Ponyville's new neighbourby TecuroChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9EpilougeChapter 6Chapter 1The sound of bird song floated through Twilight Sparkle’s open window and gently roused her from her sleep. Her eyes followed a thin ray of sunlight to where it was peeking through the curtains. She got out of her bed and made her way to the window then, using her magic, pulled back the curtains and basked in what she saw, the town of Ponyville in the small hours of the day; birds chirping happily in the tress, the first of the sun’s rays creeping over the hills and not one other pony in sight, and though a part of her regretted being awake so early on a day she had nothing to do, Twilight felt a wave of serenity wash over her. Yawning deeply, Twilight made her way downstairs where she found Spike finishing his breakfast, an amethyst the size of a large orange. “Good morning, Twilight!” he said upon seeing her, in his usual upbeat tone “how did you sleep?” “Beautifully, thank you,” Twilight replied her feeling of contentment rising at his bright attitude “and yourself?” “I can’t complain. I wish the birds would keep it down a bit though.” “I think it’s a wonderful way to wake up.” “I guess that’s true, still this was meant to be our day to lie in, and we’re up before anypony else!” “At least we have the whole day to spend with the girls.” “So what are you going to be doing with them today?” “Well-” But before Twilight could say another word, the peaceful and quiet atmosphere about the place was shattered by Pinkie Pie, or rather her shouting: “TWILIGHT!” “I think Pinkie Pie wants to talk to you,” said Spike, rolling his eyes. “What could she want this early?” Twilight asked herself as she opened the door, to see Pinkie Pie gallop towards her with a hysterical look plastered on her face. Twilight was able to step aside just in time before a streak of pink flashed by her and crashed into a bookshelf, launching every book upon it high into the air and falling on to Pinkie with a resounding thump. Chuckling slightly in spite of herself, Twilight made her way towards the small mountain of books that covered her friend when Pinkie exploded from the pile, grabbed Twilight by the hoof and took off towards the town leaving a confused and amused Spike to clear up the mess. Eventually Pinkie came to a stop just outside Town Hall and crouched behind some crates and barrels staring intently into the distance, and looking as though she had completely forgotten that she had virtually kidnapped Twilight. “What is it Pinkie?” Twilight asked, thinking this would be the only time she would be able to get a rational answer. “Shhh! don’t let him see you!” Pinkie said, pulling Twilight to the ground while keeping her eyes locked on her target. “Don’t let who see me?” “Him!” Pinkie then gestured to a spot just ahead of them. Twilight peered over the barrel she was crouched behind and saw a stallion standing in the middle of the road, looking very lost. The first thing Twilight noticed about him was his eyes; they were a deep shade of yellow, one might even go so far as to say golden. He was about half a head taller than Twilight and beefier than most stallions, though he couldn’t hold a candle to Big Mac. Above all Twilight hoped he would wash before Rarity saw him as, judging by his mane and tail, he had no idea what a comb was and his coat was completely caked in mud, so much so she couldn’t even make out his cutie mark. “Who is he?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know, do I!?” Pinkie answered with a frustrated tone. “So why are we hiding from him?” “Because he’s new!” Pinkie half-shouted at Twilight, as though explaining how two and two made four, and slowly Twilight realised what Pinkie was hinting at. “Are you planning to throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for him like you did with me when I first arrive here?” she asked, hesitantly. “Well duh!” “And you want to spy on him because…?” “Because I want to find out what kind of stuff his likes so I can throw him a party he’ll really enjoy!” Twilight felt a little hurt at this. “You never did that for me.” “What can I say? My technique has grown more refined,” Pinkie answered, shrugging her shoulders. Twilight knew better than to hold a grudge over that so moved on to her next question “So why did you bring me here in the first place?” “You’re a scientist remember! Scientists do things like this!” Pinkie said with a smile “You should probably do some research or something about science if you plan to study it!” Twilight made a mental note to explain to Pinkie Pie exactly what being a scientist involved but figured it could wait “Pinkie, don’t you think it would be better if we introduced ourselves to him?” “Oooo! Good idea! We’ll be able to find out his hobbies much easier if we conduct a more thorough and up-close examination! Now you’re thinking like a scientist!” Pinkie said ruffling Twilight’s mane, then happily trotted off towards the stallion. “I’m so glad I’m making progress,” Twilight said sarcastically, following Pinkie towards the newcomer. Chapter 2As Twilight approached the stallion she could smell that there was probably more than mud in his coat, but she ploughed on regardless, with a smile on her face. “Hello there!” she called out to him. “Oh, hey!” he replied with a thick foreign accent, that Twilight could have sworn she heard before but couldn’t place “I didn’t think anypony else would be awake at this time.” “Well it’s pretty busy around here so we tend to have earlier starts than most other places,” Twilight said, pretending to forget her schedule was clear today. “I’m not surprised, in a small community like this I’ll bet everypony has to pull their weight!” he said with a short laugh. Twilight would not have said she lived in a small community, but then thought he must have come from a big city. “Where did you come from?” she asked politely. “Well I was born in Trottingham…” “Of course!” Twilight shouted to herself, as she was finally able to place his accent, and realised how much he sounded like the colt Pipsqueak, albeit with a touch more grace. Noticing the look on the stranger’s face she collected herself, “Ahem, sorry.” He gave Twilight a quizzical look but quickly brushed it off “Anyway, I was born in Trottingham but I’ve travelled all over Equestria for years. I came here from Appleoosa.” “Oh really? Did you happen to meet somepony named Braeburn while you were there?” Twilight inquired, recalling her visit to the quaint, rustic town. Suddenly the stallion’s face lit up, as though he had just worked out a particularly nasty maths problem he had been working on for weeks. “You’re Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, though it sounded more like a statement. “Yes… how did you know that?” she replied, hesitantly, thinking that this could end up being one of ‘those days’. “I did meet Braeburn, as a matter of fact, and we quickly struck up a friendship so he told me about Applejack, yourself and all your friends, including Pinkie Pie here,” he gestured towards Pinkie, whom throughout the whole conversation had been staring at the stallion intensively, obviously still trying to discover he’s hobbies (but this time through telepathy), “And he suggested I make Ponyville my next stop, and seeing as I wound up lost in the Everfree forest-” “You were lost in the Everfree forest!?!” Pinkie yelped, finally breaking from her study. “For a couple of days, yeah,” he replied, in far too much of a cavalier fashion for Twilight’s liking. “How did you get there?” Pinkie pressed. “It’s a long story, involving a disgruntled Manticore, a herd of Buffalo and an above-average sized explosion,” the stallion answered, with a tone of pride, but when he saw the look on Twilight and Pinkie’s face he quickly added, “I didn’t have anything to do with the explosion!” Twilight thought it best to leave that story alone for now and prompted the stallion to continue, “So you were lost in the Everfree forest...” “Yeah, and Braeburn said that Ponyville was near the forest so it was just a simple matter of going in the right direction.” “How did you manage that?” asked Twilight, trying to decide if she was impressed at this stallion’s bravery or appalled at his ignorance. “Trial and error,” he replied, matter-of-factly, and then sheepishly added, “mostly error”. “So you were able to get through the whole forest without being attacked or eaten or anything!?!” Pinkie asked who was standing so close to the pony in a mix of awe and concern she had to plug her nose. “Well as you can see I wasn’t eaten, though I did bump into more unsavoury creatures once or twice, but I can take care of myself. Plus I meet a really nice and friendly zebra-.” “-Zecora,” Both Twilight and Pinkie finished his sentence. “The very same. Anyway she was able to give me directions out of the forest and into Ponyville, and that brings us to now.” “Then what happened?” Pinkie asked her eyes wide in anticipation. “I… um… I don’t know” The stranger replied, looking supremely confused, fortunately Twilight stepped in. “So what do you plan on doing here?” Twilight asked him, and snapped his attention away from the pink pony sitting patiently by his hooves, waiting for him to continue his story. “I don’t make plans. I travel to new places, stay there for a few weeks or months; helping the community, making new friends and then head of somewhere else.” “That must be exhausting,” Twilight said, thinking that she could never live like that. “To some ponies, I suppose, but I can’t imagine life any other way,” The stallion answered, “plus I bet I get a lot more birthday presents than you do, what with gifts being sent to me from all over Equestria!” He added with a large grin. “Well then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville…” Twilight trailed of when she realised that she didn’t know the stallion’s name, but he finished her sentence for her. “…Steed,” He said, offering a hoof to Twilight, but before she could take it a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Looking around Twilight, Pinkie and a very confused and terrified Steed all saw Rarity with a look of horror on her face, as if she had just seen somepony brutally murdered, looking directly at Steed; obviously enough time had passed for the rest of Ponyville to wake up. “What did I do?” Steed asked, but before anypony could answer Rarity had pounced on him and cradled him in her forelegs as if he were mortally wounded. “What on Equestria happened to you!?!” she asked rhetorically, in her classic over-the-top tone of voice. “Nothing, I’m fine-” Steed began, looking worried, but Rarity cut him off. “How in Celestia’s name could such a travesty even happen?!?” She wailed, placing a hoof to her forehead. Steed looked very hurt at this remark, Twilight, however, had already realised that she was referring to his appearance and thought it best to explain. “She means the mud in your coat,” she thought it best to leave it at ‘mud’. “Oh this?” Steed replied, his offended expression lightening “This is nothing, one time I-” Steed once again was interrupted, this time by Rarity placing a hoof to his mouth. “Don’t speak you poor thing! We need to get you help right away!” and without another word Rarity took off, full gallop, with a very confused looking Steed levitated ahead of her. “We should probably go and see if we can sort this out,” Twilight said to Pinkie. “Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie replied with a care-free grin on her face. Chapter 3Twilight and Pinkie followed Rarity straight to where Twilight thought she would go; the spa. Lotus and Aloe, who were playing a game of chess to pass the time, suddenly sprang into action when Rarity burst through the doors, floated Steed before them and screamed “For the love of the Princesses, save him!” The two spa ponies, both of whom knew Rarity to well to argue semantics, quickly went to work preparing their equipment and before he could fully grasp what was happening Steed was being escorted into the spa. “Have fun!” Pinkie called to him, his response to her was a look that seemed to beg for mercy. Now that Steed was being ‘attended’ too; Twilight went to speak to Rarity, who was weeping dramatically in a conveniently placed luxurious chaise longue. “Rarity…” Twilight began but was unable to say much more as Rarity had begun a new surge of weeping, even louder than the ones before. “He was so young!” she grieved, while Pinkie donned an umbrella hat to shelter herself from Rarity’s tears. “Rarity …” Twilight said once again, getting more and more frustrated by the second. “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!” Rarity cried to the sky. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted as loud as she could, with a menacing glare. “Twilight!” Rarity, abruptly halting her waterworks, yelped with a tone of surprise (she was obviously too concerned with Steed’s welfare to notice anypony else before now) “Something terrible has happened!” “Relax, Rarity he’ll be okay!” Pinkie chimed in, stowing her hat back into her mane. “How do you know about him?” Rarity probed, with a surprised look on her face. “We were the first ponies he met,” Twilight explained, Rarity then leapt at her and shook her violently by the shoulders. “So why didn’t you bring him here yourself?!” she demanded. “It was just a bit of mud!” Twilight said in-between Rarity’s shakes. “A bit of mud!?!” Rarity roared “I’ve seen less mud at Sweet Apple Acres!” “That can’t be true!” Pinkie argued “I mean, that was just one pony and Sweet Apple Acres is a whole farm!” “Fine, I was exaggerating to prove a point,” Rarity admitted, turning her nose to the sky, “But the point remains valid! You should have brought him here right away!” She said, directing a stern look at both Twilight and Pinkie, and releasing Twilight from her grasp. “I just thought he would want some time to settle in first,” Twilight explained, while regaining her senses. “Well you should know that nopony, no matter who they are, can tolerate being so dirty for any time longer than is absolutely necessary,” Rarity rebuked at Twilight. Before either Twilight or Pinkie could respond Lotus and Aloe both appeared. Aloe announced herself “Miss Rarity?” All three ponies turned to face her. “Is he all right?” Rarity implored but instead of answering her, the sisters dramatically stood to one side to reveal a now spotless Steed, whose eyes were out of focus and whose bottom lip was trembling, and all three girls could at last get a good look at him. The gold of his eyes matched his hooves and parts of his mane and tail (both of which were still as untidy as they were before, but now mud free), the parts they didn’t match were a bold red that matched his coat colour, a previously hidden physical feature he had was half a missing ear and his cutie mark intrigued Twilight; a horseshoe with a large crack running down it. For a long time no one said anything, instead Twilight and Pinkie shot each other anxious looks, Rarity took the time to assess the now cleansed Steed and Steed himself continued to stare into space, with a look that seemed to imply he had just been violated. Eventually Rarity broke the awkward silence. “Couldn’t you have done something about his mane?” She asked the sisters but it was Steed who responded. “No… Not the mane… Don’t take that away… Let me keep him at least…” he said in a quiet voice, still staring and nothing. “I think he likes it this way,” Lotus explained, while taking a few steps away from Steed. Twilight thought it best to try and snap Steed back to the room, before something horrifying happened and so made her way towards him, albeit cautiously. “Steed?” she probed, placing a hoof on his shoulder “Are you all right?” The use of his name caught his attention and Steed looked towards Twilight, his eyes now focused on a subject, but he still spoke in the same breathy, far away voice “…I need to leave… take me away from this place?” he pleaded. “Its okay, Steed. We’re leaving,” Twilight said in a soothing tone of voice. “…Thank you…” Steed whispered and, looking relieved, headed for the exit. Twilight and the others stayed behind for a moment, if anything to keep some distance between them and a very creepy Steed. “Thank you,” Twilight said to the sisters, who nodded and went to continue chess game (after being paid, off course). “Some ponies can be so over-dramatic,” Rarity said, leaving the spa with her nose in the air, with Twilight and Pinkie in her wake. Once outside the three friends found that in the brief time Steed was alone he had vanished, a development that deeply worried Twilight. “Oh no,” she groaned “Where could he have got to?” “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Pinkie reassured her, or at least tried to. “Did you see what he was like in there? He’s not in his right mind! And now he’s loose in Ponyville!” Twilight argued. “Come now, Twilight,” Rarity said “He can’t have gotten far we’ll find him, besides I’m not just going to let him run off and get himself dirty again.” “Well come on girls, we’d better get started,” Twilight said, starting to regret waking up early. Suddenly Pinkie’s tail started twitching violently. “Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” She blurted, and on impulse Twilight and Rarity both dove for cover under the canopy of a large tree at the very moment Steed fell from its branches and straight onto them. “Oh, sorry!” he said, looking surprised “It was an accident, I’m really sorry!” “What were you doing up there?!” Twilight demanded of him. “I didn’t like being so clean,” He explained, looking bashful (and completely disproving Rarity’s theory that nopony can tolerate being dirty) “So I thought if I hopped into the tree I could get some leaves and twigs stuck in my coat,” he explained as he helped Twilight to her hooves “but I guess the branch I was holding on to wasn’t as strong as it looked,” Steed now turned to Rarity and paused for a brief moment then said to her, “Sweet Celestia… You look amazing.” Until that point Rarity had a look on her face that seemed to imply she would do horrific and unspeakable things to Steed very soon, but the second he finished his sentence all ill will was forgotten. “Well, I wouldn’t say amazing,” Rarity said, trying to act aloof. