I woke up in the morning after a long night of mane-thrashing sleep. I looked to my right and saw that the time was 8:23. But then... I noticed something strange.

Rarity was gone. She had fallen asleep with me in my bed last night, why isn't she here? I guess there's only one way to find out.

I got out of bed, and gently put on my slippers. After that, I walked out the door of my room, down the flight of stairs, and into the living room, where I had another surprise.

NOPONY WAS HERE. All the girls had up and left with out a goodbye! I was feeling really sad about it, but then I saw a note on the coffee table. I sat down in the chair and picked it up. It read:

“Jordan; as you can probably tell, me and all the girls left this morning. We all figured you would like to wake up in peace, without us around. When you wake up, come to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are having some fun playing horseshoes!
-Twilight”

I smiled as I read the note and put it away. As I did so, a thought really hit me square in the gut, a sudden realization. I LIVE here. It's my own house! I really have to be careful and tidy organizing things.

So, I put the scroll on the bookshelf next to the fireplace, neatly so, and went into the kitchen. I made myself a delicious breakfast, using my fully loaded fridge and oven.

Right then, I saw Elise walk into the room and I smiled at her. “Hey Elise, how do you like the new house? Do you like your room?” I said as I pet her softly.

“Yeah, it's great! The bed's SUPERRR comfy. Thanks, Jordan.” She said as she licked my hand in appreciation.

I smiled at her. “I'm glad Elise. Hey, wanna come with me to Applejack's farm? The girls are having some competition, you can hang out with Winona. She's Applejack's pet, she's a dog too.” I told her.

She nodded. “Sounds great, let's go!” She said as she bolted to the door excitedly. I swear, she's like Pinkie Pie in a lot of ways.

So with that, she and I walked out the front door, towards Sweet Apple Acres. When we got there, Elise ran off to find Winona. I saw the girls playing horseshoes. Rainbow Dash tossed hers, and it was surprisingly close to the pole.

“Hoo-wee! Not a bad pitch for a pony who works with her head in the clouds. “ Applejack said in a comical way.

Rainbow grinned. “Oh yeah? Think you can do better, cowgirl?” She challenged the farm pony.

“I know I can.” Applejack said confidently. She grunted, tossed the horseshoe and waited. It looked like a very solid toss, but it ended up landing WAY in the outer rim of the dirt patch. “Oh, for Pete's sake!” Applejack said angrily. I then walked besides Twilight and tapped her shoulder with my hoof. She gave me a smile, and we watched the show together.

“Heh! Looks like this Pegasus can pitch better than the workhorse. The object of the game is to get the closest to the stake.” Rainbow boasted in a very cocky way.

“All right, all right. You got another throw there, pony girl.” Applejack said to reign Rainbow's ego in.

Rainbow Dash grunted, and tossed her horseshoe. Much like AJ's, it looked solid midair. But then it landed way outside. Applejack laughed.

“Wow, Rainbow, heh. You couldn't hit a barn door with that kind of a throw!” She challenged cockily.

“Yeah, yeah. I still have the closest throw, Applesmack. Just try and beat it.” Rainbow said, talking serious trash now.

Applejack grabbed her horseshoe, and gave it a mighty, powerful toss. It flew at a perfect arc in midair. I could just tell from the arc, it was going to hit the stake. I quickly looked from the horseshoe, to the stake, and then to Applejack and Rainbow. I could see Applejack's eyes glisten and sparkle in amazement and happiness as the horseshoe flew.

BAM, the horseshoe hit the stake! AJ was so happy.

“Yee-haw! It's a ringer. That's how you do it down here on the farm.” She said proudly.

Rainbow's jaw was nearly on the ground. “I lost.” She said sadly.

Applejack, I could tell, felt a little sorry for Rainbow. “Ah, don't feel bad, Rainbow. It's all in good fun.” She tried to say, but Rainbow wasn't having it.

“I HATE losing.” Rainbow said in dejection.

“Besides, you're a mighty good athlete. I'm just better. Heh heh heh.” Applejack boasted. I facehoofed. This is just like the sleepover at Twilight's; Applejack's gonna keep pushing her, like Rarity.

“All right, Applejack, you think you're the top athlete in all of Ponyville?” Dash asked with anger riddled in her eyes.

“Well, I was gonna say in all of Equestria, but that might be gildin' the lily.” Applejack said with a bit of a smirk.

“And I think I'm the top athlete. So let's prove it.” Rainbow suggested with a grin.

“Prove what?” Applejack asked, confused.

“I challenge you to an Iron Pony competition. A series of athletic contests to decide who's the best, once and for all.” Rainbow smirked at the farm pony.

“You know what, Rainbow? You're on.” Applejack declared as she and Rainbow hoof-bumped.

I then decided to walk to the girls. “Welp, that sure was... interesting.” I said to both of them. “Are you two sure this is a good idea? I mean, I hate seeing friends fight...” I said sadly. Applejack pat my shoulder.

“Aw sugarcube, me and Rainbow ain't fightin, just a friendly competition is all.”

Rainbow knocked AJ to the side, rudely. “Yea, to prove how much better than her I am!” I rolled my eyes at both of them. I then saw out of the corner of my eye there was still a horseshoe not thrown.

“Hey girls, mind if I give the game a try?” I said as I grabbed the horseshoe in my mouth. Applejack and Rainbow stepped aside. “Have at it sugarcube.” Applejack told me, encouragingly.

I took a few seconds to study the scene. I started to do some calculations in my head. Out loud, I said: “Hmm...now if I throw the horseshoe at a thirty degree angle or less it's not gonna make the box. More than forty five and it's going to go too far. Maybe a thirty six?” I thought aloud. I could hear AJ and Rainbow stifling laughs at me. Twilight walked up to me and smiled.

“Try a thirty eight degree toss, that will work better.” She said with a proud smile, like she had figured a big secret out. I chuckled and then squinted my eyes in concentration. I let out a loud grunt, and I let the horseshoe fly.

