hour either!” he chastised after Rainbow Dash with a laugh. Scootaloo scowled at him which he returned the gesture with one of his own smirks.

WOOOOOOSHCHSHSHCHsshsshshsh!!!

The next gust of wind from Dash’s flyby actually blew Connor off his hooves and onto his back. He choked and hacked as his breath left his lungs.

“Thirty flaps per hour!!” Scootaloo screamed over the wind noise.

~~~

“Mnn-hmn-hmn-hmmnnnn” Connor moaned to himself again for the fourth time that morning. Every time he was training with Rainbow Dash, it felt like he was playing the wheel of misfortune and misery because he never knew what kind of ‘Training’ was going to happen. The last four days seemed especially cruel to him. The day after Rainbow Dash was creating hurricane gusts for him to fly in, she made another obstacle course for him to fly in; with a powerful tornado placed in the center of it.

And the next day, if he wasn’t trying to fly through an obstacle course while a tornado sat in the middle of the field blowing him around, Dash was having him try to fly through a foggy canyon while giant snake monsters popped out of the walls like whack-a-mole; except more deadly. He was wondering if any of this was ever going to show up in a public competition in front of the ruler’s castle, or if this was some kind of revenge plot against him on Rainbow’s part. Regardless if it did or didn’t show up, he needed help training and Rainbow Dash seemed like the only good flier to go to. So the only thing he could do was tough it out.

Today was the fourth day of training and the practice field was currently filled with, nothing. There weren’t any massive twisters dotting the ground or some kind of elaborate set up of clouds, nor were there any giant monsters he would have to avoid. The grassy carpet was bright green and unblemished by any crash landings or fallen debris with a tree or two stretching out their branches to the sky to greet the morning sun. A quiet wind rustled the leaves and grass blades; too quiet.

Something wasn’t right.

“Rainbow Dash!” Connor called out. His eyes scanned the field and the accompanying skies above while his ears swiveled every direction for noises. This didn’t sit right with him; not a single cloud in the sky or a rogue wind roaring by trying to knock him off his hooves? He took a few cautionary steps forward while keeping his head and ears on a swivel.

“Where is she?” he thought. “Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbo- GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-GI-GI-GI-GI-GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

“GOOOOOOD MORNING, CADET!” Rainbow Dash hovered looking proud of herself as she dropped a now empty water bucket on the ground. “I hope you had a good night sleep, because today we’re going to be working on flying in cold rain!”

Connor shivered dripping wet as he looked up at Rainbow; “Gi-, W-ha, W-has it really ne-necess-cessary to use freezing w-water!? Its summer time!” He shook his body like a dog hoping to shake off the cold still clinging to him. Another powerful shudder rocked Connor’s body as additional sets of hooves approached behind him.

“Morning, y’all!” Apple Bloom called. “Howdy, Connor!”

He turned to see Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle all totting several pails of what looked like water with ice cubes over flowing the rims in a little pull-wagon and on their backs. “We brought as many buckets of water as we could like Scootaloo said,” Sweetie Belle said, “But why do we need all this ice? It’s not going to keep all the buckets cold for long, and it’s just going to melt into water again.”

“It’s not for us, silly!” Scootaloo called on her scooter, “It’s obviously for Rainbow Dash and Connor’s training! Just like why we needed to make all of these water balloons and put them in the freezer; for training!” she hoof pumped.

“And then we all get t’go to Sugar Cube Corner later, right?” Scootaloo elbowed Apple Bloom quiet and gave a scowling Rainbow Dash a wide, toothy grin.

Rainbow Dash groaned, “Fine; we can all go…” The three fillies let out silent cheers and exchanged high hooves. “But everypony has to earn it! You all have to help with today’s training plan of cold rain flying if I’m taking all three of you!”

Connor glowered at an unabashed Rainbow still dripping wet. “Look, we need you ready to fly in anything the competition might throw at you; and rain is definitely a big possibility!” she pointed with her hoof at him while resting the other on her saddle bags.

“Yeah, that’s what you said about the last few natural disasters like tornados, hurricane winds, the canyon eels, the mile-high cloud maze where you threw cloud bits in my face trying to knock me out…!” Connor rubbed his arms and ruffled his feathers for warmth.

“Well, this is the biggest, most important thing that you will have to learn before flying in Canterlot.”

“Well if it was the most important thing to learn, why didn’t we start with that in the first place?!” Connor threw his hoof exasperatedly. “You think that would have been a really important detail.”

“Ah, details, shm’etails,” Rainbow brushed off, “It’s part of your training!”

“And does my ‘Training’ require dumping ice buckets on me?”

“Think of it as a challenge to not get hit,” she smiled menacingly. “ANOTHER BUCKET!”

“Wha-GAAAAAAHHHH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAAAH!!!” He shot daggers at the three giggling fillies behind him holding another frosty bucket. His teeth chattered as he tried to suck air into his lungs while soaking wet.

“Alright, Let’s Get Training!!”

~~~

“Come on; Use the wind to stop the water from fogging your goggles! And focus on me while you’re flying!”

Connor barrel rolled again and broke left as hard as he could as another icy water balloon sailed past his tail. He craned his head left and right trying to keep his opponent in sight, but the water streaking across his lenses were not aiding in his challenge. Coupled with the fact that he was still freezing his butt off in the air, it was making it pretty difficult to focus on anything except himself and how cold he was.

“Alright, that’s enough! Another bucket!” Connor growled at Dash’s command as he dove for the makeshift pit stop for ice water dumping. The crusaders cheered as he skidded into the stop and they went to work.

Squeak, squeak, sqeeeeeaak!

“You can do this Connor!” Sweetie Belle squealed as she wiped the goggles clean with a towel, “Just stay focused on Rainbow Dash and you’ll do great!”

SPLASSSSSHHHH!!!!

Another bucket of ice water was dumped over Connor by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. A growl rumbled from Connor’s throat as he fought through the cold; he had lost count how many buckets had been dumped on him.

“Keep at it, Connor!” Apple Bloom encouraged.

“Yeah!” Scootaloo added, “This is nothing to you! You can make it!”

“RRRRMMM-HMM-HMMMM, mm-hmm!” He growled back before shaking himself off like a dog and taking to the skies again. Another cold water balloon pelted him in the right side as he regained some altitude sending another paralyzing shock through his body.

“Come on! Don’t quit now just because you’re cold! We’re almost done with phase 2; after that we can break for lunch!” Rainbow Dash shouted through Connor’s fuzzy and shivering mind.

Connor gritted his teeth against the cold and water logged wings as he broke the paralysis trying to send him into a collision course with Twilight’s tree house. Whatever Dash was trying to teach him, it was getting ridiculous. What exactly was she trying to teach him here? Was it learning how to trap more heat in his body? Was he forcing his body to learn to start generating more heat within itself at all times for when Connor might fly through some rain? Or was it just simply some tough love and learning how to ignore the cold?

He twisted his head behind him trying to get a bead on where Rainbow Dash was, but she was nowhere in sight. A particularly cold water balloon hit him just above his shoulder blades and his entire body practically seized in midflight. Dash’s familiar cackle rang out above him along with the horrible noise of his teeth chattering again for the umpteenth time that day.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Connor rolled inverted and dove for the crusaders and the pit stop. The sound of Dash’s wings could be heard behind him while the three fillies screamed and scattered in front of him. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Connor pulled back and grabbed a few water balloons of his own.