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Steed asked her, in a very compassionate tone. “Oh no, of course not. Just a harmless mistake,” she replied with a little giggle. “I would hate to think I almost damaged something as stunning as you,” Steed replied, offering his hoof to Rarity, who took it and gracefully rose to her hooves. “You sweet-talker, you,” She said to Steed, blushing while standing in a position that seemed to amplify her beauty. “How are you feeling, Steed?” Twilight asked, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the minuet. “Oh! Much better thanks!” He said, finally looking away from Rarity, “just promise me that I’ll never have to go through that again,” he replied with a half-smile on his face. “Only if you promise to never get that dirty again,” Rarity said, “how did you even get in such a state to begin with?” “It’s a long story…” Steed began. “… Involving a disgruntled manticore…” Twilight continued. “… A heard of Buffalo…” Pinkie added. “… And an above-average sized explosion,” Twilight concluded. “That I didn’t have anything to do with!” Steed reminded her. Rarity had the same idea as Twilight when she first heard that summarized chain of events and did not probe into it, but instead asked “So, Steed is it? When did you get here?” “This morning, I spent the night at Zecora’s hut.” “And she didn’t mind you being covered in that much mud in her house?” Rarity asked with a tone of mild surprise. “Well to be honest I wasn’t that messy when I met Zecora,” Steed confessed, looking a little embarrassed. “So you got yourself covered in that much mud in the amount of time it took you to get from Zecora’s hut to the town centre?” Twilight asked, trying to figure out how that was even possible. “Yes. Mainly because of the manticore” Once again Twilight decide to leave that story alone for now. “Well now that you’re presentable, Steed, what do you feel like doing?” “Well Braeburn said he would write ahead to Applejack to let her know I was coming so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go see her.” “Do we have to?” Rarity whined “Don’t worry; I’ll do my upmost best to stay clean,” Steed promised her, flashing a quick smile in Twilight’s direction. Chapter 4The trip through town to Sweet Apple Acres gave Steed the opportunity to meet some of the other Ponyville residents (he was particularly excited to meet Vinyl Scratch, as he was a big fan of hers) who all welcomed him warmly and also didn’t question him about the bizarre manner of his arrival, and eventually the group made it to Applejack’s farm where the first pony they saw was Big Macintosh hauling a cart, full to the brim with freshly-bucked apples. “Hello, Big Mac!” Twilight called to him “Is Applejack around?” “Eeyup,” he replied whilst gesturing towards to orchard. “Thank you,” Twilight said to him, as the group headed in the direction he pointed out. When they finally found Applejack she was in the middle of apple-bucking, however the tree she was currently working on must have been particularly stubborn as, no matter how many times Applejack bucked at the tree only a few apples would fall from the branches, leaving the vast majority of them still hanging on. “Come on, ya dang nuisance!” Applejack shouted at the tree, clearly frustrated “Stand back, ma’am!” Steed yelled at her, in a very heroic and clichéd tone of voice, then galloped full speed straight at the tree while everypony else could only watch in a mixture of shock and awe. To everypony’s surprise Steed, instead of bucking the tree, continued running towards it and head-butted it with such force that not only shook the apples into the buckets placed by the trunk but, also some of the branches to the floor. “Thank yah kindly partner, but didn’t that hurt?” Applejack asked in a tone of concern, while helping Steed up. “Nope,” Steed replied, though the fact his eyes were momentarily facing opposite directions after the impact gave the girls reason to doubt him. “I’ve got a tough head. I need it too; considering how bad I am at my hobby.” “Which is?” Twilight asked, wondering how much stranger this stallion could get. “Mountain climbing.” “Oh dear…” Rarity groaned to herself, massaging her temples in exasperation. “Oh wow! You climb mountains!?” Pinkie squealed in excitement. “Well sort of, but I haven’t quiet got the hang of it yet,” Steed replied, a little embarrassed. “Doesn’t stop me from trying though,” he added with a smile. “Is that what your cutie mark means then? Not giving up?” Twilight asked and only thinking afterwards that her question may be to personal, and then thinking how rude she must seem and that she may have upset Steed, and if she had upset Steed he may not want to talk with her anymore, and if he didn’t want to talk to her anymore then he may leave Ponyville and was about to continue thinking along those lines until Steed answered her with a smile. “To some extent, I suppose. My mum says it ‘represents my stubborn but proud refusal to break under any pressure’, but I just think it looks cool,” he then turned so that all the girls could get a good look at it. “I got it during my first avalanche.” “I’m sorry, but did you say ‘avalanche’?” Rarity asked, trying to hide her obvious bewilderment. “Did yah say ‘first avalanche’?” Applejack added, not bothering to hide hers. “Yeah. It was the first mountain I climbed. I got pretty near the top when half the mountain side just fell out beneath me,” Steed replied, puffing out his chest. “How the hay did yah get through that in one piece?” Applejack asked, with a look on her face of both terror and admiration. “I didn’t. I had to spend the next three months in a hospital; coincidentally that was also how I got this,” he rubbed his hoof over what remained of his left ear “I never actually saw my Cutie Mark until they took the cast off. I’ll never forget that day.” He finished while looking to the sky with a satisfied smile on his face. Unlike all the other girls, who now saw Steed as a good-looking, devil-may-care, tough-guy Twilight found his story to be horrendous “How old were you when this happened?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t say ‘very young’. “Think about it, Twilight, this was how I got my cutie mark! I was just a little colt!” He replied, with a small snicker, which didn’t make Twilight feel any better about this. “And you parents let this happen?!?” she half screamed at him. “Oh, Celestia, no!” - his snicker growing to something just less than a laugh but more than a chuckle - “I had ran away from home.” “What!?!” all the girls replied. “It’s a long story,” Steed said tediously, implying he had told it many times. “Well instead of getting too much into that,” Twilight said, trying to change the subject “How about you introduce yourself to your friend’s cousin?” “Oh! Right!” Steed replied, turning to face Applejack, “I’m Steed. I’m sure Braeburn has told you about me,” he said to her. “That he did! In fact, ya’ll should come back to the barn with me; Ah’ve got a little somthin’ for yah!” She said, with a sly little smile and started heading out of the orchard. Before he followed Applejack, Steed turned to Twilight and asked her, “Should I be excited or scared to find out what her ‘little something’ is?” to which she simple giggled and left Steed standing alone in bafflement before hurrying to catch up. Chapter 5When the group arrived at the barn Applejack told the others to wait outside and then entered and made sure she closed the doors firmly behind her. “I don’t quite know what to feel at the moment,” Steed said aloud to no one in particular. “I suggest Nervou-cited,” Pinkie said to him. “Thanks,” he replied looking very confused. Suddenly a loud screech pierced the sky and everypony looked up to see a falcon soar out of Applejack’s bedroom window and dive straight at Steed who, instead of expressing any indication of fear, shock or surprise as Twilight would have expected, stood up on his hind legs, opened his fore-legs wide and, with a look of absolute delight on his face yelled, “Come here, you!” before being struck by the falcon with such force he was knocked clean off his hooves and land on his back some distance away. Twilight and the others quickly ran over to Steed and found him ruffling the falcon’s feathers while the bird playfully nipped at Steed’s muzzle. “I take it you two know each other?” Twilight asked him, rhetorically. “You bet I do!” Steed replied, getting to his hooves with a wide smile on his face “Girls; this is my pet falcon, Arrow.” Arrow took that as his queue to appear majestic and so after a quick flight around the barn landed squarely on Steed’s back and stretch his wings to full length whilst letting out a loud screech. “How regal…” Rarity said in a tone of awe admiring Steed’s companion as if he were made of diamonds. “Hi, Arrow!” Pinkie said, waving to the bird. Arrow then flew over to Pinkie, landed on her head and excitedly nibbled at her ear. “Hey!” Pinkie blurted, between fits of laughter “That tickles!” “He’s been mighty worried ‘bout ya’ll,” Applejack told Steed, while Arrow flew back to Steed and landed smartly on his back. “He showed up here ah few days ago, along with yah saddlebags and ah note from Braeburn tellin’ me what happened over at Appleoosa and that Ah should expect yah.” “You carried my saddlebags here all the way from Appleoosa?” Steed asked to Arrow, to which Arrow puffed out his chest. “That’s my boy!” Steed said, giving Arrow an appreciative pat on the back “So you’ve got all the rest of my stuff too?” He then asked Applejack. “Yep, it’s all up in mah room; but Ah’m afraid we don’t have enough room for ya’ll to stay with us for at least a week, what with Uncle Strudel visitin’.” “Don’t worry, I’ll sort something out,” Steed assured her “We’ve had more than our fair share of rough nights, haven’t we, boy?” He asked to Arrow who let out another screech in agreement. Suddenly a new voice joined in, “Hey, who’s doing all the screeching?” The group looked up, towards the source of the voice, to see a cyan blue pegasus, with an eye-catching rainbow coloured mane, fly towards them at an ever increasing speed, then eventually lose momentum and lend deftly in front of Steed. “And who’s the new guy?” she asked, sizing Steed up. “Hi, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said to her “This is Steed, he just arrived today.” “Steed, huh?” Rainbow questioned, still keeping her eyes on him, “Who’s the bird?” she asked. “He’s name is Arrow,” Steed told her, then added “and he’s much more than just a bird” Arrow gave Steed’s shoulder a small squeeze with his talons to thank him for sticking up for him. “Oh, I know what he is,” Rainbow assured him, now focusing on the falcon “You know… most pegasi see falcons as proud and noble creatures that have a good judge of character, meaning anypony they stick around with should be treated with respect” Rainbow said as if leading up to something, a factor Twilight and Steed both picked up on. “Rainbow Dash, I-” Twilight began before a somewhat irate Steed interrupted her. “Hold on, Twilight, I think Rainbow Dash has something she wants to say,” He said in an accusatory tone “Well, Rainbow Dash? What is it?” Instead of answering to Steed, Rainbow Dash looked directly at Arrow and, with an obvious smirk said, “Show me what you got.” “What?” Steed asked her, a little surprised, while Arrow just stared in confusion at Rainbow Dash. “A race,” Rainbow said to Steed, her smirk growing to a full blown smile “Arrow and me. A lap of the orchard, first one back here wins.” Twilight knew she was going to say that. “Why should I agree to that?” Steed inquired. “Well, if your bird isn’t up to it…” Rainbow replied, whilst nonchalantly checking her hoof for dirt. That comment pushed both Steed and Arrow over the edge. “You’re on!” Steed yelled, while Arrow let out another long and loud screech. “Awesome!” Rainbow yelled whilst flapping her wings enough to get airborne “I’ll give you a moment to get ready, then met me over by the barn” she then flew off, and shouted over her shoulder “Don’t keep me waiting!” Chapter 7On the way to Fluttershy’s cottage the group received a lot more attention now, thanks to Arrow’s showboating, meaning Steed’s plan of ‘no distractions’ quickly fell apart. “You’d think they’d never seen a falcon before,” Rarity remarked as Lyra and Bon-Bon watched, awe-struck, as Arrow pulled off a gut-wrenching loop and proceed into an arsenal of aerobatic displays. Eventually, after Steed was able to convince Arrow to ease up on the aerial spectacles, the group finally made it to Fluttershy’s cottage “Fluttershy is just going to love you!” Pinkie said to Arrow as she bounced along the path leading to Fluttershy’s door ahead of the group, as the setting sun morphed the sky into a myriad of reds and yellows. “Oh, a fan of falcons is she?” Steed asked her “Look at where she lives. What do you think?” Rainbow said to him, looking unimpressed. Steed took a moment to look around him, and noticed the abundance of bird houses, burrows, nests and all the other glaring signs of animal life in front of him “Good point,” he succumbed. Twilight trotted to the door and raised her hoof to knock upon it before she paused in contemplation. “What’s wrong?” Steed asked her, looking a little concerned. “Well it’s late…” Twilight explained. “She wouldn’t be asleep now would she?” Steed responded. “Well no, but I’m just wondering if we might startle her, showing up at this time.” “Oh come on!” Steed let out a little chuckle “Braeburn said she was shy, but she can’t be that bad!” “You obviously do not know Fluttershy,” Rarity scoffed, with her nose in the air as she marched towards the cottage. “Well no I don’t, I just arrived in town today…” Steed reminded her, but Rarity either didn’t hear him or ignored him, as she very gently rapped on Fluttershy’s door. “Fluttershy, dear, are you in?” She softly called out “Its Rarity, and the rest of us. We have a new arrival in Ponyville and we’d very much like for you to meet him.” For a while there was silence and Twilight saw Steed roll his eyes. Then a small voice was heard from inside “Do I have to?" it asked. “Well no, not if you don’t feel up to it, but he is very friendly and we all like him.” Rarity replied, sounding very comforting, “don’t we girls?” she then asked the group. Steed’s interest was suddenly drawn from a nearby tree to the girls. “Absolutely,” Twilight said “Yes indeed-ie!” Pinkie rang “Darn tootin’,” Applejack called “He’s all right,” Rainbow shrugged “See? And we’ll all be there too so there is no need to feel nervous. Now could you be a dear and let us in? It is rather cold out here,” Rarity appealed to the door knocker. Another long pause followed. Eventually Fluttershy answered, “… Okay …” and ever so slowly the door inched open with a loud creak. Fluttershy peered out from her door to see for herself if all her friends were present when Twilight heard a small gasp coming from Steed that went unnoticed by the rest of the group, and when turning to him to investigate she immediately recognised the look on his face; it was the same look Spike had when he first saw Rarity. “Oh this is all I need,” Twilight said to herself, irritated and pulled Steed into the cottage by his mane and then deposited him in an empty chair while the others took seats where they could. “Thank you. Now, how about I make us some tea while you and our new friend get acquainted?” Rarity said to Fluttershy upon entering the cottage and proceeded directly to the kitchen before Fluttershy could reply, leaving the five girls alone with Steed in an awkward silence. Twilight had never before felt so uncomfortable – and from the looks on her friend’s faces neither had they. Fluttershy was at first excited to meet Arrow and was about to say something until she saw Steed staring at her as if he just saw her pull an orphan and a lamb from a burning building and so instead remained quiet and kept her gaze to the floor, while all the other girls desperately tried to find an excuse to break the deathly silence. Applejack was the first to speak. “Well aren’t ya’ll gonna introduce yurself?” She asked to Steed, apprehensively. Steed made something that could be called a sound in response but never once took his eyes of Fluttershy, who looked very much like she wanted to be in any part of Equestria that was not where she was currently. “For the love of Cadence!” Rainbow blurted out, bored and frustrated, then flew over to Steed picked him up by the waist (a difficult feat considering his bulk) and unceremoniously deposited him by Fluttershy’s hooves “One of you say something. Right now!” She ordered. “Oh… um… hi,” Fluttershy mumbled, looking like she might cry out of fright. “Uh…. hi,” Steed replied, looking like he might die of embarrassment. Rainbow Dash held her head in her hooves and sighed “That’s a start, now tell her your name,” she instructed Steed. “I… uh… I’m… uh… Steed…” He mumbled, now looking at anything other than Fluttershy. “This is ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “Try telling Fluttershy a bit about yourself,” Twilight advised to an extremely anxious looking Steed. “I’m Steed,” Steed said to nopony in particular, keeping his head down. “Something you haven’t already told her,” Twilight reminded him, trying to sound gentle while holding back the urge to slap him. “Oh… uh… I like… uh… stuff,” Steed mumbled. “This is like watchin’ paint dry,” Applejack commented. “Are you kidding me? This is waaaay more interesting!” Pinkie countered, whilst eating greedily from a tub of popcorn she suddenly had, her attention riveted on the extravagant display of awkwardness at its purest. To Twilight’s relief Rarity then returned from the kitchen “Hey, it’s Rarity! We can talk to Rarity!” she blurted trying not to sound desperate, causing Rarity to almost drop the tray of tea and biscuits she was levitating in shock, before she composed herself. “Now Twilight, dear, while I enjoy a good chat we are here to introduce Fluttershy to…” Rarity then looked over to Fluttershy, also seeing Steed still sprawled on the floor in front of her (and both of them still avoiding each other’s eyes as well as ignoring everything else around them) and paused for a moment while she wrapped her head around the situation. “Ah. I see the problem; a classic case of stage fright.” “Which one of them?” Twilight asked, sarcastically, to herself. “But they’re not on a stage,” Rainbow pointed out. “You don’t have to be in front of a large audience to suffer an attack of the nerves,” Rarity countered, “anxiety can strike at any time.” “Well how do we snap ‘em out of it?” Applejack asked. “Simple; we distract them,” Rarity explained, and then carefully set down the tray of tea. “Oh woe is me!” she cried out, dramatically gliding across the room and collapsing to the floor next to Steed, “the horror!” This was the second instance of the day that gave Twilight reason to believe Steed had some kind of ‘chivalry-mode’ that activated whenever he saw a mare in distress; as he had suddenly sprang into action, kneeling besides Rarity and cradling her head “What is it? What’s the matter?” he asked her, looking very concerned but also completely focused. “It’s just so terrible!” Rarity sobbed. “Goodness, Rarity, can we help?” Fluttershy asked her friend as she too knelt down beside her. At once Rarity’s eyes lit up, though Twilight could tell this was all part of her act, “Yes!” She exclaimed, and clung to both Steed and Fluttershy, “You two are the only ones who can help me!” Fluttershy didn’t appear overly happy at the idea of being forced into a duo to help her friend; however Steed was simply focused on the matter in front of him. “What do you need us to do?” he asked, looking very grave. Rarity gave a few heavy sobs before replying “I forgot to… forgot to… I…” “Calm down, breath” Steed said soothingly, while stroking Rarity’s mane. “I forgot to use the tea leaves I always carry with me for special occasions!” She wailed, crying furiously, and then brandished a small box labelled “Earl Neigh” Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all let out a deep breath they had been holding. “Sheesh, Rarity, you had us all worked up there for ah moment,” Applejack said with a small smile, and began to chuckle, but then Steed turned to her with a very stern look on his face that quickly silenced her “This is a serious issue, Applejack,” he scolded and then turned back to Rarity, who was still weeping and shuddering in his hooves. “Don’t worry, Rarity. I can fix this.” “I know you can,” Rarity replied looking as though Steed had just fulfilled her dying wish and then fainted. “Fluttershy, I need you with me in the kitchen” Steed said, looking her in the eyes for the first time since Rainbow’s intervention – this time with no hint of anticipation. “Why?” Fluttershy asked in response, looking concerned. “I don’t know where you keep everything and I don’t have time to guess, you have to help me; for Rarity’s sake” “All right, follow me,” Steed grabbed the box of Earl Neigh and then followed Fluttershy into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. “You can get up now, Rarity,” Twilight said, to which Rarity rose from the ground and took a seat next to Arrow, who throughout the whole ordeal had been eyeing the abundance of bird houses in the cottage (but was now quite content to be stroked by Rarity). “How did you know that would work?” Rainbow asked Rarity “Well,” she began, sounding like some sort of criminal master-mind (and given that she was sat in a high-backed armchair stroking an animal, that vibe was easily picked up) “Fluttershy would do anything for a friend and as for Steed? He reacted exactly the way a gentlecolt from Trottingham should when presented with a tea crisis.” “So what happens now?” “Well, in a few moments Steed and Fluttershy will return, upon which they shall present to me the tea I asked – oh and if you all could play along it would help - I will then appraise them on a job well done, the ice will be broken and the rest of the night should go swimmingly.” Twilight couldn’t fault Rarity’s plan but it seemed a little convoluted to her, however just as she was about to voice her opinion the mumble coming from the kitchen grew louder and more frantic. “That doesn’t sound good,” she pointed out. “I’m sure the two of them are just working something out,” Rarity said, though there was doubt in her voice Suddenly, and to everyone’s surprise, Fluttershy’s voice boomed out from the kitchen “Get a hold of yourself!” followed by a loud thump. “Swimmingly,” Rainbow mocked. Chapter 8Eventually, after a short but awkward silence, the kitchen door opened. “Places, everypony!” Rarity whispered with urgency and then slumped over in her chair, while the other girls wondered what Rarity meant by ‘places’. Steed then entered the room with a freshly-brewed cup of tea on a small saucer with Fluttershy following close behind. The stallion marched straight over to Rarity (without spilling a single drop) and slowly wafted the cup under her nose, which caused Rarity’s eyes to flutter and nostrils to inhale sharply. “My word…” she mumbled softly “… that smells divine.” “I’m glad you think so,” Steed replied, speaking softly, “now how about you have a taste?” he asked tilting the cup to her mouth. Rarity then blew gently on the still steaming brew and took a tentative sip when her eyes suddenly widened. “Sweet Celestia!” she cried, staring with awe at the tea and then Steed, “this is… I’ve never… You can’t… I don’t even know what to say…” “I take it you like it?” Steed asked, almost rhetorically. “Like it? Like it? I love it!” Rarity almost shouted, now sitting bolt upright “Where did you learn to make tea this wonderful?” She asked, before taking a few more greedy gulps. “Any Trottingham pony worth his weight in chips knows how to make a decent cuppa’, it’s in the blood,” he explained, looking proud. “I cannot believe that you made the most incredible tea I have ever tasted simply because ‘you can’,” Rarity countered. “You need to visit Trottingham.” Steed remarked as Rarity took one more swig before setting aside the now empty cup. “So, any problems back there?” Rainbow Dash asked to Steed, “Any issues?” “Nothing Fluttershy couldn’t manage,” He replied, embracing Fluttershy in an act of camaraderie before realising what he was doing, upon which he quickly released her and blushed furiously while looking at the floor. “Is that true, Fluttershy?” Twilight quickly asked before Steed returned to his original method of interacting with Fluttershy. “Um… well… there might have been a small problem… but… we coped…” Fluttershy mumbled in response, but then in a rush of confidence added “but Steed was brilliant in there! You girls should have seen him; it was like watching a painter create a masterpiece.” “I just did what I had to, it wasn’t all that special,” said Steed, still embarrassed but at least looking at Fluttershy. “Oh but it was! I can’t believe you’d do that for a pony you hardly know.” “I’d be willing to call Rarity a friend, provided she doesn’t try to sterilise me any time soon.” “So you’re getting along with everypony then?” “I’m an easy pony to get along with.” Twilight didn’t hear the rest of the conversation mostly because Twilight didn’t want to eavesdrop on their private conversation now that they finally could say more than two words to each other but also because a smug Rarity whispered into her ear, “Swimmingly.” The rest of the night went very well; with the whole group chatting to Steed about his travels, though to Twilight’s surprise Fluttershy appeared to be leading most of the conversations. She assumed whatever happened during the ‘tea crisis’ must have broken the ice between them very effectively. “Well this has been lovely,” Rarity said to the group, “but I feel that we should start to head home.” “Awww but it’s only…” Rainbow whined before looking at the clock and then said, “Holey horseshoes! Is that the time!? I’ve got double cloud-busting in the morning! I’ll see you guys later! See ya, Steed!” and then was gone in the blink of an eye out a window. “Ah should be makin’ ah move as well, got ah tone of chores that need doin’ in the mornin’. Goodnight ya’ll!” Applejack yawned and was about to get up when she stopped and a look of confusion appeared on her face, as if she had forgotten something important, before she suddenly yelled, “Steed! Where are yah gonna sleep tonight?!” Everypony then looked to him but all he said was, “Uhhhh…. Outside?” Arrow was quick to express his displeasure at the idea with a few sharp pecks to Steed’s head, “Ow! Ow! It was only an idea!” Steed shouted with his hooves over his head. “Well I would offer you a place to sleep but Spike’s had a cold the past few days and… well… the spare bed is a little… charred…” Twilight muttered sheepishly while Arrow halted his assault on Steed’s skull. “Well I won’t pry too much into that,” Steed responded, rubbing his head and giving Arrow a wary look, “So, any other offers?” He asked to the other girls. “Well yah already know Ah can’t take yah in,” Applejack stated, to which Steed gave a nod of understanding. “I’m afraid my abode is in no fit state for company; I’ve been working very hard this past week and I haven’t had a chance to tidy up,” Rarity said, rather solemnly. Steed gave a little laugh, “Don’t worry about it, my Mum’s the same.” “Mr Cake says I’m not allowed to bring any more ponies home unless he has at least two days warning,” Pinkie Pie said, as if reciting orders. Steed now gave Pinkie a wary look “… okay … So I guess I’ll just have to-” “Oh! I have an idea!” Pinkie suddenly blurted, jumping in the air with her hoof raised, “Pick me! Pick me!” “Yes, Pinkie?” “You can sleep with Fluttershy!” she almost shouted, jumping even higher. Twilight couldn’t tell who, out of Steed or Fluttershy, looked more uncomfortable with that suggestion. “Ummm…. I uh… I don’t… Uhhhh…” was all Steed managed to say but it was more than Fluttershy’s small mummer. “You could sleep on her couch with your head up this end so if you wanted to you could open the window and have a breeze through your mane! It would be just like sleeping outside!” Pinkie explained as she acted the part of Steed on the couch, “And there are plenty of spare bird houses for Arrow! It’s perfect!” “Well that is a good idea,” Steed figured, looking more relaxed, “How about it, Fluttershy?” For a moment Fluttershy said nothing and Twilight thought that these two ponies would never be able to spend more than a minute whit just each other for company but eventually the timid, shy and unbelievably nervous Pegasus looked Steed straight in the eye and said with a smile, “That would be fine.” “Well if you’re all set up, we’d best start heading home” Twilight said, feeling very proud of Fluttershy, “Come on girls.” Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity all said their goodbyes and then left Fluttershy’s cottage. On her way back to the library Twilight looked back over the day and tried to think if she had learnt something new about friendship she could write about to Princess Celestia, “I suppose the main thing I learned is that a new friendship can start at any time and you just have to keep your eyes open, even if the pony in question may at first seem… odd,” she said to herself, before pausing for a moment then concluded with, “I’ll need to figure out a better way to word that.” Upon entering the library, Twilight was pleased to see that Spike did indeed clean up Pinkie’s mess and headed up to her room where she found the dragon in his bed paying bongos on his belly. “Hey, Twilight, I didn’t hear you come in.” “That’s probably because of the bongo belly,” she explained with a smirk. Spike blushed, “Well after my chores I didn’t have much else to do, so what did Pinkie Pie want?” “I’ll tell you in the morning, for now, take a letter.” Chapter 9Once again Twilight found herself awake much earlier than she planned, this time however there was no beautiful bird song or stunning sunrise instead there was a starry night and a frantic beating on her front door. “Who in Equestria could be awake this late?” she groaned to herself, and started heading downstairs past a snoring Spike, who mumbled something about Rarity and an ice-cream mansion until a thunderous roar shook through the entire library. “Ahhh!” Spike screamed as he leapt into the air and landed squarely on Twilight’s back holding onto her tightly “What was that? Are we under attack?” he asked looking around for signs of invaders. “I don’t know but we need to find out,” Twilight replied as she galloped to the front door and upon opening it discovered a frantic Steed blocking her way. “Steed?!? What are you doing here? What’s going on?” Twilight demanded of him. “Well, do you remember the disgruntled manticore I mentioned?” he said, looking guilty, “It’s possible that he may have followed me here” - another loud roar rang through the town - “just maybe.” Before Twilight could scold Steed a very disgruntled manticore with a nasty looking black-eye sprang from behind a nearby house (the residents of which were peering from their windows in fear and disbelief) and upon spotting Steed charged straight towards him. In an act of stupidity, only once seen before, Steed also charged head first towards the beast and would have been done for had Twilight not teleported a large fruit cart in between the two of them, causing Steed to skid to a halt – the Manticore however was not so agile and careened head first into it, smashing it to pieces but also dazing the beast. “Run!” Twilight yelled, then quickly turned-tail and sprinted as far from the manticore as she could get, with Steed hot on her heels (as well as Spike hanging desperately to her neck), and eventually found a place to hide at the back of the school house. “I think we lost him,” Steed panted while scanning the horizon, “So, what’s the-” he was cut off by yet another roar. “What did you do to this manticore anyway?” Twilight questioned, giving Steed an angry glare. “Well while I was in the Everfree Forest-” Spike then spoke up, “Hold on! What were you doing in the Everfree Forest? Or better yet who are you?” “To answer your first question, I was lost, and to answer your second question, I’m Steed,” Steed explained, with an irritated expression. “Fair enough,” Spike remarked. “As I was saying, I came across his den while in the forest so he tried to fend me off and I tried to get past him, there was a bit of a tussle between us and I maybe, possibly, might have dropped a boulder on his head,” Steed finished his explanation with an regretful grin. “Well