In that moment, time slowed down. A second felt like a year. I saw the horseshoe go, and go, and go, and go, and go. Finally, the horseshoe came to a stop.

As the dirt dust cleared from around the horseshoe, my eyes instantly beamed at the scene. Not even having control of my own lungs at the moment, I shrieked. “NO WAY! IT'S A RINGER!” I said with excitement. I looked over at Rainbow and AJ, who both had their jaws on the ground in shock.

“I...YOU...WHAT?!” Rainbow said in complete confusion. Applejack was just as lost. “What in tarnation! How the hay!?” She was saying before I held my head up high in a confident pose.

“Science and mathematics, girls. It works.” I said before Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, if you're an egghead!” She proclaimed to me.

I scoffed. “You know what you two? You both could really benefit from just sitting down and reading a good book, instead of waving those muscles around...” I said as I started to walk away from the farm. But as I did, I heard Twilight call after me.

“Jordan, wait!” She said as she ran towards me. I turned around and smiled at her. “What is it, Twilight?”

She smiled at me. “Since Applejack and Rainbow Dash are having their little competition, how about you and I have one?” She suggested with a bit of a grin.

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. That caught my attention. “Oh? A competition? What do you have in mind, Twilight?” I asked curiously. She smiled.

“Since Applejack and Rainbow Dash are more athletic than us, how about you and me have a magic competition?” She suggested.

“Sounds... interesting. How do we organize this?” I asked curiously. She just gave me a grin.

-THE NEXT DAY-

We were all gathered at the public park near town hall, preparing for Twilight and I's competition. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were going to have theirs at Sweet Apple Acres after ours.

I walked up to Twilight, who was talking to the mayor about it all. “So, I'm still confused. What exactly IS the competition, Twilight?” I asked. She smiled.

“Well, we're going to have a sort of talent show. We're going to see who can do the best magic trick. The judges will decide who wins.” She explained to me.

“Ok, when you say magic trick do you mean like Trixie, or just the most impressive act our magic can do?” I asked with a raised brow. She smiled.

“The latter. OH, time for us to start! Are you ready?” I nodded, and she and I walked to the center of the park where the mayor was.

The mayor whistled to get everypony's attention. “Everypony, your attention! Today, Twilight and Jordan are going to be having a friendly competition. Whoever can perform the most amazing feat of magic and win over the minds of the judges will be the winner! These are our judges; Rarity, Lyra, Lotus and Mr. Cake!” She said as she waved her hoof to a table where the judges all sat. The judges smiled at Twilight and I.

“Now, before we begin, I must inform the judges. This is by no means a popularity contest. Please, do not be biased, be impartial. That is why we use the term judge.” She said as she looked to me and Twilight, grabbing a bit.

“Jordan, I'll let you pick your side of the bit. Heads or tails?” She asked me. I quickly responded.

“Heads.” I said promptly. I always picked heads. The mayor nodded before she gave the coin a mighty toss from the hoof. It spun over and over in midair, before it landed.

“It's tails!” The mayor proclaimed. “Jordan, since Twilight won, you will go first. The entire city park is yours to manipulate however you wish for your showcase of magic.” She gave me a reassuring nod before she walked to the judges table.

I looked at the scene around me, and thought about the situation. Ok, so all I have to do is the most amazing magic trick I can utilizing the park. Simple, but what can I do?

I looked around and noticed that the playground was rather... empty. All there is are a few pathways lined with shrubbery, trees and flowers. What about adult ponies bringing their children to the park? They need something to do, too!

I closed my eyes and focused my mind. Then, once I concentrated enough, everything fell into place at once. My magic acted as a saw, and started to saw down a large tree that was located nearby. When I got some nice sized logs of wood, I levitated them over to my location. There, I used my magic as a saw and cut the logs. In about ten minutes, and some hard work, I had made a bonafide wooden playground fort for the fillies and colts.

I backed away from my creation, taking in the fruits of my labor. It was a beautiful play structure. I saw a flood of children run past me, running onto the new fort and playing on it, cheers of glee and happiness abounding.

Twilight came over to me and smiled. “Wow. You could have done anything to win this competition. Yet instead of making yourself look like a showoff, you did something truly amazing for the kids.”

Mayor Mare then stepped up to me and nodded in agreement. “On behalf of the residents of Ponyville, I truly thank you Jordan. We've been needing a new play structure for the children in the park for quite some time now, but due to budget constraints, I was just never able to fit it into our tight budget and work schedule. Twilight has been far too busy with her studies, and nopony else has that kind of magical talent. You have saved me and the town that burden. For that, I thank you.” She said with a smile.

“Thanks Twilight, thank you Mayor. It was nothing. It was both part of the competition, and I realized the kids needed something fun to do at the park. It was a win, win, I guess. So, Twilight, it's your turn. What are you going to do for your turn?” I asked curiously.

She tilted her head in a bold way. “I forfeit.” She said simply.

I gasped. “What?! But you challenged me. Why?” I asked in shock.

She smiled. “Consider this your first test, student. I wanted to see how far along you magic skills have progressed more than anything. And I wanted to see what you would do. You passed with flying colors.”

I looked at her in shock and astonishment for a few moments before smiling. “Twilight. You're really something else, you know that?”

This made her put a hoof to her mouth and giggle a bit. “You are too!” We both shared a smile before Rainbow Dash piped up in the crowd.

“Yeah yeah, that was fun and all, but now we've got the real competition!” She then started flying to Sweet Apple Acres, with Applejack in tow on the ground. I shook my head, a smile on my face. Rainbow sure can be a dork sometimes. The rest of the crowd followed those two, leaving me and Twilight alone.

“Do you want to go watch their competition, or do something Twilight?” I asked with a smile.

“I don't know, how about we do something fun for now?” She suggested with that heartfelt smile she so commonly held. I nodded.

“What do you want to do? Lunch at the cafe? Walk in the park maybe?” I suggested to her.

