Friendship Existed: The Previous Generationby MrAquinoChaptersChapter 1How they meet.Iron Pony/PoniesGetting to know each other.Get your Head in the Game.Chapter 1It was a few months after the Apple siblings learned about their parents, and with Grand Pear coming back to let go of the old feud between him and Granny Smith to instead be the grandfather they need. Old habits die hard, as they say, but Grand Pear and Granny Smith agree that both the Apples and the Pears should set aside their grudges by arriving to Sweet Apple Acres. Of course, Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom were willing to help end a long feud, but even they knew they needed some help. The obvious party manager was Pinkie Pie, with the help of Twilight to keep everything organized, as well as Rainbow Dash making sure the weather was perfect, Rarity in making everything presentable, and Fluttershy in keeping the critters out and not disturb the get together. “Alright, that takes care of that.” Rainbow said, landing near Applejack. “No rain’s going to fall on you and ruin your gettogether.” “Ah appreciate it, Rainbow,” Applejack replied. “Ah’m just so worried that this here party won’t just fail, but bring an all out war between the Apples and the-” “All done!” Pinkie announced, popping out between the two. “We have equal parts apple related stuff with equal parts pear related stuff! All Rarity needs is directions to the thing your parents left.” “... Yeah… right… forgot about that...” “... Hey, it’s alright,” Rainbow spoke, placing a supportive hoof on AJ’s right shoulder. “I’m sure when everypony sees it, they’ll understand and be friends… or, at least, try.” “... Yeah, yer right… hopefully. Know where Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy are at?” “Twilight’s triple checking after double checking the supplies needed, Rarity’s hanging the last of the decorations, and Fluttershy is checking the vampire fruit bats.” Pinkie replied. “...Right. Care to get them here?” Pinkie saluted. “On it!” She zoomed away, leaving only a pink cloud that was in her silhouette. Applejack lead the way with Twilight right behind her, followed by the rest with Pinkie leading a trail. “Oh, I can’t wait to see what they left behind!” Twilight spoke. “It must’ve been quite the sight when you first saw it, Applejack.” “It was,” Applejack replied. “Not just me, but fer everyone.” “I’m sure it’s going to be splendid, darling.” Rarity added. “I might need to spruce it up just-” “Don’t!” Applejack turned with a bit of venom in her tone. Twilight walked between the two. “We won’t,” she spoke. “Rarity, I don’t think we should do anything. This is personal for AJ, and we should respect it.” She turned to Applejack. “And I think you could’ve said it in a better tone.” “... Sorry ‘bout that,” Applejack said, turning and leading again. “I just want to show it as it is. Something like that shouldn’t be changed just to appeal to everyone, just-” She paused and stared ahead. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy began. “I thought I told the Vampire fruitbats to stay in their are and-” She paused and stared with Applejack. The rest followed and stared with a gasp. Standing around the tree were some other ponies, but not just any random ponies, but their parents! Bow Hot Hoof & Windy Whistles, Hondo Flanks & Cookie Crumble, Igneous Rock Pie & Cloudy Quartz, Nightlight & Twilight Velvet, and Cumulus & Vipassana stood around the intertwined apple and pear tree that had an opening in the shape of a heart. Tears could be heard, which came from Bow Hot Hoof from the others. “I-It’s been such a long time.” Bow Hot sniffled. “C-can’t b-b-belive it’s been… been…” “It’s okay,” Windy spoke, patting her husband. “Nopony’s judging you here.” It didn’t take long for the large stallion to bawl hard and hug his wife. “Truly, thousest was a great friend thy could ever have.” Igneous spoke, taking his hat off in a respectful way. “Thouest also agrees.” Cloudy Quartz added. Twilight Velvet walked and hugged Cloudy Quartz. “I’ll never forget our adventures together.” She spoke. “Remember the time when she and Cookie Crumbles had a bake off?” “Oh yes, I remember,” Cookie spoke with a nervous chuckle. “Hard to believe that I almost ended my friendship over a silly competition.” “Speaking of competitions,” Nightlight added. “Remember how Hondo and him were in that trivia game?” “Lost by one point!” Hondo groaned. “And we were doing so well!” “We know,” Cumulus spoke, patting him on the back very gently. “But you were still our winners in our eyes.” Very quietly, Fluttershy walked to the group and stood next to her mother. “Um, mom, what’s going on?” She asked. “We’re just having a get together, sweetie.” Vipassana answered. She paushed and turned to her. “F-Fluttershy!?” “Fluttershy!?” Cumulus added. “Fluttershy!?” Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles added, then turned to see the others. “DASHIE!?!?!?” Everyone turned to see their own daughter standing at the ‘entrance’. “TWILIGHT!?” “RARITY!?” “PINKAMENA DIANE PIE!!!” Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz sounded more angered than surprised. The entire group of parents grouped up together and took a few steps back as their daughters walked up to them. “What the hay’s going on!?” Rainbow Dash asked to the group and her friends. “I don’t know,” Twilight replied before turning to her parents. “You never told me about this.” “... Uh… Sweetie,” Her father began. “This is… just a mishap.” “Yes,” her mother added. “We got lost from our vacation spot and-” “We were standing there for about 5 minutes.” Twilight interrupted. “We heard everything.” Rarity added. “W-wait!” Windy began. “You don’t understand! We-” “Ooh! I think I know!” Pinkie began. “You were all a group of friends that lived in Ponyville before any of us were born who kept in close touch with each other, but after having us and our siblings, you had to move on your separate ways, but come here annually because AJ’s parents were that close to each of you!” She smugged as everyone stared blankly. “... That’s… it, actually.” Bow Hot sighed in defeat. “Hang on a minute!” Applejack shouted. “So all of you were friends to my parents!” “And to each other.” Igneous replied. “How come I didn’t hear about this!?” “Did you read the Apple History Volume 138?” Twilight Velvet asked. “Uh… no… but-” She shook her head. “Looks like I’m going to have to go back to Goldie Delicious sooner than expected.” “But why did you hide it from us?” Fluttershy asked. “Surely, there has to be a good reason.” “... It was just personal to us.” Igneous answered. “All of thy parents didn’t think thouest should know thy past. Thy parents have moved on with their lives, not wanting to look back too much, but focus on thy children.” “Of course, not all of us moved away too far.” Windy Whistles added. Cookie Crumble and Vipassana nodded in agreement. “Alright,” Applejack spoke, clearing her throat. “Ah just want one question answered.” “Yes?” All the parents asked in unison, leaning their necks to her. “...How did ya’ll meet up?” “Oh! I remember that very well!” Hondo Flanks replied. “And from it’ll sound like, it’s a bit like you and Rainbow’s Iron Pony competition.” “And I brought snacks, in case anypony got hungry.” Cookie Crumbles added, levitating a bag of cookies. “... Want me to bring in some chairs?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The get together won’t be for a few hours, so I guess so.” Twilight replied. Author's Note Since Fluttershy's parents don't have a name, I gave them one. As you can guess, Cumulus is Fluttershy's father, since he worked at the weather factory, and Vipassana is the mother. Just sounded nice, really. How they meet.Birds chirped away as they flew over the slow, but steadily, building town of Ponyville. As construction continued, the town’s residents continued on with their daily lives, selling and buying things they need or want, hanging out with each other, or just finding a good place to relax for a bit. In it’s park, a yellow, bulky stallion with a red mane and wearing a stetson awaited for his special somepony. He brought a picnic basket filled with apples from his farm, and some freshly made salads with a few cupcakes. As he waited, he watched the various ponies around, from foals playing with each other, families strolling, and a few other ponies just doing whatever they wanted. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a brown stallion with a bit of a gray mane approaching to him, looking at a map. The map viewing pony accidentally bumped into him. “Oof!” The stranger shook himself before getting up. “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I should’ve seen where I was going.” “Aw, it’s nothing.” He replied. “What cha’ lookin’ for?” “Oh! Hang on a second.” He pulled a map out. “I’m new to this place, and I’ve been looking for a place called... Sweet Apple Acres.” “Ah. It’s not too far, partner. You in a rush?” “Uh… no, I just have to be there by tonight, Mr…” “Bright Mac. You?” “Uh...Igneous Rock Pie, Mr. Bright Mac, Sir.” “Pleasure to meet you. We should get to know each other a bit more. My Ma, Granny Smith, owns Sweet Apple Acres. Care to tell me why you’re here?” “...Well… I’m also from a farm, and I’m just away for a while, but need a job to keep myself busy… and paid, of course.” “Huh, didn’t think you’re a farmer, sir. What does your family grow? Tomatoes? Carrots? Oranges?” “We… harvest rocks.” Bright Mac tilted his head in curiosity. “Are you pulling my leg?” “N-no, we harvest rocks. We’re rock farmers.” “...And how exactly does that-?” “I’m here! I’m here!” A familiar mare’s voice interrupted. Running up to them was an earth pony mare with a Pale gamboge coat and a dark orange, poofy mane. “Ah’m so sorry for runnin’ so late, Brighty.” “D’aww, it’s alright, Buttercup,” Bright Mac replied with some hearts coming out of his eyes. “I was just chatting with a new pal while you were gone.” “Oh? Please to meet you. I’m Pear Butter.” She extended her right hoof out. Igneous Rock extended his to her. “Igneous Rock Pie.” He replied. “Pray tell, what kept you at bay, out of curiosity.” “Oh, it’s just some silly competition.” “A competition!?” Bright Mac asked. “Shoot, I bet it’s fun on the bun! Care to join us, Igneous?” “... I don’t know the way to your farm, so I guess so.” Igneous answered. Pear Butter rolled her eyes with a slight giggle. “Come on you two, this way.” Pear Butter lead the two stallions. A large group of cheering ponies gathered around something that seemed pretty small, but everyone was so entranced by. A loud cheer came, followed by a pegasus mare with a striped light scarlet & Orange, bowl shaped mane with a cyan coat, wearing a cheerleader outfit. “Another win for Bow Hothoof!!!” She cheered loudly. “Bow Hothoof?” Bright Mac asked. “Who’s ready to challenge the best hoof wrestler in all of Cloudsdale!?” She looked around and saw Bright Mac. “YOU!!!” She pointed at him. “Me?” “You look like a strong stallion. Care to challenge the champion himself?” “... I don’t know, missy. Can I see him first?” The crowd parted, showing Hothoof himself. As suspected, he was a pegasus with a pale blue coat and a mane that was in the shape of lightning, wearing a letterman jacket. He was pretty bulky, about as big as Bright Mac himself. The Mare landed next to Bright Mac. “So, care to try your luck?” “... Hm… what do you think?” He turned to Pear Butter next to him. “Heh! You can take him on, Bright Mac.” She replied with a smug. “And if you win, you’ll get a nice reward.” Bright Mac blushed with a goofy smile before turning to Bow Hothoof. “I can take him on!” The crowd gasped at the saying with whispers as he trotted up to Bow Hothoof. “Heh, I like a stallion with some guts.” Bow Hothoof spoke, getting his right hoof ready. “Same thing.” The mare landed next to them. “On Go, you both go! 3… 2… 1… GO!!!” Both stallions put all their strength into their forelegs, pushing each other’s down to determine who would be the winner. While Bow had arm wrestled against other stallions as big as him, Bright Mac was actually a challenge. But, a challenge was great for him to impress Windy Whistles, his personal cheerleader, and girlfriend, even more. Bright Mac was probably going to be the final opponent for him to beat, go home with all his earned bits, and go on the best date he and Windy Whistles were going to have. Unfortunately, that was all in his head. In reality, as soon as Windy Whistles told them to go, Bright Mac not only slammed Bow Hothoof’s foreleg to the stump they were using, but threw him like a ragdoll. The crowd gasped at the sight, followed by silent. Bright Mac got up and tilted his hat to the dazed Bow Hothoof. “That was fun, sir.” He spoke before turning around and skipping to Pear Butter. “My reward, please?” “Of course.” Pear butter gave Bright Mac a quick kiss on the nose. Bright Mac turned all goofy, almost as if he had been blessed by an all powerful deity itself. It came crashing to a halt as somepony screamed. “NO!!!” Running through the crowd was a pale blue unicorn stallion with a darker shade mande. He pointed his hoof at Bright Mac. “He’s a cheater!” The crowd gasped and murmured to each other. “Yeah!” Bow Hothoof added, getting up and standing next to the unicorn. “There’s no way a stallion like you can win against me that easily. Can somepony check him for any spells?” The crowd spoke to each other, asking each unicorn if they can see any spells that may affect him. Walking up Bright Mac nonchalantly was a grey unicorn mare with a light grey & purple mane and tail. She used a spell that scanned Bright Mac. “He didn’t cheat.” She replied, sounding pretty bored. “You guys are just losers.” She opened a book and read it while walking away. “What!?” The two spoke in unison. “Uh… sorry?” Bright Mac apologized with a sheepish smile. Bow Hothoof huffed and marched to Bright Mac, roughly pounding his hoof on Bright Mac’s chest. “I don’t believe you are just that strong, sir. You’re still a cheater!” “Ah ain’t a cheater, sir.” Bright Mac shoved Bow hoof out of the way. “Now why don’t you just gallop on out of here before things go south.” “Not until you admit you’re a cheater.” The two had a stare down with fire built into their eyes. “Wait!” Another stallion spoke, this one sounding silent and a bit nervous. The two turned to see a pale green stallion with a pink mane, wearing a blue sweater. “Oh, pardon my tone, but why don’t we do something that’s not really… well… violent.” “... What do you have in mind?” The large stallions asked. “How about a series of contests?” “Contests?” Bright Mac asked. “You mean other forms of strength, right?” Bow Hot added. “Kinda. But also speed, endurance, and… other things needed for athletes.” The two looked at the scrawny stallion before turning to each other. “How about it?” Bright Mac asked with a smug. “Care to lose at some contests?” “Oh, I’m gonna win them all,” Bow replied with a smug himself. “I’m going to become… the Iron Pony!” “Ooh! I like that name!” Another stallion spoke. They turned to see another large stallion with a light gray coat with a brown mane that had a bit of a mustache growing. “And who are you?” Bow Hot asked. “Name’s Hondo Flanks. I’m the local coach to this here town’s junior Hoofball team. Since I got nothing else for a while, I can look over this here competition you two want to do.” “...Really?” Bright Mac asked. “You’d do that? “Of course. And I can get Cookie Crumble to get the snacks ready, though, it’s probaby going to take her a while, probably a week.” “A week’s good enough for me.” Bow HotHoof replied, turning to Bright Mac “Think you can make it back here, mister? Or will you be too much of a cheater to arrive?” “As I said, sir,” Bright Mac replied. “I ain’t a cheater, and I will be back, unless your head’s in the clouds.” “Oh, them’s fighting words!” The blue unicorn stallion pulled Bow Hot hoof away. “Now, now,” he spoke “let’s not get ahead of ourselves, sir.” “And who are you?” “Nightlight. I’m a bit of a personal trainer, actually, and I was betting for you to win during your leg wrestling streak.” “... So you think he cheated?” “Oh yeah, but that’s not the point. The point is that you need to be ready for this iron pony competition to beat him!” “Hm, I couldn’t agree more. When do we start?” “Now!” “Now?” “Now. Come with me.” The 2 stallions, and Windy Whistles followed. “Will you be ready by then, Sir Bright Mac?” Igneous asked, watching the trio walk away. “Oh, I will be.” Bright Mac answered “Just gotta do mah chores and exercise harder.” “Say, you said you were a rock farmer, right?” Pear Butter asked. “Uh, yes, I am.” Igneous replied. “Care to show my dear Brighty a few tips and tricks from your time… harvesting rocks?” “... As long as my family doesn’t find out, I can.” “Well, that sounds alright by me.” Bright Mac spoke, patting Igneous Rock on the back. “Sounds like you and I are along to get along just fine.” The other trio began to walk away. Hondo Flanks and other pegasus stallion stood and watched the crowd depart. “So,” Hono began. “You open to help out, Cumulus?” “Uh... I should be.” The pegasus replied. “But we’re probably going to need some help.” “Cookies are baked in a moderate oven at around 350 degrees Farenheit-175 degrees Celcius for 8 to 12 minutes.” Twilight Velvet spoke. They turned to see her still reading the same book. “You’re welcome, I’m here everyday.” She walked off. “Uh… I guess we should do that.” Cumulus spoke. “Agreed. I’ll tell Cookie about that.” Hondo added. “But, it was nice seeing you again. Say, did you find a special somepony yet?” “Um… no, not yet. But, I think I’ll find her sooner than later.” “You always say that.” Hondo walked to Sugar Cube corner as Cumulus flew away. In a bush, a yellow pegasus mare with a velvet mane & tail and large, green glasses watched him fly away. “Oh, Vipassana, you did it again.” She spoke to herself. “You’re such a coward.” “Can we go now?” A grey mare with a darker shade mane & tail spoke. “You promised me a tour of the town, not a visit to your stalker house.” “Oh, I’m sorry, Cloudy, I just got caught up.” “I bet you are.” She grumbled to herself. “Parents wanting me to get out of the city for this… everything’s so BORING here!” Iron