maybe you should apologise to him,” Twilight advised, sternly “As soon as I get the chance I will, but so far any time I get close to him he tries to inflict as much harm upon me as possible. I think he’s gone from disgruntled to revenge-fuelled-rage.” Spike suddenly light up with a bright idea, “Where’s Fluttershy? She’ll be able to sort this out!” “Back at the cottage trying to keep order, I assume,” Steed said to him, “the manticore must have caught my scent because he made a bee-line from the forest right to the cottage and virtually broke down the door. I ran to lead him away from Fluttershy, but not before big-mean-and-scary back there caused something of a ruckus.” “So what are our options?” Spike asked, dumbfounded “I could run away again,” Steed suggested, “or we could find another boulder; that worked well the last time but this one needs to be bigger!” “Or we could try to resolve this peacefully,” Twilight interjected. “Or we could try that…” Steed agreed looking at his hooves. “Err… Guys… You might want to turn around…” Spike hesitantly said. With a feeling of impending dread, Twilight looked behind her and came face to face with the creature from which they were hiding. Steed quickly stood between Twilight and the manticore, “Hello Mr. um… manticore… I’m sorry for dropping that boulder on you the other day… I uh…” before he could continue the manticore took a swipe at him that he just managed to dodge, “Hey! I’m trying to apologise here! The least you could do is not take my head off until I finish!” he yelled, irately at the manticore as it raised its paw for another attack, fortunately for Steed however Arrow swooped in out of nowhere and started to peck and claw wildly at the creature’s face Twilight saw the opportunity to escape and was about to take it when the thrashing manticore spun blindly and hit her with its tail with enough force to send her straight into the school through a, thankfully, open window, but also knocking her out cold. For the second time that night Twilight awoke, this time thanks to Spike. “Come on, Twilight! Wake up!” he shouted at her, while shaking her vigorously. “I’m awake! I’m awake!” she answered, brushing Spike of her chest “Where’s Steed?” “He and Arrow ran towards the Everfree Forest and the manticore went after him.” At that point Applejack and Big Mac both appeared in the door. “Twilight? What’s goin’ on out here?” Applejack asked, looking concerned and confused “We heard some sort of commotion and came to see if we could help, right, Big Mac?” “Eeyup,” Big Mac confirmed, while looking out for signs of trouble. “Steed is being attacked by a manticore, they’re somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and he needs our help!” Twilight quickly explained. “Eeyup” Big Mac agreed and then led the group to the forest. The group was able to follow Steed and his attacker easy enough -with the amount of carnage the manticore made it was almost impossible not to know where it went- and they quickly found Steed and Arrow trading blows with the disgruntled Manticore near the outskirts of the forest (though Twilight supposed the manticore was more than disgruntled at this point). Big Mac wasted no time and rushed straight into the fray, Applejack however was a bit more cautious. “Well, this is ah mighty fine pickle,” She mused wincing as Steed was launched into a nearby tree before regaining his sense and charging back in with gusto, “any thoughts?” she asked to Twilight and Spike “They look like they can take care of this, we should just leave them to it,” Spike readily suggested, looking hopeful “We can’t abandon them, Spike!” Twilight countered, glaring at the baby dragon, “we have to get them to stop fighting… somehow…” “That may be easier said than done, Big Mac’s got that look in his eye again,” Applejack stated looking uncertain as Big Mac sent a powerful kick into the manticore’s chest. “Well if we don’t stop this soon somepony’s going to get really hurt!” All of a sudden a loud crashing sound came from deeper in the forest. “What was that?!?” a now terrified Spike asked but before he could get an answer the sound was heard again, this time loud enough to make everypony and the manticore look around in fear. For a moment there was silence, and Twilight thought that whatever was out there must have left but that thought was quickly refuted as a much louder crash sounded through the forest and then, erupting through the undergrowth came the source of the noise; a much larger and much angrier manticore this one however was female and surprisingly accompanied by a very stern looking Fluttershy. “Fluttershy!?! What are you doing? Get away from that thing!” Steed yelled at her. “Her name is Mrs Minnie Manticora, and she’s here to pick up her son,” Fluttershy said calmly. In disbelief, Steed looked to the manticore he was just locked in mortal combat with and saw it back away from its mother looking at its paws. “Her… son...” he repeated slowly “And speaking of which you’d better get over here, young man,” Fluttershy then turned her frown to the manticore, who from the look on his face knew he was in a lot of trouble and slowly made his way towards his mother, that is until she let out a deep growl upon which he quickened his pace. “Now, before you go,” Fluttershy said to the manticore family, “Steed, come here please.” Still dumbfounded Steed made his way to Fluttershy, but still kept his eyes on the manticore son. “Now, Steed, I think you owe someone an apology,” she said to him. That broke Steed out of his stupor, “What?!? I already apologised! It’s not my fault that he tried to knock my lights out before I could finish!” he complained, ironically, looking disgruntled. “Steed.” Fluttershy cautioned “Fine. I’m sorry.” “And you as well, mister,” Fluttershy then said to the very rueful looking Manticore who let out a long low grumble, “he says he’s sorry,” Fluttershy explained to Steed. “So… We cool?” Steed asked to the beast, which smiled and gave Steed a playful nudge that still toppled him. “Much better,” Fluttershy breathed looking content, “now we should all get back to bed.” She then turned to the manticore, “I expect to see you tomorrow to help clean up the mess you made,” she told him with a firm look. The manticore nodded heartily and then followed his mother back into the forest. “Come on, everypony.” Twilight said to the group, “let’s go home.” EpilougeTwilight and Spike had finally finished re-organising the library, after about 3 hours. “Well,” Twilight began, surveying the room, “that may have taken a bit longer than expected but I think it was worth it.” “Can I go visit Steed now? He said he found an easy spot for me to practice on!” Spike asked, with his claws clenched in excitement. “Isn’t that what he said the last time?” “That was weeks ago! Come on Twilight, please?” “Fine, but I’m coming too this time.” “Great! Let’s go!” Spike then scampered out the door with Twilight following, smiling in spite of herself. The trip to Steed’s hut took the pair far outside Ponyville to a small mountain range (as in both the mountains and the range were small) and up a slope to a small ledge in the cliff face. Twilight had to admit Steed had a good eye when it came to property development as the view from here was spectacular, she could quite easily see Ponyville, despite the light fog in the air. Spike was at Steed’s door in a flash and rapped sharply upon, his eyes aglow in anticipation. “Come in!” Steed’s voice called out from inside. Upon entering Twilight and Spike found Steed enjoying a cup of tea with Fluttershy, which caused Spike’s face to droop. “Steed! I thought you said you’d take me around the mountains today!” whined the baby dragon. “Bro. Come on,” Steed said with a certain look, “Have I ever let you down? Fluttershy was just leaving.” Spike was much happier upon hearing that, “Oh, cool! Do you mind if I sort my gear out then?” “As long as you don’t break anything, yeah. I’ll just be a minuet” Spike had run to Steed’s shed before Steed finished his sentence. “He’s defiantly enthusiastic,” Steed noted. “Well, I’ll be off then,” Fluttershy said, setting down her empty tea cup, “Thank you for the tea, Steed. I’ll see you again tomorrow?” “Same time, same place,” Steed replied with a smile. Fluttershy then got up from the table and smiled at Twilight before heading out the door and back to Ponyville. “Can I ask you something?” Twilight asked to Steed as he to set aside his drained cup. “Yeah.” “You’ve been here for a good few months now. In that time you’ve built this hut, you've befriended a manticore, you’ve re-painted the town hall and Applejack’s barn at least twice, you’ve modelled for Rarity more times than I can count, you’ve helped Pinkie throw some of her greatest parties yet, you’ve improved upon my old system of organising my books, you’re teaching Spike mountain climbing, and every day you’re coaching Rainbow Dash.” “I’m not hearing the question.” “When are you going to ask Fluttershy to be you’re very special somepony?” Twilight asked with an obvious smirk on her face. Steed simply blushed. “Um… I uh…. Spike is waiting for me…” He stammered before heading for the door. “Actually, I had another question.” “Yes…” Steed said hesitantly “Don’t you have plans to head off somewhere else?” Steed smiled and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder “Twilight, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m truly home.” Chapter 6“Oooo! A race!” Pinkie piped, whilst bouncing up and down “This is going to be so exciting!” “Well, well, well. Ya’ll ain’t been in town for more than a few hours and yah already got yurself ah competition with Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, slightly impressed “Why, Ah reckon that’s ah record, right there.” “Now do be careful, Arrow” Rarity said to the falcon, whilst stroking his back “I would hate to see your magnificent feathers get covered in dirt and sweat and the like.” Arrow simply blushed. “Steed, I don’t know if this is a good idea.” Twilight told him, felling anxious. “What do you mean?!” Steed answered, obviously annoyed, “Look at her, over there!” he gestured to Rainbow Dash who was currently in the middle of her warm-up routine (wing-ups) “so full of herself, she could do with being knocked down a few pegs!” “But this is Rainbow Dash!” Twilight whined “She’s the fastest pegasus I know, maybe even the fastest in Ponyville!” Arrow audibly gulped at this news. “Hey boy,” Steed said, scooping Arrow onto his hoof and looking him straight in the eye “So she may be the fastest Pegasus in Ponyville; it doesn’t matter if she’s the fastest in all Equestria! We can’t let her get away with what she said! You’ve got to get up there and defend not just my honour, but yours as well” Arrow gave Steed a little nip on his nose “I know boy, I love you too.” Twilight felt a little awkward at hearing that. “And remember; this isn’t about wining, it’s about showing miss high-and-mighty over there we are not happy with being looked down on and that we ARE proud and noble!” Arrow let out his loudest screech yet and took of straight to the barn with the others in tow. Arrow landed next to Rainbow Dash while the ponies lined up behind them to get the best view of the high-octane action that was about to ensue. “Took you long enough,” Rainbow teased at Arrow as he took his place next to her “As for the track; first fly straight to the edge of the orchard, then follow the border for one circuit before heading back here as fast as you can. Think you can manage that?” She asked Arrow, who simply glared at her then opened his wings in anticipation for the start. “Twilight, count us down,” Rainbow said, whilst also getting prepared. “Fine,” Twilight conceded “3… 2… 1… Go!” The moment Twilight finished her count down both racers left the ground with enough speed to launch dust into the faces of the spectators, much to Rarity’s dismay. It was a feat in itself for the audience to keep their eyes on either Rainbow Dash or Arrow, their speed was blinding, both putting everything they had into staying in front and neither giving the other an opportunity to overtake, but as fast as Arrow was he didn’t have enough to stay ahead of the pegasus for very long, he could do a fine job of keeping up with her and had her beat when it came to agility but on the final stretch to the finish Rainbow put on a sudden burst of speed that she had been holding back since the start and streaked past Arrow like a rainbow- lightning bolt and landed in front of the group a full minuet before him. “Awww yeah!” Rainbow yelled once she had come to a stop. “I’m not called Rainbow Dash for nothing!” Steed went straight to Arrow, who had collapsed in a heap of feathers the moment he touched the floor, and Twilight followed to see if she could lend a hoof (plus a small part of her wanted to say ‘I told you so’). “Hey, boy!” Steed said to Arrow, kneeling down next to him and supporting his head “You were great! I thought you had her for a minuet there!” the falcon looked up to the stallion and pecked at his check “There’s nothing to be sorry for, you did great up there. It wasn’t about wining, remember?” Steed said then rubbed the falcon’s belly vigorously. “Ooohhh, tough luck Arrow!” Pinkie chimed, with a compassionate tone, “maybe next time!” “Well maybe next time you don’t have to make such a mess?” Rarity added, brushing dust out of her mane, “still, admirable attempt, very well done!” she added with an approving smile, again Arrow simple blushed. “Mighty fine work, partner!” Applejack said to Arrow, patting him on the back, “yah sure gave ol’ Rainbow Dash ah run for her bits!” “Well I won’t deny that was fun to watch but can we try to act with a bit more decorum now?” Twilight asked to Steed, looking a little irritated. “Maybe you should ask that to Rainbow Dash,” he replied, gesturing behind Twilight to where Rainbow was approaching. The pegasus walked right pass every other pony and straight to Steed then smirked and said “You’re not bad, Steed.” “What?” he asked supremely confused. “The best way to get to know somepony is to compete against them, and it works for animals too,” She explained, then nodded towards Arrow (still catching his breath) “That falcon was willing to go through all that for you, and I can tell he’d be willing to go through a lot more. If he thinks you’re worth it then that must mean he really likes you.” Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof to Steed “And if a falcon likes you that much, you can’t be that bad.” Steed looked at the others, who were all anxious to see how he would react, and then let out a short laugh, and knocked Rainbow’s hoof with his own. “Yippee!” Pinkie yelled and rocketed into the air, while confetti (somehow) exploded in showers over the group. “Arrow,” Rainbow said to the exhausted falcon, who looked up to her from the Steed’s hooves “Nice work. You’re gonna go far, kid” Arrow let out another screech, whilst hopping onto Steed’s back. “Well,” Applejack began “Ah reckon we all know where t’ go now” “I don’t” Steed stated, looking blankly to the girls for clues as to their next destination, only to find they were as confused as him. “But of course!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, before turning to Steed, “You simply must meet Fluttershy!” Steed then smiled, knowing now what Applejack had been suggesting, “Oh yeah! The other pegasus! What did Braeburn say about her?” he asked to Arrow, who tugged at Steed’s mane with his beak “That’s right; ‘shy an’ nervous but really kind’,” Twilight felt that the accent was unnecessary, but chose not to call Steed out on it. “That sounds like our Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, with a little giggle “An’ that didn’t sound ah thing like Braeburn” Applejack added, looking sarcastically snide. “I know; I’m not great at accents” Steed confessed, looking bashful. “That’s a great impression of Fluttershy, too!” Pinkie stated, upon seeing Steed’s posture “Do me next! Do me!” she virtually demanded of him, whilst leaning closely into Steed’s face. Steed shot a curious look at Twilight. “It’s best just to go with it,” She told him. Steed sighed, then put on a big smile and started jumping in place shouting “Fun!” in a high-pitched voice over and over; the display sent all the girls into fits of laughter. “That’s just like me!” Pinkie said, after calming down and catching her breath “You should do this professionally!” “When I’m finished with mountains,” Steed assured her, grinning widely. “So are we planning to see Fluttershy or not?” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Yes!” Steed yelled, suddenly looking very determined, “No distractions,” he then started marching off, before stopping, looking back at Twilight and asked, “Where is she?” “She’d probably be at her cottage, follow us” She replied and started walking in the complete opposite direction Steed had headed in, while Arrow gave him a sharp whack on the back of his head for being stupid.