He looked back again to see Rainbow Dash grinning at the prospective fight coming. Connor barrel rolled again as a second balloon whizzed down the center of his roll. He pulled back into a zoom climb trailing Rainbow behind; he stalled letting Rainbow zoom past him. Now it was his turn to return the icy favor.

~~~

“This has to be the most awesomest training session ever in the history of training sessions!” Scootaloo yelled at the top of her lungs.

“You betcha!” Apple Bloom whooped, “I’m glad y’all asked me to help out yesterday! Otherwise I would have missed seein’ Connor shakin’ in his hooves today!”

“You think that Connor might be getting just a little bit cold?” Sweetie Belle asked the other two with a raised eyebrow.

The others glanced at each other for a second. “Naaaaah…!” The three giggled and laughed at their joke. While they were having a lot of fun helping Rainbow Dash and Connor train, they were also hoping that this might give them their cutie marks as personal trainers. But right now, they did mind having a few fun moments. Plus, they were supposed to get sweets afterwards, too!

Connor and Rainbow had been putting up a great show for them all morning! Scootaloo was loving every moment of watching her idol and personal hero swoop and slice and dive as she trained Connor in extreme weather. That’s not to say it wasn’t fun dumping cold water on him every so often. Even though everypony was encouraging him to keep going, the crusaders were struggling to stifle their laughter at seeing him shake like a poor leaf in a heavy wind desperately hanging onto its branch.

“Look out!!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked skyward to see a sopping wet, blue Pegasus diving for them. They all screamed as Connor swooped by with Rainbow trailing behind him. The bucket holding all the spare water balloons got knocked over with a few of its contents now missing.

“Everypony okay?” Apple Bloom asked risking to peek up from her prone position on the ground.

“Alright! Another Paint Wars match!!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked up again as the two adult pegasi started trading shots. “Again?” Sweetie Belle exasperated, “But this happened last time when we were doing those super strong winds!”

“Uhh, was this supposed to be part of the training today?” Apple Bloom asked, “Because that was some pretty close flyin’ in my book.”

“Who cares? This is too awesome to stop!” Scootaloo had her eyes glued to the amazing, aerial spectacle above. Connor was on his back trying to lob a water balloon up at Rainbow Dash. The balloon missed by miles and sailed way over head. “Wow, I wish I could fly around like that…” she mumbled.

A yellow hoof wrapped around the orange filly. “Don’t worry, Scootaloo; we’ll get ya up there somehow even if it means we have t’build some kind of contraption to do it!”

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle jumped in, “And we can make sure you have the coolest contraption ever! Whatever that contraption may be.”

Scootaloo smiled sheepishly, “Thanks, you guys.”

“Apple Bloooom!!”

There was a collective moan as the older sister of Apple Bloom strolled up behind them. The three turned around to face Applejack. “Hey there, Applejack! What’re you doing here?” Scootaloo asked.

“I was ‘bout to ask ya the same thing,” Applejack smiled.

“We were just watching Rainbow Dash and Connor practicing for the tournament in a couple of days. Rainbow Dash wanted us to help out with their training!” Sweetie Belle answered.

“Well you can help out a little bit later. Apple Bloom, ya still have some chores t’do before you can come back and play with yer friends.”

“AWWWWWW!!!” The crusaders faces fell to pout at the ground, their ears all lying flat at the mere thought of having to do chores. “But Applejack, I wanna stay and watch! I don’t wanna do my chores right now; can’t I do’em later?”

“No buts, missy,” Applejack stomped her hoof, “You can come back ‘n play once all yer chores are do-”

“Heads Up!!!”

The group glanced up just in time for Applejack to get smashed in the face with the Hail Mary balloon Connor had tossed earlier. There was a collective gasp as everypony froze in terror at the farm pony sputtering and shivering from the cold before glaring up at the petrified pegasi. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof at Connor who gawked and pointed a hoof back.

Applejack opened her mouth to say something when she noticed the balloons strewn across the ground. She smirked; Applejack scooped up two balloons with her tail into the air, twirled around and bucked both balloons. They rocketed through the air and hit both Connor and Rainbow Dash in the face knocking them out of the air.

Everypony started laughing as Dash and Connor peeled themselves off the ground from being shot down. They stared at Applejack looking proud of herself with the three fillies rolling in the grass laughing at her hooves. The two exchanged a silent conversation before turning back with evil grins of their own. Applejack gulped as the two stood up and cocked back their own water balloons to throw.

Applejack dove to the side as two water missiles shot past her. The farmer pony grinned at the challenge and returned fire. Apple bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle screamed and shouted as an all-out, free-for-all, water balloon fight erupted amongst everypony!

~~~

Connor scrubbed at his eye the next morning as he drearily trotted to the field where Rainbow Dash was waiting for him again. He smiled and waved at the mare who returned the wave back as he approached.

“Morning, Connor!” Rainbow called, “You ready for another awesome day of training?”

Connor let another yawn reverberate out of his mouth before smiling; “Actually Dash, I was hoping to take today off to go and visit Canterlot.”

“What?!” Rainbow recoiled, “You want to skip out on today?! But the competition is tomorrow, and we have the most important part of my training routine to do!”

“I know, and I appreciate that. But I feel that I need to visit the city at least one time before the competition to get a feel for the playing field before we have to fly tomorrow; you know, test the corners and see what I might be able to do.” He glanced at the field as a miniature hurricane storm rumbled over the field complete with lightning sparking between clouds and an obstacle course placed in the windiest part of the hoof made storm.

“Come on, what kind of training is that going to be? You’re just going to take a walk around the castle and look at all the sights again; and then when the competition comes, you’ll be wishing you spent that last day training with me instead of touring Canterlot again.” Dash rolled her eyes.

“No, I’ll be testing the streets for opportunities to hit my opponents or make them over shoot; it’s a little something I picked up from Sour Patch.” Connor yawned again.

“Really? You want to go do that?” Connor finished his yawn and nodded. Rainbow sighed; “Fine, but I’m telling ya, it would be better to do this instead of checking the city out.” She motioned at her master piece as lightning struck the ground and thunder roared in their ears.

Connor gulped. “I think I’ll pass; but thanks anyways.”

“Whatever,” Rainbow shrugged. Connor let out a silent sigh and cheer to himself as Rainbow Dash took off to dispel the storm that was spitting lightning more frequently now. Connor waved goodbye and took off to head for the major city of Canterlot and the next playing field in the paint wars tournament.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I know this fad has long since ended in like, 2014 or so, but it was an idea that I wanted to add because I thought it would be funny. Plus, I better see some duck hunting jokes too! That shit was funny and you know it!

Have I mentioned how weird it is to be coming off of a huge 14,000 word project spanning three chapters down to something that is less than 5,000 words? If I haven’t, it’s weird; it’s no longer this huge, kind of daunting project that I have work on. I'm now just working on something small and a lot more friendly time schedule-wise. It’s like just finishing one of the hardest bosses in a game and then you just have the weak small-fry enemies afterwards.

Anyways, I can’t wait for the next chapter! I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll just say we’ll get a little bit more diversity in the story once we are in the capital again!

Hope everyone had a good veteran's day holiday and I’ll see you all in the next chapter!

39: The Griffon

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Connor

“There’s my exit.”

Connor switched lanes inside the airways so he could take the next exit that would deposit him close to the bustling capital city of Canterlot. The sun was casting its ten o’clock shadow across the stone streets and towers while Connor casually barreled rolled for fun overhead. The morning flight had been an easy ride with the occasional excursion of playing in traffic and frightening a fellow flier or two with his slightly overenthusiastic flying. He smiled to himself as ponies of every kind were already filling the streets with morning jobs in mind. Connor glided down until he was flying above the roof tops of shops and businesses in one of the major markets. He picked a particularly wide cobblestone street to touch down on before he set to work.

The road he was on was already filling up with stands and merchandising booths for the upcoming Paint Wars tournament tomorrow; snack stands dotted the place while other places advertised deals on flags and foam hooves combos on competition day. Connor chuckled. “These ponies sure are fast at prepping for events.”

A yellow unicorn sweeping his front store mat waved a “Good morning!” to him as he passed by. Connor returned the wave with his own “Mornin’!” and smiled. Perhaps today would be a good day as he explored the city. He started off walking down the current market street at a steady pace as the market chatter grew louder with each passing minute.

“Hey, how much for these tomatoes?” one pony asked another while Connor passed a set of grocery stalls. “2 bits for the small ones and 3 for the larger ones.” the older pony vendor answered.

“2 bits?! I could find tomatoes for half that!” the older pony shrugged at the outrage. “Maybe those pulled out of the trash, but these are the freshest ones you'll find around, and I still have a family to feed.” They continued arguing for a bit as Connor lost interest and decided to listen in on a pair of taxi carriage drivers taking a break.