“Lunch sounds great, I sure am hungry.” She said as her stomach happened to growl. I chuckled a little bit and waved my hoof, inviting her to start walking with me towards the cafe. She took me up on that with a smile, and she and I started walking side by side to the cafe.

When we got there, she and I met the pony at the desk, got a table, and we both sat down. She decided to order a walnut and daisy salad, and I ordered a hayburger with fries. While we were ordering our food, I happened to look to the entrance of the restaurant, and I saw somepony I hadn't expected to see.

“Octavia!” I called out to her, waving my hoof for her to see. She did, and looked over towards me. She gave me a smile.

“Come sit with us!” I said as I pointed to our table. She seemed to be debating for a few moments, unsure. But she walked over to the table and sat down.

“Am I allowed to sit here? The waiter did not tell me I could.” She said as she kept her head low. I called for the waiter and gave him three bits.

“This mare is with me. Pretend she was here the whole time and get her her favorite, please.” The waiter took my money and smiled, seeming to have served Octavia before. “Right away, sir.” He said as he walked towards the kitchen, placing the order. Octavia gave me a grateful smile.

“Jordan, you didn't have to do that. I could have paid him myself.” I waved my hoof at her dismissively.

“Nonsense, you're my friend. Speaking of friends, Octavia, meet Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, meet Octavia, my cello teacher.”

They turned to look at each, shook hooves and both greeted each other. I smiled, and in the next instant the waiter came with a tray of all of our food, serving each of us respectively.

As we all started to dig into our food, Twilight looked at me. “Jordan, I had no idea you played the cello. That's amazing!” She proclaimed. Octavia nodded.

“Yes, and from what I am able to garner, he is quite the prodigy.” Octavia directed to Twillight. I had to hide my face behind my mane to hide my deep blush.

“C'mon Octavia, I'm nowhere near being good. Besides, I'm more of a drummer than anything.” I said honestly. Octavia shook her head.

“Nonsense, if you continue to practice I can see you becoming a true master of the cello. You are just beaming with potential, Jordan.” She said with a smile. I chuckled a bit.

“Maybe, maybe. Hey, maybe I should come over again soon, it would be fun.” She nodded, accepting that proposition.

“Speaking of that, I have grand news. I have been invited by Princess Celestia to play at the Grand Galloping Gala!” She told us both, full of excitement.

I gasped, and within a heartbeat sprang out of my seat to give her a giant hug.

“Octavia, that's so great! Me and my friends are all going to the Gala too. I can't wait to see you perform.” I said with a gigantic smile.

“You're all going? Well, I certainly hope we all have a splendid night. The gala is only a few short weeks away.” I sat down as she spoke, and we all finished our food.

“Yeah, it should be lots of fun...” I said distractedly as I paid for the lunch. I paid for all our food and gave the waiter his tip.

“Well Twilight, we'd better get to Sweet Apple Acres and see what's going on down there with those two.” I said as I stood up.

Twilight looked at Octavia, then at me. “Actually, I'll catch up to you later. I want to speak with Octavia for a bit.”

I was surprised, but totally fine with that. “Ok, see you later Twilight.” I then walked out the door, and down the road to the farm.

When I got there, I saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike and a few other ponies, I assume a crowd to watch them. Applebloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith were cheering AJ on. I also saw a scoreboard. The girls were all tied up at five and five. Spike then spoke.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, at the halfway point, our competitors are tied at five and five. The next event is the long jump, the longest jump into the sandbox wins! Applejack is up first.”

With that, AJ confidently walked to the dirt trail which led to the very long sandbox in front of her. She quickly stretched all four legs, arched her back, then narrowed her eyes in determination. She then began sprinting, gaining more and more speed until she finally gave a mighty leap. She made it about five feet from the end of the sandbox, a very mighty jump. She confidently held her head as she walked out of the sandbox, allowing Rainbow Dash to prepare for her jump.

Rainbow did the same routine as AJ, and sprinted. She ran and ran and picked up tremendous speed. However, when she jumped, it seemed very clear that she would come up short of AJ's landing. Right before she landed, Rainbow used her wings to hover, beating AJ's jump!

Applejack, I could see, had her jaw dropped in shock that Rainbow had cheated, but she quickly gathered herself and walked past me, grumbling “That no good cheater!” under her breath. She got a quick drink of water, and Spike spoke up.

“Next competition, push-ups! Contestants to the line, please! Jordan, would you please count the push-ups the girls do? I'm naming you the head official!” He asked me. I nodded and walked to the line.

“Yeah, sure Spike, might as well.” Applejack was again up first. I grabbed a whistle Spike handed me and looked at AJ.

“Ok Applejack, you get two minutes to do as many push-ups if you can. If you get tired, please stop. The last thing we want is for you to hurt yourself. Ready?” I asked her, and she gave a nod as she got into position.

“GO!” I yelled as I blew the whistle, and off she went. She was a push-up machine, one after the other, not wasting any time or energy. One minute, she'd done fifty. Near the two minute mark, she had done well over ninety!

“AND TIME!” I yelled as I blew the whistle. She fell on the ground and panted heavily, she was so tired. I quickly grabbed her water canteen and helped her drink.

“Easy now, Applejack. Drink slowly.” I told her, but honestly it went through one ear, out the other. She guzzled the entire canteen in seconds. I rolled my eyes, before Rainbow rudely pushed her away from the line.

“Yeah yeah, just let the winner do the work!” She said as she got into position. I rolled my eyes again.

“Ok...ready...set...GO!” I yelled as I blew the whistle. Rainbow immediately went to town, pumping her legs over and over. She was a bit slower than AJ, and I thought she might lose. But at the last stretch around 90 push-ups, the started using her wings to support herself.

“95.. 96.. 97.. 98.. 99.. a hundred?” I said confused. I didn't know if they really counted, since she used her wings.

Rainbow Dash propped onto her hooves and cheered. “Yes!” She exclaimed.

