The Barcolt

by ThePizzaDeliveryPony

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Original Character
Length: 17934

The road to opening the first bar in Ponyville is as interesting as the pony on the road.

Alex decides he wants to move out of the city and open his own bar, but some unexpected happenings cause his life to change even more than he thought possible. With the development of friends, his life for the first time starts looking up.

First story I wrote. Be nice please. Also, I appreciate any help you can give.

Appreciate you reading, and is rated teen because it deals with a bar, but that is the only reason.

Published 2012-07-09 08:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-14 15:35:11 UTC

Chapter 1

Nopony ever talks to the barcolt…

Nopony ever talks to me…

_-_-_

Alex Firewing. Apparently I had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, I am no such thing. I’m an average earth pony stallion.

With a black fur and a silver mane however, I appear a little strange. Somehow I continue to be ignored. I wasn’t going out of my way to talk to ponies… I guess I do seem a little unsociable.

I didn’t try to make friends, and I don’t plan to start. I need to leave Manehattan, so I guess it is easier when you have no friends. Manehattan has gotten out of control; I hated it here in the first place. Plus some other things are about to happen, and I am not going to be around when they do. I’m going to leave, but I have nowhere to go… oh well… I’ll figure it out later.

This is the first time moving, after moving out of my parent’s house at the young age of sixteen. I rented an apartment, and worked my flank off. I had to quit high school because I needed the money more than the education. I managed to get a job as a barcolt, and I am still working there now. At the age of 20, as of a few days ago, I think I might need a change.

I think I might head to Ponyville. It seems like a nice place for a pony to live, and I don’t think they have a bar. I have enough money saved, and connections, that I could start my own. It’s the only enjoyment in my life, everything else is depressing.

_-_-_

A week later and I am out of my house and on the train to Ponyville. I don’t know if I should be excited or not, I’m either going to hate life or love it. I heard ponies talking at the bar about it; it seems everyone is kind and it is the exact opposite of Manehattan in every way possible.

While I’m on the train, I might as well be productive.

I take out my notebook and begin writing the things I will need, to live in Ponyville and to work there. I will need a bar/house to convert, and a place to live in, preferably above the bar... I will need a place to work in the mean time... I will need some help building the bar...

As I write the last thought, I look out the window and notice Ponyville coming into view. I find it interesting how small it is compared to Manehattan, but I will leave those thoughts for later.

The train pulls into the station, and I am suddenly made aware of how hungry I am by my stomach growling. I get off the train and start to head into town. There is a large pink building with ponies sitting outside eating, so I enter and am welcomed by a blue mare with pink hair, who says “Hello dear, welcome to Sugarcube Corner. What can I help you with today?”

As I walk up to the register I look in the glass case and find they have some nice chocolate cupcakes that look appetizing. I ask for a few and she gives me six. I pay and thank her, thinking how cheap they were, and how lucky I was. I walked to the door and opened it to leave and there was a bouncing pink mare standing on the outside. I stop and move to let her through, however she gasps and starts talking faster than I can think.

“OHMYGOSH! Are you new here?! I don’t know you! I’ve never seen you before! You must be new here! And I haven’t thrown you a party yet! OHNO! This is bad! I have to get started on the party right away! You will come right?! Well it’s your party so of course you’ll come! I got to invite everypony! And it’s already lunch time! I better hurry! See you later Mr. Nodding Pony!”

And she was gone. All I could do while getting talked at was nod my head and hope that agreeing was the right thing to do.

I turned back to the store clerk, because I remembered I had a list of things to do. I walk back to the register to the mare that has a puzzled expression on her face. She looks at me and I ask, “Is there anywhere to work for a short while around this town, and I also need to talk to somepony about a house and a shop or store to buy.”

She becomes even more puzzled by this. “Aren’t you going to ask about Pinkie Pie? She just yelled at you and you are going to brush it off like it never happened?”

“No,” I say. “I am not really worried about it she seems nice, with a heart in the right place. I have had to deal with energetic ponies before, but they were a little more violent. I have to wonder what the party is about though.”

She smiles and looks at me approvingly. “She throws a party for everyone dear, don’t worry about it. I can help you with your other questions though. Town hall is where you should go for housing or any other building renting or buying. You should check with Applejack in sweet apple acres for a job. They could always use help on the farm, even if it is only for a while.”

“Thanks for all your help,” I tell her. I turn to leave and remember, “Is there a hotel I could stay in for a while here?” I turn around to look at her, and I see her face, wide eyed and looking at my flank, where my cutie mark is. She looks back up at my face and her smile has turned into a frown.

She says, “Sorry, but I don’t know of one in this town.” With that she turned and went back into the kitchen; and left me to make my own way outside.

This wasn’t the first time I have ever gotten that reaction. I used to get it in school a lot, and still come across somepony who thinks this way every so often. I just continue on my way through town like it didn’t happen. I think of where I need to go, and town hall is right across the road so I start to head there.

Because of my decent wage and few needs, I was able to accrue a fair sum of money. I also got a lot from my mom’s death. I didn’t know she had life insurance until I got the check in the mail… actually I didn’t even know she was dead. The inheritance is the best thing my parents ever gave me, other than my cutie mark… but I don’t like talking about that…

I walk through the door into town hall and see a mare behind a desk in the room by herself. As I walk in, she looks up and smiles. She says “Welcome to Ponyville town hall, I’m Mayor Mare and I hope I can help you with whatever you need.”

I look at her with a hopeful smile and say, “I’m new in town; first day actually. My name is Alex Firewing. I am moving here from Manehattan and I was a barcolt there. I was hoping to open the first, and only bar here. I came to you to hopefully buy a shop with an apartment above it. Could you help with that? Oh, and also I need the residency forms for Ponyville while I’m here.” I continue to smile as she turns to look at a map hanging on the wall.

She starts to talk while looking at the map. “Oh, I’m glad you chose to move here. We don’t have a bar, but I think it would be a good thing to have. It will hopefully boost our economy, and maybe make the other residence a little happier. I will have to work with you on the specifics, such as rules, operating hours, and crime control. As for a building I think I have the perfect one. It is for sale though, and not rent, and some renovations will be needed to suit your purposes. But, before we get into that, let’s go take a look shall we?”

“Yes of course” is all I say as we head out the door. As we walk down the street she talks about Ponyville and the ponies that live there. We arrive in front of a building that sits low into the ground. There are stairs down to the front entrance and as we clime down I realize that the building has two floors. When I point this out she tells me the second is an apartment for the owner of the shop, as most shops are in Ponyville.

We enter the building after she opens it using a key she brought with her. It is huge inside, three times bigger than any normal bar. I immediately imagine the possibilities and what I could do with the place. We take a walk up to the second floor and it has several rooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen all in great condition. The shop needs work but it will do. As we walk back to the town hall it is my turn to talk.

I however start asking questions. “What does it cost to live here and for power and water and everything?”

“Oh that’s near nothing, and I would not worry about it. However I do need to tell you the store will cost a bit. It is around one hundred and fifty thousand bits.”

I turned to her with a surprised look on my face. She looks at me and asks, “is it too much, I’m willing to work with you if you can’t afford it right now.”

I look at her with a stunned look. “No it isn’t too expensive; it’s cheaper than I thought it would be. In Manehattan it would have cost twice that. I have twice that saved, so I should be able to have some to get me on my feet. I thought I would be spending it all on the building and then working somewhere to get it into operation.”

She looked at me with a look of surprise on her face but I just ignore it.

When we got back to the town hall I start signing all the paperwork I need to sign to be a resident and to get the store... now my store. She tells me that I can’t move in right away and I will need to wait a day to process the paperwork and finalize it. She says to come back tomorrow to get the key and then it will be all mine, and she would talk to me later about the operation of the bar it’s self.

With that done I ask about a hotel and she points just down the street. She tells me it is the only one in town. Trying to be the nice pony, I don’t mention the mare in Sugarcube Corner, and leave that alone.

I leave town hall and the sun is just beginning to recede into the ground. I enter the hotel and notice the mare form Sugarcube Corner standing at the counter talking to a mare I had never met before; a brown mare, nothing special. The one from Sugarcube Corner drops her gaze as I trot in and seems in a hurry to leave. I let her go and walk up to the counter. I look at the mare that has a disgusted look on her face and ask her for a room. She simply continues to stare.

“Can I please rent a room for the night?” I ask a little more forcefully.

She shakes her head and says in a disgusted tone, “Sorry but there is no rooms open, they have all been rented. There is a nice dumpster out back, though. I could book you for … one hundred bits a night, sounds about right.”

I look at her, now pissed. I reach into my saddle bag and pull out the bag of bits, sit down right in front of the counter. I then began pulling out bits and placing them on the ground. I count out loud a hundred bits and look up to her leaning over the counter, now with a stunned look on her face.

I look back down at the pile of bits on the floor and say to her, in a very plane tone, “the service doesn’t seem too good, I think I’ll leave the dumpster for you to sleep in.” I then begin putting them back into the bag, which is then placed into my pack, and I leave the hotel.

I don’t mind when ponies dislike me because of the mark on my flank, but I HATE it when they are cruel about it. I guess I can understand it; the ponies from Ponyville don’t want an alcoholic moving to their town, but I wish they wouldn’t judge me so soon.

And I wish it didn’t look like it was going to rain…

Now I have nowhere to stay for the night… I wonder if there is a nice tree around here to sleep under.

As I walk through the town I see a large tree to the side, and as I get closer it turns into some kind of building. All the lights are off, but I don’t care. I am not going in, and I don’t think they will care if I’m outside. So I move to the side of the tree, where I am hidden from the view of Ponyville, and also not near any windows.

I lie down and pull off my bag. I pull out a jacket to use as a blanket, and lay my head down on the sack to use like a pillow. I am no stranger to sleeping outside, I have done it before. That doesn’t mean that I like it. As I shut my eyes, rain begins to fall all around me but the tree keeps me covered.