“Gosh, I'm not really sure I like having this whole Paint Wars game here in Canterlot.” he wiped his face with a hoof. “My last customer was some country colt who couldn't stop whistling to every mare that passed by. And before that, was a smelly griffon who left dead feathers all over my seats!”

“Come on, look on the bright side!” his friend slugged him in the shoulder, “This is great for business for us! My last ride was a pair of nobles who gave me a fat tip just for getting them across a few streets while missing the pushy vendors!” The taxi driver pony grumbled to himself about something Connor couldn't hear before the two drivers parted ways.

“Griffons, huh?” Connor inwardly laughed, “I bet they're just as cuddly and wuddly as everything else in this world.” He pressed forward through the thickening crowds letting his comment slip into forgotten memory.

“Okay, back to the mission at hand. The first thing I need to do is find out where the playing field will be during the competition. And that would be…” Connor stopped at an intersection where a few more candy booths were sitting. He looked left, then right hoping to catch any clues. “Well shift, this place seemed a lot easier to walk around in when twilight was with me.” He turned left and started walking again letting the city take him wherever it wanted.

“Hmm, I guess I could just pick a direction and see where it takes me?” he mused out loud. The streets crisscrossed, twisted, and curved around at its own discretion up inclines and down slumps. A couple times, Connor got confused and found himself back on streets he had already explored. “Alright, this is getting ridiculous. Somepony around here has got to have some kind of directions of where I can find it.”

Connor looked for the closest pony around that might know where the field might be. He spotted an orange unicorn mare with yellow hair in the crowd. As Connor got closer to her, she had a scowl stretching her lips as a slightly smaller, forest green Pegasus dragged his hooves behind her.

“Moooom!” the teenage colt moaned, “Why did you have to bring me along to go shopping? I was going to go hang out with Snap Play at the arcade!”

Mom sighed, “Because, sweetie, I need your help carrying all the groceries!” her son scoffed at her answer.

“ 'Cuse me!” Connor interjected before two could continue their banter. The mare turned and put on a tired smile. “Hi, do you think you can help me? I'm trying to find out where the field is for the Paint Wars tournament, but I don't know where it might be.”

“Oh, that?” the green Pegasus piped up, “That's on the other side of town. They've probably blocked off, like, three quarters of the market district for it.”

“Thank you, Fair Winds.” the mare rolled her eyes, “Sorry; yes, the field is being held over on the other side of the city.”

“Do you think you could give me some directions?” Connor asked.

“Sure,” the mare turned around and pointed down the street. “What you want to do is go down this street, take a left, then a right, and follow the road all the way down until you come to a T in the road. That's the edge of the field where they blocked off vendors from going any farther, but ponies are still allowed to go past since they can't cut off all the businesses there.”

“Ugh, I can't wait to get out of this city and be on my own!” Mom rolled her eyes again and Connor chuckled. “Seriously! I could move to Manehattan and I can do whatever I want. I don't have to be nagged, and I don't have to feel like Celestia is constantly watching my every move.”

“Fair!” the mare smacked the kid on the head, “You do not talk about the princess like that!”

“Ow! Hey!” he raised a defensive hoof to block any more attacks, “I'm just sayin'...!”

“Well look at it this way,” Connor looked the teenage pony in the eye, “Would you rather have a princess watching over you and willing to forgive you if you get into some trouble, or get hassled by every city cop who would love to write you a ticket that you have to pay for every little mistake you make?”

The kid stared at Connor for a second before lowering his head to sulk. Connor and the mare laughed at her son now pouting at the two of them. “Thanks for your help!” Connor waved goodbye and departed while the mare waved back. Just before he was out of ear shot, the kid said, “Can I go home now?”

“Boy, you are just in a complaining mood today, aren't you?”

That last bit struck a chord in Connor's heart somewhere that began to ache. “That's something my mom would say to me, sometimes...” he sniffed and cleared his throat.

He followed the mare's instructions as best he could, taking the turns at the points she indicated. While still keeping an eye on where he was going, Connor glanced over the dozens of booths he passed on the street. The vendors’ booths felt completely different compared to the ones in Appleloosa. There were the usual ones that sold hats, flags, and such, but then you had the more exotic ones. Gem stands, fashion huts, and even tiny vials filled with water from Princess Celestia’s personal garden were on proud display. The bottles were advertised to bring good luck to whomever kept the water close to them or even drank it. Even more strange was the one stand selling posters of different competitors from Paint Wars like they were already world champions. “A little early to be selling those kinds of posters yet, don’t you think?” Connor asked himself as he passed said vendor putting up one poster with the name ‘Velvet Touch’ printed on it.

Connor passed a few more vendors until he came to a T in the street and found what he was looking for. “Aha!” he shouted as he picked out a row of signs with the words ‘No booths past this point’ written on them lining the entrance to another street not too far from where he was. He trotted happily past the signs and began down his first street of the field. He took in every detail he could as he strolled down the road and rounded a corner to start on the next street. The space between the buildings and stores was decent; enough to fit about a couple of cars or so at some of the tighter points and as much as a semi at their widest, with all the buildings being about two to three stories high.

He side stepped a few ponies still doing some shopping as he veered left at a fork in the road, letting his mind keep a mental map of the place. His game plan was to try to stay low and in the streets to hopefully take advantage of his better maneuverability; but this was going to be a complicated place to fly in. switch backs, forks in the road, one or two open plazas, and ninety degree turns were only a few things on his list of intricacies about this place. It was going to be a tight place to fly in at speeds.

“Maybe I should take a few corners to get a feel of how fast I can fly…?” He spread his wings and took off from the ground staying low and under the roof lines. He sped up a little bit as he came to a ‘T’ in the road and banked loosely to the right. He let himself slip through the air a bit like a wet noodle gauging the readings his senses were telling him.

“Hmmm, maybe one more turn…” Connor muttered. He flapped harder letting his speed grow in excess as he approached another left corner. This time he banked around the turn and the sensation of his blood draining to his hooves hit him again. “Oooo! Ooo! Okay…! Okay; I see how this is…!” He slowed down as one of the open plazas came into view. He landed near one of the branching streets and turned around to face the open bowl of one of the plazas to gaze over the ponies going about their business in deep thought.

This was going to be interesting. A really tight field with plenty of corners and alleyways to cut through created a lot of different possibilities inside Connor’s imaginary war room. He grinned; this might be one of his favorite places to fly in, second to Appleloosa of course. Compared to Appleloosa’s long and fast sweeping corners in the canyons, Canterlot was chock full of tight corners and sneaky alleyways to surprise unsuspecting opponents. If he was the nimble motorcycle rider on this tight track, this would be his playground compared to the big muscle car fliers who were more suited for open skies.