Chapter 1The sound of bird song floated through Twilight Sparkle’s open window and gently roused her from her sleep. Her eyes followed a thin ray of sunlight to where it was peeking through the curtains. She got out of her bed and made her way to the window then, using her magic, pulled back the curtains and basked in what she saw, the town of Ponyville in the small hours of the day; birds chirping happily in the tress, the first of the sun’s rays creeping over the hills and not one other pony in sight, and though a part of her regretted being awake so early on a day she had nothing to do, Twilight felt a wave of serenity wash over her. Yawning deeply, Twilight made her way downstairs where she found Spike finishing his breakfast, an amethyst the size of a large orange. “Good morning, Twilight!” he said upon seeing her, in his usual upbeat tone “how did you sleep?” “Beautifully, thank you,” Twilight replied her feeling of contentment rising at his bright attitude “and yourself?” “I can’t complain. I wish the birds would keep it down a bit though.” “I think it’s a wonderful way to wake up.” “I guess that’s true, still this was meant to be our day to lie in, and we’re up before anypony else!” “At least we have the whole day to spend with the girls.” “So what are you going to be doing with them today?” “Well-” But before Twilight could say another word, the peaceful and quiet atmosphere about the place was shattered by Pinkie Pie, or rather her shouting: “TWILIGHT!” “I think Pinkie Pie wants to talk to you,” said Spike, rolling his eyes. “What could she want this early?” Twilight asked herself as she opened the door, to see Pinkie Pie gallop towards her with a hysterical look plastered on her face. Twilight was able to step aside just in time before a streak of pink flashed by her and crashed into a bookshelf, launching every book upon it high into the air and falling on to Pinkie with a resounding thump. Chuckling slightly in spite of herself, Twilight made her way towards the small mountain of books that covered her friend when Pinkie exploded from the pile, grabbed Twilight by the hoof and took off towards the town leaving a confused and amused Spike to clear up the mess. Eventually Pinkie came to a stop just outside Town Hall and crouched behind some crates and barrels staring intently into the distance, and looking as though she had completely forgotten that she had virtually kidnapped Twilight. “What is it Pinkie?” Twilight asked, thinking this would be the only time she would be able to get a rational answer. “Shhh! don’t let him see you!” Pinkie said, pulling Twilight to the ground while keeping her eyes locked on her target. “Don’t let who see me?” “Him!” Pinkie then gestured to a spot just ahead of them. Twilight peered over the barrel she was crouched behind and saw a stallion standing in the middle of the road, looking very lost. The first thing Twilight noticed about him was his eyes; they were a deep shade of yellow, one might even go so far as to say golden. He was about half a head taller than Twilight and beefier than most stallions, though he couldn’t hold a candle to Big Mac. Above all Twilight hoped he would wash before Rarity saw him as, judging by his mane and tail, he had no idea what a comb was and his coat was completely caked in mud, so much so she couldn’t even make out his cutie mark. “Who is he?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know, do I!?” Pinkie answered with a frustrated tone. “So why are we hiding from him?” “Because he’s new!” Pinkie half-shouted at Twilight, as though explaining how two and two made four, and slowly Twilight realised what Pinkie was hinting at. “Are you planning to throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for him like you did with me when I first arrive here?” she asked, hesitantly. “Well duh!” “And you want to spy on him because…?” “Because I want to find out what kind of stuff his likes so I can throw him a party he’ll really enjoy!” Twilight felt a little hurt at this. “You never did that for me.” “What can I say? My technique has grown more refined,” Pinkie answered, shrugging her shoulders. Twilight knew better than to hold a grudge over that so moved on to her next question “So why did you bring me here in the first place?” “You’re a scientist remember! Scientists do things like this!” Pinkie said with a smile “You should probably do some research or something about science if you plan to study it!” Twilight made a mental note to explain to Pinkie Pie exactly what being a scientist involved but figured it could wait “Pinkie, don’t you think it would be better if we introduced ourselves to him?” “Oooo! Good idea! We’ll be able to find out his hobbies much easier if we conduct a more thorough and up-close examination! Now you’re thinking like a scientist!” Pinkie said ruffling Twilight’s mane, then happily trotted off towards the stallion. “I’m so glad I’m making progress,” Twilight said sarcastically, following Pinkie towards the newcomer.
Chapter 2As Twilight approached the stallion she could smell that there was probably more than mud in his coat, but she ploughed on regardless, with a smile on her face. “Hello there!” she called out to him. “Oh, hey!” he replied with a thick foreign accent, that Twilight could have sworn she heard before but couldn’t place “I didn’t think anypony else would be awake at this time.” “Well it’s pretty busy around here so we tend to have earlier starts than most other places,” Twilight said, pretending to forget her schedule was clear today. “I’m not surprised, in a small community like this I’ll bet everypony has to pull their weight!” he said with a short laugh. Twilight would not have said she lived in a small community, but then thought he must have come from a big city. “Where did you come from?” she asked politely. “Well I was born in Trottingham…” “Of course!” Twilight shouted to herself, as she was finally able to place his accent, and realised how much he sounded like the colt Pipsqueak, albeit with a touch more grace. Noticing the look on the stranger’s face she collected herself, “Ahem, sorry.” He gave Twilight a quizzical look but quickly brushed it off “Anyway, I was born in Trottingham but I’ve travelled all over Equestria for years. I came here from Appleoosa.” “Oh really? Did you happen to meet somepony named Braeburn while you were there?” Twilight inquired, recalling her visit to the quaint, rustic town. Suddenly the stallion’s face lit up, as though he had just worked out a particularly nasty maths problem he had been working on for weeks. “You’re Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, though it sounded more like a statement. “Yes… how did you know that?” she replied, hesitantly, thinking that this could end up being one of ‘those days’. “I did meet Braeburn, as a matter of fact, and we quickly struck up a friendship so he told me about Applejack, yourself and all your friends, including Pinkie Pie here,” he gestured towards Pinkie, whom throughout the whole conversation had been staring at the stallion intensively, obviously still trying to discover he’s hobbies (but this time through telepathy), “And he suggested I make Ponyville my next stop, and seeing as I wound up lost in the Everfree forest-” “You were lost in the Everfree forest!?!” Pinkie yelped, finally breaking from her study. “For a couple of days, yeah,” he replied, in far too much of a cavalier fashion for Twilight’s liking. “How did you get there?” Pinkie pressed. “It’s a long story, involving a disgruntled Manticore, a herd of Buffalo and an above-average sized explosion,” the stallion answered, with a tone of pride, but when he saw the look on Twilight and Pinkie’s face he quickly added, “I didn’t have anything to do with the explosion!” Twilight thought it best to leave that story alone for now and prompted the stallion to continue, “So you were lost in the Everfree forest...” “Yeah, and Braeburn said that Ponyville was near the forest so it was just a simple matter of going in the right direction.” “How did you manage that?” asked Twilight, trying to decide if she was impressed at this stallion’s bravery or appalled at his ignorance. “Trial and error,” he replied, matter-of-factly, and then sheepishly added, “mostly error”. “So you were able to get through the whole forest without being attacked or eaten or anything!?!” Pinkie asked who was standing so close to the pony in a mix of awe and concern she had to plug her nose. “Well as you can see I wasn’t eaten, though I did bump into more unsavoury creatures once or twice, but I can take care of myself. Plus I meet a really nice and friendly zebra-.” “-Zecora,” Both Twilight and Pinkie finished his sentence. “The very same. Anyway she was able to give me directions out of the forest and into Ponyville, and that brings us to now.” “Then what happened?” Pinkie asked her eyes wide in anticipation. “I… um… I don’t know” The stranger replied, looking supremely confused, fortunately Twilight stepped in. “So what do you plan on doing here?” Twilight asked him, and snapped his attention away from the pink pony sitting patiently by his hooves, waiting for him to continue his story. “I don’t make plans. I travel to new places, stay there for a few weeks or months; helping the community, making new friends and then head of somewhere else.” “That must be exhausting,” Twilight said, thinking that she could never live like that. “To some ponies, I suppose, but I can’t imagine life any other way,” The stallion answered, “plus I bet I get a lot more birthday presents than you do, what with gifts being sent to me from all over Equestria!” He added with a large grin. “Well then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville…” Twilight trailed of when she realised that she didn’t know the stallion’s name, but he finished her sentence for her. “…Steed,” He said, offering a hoof to Twilight, but before she could take it a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Looking around Twilight, Pinkie and a very confused and terrified Steed all saw Rarity with a look of horror on her face, as if she had just seen somepony brutally murdered, looking directly at Steed; obviously enough time had passed for the rest of Ponyville to wake up. “What did I do?” Steed asked, but before anypony could answer Rarity had pounced on him and cradled him in her forelegs as if he were mortally wounded. “What on Equestria happened to you!?!” she asked rhetorically, in her classic over-the-top tone of voice. “Nothing, I’m fine-” Steed began, looking worried, but Rarity cut him off. “How in Celestia’s name could such a travesty even happen?!?” She wailed, placing a hoof to her forehead. Steed looked very hurt at this remark, Twilight, however, had already realised that she was referring to his appearance and thought it best to explain. “She means the mud in your coat,” she thought it best to leave it at ‘mud’. “Oh this?” Steed replied, his offended expression lightening “This is nothing, one time I-” Steed once again was interrupted, this time by Rarity placing a hoof to his mouth. “Don’t speak you poor thing! We need to get you help right away!” and without another word Rarity took off, full gallop, with a very confused looking Steed levitated ahead of her. “We should probably go and see if we can sort this out,” Twilight said to Pinkie. “Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie replied with a care-free grin on her face.
Chapter 3Twilight and Pinkie followed Rarity straight to where Twilight thought she would go; the spa. Lotus and Aloe, who were playing a game of chess to pass the time, suddenly sprang into action when Rarity burst through the doors, floated Steed before them and screamed “For the love of the Princesses, save him!” The two spa ponies, both of whom knew Rarity to well to argue semantics, quickly went to work preparing their equipment and before he could fully grasp what was happening Steed was being escorted into the spa. “Have fun!” Pinkie called to him, his response to her was a look that seemed to beg for mercy. Now that Steed was being ‘attended’ too; Twilight went to speak to Rarity, who was weeping dramatically in a conveniently placed luxurious chaise longue. “Rarity…” Twilight began but was unable to say much more as Rarity had begun a new surge of weeping, even louder than the ones before. “He was so young!” she grieved, while Pinkie donned an umbrella hat to shelter herself from Rarity’s tears. “Rarity …” Twilight said once again, getting more and more frustrated by the second. “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!” Rarity cried to the sky. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted as loud as she could, with a menacing glare. “Twilight!” Rarity, abruptly halting her waterworks, yelped with a tone of surprise (she was obviously too concerned with Steed’s welfare to notice anypony else before now) “Something terrible has happened!” “Relax, Rarity he’ll be okay!” Pinkie chimed in, stowing her hat back into her mane. “How do you know about him?” Rarity probed, with a surprised look on her face. “We were the first ponies he met,” Twilight explained, Rarity then leapt at her and shook her violently by the shoulders. “So why didn’t you bring him here yourself?!” she demanded. “It was just a bit of mud!” Twilight said in-between Rarity’s shakes. “A bit of mud!?!” Rarity roared “I’ve seen less mud at Sweet Apple Acres!” “That can’t be true!” Pinkie argued “I mean, that was just one pony and Sweet Apple Acres is a whole farm!” “Fine, I was exaggerating to prove a point,” Rarity admitted, turning her nose to the sky, “But the point remains valid! You should have brought him here right away!” She said, directing a stern look at both Twilight and Pinkie, and releasing Twilight from her grasp. “I just thought he would want some time to settle in first,” Twilight explained, while regaining her senses. “Well you should know that nopony, no matter who they are, can tolerate being so dirty for any time longer than is absolutely necessary,” Rarity rebuked at Twilight. Before either Twilight or Pinkie could respond Lotus and Aloe both appeared. Aloe announced herself “Miss Rarity?” All three ponies turned to face her. “Is he all right?” Rarity implored but instead of answering her, the sisters dramatically stood to one side to reveal a now spotless Steed, whose eyes were out of focus and whose bottom lip was trembling, and all three girls could at last get a good look at him. The gold of his eyes matched his hooves and parts of his mane and tail (both of which were still as untidy as they were before, but now mud free), the parts they didn’t match were a bold red that matched his coat colour, a previously hidden physical feature he had was half a missing ear and his cutie mark intrigued Twilight; a horseshoe with a large crack running down it. For a long time no one said anything, instead Twilight and Pinkie shot each other anxious looks, Rarity took the time to assess the now cleansed Steed and Steed himself continued to stare into space, with a look that seemed to imply he had just been violated. Eventually Rarity broke the awkward silence. “Couldn’t you have done something about his mane?” She asked the sisters but it was Steed who responded. “No… Not the mane… Don’t take that away… Let me keep him at least…” he said in a quiet voice, still staring and nothing. “I think he likes it this way,” Lotus explained, while taking a few steps away from Steed. Twilight thought it best to try and snap Steed back to the room, before something horrifying happened and so made her way towards him, albeit cautiously. “Steed?” she probed, placing a hoof on his shoulder “Are you all right?” The use of his name caught his attention and Steed looked towards Twilight, his eyes now focused on a subject, but he still spoke in the same breathy, far away voice “…I need to leave… take me away from this place?” he pleaded. “Its okay, Steed. We’re leaving,” Twilight said in a soothing tone of voice. “…Thank you…” Steed whispered and, looking relieved, headed for the exit. Twilight and the others stayed behind for a moment, if anything to keep some distance between them and a very creepy Steed. “Thank you,” Twilight said to the sisters, who nodded and went to continue chess game (after being paid, off course). “Some ponies can be so over-dramatic,” Rarity said, leaving the spa with her nose in the air, with Twilight and Pinkie in her wake. Once outside the three friends found that in the brief time Steed was alone he had vanished, a development that deeply worried Twilight. “Oh no,” she groaned “Where could he have got to?” “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Pinkie reassured her, or at least tried to. “Did you see what he was like in there? He’s not in his right mind! And now he’s loose in Ponyville!” Twilight argued. “Come now, Twilight,” Rarity said “He can’t have gotten far we’ll find him, besides I’m not just going to let him run off and get himself dirty again.” “Well come on girls, we’d better get started,” Twilight said, starting to regret waking up early. Suddenly Pinkie’s tail started twitching violently. “Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” She blurted, and on impulse Twilight and Rarity both dove for cover under the canopy of a large tree at the very moment Steed fell from its branches and straight onto them. “Oh, sorry!” he said, looking surprised “It was an accident, I’m really sorry!” “What were you doing up there?!” Twilight demanded of him. “I didn’t like being so clean,” He explained, looking bashful (and completely disproving Rarity’s theory that nopony can tolerate being dirty) “So I thought if I hopped into the tree I could get some leaves and twigs stuck in my coat,” he explained as he helped Twilight to her hooves “but I guess the branch I was holding on to wasn’t as strong as it looked,” Steed now turned to Rarity and paused for a brief moment then said to her, “Sweet Celestia… You look amazing.” Until that point Rarity had a look on her face that seemed to imply she would do horrific and unspeakable things to Steed very soon, but the second he finished his sentence all ill will was forgotten. “Well, I wouldn’t say amazing,” Rarity said, trying to act aloof. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Steed asked her, in a very compassionate tone. “Oh no, of course not. Just a harmless mistake,” she replied with a little giggle. “I would hate to think I almost damaged something as stunning as you,” Steed replied, offering his hoof to Rarity, who took it and gracefully rose to her hooves. “You sweet-talker, you,” She said to Steed, blushing while standing in a position that seemed to amplify her beauty. “How are you feeling, Steed?” Twilight asked, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the minuet. “Oh! Much better thanks!” He said, finally looking away from Rarity, “just promise me that I’ll never have to go through that again,” he replied with a half-smile on his face. “Only if you promise to never get that dirty again,” Rarity said, “how did you even get in such a state to begin with?” “It’s a long story…” Steed began. “… Involving a disgruntled manticore…” Twilight continued. “… A heard of Buffalo…” Pinkie added. “… And an above-average sized explosion,” Twilight concluded. “That I didn’t have anything to do with!” Steed reminded her. Rarity had the same idea as Twilight when she first heard that summarized chain of events and did not probe into it, but instead asked “So, Steed is it? When did you get here?” “This morning, I spent the night at Zecora’s hut.” “And she didn’t mind you being covered in that much mud in her house?” Rarity asked with a tone of mild surprise. “Well to be honest I wasn’t that messy when I met Zecora,” Steed confessed, looking a little embarrassed. “So you got yourself covered in that much mud in the amount of time it took you to get from Zecora’s hut to the town centre?” Twilight asked, trying to figure out how that was even possible. “Yes. Mainly because of the manticore” Once again Twilight decide to leave that story alone for now. “Well now that you’re presentable, Steed, what do you feel like doing?” “Well Braeburn said he would write ahead to Applejack to let her know I was coming so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go see her.” “Do we have to?” Rarity whined “Don’t worry; I’ll do my upmost best to stay clean,” Steed promised her, flashing a quick smile in Twilight’s direction.