It’s been a long time since I slept outside like this, and all I can think of is how bad an ending this is to such a good day.
_-_-_

Chapter 2

Nopony cares about the homeless pony on the side of the road…

Nopony cares about me…

Alex Firewing. Apparently I had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, I am no such thing. I’m an average earth pony, stallion.

With a black fur and a silver mane however, I appear a little strange. Somehow I continue to be ignored. I wasn’t going out of my way to attract ponies passing by… I guess I do seem a little helpless.

… That’s how it was in Manehattan. I guess Ponyville really is different.

_-_-_

“Is he asleep?” one voice says.

“’Corse he is. Why else would’e have ‘is eyes closed, and be layin’ like tha’?” said another voice.

“Well he could be dead!” says the first.

“Girls, be quiet we don’t want to… what’s wrong Pinkie?” says a third voice.

There is no response.

A very quiet voice is first to speak after the quiet. She says, “sh-should we wake him up?”returning to their previous conversation.

A new voice chimes in at this. “Hold on dear, I’m worried about Pinkie Pie. One problem at a time. Now, what is wrong Pinkie? Is this about the party from last night? Don’t dwell on it dear, I’m sure he just left town on another train, and only stopped for a rest.”

Another voice chimes in, very quiet and depressed sounding, yet still familiar. I realize it is the mare from the bakery, who yelled at me. “Yes, it’s about that. No, he didn’t leave town, because he is sleeping right there. It was a good party, but it was for him. Him not coming to his own party is … sad.”

It’s quiet again. I lay there with my eyes closed wondering what to do. I know they are all looking at me.

I do the first thing that comes to mind. Before I open my eyes I say “That was really rude of me, but you never told me where to go for the party, or when it was.” With that I raised myself from my current position and stretched. I thought about how uncharacteristically brave I was being. Realizing this, I quickly sat down and opened my eyes.

Looking around me I see five mares looking straight at me, and one quivering behind one of the others. I turn to look at the first. She was a light blue Pegasus who had a rainbow mane. The next was an orange pony. She had a blond mane and three apples as a cutie mark. The third was a lavender mare with a dark blue mane, with streaks of lavender and pink. The next was a white mare with a purple mane, which was styled to perfection. There was a yellow flank, with butterflies for a cutie mark and a pink tail, sticking out from behind the white mare. The last was the pink mare I had already met.

When I looked at all of them, they were all utterly stunning. They were all beautiful. The pink one wasn’t currently, because she looked so depressed, but with a smile, she would fit with the rest perfectly.

All of this done in a few seconds, the shock had worn off and now they looked confused. The lavender mare was the first to speak.

“You were awake?” she asks.

I start to laugh… and they all give me a surprised look again. As I stop laughing I answer. “Yup, I was awake the whole time. But that was the only question you could think of!…sorry.” They were all now giving me looks of slight annoyance. I realized I look like a jerk for saying what I just said.

The mare speaks again with a hint of anger in her voice. “Okay, so why were you sleeping outside, next to my house?”

This one I answer honestly. “The mare at the hotel wouldn’t give me a room, and I couldn’t move into my house until today. So I slept outside, and apparently I slept well. What time is it?”

The lavender mare tells me, a little calmer, “It’s nine in the morning. Me and my friends were heading to the hill there to have a picnic breakfast. We were on our way when we found you.”

“Oh,” I say, and turn to the pink mare. “Sorry I missed the party last night; I had a lot to do yesterday. Then I was so tired, I fell asleep just after the rain started. I would be happy to go to one sometime, but not for a few days, I have a lot I need to do.”

The pink mare instantly brightens, as if the problem never happened. “OKAY I can wait. Sorry for not telling you where or when the first was, but I’ll TOTALLY throw you another whenever, wherever you want.”

As I turn back to the others, the lavender mare speaks up again. “Would you like to join us for breakfast and I do have a couple extra things packed if you would like some.” My stomach growls at the thought of food. “I’ll take that as a yes. You can tell us about yourself over the meal.”

I nod and stand, putting my coat back into my bag and turn to see all the girls staring at my flank. I blush, and then realize that they are looking at my cutie mark. My face flushes as I try to turn away. Worried they would make the same assumptions most other ponies do, try to hide it with my bags. Combined with the fact that I was sleeping outside, I was worried they would draw an assumption others drew, but with more reason.

As I cover the mark they look at me, now apprehensively. I try to head them off. “Look… it’s not what you think. I slept outside because I have nowhere to stay, and my cutie mark represents my talent as a barcolt… I’ll explain over breakfast if you’ll let me.”

The violet mare nods, still with a worried look, and begins to walk to the hill. The rest of her friends follow. I lag behind, trying to think of what to say and where to begin.

_-_-_

We had been at the hill for a few minutes, all silently eating. I was being stared at while trying to think of where to begin.

Might as well start with the basics…

“My name is Alex Firewing. Stupid name for a earth pony, but it fit somepony in my family at some point.”

I sigh, and then continue. “I am a barcolt, as I explained before. I am not going to tell you how I got my cutie mark. This cutie mark has gotten me in more trouble than you would ever know. Ponies judge me before they know me, and I ignore it. Unfortunately, the mark caused a lot of problems last night. The mare from the bakery had made the wrong assumption and had told the mare at the hotel. She said she had no rooms available, but that I could take the dumpster for a hundred bits. HEH… you should have seen the look on her face when I pulled out my bag of money and counted out the bits she asked for, packed them up again, and walked out. It was funny how she looked at me with her jaw to the floor.

“Anyway, my talent is bartending. Well more than that… I can judge a pony’s age at a glance…sorry. I can guess exactly what kind of drink you would like, even if I never made it before, and then I can make it for you.

“I came to Ponyville to start my own bar and hopefully change my life a little. It wasn’t because I got kicked out of the old place I lived in, which was Manehattan by the way.

“Most importantly I am not an alcoholic… I don’t even like to drink. It’s kind of ironic…heh. This stupid cutie mark could have taken any form it wanted but it shows up as a silver hart made out of vodka bottles and a silver shot glass right in the middle. But I love being a barcolt, so I live with it and am proud of it.”

I look up from staring at my hooves and notice all the mares are looking at me with a look of wonder in their eyes. I simply shrug and begin eating again. Hoping I told them everything important.

The first to speak is the blue mare with rainbow hair. “So you don’t even like alcohol, yet you’re a barcolt. That’s HILARIOUS!” Then she bursts out laughing. I smile while she laughs.

The next to speak is the lavender mare. “Sorry I was quick to judge you. I mean you seem to be a perfectly fine pony. Sorry for what happened with the hotel, but I guess that is all in the past. What matters now is that we seem to all like you, right girls?” They all nod in agreement with smiling faces. The mare then says, “Oh well we know about you but we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Twilight Sparkle, apprentice to Princess Celestia, and librarian of Ponyville. I am a fair magician, and me and my friend make up the Elements of Harmony. Also, please just call me Twilight.

The blue mare is done laughing and turns to me with a grin. “I am the Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, but you can just call me Rainbow or Dash like everyone else.”

The orange mare was the next to speak up. “Ah’m Applejack, or AJ. Ah work on th’ apple farm here in Ponyville. Ah would be willin’ ta give ya a job ‘till yall get settled if ya want.”

I look to her and smile. “Actually, you were one of my stops today. I was going to ask for a job, and also I need some help setting up my bar. I already bought the building. Do you think you could help me at all?”

“Ah would say that’d be a fair trade. I would be glad to help, and I’ll git mah family to help yall too.”

“Thanks,” I say, and then turn to the next pony in line, the yellow mare. She is avoiding eye contact, trying to mumble out her name…

The white mare speaks up. “This is fluttershy. She takes care of the animals, and is VERY shy. I am Rarity, a fashion designer. I would love to help decorate your bar if you would let me.”

“I would love you to, and also if anypony could help with the design of the building…”

Twilight spoke up, “Oh, Rarity and I could probably help.” I nod and turn to the last… bouncing… pink… mare?

“My name is Pinkie Pie, the party pony of Ponyville. OHMYGOSH! That is SOOOO fun to say. Pinkie party pony of Ponyville. Pinkie party pony of Ponyville. Pinkie party pony of Ponyville. Pinkie par-mmph mmmmph mmmmmmmph.”

There is now an orange hoof in her mouth. I turn to see Applejack smiling at me. She says, “She won’t quit ‘till somepony makes her…” At this I laugh.

I realize that I have just made five friends, and they are MARES. I could barely talk to them before, and now… I have FRIENDS. I start smiling awkwardly.

_-_-_

I feel like hours went by. Talking, listing, and eating with the girls. I realize it is around midday, and I tell them I need to leave to go get the key to my house.

I get up to leave, and so does everyone else. I must have had a confused look on their face, because Twilight speaks up. “We’re coming with you. We don’t want anypony harassing you, plus I need to know what the bar looks like to start planning.

“Okay. Let’s go to the mayor’s office, and then maybe find some food. I’m hungry again…” It was true. We must have spent hours outside, talking.

In no time we are packed and already moving towards the town hall. Pinkie offers to get food while I get the key and I happily agree, not wanting to deal with the store mare again.

Once more, I enter town hall and the Mayor looks up. She smiles as she sees me. I greet her and she starts going over my paperwork. “You are now an official pony of Ponyville,” she says. “All the paperwork is done, and here are the keys to your bar. Before you open, please come visit me here. Otherwise I’ll see you later, have a good day, and welcome to Ponyville.”

“Thank you for all your help.” I leave the building to find six ponies waiting outside. Twilight looks at me expectantly and I laugh. She frowns as I explain, “I don’t know where I live!” I smile and hand her a paper that says where my house is located.