“I wonder how low I could get in these corners?” He raised a hoof to his chin as his mind continued to fill with endless possibilities and simulations.

~~~

Menacing talons slashed at the cobblestone roads below as ponies purposely cleared a path down the street. Brown fur and lighter brown feathers bristled with power as hushed whispers followed the murderous beast as he paraded past ponies. Looks of fear proceeded the evil looking predator ahead of him as waves of uneasiness emanated from his body and rippled through the crowds.

The griffon allowed a small smile to himself as he marched down the road. He towered above any and all of these puny ponies by at least a head, and each of those ponies knew instinctively to let him pass by unobstructed. Even the so called royal guards never made eye contact with the giant griffon whenever he scorched them with his crazed, blood red glare.

“Little ponies know that Grundol iz strongest above all.” He thought as he thundered by. Grundol had expected more out of this boring little competition he had signed up for. But all he had got was a bunch of weak fliers not even worthy of the honor of being defeated by the talons of the Greatest Griffon in all of Griffonia.

Grundol had traveled all over Griffonia looking for powerful and worthy opponents to do battle with and had found a many of worthy griffons. But none were a match for the unlimited strength and ferocity of the great Grundol the Griffon! His reputation and fame as the strongest griffon spread across the country until no griffon dared to challenge him; not even the king of Griffonia would challenge him, if they even had a king. It was entertaining for a time being able to take whatever he wanted, but those joys were short lived and Grundol quickly lost interest.

He got bored taking without remorse and the only griffons that would ever challenge him to battle were young and naïve griffons who got too bold for their own sake; that is, until Grundol threw one punch and sent them all squawking back to their mother’s nest. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as a particular memory of one griffon surfaced from his memory begging for mercy before Grundol even got within striking distance with him.

“[I yield! I yield!]” The young griffon croaked in the native tongue of Griffonia, “[Puh-please don’t destroy this foolish and stupid griffon who would dare accuse the great and powerful Grundol a fake and a lazy bird! I-I am the fake! I am the griffon who speaks lies to make myself seem stronger! I’ll offer you anything you may desire to keep the great Grundol happy; I-I’ll even offer my lovely, younger sister or myself as a servant to you!]”
“[You would offer your own younger sister to appease your enemy?]” Grundol growled in an unusually caring voice. He stood, the younger griffon trembling like a leaf as Grundol approached him, “[Grundol is a strong and powerful fighter who has fought many dangerous enemies that could have killed Grundol. Not once, did Grundol offer a sacrifice to avoid defeat.]” He frowned his beak, “[we are griffon, proud and honorable creatures who never surrender! Your sister should be one of your most valued treasures; never toss her around like some trinket!!]” The young griffon’s lower beak trembled under the weighty presence of Grundol before nodding. The young griffon darted out of great hall of the Inn leaving Grundol to smile hoping to have passed on some of the old griffon pride to the young.

Grundol was the strongest griffon in Griffonia; not the evilest.

But he did hope to earn new fame with this little game that had sprung up from the pony lands. Since Griffonia was no longer offering ways to grow his fame, he turned to this unique opportunity from Equestria to grow his reputation. So far he wasn’t impressed.

“Little ponies are boring prey. Ponies are too easy to fight.” He grumbled as another family hushed and hurried to get out of Grundol’s way. He was a few paces away from entering one of many plazas in the city when he stopped. A blue pony with his back to him blocked his path into the open street.

Grundol smiled hoping to have some fun with this clueless pony. He stood there overshadowing him, waiting for this pony to recognize the king standing just behind him and to let him pass just like all the other ponies did. But the blue pony continued to ignore him as he stared out at the plaza like a brain dead fool. “Little blue pony must know ’iz place…!”

Grundol stopped directly behind the pony and bore down on him with one of his strongest, most ferocious death glare; another pony on the side cowered from just the proximity of the stare. The blue pony seemed to pause in his stupidity and finally look behind him. His eyes traveled upward in awe at Grundol in his full glory standing a full head above him. His slack-jawed amazement brought a nugget of laughter to his beak as he loomed over him.

“Move, little pony.” His deep voice rumbled like thunder and shook the very earth below them.

He expected the blue pony to cower in fear like all the others and let Grundol pass; but the blue pony’s face changed from awe to a challenging stare. “Why?” he asked.

Grundol’s eyes narrowed, “I zaid so,” his growl growing more animalistic and predatorily with each passing moment of defiance.

“And who are you, exactly?” the pony was putting up a good display of fortitude, but Grundol could smell the stench of fear wafting off him in waves; perhaps this pony might be more fun than the rest of them.

“So, little pony wants a boasting match, hm?” He stretched his large, powerful wings out and flexed his bulging chest muscles, “My name Grundol the Griffon, Greatest and Strongest of all Griffons! No one dares challenge Grundol; Grundol haz defeated many powerful and vorthy opponents! Little ponies vill be no different!” He picked up a small wooden toy that had been dropped by a nearby foal and crushed it into powder with his bare talons.

He smirked as he watched the little blue pony stiffen and quiver at the sight of wooden bits tattering to the ground. He swallowed before looking back up at Grundol again. “My name's Connor, uh, quickest of all in, Ponyville! And I've seen plenty of hot shots like you get smacked down by the little guy. You'll be no different!” The little blue pony's voice rose as his self-confidence grew the more he talked.

Grundol laughed; this might prove more entertaining than he thought. “Grundol haz never been beaten by puny opponent; little blue pony will be crushed!” he took a step closer, almost beak to muzzle. “Little blue pony will fight like tiny bug that Grundol with crush like little toy!”

The pony wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Whew, do you bathe in your enemies' shirt as well?” he turned to wave a hoof in front of his face.

Grundol contorted his face, “Vhat?”

The pony snorted through his nose trying to clear it. “I'm saying, did a pigeon take a dump on you? Because you smell like a dead bird.” the blue pony smirked as Grundol anger rose. “If you talked as much as a pigeon took a dumped on the roof tops, you could coat an entire roof with a fresh coat of paint!”

Grundol pushed the little blue pony back a bit. “Little blue pony talks too much! Blue pony does not know hiz place!”

The pony stumbled back a couple of steps before returning the angry gaze. “And I think your just a fake trying to-!”

A talon snapped out and lifted the blue pony by the throat. “How dare blue pony call Grundol the griffon a fake!!” The crowds gathering around screamed in horror as they watched the griffon choke the Pegasus. Grundol’s snarling grin came back as he watched and listened to the struggling pony in his claws. But his mirth was short lived when he stared into the Pegasus’s eyes.

He grunted quietly in struggle and kicked a little in futility as he couldn’t reach him, but his eyes still held that determination to stand against Grundol. They refused to give in and accept defeat to the overwhelming force against his neck, dangling a few feet off the ground.

“Why von’t little blue pony submit!?” Grundol’s eye twitched and his face contorted with fury. His refusal to yield meant one thing to Grundol; he must teach this pony how to show respect. He reached back with a talon preparing to hit the flying blue dog. He locked eyes one last time with his prey, his face set with defiance and bravado.

“HALT!!”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

“DON’T MOVE!!”

Just as Grundol was about to hit the blue pony, four royal guards surrounded the griffon. Two already had their spears level with his chest while the other two stared down the giant griffon. Grundol eyed down the four guards around him calculating his chances of beating four armed guards.

“Put the Pegasus Down, Now!” one of the guards commanded. Grundol looked at the blue pony still struggling to breathe in his talons. He really wanted to show this child who was the better beast, but he knew better than to risk tackling the guards of Canterlot and risk forfeiting the competition. His eye spotted a few foals cowering just around the corner and his anger softened slightly at sight of the frightened young ones.

He dropped the blue pony unceremoniously on the ground and returned to all fours. The little blue pony choked and gasped for air his body desperately needed and shuffled himself away from Grundol, never turning his back to him. The guards moved to barricade themselves between Grundol and the blue pony.

“You,” the guard in front pointed at Grundol, “You are coming with us.” Grundol growled like a timber wolf, but complied nonetheless. He turned to be escorted away from the crowds, but threw one last glance over his shoulder.

“Bevare, little blue pony!” he shouted, “Grundol vill not forget this! Grundol vill have his fun in beating you!” He began marching down the street with guards flanking him all the way.

~~~

Connor hacked and coughed a few more times as he watched the towering griffon be taken into custody. The one guard that had remained there turned around and started asking him if he was alright. He nodded while waving the guard off and rubbed his throat where the Russian sounding griffon had grabbed him.

“Jeez us is Christmas, what was his problem?!” He coughed another time, starting to feel his body shaking from the adrenaline. He wouldn't admit it openly, but that griffon made him feel like the little guy in David and the Goliath from the old stories. His body shook again; he had to get himself under control. He couldn't show fear here right now; not in front of other possible tournament fliers around him.

He felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Connor turned then whirled around to face another griffon standing behind him, this one only maybe an inch or two taller than him and grayish feathers with soft teal eyes. “Can I help you…?” he growled, this time ready to fight the griffon if it tried anything; a hoof was already cocked back for a punch.

The griffon recoiled and put their talons up in defense. “No! Wait! I don't want to fight! Please!” Connor loosened his stance and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

The female sounding griffon lowered its talons and looked apologetically at him. “My name's Strella, I'm from griffon stone and I wanted to apologize for Grundol’s behavior.”

“Why?” Connor cocked an eyebrow, “And how do you know who that griffon was?”

She grimaced, “Um, can we walk while I try to explain? I promise, I don’t want hurt you.” She turned to the side offering to head into the plaza again. Connor eyed her up and down one last time before slowly taking a cautionary step forward to join her side. She smiled somewhat nervously as they continued to make their way back into the open sunlight.

