Heroes travels

After seeing Pinkie Pie about not only his recent transformation but the discussion of their plan for payback, Ashley decided to go for a walk around the town. As he trotted around the market place, ponies would give him looks of suspicion due to him having his hood over his head. He noticed Applejack selling Sweet Apple Acres recent bounty of apples and she was doing well.

Should I go over and see her? Ashley pondered to himself. Nah…I’ll see her another time.

“That’ll be four bits.” Applejack said happily to her customer who willingly put the coins on the counter before taking their newly acquired produce. “Pleasure doin’ business with ya’.” Applejack waved to the colt as he returned the gesture, putting the apples in his light brown saddlebags.

Ah wonder who that is… Applejack was staring towards a mysterious figure that walked past her stall. She obviously noticed the clothing the stallion, her curiosity grew as the distance between them grew greater before she lost sight of him. Why was he wearin’ that thing? She brought a hoof to her chin but quickly dismissed it as another pony approached her stall

“Howdy! How can ah help ya?” She asked the mare, just realising it was Grey Ink.

She didn’t really know Grey Ink much, mostly because she didn’t even know she existed when the Pegasus was allowed access to the library when  Ashley was taken to Canterlot for questioning a while back about his nightmares. She heard things about the mare but they were mostly about her being friends with the humans.

“Checking him out eh?” Grey Ink winked towards the southern mare.

“Wha? Nah…” Applejack smiled but being the “Well…Ah sorta was…” She noticed that Grey Ink grew more interested with a sly grin on her face about what she just said. The orange mare realised what she implied and hastily tried to make amends “Not like that. Ya have a dirty mind, y’know that Grey?”

Grey Ink shrugged “Eh…Too late to change that.” She giggled as she looked in the direction that Ashley went off to “So why were you looking at him?”

“Guess ah just wanted to see who he was. Why? Y’know him?”

“Yeah.” Grey Ink turned back to Applejack “He’s a guard that just came in and his name’s Cloak.”

“Anythin’ else?”

“Not much. He’s really secretive but he likes to have a laugh.”

“Really? And how’d ya get to know that?”

“Well...I...Uh...Sort of told him that he was good looking and that I can’t help but mention what I like.” Grey Ink’s face started to turn a rose shade from embarrassment, thinking that Applejack was going to judge her but seeing the orange mare shake her head with a smile made her ease up.

“Don’t feel shy Grey.” Applejack said “Colts like honest mares. Did he say anything after?”

“Well...He did say I was cute.” The blush that found a way onto her face still lingered but was at a more softened tone. Grey Ink found it much easier to talk to mares about these kind of feelings than colts from past experience. “And his accent! Oh sweet Luna...I love it! I’ve always loved country accents much like yours Applejack but his...” Grey Ink started to become oblivious to her conversation partner as her thoughts continued of the stallion continued in her mind

“Well...” Applejack paused to think but also brought Grey Ink out of her daze, coming up with an idea almost instantly. “If y’all like him so much...Why don’t ya ask him out on a date?”

*

Huh...That’s weird... A while after walking past Applejack’s stand, Ashley noticed a weird feeling in his gut. The feeling was one he knew well since it saved his skin a few times. Immediately taking the sense into consideration, he came up with that something drastic was going to happen soon involving a friend...

Or he was just bored and made up the entire thing...

Either way, he kept the thought in his mind but hidden it deep in case he needed to look back on it. He continued his journey around the town once more until a certain cyan Pegasus accidently crashed into him. His chest immediately smashed into the ground against the flat surface of his blade, luckily it did no actual harm but it still hurt nonetheless.

Rainbow Dash’s head was still trying to recall what happened. Hearing a groan come from underneath her, she used her wings to correct herself and bring herself to a hover, seeing the object that she collided with.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” She lowered herself next to pony she went into and held out her hoof to help her temporary safety mat off the ground. The hood still remained over Ashley’s face but the light allowed Rainbow to see half of his muzzle. He waved off his assailants hoof as he got up himself, seeing Rainbow Dash smiling sheepishly and looking off to the side a bit to avoid eye contact with him.

“It’s all good ma’am, may ah get to know the mares name that just crashed into me?” As he spoke, Rainbow Dash noticed his accent which peaked curiosity since there were not many ponies that had country accents like the Apple family’s but she decided to ask her friends if they had heard anything about the mystery stallion in front of her.

“Name’s Rainbow Dash.” The boastful cyan Pegasus replied, turning her head towards him. “Fastest flier in Equestria.” A smirk grew on her face as she raised a hoof to her chest.