As I am led to my own house, I observe the area and ponies. I notice again how colorful Ponyville is compared to the grey buildings of Manehattan.

We reach my new home, and I look around for a land mark… and realize I am right across from Sugarcube Corner. I don’t know if this is good… oh well.

When we arrive I unlock the door and enter. I am again amazed by the size of the first floor. I turn to Twilight who is looking the store over and say, “I would like to build the bar over there and maybe even put in a stage for shows if I hosted one.” I then turn around to pinkie. “You could also sometimes have parties here if you wanted.” I was thinking out loud. I need to change that habit, because it got me tackled.

After making my way out of the hug, I head up stairs and enter the four doors in the hall. One is a huge bedroom with its own private bathroom. One is a small kitchen, one is another bathroom, and the next is to a second hallway. Down that hallway is another four doors. All are small private rooms, to be used for whatever. I automatically assign a second bedroom, and a living area. But the other two rooms I’m not sure about.

I return down stairs thinking of the things I need to buy for my apartment. I find all six mares sitting on the floor, talking
and eating. I sit down and start eating; I notice that they are planning how to build my bar. I say in a sarcastic tone, “I’m glad you are willing to help, but don’t go and make my bar too girly.”

I smile at them as they all frown. All except for dash, who laughs and says, “You sound just like spike! But don’t worry man; I won’t let them get out of control.”

“Yes, she is a Tomcolt after all!” says Rarity in a disgusted tone. Dash stares at her angrily.

“Girls quiet down! I can’t concentrate,” yell Twilight. Immediately the room is quiet. “How much are you willing to spend to get the bar up and running?” Twilight looks to me.

“Well I have a house and shop, already paid for. I have one hundred and fifty thousand bits left, and then I’m flat broke. I would take out fifty thousand for getting my apartment up and running and for getting alcohol and other essentials to the bar, delivered. After that I want twenty thousand for emergency. So whatever is left is what I will use for the bar.” All six Mares are looking at me like I’m crazy. “What,” I ask. “Did I say something stupid?”

They continue to stare until Applejack speaks up. “Where did yall get all that money?”

“Oh. My mom is dead and she left me everything. I got a lot, needless to say. It’s the only good thing she ever did for me.”

They all look at me and were speechless. I wasn’t surprised; I mean, I just insulted my own mother. Me being happy about my mother’s death but I have my reasons.

“Just don’t worry about it. I have enough money and that’s all that matters.” They all slowly nod, still unsure of how to respond.

A quick change of subject. “I need a couch, bed, and all essentials for a new house. Starting fresh, I need everything. Could you all tell me where to find that?”

They all look at me and nod more happily this time. Okay. This is gonna be easy….wait…why are they helping me… should I be pushing this stuff on to them? “It’s no problem. It’s just how Ponyville ponies are. We are all awesome and helpful and stuff…” Dash stops talking as she realizes everyone is looking at her. “What?”

“What are you talking about, dear?” Rarity asks.

“She… read my mind. How did she do that?” Now to Dash, “how did you do that?”

“If somepony watches somepony for long enough, they can pick up on what they are thinking.” My face turns red, but is hidden by my coat color. She must have read me like she was saying, because a few seconds later, she was blushing as well. As we sat there staring at each other, there is a small cough, probably from AJ. Dash and I both look away instantly.

“Okay…let’s get to it. Come on everypony. Let’s go buy some stuff,” says Twilight.

_-_-_

For the rest of the day we shopped. We bought EVERYTHING. For my house that is. It cost about twenty thousand. Still, it was cheaper than it would have been in Manehattan. With seven ponies, everything got put away fast.

After everything was put away, I made dinner in my small kitchen and headed to the living room. All seven of us ate and then talked. We talked about everything, but eventually I ask the question that had been on my mind since this morning.

“Why?”

They all look at me quizzically, except for Pinkie who was distracted by… I don’t really know what.

“I mean, why help me? In Manehattan, a pony sleeping on the street would be robbed of everything. You all helped me move into my house, without any hesitation, and have asked for nothing in return. I have asked so much, and done so little.” I look at them all smiling at me.

“You’re in Ponyville, not Manehattan. That should explain everything. Ponyville ponies are cool like that, and us more than some. We may be a little too nice, but hey it’s more fun this way. We’re friends, and friends do that kind of stuff,” Dash says.

I smile as they all nod. “Well I’m glad the first friends I ever had are you ponies.” They all smile back when I say that.

I agree to go to Applejack’s farm tomorrow, and also to visit Twilight once I’m done to work on the bar planning.

It was sad to see them leave, but they have lives to get back to. They took a whole day out for me and that’s more than I can ask of anypony.

_-_-_

Maybe somepony will stop for the homeless stallion on the side of the street. In Ponyville they do. It’s nice that ponies care, I didn’t think any did.

Somepony, six mares, stopped for me, the homeless stallion on the side of the road.

My life might be getting better…

Chapter 3

Someponies assume things that should not be assumed.

Someponies judge me before they get to know me…

Alex Firewing. Apparently I had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, I am no such thing. I’m an average earth pony, stallion.

With a black fur and a silver mane however, I appear a little strange. Somehow I continue to be disliked. I wasn’t going out of my way to make enemies of ponies… I guess my cutie mark does affect how ponies look at me.

… At least I have friends who will help.

_-_-_

I wake up for the first time in my house…weird. At first, I though 'where am I', but then I realized 'that’s right I moved to Ponyville.'

Now that I knew where I was, I needed a plan. I need to start my day. I had breakfast, and then remembered I have to work at Sweet Apple Acres today. I look at the clock, and it is only eight. But I leave for the farm anyway. I think I might be late.

I get to the farm, and…I’m late. Aj isn’t mad because she didn’t tell me when to be here, but tomorrow she wants me there by sunrise. Simple enough.

She gets me straight to work. Thank Celestia for high endurance in earth ponies. I bucked apples until lunch, where I had a half hour for lunch. I got back to bucking… heheh

I also am developing a bruise on my for head because of the many face-hoofs I have done today. I face-hoof any time I laugh at … bucking…hahhahaha… thump … ow.

_-_-_

I didn’t quit until AJ said so. It was around three, so I went to the library. I was expecting organized, what I got was… everything I was not expecting. It was a mess.

A baby dragon answered the door and introduced himself as spike. I was so amazed by the baby dragon; I tripped over a book and fell on my face. Spike himself reminded me of a pony I once knew, but I don’t talk about that pony.

Twilight herself was sitting at a table deep in a book, and sporadically scribbling on a piece of paper with magic. When I got to the table, she looked at me, but she didn’t focus on me. When she finally did, she smiled and motioned for me to sit, moving books off a chair magically as I she did.

“Let’s get straight to it if you don’t mind. What do you want in the bar?” she asked.

“Well I really want a large stage. Need a back stage to go with it. I need the bar, probably opposite the stage, also with a storage area, or a room behind it. The tables and stuff off to the sides. And… I think that’s it; feels like there should be more.”

“Okay, well that’s what I have. Here,” she says as she passes me a piece of paper. On it is a rough sketch of what I just described. I look to her questioningly. She seems to understand because she simply says “great minds.” I just nod, and return to the sketch. She has even marked out lights, stage equipment, and individual tables. I am impressed, everything is exactly the way I wanted it.

“I want some colorful, stage lights and stuff for light shows.” She nods and begins scribbling again. “are we done? Is that it? That was easy!”

Twilight glares at me, “I spent all morning on it.”

“Uh…THANKYOUVERYMUCHFORALLYOURHELP!”

She smiles at me. “You sound like Pinkie Pie.”

…Dear Celestia, that’s not good.

“Okay, if that’s all, do you want to get Applejack and meet me at the bar? And ask for Big Mac to come too!” I nod and thank her several more times. I leave and set off towards the farm.

_-_-_

As I walk through town I notice several ponies looking at me in disgust. I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring the annoying ponies. Today, however, I was in good spirits, until somepony walked up to me and pushed.

I looked at him, and sighed. I didn’t want a fight, and I didn’t want a fight with this big white stallion. I tried to just brush it off and leave. When I did he stepped in front of me and pushed me back. Now I was getting pissed; he would be getting a black eye, if only I didn’t already have everyone in town hating me.

What I did next just made him angrier. I turned around and went the other direction. This time he pushed me harder, and that is when the anger broke out. I bucked him, which after a day of bucking, I can do pretty well. Undeterred, he came full force, until something blue hit him, and he disappeared. In his place was a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane. I looked to a nearby tree that was making a lot of noise, and out of the canopy fell a white pony.

I look back to Dash and start to trot along my path again, with a smile on my face. She came with me and like nothing ever happened asks “so … what cha up to?”

I laugh, “goin to get applejack and back to the bar, Twilight’s got a plan made for it.” I say this in a very excited and happy tone. She drops her smile for a second and hope I don’t notice, and I don’t say anything even though I did.

“Mind if I tag along, I don’t have anything to do and I don’t want to sleep or practice.” Dash not wanting to practice? Would never happen…unless something’s wrong.

“What’s wrong Rainbow, this isn’t like you.”

“Nothing, just want to do something productive.”

I stop, turn, and look straight at her. “No, something’s wrong. Tell. Me.” I never really looked at her until then. I had always avoided looking at her because I thought she was cute. Now that I really look at her, I don’t want to stop. I can feel my face heating up.

She stops and turns to me. “Why do they all have to be so mean and judge you before they know you? If they took the time they would find out your cool. Ponies judge me too; think I’m a fillyfooler because of my mane.”

“That’s just how some ponies are, and you can’t do anything to fix it. When they confront me, that’s different.” I smile to her, “Besides, you and all your friends are nice to me and that’s all that matters. Not everypony in town judges me, and I’m sure not everypony thinks you’re a fillyfooler.”

“What about the bar, you’ll have no customers”

“I’ll have at least six!”