Pony/PoniesA set of challenges was made using whatever Hondo Flanks, Cookie Crumble, and anypony who wished to donate some things for a new, kinda small but still large competition, if that made any sense. During the week, both sides prepared for the various events that may be present. Twilight Velvet was on Bow HotHoof’s tail for the majority of the training, using the cheapest equipment and using them to the nth degree. Were it not for Bow wanting to win and beat his ‘cheater’, the first day of exercising would’ve been his last day. Meanwhile, Bright Mac’s did his chores, which doubled as his exercises, gave Igneous Rock a tour of the farm, and did his best to get ready for the competition. Igneous Rock helped Bright Mac out by serving him some of his family’s recipes, all involving rocks… which didn’t suit well for Bright Mac, for chewing, indigestion, and… well, we’ll leave that one out. Point is, it wasn’t that pleasant. The day had arrived, and both competitors were ready for the series of challenges. “Go Bowie!” Windy Whistles cheered for her boyfriend in her outfit. “Show him what you’re made of of!” “Go Macie!” Pear Butter cheered, also wearing a cheerleader outfit. “Do your best!” “Really? That’s what you’re going with?” “Well, of course. He’s still a winner to my eyes.” “Until he’s a loser, that is.” The mares stared down at each other with fire in their eyes. Both Bright Mac and Bow Hot Hoof stared down at each other, just a few feet away from each other. Hondo Flanks stood next to the two, blowing a whistle and getting their attention. “Alright you two,” he began. “I want a clean match. No cheating is allowed, whatsoever. I have a series of challenges you’ll both need to complete with a minute water break between them all. But, let’s try to have some fun, alright?” “Oh, I will,” Bow replied. “I’m going to enjoy making him eat dirt!” “Well, I apologize in advance,” Bright Mac replied. “I already ate rocks, and I’m more than ready to win this here Iron Pony.” “Alright, let’s see how you do in these contests.” Hondo Flanks spoke before whistling. Well, as you can expect, a montage came afterwards, showing the various competitions, from the most pushups, Barrel hurdling, bucking something the hardest, wrangling, balancing, ECT. During this time, many ponies came along to see what was going on, forming a crowd, each pony rooting for their preferred Stallion. Amongst the crowd, Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz looked at the competition, both with somewhat confused on their faces. “Is this some sort of fest?” Cloudy asked. “I don’t know.” Vipassana replied. “What’s going on?” “Bow Hot Hoof and Bright Mac are having themselves an ‘Iron Pony’ competition.” Twilight Velvet answered in a monotone voice. Both mares turned to see her reading a book about the pony mind. “They’re seeing who’s the best and everypony is putting bets on who will win in certain competitions and the whole thing in general.” “Oh… that’s what this is about?” “Yep. And Cumulus is over in that booth with Cookie Crumble.” Vipassana blushed hard. “W-wha-!? I didn’t-” “Keep telling yourself that.” And just like that, Twilight walked away, still reading her book. “... I like her.” Cloudy said with a smile. “You gonna go ask your special somepony out?” “Uh… I… uhh…” The mare stuttered. Inside a booth, Cookie Crumble and Cumulus baked away the various cookies they were selling to the customers outside at a steady pace that wouldn’t make a mess. “Your baking has gotten much better since the last time we’ve meet.” Cumulus commented, trying a cookie for himself. “Aww, why thank you.” Cookie replied, pulling a fresh batch out of an oven before putting a new one in. “I had some help from Chiffon Swirl and Carrot Cake when I was testing out some new recipes. Who know Pear Cookies could taste so great?” “I’m certain there’s going to be recipies considered strange, but can work.” “Oh, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Outside, Cloudy and Vipassana listened in. “Seems he found his special Somepony.” Cloudy replied. “No they haven’t!” Vipassana replied. “They’re… just friends. Yeah, just friends.” “Keep telling yourself that.” “Come on Bowie, show us what you got!” Windy cheered, shaking the pom poms in her hooves. “Come on Bowie, show them that you’re hot!” Pear Butter rolled her eyes and took out her pom poms. “Come on Mac, give him a whack! Lead that loser into the old shack!” “Hey! My Bowie is not a loser! That’s your boyfriend.” “Excuse me!? My Macie is NOT a loser! He’s a hard working, honest farmer like me, something that your Flat Hoof doesn’t have.” “Oh! You’re gonna eat those words!” Both mares growled at each other fiercely with fire in their eyes. Bright Mac and Bow HotHoof growled at each other as they pulled the rope in their tug of war. Surprisingly, it was a tie between the two, evenly matched, and this was both the final competition and tie breaker. On the sides, Igneous Rock and Night Light sweated hard. “Come on, Bright Mac!” Igneous Rock yelled. “Thy spirit of Holder’s Boulder is with thee!” “Pull, Hot stuff!” Night Light screamed. “Our bits are on the line here!” Right behind them, the crowd of ponies cheered, evenly divided with half cheering “Bright Mac” and the other have cheering “HotHoof”. Hondo Flanks watched both of them, seeing just how an inch of the rope’s flag in the middle was constantly moving from one side to the other, with both stallions sweating their heads off. A shadow overhead wouldn’t make anypony worried, probably liked as a cool off, but a gust of wind followed it, catching all their attention. Twilight Velvet looked up from her book below the bleachers, feeling the gust of wind. “... Did somepony run past me?” She asked to no one. Both Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz hugged each other in fear. “I-Is this n-n-normal?” Cloudy asked past her chattering teeth. “N-No.” Vipassana replied. Inside the stall, both Cookie Crumble and Cumulus looked around with their waiting customers. “... Sorry, we’re closed.” Cookie said, closing the stall. Cumulus turned off the ovens and packed all the cookies they had with in some boxes. The two left out of the back, looking to see what was overhead them. Everypony around looked to the sky, unsure what happened. Both Bright Mac and Bow HotHoof looked around, unsure as to what just flew above them all. Their coaches, personal cheerleader, and the referee stood by the two stallions, looking around in fear. “... Please tell me this is a cheat you did.” Bow Hot said. “If I did, I would’ve pulled the rope.” Bright Mac replied. The sound of loud flapping, with heavy winds blowing, made the two turn to a silhouette of a figure in the nearby trees… a gigantic figure. It approached to the gather, each step shaking the floor under its weight. Without a word, 2 and 2 were put together, with the reveal that the being was a dragon! The dragon itself was a male, told by how bulky he looked, with dark red scales all over his body with a dark orange tint to his wings, small brown scales protruding out of his back, and a prong-like tip at the end of his tail. Only the wind blew as the ponies and the single dragon stared down at each other. “... Boo.” The Dragon spoke in a low tone. Bow HotHoof let out a feminine scream, running away, followed by everypony running around, causing a panic. The dragon let out a bellow of a chuckle, taking a deep breath, and unleashing a tsunami of fire at everyone. The group of ponies ducked behind a boulder, feeling the heat, but didn’t burn, albeit, only the tips of their tails, manes, and Bright Mac & Ingeous Rock’s hats. “What’s a dragon doing here!?” Igneous asked, batting the fire off his hat. “Don’t they live in their own land!” “Most of them,” Night Light answered. “But some live in areas far away from civilizations. I guess he’s here to be a jerk.” “Well I don’t need some jerk burning down our crops.” Bright Mac spoke, turning to see the dragon burning some trees down. “Oh shoot! We gotta stop him!” “How?” Pear Butter asked. “He’s huge!” “Hmm…” Bright Mac looked around, seeing past the panicking crowd, the cookie stall unfazed. “I think I have an idea, but we need everypony.” “Oh please, anything will do!” Windy Whistles begged. “Yeah, but we need your boyfriend.” Twilight Velvet rushed through the crowd and jumped behind the cookie stand, with Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz. “I don’t wanna die!!!” Cloudy cried. “I wanna live!!!” “Uhh… I think we can hide.” Vipassana replied, trying to stay calm. “If it’s correct, there’s some flowers nearby where we can-” “Flowers!? REALLY!?” Twilight Velvet yelled in complete panic “How are some flowers going to protect us from a freaking dragon!?” “Um… well, you see, they… well… they have a little something special about them.” Windy Whistles landed right in front of his house at Cloudsdale. It didn’t stick out like the other cloud homes, with only real difference being the front mat saying “Bow “The Champion” HotHoof”. She knocked on his door. “Bowie?” She spoke. “Come on out, please.” “No! Leave me alone.” Bow replied behind the door. “Bowie, come on out, we need to save Ponyville!” “And save that cheater? The pony who humiliated me in the first place? No thanks.” “Bowie! You come out this instant, mister!” “Oh yeah? Give me one reason why I should help him?” Windy tapped her hoof on her chin. “Hm… oh, I don’t know, become a hero, and perhaps upstage Bright Mac?” Silence fell. The door opened with Bow walking out, holding a Hoofball helmet under his right wing. “What do we have to do?” Bright Mac, Pear Butter, Nightlight, Igneous rock, and Hondo Flanks ran to the cookie stand, with Pear, Night, and Igneous running inside the stand. Cumulus ran back inside, but was surprised to see the three ponies taking all of the cookies. “W-what are you doing!?” He asked in shock. “You can’t do that! Stealing is wrong!” Cookie Crumble came back, seeing what was happening. “What’s going on!?” She asked. “Don’t worry,” Hondo replied. “It may look bad, but we’re just using this to lure the dragon away.” “With my wagon!?” “We’re sorry, miss,” Bright Mac apologized. “We can help pay for a new one later, but right now, we need to work together to get this here dragon away from these folks. Care to join us?” Cookie Crumble looked at what they were doing, then back to the dragon, seeing it chase burn down some more buildings. “... Y-yeah. We should do this. ...What are we going to do?” Twilight Velvet, Vipassana, and Cloudy Quartz walked into the Everfree forest. “Now, the flowers here are blue and are in clusters.” Vipassana informed them. “We can’t touch them, or else we’ll be… well… affected by it.” “And you’re seriously planning to put these in your crush’s cookies?” Cloudy asked. “Only for the dragon. We just at least-” Twilight’s horn glowed as she took a huge chunk of the blue flowers. “There! Let’s go!” She ran back to the wagon with the flowers in her magic. “Wait! Come back!” Vipassana yelled. “That’s too much!” All three mares ran back to the carnage. Pear Butter, Night Light, Igneous Rock, Cumulus, and Cookie Crumble baked away as fast as they can as Bright Mac and Hondo Flanks strapped themselves to pull the cart. Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles flew overhead, stopping in front of the two strapped in stallions. “Alright, what’s the plan?” Bow asked. “‘Bout Time ya’ll got here!” Bright Mac replied. “Quick! Strap yourself in! When I give the signal, all 3 of us pull hard! We’re gonna lure this dragon away and into Ghastly Gorge!” “Ghastly gorge?” “Just strap in, ok?” “And what about me?” Windy Whistles asked?” “Easy. You and the other pegasi will-” “GANG WAY!!!” Twilight Velvet yelled, running into the wagon, making the wagon bounce. The bounce made the wagon’s windows open, and an overwhelming aroma of cookies filled the sky. The dragon stopped and sniffed the air, turning to the wagon. “Mmm… cookies…” He spoke, stomping towards them. “Oh shoot!” Bright Mac yelled. “GO GO GO!!!” “I hope this works.” Hondo Flanks added as both stallions began to run, making everyone inside hurl back, touched by the flowers. Vipassana and Cloudy Quarts only saw Twilight enter and the wagon moving, which was chased by the dragon. “... Please tell me you know a way to cure them.” Cloudy spoke with wide eyes. “I do.” Vipassana replied before running after the dragon. The chase made all 3 large stallions sweat hard, even if Bow flew in the air and pulled. All 3 pulled the wagon through the fields of ponyville with the dragon right behind them, and all ponies inside screaming their heads off, trying desperately to keep their footing inside the bouncing wagon. With a hop, they all jumped out of the moving wagon, rolling on the floor a bit roughly, but were glad to make it out. Cumulus flapped his wings and followed them, followed by Windy Whistles, and Vipassana followed. The rest got up and ran after them, hoping they would be alright. Bright Mac, Hondo Flanks, and Bow Hot Hoof ran near the edge that lead to Ghastly Gorge. “Alright everypony!” Bright Mac yelled. “Unstrap yourself!” “Unstrap!?” Bow yelled. “Just do it!” It didn’t take long for all three to unstrap themselves. “JUMP!!!” Bright Mac and Hondo jumped out of the way, with Bow flying upwards. The dragon jumped after the carriage, practically chomping down on it with one bite… right before crashing to the floor below, making a small earthquake. It made Bright Mac and Hondo Flanks jump, but they still stood. Eventually, everyone else came to them. Pear Butter was the first to jump and hug onto Bright Mac. “You did it!” She cheered. “You saved our barns!” Windy Whistles flew and hugged into Bow Hot Hoof. “I told you that you can do it!” She cheered. “Heh, I guess I did!” Bow shouted. “I’m awesome!!!” “And Hondo!” Cookie crumble shouted, running to Hondo Flanks. Her smile turned into a frown. “You owe me a new wagon!” “... Right.” Hondo said with a sigh. “Anypony willing to pitch in?” The floor shook as the sky darkened. They all turned around to see the dragon was above them, with a large bump on it’s head. “Oh… you’re all so dead!” The dragon growled. Everyone panicked and huddled together in a group. “I-is this where it all ends!?” Cumulus asked, shaking like a leaf. “Cumulus!” Vipassana spoke. “Before we go, I’ve always wanted to say, that I really-” The dragon let out a huge roar and opened it’s maw, letting out a tsunami of flames. Everypony screamed their heads off, ready for the pain… only to feel nothing. “What the-!?” The dragon yelled. This caused everyone to open up their eyes. All around them were feathers, more specifically, chicken feathers. The dragon roared and fired another blast of fire at them, only to blow out more chicken feathers from it’s maw. It had a look of fear. “Oh no! Th-This can’t be happening! I’m a dragon! A feared monster! A-” “A huge chicken!” Bow yelled. “Hear that! He’s a huge chicken!” Everyone began to laugh with him. “N-No! I’m not a chicken! I’m-” “A chicken!” Windy added, followed by her imitating a chicken. “No! Shut up! I’m not a-” His words were muffled as everypony, but one, began to act like a chicken, looking quite childish. The dragon let out a loud huff and flew away. “... Were we too mean?” Cloudy Quartz asked. “I don’t know, all I do hope is that that dragon goes away!” Nightlight added. “Agreed.” Igneous added. “But what happened? Why did it spew chicken feathers instead of fire.” “Uh… I know, and I think we’re all affected by it.” Vipassana spoke. Everyone turned to her. “What did you do?” Hondo asked. “It wasn’t me. It was her!” She pointed to Twilight Velvet. “What!?” She asked. “It was a dragon! We needed all we could get!” “Yes, but now you’re all affected by it.” “What do you-” She sneezed and out came some snakes. “AHH!!! SNAKES!!!” “What the hay!?” Bright Mac yelled. “How did that-!?” “It’s Poison Joke.” Vipassana spoke. “Everyone inside of the wagon is now affected by it! Something strange is going to happen to you all.” “Tell me about it.” Pear Butter Spoke. Everyone turned, only to see that, besides her face, her entire body is a giant ball of fluff. “I can’t move my legs!” Cookie Crumbles’ mane began to chip away, similar to a cookie. “My mane!” She screamed. Cumulus’ face was turned upside down. “Wait, why’s everypony a bat?” Nightlight’s coat began to glow. “Hey! I said I’m bright, but not literally!” And finally, Igneous Rock’s coat was now just made of stone. “What the-!? Holder’s boulder would not tolerate this!” “Oh, is there a cure for this!?” Pear butter asked. “Yes,” Vipassana replied. “Please, follow me.” “... Uh… a little help?” “Same here.” Igneous added. Bright Mac lifted Pear butter as everypony else rolled Igneous rock across the floor, with Twilight Velevet in the back, sneezing more snakes along the way. “You know,” Bow spoke. “Call me crazy, but I think our time together will be amazing!” "And that's how it all began!?" Twilight asked. "Why I... I can't... what!?" "I know, it's a lot to take in." Her mom replied. "It was a bit messy, and we weren't exactly the same ponies you see today, but I assure you, there's more here." "... So..." Rainbow spoke. "Have anymore awesome stories to tell!?" "Plenty!" Bow answered. "But not at the moment, you have yourselves a party to attend to, right?" Windy Whistles asked. "Shoot! The party!" Pinkie gasped. She gave her parents a kiss on their foreheads. "I'll be sure to visit more and hear these stories, mom and dad!" Pinkie dissapeared in a puff of smoke. The rest of Pinkie's friends followed, but AJ stopped, seeing all her friends' parents. "Is it alright if Ah hop along?" She asked, holding back her tears. "Ah'd like to hear more 'bout mah parents." "Oh, we will when you're around." Cumulus spoke. "Be strong, like your father, for everyone... if you want." Applejack took in a deep breath and followed her friends. Author's Note More stories will come along. Maybe not immediately, but they'll come. Getting to know each other.Down in in Sweet Apple Acres, Bright Mac and Igneous Rock tended to the orchards. With a swift kick with only his back left leg, all the apples fell for Bright Mac. Igneous Rock, on the other hand, bucked his tree multiple times, with very little apples falling. The rock farmer glared at the tree and grumbled to himself. “Ya’ll alright?” Bright Mac asked. “Yes, I am.” Igneous replied. “I just need to get these Celestia forsaken apples off this tree or-!” “Settle down there. Here, let me help.” Bright Mac simply walked to the tree and delivered a light kick to it, making all the apples fall down. “There ya go. No need to get so worked up now.” “Right…” Igneous took a deep breath as he walked to the next tree. Bright Mac followed. “Something on your mind?” “No no, just need to work.” “... Well, I know work’s good for you, but ya’ll can talk to me ‘bout whatever’s on yer mind.” “... It’s been a week, and I already miss my home.” “Ah. Homesickness. It’s ok to feel that. Miss your ma and pa?” “Yes, even if they’re not as… inviting, as your homestead.” Bright Mac gave a curious look. “What does that mean?” “Family traditions. You wouldn't exactly understand them.” “Oh, I get that, but I mean mah family’s inviting?” “... You hate somepony?” “Well…” The sound of somepony humming broke the silence. Walking into view was Pear Butter, with a basket of pears, occupied by a middle aged, tan coated stallion with small, brown curly mane & tail. Said stallion turned to Bright Mac and gave a death glare to Bright Mac. “Just what are you two doing?” He asked with some venom in his voice. “Just working, Grand Pear, sir.” Bright Mac answered. “We’ll be out of your hairs in a few moments.” “Better make it sooner! I’ve seen you eyeing my daughter! Don’t get any ideas.” “I won’t, sir.” He turned around and walked away. Igneous followed. “What was that about?” He asked. “Just our families, the apples and the pears, we’re rivals to the core. Ah think it’s because of our preferences, but this has gotten quite out of hoof!” “But… You and that mare… You both seem to be good friends with each other.” “Oh yeah, Buttercup and I go way back.” He smiled with a goofy grin, almost enchanted by the memories. Igneous noticed. “Oh! Forbidden love.” “... What?” “Two households, both alike in dignity. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hooves unclean.” “... Again, what?” Igneous groaned. “You can’t be with your love your families forbade it.” “Oh… yeah, that’s it.” “But you both do it anyways, because you both love each other?” “What can I say? We just connected.” “... Right… yes… Hmm… you know, if you need, I can help in this here endeavor of yours.” “Wait, you will!?” “Of course. I have no quarrel with them, and I’m not a member of your family, so I can help.” “Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyes!!!” Bright Mac hopped around like a colt who first ate sugar, dropping his hard earned apples, and crushing a few under his weight. “... Right after we clean up first.” After a clean up, and getting some more apples, Igneous headed to the Pear’s family barn. One thing he noticed was how the trees were shaped like pears, untike the apple shaped apple trees, though, besides the obvious fruit differences, and the color green was more present, both looked quite similar to each other. He delivered a few knocks to the door. “I’mma coming!” Grand Pear’s voice announced, rather cheerfully. The door opened and Grand Pear stood. “Well, welcome to Candied Pear-” He stopped and looked at Igneous. “Hold on… weren’t you with that darn apple family?” “Uh… I-I was, sir.” “Give me a good reason for not kicking you out.” “... I’m not a member of the apple family.” “That’s one.” “And… I’m only temporarily working with them. I’m actually a rock farmer and-” “Wait, a rock farmer!?” “Yes, I know, it’s kinda weird, but-” “Oh no! Not at all! I actually need help with a few rocks in the Southern Orchard. If you can help me with those rocks, I’ll pay you… 20 bits for each boulder.” “Oh! Th-that much!? Uh… where’s the Southern Orchard?” “Follow me, I’ll get the necessary tools. Pear Butter will be there to help… just don’t get any ideas!” “I won’t, sir. Only Holder’s Boulder will decide whom I shall go with.” “Holder’s Boul-?” Grand pear shook his head. “No, no, if it’s going to control you, then I’ll allow it. But if you make a move on my daughter, you’ll be too late to regret it.” “I promise you, I have no intentions.” “You better keep that promise. Now come along.” Igneous followed Grand Pear down into the orchards. He noticed how the other pear family members plucked the pears down rather than how the Apples buck their trees. It seemed to be more around his alley, but he digressed and continued following Grand Pear. After some walking, they looked down a ditch to see a few dozen boulders, all varying in size, but were about the size of a pony. Pear Butter and a few other ponies struggled to pull a single boulder along. “As you can see,” Grand Pear spoke “We’ve been trying to move these boulders away so we can plant a few more trees around. If you can help us move these boulders, or break them, I’ll be very much appreciated.” “Hmm…” Igneous thought. “We’re probably going to need a pickaxe for this. You wouldn’t happen to have any on your farm, would you?” “Hmm… we should. Give me a minute. Get to know the family a bit while I’m gone.” Grand Pear turned and walked away. Igneous hopped into the ditch and, while he did get to know the other farmers, he made his way towards Pear Butter. “Here by Bright Mac’s request?” She whispered to him. “Erm… yes.” “How sweet. For both of you, really.” “Why thank you. I just hope your father doesn’t-” “Found some pickaxes!” Grand Pear announced, walking in with a few pickaxes on a wagon strapped onto his back. “And I brought a wagon, just in case.” “Thank you, sir.” Igneous spoke, walking to Grand Pear and taking a pickaxe from the wagon. “Yes, these will do just fine.” “Everypony, get yourselves a pickaxe! Start digging away.” A good half of the pear family members, excluding Pear Butter, got themselves a pickaxe and began to pick away a boulder, reducing it to rubble, with the other half loading the rubble onto the wagon. However, the thing that caught them was inside the boulders were some gems, something that everyone agreed would make a nice bunch of bits for the farm. “I can take it to the jewelry store, Pa!” Pear Butter spoke. “Absolutely not!” Grand Pear snapped. “I don’t want you going with that Apple!” “Then let me go, sir.” Igneous spoke. “I worked for my pay, and I don’t want to start a quarrel with you by stealing your new bits.” “... So you’ll take these gems to the jewelry store?” “Yes.” “Hmm… well, with your work ethic, I can trust you. And, being a rock farmer, perhaps you can, maybe, get a few more bits?” “I can try, sir. I just have one question.” “Yes?” “Where’s the jewelry store?” “... Can anypony-?” All of the other pear farmers left, leaving only Pear Butter. “... Ugh! Pear Butter?” “Ah can, Pa!” Pear Butter hopped over to Igneous and strapped him and herself to the wagon. “Let’s go, Iggy!” “It’s Igneous.” Igneous replied. They two walked out of the farm, with Grand Pear giving a suspicious look to her daughter. “So, what do you think?” Pear Butter asked as they walked across town. “This town?” Igneous asked. “It’s… nice. I kinda wish I had a proper tour before, but-” “No, not the town, about my farm and pa!” “Oh… well, I can say, it’s kinda different from the apple family… kinda… and your father… he’s not too different from my father.” “Really? How so?” “He seems strict, but he has his reasons. With me, it’s more about traditions, and with you, you’re his only daughter, right?” “Well… yeah, but I’m not a filly anymore! I’m almost an adult! I can choose what I want to do!” “Like hang out with Bright Mac?” “Yeah!” “... What do you see in Bright Mac, exactly? I am quite curious.” “Oh, you know, we just… connected.” Pear butter made the same goofy smile Bright Mac made. Igneous just rolled his eyes. “To each their own, I suppose. Have you decided to do anything special?” “Special? Like... a date?” “... Maybe.” “Uh… I’m not really sure, actually. What, with mah pa and all.” “Well, whatever happens, there’s no doubt that you two will still have a strong bond like Holder’s Boulder.” “I… have no idea what that is, but I’ll take it as a compliment.” She looked ahead. “Oh! There’s the jewelry store! Time to work your magic.” “Yes. If it works, that is.” With a simple unstrapping, and taking the largest of the gemstones out. Inside was a surprise for both; Cloudy Quartz stood behind the counter, wearing some strange glasses, looking at some gems. “Hmm… yes,” she spoke to herself. “Black Opal, ma’am!” “Correct!” Another mare’s voice spoke from the back “You have what it takes to be my assistant!” “Yes!” She turned to the two. “Oh! Uh, customers here!” “Busy at the moment! Chat with them!” “Uh… ok!” She cleared her throat and turned to them. “Uh, hi, I’m Cloudy Quartz, and-” “We remember, don’t worry.” Pear Butter spoke “Was wondering where you left after that crashed Iron Pony competition.” “... Wait! Oh, now I remember! You helped out with the baking of those cookies! Oh, I am so sorry for what happened!” “It’s alright.” Igneous spoke, putting up the raw gemstone. “We found these and wonder if we can trade these for some bits.” “Oh… uh… Do we accept new gems!?” “Yeah!” Her boss yelled. “Look at what it is, and that chart next to it!” “Alright! Ahem, can I see the gemstone?” Igneous carefully placed the gemstone on the scale. Cloudy Quartz examined the gemstone with her glasses. “Hmm… yes… I see this is actually alexandrite! And it’s about…” She looked at a list next to her. “Hmm… 50 bits per pound.” “Well, we have more.” Pear Butter spoke. “And if I know my minerals right,” Igneous added “It is exceptionally rare and valuable, as it can change color depending on it’s location. Am I not right?” Cloudy looked at him, but smiled. “You’re right, sir.” She looked around and leaned in, whispering to them. “I’ll give you an extra 10% total.” “Pleasure doing business with you!” Pear Butter spoke, walking out and bringing in the other chunk of gemstones. Cloudy Quartz saw this and nervously chuckled. “Uh… I might need to get rid of the excess rocks… for better quality, of course.” After an hour or two of getting rid of excess rocks on the gemstones, Igneous and Pear Butter walked out with some large bagfuls of bits. “You know, I’m quite surprised about her.” Igneous spoke. “Surprised? How?” “I’ve seen her as a city pony, never one to study gems or minerals.” “Well… maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its front cover.” “Hmm… I think I should.” “Yeah… wanna see the rest of town!?” “But… shouldn’t we be-?” “Mah pa can wait. That Cloudy fellow was pretty fast compared to the owner, Gold Digger.” “... Well.. shouldn’t we be back before-?” “We have as much time as we need! Besides, I gotta check with Chiffon Swirl to see how her baking’s doing.” “And the bits?” “We’re in a small town. Everypony practically knows each other here! Nopony’s gonna want to steal, and if they try… I think we can take ‘em on. Now come on.” “Er… if you say so.” Igneous walked with Pear Butter to the building that looked like a life size version of a gingerbread house. The overwhelming smell of freshly baked goods assaulted their nostrils, making them feel hungry almost immediately. Inside, while a few ponies were around, having some sort of baked good, behind the counter was a plump, blue, earth pony mare with a mane that had pigtails, but looked like frosting on a cupcake. “Oh, well butter up my biscuits, you’re here!” The pony behind the counter spoke, noticing Pear Butter, then seeing Igneous Rock. “Ooh! You brought a friend as well?” “Yep. Came to check on your work, Swirly.” Pear Butter spoke. “How’s your baking coming along?” Chiffon quickly ran to the kitchen, and back with a simple looking cake that had some sliced bits of pears on the sides, most looking evenly cut. “This is what I was able to come up with. Not exactly the best looking, but it’s a work in progress.” “Oh, you don’t have to worry, Chiffon. You should try her cake, Iggy!” “It’s Igneous.” Igneous spoke, walking to her side. “And, I would like a sample, Ms. Swirl.” Chiffon smiled as she sliced a piece off and gave it to Igneous on a small plate. Pear followed, getting her own piece. They both took a bite. “Mmm! This is delicious! Did you add any ingredient in there?” “Uh, no,” Chiffon replied with a blush. “I had help, actually.” Walking out of the doors behind was Cookie Crumble, covered in baking powder, almost looking like a ghost. “Ugh… it happened again!” She spoke, rubbing the powder off of her face with a towel. “Oh no! What happened?” Pear Butter spoke with concern. “It’s Hondo Flanks’ Junior Hoofball team! Their ball landed through the window again!” “Oh, please don’t be mad at them.” Chiffon spoke, comforting Cookie. “They’re just practicing.” “I know, but Hondo needs to take them somewhere else! I can’t clean the kitchen and remake all the baked goods from scratch!” “How about Iggy and I solve this problem?” Pear Butter spoke. “Igneous.” Igneous corrected, sounded a bit annoyed, but enjoyed his piece of cake. “You can do that?” Chiffon asked. “Aww, why thank you, Pear Butter! You really are a great friend!” “I do what I can for my friends.” The two hugged right before Pear Butter ran out. Igneous followed her. Right around the corner, they bumped into the stallion, wearing a coach outfit. “Oh, sorry about that.” He spoke. “Little Puck had another accident and I need to-” “We know.” Igneous interrupted. “And we’ve accepted a request from Chiffon Swirl.” “Sorry, but ya’ll can’t be practicin’ around here.” Pear Butter added. “Uh… well, we know that, but we don’t have anywhere else to go.” Hondo replied, turning and walking, followed by the two earth ponies. “We’ve been trying to find a new place to practice at, but this is the only place where we can effectively do our training.” “Have you ever thought of practicing in the park?” Igneous asked. “I’ve had, but usually, Bow Hot Hoof’s there.” “Him? Why?” Pear Butter asked. “I mean, what’s he doing?” “Training for his chance to be in Cloudsdale’s Hoofball league themselves, The Thunderbirds.” “The Thunderbirds?” Igneous asked. “They’re considered the one of the best hoofball teams in all of Equestria. They won 9 Power Bowls in a row, and are trying to get their tenth victory against Fillydelphia’s Falcons, who hold the 9 Power Bowls won in a row.” “... And why is Bow holding your foals back?” “He wants to be the best, and he requires everyone to leave his personal space.” “But can’t he do that in Cloudsdale?” Pear Butter asked. “He says it wouldn’t give him the authentic feel of being tackled and hitting the floor if there’s clouds and not the floor.” “I think we need to talk to him about who own what.” “Same, but how?” Both Pear Butter and Hondo thought about this. “... Why not visit the mayor’s office?” Igneous suggested. “Surely, she, or someone else, might know who owns what.” “That’s… a good point.” Pear spoke, turning to Hondo. “Care to join us?” “Oh, I would,” Hondo replied “But somepony needs to keep an eye on these foals. Don’t want them running around and causing some havoc now, do we?” As he said that, a window broke with the foals cheering. “Oh no, Field Goal! No! We don’t do that!” He ran to his team. “Looks like we have to solve this. C’mon, it’s not too far!” “But… our bits?” Igneous asked, turning and pointing to their wagon filled with their bags of bits. “Chiffon Swirl own this place. She can look out for it for a while. Now come on, we don’t want another window to be shattered, do we?” Igneous sighed and followed Pear Butter through. “There we go, there’s the last of the files.” Nightlight said, putting a folder away in one of the cabinets. Standing next to him was Secretary Mare, a light amber mare with a pink mane & tail, wearing a matching pink scarf. “Why, that’s the best organization I’ve seen since our last organizer!” She exclaimed, looking through some of the files. “Completely organized! No files lost!” “Eh, it’s what I do. Just simply, organize the races first, then gender, all in alphabetical order with their last name first, and the rest is a cakewalk.” “Hmm… would you like a job here, Mr. Light?” “Well… I don’t know... “ “You can live here.” “Ooh! Sold!” The doors opened as Igneous Rock and Pear Butter walked in. “Secretary mare!” Pear Butter spoke. “Sorry if we’re interrupting anything, but is the mayor around?” “Oh, I’m sorry,” she replied “But Mayor Shire’s out on vacation. I bet I can help. What did you need?” “Well, we’re trying to discuss on who owns Ponyville’s park, and if Hondo Flank’s team can practice over there instead of Bow Hot Hoof.” “Oh… well, is Bow Hot Hoof alone?” “Uh… well…” “He has company.” The voice of Twilight Velvet spoke, making everyone jump. Sitting in a nearby corner, reading a book around landscaping, Twilght Velvet sat, idly sipping from a canteen. “Some of his friends from Senior flight camp are with him, becoming other Hoofball team members themselves.” “... And how do you know this?” Secretary mare asked. “I’m a librarian. I see everything from my windows.” “... Well… it’s hard to say…” “Found it!” Nightlight spoke, finding the files almost immediately. “Let’s see here.” He skimmed through the files. “Ah! According to the files… Ponyville’s park belongs to Celestia’s Botanical Garden Divison… so, Celestia owns it, but one of the members lives here.” “Oh? And who’s that?” “Somepony named… Vipassana.” “And where is she at?” Igneous asked. “She’s in the park in her hiding spot in the middle of the park, stalking Cumulus.” Twilight Velvet answered, still reading her book. “And if you ask me, you should make a field around Ponyville other than trees. It’ll help make the town stick out more than be covered by trees, and provide more materials needed for future projects.” “... And since when did you become an expert at architecture?” Nightlight asked. “Since I finished this book, so, now.” She shut her book. “Uh… thanks.” Pear Butter replied. “And that doesn’t sound too bad of an idea, actually. Might get some more folks here.” “And not be close to the monsters.” “Monsters!?” Igneous asked in shock. “They’re local to the everfree forest.” Secretary mare spoke. “Did you now know that?” “No!” Vipsanna looked through her telescope, seeing Cumulus in Cloudsdale, working hard with a hard hat, taking a small bit of cloud in one of his personal jars. “I would love to see