“Fastest flier eh? Ya seem like the type of pony who can pull that off.”

“Heh thanks. So what’s your name?”

“Name’s Cloak.” As much as he didn’t want to lie to Rainbow Dash, it was necessary. He couldn’t afford for others to know his real identity except for Callum, Shockwave and Pinkie. Although looking back, he didn’t really trust Shockwave much to keep his secret. Note to self; break his legs if he squeals.

“Cool…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes averted from his face which could hardly be seen to his body which she couldn’t see much of since the hooded robe covered a majority of his body. “Why are you wearing that thing?”

“The hood?” Ashley asked, Rainbow nodded “Ah like to be a bit…Mysterious y’know?”

“Why’s that?”

“Ah don’t know. Just like to ah guess.”

“That’s…Cool. I’ve never seen you around…Well a pony that hides themselves like you so that means you’re new here, right?”

“Correct Miss Dash.”

“Drop that miss stuff.” Rainbow Dash said flatly.

“Whatever ya want Madame Rainbow.” Ashley chuckled a bit but Rainbow just glared daggers at him “Alright…Geez. Only playin’ with ya’.”

Rainbow eased up “Since you’re new here, you should watch out for Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh Ah’ve already met her. Nice gal, bit random if ah say so mahself.”

Rainbow laughed a bit “Trust me, I know.” She grew more curious to the stallions looks. Since she easily made him feel a bit comfortable, she easily found the courage to ask him another question. “Hey…Can I see your face?”

Ashley cocked his eyebrow, not that it was noticed by the cyan Pegasus since she couldn’t see it but she noticed the warm smile on his face “Sure. Ya’ll seem alright in mah books.”

Rainbow watched as the stallion lifted his light green hoof to the tip of his hood, pulling it back to reveal his brown mane, ocean blue eyes and his scar. The fact of the eyes looking similar seemed to skip her mind as she fell into looking at the stallion’s facial features but more importantly, the scar. Her mind raced into conclusion to how he got the scar. Maybe he was in a bar fight? Or fighting a diamond dog or something.

“Ya’ll should take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Ashley smirked, knocking the cyan Pegasus out of her trance.

“Sorry, too busy lookin’ at your scar.”

Ashley held a hoof on his right cheek, running it over his scar “Not an impressive story behind it. Fell out of a tree when ah was a young’un. Broke a leg as well.”

“And here I was, thinking you got it from fighting something.” Rainbow Dash giggled lightly.

“Well…It was a fight against gravity but that jerk always wins.” Ashley laughed a bit as he put the hood back on as he turned to leave “Guess Ah’ll let y’all get back to yer trainin’. Ah’m sure that if ya keep it up, y’all become famous one day.”

“I’m aiming for the Wonderbolts and thanks!” Rainbow unfurled her wings, beating them lightly to give herself a gentle hover “See ya around!” She shot off into the sky, immediately getting back into her training routine.

Right now that’s out of the way, I should see Zecora to get rid of this body...I miss my hands. Ashley started to walk through the town, towards the forest to meet a certain zebra to try and get a cure for Celestia’s revenge on him.

As he walked through the wilderness of the Everfree, he paid extra attention to his surroundings in case of an attacker. By doing so, he could find easy routes to escape or to turn into an ambush on his predator. A key skill he learned when it came to hiding from Russian patrol squads back in his army days. The path to Zecora’s was neither long nor tiring and since he already walked from her hut towards Ponyville, he easily found his way there.

He raised his hoof to knock on the wooden door. A small moment passed before the door opened, revealing the zebra. Judging by her slightly raised eyebrow, Ashley judged the fact that she would ask who he was so he decided to ditch the country accent for the time being.

“Excuse me Zecora but do you know a cure for a potion that’s made with poison joke extract?”

“Indeed I do. But the question is, who are you?”

“Oh right.” Ashley mentally face palmed/hoofed. He removed his hood for the zebra to see his face “It’s me. Ashley. Long story short, Celestia got Callum to trick me into drinking an orange potion that’s made with poison joke extract and I turned into a pony.”

Zecora examined his facial features, staring into his eyes. Her heart and mind told her that he was telling the truth (and the fact that he had the exact same voice as the human she knew).“I shall prepare a brew.” Zecora moved to the side of the door “Please come in so that we can begin helping you.”

“Uuuuhhh. Here’s the thing…” Ashley replied “I need this form to get my payback later today…”

“I see.” Zecora nodded. She was a bit against Ashley thinking of getting revenge on the sun goddess but seeing what she did to him. She shrugged it off.