“WE don’t count!” she says angrily.

“It will all work its self out.”

“You should talk to Pinkie, she might have some ideas on how to get the town to like you,” she says ignoring my last statement.

“Okay, get her and meet me at the bar. And get Fluttershy while you’re at it, might as well have all six there.”I turn to leave before remembering, “Oh yeah, thanks for helping me with that stallion earlier.”

I leave without hearing her response, egger to get everyone together. Today might still be great.

_-_-_

I’m randomly wandering through the apple orchard, trying to find Applejack. I’m not looking where I’m going and run into a tree. All the apples fall to the ground. Great now I have to pick these up, and I have no basket. I go back to the barn, and there she is. Great! Now I can get yelled at!

“Hi Aj. I came to get you and bring you and Mac to the bar. Now I have to clean some apples up though. You go ahead without me, and I’ll meet up with you all there later.” I said this while she was stacking crates of apples.

She turned to me with a confused look on her face. “Apples?”

“Yea, I need to clean some up. I did something embarrassing, and now I need to go fix my mistake.” Try not to look like an idiot in front of your boss!

“Okay, put them apples you spilled into this crate and stack it up top once you’re done, and ‘member to watch where you’re going!”

“How… but… okay.” And I grab a basket and cart, and head into the orchard. I could hear her laughing out to the tree line, as I mumbled in frustration. How did she know?

_-_-_

You know…the people here are not bad, it’s just a misunderstanding. I was walking to the bar from the orchard after cleaning up the apples, thinking about my new home. I reached the door and noticed all the lights off in my bar.

I open the door, and almost shit myself when there is a thundering “surprise!” yelled at me. When I regain the ability to think, I look around and realize most of the ponies from town are in my bar.

A pink pony suddenly appears in front of me. And suddenly I am being told about how funny I looked when I was surprised. I also learn about how and why there is a party in my house. Also that everypony now accepts me into the town and apologizes for the way they acted. The pink party pony also told me all of this in one breath. And again my neck hurt from nodding the whole time.

I looked around again and noticed that everyone was talking to one another, and I realized this was how it was supposed to be. I found my new six friends and went to talk to them.

“Hi guys, what’s up” is all I can say before I am bombarded with questions from other ponies about who I am, where I’m from, and all kinds of other stuff. They all smile and wave as I am carried away with the crowd.

A few hours into the party, there were fewer ponies asking me questions and not as many ponies around in general. I was able to get back to my group and talk to them. I found them talking about my bar.

“…so it’s decided. Tomorrow we start work on the bar!” says Twilight. Wait… shouldn’t I have some say in this? Oh well, at least their helping me.

“Well if that’s the case, I better get home and try to finish my project so I have time tomorrow. Lovely party Pinkie, and Alex? Do be careful.” What?

“Ah also need to be goin. Ah’m a farmer, and we go tuh bed early. C’mon Mac, lets git home”

Applejack was followed by the big red pony to the door. She turned around just before leaving, looked at me smiling, and said “Have fun.” With that, two were gone.

“I need to study and complete the checklists for tomorrow. I am going to go too. C’mon Spike.”

“But Twilight, I wanted to-“

“No, lets go!” and with a huff the small dragon followed Twilight through the door.

I noticed a lot of ponies were leaving. I saw Pinkie disappearing and reappearing around the room and in front of those who were leaving. She was being a good host.

Something touched me on the shoulder and when I turned around to look, there was a squeek and a yellow and pink thing quivering in front of me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Fluttershy, do you need help getting home?”

Her main shook from side to side. I guessed that was a no, and with that I sent her off.

Again fewer ponies were there, and the pink pony was slowly walking up to me. She looked up at me, with her hair deflated. “Sorry, I know you wanted a party later, but I thought you needed to be introduced to the town. I’m sorry that I threw one without permission.”

I laughed and she looked confused, but her hair regained some bounce. “This was perfect.” Poof! “I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction. Thank you Pinkie.”

She began to talk endlessly about how she was happy I was happy and blah, blah, blah. I stopped her.

“Hey Pinkie, I want you to throw the grand opening party for the bar.”

She smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen. “OHMYGOSH. That will be so fun, and I have sooooooo many super-dooper-looper ideas. I have to start planning now. This is going to be amazing!”

With that she was gone, and I assume from the building.

I finally turn to the last friend present at the party. The blue Pegasus is sitting on the floor a cup between her hooves. I
am a bartender and I can recognize when a pony has had too many, and dash has had way too many.

I move up to her and her face brightens as she realizes the shadow that now covers her is me. “Why are you drunk?”I asked the smashed pony.

“There you go worryin ‘bout me again…hic. Why you worry ‘bout me? You like me or shomthin…hic”

Her eyes try to focus on me but she fails. “Come on, Dash. I’m not letting you go home in your condition.”

“HA…hic… sho ya dose like me. Well thatsh not okay because I don’t like you.” There was what could be considered an evil laugh. But then she got a bit serious, “I lied. I like you a lot.” Then she started laughing again.

I didn’t know how to react to this so I ignored it. I took her upstairs and put her in my room. And when she lay down on my bed she lost all consciousness. I looked at her sleeping and thought she was absolutely beautiful. One thought led to another but it all came full circle to a realization that I really have feelings for Dash.

But was she serious earlier? If she was, then what? I’ll have to find out in the morning.

I went down the hall to a spare bedroom laid down and was out like a light. After a day of partying, apple bucking, and contemplating my feelings for Dash, it is not surprising.

Chapter 4

Nopony loves the barcolt.

Nopony loves me…

Alex Firewing. Apparently I had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, I am no such thing. I’m an average earth pony, stallion.

With a black fur and a silver mane however, I appear a little strange. At least I’m no longer disliked and ignored. I wasn’t going out of my way to fall in love… the problem is I don’t know if she likes me.

… At least we’re friends.

_-_-_

“NO! STOP! DON’T TAKE HIM! HE ISN’T DEAD, HE CAN’T BE DEAD!” My mother screamed as the chariot is pulled away, a dark blue tail hanging out the back.

He was gone. He was gone before they took him. I knew he had problems at school, but he always had a smile. I just wish he hadn’t done that. The most irreversible thing anypony could ever do.

Dangling there when she walked through the door, traumatizing her. She would never be the same. Nor would he.

BANG! I look around for the source. BANG! BANG! Houses are on fire around me. Ponies are running. BANG! The house next to me and mom blows up. Mom doesn’t notice. I run, trying to get to our house before…

BANG!

_-_-_

I sit straight up in bed. A cold sweat all over my body. I look around and remember I’m in the guest room. I get out of bed, trying to shake the sense of dread that comes with that dream.

BANG!

Oh, they’re at work early. I walk down to the bar, and find all my friends, Big Mac, and three fillies in my bar… HEY there’s a bar!

I walk up to Twilight. “Hello sleepy head! We got started without you. I hope you don’t mind.”

I didn’t mind at all but the more important thing was, “what time is it?”

“Near midday.”

That sucks. “Well, okay. I have some stuff I need to do. Can you take care of everything here? I trust you with it.”

“Yea, I think I’ll do fine. It’s already been half a day,” she said then giggled.

“Do you need any bits; I’ll leave you some if you need them. I’ll be gone for two days, so I think you might need them for stuff.”

She looks at me confused. “where are you going,” she asked accusingly.

“What do you need for a bar?”

“…A building?” I laugh at her and she gets a little more confused.

“No, think most essential.”

”Alcohol?”

I nod my head, “My suitcase wasn’t big enough, so I need to get some from… probably Manehattan, since Canterlot is
liquor free.”

“Okay, well we will have the bar done when you get back.”

“Cool. I’ll be back down in a few minutes; I need to go get my stuff together.” I went up to my room, to the safe in my closet. Dash was still asleep on my bed.

I tried to be quiet, but it didn’t work. She woke up, and started mumbling about a headache. If I had the bar stocked, I could give her something, but I didn’t, so I couldn’t.

I finally got the bag out as she was getting out of bed. When her feet hit the ground her eyes shot open. She started looking around until her eyes met mine.

It took her a second before drawing the wrong conclusion; however I was confused by it. She mumbled something so she thought I couldn’t hear. “So it worked?”

“Hey Dash, you want to come with me to Manehattan?” I ask her, because I need to talk to her about… stuff. She nods.

I pack a bag and she follows as I head down stairs. Everyponies’ looking at us when we get to the bottom. Being the stallion that always gets weird looks, I just ignore them. I walk up to Twilight who is stifling a giggle. “How much do you think you will need?”I ask her.

“How much were you planning for? We will work with that.”

“I was planning on fifty thousand bits. Also I’m taking Dash with me, and we will be back tomorrow.” I hand her the money, and start to walk to the door. I turn back and notice Dash is still at the bottom of the stairs, a pink tint to her face. “Dash, time to go,” I yell at her.

She takes to the air and is beside me a seconds. I leave the building full of giggling ponies and make my way to the train station.

I turn to dash, and say in a flat tone, “we will talk on the train.” With that, we set out to leave Ponyville.

_-_-_

We had been on the train for what felt like hours. No one had said anything.

Realistically it had been an hour at the most, however if this was how the whole trip would be, I would regret brining Dash along.

Deciding to start the conversation, I look towards Dash. “Do you like me?”

“What?” she said defensively. “Whatever happened last night was purely because I was drunk, so don’t think it’s because I like you.”

“Nothing happened, other than you hinting around the fact that you love me, and me putting you to sleep in my bed. I didn’t sleep with you, and don’t make assumptions about me, you know I don’t like it! But I need to know if what you said last night was true!” Why am I acting so strange with her, I’m not mad…

“Nope…wasn’t true at all”

“Okay, so why did you get smashed?”

“uhhhh…uhhhh…uhmmmm…”

“Dash, the reason I want to know is so I can make a proper response,” I say in a very calm and cool manner.