We continued with the events, including one where the girls had to each safely bring a bundle of baby chickens to their mothers on the other side of a mud pit. Through every single competition, Rainbow found a way to cheat using her wings. She was starting to get on my nerves as the official of the competition, but the last event really put me over the edge.

“Ok, you two. This is the final event. Give it all you've got.” I said as I blew the whistle. The two went at it in the tug of war.

Spike was still announcing. “Looks like the workhorse might come out ahead in this one.” He said as Applejack managed to nearly pull Rainbow into the mud pit. But at the last second, Rainbow OF COURSE fluttered her wings to keep up out of it. Not only that, she flew high into the air, until AJ was dangling on the rope!

Applejack tried to speak as she bit onto the rope. “That's not fair. You can't use your wings to help you win.”

“Huh?” Rainbow said, pretending she couldn't understand.

Applejack tried again. “You're cheatin'!” She cried out.

“I can't understand you with that rope in your mouth.” Rainbow said with a big grin.

“I said... uh-oh.” Applejack said as she accidently let go of the rope, falling into the mud pit.

Rainbow did a pose and cheered. “Whoo-hoo! I win by a landslide... or mudslide in your case. I am the Iron Pony!” She boasted.

I then grabbed the microphone away from Spike, fire in my eyes at this point. “Not so fast, Rainbow! Spike made me head official of this event, and now I'm doing some officiating! Rainbow, you are DISQUALIFIED for cheating!” The crowd all gasped at my announcement, Rainbow's jaw hit the ground in shock, and I walked over to Applejack, who was just as shocked and confused, and I raised her hoof in victory. “I hereby name Applejack the true iron pony! Applejack is the winner by default!”

Rainbow walked over to me, looking like she was about to hit me in anger. “But you can't do that! I won fair and square!”

I scoffed. “FAIR AND SQUARE?! Rainbow, you wouldn't know fair if it hit you in the face!”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “You used your wingpower to help you win over half those contests.”

Rainbow glared at us. “Sounds like sour apples to me! You're just a sore loser, and he's your lackey!” She said, somewhat accusingly.

Applejack glared back. “Are you sayin' you didn't use your wings?”

Rainbow looked a bit sheepish. “Well... no. But you never said I couldn't use my wings.”

Applejack was about to speak, but I cut in. “RAINBOW, for Celestia's sake, use your common sense girl! You're a pegasus and Applejack's an earth pony. You can't use something like that to your advantage, it's just not fair.”

“I still would have won even without my wings!” Rainbow boasted. Applejack sneered a bit.

“Hah! Prove it.” She dared the blue pegasus, who smirked.

“Gladly. How?”

“Tomorrow is the annual Runnin' of the Leaves. I challenge you to race me in it.” She issued said challenge with her eyes narrowed a bit.

Rainbow laughed. “Heh! Easy shmeasy.” She bragged and started to fly, but Applejack pulled her down by the tail.

“Hold on! There is one condition: the point is to run, so no wings allowed.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “No wings? No problem.” She then turned to me. “ONE more thing! If AJ challenges me, I challenge you! Since you did kind of rig me out of winning, I want some revenge!” Rainbow said with a mischievous grin.

I opened my eyes wide in shock at her challenge for a few seconds, before I shook my head to gather myself. Then, I finally gave an answer.

“No.” I simply spat out, leaving Rainbow to look dumbfounded. I then turned away and began to walk away, before she flew in the air and stopped me, getting in my face.

“Now you hold on! I challenged you to the race and you're not going to accept? What are you, a cowardly egghead now?” I couldn't tell if she was trying to rile me up, just make me angry, or what. But I suppressed any feelings of anger I had and shook my head again.

“No Rainbow, I'm not a coward. But I'm also in no way an athlete like you and Applejack are. You two might have this little grudge match you're trying to settle, but I want no part in it. Face it Rainbow, I didn't rig you out of anything. You cheated, and I caught you doing it. It's as simple as that, so you can just drop this challenge, and your want for revenge right here, because it's not happening. I'm not an athlete, I'm not your enemy, and I'm not running.” To validate what I said, I started to walk away from the farm, not looking back.

Elise saw me leaving, and she followed me in a complete sprint. Side by side, we walked back home. I opened the front door, set my saddlebag on the counter, and I relaxed at the table, grabbing the newspaper and reading it. The headline on the front of it read “Local ponies have magic competition; crowd of hundreds shows!” I read that headline and smiled a bit. Right then, Elise hopped up onto my lap.

“Hey, y'all ok?” Elise asked me with those big puppy eyes of hers. I slowly started to pet her with my red hoof, and I sighed. “Not really, Elise. I'm just thinking about Rainbow and Applejack. They're so caught up in who's the more athletic pony, they're not worrying about anything else.”

“Well, why don'tcha run in that race tomorrow, and keep an eye on them?” She asked. I blinked a few times before smiling.

“That's a good idea, Elise. But... the problem is, Rainbow challenged me to the race tomorrow, and I turned her down. How do I go about that?” I asked confusedly.

“Well, why don'tcha say you accept, but then just run the race to come inbetween them?”

“Hey, that's not a bad idea, again. Thanks Elise, I'll be sure to get you a treat tomorrow.” I said as I scratched behind her ears, making her whine in pleasure. After a moment of this, she hopped off the bed and walked to the bedroom upstairs. I went to my shelf in the living room.

I had some memorabilia on this shelf. I had my ticket from the rodeo in Appleloosa, the vial of potion Celestia gave me, the book Twilight gave me for my birthday, the card from Applejack, various knickknacks from my past few months in Ponyville. I looked at Rainbow's whistle and I shook my head.

I WAS going to use it to call her, but I think instead I'll surprise everypony by showing up tomorrow unannounced. I went back to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I got a bowl of salad that I had made last night. It had hay, carrots, strawberries, lettuce, avocado, and more. It was so good.

I ate that for dinner, then headed upstairs to bed. I got comfy in it, and after Elise snuggled up to my feet, I felt myself drift off to sleep.