your cloud collection.” She spoke to herself. “Your cloud and my flower collection can go hoof in hoof.” She began to daydream about him, imagining him with his hair finally flowing in the wind, giving him his pretty boy eyes, with some foreign music she remembered from her Foalhood “Go long!” The voice of Bow Hot Hoof interrupted, followed by some cheering from Windy Whistles. “Go Go Bowie, if you can’t do it, then no one can!” Vipsanna sighed as her dreams were shattered as Bow Hot Hoof and many of his other Cloudsdale friends were playing Hoofball with each other. “Excuse me?” Pear Butter spoke, making Vipsanna jump. “I-I wasn’t doing anything!” She screamed, before turning to them. “Oh… uh… s-sorry about that. I don't get much visitors to my office.” “... This is a bush.” Igneous spoke. “... A bush can be an office.” “... Right…” Pear Butter replied. “Listen, we just came from the mayor’s office, and we learned how you’re in charge of Ponyville’s park. We need to know who owns the right to practice here for their Hoofball team; Bow Hot Hoof and his friends, or Hondo Flanks and his Junior Hoofball team.” “Oh… uh… well, I would prefer Hondo Flanks and his Junior Hoofball team, those cute little foals need all the training they need, but I don’t want to be the cause of some confrontation… oh, I don’t want to decide.” “... Twilight Velvet suggested we cut the trees around here.” Igneous spoke. “Cut the trees!? Here!?” “Nono, those in the Everfree forest.” “But… why?” “To… make a field, as she said. I belive it was to get more needed resources and help this town stick out more.” “... Well… we do need more homes now that I think about it… and most ponies usually pass by us, not seeing it…” “So you’ll help cut the trees!?” Pear Butter asked. “I won’t cut them. I need to send a letter to Celestia, informing her of this action, see if she approves or not.” “... Will there be a problem?” Igneous asked. “No, not at all. She rarely denies requests.” She pulled out a scroll and began to write with an ink & quill she had and began to write away. Much to the earth ponies’ surprise, the words she wrote down dissapeared, and were replaced by others in a different hoofwriting. “What was that?” “Instant writing messages. Let’s see here…” She cleaered her throat. “My dearest subject, I am alright with your proposition. I am sure you’re going to be reasonable, take only what’s needed. I’d like see how the town will change.” “So… a yes?” Pear Butter asked. Vipsanna nodded. “Yes! We did it!” “Well, it’s approved, but I need the bits.” “Bits?” Igneous asked. “But don’t you work for the princess?” “I do, but something like this is going to cost bits, most of which are out of my pockets.” “Hmm… I think I know how to help.” Pear Butter said with a grin. “... Oh no!” Igneous spoke. “What about your father! He’ll surely be-” “I’m pretty sure my pa will understand… besides, if we say it’s from our farm, then ponies will surely buy more of our pears. You gotta spend some bits to earn your bits.” “And… Bright Macintosh?” “He will understand. I want to make mah family proud as he does with his. I ain’t gonna rub it across his face.” “So, you’ll help?” Vipsanna asked. “Oh, definitely! Just follow us, your bits are ready.” It took a few days, but the surrounding forest were chopped down, leaving a more open field around Ponyville. While the trees were cut down, in their place was grass and flowers, with a much more clear road that lead to the town, and into the forest, if anypony dared to, that is. Grand Pear was a bit disappointed at first, but when it word spread hosw the Pears donated their bits to this cause, it was a bit of a hassle as the Pears had to get more pears ready for buying customers. Hondo Flanks, and other ponies, were very pleased to be in the new field, as it was more open with very few trees around for what they wanted to do. Truth be told, now the town was truly able to stick out, no longer surrounded by the everfree forest, with many more ponies visiting the quaint, little village. But in the border of both the Pear and Apple family barns, Bright Mac, Pear Butter, and Igneous Rock built a small shack, with plenty of rocks around it. "Ya'll sure about this?" Bright Mac asked. "Mah family's still got a nice room." "I very much appreciate the offer," Igneous spoke. "but I work for the Pears as well." "But why the rocks, Iggy?" Pear Butter asked. "Igneous. And it's like home in a way." "Let him be, Buttercup," Bright Mac said. "He needs a slice of home. Just glad you had some spare bits and wood to help." Pear Butter giggled. "And I'm glad you had the time and muscles to help." Both stallion and mare smiled at each other, followed by closing their eyes, and perking their lips. Their lips were just inches from each other. "Bright Mac!!!" Granny Smith's voice yelled. "Pear Butter!!! Where are you!?" Grand Pear's voice was followed. "Uh oh! Gotta go!" Bright Mac and Pear Butter said simultaneously, running away. Igneous turned to see them run away, but shrugged and entered his shack. It wasn't impressive to say the least; a bed was in the top right corner, a table with a chair to the left of it, a rack, and a single candle with a book about agriculture. He sighed with a smile, lighting the candle, sitting on his bed, and read to himself as the sun was gone and the moon took it's place. Author's Note Sorry for the wait. This is a more exposition filled chapter, showing what each of them are doing when they're not going to be in a future chapter. And if you have any ideas for future adventures, please, feel free to share them with me. If it's good, I will use it in a future chapter... maybe not immediately, but soon. Get your Head in the Game.In Ponyville’s fields, Hondo Flanks blew into his whistle, getting all of the foals to stop their pushups. They listened, quickly running to him and waited for his announcement. “Alright team,” Hondo spoke. “I know we’ve all done well for the past few seasons. We were really close, but if we train even harder, we should be able to get this year’s Junior Power Bowl Cup. Are we gonna train hard!?” “Yes!” “Are we gonna win!?” “Yes!” “Are we going to lose the Power Bowl!?” “Heck no!” “Alright! Now let’s-” “Gang way!” Bow Hot Hoof’s voice interrupted, followed by the stallion tacking Hondo Flanks, causing both to roll over the ground, but the pegasus got up and held a hoofball. “I got it!” Landing nearby was a group of five other stallions, all pegasi, but varying in size and weight. The tallest was also the skinniest, having a light grey coat with a black mane & tail. The second tallest, just barely taller than Bow, had a red coat with a short, dirty blonde mane & tail. A green coated pony with a somewhat long, wavy yellow mane and tail stood about the same height, but wasn’t as bulky, stood right next to Bow. Next to him, kinda smaller, was a bulky white coated pony with an orange mane & tail that was nearly all shaved off, and wore a green tank top. The smallest, and most athletic looking, almost the size of one of the foals, had a yellow coat with a red mane & tail that looked like it could breeze in the wind. “Nice throw, Rico!” Bow gave a bro hoof to the muscular member in his group. “Very nice at stopping Jules, Dopey!” He gave a playful jab at the tall one. “Jules, gotta work on your speed there.” He noogied the small pegasus. “Glad to see you were at my side, Barricade!” He headbutted the near same size one. “And Connor… you’re still awesome.” He simply nodded. “Uh, excuse me?” Hondo spoke, clearly annoyed, but keeping his temper. “Mr. Bow Hot Hoof? You’re interrupting my team’s practice.” Bow turned to him. “Ah, Hondo! Sorry about that.” He apologized, tossing his hoofball to Rico, who caught it in his hooves. “The boys and I were just doing our own practice session. Get ourselves good so we can join Cloudsdale’s Thunderbirds.” “I see… but I’d rather have my team focused rather than have you and your friends burst in and interrupt OUR training.” “Heh, well that’s cute, Mr. Flanks. You go and do your thing while-” “You’re quite rude.” One of the foals spoke. Bow looked down to see the foals now standing around their coach. “D’aww, look at how adorable you all are! Wearing your wittle helmets and pads.” “An important PPE we all need to keep our bodies safe during both training and plays.” Bow just stared at them with a blank expression. “Sorry, I’ve had them memorise everything down to a tee.” Hondo spoke. “It just means they train better than you can.” “What!?” Bow shouted. “Are you saying we’re lazy!?” “Not lazy. More like… underworking.” “Oh yeah? We’ll show you!” He whistled and his friends landed by his side. “We challenge you all to a game of hoofball!” “... But you’re bigger than us.” One of the other foals spoke. “Exactly. We’re gonna cream you all.” “Ahem.” Hondo spoke, getting everyone’s attention. “I do accept your challenge, but you’re not going to be tackling my players, not unless you want to pay for their hospital bills.” “Oh? And what do you suppose?” Hondo’s horn glowed as he pulled out multiple flags. “Flag Hoofball. Both sides wear these so nopony gets hurt. When the flag is taken off the pony with the ball, that’s where it will be stopped.” “Heh, this sounds simple enough.” Bow’s teammates agreed. “Just two ten minute games with a five minute break in between. Winner gets bragging rights.” “And the loser?” “... They have to train MUCH harder.” “Ooh! That’s gonna teach your little ponies not to mess with the grown ups.” “We shall see.” Hondo turned around and blew his whistle. “Game on!” Bow Hot Hoof stood in front of one of the foals. Rico stood on his left with Barricade on his right. Jules, Dopey, and Connor all stood behind them, albeit, more spread out. Hondo’s foals all stood in front of the other team, with the hoofball in one of their hooves. “That’s it!” Hondo cheered on the side. “Go and show them how you guys rock!” “Heh, sorry, kid,” Rico spoke in a Spanish accent. “Gotta take that ball away from you.” “I don’t think so, sir.” The little colt in front of him replied with an English accent. “17!” The leading filly shouted. “42! 98! Hike!” She tossed the ball to the British accented colt, now the quarterback. Rico ran to the colt, ready to grab the flag. Almost as if time had somehow froze, the colt quickly ran past him, and the others, reaching the goal end in less than a few seconds. “What the Hay!?” Bow yelled. “Nice one, Speedy shoes!” Hondo cheered. “... I think this is gonna be harder than we thought.” Dopey spoke in his… well, dopey voice. “They’re got lucky!” Barricade yelled. “Let’s do this!” “That’s the spirit!” Bow yelled. “Let’s show see good of a defense these foals are!” The foals changed, with a new six on the field. At the end, they began their kickoff, with Jules catching it. He began to fly fast than with the ball in his hooves. It was practically a clear shot for him, with him flying past the foals and reaching to the end goal. “Yes! Touchdown!!!” He cheered, followed by a dance. “Nope.” Hondo replied. “No!?” Bow yelled. “How!?” Hondo pointed ahead. One of the other foals had Jules’ flags. “No point.” “... This is gonna be tougher than we thought.” Bow Hot Hoof’s team panted hard as the score read 816 runs on Hondo Flank’s Junior Hoofball team to a mere 0 on Bow’s. The foals sweated a bit, but were otherwise fine, having wide smiles on their faces. Hondo Flanks approached to Bow’s team. “Well… that’s a very pitiful play if I’ve ever seen one.” “H-Hey! Shut up!” Bow yelled. “You cheated!” “If by cheating you mean we actually trained hard, then yes, we did.” Bow got up and cracked his neck. “Oh yeah!? I know a cheater when I see one! You gave the kids some super powerful potion, didn’t you?” “Only a bit of apple juice.” “Ah-ha! You admit it then, don’t you!?” “No, the foals have simple apple juice.” “Enchanted Applejuice! I’ll be back after I expose you all for the cheaters you are!” He flew back to his team. “Sorry guys, I’ve gotta go solo on this.” The pegasus flew right towards sweet apple acres. Hondo rolled his eyes, turning to his team. “Great game, kids! Let’s give them their congrats.” “Aww, do we have to?” One of the foals asked. “It wouldn't very sporty if we didn’t now, does it?” The foals sighed and walked to the stallions, saying ‘good game’ to them, Bow Hot Hoof landed in front on Sweet Apple Acres and banged on the door. “Alright! Open up in there!” He shouted. The door opened with Bright Mac answering. “Oh, hey Bow, what’s up?” He asked. “What have you been adding in your apple juice!?” Bright Mac tapped his chin with his right hoof. “Hmm… some sugar… that’s about it, really.” “And what about your Apples!?” Bow brought his muzzle, touching Bright Mac’s, making the stallion stand back a bit. “Nothin’ at all, sir. Just fertilizer we use to help the trees grow, our knowledge of farmin’, and a bit of help from Cloudsdale with that fancy thing called nitrogen.” “So Cumulus is also behind this!?” “Uh… no, nopony’s behind this here crazy talk yer thinkin’ about. Why are you asking?” “It’s Hondo Flanks! His Juniour Hoofball team beat some of my friends and I in a game of Hoofball!” He noticed Bright Mac trying to contain some laughter. “It’s not funny! He cheated! His foals were too good in their playing!” “... You know,” Bright Mac struggled to hold in his laugh. “I think it’s because you don’t train at all and that’s why you fail.” “I train! Every week! Now I must investigate and stop Hondo’s reign of cheating!” Bow flew into the air. As soon as he was gone, Bright Mac fell to the floor, laughing and tearing up hard. Inside the cloud factory, Cumulus observed a cloud piece carefully with some goggles over his eyes. “Hmm… kinda fluffy, relatively thing, still has some water, ready for precipitation if needed… yep! The status is ready for tomorrow!” He looked around before picking up a jar and taking a piece out, putting it inside said jar. “Heh, another one for the collection.” “Cumulus!” Bow yelled. The other pegasus shrieked a bit, making fly out of his hooves. With a small juggle, Cumulus caught the jar. He turned to Bow. “Bow! What are you doing here!? How did you even get in here!?” “Staff entrance. But I’m here to stop you from helping Hondo’s cheating game!” “Oh? Uh, whatever do you mean?” “Don’t play stupid with me! I know what you’re doing!” “... I don’t follow.” “You’re using this ‘nitrogen’ to make some of Sweet Apple Acre’s orchards to make it’s apples have strange powers, in which they turn into Apple juice, so Hondo’s team can be better! How much is he paying you!? I can pay you more! Or at least, make you the better stallion than you are right now.” Cumulus gave an unamused look. “You skipped science class during junior flight camp, didn’t you?” “N-no. I was there.” “Right… Bow, there’s no conspiracy behind this. You need to train more.” “I do train! Hondo’s cheating! I can feel it.” “Or that’s that’s just the pizza you and your buddies eat practically everyday.” Bow turned to Cumulus with a weirded out look. “How do you know that?” “We’re literally across the street from each other. I see you and your friends eating nothing but pizza everyday at your house, having what can be described as a loud house party.” “Well… we need our spirits up to be better.” “You could also read a good book.” “... I’m getting off track. How do I stop nitrogen from making the apples better!?” “You can’t.” “I can’t!?” “Nope. It’s a part of nature, like the water cycle.” “I can stop it! Where does it begin?” “It’s everywhere.” “... What?” “It’s Junior flight camp knowledge, Bow. Nitrogen takes up about 78% of what we breath, it’s goes into the roots by lightning strikes, plants take nitrogen, we eat those plants, and whenever we… you know… go to the bathroom or pass away, plants included, the nitrogen is taken into the plants, all with the help of baterica that converts everything into food for plants, and back.” Bow just stared at him blankly. “... You need to train. That’s all. Hondo does not cheat at all. I may not go to all Junior Hoofball games, only when with my cousins, but I’ve seen Hondo’s team. They’re not the best, but they try their hardest.” “... So… they’re not cheating.” “No. I think you should go and apologize to Hondo for what you accused him of.” Bow grumbled to himself. “... If you do, I’ll get you pizza.” Bow’s eyes widened. “Deal!” He flew out of an open window. Cumulus turned back to the cloud, seeing it ran a bit. “Oh no! Not again!” Bow landed right outside of Hondo’s house, which was nearby a lake, and had some sports decorations around it, from various balls making an alleyway, and some hockey sticks and baseball bats as railing. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Hondo answered, wearing a mask of some sort. His magic glowed blue as he took the mask off. “Oh, hello there.” He spoke. “Here to accuse me of cheating?” “Uh… n-no.” Bow answered. “I uh… I actually came to say that I’m… sorry.” He could feel his pride dying. “You’re sorry?” “Yeah… I guess I was being spoiled for accusing you of cheating… I come from a family that’s all about winning, so… well, ya know, it’s hard for a guy like me to take a loss.” “... So you’re off your conspiracy on how apple juice is making my team effective?” “Yeah… I know, it sounds stupid now that I think about it.” “Eh, we all have those time to time.” “So… what’s with the mask?” “Oh? This? I like to sleep with my paintball mask on.” “Uh… why?” “To prevent mosquitoes from finding my breath and biting me. Plus, it’s very effective in warming my face up.” “... Does that work?” “Yeah.” “Huh… weird… uh… kinda a strange request, but is it alright if you can become my group’s coach?” “... You want me to coach you all?” “Yeah. I mean, we’re not exactly the best, as you showed up, but we want to be better.” “Hmm… I don’t know… can you be coached along with my team?” “Uh… y-yeah, sure.” He smiled awkwardly. “We can do that! No problem.” “Good. You’ll be starting tomorrow in the morning, for 5 days in a row with only the weekends off.” Bow’s jaw dropped. Hondo smirked “Unless, you’re chicken.” Bow regained his serious look. “We’re not chickens! We’ll show you what we’re made of! We’ll soon be just as good as your team, if not, better!” “Glad to hear that. See you tomorrow.” Bow saluted. “Scout’s honor!” He flew into the sky, leaving only a rainbow trail. Hondo put back on his mask. “Time for my beaurty sleep.”