She looks at the floor and makes a quick nod.

I must have had a smile bigger than Pinkie’s, because I jump up from where I sit across from her and stand right in front of her. She looks up, with a confused face to find mine an inch from hers. Without any hesitation, I slam my lips into hers. Still confused, it takes her a second to respond but when she does, I have never had a more enjoyable kiss.

When I finally break the kiss, I kiss her jaw until I reach the ear. I whisper into it, “I’m glad, because that would have made it really awkward for me.”

I move back to my seat across from her and we both sit smiling at each other like a pair of foals. Then she flies (literally) across the aisle to me and we lock lips for a second time. This time it is much longer and we explore each other’s mouths.

After that one, we sit and cuddle on one bench. We talked about nothing, about everything. About her, our friends, her family, the bar, her dreams, mine. We pleasantly avoided me. I know that if this relationship is going to last more than today and tomorrow, then I will need to tell her, but not right now.

Neither of us moves until my stomach growls, and so does hers. We both laugh, and then realize it was dusk and neither of us had eaten all day. We went to the dining car and it was full. We ordered and took our food back to our cabin. When we got back, we ate and didn’t talk much, focusing on our food.

After that, we laid down on one of the bunks and just talked, but this time there were a few things that were important. “So what does this mean…me and you? What are we gonna do? How does this work? In all honesty… I haven’t been in a relationship before…so…uh…” I ramble, and she starts giggling half way through.

“I thought you would ask that sooner. Ha… well, I don’t really know either, so we are gonna take it one step at a time…whatever that means…” Okay, well as long as we are in the same boat, I guess it’s okay.

She looks up at me from how she is laying, “So are you happy?” I nod. “Good, then everything’s going fine. I guess that’s how a relationship is supposed to work, as long as everypony is happy, then we’re okay right?”

“When did you turn into the wise pony?” I ask jokingly.

She leans in for a deep kiss, and I return the favor. A few seconds in, she playfully bites my tongue, and stops. “That’s your punishment for making fun of me,” she whispers.

“I deserved every bit of that.” We both laugh. “So what about our friends? What do we tell them?”

“We tell them we’re dating. Nothing wrong with it. Now would you stop worrying, everything will work out.”

“Okay.” And we kiss again, but then she turns around and lies back down on my chest. “Goodnight, Dash,” I whisper.

“Goodnight, Alex”

_-_-_

Our house explodes in a raging torrent of fire. Through the flames I can see a red, unicorn stallion standing on top.

“What are you doing?!” I yell. “DAD! STOP!”

He doesn’t hear me and just stands there. I run into the house, I have to get it. I HAVE TO GET IT!

Then I hear it the crashing sound. It’s coming from above me. I look up to see one of the support beams falling down.

Darkness.

I hear my name being called, but I’m trapped in the dark confined space, unable to move, struggling to breathe.

“ALEX!”

_-_-_

I shoot straight up in bed, and hit my head on the top bunk. I lay back down and try to stop shaking from the mental trauma.

“Alex! Are you okay?” I look around trying to find who is talking to me.

I finally spot Dash sitting on the floor; a sad, confused, worried look on her face. “Sorry, what happened?”

“You were rolling in your sleep, and then you started screaming. You woke me up. Are you okay, you look like you had a really bad dream.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s just around three in the morning and we will be arriving around six. But why does that matter?”

“It’s a long story. One that you need to know, but I haven’t ever told anypony.”

She looks at me hesitantly. “Okay, so it had somthin to do with your dream?”

“Yea. It wasn’t a dream, it was a memory.”

“Well, I’m not goin anywhere, and you can trust me. I won’t tell anypony, not even our friends. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” As she does the motions I just get more confused. “It’s the Pinkie Pie promise. And it can NEVER be broken.”

“Okay well I’m going to start and go all the way through. No questions until the end. It’s hard enough as it is,” I say. I sit up in bed and get comfortable as she does the same on the bed across from me.

I wonder what she will think of me after this…

I start the story…

Chapter 5

Note, all of this Alex is saying out loud to Dash. EVERYTHING. However it is still being told by Alex looking back on it. Imagine Alex reading this to dash, word for word. And now I am rambling…so without further adieu, meet the Firewings…sorta

...

Nopony ever helps with the bullied foal.

Nopony ever helped my big brother…

Jack Firewing. Apparently we had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, he was no such thing. He was an amazing unicorn stallion, who could do anything. With an indescribable squiggle as a cutie mark, he was different. His name- jack- and his cutie mark represented how he could do anything. He was a jack of all trades… and he was hated for it.

… At least, that’s what I believe.

_-_-_

Jack was always getting picked on at school, but I never figured out why. He had a cutie mark which everypony saw differently. To one it was a piece of metal, to another it was a work of art, and yet another could consider it a flame. A jack of all trades, and he could do anything but…

The one thing he never managed to do was make friends. He would never talk about them, and never had anyone to talk to them about. I was too young, around six. He was around sixteen. I didn’t understand 2+2, much less his problems.

He was alone…

My parents. There are two fine examples of what not to do. My mother had to work all the time, mostly because my father was always out of a job. He was always out looking for one, or in a bar, or drunk and unconscious at home.

Jack took care of me, by himself. I had just started school, so he had to help with homework too. My mother had decent income, and was able to support us, however she was never home. I have no idea what she did though.

My brother always wore a smile, even if he was upset, he would not show it around me. He would come home, do all the chores, make everyone food, help me with homework, and do his own and the bullies’.

He would get me ready for school in the morning, and all that. I never saw much of my parents, but there wasn’t much I or he could do.

_-_-_

One day I got home from school and I couldn’t find him. I waited, but he never showed up. It was my mom who got home first. She found me in the kitchen trying to make myself something.

When she asked why I answered “because Jack’s not home.”

She looked at me confused and went up stairs. Maybe she thought he was in his room, sick.

Then I heard a scream.

_-_-_

The carriage pulled away with only a tail hanging out. My brother was gone. My mother was standing beside me screaming. “NO! STOP! DON’T TAKE HIM! HE ISN’T DEAD, HE CAN’T BE DEAD!” I was sitting on the pavement crying, I didn’t have the full idea of what was going on, however I understood that my brother was gone and not coming back.

He was gone. He was gone before they took him. I knew he had problems at school, but he always had a smile. I just wish he hadn’t done that. The most irreversible thing anypony could ever do.

Dangling there when she walked through the door, traumatized her. She would never be the same. Nor would he.

There is what sounds like thunder in the distance.

Then an explosion closer. I looked around for the source. Two houses exploded into fire around me. Ponies were running. The house next to me and mom blew up. Mom doesn’t notice. I ran. Trying to get to our house before…

It burst into a raging torrent of fire, three feet away from me.

I look up. Through the flames I can see a red, unicorn stallion standing on top.

“What are you doing?!” I yell. “DAD! STOP!”

He didn’t hear me and just stood there. I ran into the house, only one thought on my mind, I have to get it. I HAVE TO GET IT!

Then I heard it, the crashing sound. It was coming from above me. I looked up to see one of the support beams falling down.

After that, darkness.

I heard my name being called, but I was trapped in the dark confined space, unable to move, struggling to breathe.

“ALEX!” I heard somepony call. Light, it hurt my eyes, but I could see, and standing over me was an orange Pegasus. He was our neighbor.

He pulled me out of the hole. Then I realized it was gone. The only thing we ever had to remember Jack, a family portrait of when times were good in our family. Tears start to stream down my face as I walk to the road, I find my mom still standing there, looking towards where the carriage had gone. The life in her eyes had gone with the carriage.

I turn to see an earth pony lying on the ground…

_-_-_

“Dash have you ever seen a unicorn get really angry? They get so angry they burst into flames?” I ask interrupting my story.

“umm…well Twilight has a few times.” She had a sad look on her face.

“Well when a unicorn bursts into flames like that, they are using an enormous amount of magic. They can only do it for a short time, before they exhaust their powers. My dad was a unicorn who did it past the point he should have. It should kill you if you go past that point, however sometimes the pony doesn’t die. My father is one of the few who did not die.

“What happens to the ones who don’t die is they run out of magic, for good. It puts them in a coma, but they recover from that. What is really bad is that they lose their horn. It shatters, and there is nothing they can do to get it back.

“My father is an earth pony, but he wasn’t always that way. He didn’t die…”

_-_-_

When the police ponies finally arrived, he was in a coma, and they took him away. No one was hurt in his rampage, but several houses were destroyed. Luckily we did not have to pay the damages, because the insurance companies paid everything back.

My dad went on a rampage when he overheard someone talking about Jack in a bar. He apparently insulted him, and my dad became enraged. When he was in that state he had no control, that’s why we didn’t have to pay anything.

The court system however, disagreed. When my father went to trial after his coma, he was ruled as dangerous, and sentenced to fifteen years. As far as I know he never had an issue again. And fifteen years are up soon, so I moved out of Manehattan.

My mother was never the same after my brother’s death. She was changed, we had money from the house and damages. We had lost everything, so we were awarded around five hundred thousand bits for everything.

I grew up quickly after that day. She bought a small apartment, and never worked again. She took to drinking like my father, and was always either drunk or unconscious.

My mother was an angry drunk, and she would hit me if I didn’t do what I was told. I got her drinks and food, and that
was all she ever yelled for. I had to buy food and go to school by myself until I dropped out.

Around ten years old, I decided I wanted to try to get my mom to stop drinking. I gave her all kinds of drinks, some with more alcohol, some with less, and some that were terrible tasting. She drank it all, and didn’t complain.

After that I realized that I liked mixing drinks and I could be a bartender. That’s how I got my cutie mark; trying to get my mother to stop drinking.

Six years later I moved out on my own, sick of working, and taking care of my mom. I dropped out of school, and lived on my own, doing odd jobs and bartending when I could to make money.