-CANTERLOT CASTLE, CELESTIA'S QUARTERS-

Celestia sat in her room one evening. She had just woken Luna up for her duty of watching over Equestria during the night. It was Celestia's turn to sleep. But she wasn't able to. She had something on her mind, something very puzzling.

Luna, who was in her guard tower, looking out of the binocular telescope, sensed something was wrong with her sister. She quickly flew from the guard tower into her sister's bedroom.

“Sister? Art thou alright?” Luna asked Celestia a bit worriedly. Her sister's eyes looked bloodshot, as if she'd been working nonstop.

“Yes Luna, I've just been deep in thought.” Celestia stated flatly. This made Luna all the more concerned. Celestia did not have her usual perkiness in her voice. Her voice sounded flat, as if in despair.

“If we might ask, what exactly is the problem?” Luna inquisited. Celestia bit her lip, as if she was unsure of what answer to give.

“It's about Jordan, Luna. I can't place my finger on it. But something seems very strange, regarding him. Think about it sister. He came to Equestria from Earth almost immediately after you were brought back. Twilight Sparkle and her friends immediately accepted him into their circle, as if it were meant to be. And now, Jordan is having problems controlling his magic. Remember that train accident last week outside of Ponyville? That was him. His magic had a most strange outburst.”

Luna gasped at this. She looked at the stone floor for a second before replying. “What do we do, Sister? We cannot just let him roam free if he is dangerous, can we?”

Celestia sighed. “I have been wondering that same exact thing, Luna. I've spent the past two days pondering all of this. I don't believe Jordan is truly dangerous, simply unstable. I do however believe we should keep a close eye on him. Maybe you could even visit him in his dreams?”

Luna nodded. “We can certainly do that, sister. Thou need to go to bed, thou eyes are bloodshot.” Luna helped the tired Celestia into bed and made sure all was well with her, before she flew back to her guard tower.

Luna sighed as she again looked out of her binocular telescope. She had a lot on her mind now. If Jordan was so unstable, could he be trusted? Luna was unsure. She needed to talk to Jordan, face to face. Not in the dream world, in person.

She flew from the guard tower, and began to fly towards Ponyville. Gazing over the beautiful nighttime landscape before her that she protected. Soon, she reached the desolate village town, and landed. Making sure no ponies out this late at night could see her, she sneaked to Jordan's house and slowly turned the knob on the door. She made sure to stay quiet, and walked towards the stair case.

There, a dog with a black and blue coat started to bark. Reacting quickly, Luna charged up her horn and shot it towards the dog. This made a muzzle appear on the dog's snout, preventing it from barking anymore. Luna walked past the dog and sighed.

“Our most sincere apologies, but we had to silence thou.” Luna walked up the stairs, leaving the dog in the living room. Then, she opened the bedroom door upstairs, slipping in.

There, she saw an orange pony with a blue and white mane laying in the bed. This was unmistakably Jordan. Luna again charged up her horn, and this time, touched it to Jordan's temple.

The stallion began to stir, and Luna spoke few words.

“Wake up.”

-JORDAN'S POV-

I was abruptly and rudely awoken from my deep sleep by somepony's magic. As I snapped my eyes open, I saw her. The alicorn I had met on a number of occasions now. I had no idea why she was hear, but she broke the ice.

“Good evening, Jordan. We're very sorry we woke thou, but we had to ask thou some important questions. Doest thou mind if we go to a special location to speak?”

I was surprised she wanted to speak to me outside of the dream realm, but I nodded. She charged up her horn, and performed a teleportation spell. When I garnered my senses again, I didn't know where we were. It was beautiful though. It was a courtyard, I'm assuming one in the castle. But it was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

There was a beautiful fountain, made out of marble and granite mixed together. It looked so beautiful, so elegant. The water in the fountain shimmered in the light of the moon. Around us, there were groves of trees, trimmed bushes, flower gardens, and much more.

I had a sparkle in my eye as I looked around. This was the most beautiful place I think my eyes have ever laid upon. I could start it for the rest of my life and be completely content. The princess tapped me with her hoof and waved it to a bench at my left, signaling for me to sit down. I trotted to the bench and sat on it, and she did the same.

“So, Princess-” I was cut off by her raising her hoof.

“Jordan, enough with these formalities. Please, call us Luna, we insist upon it.” She said with a warm, uncharacteristic smile. I nodded.

“So... Luna. Why is it you wanted to talk to me?” I asked with a curious tone. She went from her smile to a serious look.

“My sister told us thou had an... outburst, with thou's magic week the last. We were just curious of what happened.” I sighed, remembering that outburst of magic. I inhaled deeply and told her everything. Getting on the train, getting angry from the delay, the blur, everything that happened. This seemed to perplex her, she had a confused face when I was finished, as if she was deep in thought.

“We see. This is interesting, to say the least. In truth, we have no idea why this unusual occurrence would, not could, happen. Like our sister said, we just advise you to keep an eye for magic, see if anything happens.”

I nodded. “I will, Luna. I don't want anything bad to happen, trust me.” Luna then cleared her throat.

“We... also have another question. Remember when we asked thou how thou felt about thou's friends?” She asked me. I nodded. “Well, we'd like to ask thou. We have seen thou's dreams, and we have seen certain... occurrences in thou's dreams, mainly involving our sister. So we ask, how doth thou feel about our sister, Jordan?”

As soon as Luna finished, I opened my eyes wide and shook a bit. Oh god no, this can't be happening. Luna has seen my dreams about Celestia! Which means she knows about my crush on her. This was the end of me, I was going to end up in either the dungeon, or moon.

“W...well. I... I do think highly of Celestia. Very highly. Oh for pony's sakes who am I kidding, Luna. You know of my crush on her, that's why you're asking!” I said as I tried to calm myself down. I took a deep breath and spoke again. “I think it really is just that. A crush. She's your sister. She's royalty. I'd never stand a chance and I know that.” I said with my ear drooped sadly. Luna stroked my cheek with her hoof.