Chapter 1It was a few months after the Apple siblings learned about their parents, and with Grand Pear coming back to let go of the old feud between him and Granny Smith to instead be the grandfather they need. Old habits die hard, as they say, but Grand Pear and Granny Smith agree that both the Apples and the Pears should set aside their grudges by arriving to Sweet Apple Acres. Of course, Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom were willing to help end a long feud, but even they knew they needed some help. The obvious party manager was Pinkie Pie, with the help of Twilight to keep everything organized, as well as Rainbow Dash making sure the weather was perfect, Rarity in making everything presentable, and Fluttershy in keeping the critters out and not disturb the get together. “Alright, that takes care of that.” Rainbow said, landing near Applejack. “No rain’s going to fall on you and ruin your gettogether.” “Ah appreciate it, Rainbow,” Applejack replied. “Ah’m just so worried that this here party won’t just fail, but bring an all out war between the Apples and the-” “All done!” Pinkie announced, popping out between the two. “We have equal parts apple related stuff with equal parts pear related stuff! All Rarity needs is directions to the thing your parents left.” “... Yeah… right… forgot about that...” “... Hey, it’s alright,” Rainbow spoke, placing a supportive hoof on AJ’s right shoulder. “I’m sure when everypony sees it, they’ll understand and be friends… or, at least, try.” “... Yeah, yer right… hopefully. Know where Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy are at?” “Twilight’s triple checking after double checking the supplies needed, Rarity’s hanging the last of the decorations, and Fluttershy is checking the vampire fruit bats.” Pinkie replied. “...Right. Care to get them here?” Pinkie saluted. “On it!” She zoomed away, leaving only a pink cloud that was in her silhouette. Applejack lead the way with Twilight right behind her, followed by the rest with Pinkie leading a trail. “Oh, I can’t wait to see what they left behind!” Twilight spoke. “It must’ve been quite the sight when you first saw it, Applejack.” “It was,” Applejack replied. “Not just me, but fer everyone.” “I’m sure it’s going to be splendid, darling.” Rarity added. “I might need to spruce it up just-” “Don’t!” Applejack turned with a bit of venom in her tone. Twilight walked between the two. “We won’t,” she spoke. “Rarity, I don’t think we should do anything. This is personal for AJ, and we should respect it.” She turned to Applejack. “And I think you could’ve said it in a better tone.” “... Sorry ‘bout that,” Applejack said, turning and leading again. “I just want to show it as it is. Something like that shouldn’t be changed just to appeal to everyone, just-” She paused and stared ahead. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy began. “I thought I told the Vampire fruitbats to stay in their are and-” She paused and stared with Applejack. The rest followed and stared with a gasp. Standing around the tree were some other ponies, but not just any random ponies, but their parents! Bow Hot Hoof & Windy Whistles, Hondo Flanks & Cookie Crumble, Igneous Rock Pie & Cloudy Quartz, Nightlight & Twilight Velvet, and Cumulus & Vipassana stood around the intertwined apple and pear tree that had an opening in the shape of a heart. Tears could be heard, which came from Bow Hot Hoof from the others. “I-It’s been such a long time.” Bow Hot sniffled. “C-can’t b-b-belive it’s been… been…” “It’s okay,” Windy spoke, patting her husband. “Nopony’s judging you here.” It didn’t take long for the large stallion to bawl hard and hug his wife. “Truly, thousest was a great friend thy could ever have.” Igneous spoke, taking his hat off in a respectful way. “Thouest also agrees.” Cloudy Quartz added. Twilight Velvet walked and hugged Cloudy Quartz. “I’ll never forget our adventures together.” She spoke. “Remember the time when she and Cookie Crumbles had a bake off?” “Oh yes, I remember,” Cookie spoke with a nervous chuckle. “Hard to believe that I almost ended my friendship over a silly competition.” “Speaking of competitions,” Nightlight added. “Remember how Hondo and him were in that trivia game?” “Lost by one point!” Hondo groaned. “And we were doing so well!” “We know,” Cumulus spoke, patting him on the back very gently. “But you were still our winners in our eyes.” Very quietly, Fluttershy walked to the group and stood next to her mother. “Um, mom, what’s going on?” She asked. “We’re just having a get together, sweetie.” Vipassana answered. She paushed and turned to her. “F-Fluttershy!?” “Fluttershy!?” Cumulus added. “Fluttershy!?” Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles added, then turned to see the others. “DASHIE!?!?!?” Everyone turned to see their own daughter standing at the ‘entrance’. “TWILIGHT!?” “RARITY!?” “PINKAMENA DIANE PIE!!!” Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz sounded more angered than surprised. The entire group of parents grouped up together and took a few steps back as their daughters walked up to them. “What the hay’s going on!?” Rainbow Dash asked to the group and her friends. “I don’t know,” Twilight replied before turning to her parents. “You never told me about this.” “... Uh… Sweetie,” Her father began. “This is… just a mishap.” “Yes,” her mother added. “We got lost from our vacation spot and-” “We were standing there for about 5 minutes.” Twilight interrupted. “We heard everything.” Rarity added. “W-wait!” Windy began. “You don’t understand! We-” “Ooh! I think I know!” Pinkie began. “You were all a group of friends that lived in Ponyville before any of us were born who kept in close touch with each other, but after having us and our siblings, you had to move on your separate ways, but come here annually because AJ’s parents were that close to each of you!” She smugged as everyone stared blankly. “... That’s… it, actually.” Bow Hot sighed in defeat. “Hang on a minute!” Applejack shouted. “So all of you were friends to my parents!” “And to each other.” Igneous replied. “How come I didn’t hear about this!?” “Did you read the Apple History Volume 138?” Twilight Velvet asked. “Uh… no… but-” She shook her head. “Looks like I’m going to have to go back to Goldie Delicious sooner than expected.” “But why did you hide it from us?” Fluttershy asked. “Surely, there has to be a good reason.” “... It was just personal to us.” Igneous answered. “All of thy parents didn’t think thouest should know thy past. Thy parents have moved on with their lives, not wanting to look back too much, but focus on thy children.” “Of course, not all of us moved away too far.” Windy Whistles added. Cookie Crumble and Vipassana nodded in agreement. “Alright,” Applejack spoke, clearing her throat. “Ah just want one question answered.” “Yes?” All the parents asked in unison, leaning their necks to her. “...How did ya’ll meet up?” “Oh! I remember that very well!” Hondo Flanks replied. “And from it’ll sound like, it’s a bit like you and Rainbow’s Iron Pony competition.” “And I brought snacks, in case anypony got hungry.” Cookie Crumbles added, levitating a bag of cookies. “... Want me to bring in some chairs?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The get together won’t be for a few hours, so I guess so.” Twilight replied. Author's Note Since Fluttershy's parents don't have a name, I gave them one. As you can guess, Cumulus is Fluttershy's father, since he worked at the weather factory, and Vipassana is the mother. Just sounded nice, really.
How they meet.Birds chirped away as they flew over the slow, but steadily, building town of Ponyville. As construction continued, the town’s residents continued on with their daily lives, selling and buying things they need or want, hanging out with each other, or just finding a good place to relax for a bit. In it’s park, a yellow, bulky stallion with a red mane and wearing a stetson awaited for his special somepony. He brought a picnic basket filled with apples from his farm, and some freshly made salads with a few cupcakes. As he waited, he watched the various ponies around, from foals playing with each other, families strolling, and a few other ponies just doing whatever they wanted. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a brown stallion with a bit of a gray mane approaching to him, looking at a map. The map viewing pony accidentally bumped into him. “Oof!” The stranger shook himself before getting up. “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I should’ve seen where I was going.” “Aw, it’s nothing.” He replied. “What cha’ lookin’ for?” “Oh! Hang on a second.” He pulled a map out. “I’m new to this place, and I’ve been looking for a place called... Sweet Apple Acres.” “Ah. It’s not too far, partner. You in a rush?” “Uh… no, I just have to be there by tonight, Mr…” “Bright Mac. You?” “Uh...Igneous Rock Pie, Mr. Bright Mac, Sir.” “Pleasure to meet you. We should get to know each other a bit more. My Ma, Granny Smith, owns Sweet Apple Acres. Care to tell me why you’re here?” “...Well… I’m also from a farm, and I’m just away for a while, but need a job to keep myself busy… and paid, of course.” “Huh, didn’t think you’re a farmer, sir. What does your family grow? Tomatoes? Carrots? Oranges?” “We… harvest rocks.” Bright Mac tilted his head in curiosity. “Are you pulling my leg?” “N-no, we harvest rocks. We’re rock farmers.” “...And how exactly does that-?” “I’m here! I’m here!” A familiar mare’s voice interrupted. Running up to them was an earth pony mare with a Pale gamboge coat and a dark orange, poofy mane. “Ah’m so sorry for runnin’ so late, Brighty.” “D’aww, it’s alright, Buttercup,” Bright Mac replied with some hearts coming out of his eyes. “I was just chatting with a new pal while you were gone.” “Oh? Please to meet you. I’m Pear Butter.” She extended her right hoof out. Igneous Rock extended his to her. “Igneous Rock Pie.” He replied. “Pray tell, what kept you at bay, out of curiosity.” “Oh, it’s just some silly competition.” “A competition!?” Bright Mac asked. “Shoot, I bet it’s fun on the bun! Care to join us, Igneous?” “... I don’t know the way to your farm, so I guess so.” Igneous answered. Pear Butter rolled her eyes with a slight giggle. “Come on you two, this way.” Pear Butter lead the two stallions. A large group of cheering ponies gathered around something that seemed pretty small, but everyone was so entranced by. A loud cheer came, followed by a pegasus mare with a striped light scarlet & Orange, bowl shaped mane with a cyan coat, wearing a cheerleader outfit. “Another win for Bow Hothoof!!!” She cheered loudly. “Bow Hothoof?” Bright Mac asked. “Who’s ready to challenge the best hoof wrestler in all of Cloudsdale!?” She looked around and saw Bright Mac. “YOU!!!” She pointed at him. “Me?” “You look like a strong stallion. Care to challenge the champion himself?” “... I don’t know, missy. Can I see him first?” The crowd parted, showing Hothoof himself. As suspected, he was a pegasus with a pale blue coat and a mane that was in the shape of lightning, wearing a letterman jacket. He was pretty bulky, about as big as Bright Mac himself. The Mare landed next to Bright Mac. “So, care to try your luck?” “... Hm… what do you think?” He turned to Pear Butter next to him. “Heh! You can take him on, Bright Mac.” She replied with a smug. “And if you win, you’ll get a nice reward.” Bright Mac blushed with a goofy smile before turning to Bow Hothoof. “I can take him on!” The crowd gasped at the saying with whispers as he trotted up to Bow Hothoof. “Heh, I like a stallion with some guts.” Bow Hothoof spoke, getting his right hoof ready. “Same thing.” The mare landed next to them. “On Go, you both go! 3… 2… 1… GO!!!” Both stallions put all their strength into their forelegs, pushing each other’s down to determine who would be the winner. While Bow had arm wrestled against other stallions as big as him, Bright Mac was actually a challenge. But, a challenge was great for him to impress Windy Whistles, his personal cheerleader, and girlfriend, even more. Bright Mac was probably going to be the final opponent for him to beat, go home with all his earned bits, and go on the best date he and Windy Whistles were going to have. Unfortunately, that was all in his head. In reality, as soon as Windy Whistles told them to go, Bright Mac not only slammed Bow Hothoof’s foreleg to the stump they were using, but threw him like a ragdoll. The crowd gasped at the sight, followed by silent. Bright Mac got up and tilted his hat to the dazed Bow Hothoof. “That was fun, sir.” He spoke before turning around and skipping to Pear Butter. “My reward, please?” “Of course.” Pear butter gave Bright Mac a quick kiss on the nose. Bright Mac turned all goofy, almost as if he had been blessed by an all powerful deity itself. It came crashing to a halt as somepony screamed. “NO!!!” Running through the crowd was a pale blue unicorn stallion with a darker shade mande. He pointed his hoof at Bright Mac. “He’s a cheater!” The crowd gasped and murmured to each other. “Yeah!” Bow Hothoof added, getting up and standing next to the unicorn. “There’s no way a stallion like you can win against me that easily. Can somepony check him for any spells?” The crowd spoke to each other, asking each unicorn if they can see any spells that may affect him. Walking up Bright Mac nonchalantly was a grey unicorn mare with a light grey & purple mane and tail. She used a spell that scanned Bright Mac. “He didn’t cheat.” She replied, sounding pretty bored. “You guys are just losers.” She opened a book and read it while walking away. “What!?” The two spoke in unison. “Uh… sorry?” Bright Mac apologized with a sheepish smile. Bow Hothoof huffed and marched to Bright Mac, roughly pounding his hoof on Bright Mac’s chest. “I don’t believe you are just that strong, sir. You’re still a cheater!” “Ah ain’t a cheater, sir.” Bright Mac shoved Bow hoof out of the way. “Now why don’t you just gallop on out of here before things go south.” “Not until you admit you’re a cheater.” The two had a stare down with fire built into their eyes. “Wait!” Another stallion spoke, this one sounding silent and a bit nervous. The two turned to see a pale green stallion with a pink mane, wearing a blue sweater. “Oh, pardon my tone, but why don’t we do something that’s not really… well… violent.” “... What do you have in mind?” The large stallions asked. “How about a series of contests?” “Contests?” Bright Mac asked. “You mean other forms of strength, right?” Bow Hot added. “Kinda. But also speed, endurance, and… other things needed for athletes.” The two looked at the scrawny stallion before turning to each other. “How about it?” Bright Mac asked with a smug. “Care to lose at some contests?” “Oh, I’m gonna win them all,” Bow replied with a smug himself. “I’m going to become… the Iron Pony!” “Ooh! I like that name!” Another stallion spoke. They turned to see another large stallion with a light gray coat with a brown mane that had a bit of a mustache growing. “And who are you?” Bow Hot asked. “Name’s Hondo Flanks. I’m the local coach to this here town’s junior Hoofball team. Since I got nothing else for a while, I can look over this here competition you two want to do.” “...Really?” Bright Mac asked. “You’d do that? “Of course. And I can get Cookie Crumble to get the snacks ready, though, it’s probaby going to take her a while, probably a week.” “A week’s good enough for me.” Bow HotHoof replied, turning to Bright Mac “Think you can make it back here, mister? Or will you be too much of a cheater to arrive?” “As I said, sir,” Bright Mac replied. “I ain’t a cheater, and I will be back, unless your head’s in the clouds.” “Oh, them’s fighting words!” The blue unicorn stallion pulled Bow Hot hoof away. “Now, now,” he spoke “let’s not get ahead of ourselves, sir.” “And who are you?” “Nightlight. I’m a bit of a personal trainer, actually, and I was betting for you to win during your leg wrestling streak.” “... So you think he cheated?” “Oh yeah, but that’s not the point. The point is that you need to be ready for this iron pony competition to beat him!” “Hm, I couldn’t agree more. When do we start?” “Now!” “Now?” “Now. Come with me.” The 2 stallions, and Windy Whistles followed. “Will you be ready by then, Sir Bright Mac?” Igneous asked, watching the trio walk away. “Oh, I will be.” Bright Mac answered “Just gotta do mah chores and exercise harder.” “Say, you said you were a rock farmer, right?” Pear Butter asked. “Uh, yes, I am.” Igneous replied. “Care to show my dear Brighty a few tips and tricks from your time… harvesting rocks?” “... As long as my family doesn’t find out, I can.” “Well, that sounds alright by me.” Bright Mac spoke, patting Igneous Rock on the back. “Sounds like you and I are along to get along just fine.” The other trio began to walk away. Hondo Flanks and other pegasus stallion stood and watched the crowd depart. “So,” Hono began. “You open to help out, Cumulus?” “Uh... I should be.” The pegasus replied. “But we’re probably going to need some help.” “Cookies are baked in a moderate oven at around 350 degrees Farenheit-175 degrees Celcius for 8 to 12 minutes.” Twilight Velvet spoke. They turned to see her still reading the same book. “You’re welcome, I’m here everyday.” She walked off. “Uh… I guess we should do that.” Cumulus spoke. “Agreed. I’ll tell Cookie about that.” Hondo added. “But, it was nice seeing you again. Say, did you find a special somepony yet?” “Um… no, not yet. But, I think I’ll find her sooner than later.” “You always say that.” Hondo walked to Sugar Cube corner as Cumulus flew away. In a bush, a yellow pegasus mare with a velvet mane & tail and large, green glasses watched him fly away. “Oh, Vipassana, you did it again.” She spoke to herself. “You’re such a coward.” “Can we go now?” A grey mare with a darker shade mane & tail spoke. “You promised me a tour of the town, not a visit to your stalker house.” “Oh, I’m sorry, Cloudy, I just got caught up.” “I bet you are.” She grumbled to herself. “Parents wanting me to get out of the city for this… everything’s so BORING here!”