Around two years back was when my mother died. I didn’t know until I got a call from the police station. They gave her and the keys to the apartment to me. There was a short funereal, to which only I came. And then I sold the apartment and got all the money I could.

I received life insurance money and inheritance from her and that’s what I bought the bar in Ponyville with.

_-_-_

“I don’t want to see my dad, so I moved out of Manehattan before he got out of jail. I hope he won’t find me where I am now.”

We both sat there, in silence contemplating what I just said. We had both cried a bit and dash still had tears in her eyes. I was feeling relieved; years of bottling it all up inside can be tough, and I just let it all out. I sigh contentedly.

Dash was the first to speak, “what… what if he tries to find you? What will you do if he shows up in Ponyville?” she says hesitantly.

I suck in a breath, surprised by her question, “I don’t know Dash…”

“That was a depressing story, and I feel sorry for you,” she says in a depressed tone.

“You shouldn’t feel sorry, it’s not like you wished this on me. I just hope that you understand that it is my past, and I don’t dwell on it, or bring it up. Whatever happened, happened. Don’t let it get you down. Telling you has actually helped me. Now somepony knows what I’ve been through and I can talk to them about it.” This is true in all aspects. I feel like a great weight had just been pulled off my shoulders, but I worry that it has been put on Dash.

I look to her and she is looking at me. I put out my forehooves and she moves across the cabin and leans into a hug.

“Now that I’ve told you that, you know I’m never letting you go, right?” I whisper.

“yea…and now that I know, I promise I will make up for all those bad memories with some good ones,” she responds quietly.

“All right… but, now aren’t we moving a little fast?” I ask, okay with it anyway.

“Are you happy?”she whispers in my ear. I nod.

“Then we’re fine.” And she reaches up and leans in for a kiss.

Then the train begins to slow. And I lay back onto the bed. I say in a normal, happy tone, “now I have to buy a train full of alcohol, and I don’t even like to drink!” We both laugh, and get out of bed.

As the train pulls into the station we are ready to jump off.

After we get off I go up to the ticket booth. “I need a whole cargo car, and a travel compartment, to Ponyville”

“Train leaves at four, and that will be three thousand bits,” says the mare behind the counter. I pay her and leave.

As we leave the station, Dash asks me, “wow, a whole car?”

“Yea, and I hope I won’t need more,” I say worried.

_-_-_

I spend the rest of the day going to several liquor stores, Dash in tow, and buying nearly everything they have. After I buy it I tell them to bring it to the train station by two this afternoon. And by one thirty we are back at the station.

We get something to eat while we wait, and when the first wagon load pulls up, we start loading my car. After the fifth wagon, it is filled to the brim, and luckily there was no more loads coming. Just in time for the train to leave the station. We had finished, so we got on the train and it left the station.

_-_-_

We get back in the car, and sit down after a long day.

“Hey Dash, thanks for coming with me today, you’ve been really helpful. Not to mention it would have SUCKED to have done this by myself.”

“Yea Yea… I had nothing better ta do. Plus, I can’t let my coltfriend go out and cheat on me while he’s away.”

“Dash… we weren’t together before the trip…”

“Hey, you were MINE before you even liked me!”

She is so much fun. Im so lucky, I hope I spend forever with her. “Hey Dash… I…Never mind”

“What?” she asks, getting a worried expression on her face.

“I…I-I love y-you.”

“WOW, now who’s moving fast?” My eyes hit the floor. I shouldn’t have said anything. “I love you too,” she whispers. And my eyes shoot up to look at her. She is looking at the floor now.

I move over to her bunk, pick her chin up and look into her eyes as I give her a long deep kiss. “Are you happy?” I ask looking into her eyes after I broke the kiss. She nods, and I say, “Then I think this is a good speed for us.” She smiles, and pulls me into a hug.

“You’re finally getting it.”

…we didn’t get much sleep…

Chapter 6

Somepony loves the barcolt.

Somepony loves me…

Alex Firewing. Apparently I had an ancestor who was a Pegasus; however, I am no such thing. I’m an average earth pony, stallion. With a black fur and a silver mane however, I appear a little strange. And now I have friends and a marefriend. I wasn’t going out of my way to fall in love… but I have, and life couldn’t get better.

… I hope it doesn’t start going downhill.

_-_-_

I wake up, laying on a bed with something on top of me. I look down and see a rainbow colored mane on my chest. I smile, and then remember last night and my grin is bigger than Pinkie’s.

I lay listing to her breath, and think about how lucky I am. Then I think about how cheesy I am, and wonder why in Equestria she is with an idiot like me. As I think this she wakes up and looks up at me from on my chest.

“Why do birds fly?” she asks, then yawns.

“Wut?”

“For every stupid question you ask, I’ll ask an equally stupid question. So don’t expect an answer.” She smiles at me.

Without hesitating I kiss her. “Alright,” I say after breaking the kiss. She climbs off of me, and stretches. I climb out and do the same. After a second or two we leave to go get breakfast. We are an hour out from Ponyville, so we have time.

We eat, then return to our car. “You know, I haven’t showered in almost three days,” I say.

She facehoofs, “Really? Thanks for reminding me you idiot.” She laughs at my scared expression, than I start laughing too.

“Hey before we get to Ponyville, can you gather up some ponies to help unload the alcohol?”

She nods and stands up. “I didn’t mean right now.”

“We only have a half an hour, I need to go now if we have any hope of getting everyone together in time.”

“oh… okay…”Sigh.

She laughs and kisses me. “Don’t miss me too much, lovercolt”

“Yea, yea…have fun.” I say as she leaves the cabin.

_-_-_

I go and sit in the dining car, because I am so bored.

A white pony with lightning blue hair walks up and sits down across from me. “How’s it goin? Where’d yer lady friend get off to?”

“Oh, she went to get our friends gathered up at the tr… Vinyl?” She gets a confused look on her face.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” she asks a little confused.

“Oh, not officially. I’m a bartender and I worked at a few bars where you dj-ed in Manehattan.”

“Oh! So you’re the barcolt putting a bar in Ponyville?” Wow, how does she know. “I’m movin back out to Ponyville, cause I’m tired of the city. I grew up there so it shouldn’t be a hard move. But, I am out of a job…” Ah, so that’s where this is going.

“I could help you out, but the bars not even open yet, and the pay won’t be great.”

“Eh, that’s fine. I’m not lookin for money; I just want to keep performing. But I will need something to make a living off of, so I do need whatever you can give…”

“I have some money for starting, and we will see where that gets me. Once I know my operation income, then we can talk pay. For right now, we will have to wait. If you sell me some equipment though, I might be able to give you more up front.“

“You got a deal, but I get to play what I want.” Vinyl says with a smile.

“Alright, as long as it don’t make my customers run away.” I laugh as her smile wavers.

I stick out my hoof, “so it will be nice working with you, my name’s Alex.”

“Same here,” she says as she shakes my hoof.

_-_-_

The train pulls into the station, and I walk off with Vinyl. We talked about several bars in Manehattan, and what I hope mine will be like.

As we step off the train, I look around to see all my friends, and Big Mac, standing there. “This is Vinyl Scratch. She dj-ed a few places I worked, and she is moving to Ponyville. She is gonna be the dj for the bar, and also put in some equipment for me.” They all nod to Vinyl as she says “Yo.” After that she leaves to do her own thing.

Pinkie pops up in front of her. She says something I don’t understand and runs off again. I ignore it and walk back to my car. I slide open the door, and hear a gasp from behind me. I turn to see all my friends looking at the car in amazement. “We got tuh unload all uh this?” Applejack asks.

Big Mac responds with “eeeyup.” And we set to work. They brought three carts and I help load them. Then I take one and head off to the bar, Applejack and Big Mac taking the others. We leave Fluttershy to guard the liquor. And everyone else follows to help unload the wagons.

When I open the door to the bar, I see how it turned out exactly like I wanted. It was how I had dreamed it. Perfection! Twilight comes up to me and hands me a sac. “We used Thirty thousand, there are twenty thousand left.”

After getting all the liquor off the train, all my friends sit down at the bar. I am busy taking stock and finding where everything is, sometimes reorganizing. They are holding small conversations as I work. Then I finish…

“So, who wants a drink?” I ask as I pull out several different glasses. I reach up on the shelves behind me and bring down some drinks. I realize it is now quiet, and they are all watching me.

I pour one drink, starting with the mare on the end, being Fluttershy. I finish, and slid it down to her. She flinches as it reaches her.

I don’t stop to see her reaction knowing what is coming next. Next one is Rarity and I almost finish making hers before an audible gasp can be heard. Everypony except me turns to look at Fluttershy.

“I-it’s g-good, it’s AMAZING!” is what she says. And there it is. Now I have four ponies asking me for a drink, all except Big Mac.

I slide Rarity’s down to her. And she immediately takes a sip. Again the same reaction. “Oh my … this is good. You’re really good at this aren’t you?”

I nod and start on the next, then the next, and the next. Finally all except Dash had a drink. I leave the bar, and I hear an audible grunt come from the pony who did not have a drink.

She gets off the stool and walks down to me. A reach under the bar and pull out several bottles. I look at her and say “stay here for a sec.”I start pouring bottle after bottle into the glass. What comes out is a rainbow layered drink, and she gasps when she sees what I’ve done.

I give it to her, and she takes a sip, and smiles. She says its good, and I tell her “wait till you get to the next layer.” Me and Dash walk back to the others. “So are they good.” Everypony nods. “Good, that is your payment for helping me with the bar, and those aren’t even your favorite drinks.” I laugh as I see everponies’ confused faces.

_-_-_

We sit and talk for a while until the mayor finally comes into the bar. I reach under the bar to the mini-fridge and pull out the drink I prepared for her. She looks at me confused. “It was kind of hard to miss the liquor parade wasn’t it?”