“Jordan, trust us. It is not like that in the slightest of ways. It is not a matter of our sister being royalty and thou being a mortal pony. It is simply this. Our sister knows how you feel and very much respects it. But she is more trying to protect you. There are... Complications to dating royalty, complications thou can't even imagine. She is merely protecting you.”

Well... if that was supposed to make me feel better, it really didn't. But, at least now I knew what the situation was. I nodded at Luna.

“Ok Luna, thank you for telling me. It means a lot.” I said with a smile. “And also Luna, I have a question.” She looked at me curiously, then nodded, giving me the Ok to speak.

“Well, I'm running in the running of the leaves tomorrow, and I'm worried about Applejack and Rainbow Dash. See, for the past while they've been competing to see who's the better athlete, and they're going to race tomorrow to see who's best runner. And I'm worried one of them might get hurt. What should I do?” I asked, and Luna put her hoof to her chin in thought.

“We would suggest thou runs the race, and truly competes, but also make sure thou's friends don't hurt themselves. Just be cautious.” She said with a smile. I nodded.

“Thanks, Luna. I'll try that.” I then yawned, and Luna giggled a bit, taking that as her cue to send me home. She started to charge up her horn. “Sleep well, Jordan, and do not over work yourself tomorrow.” She teleported me home, and next thing I knew, I woke up the next morning in my bed.

I blinked for a few seconds before I groaned a bit and rolled out of bed. I stretched and took care of business in the bathroom, walked Elise, ate, and left home for the race.

“Bye Elise, Fluttershy should be here to take care of you later!” I said as I walked out the door. I trotted to the edge of town, where the forest (Not the Everfree) began. There, I saw earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns. I saw Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight, Spike and Pinkie Pie. Spike and Pinkie Pie were in Twilight's hot air balloon.

I walked up to the registration table and smiled at Bon Bon, who was the manager of the race.

“Hi there. I'd like to sign up for the race, please.” She grumbled a bit and looked at the table. “You're in luck. This is the last number we have today. SIGN-UPS ARE CLOSED EVERYPONY!” Some ponies who got in line behind me groaned in disappointment, and I smiled and took my number. I tagged it onto my chest and walked to the line. When Rainbow saw I was lined up next to her, she was shocked.

“WHOA, what the hay?! I thought you said you weren't racing?” I just smirked at her a bit.

“I told you I'm not a coward. I decided to take you up on that challenge, Rainbow Crash.” I said with a grin. She glared at me and punched my arm with her hoof hard, making me grunt in pain and rub where she hit me.

“Owchie, that was a bit unnecessary there, Crayons.” I said as I kept rubbing my arm. Right then, AJ walked over to us and lined up to my right.

“Good to see ya here sugarcube! We thought you'd chickened out yesterday.” Applejack blatantly said. I looked at her.

“Chickened out? What's that supposed to mean?” I asked. She shook her head.

“Nothin. Nothin at all.” Applejack and Rainbow then turned their heads to look at each other.

Rainbow smirked at AJ. “So, Applejack, you ready to win second place?”

Applejack shook her head. “I'm ready to run a good, clean race.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah...”

“You are not allowed to use your wings.” Applejack reiterated to the pegasus sternly. Dash laughed.

“I could win this race with both wings tied behind my back.” Applejack then got an idea and grinned. “We'll see about that, ya varmint.” She walked to her saddlebag and pulled out some rope. She pushed Rainbow to the ground and tied up her wings super tight.

Applejack grunted as she finished. “Trussed up like a turkey. Well, a turkey who can't fly, that is.” She said with a smirk.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

Applejack looked forwards. “'Least now we know we're racin' fair and square.”

I sighed. “Yeah I sure hope so.” I said as I looked onward. Suddenly, we saw Twilight line up next to me.

Applejack and Dash were in shock. “Twilight? What in tarnation are you doin' up here?”

Twilight smiled. “I'm racing.”

Rainbow just laughed at her. “Good one, Twilight.”

Twilight replied with a firm voice. “I'm not joking.”

Rainbow was in disbelief. “What? You're not an athlete, you're a... well... you're an egghead.”

Twilight glared at Rainbow, hurt. “I am not an egghead, I am well-read.” She said as she held her head high confidently.

Rainbow whispered to AJ. “Egghead.”

Applejack snickered. “But have you ever run a race?”

Twilight shook her head. “Well, no, but I do know a lot about running.”

Rainbow laughed. “And you know this from...”

Twilight smiled again. “Books. I've read several on the subject.”

Rainbow and AJ were about to die laughing. “What'd you read, "The Egghead's Guide to Running"? Did you stretch out your eye muscles to warm up? Get it? Eye muscles.”

Finally, I snapped. I was sick and tired of them dissing on Twilight like that. I turned to face them and snarled. “OH FOR PONY'S SAKES! Can you two PLEASE, for the love of Celestia leave Twilight alone! Yes, Twilight is not as athletic as you two are, yes she's an egghead, but look at me! I'm not an athlete, yet I'm racing and you're not making fun of me! I'm probably an even bigger egghead than her. And if she's an egghead, at least she's a darned cute one!” I gasped as I said that last bit and held my hooves over my mouth, not believing what the hay I just said. The girls were just as confused and Twilight was blushing insane red.

Sheepishly, I stared forward. “G...good luck, everypony...” I said awkwardly. None of them replied and just stared forward also.

Pinkie Pie then spoke up. “All right, ponies, are you ready?” We all got into our starting positions, except Twilight, who remained standing upright, relaxedly so.

“Get set.” Spike said. Me, Dash and AJ narrowed our eyes in concentration. Time slowed down while waiting for them to say go. My heart beat faster, and faster, and faster. My eyebrow twitched with anticipation. Finally, the bell rung, and it all kicked off. Hooves stomped upon the ground, dust started getting kicked up. I ran, full of determination.