Iron Pony/PoniesA set of challenges was made using whatever Hondo Flanks, Cookie Crumble, and anypony who wished to donate some things for a new, kinda small but still large competition, if that made any sense. During the week, both sides prepared for the various events that may be present. Twilight Velvet was on Bow HotHoof’s tail for the majority of the training, using the cheapest equipment and using them to the nth degree. Were it not for Bow wanting to win and beat his ‘cheater’, the first day of exercising would’ve been his last day. Meanwhile, Bright Mac’s did his chores, which doubled as his exercises, gave Igneous Rock a tour of the farm, and did his best to get ready for the competition. Igneous Rock helped Bright Mac out by serving him some of his family’s recipes, all involving rocks… which didn’t suit well for Bright Mac, for chewing, indigestion, and… well, we’ll leave that one out. Point is, it wasn’t that pleasant. The day had arrived, and both competitors were ready for the series of challenges. “Go Bowie!” Windy Whistles cheered for her boyfriend in her outfit. “Show him what you’re made of of!” “Go Macie!” Pear Butter cheered, also wearing a cheerleader outfit. “Do your best!” “Really? That’s what you’re going with?” “Well, of course. He’s still a winner to my eyes.” “Until he’s a loser, that is.” The mares stared down at each other with fire in their eyes. Both Bright Mac and Bow Hot Hoof stared down at each other, just a few feet away from each other. Hondo Flanks stood next to the two, blowing a whistle and getting their attention. “Alright you two,” he began. “I want a clean match. No cheating is allowed, whatsoever. I have a series of challenges you’ll both need to complete with a minute water break between them all. But, let’s try to have some fun, alright?” “Oh, I will,” Bow replied. “I’m going to enjoy making him eat dirt!” “Well, I apologize in advance,” Bright Mac replied. “I already ate rocks, and I’m more than ready to win this here Iron Pony.” “Alright, let’s see how you do in these contests.” Hondo Flanks spoke before whistling. Well, as you can expect, a montage came afterwards, showing the various competitions, from the most pushups, Barrel hurdling, bucking something the hardest, wrangling, balancing, ECT. During this time, many ponies came along to see what was going on, forming a crowd, each pony rooting for their preferred Stallion. Amongst the crowd, Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz looked at the competition, both with somewhat confused on their faces. “Is this some sort of fest?” Cloudy asked. “I don’t know.” Vipassana replied. “What’s going on?” “Bow Hot Hoof and Bright Mac are having themselves an ‘Iron Pony’ competition.” Twilight Velvet answered in a monotone voice. Both mares turned to see her reading a book about the pony mind. “They’re seeing who’s the best and everypony is putting bets on who will win in certain competitions and the whole thing in general.” “Oh… that’s what this is about?” “Yep. And Cumulus is over in that booth with Cookie Crumble.” Vipassana blushed hard. “W-wha-!? I didn’t-” “Keep telling yourself that.” And just like that, Twilight walked away, still reading her book. “... I like her.” Cloudy said with a smile. “You gonna go ask your special somepony out?” “Uh… I… uhh…” The mare stuttered. Inside a booth, Cookie Crumble and Cumulus baked away the various cookies they were selling to the customers outside at a steady pace that wouldn’t make a mess. “Your baking has gotten much better since the last time we’ve meet.” Cumulus commented, trying a cookie for himself. “Aww, why thank you.” Cookie replied, pulling a fresh batch out of an oven before putting a new one in. “I had some help from Chiffon Swirl and Carrot Cake when I was testing out some new recipes. Who know Pear Cookies could taste so great?” “I’m certain there’s going to be recipies considered strange, but can work.” “Oh, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Outside, Cloudy and Vipassana listened in. “Seems he found his special Somepony.” Cloudy replied. “No they haven’t!” Vipassana replied. “They’re… just friends. Yeah, just friends.” “Keep telling yourself that.” “Come on Bowie, show us what you got!” Windy cheered, shaking the pom poms in her hooves. “Come on Bowie, show them that you’re hot!” Pear Butter rolled her eyes and took out her pom poms. “Come on Mac, give him a whack! Lead that loser into the old shack!” “Hey! My Bowie is not a loser! That’s your boyfriend.” “Excuse me!? My Macie is NOT a loser! He’s a hard working, honest farmer like me, something that your Flat Hoof doesn’t have.” “Oh! You’re gonna eat those words!” Both mares growled at each other fiercely with fire in their eyes. Bright Mac and Bow HotHoof growled at each other as they pulled the rope in their tug of war. Surprisingly, it was a tie between the two, evenly matched, and this was both the final competition and tie breaker. On the sides, Igneous Rock and Night Light sweated hard. “Come on, Bright Mac!” Igneous Rock yelled. “Thy spirit of Holder’s Boulder is with thee!” “Pull, Hot stuff!” Night Light screamed. “Our bits are on the line here!” Right behind them, the crowd of ponies cheered, evenly divided with half cheering “Bright Mac” and the other have cheering “HotHoof”. Hondo Flanks watched both of them, seeing just how an inch of the rope’s flag in the middle was constantly moving from one side to the other, with both stallions sweating their heads off. A shadow overhead wouldn’t make anypony worried, probably liked as a cool off, but a gust of wind followed it, catching all their attention. Twilight Velvet looked up from her book below the bleachers, feeling the gust of wind. “... Did somepony run past me?” She asked to no one. Both Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz hugged each other in fear. “I-Is this n-n-normal?” Cloudy asked past her chattering teeth. “N-No.” Vipassana replied. Inside the stall, both Cookie Crumble and Cumulus looked around with their waiting customers. “... Sorry, we’re closed.” Cookie said, closing the stall. Cumulus turned off the ovens and packed all the cookies they had with in some boxes. The two left out of the back, looking to see what was overhead them. Everypony around looked to the sky, unsure what happened. Both Bright Mac and Bow HotHoof looked around, unsure as to what just flew above them all. Their coaches, personal cheerleader, and the referee stood by the two stallions, looking around in fear. “... Please tell me this is a cheat you did.” Bow Hot said. “If I did, I would’ve pulled the rope.” Bright Mac replied. The sound of loud flapping, with heavy winds blowing, made the two turn to a silhouette of a figure in the nearby trees… a gigantic figure. It approached to the gather, each step shaking the floor under its weight. Without a word, 2 and 2 were put together, with the reveal that the being was a dragon! The dragon itself was a male, told by how bulky he looked, with dark red scales all over his body with a dark orange tint to his wings, small brown scales protruding out of his back, and a prong-like tip at the end of his tail. Only the wind blew as the ponies and the single dragon stared down at each other. “... Boo.” The Dragon spoke in a low tone. Bow HotHoof let out a feminine scream, running away, followed by everypony running around, causing a panic. The dragon let out a bellow of a chuckle, taking a deep breath, and unleashing a tsunami of fire at everyone. The group of ponies ducked behind a boulder, feeling the heat, but didn’t burn, albeit, only the tips of their tails, manes, and Bright Mac & Ingeous Rock’s hats. “What’s a dragon doing here!?” Igneous asked, batting the fire off his hat. “Don’t they live in their own land!” “Most of them,” Night Light answered. “But some live in areas far away from civilizations. I guess he’s here to be a jerk.” “Well I don’t need some jerk burning down our crops.” Bright Mac spoke, turning to see the dragon burning some trees down. “Oh shoot! We gotta stop him!” “How?” Pear Butter asked. “He’s huge!” “Hmm…” Bright Mac looked around, seeing past the panicking crowd, the cookie stall unfazed. “I think I have an idea, but we need everypony.” “Oh please, anything will do!” Windy Whistles begged. “Yeah, but we need your boyfriend.” Twilight Velvet rushed through the crowd and jumped behind the cookie stand, with Vipassana and Cloudy Quartz. “I don’t wanna die!!!” Cloudy cried. “I wanna live!!!” “Uhh… I think we can hide.” Vipassana replied, trying to stay calm. “If it’s correct, there’s some flowers nearby where we can-” “Flowers!? REALLY!?” Twilight Velvet yelled in complete panic “How are some flowers going to protect us from a freaking dragon!?” “Um… well, you see, they… well… they have a little something special about them.” Windy Whistles landed right in front of his house at Cloudsdale. It didn’t stick out like the other cloud homes, with only real difference being the front mat saying “Bow “The Champion” HotHoof”. She knocked on his door. “Bowie?” She spoke. “Come on out, please.” “No! Leave me alone.” Bow replied behind the door. “Bowie, come on out, we need to save Ponyville!” “And save that cheater? The pony who humiliated me in the first place? No thanks.” “Bowie! You come out this instant, mister!” “Oh yeah? Give me one reason why I should help him?” Windy tapped her hoof on her chin. “Hm… oh, I don’t know, become a hero, and perhaps upstage Bright Mac?” Silence fell. The door opened with Bow walking out, holding a Hoofball helmet under his right wing. “What do we have to do?” Bright Mac, Pear Butter, Nightlight, Igneous rock, and Hondo Flanks ran to the cookie stand, with Pear, Night, and Igneous running inside the stand. Cumulus ran back inside, but was surprised to see the three ponies taking all of the cookies. “W-what are you doing!?” He asked in shock. “You can’t do that! Stealing is wrong!” Cookie Crumble came back, seeing what was happening. “What’s going on!?” She asked. “Don’t worry,” Hondo replied. “It may look bad, but we’re just using this to lure the dragon away.” “With my wagon!?” “We’re sorry, miss,” Bright Mac apologized. “We can help pay for a new one later, but right now, we need to work together to get this here dragon away from these folks. Care to join us?” Cookie Crumble looked at what they were doing, then back to the dragon, seeing it chase burn down some more buildings. “... Y-yeah. We should do this. ...What are we going to do?” Twilight Velvet, Vipassana, and Cloudy Quartz walked into the Everfree forest. “Now, the flowers here are blue and are in clusters.” Vipassana informed them. “We can’t touch them, or else we’ll be… well… affected by it.” “And you’re seriously planning to put these in your crush’s cookies?” Cloudy asked. “Only for the dragon. We just at least-” Twilight’s horn glowed as she took a huge chunk of the blue flowers. “There! Let’s go!” She ran back to the wagon with the flowers in her magic. “Wait! Come back!” Vipassana yelled. “That’s too much!” All three mares ran back to the carnage. Pear Butter, Night Light, Igneous Rock, Cumulus, and Cookie Crumble baked away as fast as they can as Bright Mac and Hondo Flanks strapped themselves to pull the cart. Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles flew overhead, stopping in front of the two strapped in stallions. “Alright, what’s the plan?” Bow asked. “‘Bout Time ya’ll got here!” Bright Mac replied. “Quick! Strap yourself in! When I give the signal, all 3 of us pull hard! We’re gonna lure this dragon away and into Ghastly Gorge!” “Ghastly gorge?” “Just strap in, ok?” “And what about me?” Windy Whistles asked?” “Easy. You and the other pegasi will-” “GANG WAY!!!” Twilight Velvet yelled, running into the wagon, making the wagon bounce. The bounce made the wagon’s windows open, and an overwhelming aroma of cookies filled the sky. The dragon stopped and sniffed the air, turning to the wagon. “Mmm… cookies…” He spoke, stomping towards them. “Oh shoot!” Bright Mac yelled. “GO GO GO!!!” “I hope this works.” Hondo Flanks added as both stallions began to run, making everyone inside hurl back, touched by the flowers. Vipassana and Cloudy Quarts only saw Twilight enter and the wagon moving, which was chased by the dragon. “... Please tell me you know a way to cure them.” Cloudy spoke with wide eyes. “I do.” Vipassana replied before running after the dragon. The chase made all 3 large stallions sweat hard, even if Bow flew in the air and pulled. All 3 pulled the wagon through the fields of ponyville with the dragon right behind them, and all ponies inside screaming their heads off, trying desperately to keep their footing inside the bouncing wagon. With a hop, they all jumped out of the moving wagon, rolling on the floor a bit roughly, but were glad to make it out. Cumulus flapped his wings and followed them, followed by Windy Whistles, and Vipassana followed. The rest got up and ran after them, hoping they would be alright. Bright Mac, Hondo Flanks, and Bow Hot Hoof ran near the edge that lead to Ghastly Gorge. “Alright everypony!” Bright Mac yelled. “Unstrap yourself!” “Unstrap!?” Bow yelled. “Just do it!” It didn’t take long for all three to unstrap themselves. “JUMP!!!” Bright Mac and Hondo jumped out of the way, with Bow flying upwards. The dragon jumped after the carriage, practically chomping down on it with one bite… right before crashing to the floor below, making a small earthquake. It made Bright Mac and Hondo Flanks jump, but they still stood. Eventually, everyone else came to them. Pear Butter was the first to jump and hug onto Bright Mac. “You did it!” She cheered. “You saved our barns!” Windy Whistles flew and hugged into Bow Hot Hoof. “I told you that you can do it!” She cheered. “Heh, I guess I did!” Bow shouted. “I’m awesome!!!” “And Hondo!” Cookie crumble shouted, running to Hondo Flanks. Her smile turned into a frown. “You owe me a new wagon!” “... Right.” Hondo said with a sigh. “Anypony willing to pitch in?” The floor shook as the sky darkened. They all turned around to see the dragon was above them, with a large bump on it’s head. “Oh… you’re all so dead!” The dragon growled. Everyone panicked and huddled together in a group. “I-is this where it all ends!?” Cumulus asked, shaking like a leaf. “Cumulus!” Vipassana spoke. “Before we go, I’ve always wanted to say, that I really-” The dragon let out a huge roar and opened it’s maw, letting out a tsunami of flames. Everypony screamed their heads off, ready for the pain… only to feel nothing. “What the-!?” The dragon yelled. This caused everyone to open up their eyes. All around them were feathers, more specifically, chicken feathers. The dragon roared and fired another blast of fire at them, only to blow out more chicken feathers from it’s maw. It had a look of fear. “Oh no! Th-This can’t be happening! I’m a dragon! A feared monster! A-” “A huge chicken!” Bow yelled. “Hear that! He’s a huge chicken!” Everyone began to laugh with him. “N-No! I’m not a chicken! I’m-” “A chicken!” Windy added, followed by her imitating a chicken. “No! Shut up! I’m not a-” His words were muffled as everypony, but one, began to act like a chicken, looking quite childish. The dragon let out a loud huff and flew away. “... Were we too mean?” Cloudy Quartz asked. “I don’t know, all I do hope is that that dragon goes away!” Nightlight added. “Agreed.” Igneous added. “But what happened? Why did it spew chicken feathers instead of fire.” “Uh… I know, and I think we’re all affected by it.” Vipassana spoke. Everyone turned to her. “What did you do?” Hondo asked. “It wasn’t me. It was her!” She pointed to Twilight Velvet. “What!?” She asked. “It was a dragon! We needed all we could get!” “Yes, but now you’re all affected by it.” “What do you-” She sneezed and out came some snakes. “AHH!!! SNAKES!!!” “What the hay!?” Bright Mac yelled. “How did that-!?” “It’s Poison Joke.” Vipassana spoke. “Everyone inside of the wagon is now affected by it! Something strange is going to happen to you all.” “Tell me about it.” Pear Butter Spoke. Everyone turned, only to see that, besides her face, her entire body is a giant ball of fluff. “I can’t move my legs!” Cookie Crumbles’ mane began to chip away, similar to a cookie. “My mane!” She screamed. Cumulus’ face was turned upside down. “Wait, why’s everypony a bat?” Nightlight’s coat began to glow. “Hey! I said I’m bright, but not literally!” And finally, Igneous Rock’s coat was now just made of stone. “What the-!? Holder’s boulder would not tolerate this!” “Oh, is there a cure for this!?” Pear butter asked. “Yes,” Vipassana replied. “Please, follow me.” “... Uh… a little help?” “Same here.” Igneous added. Bright Mac lifted Pear butter as everypony else rolled Igneous rock across the floor, with Twilight Velevet in the back, sneezing more snakes along the way. “You know,” Bow spoke. “Call me crazy, but I think our time together will be amazing!” "And that's how it all began!?" Twilight asked. "Why I... I can't... what!?" "I know, it's a lot to take in." Her mom replied. "It was a bit messy, and we weren't exactly the same ponies you see today, but I assure you, there's more here." "... So..." Rainbow spoke. "Have anymore awesome stories to tell!?" "Plenty!" Bow answered. "But not at the moment, you have yourselves a party to attend to, right?" Windy Whistles asked. "Shoot! The party!" Pinkie gasped. She gave her parents a kiss on their foreheads. "I'll be sure to visit more and hear these stories, mom and dad!" Pinkie dissapeared in a puff of smoke. The rest of Pinkie's friends followed, but AJ stopped, seeing all her friends' parents. "Is it alright if Ah hop along?" She asked, holding back her tears. "Ah'd like to hear more 'bout mah parents." "Oh, we will when you're around." Cumulus spoke. "Be strong, like your father, for everyone... if you want." Applejack took in a deep breath and followed her friends. Author's Note More stories will come along. Maybe not immediately, but they'll come.