Chapter 4The trip through town to Sweet Apple Acres gave Steed the opportunity to meet some of the other Ponyville residents (he was particularly excited to meet Vinyl Scratch, as he was a big fan of hers) who all welcomed him warmly and also didn’t question him about the bizarre manner of his arrival, and eventually the group made it to Applejack’s farm where the first pony they saw was Big Macintosh hauling a cart, full to the brim with freshly-bucked apples. “Hello, Big Mac!” Twilight called to him “Is Applejack around?” “Eeyup,” he replied whilst gesturing towards to orchard. “Thank you,” Twilight said to him, as the group headed in the direction he pointed out. When they finally found Applejack she was in the middle of apple-bucking, however the tree she was currently working on must have been particularly stubborn as, no matter how many times Applejack bucked at the tree only a few apples would fall from the branches, leaving the vast majority of them still hanging on. “Come on, ya dang nuisance!” Applejack shouted at the tree, clearly frustrated “Stand back, ma’am!” Steed yelled at her, in a very heroic and clichéd tone of voice, then galloped full speed straight at the tree while everypony else could only watch in a mixture of shock and awe. To everypony’s surprise Steed, instead of bucking the tree, continued running towards it and head-butted it with such force that not only shook the apples into the buckets placed by the trunk but, also some of the branches to the floor. “Thank yah kindly partner, but didn’t that hurt?” Applejack asked in a tone of concern, while helping Steed up. “Nope,” Steed replied, though the fact his eyes were momentarily facing opposite directions after the impact gave the girls reason to doubt him. “I’ve got a tough head. I need it too; considering how bad I am at my hobby.” “Which is?” Twilight asked, wondering how much stranger this stallion could get. “Mountain climbing.” “Oh dear…” Rarity groaned to herself, massaging her temples in exasperation. “Oh wow! You climb mountains!?” Pinkie squealed in excitement. “Well sort of, but I haven’t quiet got the hang of it yet,” Steed replied, a little embarrassed. “Doesn’t stop me from trying though,” he added with a smile. “Is that what your cutie mark means then? Not giving up?” Twilight asked and only thinking afterwards that her question may be to personal, and then thinking how rude she must seem and that she may have upset Steed, and if she had upset Steed he may not want to talk with her anymore, and if he didn’t want to talk to her anymore then he may leave Ponyville and was about to continue thinking along those lines until Steed answered her with a smile. “To some extent, I suppose. My mum says it ‘represents my stubborn but proud refusal to break under any pressure’, but I just think it looks cool,” he then turned so that all the girls could get a good look at it. “I got it during my first avalanche.” “I’m sorry, but did you say ‘avalanche’?” Rarity asked, trying to hide her obvious bewilderment. “Did yah say ‘first avalanche’?” Applejack added, not bothering to hide hers. “Yeah. It was the first mountain I climbed. I got pretty near the top when half the mountain side just fell out beneath me,” Steed replied, puffing out his chest. “How the hay did yah get through that in one piece?” Applejack asked, with a look on her face of both terror and admiration. “I didn’t. I had to spend the next three months in a hospital; coincidentally that was also how I got this,” he rubbed his hoof over what remained of his left ear “I never actually saw my Cutie Mark until they took the cast off. I’ll never forget that day.” He finished while looking to the sky with a satisfied smile on his face. Unlike all the other girls, who now saw Steed as a good-looking, devil-may-care, tough-guy Twilight found his story to be horrendous “How old were you when this happened?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t say ‘very young’. “Think about it, Twilight, this was how I got my cutie mark! I was just a little colt!” He replied, with a small snicker, which didn’t make Twilight feel any better about this. “And you parents let this happen?!?” she half screamed at him. “Oh, Celestia, no!” - his snicker growing to something just less than a laugh but more than a chuckle - “I had ran away from home.” “What!?!” all the girls replied. “It’s a long story,” Steed said tediously, implying he had told it many times. “Well instead of getting too much into that,” Twilight said, trying to change the subject “How about you introduce yourself to your friend’s cousin?” “Oh! Right!” Steed replied, turning to face Applejack, “I’m Steed. I’m sure Braeburn has told you about me,” he said to her. “That he did! In fact, ya’ll should come back to the barn with me; Ah’ve got a little somthin’ for yah!” She said, with a sly little smile and started heading out of the orchard. Before he followed Applejack, Steed turned to Twilight and asked her, “Should I be excited or scared to find out what her ‘little something’ is?” to which she simple giggled and left Steed standing alone in bafflement before hurrying to catch up.
Chapter 5When the group arrived at the barn Applejack told the others to wait outside and then entered and made sure she closed the doors firmly behind her. “I don’t quite know what to feel at the moment,” Steed said aloud to no one in particular. “I suggest Nervou-cited,” Pinkie said to him. “Thanks,” he replied looking very confused. Suddenly a loud screech pierced the sky and everypony looked up to see a falcon soar out of Applejack’s bedroom window and dive straight at Steed who, instead of expressing any indication of fear, shock or surprise as Twilight would have expected, stood up on his hind legs, opened his fore-legs wide and, with a look of absolute delight on his face yelled, “Come here, you!” before being struck by the falcon with such force he was knocked clean off his hooves and land on his back some distance away. Twilight and the others quickly ran over to Steed and found him ruffling the falcon’s feathers while the bird playfully nipped at Steed’s muzzle. “I take it you two know each other?” Twilight asked him, rhetorically. “You bet I do!” Steed replied, getting to his hooves with a wide smile on his face “Girls; this is my pet falcon, Arrow.” Arrow took that as his queue to appear majestic and so after a quick flight around the barn landed squarely on Steed’s back and stretch his wings to full length whilst letting out a loud screech. “How regal…” Rarity said in a tone of awe admiring Steed’s companion as if he were made of diamonds. “Hi, Arrow!” Pinkie said, waving to the bird. Arrow then flew over to Pinkie, landed on her head and excitedly nibbled at her ear. “Hey!” Pinkie blurted, between fits of laughter “That tickles!” “He’s been mighty worried ‘bout ya’ll,” Applejack told Steed, while Arrow flew back to Steed and landed smartly on his back. “He showed up here ah few days ago, along with yah saddlebags and ah note from Braeburn tellin’ me what happened over at Appleoosa and that Ah should expect yah.” “You carried my saddlebags here all the way from Appleoosa?” Steed asked to Arrow, to which Arrow puffed out his chest. “That’s my boy!” Steed said, giving Arrow an appreciative pat on the back “So you’ve got all the rest of my stuff too?” He then asked Applejack. “Yep, it’s all up in mah room; but Ah’m afraid we don’t have enough room for ya’ll to stay with us for at least a week, what with Uncle Strudel visitin’.” “Don’t worry, I’ll sort something out,” Steed assured her “We’ve had more than our fair share of rough nights, haven’t we, boy?” He asked to Arrow who let out another screech in agreement. Suddenly a new voice joined in, “Hey, who’s doing all the screeching?” The group looked up, towards the source of the voice, to see a cyan blue pegasus, with an eye-catching rainbow coloured mane, fly towards them at an ever increasing speed, then eventually lose momentum and lend deftly in front of Steed. “And who’s the new guy?” she asked, sizing Steed up. “Hi, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said to her “This is Steed, he just arrived today.” “Steed, huh?” Rainbow questioned, still keeping her eyes on him, “Who’s the bird?” she asked. “He’s name is Arrow,” Steed told her, then added “and he’s much more than just a bird” Arrow gave Steed’s shoulder a small squeeze with his talons to thank him for sticking up for him. “Oh, I know what he is,” Rainbow assured him, now focusing on the falcon “You know… most pegasi see falcons as proud and noble creatures that have a good judge of character, meaning anypony they stick around with should be treated with respect” Rainbow said as if leading up to something, a factor Twilight and Steed both picked up on. “Rainbow Dash, I-” Twilight began before a somewhat irate Steed interrupted her. “Hold on, Twilight, I think Rainbow Dash has something she wants to say,” He said in an accusatory tone “Well, Rainbow Dash? What is it?” Instead of answering to Steed, Rainbow Dash looked directly at Arrow and, with an obvious smirk said, “Show me what you got.” “What?” Steed asked her, a little surprised, while Arrow just stared in confusion at Rainbow Dash. “A race,” Rainbow said to Steed, her smirk growing to a full blown smile “Arrow and me. A lap of the orchard, first one back here wins.” Twilight knew she was going to say that. “Why should I agree to that?” Steed inquired. “Well, if your bird isn’t up to it…” Rainbow replied, whilst nonchalantly checking her hoof for dirt. That comment pushed both Steed and Arrow over the edge. “You’re on!” Steed yelled, while Arrow let out another long and loud screech. “Awesome!” Rainbow yelled whilst flapping her wings enough to get airborne “I’ll give you a moment to get ready, then met me over by the barn” she then flew off, and shouted over her shoulder “Don’t keep me waiting!”