“Uh… yes Alex, it was. But we need to get the rules down.”

“I know, so what might those rules include? I’ll give you my input and you give yours. Twilight, can you take notes?”

“Drinking age?”

“Eighteen.”

“Hours?”

“Until two In the morning, start at 3 in the afternoon.”

She nods, “will you have a bouncer?”

“Don’t plan to; I want to let everyone in, but only serve alcohol to those over eighteen.”

She nods again. “Well that’s all I got.”

“I plan to have a one drink limit, non alcohol is free, and if I get their drink wrong it’s free.”

“Okay, I think that’s all that we need. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.” Then she took a drink. The look of shock is always funny, but her’s was the best.

Dash turns to her. “I know right!?”

Everyone laughs, her multi layered drink made her make several of those faces.

With that everyone starts to calm down, and people start talking about unimportant things again. I go back to organizing my bar. I make another drink in anticipation and put it in the fridge.

It didn’t stay long in the fridge until it was brought back out. I put it in front of an empty stool and go back to the organizing. When the door opens, like I knew it would, I yell, “That drink there is yours.”

“Ah you got it right this time.” This made everyone stop talking and look to the white mare at the end of the bar. “The glasses threw him off the first time he ever served me. The second time he got it perfect.”

“Ah, so you did recognize me on the train?”

“I don’t make a habit of talking to strangers.” She laughed.

“So how much am I gonna owe you for the equipment?”

“…Five thousand should cover it.”

I nod to her. “Okay. Hey Mac, can you help her out. I gotta finish this up here.”

Big Mac gave his signature “eeyup,” and left with Vinyl.

When the door closed I stood up from behind the bar and pulled a stool out from under my side, and sat on it. I looked around to my friends, and laughed when they just stared at me. “Well, now I’m done. What’s up with you guys?”

Silence until I say “here she comes.” All of Ponyville seems to enter the bar, followed by Pinkie, who has a small cannon with her. With a loud bang, my bar is suddenly decorated and everypony runs to try and find a place to hide.

I continue to sit at the bar, and then the lights go out. There is a minute of quiet, then the door opens and a white mare, and red stallion walk in. the lights turn on and everyone yells surprise.

Pinkie runs up and starts talking quickly to Vinyl. I laugh and then push the stool in, and get ready to start my job.

And so it began…the welcome Vinyl Slash party.

_-_-_

I didn’t make many drinks, mostly because I hadn’t officially opened the bar yet. I didn’t get paid for the drinks I did make, and didn’t care.

I mostly hung out in front of the bar with my friends. Eventually the party began to die off and Vinyl came up to me. “Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, to set up the equipment.”

“Okay Vinyl, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”

I looked to my friends. “Thanks guys for all your help the past few days. I know I have been taking away from your time for selfish reasons. I hope you will come to the grand opening of the bar tomorrow. And sorry Aj I won’t be helping tomorrow.”

Aj nodded, sleepily and then got up. “Ah think I’m goin go home, I gotta get up early tomorra’.”

“Okay Aj.” Then I thought of something… “Oh yea, haven’t told you guys yet! Me and Dash are dating.”

All of my friends smiled, except for Dash who stood up with a serious look on her face, walked over to me, and pushed me to the floor. She gave me a deep kiss, and I knew it was coming. My punishment once again was a playful bite on the tongue.

She broke the kiss, and I whispered, “You’re so cruel. How could you do such a thing?” she laughed and stood back up.

I looked around at my friends, all now blushing. They all laughed when dash says, “And that’s how I feel about that.”

Dash gets up and whispers in my ear. I’ll be waiting upstairs, in your bed. I nod as she leaves.

I look around the room and notice it is once again empty, albeit messy, all except my friends. “Well guys, party is over and it’s been a long day, and I am tired and want to go to bed. I hope you’ll come to the party tomorrow.”

After that I send off all my friends individually, but may have rushed just a little. After the last is gone, I run upstairs and find Rainbow Dash in a very sexy pose, lying on my bed. I tackle her in a hug and kiss, which she returns full force.

…that was another good night…

Chapter 7

What do you do when the past comes back to haunt you.

How far ahead do you think? Short term, for me. I think at the most, a few days ahead.

I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, but suddenly, this day turned out to be the beginning of the rest of my life.

Cheesy right, well you’ll see.

_-_-_

I woke up with a weight on my chest. I seem to get that a lot lately, but it never gets old.

I look down at my chest and see a pair of big pink eyes looking up to me. I smile, and she returns it. She gets off of me, but I grab, and pull her back down.

“Can’t we stay here? I don’t want to let you go…”

“Well if you want to open a bar, you have to get up eventually, and I have been falling behind in practice due to a certain somepony. So I have to get up and start my day, and you need to get your lazy flank out of bed and ma--…” I interrupt her with a deep kiss.

“Please?” I ask after I break the kiss.

Dash rolls her eyes and smiles. “No! It’s one o’clock already. I like to procrastinate as much as the next pony, but we both have stuff to do.”

My eyes widen in realization, and Dash laughs at the silly look on my face. I sit up, and Dash gets off me again.

We say our goodbyes, and she leaves. I get out the money for vinyl and walk down stairs.

In the bar, there is now something on the stage, lights hung around it, and speakers placed around the room. I find Vinyl on the stage, setting up a dj station. I set the money on it, and nod to her.

“Finnally woke up didja?” she asks.

I nod “yea and you set up the stuff while I was asleep. Was it hard, are you okay working tonight?” I respond, and then I yawn.

“I’ll be fine, but are you sure you will be?”She laughs at me.

I nod and start walking to the bar. “Well I got stuff to do, and Pinkie should be here soon. We open at three, so hurry!”

“Yes, boss.” She says it in a tone that I imagine a teenage filly talking to her manager. Then I remember she is! Ha!

_-_-_

“So what’s its name?”

“What?” I ask looking up at all my friends from the monitor under the bar. It’s a secret only me and Twilight know about.

“What yall gonna name the bar?” Aj says.

I realize I hadn’t thought about it. Ten minutes away from opening, and I don’t have a name!

I know one thing; it has to have my brother’s name in it. “It has to have Jack in it.” I see a knowing look on Dash’s face, but she says nothing.

“Bar jack?”says a uninterested Twilight.

“That’s a fish!” says a disgusted Rarity.

“Jack in the box?”

“uh…no I… don’t like it.” sick thought to put that as the name.

“Jack o lantern,” Says AJ.

“Jack and the Beanstalk!” yells Pinkie.

I just shake my head.

“Jack of Hearts,” Dash speaks up.

All the more reason to love her, she thought of the exact thing I wanted. Really showing of my brother’s name, all the others seemed to make fun of him, but this one is different. It has meaning behind it.

Without hesitating I jump over the bar, and hug and kiss her fiercely…I think everypony was surprised, including Dash. But I don’t care, I just know that she is the only one I care about this moment.

I let her go and walk up on stage. Vinyl is there and I tell her the new name for the bar. She nods and returns to setting up her station for the opening in…2 minutes!

I run back to the bar, and start pouring drinks. The girls watch in confusion as I make one after another and place them under the bar.

Two minutes later, Pinkie walks to the door, opens it and greets everypony outside with a loud. “Welcome to the Jack of Hearts, have fun at its grand opening.”

As soon as the first pony to recover takes one step into the bar, Vinyl starts spinning a record. The bar room becomes filled with music, and somponies start to dance. Some sit at a few tables and start talking. Most ponies however, head straight to the bar. The drinks I had been making beforehoof come out from under the bar and are handed to ponies that walk up. I don’t get to see their reaction and only hand them a drink.

I continue to make drinks for everypony, and then start on the refills. I talk the whole time I’m doing it. It was fun meeting new ponies, and hearing about how fun the bar was. My biggest worry is that I will never get this crowd again, and will never have this much fun again.

My fears are replaced with other fears when Dash, who had been watching me says, “your forgetting, you’re friends with Pinkie Pie.”

I laugh and I don’t have time to notice she isn’t drinking her drink, nor did I see the orange earth pony walk through the door.

_-_-_

Three o’clock was a dream gone, and was replaced by ten. Finally I was getting a chance to look around my bar. Ponies were dancing, talking, and having fun. And mostly Pinkie had done no work in preparation for this night.

There is a small interruption in the music, “Welcome one and all to Jack O’ Hearts. I hope your having a good time, cause I sure am. I would like you all to thank the proprietor of this establishment, over at the bar there, and be sure to tip him for all the work he, and his friends, put into this bar. Well! Now that that is done, let’s take it up a level!”

With that, the thumping base returned full force, and this time extreme compared to the base of before.

Dash had at some point stepped behind the counter and started helping with the incoming bits that had begun to pile up in the register. However, with the lull in business, she was sitting with me on a pair of stools behind the bar.

“You didn’t have to help you know. And your friends didn’t need to help with the renovations either.”

“Well if I’m gonna be with you for a long time, I might as well help you with the bar. And as for YOUR friends, that’s what they do, they help you and you better damn well help them when they need it!”

“Oh, I plan to help! Even if it’s the death of me… but your... OUR friends are too nice, they wouldn’t ask a lot of me right?...”I turn to Dash, and she shrugs.

Thats when I see him…

And orange stallion coming up to the bar…

And I instantly recognize him…

But what confuses me is, I wouldn’t be able to make a drink for him if I had wanted to.

“Why couldn’t I make a drink for you?” I ask the stallion, knowing who he was. Hoping for a certain answer…

“Because I hate alcohol. It ruined my life, killed my wife, got me sent to jail. It is an unforgiving drug in the wrong hands.” Not once has he looked at me. He gave me the correct answer, and if he had looked into my eyes, he would have seen the forgiveness.