Getting to know each other.Down in in Sweet Apple Acres, Bright Mac and Igneous Rock tended to the orchards. With a swift kick with only his back left leg, all the apples fell for Bright Mac. Igneous Rock, on the other hand, bucked his tree multiple times, with very little apples falling. The rock farmer glared at the tree and grumbled to himself. “Ya’ll alright?” Bright Mac asked. “Yes, I am.” Igneous replied. “I just need to get these Celestia forsaken apples off this tree or-!” “Settle down there. Here, let me help.” Bright Mac simply walked to the tree and delivered a light kick to it, making all the apples fall down. “There ya go. No need to get so worked up now.” “Right…” Igneous took a deep breath as he walked to the next tree. Bright Mac followed. “Something on your mind?” “No no, just need to work.” “... Well, I know work’s good for you, but ya’ll can talk to me ‘bout whatever’s on yer mind.” “... It’s been a week, and I already miss my home.” “Ah. Homesickness. It’s ok to feel that. Miss your ma and pa?” “Yes, even if they’re not as… inviting, as your homestead.” Bright Mac gave a curious look. “What does that mean?” “Family traditions. You wouldn't exactly understand them.” “Oh, I get that, but I mean mah family’s inviting?” “... You hate somepony?” “Well…” The sound of somepony humming broke the silence. Walking into view was Pear Butter, with a basket of pears, occupied by a middle aged, tan coated stallion with small, brown curly mane & tail. Said stallion turned to Bright Mac and gave a death glare to Bright Mac. “Just what are you two doing?” He asked with some venom in his voice. “Just working, Grand Pear, sir.” Bright Mac answered. “We’ll be out of your hairs in a few moments.” “Better make it sooner! I’ve seen you eyeing my daughter! Don’t get any ideas.” “I won’t, sir.” He turned around and walked away. Igneous followed. “What was that about?” He asked. “Just our families, the apples and the pears, we’re rivals to the core. Ah think it’s because of our preferences, but this has gotten quite out of hoof!” “But… You and that mare… You both seem to be good friends with each other.” “Oh yeah, Buttercup and I go way back.” He smiled with a goofy grin, almost enchanted by the memories. Igneous noticed. “Oh! Forbidden love.” “... What?” “Two households, both alike in dignity. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hooves unclean.” “... Again, what?” Igneous groaned. “You can’t be with your love your families forbade it.” “Oh… yeah, that’s it.” “But you both do it anyways, because you both love each other?” “What can I say? We just connected.” “... Right… yes… Hmm… you know, if you need, I can help in this here endeavor of yours.” “Wait, you will!?” “Of course. I have no quarrel with them, and I’m not a member of your family, so I can help.” “Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyes!!!” Bright Mac hopped around like a colt who first ate sugar, dropping his hard earned apples, and crushing a few under his weight. “... Right after we clean up first.” After a clean up, and getting some more apples, Igneous headed to the Pear’s family barn. One thing he noticed was how the trees were shaped like pears, untike the apple shaped apple trees, though, besides the obvious fruit differences, and the color green was more present, both looked quite similar to each other. He delivered a few knocks to the door. “I’mma coming!” Grand Pear’s voice announced, rather cheerfully. The door opened and Grand Pear stood. “Well, welcome to Candied Pear-” He stopped and looked at Igneous. “Hold on… weren’t you with that darn apple family?” “Uh… I-I was, sir.” “Give me a good reason for not kicking you out.” “... I’m not a member of the apple family.” “That’s one.” “And… I’m only temporarily working with them. I’m actually a rock farmer and-” “Wait, a rock farmer!?” “Yes, I know, it’s kinda weird, but-” “Oh no! Not at all! I actually need help with a few rocks in the Southern Orchard. If you can help me with those rocks, I’ll pay you… 20 bits for each boulder.” “Oh! Th-that much!? Uh… where’s the Southern Orchard?” “Follow me, I’ll get the necessary tools. Pear Butter will be there to help… just don’t get any ideas!” “I won’t, sir. Only Holder’s Boulder will decide whom I shall go with.” “Holder’s Boul-?” Grand pear shook his head. “No, no, if it’s going to control you, then I’ll allow it. But if you make a move on my daughter, you’ll be too late to regret it.” “I promise you, I have no intentions.” “You better keep that promise. Now come along.” Igneous followed Grand Pear down into the orchards. He noticed how the other pear family members plucked the pears down rather than how the Apples buck their trees. It seemed to be more around his alley, but he digressed and continued following Grand Pear. After some walking, they looked down a ditch to see a few dozen boulders, all varying in size, but were about the size of a pony. Pear Butter and a few other ponies struggled to pull a single boulder along. “As you can see,” Grand Pear spoke “We’ve been trying to move these boulders away so we can plant a few more trees around. If you can help us move these boulders, or break them, I’ll be very much appreciated.” “Hmm…” Igneous thought. “We’re probably going to need a pickaxe for this. You wouldn’t happen to have any on your farm, would you?” “Hmm… we should. Give me a minute. Get to know the family a bit while I’m gone.” Grand Pear turned and walked away. Igneous hopped into the ditch and, while he did get to know the other farmers, he made his way towards Pear Butter. “Here by Bright Mac’s request?” She whispered to him. “Erm… yes.” “How sweet. For both of you, really.” “Why thank you. I just hope your father doesn’t-” “Found some pickaxes!” Grand Pear announced, walking in with a few pickaxes on a wagon strapped onto his back. “And I brought a wagon, just in case.” “Thank you, sir.” Igneous spoke, walking to Grand Pear and taking a pickaxe from the wagon. “Yes, these will do just fine.” “Everypony, get yourselves a pickaxe! Start digging away.” A good half of the pear family members, excluding Pear Butter, got themselves a pickaxe and began to pick away a boulder, reducing it to rubble, with the other half loading the rubble onto the wagon. However, the thing that caught them was inside the boulders were some gems, something that everyone agreed would make a nice bunch of bits for the farm. “I can take it to the jewelry store, Pa!” Pear Butter spoke. “Absolutely not!” Grand Pear snapped. “I don’t want you going with that Apple!” “Then let me go, sir.” Igneous spoke. “I worked for my pay, and I don’t want to start a quarrel with you by stealing your new bits.” “... So you’ll take these gems to the jewelry store?” “Yes.” “Hmm… well, with your work ethic, I can trust you. And, being a rock farmer, perhaps you can, maybe, get a few more bits?” “I can try, sir. I just have one question.” “Yes?” “Where’s the jewelry store?” “... Can anypony-?” All of the other pear farmers left, leaving only Pear Butter. “... Ugh! Pear Butter?” “Ah can, Pa!” Pear Butter hopped over to Igneous and strapped him and herself to the wagon. “Let’s go, Iggy!” “It’s Igneous.” Igneous replied. They two walked out of the farm, with Grand Pear giving a suspicious look to her daughter. “So, what do you think?” Pear Butter asked as they walked across town. “This town?” Igneous asked. “It’s… nice. I kinda wish I had a proper tour before, but-” “No, not the town, about my farm and pa!” “Oh… well, I can say, it’s kinda different from the apple family… kinda… and your father… he’s not too different from my father.” “Really? How so?” “He seems strict, but he has his reasons. With me, it’s more about traditions, and with you, you’re his only daughter, right?” “Well… yeah, but I’m not a filly anymore! I’m almost an adult! I can choose what I want to do!” “Like hang out with Bright Mac?” “Yeah!” “... What do you see in Bright Mac, exactly? I am quite curious.” “Oh, you know, we just… connected.” Pear butter made the same goofy smile Bright Mac made. Igneous just rolled his eyes. “To each their own, I suppose. Have you decided to do anything special?” “Special? Like... a date?” “... Maybe.” “Uh… I’m not really sure, actually. What, with mah pa and all.” “Well, whatever happens, there’s no doubt that you two will still have a strong bond like Holder’s Boulder.” “I… have no idea what that is, but I’ll take it as a compliment.” She looked ahead. “Oh! There’s the jewelry store! Time to work your magic.” “Yes. If it works, that is.” With a simple unstrapping, and taking the largest of the gemstones out. Inside was a surprise for both; Cloudy Quartz stood behind the counter, wearing some strange glasses, looking at some gems. “Hmm… yes,” she spoke to herself. “Black Opal, ma’am!” “Correct!” Another mare’s voice spoke from the back “You have what it takes to be my assistant!” “Yes!” She turned to the two. “Oh! Uh, customers here!” “Busy at the moment! Chat with them!” “Uh… ok!” She cleared her throat and turned to them. “Uh, hi, I’m Cloudy Quartz, and-” “We remember, don’t worry.” Pear Butter spoke “Was wondering where you left after that crashed Iron Pony competition.” “... Wait! Oh, now I remember! You helped out with the baking of those cookies! Oh, I am so sorry for what happened!” “It’s alright.” Igneous spoke, putting up the raw gemstone. “We found these and wonder if we can trade these for some bits.” “Oh… uh… Do we accept new gems!?” “Yeah!” Her boss yelled. “Look at what it is, and that chart next to it!” “Alright! Ahem, can I see the gemstone?” Igneous carefully placed the gemstone on the scale. Cloudy Quartz examined the gemstone with her glasses. “Hmm… yes… I see this is actually alexandrite! And it’s about…” She looked at a list next to her. “Hmm… 50 bits per pound.” “Well, we have more.” Pear Butter spoke. “And if I know my minerals right,” Igneous added “It is exceptionally rare and valuable, as it can change color depending on it’s location. Am I not right?” Cloudy looked at him, but smiled. “You’re right, sir.” She looked around and leaned in, whispering to them. “I’ll give you an extra 10% total.” “Pleasure doing business with you!” Pear Butter spoke, walking out and bringing in the other chunk of gemstones. Cloudy Quartz saw this and nervously chuckled. “Uh… I might need to get rid of the excess rocks… for better quality, of course.” After an hour or two of getting rid of excess rocks on the gemstones, Igneous and Pear Butter walked out with some large bagfuls of bits. “You know, I’m quite surprised about her.” Igneous spoke. “Surprised? How?” “I’ve seen her as a city pony, never one to study gems or minerals.” “Well… maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its front cover.” “Hmm… I think I should.” “Yeah… wanna see the rest of town!?” “But… shouldn’t we be-?” “Mah pa can wait. That Cloudy fellow was pretty fast compared to the owner, Gold Digger.” “... Well.. shouldn’t we be back before-?” “We have as much time as we need! Besides, I gotta check with Chiffon Swirl to see how her baking’s doing.” “And the bits?” “We’re in a small town. Everypony practically knows each other here! Nopony’s gonna want to steal, and if they try… I think we can take ‘em on. Now come on.” “Er… if you say so.” Igneous walked with Pear Butter to the building that looked like a life size version of a gingerbread house. The overwhelming smell of freshly baked goods assaulted their nostrils, making them feel hungry almost immediately. Inside, while a few ponies were around, having some sort of baked good, behind the counter was a plump, blue, earth pony mare with a mane that had pigtails, but looked like frosting on a cupcake. “Oh, well butter up my biscuits, you’re here!” The pony behind the counter spoke, noticing Pear Butter, then seeing Igneous Rock. “Ooh! You brought a friend as well?” “Yep. Came to check on your work, Swirly.” Pear Butter spoke. “How’s your baking coming along?” Chiffon quickly ran to the kitchen, and back with a simple looking cake that had some sliced bits of pears on the sides, most looking evenly cut. “This is what I was able to come up with. Not exactly the best looking, but it’s a work in progress.” “Oh, you don’t have to worry, Chiffon. You should try her cake, Iggy!” “It’s Igneous.” Igneous spoke, walking to her side. “And, I would like a sample, Ms. Swirl.” Chiffon smiled as she sliced a piece off and gave it to Igneous on a small plate. Pear followed, getting her own piece. They both took a bite. “Mmm! This is delicious! Did you add any ingredient in there?” “Uh, no,” Chiffon replied with a blush. “I had help, actually.” Walking out of the doors behind was Cookie Crumble, covered in baking powder, almost looking like a ghost. “Ugh… it happened again!” She spoke, rubbing the powder off of her face with a towel. “Oh no! What happened?” Pear Butter spoke with concern. “It’s Hondo Flanks’ Junior Hoofball team! Their ball landed through the window again!” “Oh, please don’t be mad at them.” Chiffon spoke, comforting Cookie. “They’re just practicing.” “I know, but Hondo needs to take them somewhere else! I can’t clean the kitchen and remake all the baked goods from scratch!” “How about Iggy and I solve this problem?” Pear Butter spoke. “Igneous.” Igneous corrected, sounded a bit annoyed, but enjoyed his piece of cake. “You can do that?” Chiffon asked. “Aww, why thank you, Pear Butter! You really are a great friend!” “I do what I can for my friends.” The two hugged right before Pear Butter ran out. Igneous followed her. Right around the corner, they bumped into the stallion, wearing a coach outfit. “Oh, sorry about that.” He spoke. “Little Puck had another accident and I need to-” “We know.” Igneous interrupted. “And we’ve accepted a request from Chiffon Swirl.” “Sorry, but ya’ll can’t be practicin’ around here.” Pear Butter added. “Uh… well, we know that, but we don’t have anywhere else to go.” Hondo replied, turning and walking, followed by the two earth ponies. “We’ve been trying to find a new place to practice at, but this is the only place where we can effectively do our training.” “Have you ever thought of practicing in the park?” Igneous asked. “I’ve had, but usually, Bow Hot Hoof’s there.” “Him? Why?” Pear Butter asked. “I mean, what’s he doing?” “Training for his chance to be in Cloudsdale’s Hoofball league themselves, The Thunderbirds.” “The Thunderbirds?” Igneous asked. “They’re considered the one of the best hoofball teams in all of Equestria. They won 9 Power Bowls in a row, and are trying to get their tenth victory against Fillydelphia’s Falcons, who hold the 9 Power Bowls won in a row.” “... And why is Bow holding your foals back?” “He wants to be the best, and he requires everyone to leave his personal space.” “But can’t he do that in Cloudsdale?” Pear Butter asked. “He says it wouldn’t give him the authentic feel of being tackled and hitting the floor if there’s clouds and not the floor.” “I think we need to talk to him about who own what.” “Same, but how?” Both Pear Butter and Hondo thought about this. “... Why not visit the mayor’s office?” Igneous suggested. “Surely, she, or someone else, might know who owns what.” “That’s… a good point.” Pear spoke, turning to Hondo. “Care to join us?” “Oh, I would,” Hondo replied “But somepony needs to keep an eye on these foals. Don’t want them running around and causing some havoc now, do we?” As he said that, a window broke with the foals cheering. “Oh no, Field Goal! No! We don’t do that!” He ran to his team. “Looks like we have to solve this. C’mon, it’s not too far!” “But… our bits?” Igneous asked, turning and pointing to their wagon filled with their bags of bits. “Chiffon Swirl own this place. She can look out for it for a while. Now come on, we don’t want another window to be shattered, do we?” Igneous sighed and followed Pear Butter through. “There we go, there’s the last of the files.” Nightlight said, putting a folder away in one of the cabinets. Standing next to him was Secretary Mare, a light amber mare with a pink mane & tail, wearing a matching pink scarf. “Why, that’s the best organization I’ve seen since our last organizer!” She exclaimed, looking through some of the files. “Completely organized! No files lost!” “Eh, it’s what I do. Just simply, organize the races first, then gender, all in alphabetical order with their last name first, and the rest is a cakewalk.” “Hmm… would you like a job here, Mr. Light?” “Well… I don’t know... “ “You can live here.” “Ooh! Sold!” The doors opened as Igneous Rock and Pear Butter walked in. “Secretary mare!” Pear Butter spoke. “Sorry if we’re interrupting anything, but is the mayor around?” “Oh, I’m sorry,” she replied “But Mayor Shire’s out on vacation. I bet I can help. What did you need?” “Well, we’re trying to discuss on who owns Ponyville’s park, and if Hondo Flank’s team can practice over there instead of Bow Hot Hoof.” “Oh… well, is Bow Hot Hoof alone?” “Uh… well…” “He has company.” The voice of Twilight Velvet spoke, making everyone jump. Sitting in a nearby corner, reading a book around landscaping, Twilght Velvet sat, idly sipping from a canteen. “Some of his friends from Senior flight camp are with him, becoming other Hoofball team members themselves.” “... And how do you know this?” Secretary mare asked. “I’m a librarian. I see everything from my windows.” “... Well… it’s hard to say…” “Found it!” Nightlight spoke, finding the files almost immediately. “Let’s see here.” He skimmed through the files. “Ah! According to the files… Ponyville’s park belongs to Celestia’s Botanical Garden Divison… so, Celestia owns it, but one of the members lives here.” “Oh? And who’s that?” “Somepony named… Vipassana.” “And where is she at?” Igneous asked. “She’s in the park in her hiding spot in the middle of the park, stalking Cumulus.” Twilight Velvet answered, still reading her book. “And if you ask me, you should make a field around Ponyville other than trees. It’ll help make the town stick out more than be covered by trees, and provide more materials needed for future projects.” “... And since when did you become an expert at architecture?” Nightlight asked. “Since I finished this book, so, now.” She shut her book. “Uh… thanks.” Pear Butter replied. “And that doesn’t sound too bad of an idea, actually. Might get some more folks here.” “And not be close to the monsters.” “Monsters!?” Igneous asked in shock. “They’re local to the everfree forest.” Secretary mare spoke. “Did you now know that?” “No!” Vipsanna looked through her telescope, seeing Cumulus in Cloudsdale, working hard with a hard hat, taking a small bit of cloud in one of his personal jars. “I would love to see your cloud collection.” She spoke to herself. “Your cloud and my flower collection can go