In no time, the starting line was a distant memory. I ran as fast as I could, surprisingly keeping up with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I shouted as I ran.

“HEY, YOU TWO, can you try to make this a challenge?!” I don't know why I felt like trash talking, I just let those words slip from my between my lips. I heard Applejack chuckled as she ran.

“Save yer energy ya mudslinger, you'll need it!” She said as she caught up to Dash, leaving me in tow in second place. Or was it third? Eh, oh well. Anyway, we paced by a grove of trees, and to my amazement, our running had a sort of earthquake effect. The leaves fell as we ran by. As I noticed this, I truly realized how abnormal Ponyville is. They had the winter wrap up, and now the running of the leaves. I guess for summer, they freeze the water? I'm not sure.

Suddenly, I felt a pain in my heart. I gasped from pain and abruptly stopped, clenching my chest. I groaned as I felt the pain, it felt like my chest was tightening. Quickly, Twilight came up behind me.

“Jordan? Are you ok? What's wrong?” She asked as she trotted up to me, her eyes were wide with concern, just like her voice. I groaned in pain.

“I...I don't know Twilight! I was running, and all of a sudden my chest tightened and started to hurt. Maybe I over did it?” I said as I massaged my chest with my hoof. Twilight nodded.

“I read in my book on running that it's important to pace yourself. You and I aren't athletes, there's no way we can keep up with the rest of the runners. Our hearts, lungs, our knees, we're just not conditioned for any of it. No matter how much we want to be, we need to train for all that.”

I sighed and nodded, looking around at the forest. The leaves were all beautiful shades of green, pink, orange, red, yellow, so many gorgeous colors. I smiled widely as the colors filled my entire world. I got all misty eyed and gave Twilight a smile.

“Will you walk through the race course with me, Twilight?” She smiled and stood right next to me.

“I would be delighted to. Let's go, if you think you're ready.” I nodded and started to trot with her. We passed oak trees, birch trees, oak trees, all kinds, with their own unique leaves at their bases. It was gorgeous.

As we walked, I breathed in a deep smell of the amazing autumn air. I smelled pinecones, tree sap, and so many others. It was an amazing thing.

Eventually, we were one quarter done with the race, where we saw Applejack and Rainbow. I was confused.

“Huh? Are they super slow, or are we faster than I thought?” I thought out loud. Suddenly, I saw Applejack trip! She rolled forward a few times, and when she got back up she growled.

“I don't believe it!” She said in disbelief as she saw Rainbow Dash sprint away.

Twilight smiled as she looked around. “I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?”

“Not the scenery, Twilight. Rainbow Dash just tripped me.” Twilight said with a glare as she watched Rainbow speed past the horizon.

“Um, AJ? Rainbow never tripped you. We were behind all of you the entire time. You tripped on this rock.” I said as I pointed to the rock behind her, with my hoof.

“What? Oh, hayseed! Now I got a lot of ground to make up to catch Rainbow!” She said as she started to sprint away from us, never even looking behind her.

Twilight and I spoke in unison. “Just be careful!” We both shouted after her. I laughed a bit. “Jinx.” I said as I turned to Twilight, and she giggled.

We kept walking through the forest on the trail, and a few minutes later we saw Rainbow all alone in front of us.

“I don't believe it, Applejack tripped me!” She said with anger in her voice. Twilight then replied.

“Don't you ponies ever look where you're going? You tripped on a stump. See?” She said as she pointed to a stump.

“Oh, I see. A big cheater is what I see.” She said angrily.

“Rainbow, Applejack would never cheat. It was just an accident.” Twilight tried to reason to her.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sure it was. I mean, yeah, I'm sure it was.” She said, her words just dripping with sarcasm.

Twilight gave her the “look”. “Remember, Rainbow, this is just a game.” She preached to the pegasus.

“Yes, but the rules have changed, and two can play at that game.” She said as she sprinted forward to the pack. I sighed and turned to Twilight.

“I think I ought to go with her Twi. I don't want them killing each other. I'll be ok. I promise.” I said as I looked at her. She sighed and nodded.

“Just be careful. I don't want to have to lift you to the medical tent back there.” I nodded at her and began to sprint forward, but this time pacing myself so I didn't overdo it. I went at a nice medium speed. In no time at all, I saw Applejack in front of me.

“Goll darn it! Rainbow did it AGAIN Jordan!” She said as she started to run forward. I followed her.

“Wait, you mean she tripped you for real this time?” I asked as we sprinted.

“Yeah, she absolutely did it on purpose! Stuck her leg out and everything!” Suddenly, we came to a fork in the road. The sign was telling us to go left.

I inspected the area around us. The right led to a clearing, and it looked like the way to go. The left side led deeper into the forest and towards the cliffs. It didn't make sense that we would go that way. I deduced that Rainbow had flipped the sign on us.

“Applejack, wait! Rainbow flipped the signs on us!” I called out to her as she started to head the wrong way. She pulled a 180 and ran towards me.

“How do you figure that sugarcube?” She asked curiously.

“Well, just think. That way leads right into the forest, and that way heads towards the cliffs. See?” Applejack gasped as she looked each direction and smiled.

“Yer a genius, sugarcube! Come on, let's get goin, I got a pegasus to catch!” She said as she sprinted the correct direction. I followed suit, running right behind her.

Eventually, we caught up to the pack, and when we got to Dash, she smirked. “Hey, Applejack!”

Applejack looked over at her. “What is it Rainbow?”

“If you wanna beat me, you better... RUUUN!” Rainbow shouted as she started sprinting ahead. Applejack and I tried to follow suit, me praying I didn't have the chest pains again. I seemed to be in the clear as we got closer to the finish line though!

The girls started to pick up where they left off with their cheating. Pushing each other, tripping each other, etc. I decided to ignore them and press on ahead to the finish. It got closer, and closer, and I could see the checkered flag. But suddenly, I got tangled up by AJ and Dash, who were frontflipping forward!