“So, what do you want to explain to me? If it’s about griffons and how they’re not all bad, you’re going to have to sell a really good story to convince me otherwise about my current thoughts right now.” Connor squinted at Strella still looking apologetic.

“I'm sorry, Griffonia’s a tough place to grow up in; and there are a few still holding onto old traditions.”

“Griffonia?” Connor quirked.

“Yeah, our homeland for the griffons.” She cleared her throat, “Griffonia is an old country made by many traditions of honor and glory. Grundol is part of one of those traditions where a griffon goes on a journey seeking the title of greatest griffon. Few ever achieve it as there are many griffons who seek it,” she chuckled a little, “In fact, I once tried to be apart of the tradition.” She smiled and day dreamed about old, fond memories. The pair drifted through another street opening and down a narrow road with bakeries and other produce.

“Okay, so your ‘Brief’ history lesson explains the setting behind some things, but what’s your excuse for the poor attitude? And what made you stop from continuing the tradition? And why are you here anyways?” His bitter feelings were slowly being replaced by bouts of curiosity.

Strella smiled at him. “I'm here for the same reason you are here; the competition!”

“ ’Course.” Connor rolled his eyes smiling as well.

“But to answer your other questions, griffons are a proud kind. We kind of hold our victories high and constantly try to see who is the best griffon. Though, Griffonia has been going through a bit of a slump recently; that's why Grundol is going around trying to gain more fame for his home country. We heard about this Paint Wars game getting a lot of popularity here in Equestria, so we decided to try and get a few victories to bring back home.” She giggled to herself again.

“Okay, one last question,” Connor raised his hoof like a student in class, “What is up with your and Grundol’s accents? Grundol’s accent makes me think he is from one place, but yours makes me think of someplace else. I can’t figure out how you too could be born in the same country with two completely different accents…!”

Strella laughed again at Connor’s confusion. “Griffonia has a lot of cultures surrounding it; some griffons visit them and end up bringing back some foreign culture with them. Grundol is known to be a true native of Griffonia all his life. But I traveled to one of the neighboring countries, to a place called Varmblud, during my times of traveling for glory; and stopped while in that new country.” They paused at another ‘T’ intersection to go left down a street that opened up with a few outdoor cafés and mid-level restaurants.

“What made you stop?” Connor inquired.

“Well, I heard some interesting things from back home and figured it might be a good idea to come back.” Strella suddenly found the sky very interesting. “Did you know that Grundol has a record of beating over 352 griffons in single combat? And not once did he ever accept defeat even with a dislocated wing and a few broken ribs?”

“Uuh, no, I didn't know that.” Connor tried to process the slight detour in the conversation. “But what does that have to do with you leaving a different country?”

“Huh, what?” Strella finally seem to regain her thoughts.

“How does Grundol's wins affect your going back home from whatever country you were visiting in?” he restated.

A slight red hue came through the feathers on her cheeks. “Oh, well, not much. It was just some gossip I was hearing about him while I was coming back. It’s not like I'm a fan of him or anything; he's just a pretty famous griffon from Griffonia, that's all.”

“So you are a fan of him?” Connor watched a pony couple nuzzle each other at a random table.

“No I'm not! Well, maybe a little...” Strella admitted. “But he's just so strong and honorable! He’s just like one of those knights in shining armor!”

“Wait, really?!” Connor laughed incredulously, “I thought I was just joking, but you're actually being serious! I was wondering why you were talking so much about him! And that random fact about how you knew exactly how many griffons he'd beaten you slipped in was just weird!”

Connor laughed again while Strella continued blushing. “And I'm going to guess here that the reason you're with me right now is so that you can get your idol forgiven?” Strella brightened with hopeful eyes. “Not gonna happen. If he wants to make up for today, he’s going to have to do it himself.”

“But he's really nice once you get to know him!” she pleaded. “When Grundol came to griffon stone to challenge our strongest griffon, he stopped to play with some of the younger griffons I was watching for some extra bits! He was really sweet and kind to all of them while he was helping me. And even after he beat our strongest griffon, he came back again to play with them some more. It was amazing seeing Grundol go from a fearless warrior to this big softy with the kids. I wanted to try spending more time with him, but he took off again in search of more fights.”

Strella’s eyes suddenly turned steely. “So yeah, Grundol may be a bit tough, but he’s really nice; and he's trying to see if you’re a pony who will stand up for themselves, or run and hide or something!”

“That doesn't matter!” Connor countered loudly, “And how do you know what he's thinking? Have you spent enough time to know Grundol personally, or do you just have big crush on him and want to spend more time with him?” there was a silence from Strella. “Oh, you've got to be kidding me...”

“L-Look, will you at least try to give him another chance, please?” Strella finally got out to a face hoofing Connor.

“Uugh, fine!” he groaned, “I will consider giving him a second chance, simply for the fact that I’ve had to deal with kids too (especially when I taught martial arts). But we’ll see what he is going to do next time I see him; and don't think I'm going to forgive him for choking me!”

Strella beamed. “Thank you so much, this means a lot to me! I promise, you won't regret it.” she spread her wings and gave a powerful flap and a wave, “good luck in the competition!”

“Thanks, and you too!” Strella left Connor standing there in the streets still waving goodbye. Connor put his hoof back down once she was out of sight and sighed. Here was another aspect in this world he was going to have to adjust for. And it was for something that seemed to have a history for the old thinking of ‘Bigger is stronger’ and hard tradition, or something along those lines.

He let out another frustrated sigh as he chose to shelve that problem and come back to it when he had some free time. Right now, he was still busy with creating a mental map of the field he was going to be playing in.

40: Rainy Canterlot

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Connor

“Okay, so I can understand why Rainbow and I are going to Canterlot; Pinkie Pie I can kind of understand why she might be coming, but explain to me again why you're here with us?”

The Ponyville Express train rumbled rhythmically down the tracks as it made its schedule midday trip to Canterlot. Connor sat closest to the window with an arm draped casually over the back of the seat with Rarity carefully sipping a cup of tea across from him. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie occupied themselves with a game of cards.

Rarity lowered her cup of tea with a hint of a huff. “I told you already, darling. I am scouting out different locations where I might be interested in opening a new boutique here in Canterlot, and if you paid any attention to me, Connor, I wouldn't be forced to repeat myself every single time!”

“Oh no, I understood you completely,” he nonchalantly responded, “I just don't understand why you are doing it now of all times, when the city is going to be busy and packed with ponies.”

“Well, normally I prefer to do it in between major designing events, but I thought it would be pleasant to join everypony this time before we went our separate ways. While you two are flying around above Canterlot, Pinkie and I will be visiting the available spots for the shop.” Rarity raised her cup to take another sip.

“Aww, but I wanted to watch Dash and Connor fly in the competition!” Pinkie Pie protested loudly. “Got any threes?” she asked Rainbow who growled and begrudgingly handed over three of the cards in her hooves.

“Oh come now, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity shooed, “You can never get enough exposure to the sophisticated culture of Canterlot!”

“Oh yes you can!” Rainbow Dash objected loudly.

“And during the most busiest day of the week...!” Connor gave Rarity another whimsical smirk.

“Phfffft, puh-lease!” Rarity waved off her two nonbelievers, “There is so much to experience when in Canterlot! The fashion, the cuisine, the architecture; there is practically something for everypony!” she went starry eyed while Dash and Connor simultaneously rolled their eyes. The train dove into a tunnel through a mountain plunging the car's window into complete darkness. The interior carriage lights prevented the car from being completely pitch black.

“I'm all for experiencing new things,” Connor acknowledged, “But once you've been to one big city you've kind of been to them all. Canterlot is just special because it has that 1400's, 1500's medieval design to it with all the towers and a castle; well, minus all the rampant diseases and ditches full of shi-”

“It's soooo boring!” Connor scowled Rainbow's interruption but kept quiet. “Where the hay am I supposed to practice my tricks like the sonic rainboom? The guards would be trying to arrest me during every single one of my practices, saying I might cause avalanche, or a rock slide, or something!” Rainbow waved her hooves around exasperatedly. “Got any tens?”