hoof in hoof.” She began to daydream about him, imagining him with his hair finally flowing in the wind, giving him his pretty boy eyes, with some foreign music she remembered from her Foalhood “Go long!” The voice of Bow Hot Hoof interrupted, followed by some cheering from Windy Whistles. “Go Go Bowie, if you can’t do it, then no one can!” Vipsanna sighed as her dreams were shattered as Bow Hot Hoof and many of his other Cloudsdale friends were playing Hoofball with each other. “Excuse me?” Pear Butter spoke, making Vipsanna jump. “I-I wasn’t doing anything!” She screamed, before turning to them. “Oh… uh… s-sorry about that. I don't get much visitors to my office.” “... This is a bush.” Igneous spoke. “... A bush can be an office.” “... Right…” Pear Butter replied. “Listen, we just came from the mayor’s office, and we learned how you’re in charge of Ponyville’s park. We need to know who owns the right to practice here for their Hoofball team; Bow Hot Hoof and his friends, or Hondo Flanks and his Junior Hoofball team.” “Oh… uh… well, I would prefer Hondo Flanks and his Junior Hoofball team, those cute little foals need all the training they need, but I don’t want to be the cause of some confrontation… oh, I don’t want to decide.” “... Twilight Velvet suggested we cut the trees around here.” Igneous spoke. “Cut the trees!? Here!?” “Nono, those in the Everfree forest.” “But… why?” “To… make a field, as she said. I belive it was to get more needed resources and help this town stick out more.” “... Well… we do need more homes now that I think about it… and most ponies usually pass by us, not seeing it…” “So you’ll help cut the trees!?” Pear Butter asked. “I won’t cut them. I need to send a letter to Celestia, informing her of this action, see if she approves or not.” “... Will there be a problem?” Igneous asked. “No, not at all. She rarely denies requests.” She pulled out a scroll and began to write with an ink & quill she had and began to write away. Much to the earth ponies’ surprise, the words she wrote down dissapeared, and were replaced by others in a different hoofwriting. “What was that?” “Instant writing messages. Let’s see here…” She cleaered her throat. “My dearest subject, I am alright with your proposition. I am sure you’re going to be reasonable, take only what’s needed. I’d like see how the town will change.” “So… a yes?” Pear Butter asked. Vipsanna nodded. “Yes! We did it!” “Well, it’s approved, but I need the bits.” “Bits?” Igneous asked. “But don’t you work for the princess?” “I do, but something like this is going to cost bits, most of which are out of my pockets.” “Hmm… I think I know how to help.” Pear Butter said with a grin. “... Oh no!” Igneous spoke. “What about your father! He’ll surely be-” “I’m pretty sure my pa will understand… besides, if we say it’s from our farm, then ponies will surely buy more of our pears. You gotta spend some bits to earn your bits.” “And… Bright Macintosh?” “He will understand. I want to make mah family proud as he does with his. I ain’t gonna rub it across his face.” “So, you’ll help?” Vipsanna asked. “Oh, definitely! Just follow us, your bits are ready.” It took a few days, but the surrounding forest were chopped down, leaving a more open field around Ponyville. While the trees were cut down, in their place was grass and flowers, with a much more clear road that lead to the town, and into the forest, if anypony dared to, that is. Grand Pear was a bit disappointed at first, but when it word spread hosw the Pears donated their bits to this cause, it was a bit of a hassle as the Pears had to get more pears ready for buying customers. Hondo Flanks, and other ponies, were very pleased to be in the new field, as it was more open with very few trees around for what they wanted to do. Truth be told, now the town was truly able to stick out, no longer surrounded by the everfree forest, with many more ponies visiting the quaint, little village. But in the border of both the Pear and Apple family barns, Bright Mac, Pear Butter, and Igneous Rock built a small shack, with plenty of rocks around it. "Ya'll sure about this?" Bright Mac asked. "Mah family's still got a nice room." "I very much appreciate the offer," Igneous spoke. "but I work for the Pears as well." "But why the rocks, Iggy?" Pear Butter asked. "Igneous. And it's like home in a way." "Let him be, Buttercup," Bright Mac said. "He needs a slice of home. Just glad you had some spare bits and wood to help." Pear Butter giggled. "And I'm glad you had the time and muscles to help." Both stallion and mare smiled at each other, followed by closing their eyes, and perking their lips. Their lips were just inches from each other. "Bright Mac!!!" Granny Smith's voice yelled. "Pear Butter!!! Where are you!?" Grand Pear's voice was followed. "Uh oh! Gotta go!" Bright Mac and Pear Butter said simultaneously, running away. Igneous turned to see them run away, but shrugged and entered his shack. It wasn't impressive to say the least; a bed was in the top right corner, a table with a chair to the left of it, a rack, and a single candle with a book about agriculture. He sighed with a smile, lighting the candle, sitting on his bed, and read to himself as the sun was gone and the moon took it's place. Author's Note Sorry for the wait. This is a more exposition filled chapter, showing what each of them are doing when they're not going to be in a future chapter. And if you have any ideas for future adventures, please, feel free to share them with me. If it's good, I will use it in a future chapter... maybe not immediately, but soon.
Get your Head in the Game.In Ponyville’s fields, Hondo Flanks blew into his whistle, getting all of the foals to stop their pushups. They listened, quickly running to him and waited for his announcement. “Alright team,” Hondo spoke. “I know we’ve all done well for the past few seasons. We were really close, but if we train even harder, we should be able to get this year’s Junior Power Bowl Cup. Are we gonna train hard!?” “Yes!” “Are we gonna win!?” “Yes!” “Are we going to lose the Power Bowl!?” “Heck no!” “Alright! Now let’s-” “Gang way!” Bow Hot Hoof’s voice interrupted, followed by the stallion tacking Hondo Flanks, causing both to roll over the ground, but the pegasus got up and held a hoofball. “I got it!” Landing nearby was a group of five other stallions, all pegasi, but varying in size and weight. The tallest was also the skinniest, having a light grey coat with a black mane & tail. The second tallest, just barely taller than Bow, had a red coat with a short, dirty blonde mane & tail. A green coated pony with a somewhat long, wavy yellow mane and tail stood about the same height, but wasn’t as bulky, stood right next to Bow. Next to him, kinda smaller, was a bulky white coated pony with an orange mane & tail that was nearly all shaved off, and wore a green tank top. The smallest, and most athletic looking, almost the size of one of the foals, had a yellow coat with a red mane & tail that looked like it could breeze in the wind. “Nice throw, Rico!” Bow gave a bro hoof to the muscular member in his group. “Very nice at stopping Jules, Dopey!” He gave a playful jab at the tall one. “Jules, gotta work on your speed there.” He noogied the small pegasus. “Glad to see you were at my side, Barricade!” He headbutted the near same size one. “And Connor… you’re still awesome.” He simply nodded. “Uh, excuse me?” Hondo spoke, clearly annoyed, but keeping his temper. “Mr. Bow Hot Hoof? You’re interrupting my team’s practice.” Bow turned to him. “Ah, Hondo! Sorry about that.” He apologized, tossing his hoofball to Rico, who caught it in his hooves. “The boys and I were just doing our own practice session. Get ourselves good so we can join Cloudsdale’s Thunderbirds.” “I see… but I’d rather have my team focused rather than have you and your friends burst in and interrupt OUR training.” “Heh, well that’s cute, Mr. Flanks. You go and do your thing while-” “You’re quite rude.” One of the foals spoke. Bow looked down to see the foals now standing around their coach. “D’aww, look at how adorable you all are! Wearing your wittle helmets and pads.” “An important PPE we all need to keep our bodies safe during both training and plays.” Bow just stared at them with a blank expression. “Sorry, I’ve had them memorise everything down to a tee.” Hondo spoke. “It just means they train better than you can.” “What!?” Bow shouted. “Are you saying we’re lazy!?” “Not lazy. More like… underworking.” “Oh yeah? We’ll show you!” He whistled and his friends landed by his side. “We challenge you all to a game of hoofball!” “... But you’re bigger than us.” One of the other foals spoke. “Exactly. We’re gonna cream you all.” “Ahem.” Hondo spoke, getting everyone’s attention. “I do accept your challenge, but you’re not going to be tackling my players, not unless you want to pay for their hospital bills.” “Oh? And what do you suppose?” Hondo’s horn glowed as he pulled out multiple flags. “Flag Hoofball. Both sides wear these so nopony gets hurt. When the flag is taken off the pony with the ball, that’s where it will be stopped.” “Heh, this sounds simple enough.” Bow’s teammates agreed. “Just two ten minute games with a five minute break in between. Winner gets bragging rights.” “And the loser?” “... They have to train MUCH harder.” “Ooh! That’s gonna teach your little ponies not to mess with the grown ups.” “We shall see.” Hondo turned around and blew his whistle. “Game on!” Bow Hot Hoof stood in front of one of the foals. Rico stood on his left with Barricade on his right. Jules, Dopey, and Connor all stood behind them, albeit, more spread out. Hondo’s foals all stood in front of the other team, with the hoofball in one of their hooves. “That’s it!” Hondo cheered on the side. “Go and show them how you guys rock!” “Heh, sorry, kid,” Rico spoke in a Spanish accent. “Gotta take that ball away from you.” “I don’t think so, sir.” The little colt in front of him replied with an English accent. “17!” The leading filly shouted. “42! 98! Hike!” She tossed the ball to the British accented colt, now the quarterback. Rico ran to the colt, ready to grab the flag. Almost as if time had somehow froze, the colt quickly ran past him, and the others, reaching the goal end in less than a few seconds. “What the Hay!?” Bow yelled. “Nice one, Speedy shoes!” Hondo cheered. “... I think this is gonna be harder than we thought.” Dopey spoke in his… well, dopey voice. “They’re got lucky!” Barricade yelled. “Let’s do this!” “That’s the spirit!” Bow yelled. “Let’s show see good of a defense these foals are!” The foals changed, with a new six on the field. At the end, they began their kickoff, with Jules catching it. He began to fly fast than with the ball in his hooves. It was practically a clear shot for him, with him flying past the foals and reaching to the end goal. “Yes! Touchdown!!!” He cheered, followed by a dance. “Nope.” Hondo replied. “No!?” Bow yelled. “How!?” Hondo pointed ahead. One of the other foals had Jules’ flags. “No point.” “... This is gonna be tougher than we thought.” Bow Hot Hoof’s team panted hard as the score read 816 runs on Hondo Flank’s Junior Hoofball team to a mere 0 on Bow’s. The foals sweated a bit, but were otherwise fine, having wide smiles on their faces. Hondo Flanks approached to Bow’s team. “Well… that’s a very pitiful play if I’ve ever seen one.” “H-Hey! Shut up!” Bow yelled. “You cheated!” “If by cheating you mean we actually trained hard, then yes, we did.” Bow got up and cracked his neck. “Oh yeah!? I know a cheater when I see one! You gave the kids some super powerful potion, didn’t you?” “Only a bit of apple juice.” “Ah-ha! You admit it then, don’t you!?” “No, the foals have simple apple juice.” “Enchanted Applejuice! I’ll be back after I expose you all for the cheaters you are!” He flew back to his team. “Sorry guys, I’ve gotta go solo on this.” The pegasus flew right towards sweet apple acres. Hondo rolled his eyes, turning to his team. “Great game, kids! Let’s give them their congrats.” “Aww, do we have to?” One of the foals asked. “It wouldn't very sporty if we didn’t now, does it?” The foals sighed and walked to the stallions, saying ‘good game’ to them, Bow Hot Hoof landed in front on Sweet Apple Acres and banged on the door. “Alright! Open up in there!” He shouted. The door opened with Bright Mac answering. “Oh, hey Bow, what’s up?” He asked. “What have you been adding in your apple juice!?” Bright Mac tapped his chin with his right hoof. “Hmm… some sugar… that’s about it, really.” “And what about your Apples!?” Bow brought his muzzle, touching Bright Mac’s, making the stallion stand back a bit. “Nothin’ at all, sir. Just fertilizer we use to help the trees grow, our knowledge of farmin’, and a bit of help from Cloudsdale with that fancy thing called nitrogen.” “So Cumulus is also behind this!?” “Uh… no, nopony’s behind this here crazy talk yer thinkin’ about. Why are you asking?” “It’s Hondo Flanks! His Juniour Hoofball team beat some of my friends and I in a game of Hoofball!” He noticed Bright Mac trying to contain some laughter. “It’s not funny! He cheated! His foals were too good in their playing!” “... You know,” Bright Mac struggled to hold in his laugh. “I think it’s because you don’t train at all and that’s why you fail.” “I train! Every week! Now I must investigate and stop Hondo’s reign of cheating!” Bow flew into the air. As soon as he was gone, Bright Mac fell to the floor, laughing and tearing up hard. Inside the cloud factory, Cumulus observed a cloud piece carefully with some goggles over his eyes. “Hmm… kinda fluffy, relatively thing, still has some water, ready for precipitation if needed… yep! The status is ready for tomorrow!” He looked around before picking up a jar and taking a piece out, putting it inside said jar. “Heh, another one for the collection.” “Cumulus!” Bow yelled. The other pegasus shrieked a bit, making fly out of his hooves. With a small juggle, Cumulus caught the jar. He turned to Bow. “Bow! What are you doing here!? How did you even get in here!?” “Staff entrance. But I’m here to stop you from helping Hondo’s cheating game!” “Oh? Uh, whatever do you mean?” “Don’t play stupid with me! I know what you’re doing!” “... I don’t follow.” “You’re using this ‘nitrogen’ to make some of Sweet Apple Acre’s orchards to make it’s apples have strange powers, in which they turn into Apple juice, so Hondo’s team can be better! How much is he paying you!? I can pay you more! Or at least, make you the better stallion than you are right now.” Cumulus gave an unamused look. “You skipped science class during junior flight camp, didn’t you?” “N-no. I was there.” “Right… Bow, there’s no conspiracy behind this. You need to train more.” “I do train! Hondo’s cheating! I can feel it.” “Or that’s that’s just the pizza you and your buddies eat practically everyday.” Bow turned to Cumulus with a weirded out look. “How do you know that?” “We’re literally across the street from each other. I see you and your friends eating nothing but pizza everyday at your house, having what can be described as a loud house party.” “Well… we need our spirits up to be better.” “You could also read a good book.” “... I’m getting off track. How do I stop nitrogen from making the apples better!?” “You can’t.” “I can’t!?” “Nope. It’s a part of nature, like the water cycle.” “I can stop it! Where does it begin?” “It’s everywhere.” “... What?” “It’s Junior flight camp knowledge, Bow. Nitrogen takes up about 78% of what we breath, it’s goes into the roots by lightning strikes, plants take nitrogen, we eat those plants, and whenever we… you know… go to the bathroom or pass away, plants included, the nitrogen is taken into the plants, all with the help of baterica that converts everything into food for plants, and back.” Bow just stared at him blankly. “... You need to train. That’s all. Hondo does not cheat at all. I may not go to all Junior Hoofball games, only when with my cousins, but I’ve seen Hondo’s team. They’re not the best, but they try their hardest.” “... So… they’re not cheating.” “No. I think you should go and apologize to Hondo for what you accused him of.” Bow grumbled to himself. “... If you do, I’ll get you pizza.” Bow’s eyes widened. “Deal!” He flew out of an open window. Cumulus turned back to the cloud, seeing it ran a bit. “Oh no! Not again!” Bow landed right outside of Hondo’s house, which was nearby a lake, and had some sports decorations around it, from various balls making an alleyway, and some hockey sticks and baseball bats as railing. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Hondo answered, wearing a mask of some sort. His magic glowed blue as he took the mask off. “Oh, hello there.” He spoke. “Here to accuse me of cheating?” “Uh… n-no.” Bow answered. “I uh… I actually came to say that I’m… sorry.” He could feel his pride dying. “You’re sorry?” “Yeah… I guess I was being spoiled for accusing you of cheating… I come from a family that’s all about winning, so… well, ya know, it’s hard for a guy like me to take a loss.” “... So you’re off your conspiracy on how apple juice is making my team effective?” “Yeah… I know, it sounds stupid now that I think about it.” “Eh, we all have those time to time.” “So… what’s with the mask?” “Oh? This? I like to sleep with my paintball mask on.” “Uh… why?” “To prevent mosquitoes from finding my breath and biting me. Plus, it’s very effective in warming my face up.” “... Does that work?” “Yeah.” “Huh… weird… uh… kinda a strange request, but is it alright if you can become my group’s coach?” “... You want me to coach you all?” “Yeah. I mean, we’re not exactly the best, as you showed up, but we want to be better.” “Hmm… I don’t know… can you be coached along with my team?” “Uh… y-yeah, sure.” He smiled awkwardly. “We can do that! No problem.” “Good. You’ll be starting tomorrow in the morning, for 5 days in a row with only the weekends off.” Bow’s jaw dropped. Hondo smirked “Unless, you’re chicken.” Bow regained his serious look. “We’re not chickens! We’ll show you what we’re made of! We’ll soon be just as good as your team, if not, better!” “Glad to hear that. See you tomorrow.” Bow saluted. “Scout’s honor!” He flew into the sky, leaving only a rainbow trail. Hondo put back on his mask. “Time for my beaurty sleep.”