We all tumbled forward, and landed in a heap maybe a quarter mile to the finish line. We stood up and I glared at the girls.

“Alright, I am done playing moderator, girls. I've been trying so hard to make sure you two don't wind up killing each other, but now I see it's just pointless. Do whatever you're going to do!” I said as I started to sprint with all my might towards the finish. I heard Applejack and Dash causing a ruckus behind me, but I ignored them.

I focused hard, and sped ahead. I got closer, and closer, and closer. Suddenly, I was tripped by somepony. I quickly got up, and I sprinted to the finish line. I looked to my left, then my right. I couldn't tell what place I had finished since the girls had kicked up so much dust, but I finished!

Behind me, the girls got into an argument over who won. Spike stepped in to clarify.

“You tied!” He told them as he and Pinkie landed the hot air balloon. The girls were in shock.

“Tied?!” They said in unison.

Applejack looked at them confused. “For first?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “For last!”

“Last?!” Applejack cried out in horror.

Rainbow was shocked as well. “Then who won?”

Suddenly, Spike came over to me and raised my hoof. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I present to you this year's winner of the running of the leaves, Jordan!” Everypony but Applejack and Rainbow Dash cheered. I looked at Spike with pure shock riddled on my face, my jaw dropped.

“Spike, this isn't a nice thing to joke about. C'mon, tell everypony who really won. Was it Lyra?” But Spike shook his head.

“Jordan, I'm serious! You won by a few furlongs it looked like. Congratulations, here's your trophy!” He said as he handed me said trophy. As I took it in my hooves, I had tears falling from my eyes as I read the plaque on the bottom. It read “Running Of The Leaves Champion”.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were flabbergasted. “You?!” They said in shock. “How's that even possible? You and Twilight ran so slow, and looked at the scenery.” They said.

Twilight walked up to us with a happy smile. “Exactly. We paced ourselves, just like my book said. Then at the end, when all the other ponies were worn out, we sprinted to the finish.” I nodded. I did do all that without even realizing it.

Rainbow was still just shocked. “I don't believe it. Twilight and Jordan beat us.”

Twilight laughed a little. “Well, with all your horsing around, it was quite easy.”

Applejack smiled sheepishly. “You're right, Twilight. Our behavior was just terrible.”

Rainbow nodded. “We weren't very good sports.”

“That's why I decided to run this race after all girls. I knew you two would get too caught up in the competition, and I was worried one or maybe both of you would get injured. Thankfully, neither of you two got too hurt.” I said in relief.

Suddenly, Princess Celestia appeared. “Sounds to me that an important lesson was learned.” She said as she walked to us.

Applejack, Rainbow and I were all shocked. “Princess Celestia?!” We cried out at once, and immediately bowed out of respect.

Applejack then rose to all fours. “W-What are you doin' here?”

Princess Celestia smiled at us. “Fall is one of my favorite seasons, so I came to celebrate the Running of the Leaves.”

Applejack looked down sadly. “I'm sorry you had to see us being such poor sports, Princess.”

Princess Celestia smiled at AJ. “That's all right, Applejack. Anypony can get swept up in the excitement of competition.”

Twilight spoke up. “It's important to remember that the friendship is always more important than the competition.”

Princess Celestia nodded in agreement. “Exactly, Twilight. Now, unfortunately, because the two of you were busy tricking each other instead of shaking down leaves, many of the lovely trees of Equestria are still covered.” The princess waved her hoof at the forest, showing us that most trees indeed still had those beautifully covered leaves on them.

Applejack smiled. “Why, Princess, I bet we can knock those leaves down for you lickety-split. Whaddya say, friend? Wanna go for another run?” She directed at Rainbow, who smiled back.

“I'd love to stretch my legs.” She said as she and Applejack both galloped on the trail back into the forest. I rolled my eyes a bit and smiled.

“This is why I love living here. Yeah, the seven on us can get into some pretty tense arguments. We can get mad, angry, even hateful towards one another sometimes. But in the end, we always end up making up and become stronger friends in the end. I suppose that's one of the most magical parts about friendship, right?” I said as I looked at Twilight and the Princess. Twilight nodded.

“That's something I've been learning too. It seems that no matter what happens, we always stick together, and I'm very grateful for it.”

Celestia then smiled. “Well, this has been fun everypony, but I simply must get back to Canterlot. I have royal duties I simply must attend to. Take care, you two, and be at peace.” The princess then flew back towards Canterlot, me and Twilight waving goodbye to her.

Celestia then called out. “Oh Jordan! Congratulations on your victory, you deserve it. Goodbye!” She said as she flew out of range from us. I smiled and looked down at the trophy.

“This is unbelievable. I can't believe I won. I've never won ANYTHING before, let alone something so physically demanding.” I said with a smile. Twilight laughed.

“I'm going to go home, it's getting late and Spike needs to get to bed soon. See you tomorrow, Jordan.” Twilight walked towards Ponyville with Spike tiredly holding onto her while he was on her back. I smiled a bit and walked in the general direction to my house. When I got to it, I opened the door, and walked to the shelf in the living room. I placed my new trophy on the shelf and took a few steps back to admire it, some happy tears falling from my eyes. I can't believe I won. This is incredible.

After I ate dinner, showered and other necessities, I got in bed with Elise at my feet. “Elise, I can't believe it. I won the race!”

She was surprised and rubbed against my hoof. “I knew you could do it. You're more talented than ya realize.” She said with a tired doze in her voice. I smiled and pet her.

“Go to sleep, you sound tired.” She yawned and took me up on my offer, falling asleep fast. I followed suit, as I looked out the window towards Luna's beautiful moon. The last thing I saw was that beautiful, picturesque full moon. I fell asleep peacefully.

Author's Note

And that was Fall Weather Friends. I honestly don't like this chapter, but it's up to you to decide if you do or not. Next chapter is probably my second favorite ever, Suited For Success. I wrote this chapter basically in ONE NIGHT. It was the most amazing burst of creativity i've ever had to this day. See you there everypony!