Chapter 7On the way to Fluttershy’s cottage the group received a lot more attention now, thanks to Arrow’s showboating, meaning Steed’s plan of ‘no distractions’ quickly fell apart. “You’d think they’d never seen a falcon before,” Rarity remarked as Lyra and Bon-Bon watched, awe-struck, as Arrow pulled off a gut-wrenching loop and proceed into an arsenal of aerobatic displays. Eventually, after Steed was able to convince Arrow to ease up on the aerial spectacles, the group finally made it to Fluttershy’s cottage “Fluttershy is just going to love you!” Pinkie said to Arrow as she bounced along the path leading to Fluttershy’s door ahead of the group, as the setting sun morphed the sky into a myriad of reds and yellows. “Oh, a fan of falcons is she?” Steed asked her “Look at where she lives. What do you think?” Rainbow said to him, looking unimpressed. Steed took a moment to look around him, and noticed the abundance of bird houses, burrows, nests and all the other glaring signs of animal life in front of him “Good point,” he succumbed. Twilight trotted to the door and raised her hoof to knock upon it before she paused in contemplation. “What’s wrong?” Steed asked her, looking a little concerned. “Well it’s late…” Twilight explained. “She wouldn’t be asleep now would she?” Steed responded. “Well no, but I’m just wondering if we might startle her, showing up at this time.” “Oh come on!” Steed let out a little chuckle “Braeburn said she was shy, but she can’t be that bad!” “You obviously do not know Fluttershy,” Rarity scoffed, with her nose in the air as she marched towards the cottage. “Well no I don’t, I just arrived in town today…” Steed reminded her, but Rarity either didn’t hear him or ignored him, as she very gently rapped on Fluttershy’s door. “Fluttershy, dear, are you in?” She softly called out “Its Rarity, and the rest of us. We have a new arrival in Ponyville and we’d very much like for you to meet him.” For a while there was silence and Twilight saw Steed roll his eyes. Then a small voice was heard from inside “Do I have to?" it asked. “Well no, not if you don’t feel up to it, but he is very friendly and we all like him.” Rarity replied, sounding very comforting, “don’t we girls?” she then asked the group. Steed’s interest was suddenly drawn from a nearby tree to the girls. “Absolutely,” Twilight said “Yes indeed-ie!” Pinkie rang “Darn tootin’,” Applejack called “He’s all right,” Rainbow shrugged “See? And we’ll all be there too so there is no need to feel nervous. Now could you be a dear and let us in? It is rather cold out here,” Rarity appealed to the door knocker. Another long pause followed. Eventually Fluttershy answered, “… Okay …” and ever so slowly the door inched open with a loud creak. Fluttershy peered out from her door to see for herself if all her friends were present when Twilight heard a small gasp coming from Steed that went unnoticed by the rest of the group, and when turning to him to investigate she immediately recognised the look on his face; it was the same look Spike had when he first saw Rarity. “Oh this is all I need,” Twilight said to herself, irritated and pulled Steed into the cottage by his mane and then deposited him in an empty chair while the others took seats where they could. “Thank you. Now, how about I make us some tea while you and our new friend get acquainted?” Rarity said to Fluttershy upon entering the cottage and proceeded directly to the kitchen before Fluttershy could reply, leaving the five girls alone with Steed in an awkward silence. Twilight had never before felt so uncomfortable – and from the looks on her friend’s faces neither had they. Fluttershy was at first excited to meet Arrow and was about to say something until she saw Steed staring at her as if he just saw her pull an orphan and a lamb from a burning building and so instead remained quiet and kept her gaze to the floor, while all the other girls desperately tried to find an excuse to break the deathly silence. Applejack was the first to speak. “Well aren’t ya’ll gonna introduce yurself?” She asked to Steed, apprehensively. Steed made something that could be called a sound in response but never once took his eyes of Fluttershy, who looked very much like she wanted to be in any part of Equestria that was not where she was currently. “For the love of Cadence!” Rainbow blurted out, bored and frustrated, then flew over to Steed picked him up by the waist (a difficult feat considering his bulk) and unceremoniously deposited him by Fluttershy’s hooves “One of you say something. Right now!” She ordered. “Oh… um… hi,” Fluttershy mumbled, looking like she might cry out of fright. “Uh…. hi,” Steed replied, looking like he might die of embarrassment. Rainbow Dash held her head in her hooves and sighed “That’s a start, now tell her your name,” she instructed Steed. “I… uh… I’m… uh… Steed…” He mumbled, now looking at anything other than Fluttershy. “This is ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “Try telling Fluttershy a bit about yourself,” Twilight advised to an extremely anxious looking Steed. “I’m Steed,” Steed said to nopony in particular, keeping his head down. “Something you haven’t already told her,” Twilight reminded him, trying to sound gentle while holding back the urge to slap him. “Oh… uh… I like… uh… stuff,” Steed mumbled. “This is like watchin’ paint dry,” Applejack commented. “Are you kidding me? This is waaaay more interesting!” Pinkie countered, whilst eating greedily from a tub of popcorn she suddenly had, her attention riveted on the extravagant display of awkwardness at its purest. To Twilight’s relief Rarity then returned from the kitchen “Hey, it’s Rarity! We can talk to Rarity!” she blurted trying not to sound desperate, causing Rarity to almost drop the tray of tea and biscuits she was levitating in shock, before she composed herself. “Now Twilight, dear, while I enjoy a good chat we are here to introduce Fluttershy to…” Rarity then looked over to Fluttershy, also seeing Steed still sprawled on the floor in front of her (and both of them still avoiding each other’s eyes as well as ignoring everything else around them) and paused for a moment while she wrapped her head around the situation. “Ah. I see the problem; a classic case of stage fright.” “Which one of them?” Twilight asked, sarcastically, to herself. “But they’re not on a stage,” Rainbow pointed out. “You don’t have to be in front of a large audience to suffer an attack of the nerves,” Rarity countered, “anxiety can strike at any time.” “Well how do we snap ‘em out of it?” Applejack asked. “Simple; we distract them,” Rarity explained, and then carefully set down the tray of tea. “Oh woe is me!” she cried out, dramatically gliding across the room and collapsing to the floor next to Steed, “the horror!” This was the second instance of the day that gave Twilight reason to believe Steed had some kind of ‘chivalry-mode’ that activated whenever he saw a mare in distress; as he had suddenly sprang into action, kneeling besides Rarity and cradling her head “What is it? What’s the matter?” he asked her, looking very concerned but also completely focused. “It’s just so terrible!” Rarity sobbed. “Goodness, Rarity, can we help?” Fluttershy asked her friend as she too knelt down beside her. At once Rarity’s eyes lit up, though Twilight could tell this was all part of her act, “Yes!” She exclaimed, and clung to both Steed and Fluttershy, “You two are the only ones who can help me!” Fluttershy didn’t appear overly happy at the idea of being forced into a duo to help her friend; however Steed was simply focused on the matter in front of him. “What do you need us to do?” he asked, looking very grave. Rarity gave a few heavy sobs before replying “I forgot to… forgot to… I…” “Calm down, breath” Steed said soothingly, while stroking Rarity’s mane. “I forgot to use the tea leaves I always carry with me for special occasions!” She wailed, crying furiously, and then brandished a small box labelled “Earl Neigh” Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all let out a deep breath they had been holding. “Sheesh, Rarity, you had us all worked up there for ah moment,” Applejack said with a small smile, and began to chuckle, but then Steed turned to her with a very stern look on his face that quickly silenced her “This is a serious issue, Applejack,” he scolded and then turned back to Rarity, who was still weeping and shuddering in his hooves. “Don’t worry, Rarity. I can fix this.” “I know you can,” Rarity replied looking as though Steed had just fulfilled her dying wish and then fainted. “Fluttershy, I need you with me in the kitchen” Steed said, looking her in the eyes for the first time since Rainbow’s intervention – this time with no hint of anticipation. “Why?” Fluttershy asked in response, looking concerned. “I don’t know where you keep everything and I don’t have time to guess, you have to help me; for Rarity’s sake” “All right, follow me,” Steed grabbed the box of Earl Neigh and then followed Fluttershy into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. “You can get up now, Rarity,” Twilight said, to which Rarity rose from the ground and took a seat next to Arrow, who throughout the whole ordeal had been eyeing the abundance of bird houses in the cottage (but was now quite content to be stroked by Rarity). “How did you know that would work?” Rainbow asked Rarity “Well,” she began, sounding like some sort of criminal master-mind (and given that she was sat in a high-backed armchair stroking an animal, that vibe was easily picked up) “Fluttershy would do anything for a friend and as for Steed? He reacted exactly the way a gentlecolt from Trottingham should when presented with a tea crisis.” “So what happens now?” “Well, in a few moments Steed and Fluttershy will return, upon which they shall present to me the tea I asked – oh and if you all could play along it would help - I will then appraise them on a job well done, the ice will be broken and the rest of the night should go swimmingly.” Twilight couldn’t fault Rarity’s plan but it seemed a little convoluted to her, however just as she was about to voice her opinion the mumble coming from the kitchen grew louder and more frantic. “That doesn’t sound good,” she pointed out. “I’m sure the two of them are just working something out,” Rarity said, though there was doubt in her voice Suddenly, and to everyone’s surprise, Fluttershy’s voice boomed out from the kitchen “Get a hold of yourself!” followed by a loud thump. “Swimmingly,” Rainbow mocked.
Chapter 8Eventually, after a short but awkward silence, the kitchen door opened. “Places, everypony!” Rarity whispered with urgency and then slumped over in her chair, while the other girls wondered what Rarity meant by ‘places’. Steed then entered the room with a freshly-brewed cup of tea on a small saucer with Fluttershy following close behind. The stallion marched straight over to Rarity (without spilling a single drop) and slowly wafted the cup under her nose, which caused Rarity’s eyes to flutter and nostrils to inhale sharply. “My word…” she mumbled softly “… that smells divine.” “I’m glad you think so,” Steed replied, speaking softly, “now how about you have a taste?” he asked tilting the cup to her mouth. Rarity then blew gently on the still steaming brew and took a tentative sip when her eyes suddenly widened. “Sweet Celestia!” she cried, staring with awe at the tea and then Steed, “this is… I’ve never… You can’t… I don’t even know what to say…” “I take it you like it?” Steed asked, almost rhetorically. “Like it? Like it? I love it!” Rarity almost shouted, now sitting bolt upright “Where did you learn to make tea this wonderful?” She asked, before taking a few more greedy gulps. “Any Trottingham pony worth his weight in chips knows how to make a decent cuppa’, it’s in the blood,” he explained, looking proud. “I cannot believe that you made the most incredible tea I have ever tasted simply because ‘you can’,” Rarity countered. “You need to visit Trottingham.” Steed remarked as Rarity took one more swig before setting aside the now empty cup. “So, any problems back there?” Rainbow Dash asked to Steed, “Any issues?” “Nothing Fluttershy couldn’t manage,” He replied, embracing Fluttershy in an act of camaraderie before realising what he was doing, upon which he quickly released her and blushed furiously while looking at the floor. “Is that true, Fluttershy?” Twilight quickly asked before Steed returned to his original method of interacting with Fluttershy. “Um… well… there might have been a small problem… but… we coped…” Fluttershy mumbled in response, but then in a rush of confidence added “but Steed was brilliant in there! You girls should have seen him; it was like watching a painter create a masterpiece.” “I just did what I had to, it wasn’t all that special,” said Steed, still embarrassed but at least looking at Fluttershy. “Oh but it was! I can’t believe you’d do that for a pony you hardly know.” “I’d be willing to call Rarity a friend, provided she doesn’t try to sterilise me any time soon.” “So you’re getting along with everypony then?” “I’m an easy pony to get along with.” Twilight didn’t hear the rest of the conversation mostly because Twilight didn’t want to eavesdrop on their private conversation now that they finally could say more than two words to each other but also because a smug Rarity whispered into her ear, “Swimmingly.” The rest of the night went very well; with the whole group chatting to Steed about his travels, though to Twilight’s surprise Fluttershy appeared to be leading most of the conversations. She assumed whatever happened during the ‘tea crisis’ must have broken the ice between them very effectively. “Well this has been lovely,” Rarity said to the group, “but I feel that we should start to head home.” “Awww but it’s only…” Rainbow whined before looking at the clock and then said, “Holey horseshoes! Is that the time!? I’ve got double cloud-busting in the morning! I’ll see you guys later! See ya, Steed!” and then was gone in the blink of an eye out a window. “Ah should be makin’ ah move as well, got ah tone of chores that need doin’ in the mornin’. Goodnight ya’ll!” Applejack yawned and was about to get up when she stopped and a look of confusion appeared on her face, as if she had forgotten something important, before she suddenly yelled, “Steed! Where are yah gonna sleep tonight?!” Everypony then looked to him but all he said was, “Uhhhh…. Outside?” Arrow was quick to express his displeasure at the idea with a few sharp pecks to Steed’s head, “Ow! Ow! It was only an idea!” Steed shouted with his hooves over his head. “Well I would offer you a place to sleep but Spike’s had a cold the past few days and… well… the spare bed is a little… charred…” Twilight muttered sheepishly while Arrow halted his assault on Steed’s skull. “Well I won’t pry too much into that,” Steed responded, rubbing his head and giving Arrow a wary look, “So, any other offers?” He asked to the other girls. “Well yah already know Ah can’t take yah in,” Applejack stated, to which Steed gave a nod of understanding. “I’m afraid my abode is in no fit state for company; I’ve been working very hard this past week and I haven’t had a chance to tidy up,” Rarity said, rather solemnly. Steed gave a little laugh, “Don’t worry about it, my Mum’s the same.” “Mr Cake says I’m not allowed to bring any more ponies home unless he has at least two days warning,” Pinkie Pie said, as if reciting orders. Steed now gave Pinkie a wary look “… okay … So I guess I’ll just have to-” “Oh! I have an idea!” Pinkie suddenly blurted, jumping in the air with her hoof raised, “Pick me! Pick me!” “Yes, Pinkie?” “You can sleep with Fluttershy!” she almost shouted, jumping even higher. Twilight couldn’t tell who, out of Steed or Fluttershy, looked more uncomfortable with that suggestion. “Ummm…. I uh… I don’t… Uhhhh…” was all Steed managed to say but it was more than Fluttershy’s small mummer. “You could sleep on her couch with your head up this end so if you wanted to you could open the window and have a breeze through your mane! It would be just like sleeping outside!” Pinkie explained as she acted the part of Steed on the couch, “And there are plenty of spare bird houses for Arrow! It’s perfect!” “Well that is a good idea,” Steed figured, looking more relaxed, “How about it, Fluttershy?” For a moment Fluttershy said nothing and Twilight thought that these two ponies would never be able to spend more than a minute whit just each other for company but eventually the timid, shy and unbelievably nervous Pegasus looked Steed straight in the eye and said with a smile, “That would be fine.” “Well if you’re all set up, we’d best start heading home” Twilight said, feeling very proud of Fluttershy, “Come on girls.” Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity all said their goodbyes and then left Fluttershy’s cottage. On her way back to the library Twilight looked back over the day and tried to think if she had learnt something new about friendship she could write about to Princess Celestia, “I suppose the main thing I learned is that a new friendship can start at any time and you just have to keep your eyes open, even if the pony in question may at first seem… odd,” she said to herself, before pausing for a moment then concluded with, “I’ll need to figure out a better way to word that.” Upon entering the library, Twilight was pleased to see that Spike did indeed clean up Pinkie’s mess and headed up to her room where she found the dragon in his bed paying bongos on his belly. “Hey, Twilight, I didn’t hear you come in.” “That’s probably because of the bongo belly,” she explained with a smirk. Spike blushed, “Well after my chores I didn’t have much else to do, so what did Pinkie Pie want?” “I’ll tell you in the morning, for now, take a letter.”