“I was wondering if you could prepare the cure for me to use after doing so.” Zecora responded with a nod, accompanied by a smile. “Thanks a lot Zecora. I owe you a lot for helping me out now and from before.”

“Anything for a dear friend, now for the cure I shall tend.”

“Alright. Can you drop it off at the guard station at Ponyville for me?” Zecora nodded. Ashley turned around and began his journey back towards the town but waved towards the zebra “See you later Zecora.” The zebra returned the gesture before closing the door to her home. She began to prepare the ingredients immediately for the poison joke cure.

*

Celestia called upon a couple of guards to try and find Callum or better yet, Ashley but they came back with nothing. Twilight and the princess decided to take a small walk around the town, Celestia put on a small disguise spell for herself to hide her. Even though it was great that ponies would bow down to her, she felt it would be better to see what the town was really like without the presence of royalty. The only one’s who knew of Celestia’s change were Spike and Twilight who vowed not to break her disguise by mentioning it.

Ashley’s probably hiding away somewhere, too embarrassed to come out to the public. A variety of situations had fit themselves in her head to what happened with him. The potion would be random since it was poison joke so her imagination ran freely. Some of the situations were quite humerous, some were a bit mean while some…Lets just say that not even the princess knew how such thoughts occurred in her mind.

Her disguise was a small white unicorn filly, same height as Twilight. Her eyes remained the same colours while her mane was a light pink that shined in the sunlight, the fringe would sweep over to the left side of her face but only covered a small amount of it. . A few heads turned to see the unicorns brilliant mane, whispers could be heard about it. All were positive which made Celestia feel full with confidence, her form was basically a younger version of herself except for  the lack of wings and a different cutie mark but stayed sun related. It was a sun behind a cloud and she decided to go with the name of Sunny Daze.

Seeing Ponyville from a different point of view was a experience she yet to embrace. Ponies would always be on their best behaviour when the princess was around and would go into formalities which she was displeased with. Seeing ponies in their more relaxed states and not trying to impress the alicorn form of her was pleasing.

“Enjoying yourself?” Twilight asked to the alicorn in disguise.

“Very much. It’s brilliant to see my subjects be themselves for a change.” Celestia replied.

“You mean you don’t like it when everypony is bowing down to you?” Twilight was confused. To be the leader of a country would both be heaven and hell. The respect you would earn if you were a good leader would be tremendous but the amount of meetings, courts you have to attend and stuff like that would drive a mare crazy. Sometimes she wondered how Celestia managed one thousand years doing so but since princess Luna came back into being co-ruler of Equestria, both princesses have been able to spend more time with their subjects without royal business as far as she could tell.

“To be honest Twilight, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to not be a princess for a while.”

“So you can have…A glimpse of sorts at normal life without royalty?”

Celestia smiled warmly to her student, glad that she took the words right out of the princesses mouth. “You’re correct Twilight. That’s one of the reasons why I like to be in the presence of you and the other element bearers. Not to mention Callum and Ashley as well. I think the same goes for my sister too.”

“Well maybe when all this prank stuff blows over we can all do something together. Princess Luna included of course.”

*

“GET AWAY THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!”

Due to Ashley becoming incredibly hot from wearing his hooded robe, he took it off and let it hang over his back, covering his shoulders. Of course, he taken into account of his uniform but the emblems did not exist on the shoulders, or anywhere on the uniform for that matter. The reason why he was screaming and bursting out of the door of Carousel Boutique was due to the following facts.

1: Rarity noticed his uniform through the store window.

2: He’s a stallion and he’s wearing something she practically made.

3: She’s VERY suspicious where he acquired a pony version of Ashley’s uniform.

4: She dragged him into her store for questioning. Ashley was surprised by her strength but he blamed it on him being a pony, therefore lighter than before and he couldn’t really escape the magic hold on him.

5: Stuff happened that will be explained shortly.

And last but not least, number six…

…

She needed a male model for her work.

Sure if she asked nice enough, Ashley (probably) would’ve agreed to stand still for the next hour or so for her to use him for a variety of clothing she was going to release. The first sets of clothes were mostly high quality suits that did indeed have a few gems embedded in them.

*

Around an hour earlier, immediately when Ashley was dragged into Carousel Boutique

“Where did you get that?” Rarity asked. She had shut the curtains and closed the store so that nopony would bother to enter the fashion store. Ashley’s hooves could not assist him in his escape since Rarity had bound him down with a mass amount of ribbon and cloth so movement except from his neck was suspended.