“That was the correct answer. Can I get you anything else to drink, or perhaps a place to stay if you need one?” he looks dirty, tired, and thirsty and hungry. Hearing what I said, he finally looks up.

There is fear in his eyes, and with the scar on his forehead, he looks weak. But without a doubt, his smile was genuine. He sat at one of the stools. “Anything without alcohol, and I’m sorry but I have no money.”

I hand him a glass of soda. “How did you find me, and why are you here?”

He resumes staring at the floor. “I got here around three. I had heard from an old neighbor of where your old apartment was, and they said you had moved here. As for why I’m here, I need to know how you feel. If you hated me or liked me. I need a path, but weather that path starts here or somewhere else is up to you.”

“You sound wise. I guess age and experience really does give you something above the rest. I’m glad you’re sober, and I’m glad that you can hold yourself together, however I need to know you won’t go back,” I say calmly but forcefully. If you stay here you never go back, and if you do, I will personally have you banished to the moon. I have friends that could do it,” I chuckle at the joke.

I pull out and fill a few drinks for customers while I say this. I notice dash had gone back over to her friends. “My life has been good recently after moving to Ponyville. It could be good for you too, but also if you screw mine up, I’m done for the last time. Is all this understood,” I ask very in a tone that explains how honest I’m being.

I look at him, and he has a very dejected look on his face. He nods. He looks me in the eye, “Yes, I have no intention of going back, but I hope you’ll take me?”

“There is an extra bedroom in his place, you can stay there. You look like you have been mauled by a timber wolf, so get some sleep. We will talk more later, but get some rest. I will be in the bar for the rest of the night, and please stay in your room until I get you tomorrow, whenever that happens to be.”

He nods, and sips his drink. “Hey Dash!” I call. She floats over, and lands beside me. “this is my father, as you may have guessed. He is kinda tired, so I’m gonna take him up to a spare bed. Will you watch the bar while I’m gone?”

“I guess… how much am I getting paid?”

“So living with me for free doesn’t count?”

“I have my own house, thank you!”

“But do you want it,” I cocked my head, and gave my best puppy eyes, “without me in it?”

She laughed and pushed me away from the bar. “Fine, point taken. I am not a bartender though, so you better hurry up.”

“Okay.” I turn to my father, “okay, come on…”

We make our way through the crowd to the stairs. When we reach the top, my father following me says, “You know she's pregnant right?”

I stop in shock. “wh- what?

“Alex; remember, my talent is being a doctor. I might not be able to fix the problem without magic, but I can still diagnose things.”

OHCRAP, now what do I do? Does she know? This is gonna be rough…

“Okay d-dad here you go. You sleep here, and I’ll see you later, all ri-right?”

He nods and walks in. I shut the door behind him.

_-_-_

Almost two in the morning and the bar is almost empty. I think I made closing time.

I hope the bar runs as well tonight. I leave the clean up for tomorrow, and help the stragglers leave. My friends, except Dash, have left already. Vinyl was packing and I walk up and tell her goodnight.

As I walk back up stairs, and into my room, I find Dash awake waiting for me. She was sitting on the bed, and was waiting patiently. Looked like she was thinking until I came in.

I smile. So she does know, that explains why she wasn’t drinking, and seemed lost in thought sometimes. “So you knew; that’s good. How did you find out? I already know, so we can skip that part.”

The look on her face was priceless; first she was stunned, then confused, then relived, then confused again. “How did you find out?”

“I never told you my dad was a doctor. He could never keep a job because he drank too much, but he was still a really great doctor.”

“So, he told you that I was pregnant. Celestia, this is annoying. I worried all freaking night, and now I find out i didn't have to. I went to Nurse Redheart because I wasn’t flying very well, and she told me pegasi start having problems in the early stages of pregnancy, hormones and stuff. It was way- way too early to be sure, but a whole lot of … You know what, I don’t care. So now what? What does this do to us?”

I walked up and lay down on the bed, and she laid next to me. Then I started, “well I would assume that this would make you the mommy and me the-“ she punched me…HARD. “Ow… I deserved that but it was worth it.”

“Stupid…I mean what are we gonna do?”

I reach around and turn off the light on the table.

I turn to her and kiss her shortly on the lips. I whisper, “Are you happy?”

She nods, “then everything will be alright…”we both say.

We fall asleep in each other’s embrace.

And life goes on…

END

Epilogue: for the heck of it…

At the end of a long aisle, in a room crowded with ponies, a foal stands next to a large orange earth pony, who used to not be an earth pony, which is standing next to a black stallion with a silver mane and tail. They are all wearing bow ties, standing facing the crowd. There is also a large white alicorn standing nearby… that appears to be asleep while standing up…

On the opposite side of her were five mares. An orange, violet, yellow, white, and pink. Each was wearing a dress that suited their personality.

“So why is mommy and daddy getting married now? Shouldn’t this have happened a long time ago before I was born?” A closer look at the young pony reveals he has a black coat, and a pair of small black wings that could not support him yet. He has a silver mane like the pony on the other end; however his tale appears to be a spectrum of color.

“Well yes they should have, but unfortunately your father is cheap, and lazy. He also rambles on about how ‘happiness is all that matters,’” he stoped and turned to the black stallion. “Frankly, I’m surprised he is finally going through with this…”

“Well somepony has to pay for something; you can’t seem to keep a bit for yourself,” says the stallion.

“Well somepony has to buy poor Roger here something, and who better to do it than his grandfather.”

“I got a question…. Whose Frank?”

Both of the larger ponies face hoof, and so do several of the ponies closer to them in the audience. The ponies on the opposite side of the alicorn all giggle.

“You got the necklaces right?” asks the black stallion.

“For the trillionth time, YES! Now will you please stop asking?” The orange stallion seems to rouse the White alicorn beside them and suddenly there is music.

The doors down the hall open and in walks a Blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. She is wearing a white wedding dress. All the ponies in the audience turn to look at her as she walks down the hall.

When she reaches the end, the alicorn begins to speak:

“Mares and gentalcolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, and earth pony Alex Firewing. Their love burns bright and has already produced one spark…”

The orange colt mumbles “I hope for a few more sparks…”

“Their future is bright, and we all know that their love will continue to burn forevermore.”

She turns to the orange colt, “may I have the necklaces please?” he hastily hoofs them over, fumbling several times in the process. “Thank you.”

She magic’s the over both ponies necks. “I now pronounce you Mare and Colt!”

She backs away and the newlywed couple kiss.

_-_-_

In the carriage on the road to their honeymoon, the two ponies are sitting are smiling happily at each other.

“We finally got married…why did we wait so long?” asks the black pony.

“Somthin about bein happy, blah, blah, blah…I don’t really care, cause I’m happy now.”

“And that’s all that matters...”

“OH NO… not this crap again. I should have never told you that. It just gave you an excuse to hold on to your money…”

“You won’t say that once we get where we are going. Its why I didn’t want to get married until now…”

“And why won’t you tell me?”

“Cause its Awesome… Dash, have you ever seen the beach before?”

“No…Why are we going to one?”

The carriage come to a halt. The two ponies step out, and see a fairly large home sitting on the edge of the beach in an ocean cove.

“No…not going to one, we own one.”

The blue pony rockets into the other pony and nocks him to the ground. “Hey, can we wait until we are inside, I feel like doin it in a bed tonight…”

The blue pony says one word “eee-nope!”

End… fo real…

Author note and junk…

After writing:
Okay so I don’t like this… at all. This was my first story EVER, and is not likely to ever get posted but if it does, I am soooooo sorry for the poor sap that read this. This is the cheesiest cheesy cheese I have ever seen.
It was more of a experiment than anything. I had fun with it…sometimes.
I might go back and revisit Roger, because he was basically the whole point to the story. This ended up being more of a slice of life than a drama.
My favorite parts were the chapter on Alex’s past, and the epilogue. First person is not for me…I thought about changing it half way through, but I don’t think the transition would go well.
I have a few other ideas. We will see how those go. If they go…badly, I might hand them off to someone…if I can find someone.
A few lessons I learned, and make suggestions after you read these:
-HAVE A PLOT. I had no plot going in, and half of my ideas didn’t get used. I was going to have Vinyl as a love rival, but…she had a very minor part. That whole chapter was a DUD.
-I need to write in another view. We will see how that goes later.
-make a story I would want to read, and frankly (who’s Frank?), I wouldn’t even want to read this.
-plot twists or something to keep the reader entertained (I attempted with those… didn’t go great)
- and that is it…any more suggestions are appreciated.
THANK YOU for reading this far if you have, and if you haven’t and you skipped to the very end, I don’t blame you…this is crap!
Anyway this will never be seen and be locked in a vault forever…hopefully…
Note: the working title for this was “The Barcolt.” If that interferes with your viewing pleasure… or torture as it may be… I deeply apologize, however I do not see any unforeseen issues there. I may rewrite it with a different working title, and that is where it will get confusing.
PS: Roger’s cutie mark will be a White triangle outline. You can assume what you want…and I hope you do. If you don’t get it, I can’t help you... Expect me to revisit him, however if you are huge into the band, don’t expect a lot from it.

After reread and edit:
So it has been a few months. I just got back on fimfiction and decided to read some stuff. I reread and edited (for the first time) this and it read better than I thought it would. I have half a mind to post this. I don’t see any problems with it except my writing tone changes in the middle from me speaking formally to me speaking non-formal, which I liked better.
It is almost a boring read but as it is my first writing ever I think I did all right. The only plot hole that really bugs me is Dash found out she was pregnant too quickly. Other than that it, was fairly boring I think.
Once again I have a few other Ideas, one is being put on paper right now while another just started. I have a very short experiment story which also may be posted. Roger is chillin in the back seat right now so I don’t know if I will get to him.

Sorry for the long authors note, and I appreciate anything you can give me as criticism and advice.
-The Pizza Delivery Pony