“Nnnope! Go fish!” Rainbow grumbled and grabbed another card from the center pile of cards with Pinkie Pie giggling behind her own small set of cards.

“Don’t be ridiculous Rainbow Dash, The guards would never do that; the mountain is enchanted by Princess Celestia herself!” Rarity argued. “And Canterlot is not boring! Its divine; it's beautiful!” the train burst from the tunnel flooding the car with light again.
“Its- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”

Connor, along with half of the riders in the train car, clamped down on their ears at the high pitched shrill resonating from white fashionista staring out the window.

“Whuh-What?” Connor half laughed out peeking one eye up at Rarity. She turned to him with black eyeliner and mascara running down her face slightly.

“Its Ra~iniiing!”

“Really? That's it?” Connor looked out the window at Canterlot. Sure enough, there was a large cluster of heavy, black clouds currently pouring rain over the city. A slight pattering of rain could be heard from the train car's roof as they approached the storm. “F-aaawwn, I gotta fly in that? Uugh...” he groaned.

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash hooted, “Those clouds look heavy enough to last all day! I can't wait to show off my sick moves; I've practically got an entire water show planned out for my match!”

Rarity's gasp nearly came out as another scream. “This is hardly the time to be thinking about flying!” she waved at the downpoured Canterlot, “Just look at the city; those horrible, dreary clouds are marring all the pearl white marble into this awful, murky mixture of brown and grey, and my mane will be ruined today if I let it get wet!”

She rounded on Rainbow again. “Rainbow Dash, why in Equestria is it raining in Canterlot?! It never rains there!”

The Pegasus shrugged, “The weather ponies never send any rain clouds here, but I heard that’s because the nobles pay off Cloudsdale to keep it from raining in Canterlot.”

“I’m hurt, Dash!” Rarity turned away from her friend. “The nobility of Canterlot would never stoop to such under-hoofed tactics! Well, I could imagine Prince Blueblood doing something petty like that, but never in the presence of better ponies like Fancy Pants!”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow shrugged, “How else do you explain Canterlot constantly having good weather?”

“You know what I heard?” Pinkie finished putting the abandoned card game in her mane before propping up on one elbow with a grin. “I heard that Princess Celestia is the pony who keeps Canterlot free of bad weather…!”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, Pinkie,” Rarity scoffed again, “Why would the princess do something like that? It must be the city being on a mountain far above all those dreadfully clouds.”

“Ladies!” Connor stepped in eyeing everyone, “Putting weather conspiracies aside,” Connor paused at hearing what he said; he was going to have to shun himself later for saying something so stupid. He shook his head and continued, “We still need to figure out how we’re going to deal with the rain. I would like to at least get a rain coat before we have to spend all day in Canterlot.”

“Oh don't be such a baby, Connor!” Rainbow Dash chided. “A little rain won't hurt you.”

“Just because I can fly in the rain, doesn't mean that I want to fly in the rain.” he stated tersely, “Now, does anyone know where we might be able to get a coat, or a hat, or something while in the city?”

“Or an umbrella?” Rarity added.

“Sure, why not?” Connor shrugged. “So, anything?” the three mares sat there giving him mixed looks thinking of a place in Canterlot to buy something for the rain. Connor was about to look up in exasperation when a pair of voices appeared in the aisle.

“Did I hear somepony wondering where to buy a rain jacket?”

“Indeed we did, brother! Another group of wonderful fans coming to see the games and forgot to bring anything for the rain; what a terrible turn of events!”

Connor looked up to see a pair of tall, yellow ponies that looked like clones of each other, down to the their matching bow ties. The only difference between them was that one had a mustache and the other didn't. However, the interesting part upon seeing the cloned sale ponies was the reaction Connor watched unfold from his companions sitting next to him. Their intense glares were putting Connor on edge; even Pinkie Pie was giving them a stink eye.

“And you are?” Connor asked cautiously.

“Flim and Flam,” Rarity cut in with her ice queen treatment. “The fraudulent, traveling sales pony brothers of Equestria.”

“Fraudulent?” Connor pressed.

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie, “One time when they were in Ponyville, they were selling turnip tonics saying it would cure anything that might be wrong with you. They even got Granny Smith to buy some and start doing super, duper, high dives! and another time, they tried to take Applejack's farm with this wacky machine that made this apple cider filled with rocks and sticks and dirt in it!”

Connor raised an eyebrow. Wow, that's impressive. I guess it would be more accurate to say these guys are more of con artists than fraudulent; plus, targeting the elderly is a pretty common tactic back home. he turned back to the sales ponies.

“Ahem; now now, we are simply business entrepreneurs looking to make ponies lives easier, everywhere!” the brothers flashed grins while tugging at their collars.

Or make a quick buck, Connor thought.

“What do you two want?” Rainbow snapped at them.

Flim, or Flam, broke into another broad smile. “Well, as I said before, I heard the call of a pony in need and we wanted to help resolve their problems with our outstanding goods and services!”

The other one hooked an arm around his clone. “Absolutely! In fact, we have just what you are looking for right here!” a rack filled with bright yellow jackets rolled into view thanks to his magic. “These are top of the line, industrial grade, heavy duty rain coats; guaranteed to keep you warm and dry in the wettest of conditions!”

Flam (or was it Flim), nodded, “Indeed! Why go through all the hustle and bustle of the competition trying to find shelter when you could buy a coat from us now and save all the trouble! And if you buy right now, you get it at the low, low price of five bits!”

“They're likely not even worth that much,” Rarity retorted, “And the yellow only match a few ponies' coat color, at best.”

“Also,” Pinkie jumped in rubbing her chin, “Are you two even allowed to sell on the train right now?”

There was a tense pause as the brothers readjusted bow ties and collars. “Yes, well, you see we've talked with the train company and agreed just for today we would be allowed to make a few sales.” the other nodded, “Yes, so long as we shared a bit of the profits with them.”

“So you're not actually supposed to be selling anything here, are you!?” Rainbow folded her arms confidently. Beads of sweat were starting to form on the sales ponies' foreheads under the scrutiny of four ponies in front of them.

“W-Well then, perhaps we shall be moving on now since there are other potential custo-”

“Let me take a look at one of those jackets.” the mares in the seats all gaped at Connor while Flim and Flam beamed brightly.

“Wonderful! Here you are, good sir, one industrial grade rain jacket. That will be five bits, please.” Connor remained silent to Flim and Flam's eager hoof for payment and continued inspecting the jacket. He turned it this way and that looking for any imperfections. It wasn't anything special with its basic plastic design; it didn't even have a mesh lining on the inside for breathability.

“This is some pretty thin material,” Connor stated, “It's barely going to hold longer than today and these wing holes look like someone just took a knife to the jacket. I'll give you three bits for it.”

A frown creased Flim's mouth. “The agreed upon price was five bits.”

“I never agreed to anything; I said let me take a look at one the jackets. And I think the jackets are only worth three bits; and that's being generous.”

“They are not worth any bits, Connor!” Rarity almost shouted, “They aren't even supposed to be selling on this train, not to mention that it looks terrible on you; I could make one that would fit your blue coat far better than that... thing.”

“Thanks for the fashion warning, Rares.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Um, yeah; thanks. but I still need a jacket for the rain.”

“And the price is a nonnegotiable, five bits.” Flam tried to push.

“And I could just as easily go up to the conductor and say that you are selling ill-endorsed products on their train; and I'm sure you would have a fun time talking to the police about that one...!” Connor countered seeing the sale hustle from the brothers. “Now, you can either give me the jacket at the discounted price, or, we could take this up with the cops.”

The brothers glanced at each other for a second before resuming their winning smiles. “Sold! Thank you for your purchase!” there was an exchange of bits to the disgust of Rarity and Dash. “Now then, perhaps we could interest you in some of our other products? We have thermoses, rain boots, rain hats, and whatever this thing is!” the brothers took turns presenting each item to Connor.

He shook his head at each one. “No, I'm good. This is all I need.”

“Then we wish you all a good day at the competition! Enjoy your new rain gear!” the brothers took a slight bow and made their way to the door with a newfound urgency in their steps. Connor and Co. watched them leave until the door clicked shut.