Chapter 9Once again Twilight found herself awake much earlier than she planned, this time however there was no beautiful bird song or stunning sunrise instead there was a starry night and a frantic beating on her front door. “Who in Equestria could be awake this late?” she groaned to herself, and started heading downstairs past a snoring Spike, who mumbled something about Rarity and an ice-cream mansion until a thunderous roar shook through the entire library. “Ahhh!” Spike screamed as he leapt into the air and landed squarely on Twilight’s back holding onto her tightly “What was that? Are we under attack?” he asked looking around for signs of invaders. “I don’t know but we need to find out,” Twilight replied as she galloped to the front door and upon opening it discovered a frantic Steed blocking her way. “Steed?!? What are you doing here? What’s going on?” Twilight demanded of him. “Well, do you remember the disgruntled manticore I mentioned?” he said, looking guilty, “It’s possible that he may have followed me here” - another loud roar rang through the town - “just maybe.” Before Twilight could scold Steed a very disgruntled manticore with a nasty looking black-eye sprang from behind a nearby house (the residents of which were peering from their windows in fear and disbelief) and upon spotting Steed charged straight towards him. In an act of stupidity, only once seen before, Steed also charged head first towards the beast and would have been done for had Twilight not teleported a large fruit cart in between the two of them, causing Steed to skid to a halt – the Manticore however was not so agile and careened head first into it, smashing it to pieces but also dazing the beast. “Run!” Twilight yelled, then quickly turned-tail and sprinted as far from the manticore as she could get, with Steed hot on her heels (as well as Spike hanging desperately to her neck), and eventually found a place to hide at the back of the school house. “I think we lost him,” Steed panted while scanning the horizon, “So, what’s the-” he was cut off by yet another roar. “What did you do to this manticore anyway?” Twilight questioned, giving Steed an angry glare. “Well while I was in the Everfree Forest-” Spike then spoke up, “Hold on! What were you doing in the Everfree Forest? Or better yet who are you?” “To answer your first question, I was lost, and to answer your second question, I’m Steed,” Steed explained, with an irritated expression. “Fair enough,” Spike remarked. “As I was saying, I came across his den while in the forest so he tried to fend me off and I tried to get past him, there was a bit of a tussle between us and I maybe, possibly, might have dropped a boulder on his head,” Steed finished his explanation with an regretful grin. “Well maybe you should apologise to him,” Twilight advised, sternly “As soon as I get the chance I will, but so far any time I get close to him he tries to inflict as much harm upon me as possible. I think he’s gone from disgruntled to revenge-fuelled-rage.” Spike suddenly light up with a bright idea, “Where’s Fluttershy? She’ll be able to sort this out!” “Back at the cottage trying to keep order, I assume,” Steed said to him, “the manticore must have caught my scent because he made a bee-line from the forest right to the cottage and virtually broke down the door. I ran to lead him away from Fluttershy, but not before big-mean-and-scary back there caused something of a ruckus.” “So what are our options?” Spike asked, dumbfounded “I could run away again,” Steed suggested, “or we could find another boulder; that worked well the last time but this one needs to be bigger!” “Or we could try to resolve this peacefully,” Twilight interjected. “Or we could try that…” Steed agreed looking at his hooves. “Err… Guys… You might want to turn around…” Spike hesitantly said. With a feeling of impending dread, Twilight looked behind her and came face to face with the creature from which they were hiding. Steed quickly stood between Twilight and the manticore, “Hello Mr. um… manticore… I’m sorry for dropping that boulder on you the other day… I uh…” before he could continue the manticore took a swipe at him that he just managed to dodge, “Hey! I’m trying to apologise here! The least you could do is not take my head off until I finish!” he yelled, irately at the manticore as it raised its paw for another attack, fortunately for Steed however Arrow swooped in out of nowhere and started to peck and claw wildly at the creature’s face Twilight saw the opportunity to escape and was about to take it when the thrashing manticore spun blindly and hit her with its tail with enough force to send her straight into the school through a, thankfully, open window, but also knocking her out cold. For the second time that night Twilight awoke, this time thanks to Spike. “Come on, Twilight! Wake up!” he shouted at her, while shaking her vigorously. “I’m awake! I’m awake!” she answered, brushing Spike of her chest “Where’s Steed?” “He and Arrow ran towards the Everfree Forest and the manticore went after him.” At that point Applejack and Big Mac both appeared in the door. “Twilight? What’s goin’ on out here?” Applejack asked, looking concerned and confused “We heard some sort of commotion and came to see if we could help, right, Big Mac?” “Eeyup,” Big Mac confirmed, while looking out for signs of trouble. “Steed is being attacked by a manticore, they’re somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and he needs our help!” Twilight quickly explained. “Eeyup” Big Mac agreed and then led the group to the forest. The group was able to follow Steed and his attacker easy enough -with the amount of carnage the manticore made it was almost impossible not to know where it went- and they quickly found Steed and Arrow trading blows with the disgruntled Manticore near the outskirts of the forest (though Twilight supposed the manticore was more than disgruntled at this point). Big Mac wasted no time and rushed straight into the fray, Applejack however was a bit more cautious. “Well, this is ah mighty fine pickle,” She mused wincing as Steed was launched into a nearby tree before regaining his sense and charging back in with gusto, “any thoughts?” she asked to Twilight and Spike “They look like they can take care of this, we should just leave them to it,” Spike readily suggested, looking hopeful “We can’t abandon them, Spike!” Twilight countered, glaring at the baby dragon, “we have to get them to stop fighting… somehow…” “That may be easier said than done, Big Mac’s got that look in his eye again,” Applejack stated looking uncertain as Big Mac sent a powerful kick into the manticore’s chest. “Well if we don’t stop this soon somepony’s going to get really hurt!” All of a sudden a loud crashing sound came from deeper in the forest. “What was that?!?” a now terrified Spike asked but before he could get an answer the sound was heard again, this time loud enough to make everypony and the manticore look around in fear. For a moment there was silence, and Twilight thought that whatever was out there must have left but that thought was quickly refuted as a much louder crash sounded through the forest and then, erupting through the undergrowth came the source of the noise; a much larger and much angrier manticore this one however was female and surprisingly accompanied by a very stern looking Fluttershy. “Fluttershy!?! What are you doing? Get away from that thing!” Steed yelled at her. “Her name is Mrs Minnie Manticora, and she’s here to pick up her son,” Fluttershy said calmly. In disbelief, Steed looked to the manticore he was just locked in mortal combat with and saw it back away from its mother looking at its paws. “Her… son...” he repeated slowly “And speaking of which you’d better get over here, young man,” Fluttershy then turned her frown to the manticore, who from the look on his face knew he was in a lot of trouble and slowly made his way towards his mother, that is until she let out a deep growl upon which he quickened his pace. “Now, before you go,” Fluttershy said to the manticore family, “Steed, come here please.” Still dumbfounded Steed made his way to Fluttershy, but still kept his eyes on the manticore son. “Now, Steed, I think you owe someone an apology,” she said to him. That broke Steed out of his stupor, “What?!? I already apologised! It’s not my fault that he tried to knock my lights out before I could finish!” he complained, ironically, looking disgruntled. “Steed.” Fluttershy cautioned “Fine. I’m sorry.” “And you as well, mister,” Fluttershy then said to the very rueful looking Manticore who let out a long low grumble, “he says he’s sorry,” Fluttershy explained to Steed. “So… We cool?” Steed asked to the beast, which smiled and gave Steed a playful nudge that still toppled him. “Much better,” Fluttershy breathed looking content, “now we should all get back to bed.” She then turned to the manticore, “I expect to see you tomorrow to help clean up the mess you made,” she told him with a firm look. The manticore nodded heartily and then followed his mother back into the forest. “Come on, everypony.” Twilight said to the group, “let’s go home.”
EpilougeTwilight and Spike had finally finished re-organising the library, after about 3 hours. “Well,” Twilight began, surveying the room, “that may have taken a bit longer than expected but I think it was worth it.” “Can I go visit Steed now? He said he found an easy spot for me to practice on!” Spike asked, with his claws clenched in excitement. “Isn’t that what he said the last time?” “That was weeks ago! Come on Twilight, please?” “Fine, but I’m coming too this time.” “Great! Let’s go!” Spike then scampered out the door with Twilight following, smiling in spite of herself. The trip to Steed’s hut took the pair far outside Ponyville to a small mountain range (as in both the mountains and the range were small) and up a slope to a small ledge in the cliff face. Twilight had to admit Steed had a good eye when it came to property development as the view from here was spectacular, she could quite easily see Ponyville, despite the light fog in the air. Spike was at Steed’s door in a flash and rapped sharply upon, his eyes aglow in anticipation. “Come in!” Steed’s voice called out from inside. Upon entering Twilight and Spike found Steed enjoying a cup of tea with Fluttershy, which caused Spike’s face to droop. “Steed! I thought you said you’d take me around the mountains today!” whined the baby dragon. “Bro. Come on,” Steed said with a certain look, “Have I ever let you down? Fluttershy was just leaving.” Spike was much happier upon hearing that, “Oh, cool! Do you mind if I sort my gear out then?” “As long as you don’t break anything, yeah. I’ll just be a minuet” Spike had run to Steed’s shed before Steed finished his sentence. “He’s defiantly enthusiastic,” Steed noted. “Well, I’ll be off then,” Fluttershy said, setting down her empty tea cup, “Thank you for the tea, Steed. I’ll see you again tomorrow?” “Same time, same place,” Steed replied with a smile. Fluttershy then got up from the table and smiled at Twilight before heading out the door and back to Ponyville. “Can I ask you something?” Twilight asked to Steed as he to set aside his drained cup. “Yeah.” “You’ve been here for a good few months now. In that time you’ve built this hut, you've befriended a manticore, you’ve re-painted the town hall and Applejack’s barn at least twice, you’ve modelled for Rarity more times than I can count, you’ve helped Pinkie throw some of her greatest parties yet, you’ve improved upon my old system of organising my books, you’re teaching Spike mountain climbing, and every day you’re coaching Rainbow Dash.” “I’m not hearing the question.” “When are you going to ask Fluttershy to be you’re very special somepony?” Twilight asked with an obvious smirk on her face. Steed simply blushed. “Um… I uh…. Spike is waiting for me…” He stammered before heading for the door. “Actually, I had another question.” “Yes…” Steed said hesitantly “Don’t you have plans to head off somewhere else?” Steed smiled and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder “Twilight, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m truly home.”
Chapter 6“Oooo! A race!” Pinkie piped, whilst bouncing up and down “This is going to be so exciting!” “Well, well, well. Ya’ll ain’t been in town for more than a few hours and yah already got yurself ah competition with Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, slightly impressed “Why, Ah reckon that’s ah record, right there.” “Now do be careful, Arrow” Rarity said to the falcon, whilst stroking his back “I would hate to see your magnificent feathers get covered in dirt and sweat and the like.” Arrow simply blushed. “Steed, I don’t know if this is a good idea.” Twilight told him, felling anxious. “What do you mean?!” Steed answered, obviously annoyed, “Look at her, over there!” he gestured to Rainbow Dash who was currently in the middle of her warm-up routine (wing-ups) “so full of herself, she could do with being knocked down a few pegs!” “But this is Rainbow Dash!” Twilight whined “She’s the fastest pegasus I know, maybe even the fastest in Ponyville!” Arrow audibly gulped at this news. “Hey boy,” Steed said, scooping Arrow onto his hoof and looking him straight in the eye “So she may be the fastest Pegasus in Ponyville; it doesn’t matter if she’s the fastest in all Equestria! We can’t let her get away with what she said! You’ve got to get up there and defend not just my honour, but yours as well” Arrow gave Steed a little nip on his nose “I know boy, I love you too.” Twilight felt a little awkward at hearing that. “And remember; this isn’t about wining, it’s about showing miss high-and-mighty over there we are not happy with being looked down on and that we ARE proud and noble!” Arrow let out his loudest screech yet and took of straight to the barn with the others in tow. Arrow landed next to Rainbow Dash while the ponies lined up behind them to get the best view of the high-octane action that was about to ensue. “Took you long enough,” Rainbow teased at Arrow as he took his place next to her “As for the track; first fly straight to the edge of the orchard, then follow the border for one circuit before heading back here as fast as you can. Think you can manage that?” She asked Arrow, who simply glared at her then opened his wings in anticipation for the start. “Twilight, count us down,” Rainbow said, whilst also getting prepared. “Fine,” Twilight conceded “3… 2… 1… Go!” The moment Twilight finished her count down both racers left the ground with enough speed to launch dust into the faces of the spectators, much to Rarity’s dismay. It was a feat in itself for the audience to keep their eyes on either Rainbow Dash or Arrow, their speed was blinding, both putting everything they had into staying in front and neither giving the other an opportunity to overtake, but as fast as Arrow was he didn’t have enough to stay ahead of the pegasus for very long, he could do a fine job of keeping up with her and had her beat when it came to agility but on the final stretch to the finish Rainbow put on a sudden burst of speed that she had been holding back since the start and streaked past Arrow like a rainbow- lightning bolt and landed in front of the group a full minuet before him. “Awww yeah!” Rainbow yelled once she had come to a stop. “I’m not called Rainbow Dash for nothing!” Steed went straight to Arrow, who had collapsed in a heap of feathers the moment he touched the floor, and Twilight followed to see if she could lend a hoof (plus a small part of her wanted to say ‘I told you so’). “Hey, boy!” Steed said to Arrow, kneeling down next to him and supporting his head “You were great! I thought you had her for a minuet there!” the falcon looked up to the stallion and pecked at his check “There’s nothing to be sorry for, you did great up there. It wasn’t about wining, remember?” Steed said then rubbed the falcon’s belly vigorously. “Ooohhh, tough luck Arrow!” Pinkie chimed, with a compassionate tone, “maybe next time!” “Well maybe next time you don’t have to make such a mess?” Rarity added, brushing dust out of her mane, “still, admirable attempt, very well done!” she added with an approving smile, again Arrow simple blushed. “Mighty fine work, partner!” Applejack said to Arrow, patting him on the back, “yah sure gave ol’ Rainbow Dash ah run for her bits!” “Well I won’t deny that was fun to watch but can we try to act with a bit more decorum now?” Twilight asked to Steed, looking a little irritated. “Maybe you should ask that to Rainbow Dash,” he replied, gesturing behind Twilight to where Rainbow was approaching. The pegasus walked right pass every other pony and straight to Steed then smirked and said “You’re not bad, Steed.” “What?” he asked supremely confused. “The best way to get to know somepony is to compete against them, and it works for animals too,” She explained, then nodded towards Arrow (still catching his breath) “That falcon was willing to go through all that for you, and I can tell he’d be willing to go through a lot more. If he thinks you’re worth it then that must mean he really likes you.” Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof to Steed “And if a falcon likes you that much, you can’t be that bad.” Steed looked at the others, who were all anxious to see how he would react, and then let out a short laugh, and knocked Rainbow’s hoof with his own. “Yippee!” Pinkie yelled and rocketed into the air, while confetti (somehow) exploded in showers over the group. “Arrow,” Rainbow said to the exhausted falcon, who looked up to her from the Steed’s hooves “Nice work. You’re gonna go far, kid” Arrow let out another screech, whilst hopping onto Steed’s back. “Well,” Applejack began “Ah reckon we all know where t’ go now” “I don’t” Steed stated, looking blankly to the girls for clues as to their next destination, only to find they were as confused as him. “But of course!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, before turning to Steed, “You simply must meet Fluttershy!” Steed then smiled, knowing now what Applejack had been suggesting, “Oh yeah! The other pegasus! What did Braeburn say about her?” he asked to Arrow, who tugged at Steed’s mane with his beak “That’s right; ‘shy an’ nervous but really kind’,” Twilight felt that the accent was unnecessary, but chose not to call Steed out on it. “That sounds like our Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, with a little giggle “An’ that didn’t sound ah thing like Braeburn” Applejack added, looking sarcastically snide. “I know; I’m not great at accents” Steed confessed, looking bashful. “That’s a great impression of Fluttershy, too!” Pinkie stated, upon seeing Steed’s posture “Do me next! Do me!” she virtually demanded of him, whilst leaning closely into Steed’s face. Steed shot a curious look at Twilight. “It’s best just to go with it,” She told him. Steed sighed, then put on a big smile and started jumping in place shouting “Fun!” in a high-pitched voice over and over; the display sent all the girls into fits of laughter. “That’s just like me!” Pinkie said, after calming down and catching her breath “You should do this professionally!” “When I’m finished with mountains,” Steed assured her, grinning widely. “So are we planning to see Fluttershy or not?” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Yes!” Steed yelled, suddenly looking very determined, “No distractions,” he then started marching off, before stopping, looking back at Twilight and asked, “Where is she?” “She’d probably be at her cottage, follow us” She replied and started walking in the complete opposite direction Steed had headed in, while Arrow gave him a sharp whack on the back of his head for being stupid.