Rarity rounded on Connor. “What in Equestria did you do?! You know that was highly illegal and could easily get a pony thrown in jail!”

He shrugged, “I saw an opportunity to get something that I needed, and I took it.” Rainbow smacked Connor on the back of the head. “Ow, what was that for?!”

“I thought you were better than that.” Rarity chastised.

Pinkie Pie waggled a hoof at Connor too. “Just what kind of message would we be sending to the foals?”

“Hey,” Connor shrugged again while rubbing his skull. “I needed the jacket for today and I knew I could get it at a lower price than what they were asking for. Besides, what foals are you talking about? Secondly, even if they were any here they’re not mine so it’s not my problem!” he snickered. He received another round of head smacks from everyone.

~~~

The train rolled into a wet Canterlot station and squealed to a halt. The station was a mess of ponies running around trying to find shelter from this uncharacteristic heavy downpour around the city, and since they never had rain in Canterlot (according to Rarity), some of the roofs in the city were suffering from unnoticed water leaks, the train station included. Connor was inwardly snickering at the plethora of water buckets littering the floor trying to catch all of its own newly discovered leaks while unicorn repair ponies worked frantically to fix everything.

“Alright! let's head outside and get ready for our match,” Rainbow cheered.

“Yeah, let's go Dash and Connor!” Pinkie bounced around the three of them. Connor smiled at the thought of having a personal cheering squad.

“H~ooh, let me go get an umbrella first!” Rarity ran off to search the insides of Canterlot station leaving the rest to themselves. The three remaining ponies glanced at each other for moment before heading for the front doors.

The streets of Canterlot were just as bustling as the hallways of the train station, but with a lot more water everywhere. The ponies of Canterlot were trying their best to adapt to the abnormal weather; umbrellas tried their best to protect their owners from the whipping rain and wind while shops and stands set up covers to protect their goods and paying patrons.

“Well, might as well try on this rain jacket I just bought.” Connor pulled out the yellow jacket from his saddle bags and slipped it on. The thing was enormous on him; at least two sizes too big if he could make a guess at it, but stopped just above his hip bone. The attached hood completely covered his vision when he pulled it over his face.

Rainbow and Pinkie guffawed at the sight of the pegasus looking ridiculous in the yellow, rubber ducky jacket with only his scowling muzzle and tail showing. Connor tried to turn and scowl back at them, but it only doubled their laughter.

Connor rolled his eyes as he threw off the hood, but couldn't help smiling at making them laugh. “Alright, let's head out to the competition. Do we still want to wait for Rarity, or are we going to leave somepony behind to catch up to us later?”

“I'll stay behind!” Pinkie Pie eagerly volunteered. “Don't worry, I'll find you guys once Rarity comes back.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My Pinkie sense, of course!” she squeed.

“Your- wait, what?”

“Come on; less talking, more flying! We need to register into the competition before it starts,” Dash took off into the rain storm dragging a confused Connor by his neck.

The two pegasi landed in the middle of the merchandise section of the competition. Rainbow Dash was already soaked from the rain and shook herself dry like a dog; Connor was only mildly drenched from the head yanking and trying to stay airborne thanks to his new rain coat. Connor cracked his neck back into place again before glaring at an excited Dash.

“Alright, since we can't tell where the sign up desk is with all the tents set up, we're gonna have to search for it on the ground. Meet you back here in thirty minutes?” Connor grumbled as he worked out the last few kinks before nodding in agreement. “Awesome! I'll see you later when we find it!”

“Wait, where are we-, what am I even looking-, Auughh!” she left Connor standing in the street. He buried his face in his hoof for a few moments before finally accepting his fate to search for the officials tent by himself. Letting out another heavy sigh, Connor headed in the opposite direction of Rainbow.

He shook his wings to free himself of some water logged feelings as he trudged through the sea of bodies and umbrellas trying to find his needle in the haystack of tents. If Connor actually took some time to browse the selection, he could find some new oddities like wonderbolt figurines, trinket jewelry, and some better fitting jackets. He probably could have met just as interesting ponies under all the tents as well if he didn't feel like he was on a mission to find the sign-in tent.

“Connor!” he groaned wondering who was calling his name now. He stretched his neck over the crowds to see if he could recognize who was calling for him. He spotted a hoof waved above the heads of crowd and Connor recognised that it was Mr. Sportsen heading towards him, accompanied with Miss Note Pad right by his side. He wore his usual red tie and white dress shirt, but today his blue blazer had been replaced with a suede trench coat. Miss Note Pad was wearing her customary prim and proper business attire, with the addition of holding a large umbrella over herself and Sportsen.

“Oh, Mr. Sportsen, sir! I didn't expect to see you here today!” Connor yelled slightly over the rain while exchanging a firm hoof shake. “How are you today?”

“I'm doing fantastic, Connor! I was taking in all of the current success of Paint Wars; I'm glad it's doing so well!”

“Mr. Sportsen,” Miss Note Pad interjected politely, “May I suggest we step out of the rain before we continue talking?”

“Ah, of course, Miss Note Pad. Connor, would you join me under a tent, please?” Sportsen smiled.

“Sure!” They took a few steps out of the crowds and under a tent with racks of postcards on display. Connor threw his hood off and shook his face to clear it from any sticking water. Sportsen let out a sigh of relief from being in the rain while Miss Note Pad shook the umbrella.

“Ah, much better. So tell me, how have you been doing, Connor?”

“Oh, well, I've been doing fine so far.” Connor cleared his throat. “I'm a little nervous about the competition still since I might have some pretty tough fliers I'll have to go up against. But overall, I've been doing good. How have you been?”

Sportsen looked to the rain clouds above with a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “I'll be honest with you, Connor; It hasn't been easy for the last couple of days. As soon as I had the rain clouds brought over the city, I had nobles jumping down my throat at every corner complaining how I don't have the power to order special weather over their beautiful city. I've been able to convince some of them of the enormous business opportunity this sport provides with investment and merchandising, but there are still a few who refuse to realize the opportunity I am giving them.”

“Is there any actual royalty that is giving you grief about the storm over Canterlot?” Connor laughed.

Sportsen shook his head, “Outside the expected paperwork needed to be filled out to inform them of the impending storm, there hasn't been any major response from the princesses; though the nobles have been begging for some kind of reprimandation and legal action.” he turned to one of the postcard stands and plucked one off the rack to inspect. “And if it hasn't been a noble trying to issue a royal complaint against me, it's been the explosion of illegal merchandise being sold under the Paint Wars' name.”

“Oh joy...” Connor chuckled again.

“You have no idea.” Sportsen set the postcard back on the rack. “We had one pony trying to sell unofficial paint wars hats to everypony without paying some kind of royalties to us or setting up a third party distributor contract with Sportsen enterprise.” he ran a hoof through his combed back hair while letting another sigh out.

“The stallion in question seemed very self-entitled when we spoke to him about his activities.” Miss Note Pad stated flatly. “He claimed to have economic immunity to distribute whatever products he felt in part to his father being on the Canterlot financial committee.”

“Didn't we tell him that committee didn't quite have those powers like he thought it did?” Sportsen asked.

“We did, actually,” Miss Note Pad flipped through a few of her notes. “He then proceeded to cry to us after showing him multiple legal documents outlining the legal powers that committee had. He also stated he'd vow to, 'Get us back for this'; I have it written word for word here.” she pushed her glasses back up as Sportsen and Connor laughed.

“That is a-mazing! I never thought somepony could be that crazy!” Connor laughed, “Speaking of which, I should probably tell you that I saw a pair of shady vendors on the train trying to sell rain jackets and thermoses to ponies; I think they were selling them with Paint Wars printed on it too. so I wanted to let you know.”

“Uugh, Miss Note Pad,” Sportsen groaned again, “Would you please remind me to talk to the Pony Express train companies so we can give an official list of licensed vendors by us? I swear, whoever runs those trains will let just about anypony start selling on their cars.”

“That, or they are discreet enough to not get caught by the conductors.” Miss Note Pad made a few scribbles on her paper and nodded. “The note has been made, sir.”

“Thank you,” Sportsen sighed.

“Well then, I guess I’ll leave you to your work, Mr. Sportsen,” Connor waved a hoof, “I have to go find the sign-in tent for the competition; hope to see you again soon!”

“Oh, I know where that is!”

Connor paused half way throwing his hood back up to glance back at Sportsen. “Really?”

“Yes, however there was one more question I wanted to ask you before I told you.” Sportsen ever so slightly moved a little bit closer to Connor. “I wanted to ask you where you came from?”

Connor raised a confused eyebrow. “I thought I already told you; Ponyville.”

“No no no, that’s where you currently live.” He waved a hoof in dismissal. “I meant where you have lived before finding residence in Ponyville.”

“What for?”

“Oh, it's just for paperwork and all. We do have a contract with each other and part of my end is having a record of where you’ve lived for our records. It's nothing too big.” Sportsen gave a friendly smile.

“Um, okay.” Connor returned under the tent. “Well, I traveled around a lot on my own so I never really had any place that I stayed for a long time until I went to Ponyville.”

“Well, where did you stay before Ponyville?” Sportsen pressed.

“Uhm, well, I guess before Ponyville I stayed here in Canterlot for a bit” Connor answered hesitantly. And by a bit, I mean, like, maybe an hour or two; maybe. So I guess it’s partially true, then.

“And before that?” Sportsen pressed more.

“Um, Cloudsdale?”

Sportsen stared at Connor incredulously. “How about your hometown? You must have had one, didn’t you?”

Connor tried to swallow the knot now tying his tongue with little success.“Uuh, I-I don't remember...”

“Are you sure? You really can't remember anyplace you might have lived, even your hometown? A little strange that you can't remember where you’re from, don't you think? i hope it wasn't anyplace, unbecoming...”

Connor shook his head. “Sorry, I can't remember off the top of my head.”

“Hmmmm,” Sportsen hummed, his eyes never leaving Connor's. “Miss Note Pad, did you get all of that?”

She looked up from her note pad; “Yes sir.”

“Excellent!” Sportsen relaxed his hard gaze and returned to a more friendly posture. “Well then, thank you for your help, Connor. We'll be sure to input the information into our records later.”

“Uh huh, sure, no problem.” Connor's body felt stiff, like it was being held down by screws.

“Well, I should get going, then.” Sportsen patted a hoof on Connor's shoulder as Miss Note Pad opened the umbrella up again. “Enjoy the rest of the competition! Oh, and by the way, the sign-in tent is over that way. I just passed it before I saw you. Good luck!”

“Thank you.” Connor eyed Sportsen as he left the safety of the tent and back into the torrent of the rain storm. The glint in his eye was unnerving him so much it was unusual.

What was all that about? Why did he want to really know where I came from…? Is it possible that Sportsen might know-, no, it's impossible...! I haven't told him anything about where or what I really am. Did I do something unusual? Or- wait a minute, is it possible somepony could have told him about me?! If so, then who...?! Twilight?? Nooo, there's no way she might sell me out! Maybe Pinkie Pie? She does like to talk a lot so maybe it could have been her… Agh, I should have told everypony to not tell anyone where I came from....!

The conspiracies and second guessing was making it hard for Connor to think straight. He didn't want to completely doubt any of the ponies around him, but the idea of somepony outside of a select few knowing of his origins was worrying. A pony yelling about him being an alien was counterproductive to blending in. The idea was striking a particular fear inside him; a particular fear he worked hard to keep from becoming a reality.

“Hey Connor!” he jumped at the sound of his name. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of him giving a perplexed look.

“Oh, h-hey Dash; what's up?”

“I think I found the officials' tent just over that there. It's only a couple of tents away, so we can get signed in for the matches! Hey, are you alright? You look as scared when you were in Appleloosa.”

“No, no, it's something else on my mind; and I'm not that nervous.”

“Good,” Rainbow smiled confidently, “Because we're supposed to have a meeting with the refs before we start competing today. Come on, let's hurry up and get there so we can start flying!”

Rainbow Dash trotted off back into the rain leaving Connor behind. He paused for a second before chasing after her. Connor was grateful for Rainbow's arrival; it gave his mind a moment to reset. He was doing fine so far with blending in, so all he had to do was keep acting like a normal pony in this world until he went home. Right now, a normal pony would want to win this round in the tournament.

Just keep Sportsen off me and I'll do fine; that's all I have to do. That won’t be too hard for me. Connor reassured himself as he and Rainbow Dash approached a giant yellow and blue tent where several dozen ponies were gathered around a stage. Just on the fringe of the gathering crowd was a single sign-in desk with three ponies frantically trying to finish paperwork still layering the table. The pair spoke with a pony who got their names checked off on some list before quickly hoofing it to somepony else to rush off somewhere. With sign up done, they turned their attention to the players gathering for the meeting.

Dash began pushing her way through while Connor followed in her wake through the seas of winged bodies. As they drew closer, Connor spotted three ponies standing atop the stage along with a chalk board with a few drawings on it. The ponies were dressed in referee uniforms with one of them being a unicorn. The pony standing at the front of the stage was a purple pegasus stallion with a combed over hair cut and looking mildly snobbish.

He turned to his colleagues behind who pulled out a watch from his shirt pocket and nodded. The ref cleared his throat loudly. “Fillies and gentlecolts, if I may have your attention please!” something about his prim and proper voice irked Connor; it was probably the fact that he sounded like someone who’s trying let them all know that he is better than everypony, for whatever reason, with his self-satisfied smile that he has and his smug posture.

The talking of ponies quieted down to a low murmur interspaced with a few coughs as the rain pounded above. The referee nodded before continuing. “Before I continue, let me congratulate every pony who has made it to the second round of the paint wars tournament. You should all feel honored to be able to fly in the beautiful city of Canterlot.” An air of unmistakable condescension came in the last part.

Oh yeah, I would love to punch this guy in the throat right about now... some of the pegasus around Connor seemed to echo his thoughts as he heard a few harrumphs from them as well.

“With that out of the way, I will now go into some of the special conditions that have been made for flying in Canterlot; the most obvious one is the rain currently over us.” there was a cheer or two from the crowd. Connor could just barely make out the ref's eyes rolling. “This was made on special request from the owner of the game to, 'Liven things up'. Since we are to compete in these conditions, the referees have come to the conclusion to instill an altitude guideline.”

Cries and groans of disapproval rose up at the hearing of another altitude restriction. “Oh come on, we just had an altitude restriction in Appleloosa! You expect us to fly around below the roof tops of Canterlot the entire time too!?”

More shouts were followed after that first. The purple referee swallowed his tongue a bit at the angry crowd slowly growing. “I-I said it would be a Guideline; Not a Restriction! There have been no altitude limits implemented in this part of the tournament; however, because of the rain impeding everypony's vision, including the referees, we ask you to keep yourselves within view of everypony for the judges and spectators sake!”

At hearing the explanation, the crowd's stunted anger slowly simmered down to a disgruntled rumble. The ref readjusted his collar before continuing. “As I said, we ask you to keep the flying a little bit lower so that we may be able to judge properly. Any hits made outside of our view will not be counted as we won't be able to tell if there was foul play made in between the score.

“We will also be using the street lamps as a way to help show where the borders of the playing field will be. If you go outside the field, the street lamps will illuminate red and you will have only a few seconds to return to the field before you are disqualified. Are there any questions?”

When no hooves raised into the air, the referee nodded confidently. “Then good luck to everypony; you are dismissed! Will the first group of fliers please make their way to the holding pen!”

“Ugh, finally!” Rainbow groaned. “Now we can finally get to the good part!”

Connor grimaced, “Eh, I'm still not looking forward to flying in the rain.”

“Oh, quit being such a baby!” she shoved, “This is going to be awesome!”

“Rainbow Dash, please report to the holding pen. Rainbow Dash to the holding pen.” Dash and Connor looked back at one of the refs holding a list in his hooves and calling a few more names out.

“I guess it's time for me to fly; good luck in your match, Connor!” Connor waved goodbye to the Rainbow haired mare as she dashed off to find her opponent. The only thing on his mind was prospect of his own match.