“Get what?” Ashley replied with his fake accent in the attempts to fool the fashionista into letting him go.

“That suit. It looks very similar to my own work YET I’ve only made one in that colour and that was for Ashley.” The unicorn stepped closer, glaring daggers towards the human turned pony on the floor, trying to look the least intimidating.

“Ah don’t know.” Ashley merely replied but of course, he dug himself into more questions.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Rarity unbound one of his fore hooves via magic and brought it closer to his face forcing him to look at the sleeve of the uniform “Look at the stitching! The quality of the fabric! Only I, Rarity am capable of such a feat.” Using her magic once more to tie up the hoof again, she leaned her face down towards Ashley, the frustration was radiating from her.

“Y’KNOW WHAT!? FUCK THIS.” Ashley yelled at the mares face. The sudden outburst caused her to flinch away as a natural reaction. “I’m Ashley, alright!? I knew this would happen...” Ashley said in a calmer tone. Rarity however decided to test the claim to be true.

“If you’re really Ashley...” Rarity decided that a question that only Ashley would know would suffice the best at the current moment. “What is Callum’s birthday since Ashley and Callum are the only one’s who know.”

“It’s December the twelfth. Want more information!? Callum’s blood type is A positive while mine is the same. I was diagnosed with a very mild case A.D.D at birth. Callum almost died of blood loss once and I donated my blood for him to live. NEED ANY FUCKING MORE!?” Although the whole bit about blood type and A.D.D birth case were unnecessary, they did do the trick of making the unicorn into believing him.

Rarity really had no choice but to believe the claim that the stallion in front of her was the former human. Even if the voice was very alike if not the same as the humans then the small amount of his background as well as Callum’s was more than likely to be true. Rarity finally snapped out of her trance, seeing that she had basically pony-napped and held him against his will to get the information she wanted.

“All...” The white unicorn used her magic to untie Ashley. As he returned to a sitting position, rubbing his right fore-hoof with his left from irritation of the ribbon, he stared up at Rarity with a look of annoyance. “All I-I want to know is...H-how?”

“How what?” Ashley snapped back.

“How are you a pony?”

“Celestia.” Rarity cocked an eyebrow at his response. “She got Callum to make me drink a potion that turned me like this as revenge as yesterday and I didn’t want any others finding out about my transformation so I made a story that my name is Cloak. Kids at the school think that the human form of me is away on business.” Ashley sighed. His expression to seem to be more relaxed “you must promise me NOT to even mention who I really am. I’ve worked too hard for me to be revealed now and I have plans later that require this form and my disguise altogether.”

“Tsk tsk. You really need to be more careful Ashley...” A voice echoed through the store. Both Ashley and Rarity recognised it instantly.

It was Pinkie’s.

The pink mare revealed herself by dropping from the ceiling with a rope. Both Ashley and Rarity wondered how long she was up there let alone how she got in.

“How...How did-“ Rarity began but was immediately interrupted by Pinkie.

“Silly Rarity, walls can’t stop Pinkie Pie.” The party pony chimed as she put the rope behind her back, disappearing instantly. “Besides, I knew that Ashley was going to get into a situation like this at some point.”

“Ooookay.” Ashley rolled his eyes before trying to get the conversation to what it was before Pinkie shown up “So Rarity…Do you promise?”

Rarity pondered for a moment “Yes…Yes I promise.”

“Do you Pinkie promise?” Pinkie leaned her head towards the white unicorn.

“Cross my heart…” Rarity began as she made the appropriate movements for the promise. Ashley already lost interest in the conversation. There were only two promises that he preferred to use were the promise of the word, much like when Rarity agreed to earlier and his all time favourite, the blood oath. Although he didn’t really expect ponies to go through with it since most of them don’t like blood. At least he knew Callum would perform blood oaths but they hadn’t done one in years.

“…Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rarity ended the sentence by putting her hoof on her closed eyelid to which Pinkie smiled before turning to Ashley.

“Do not let this happen again…Buh-bye!” She stated to him in a serious manner before going to a cheery tune like she always does, vanishing out of the store instantly.

Ashley was somewhat relieved that Pinkie had come by. He looked over at Rarity who had a gleam in her eyes. He didn’t like the looks of it.

They were both alone…

Rarity used her magic to close the door…

“You know…I know how you can repay me for the door you broke from before…” She stepped closer towards Ashley. If Ashley had issues with personal space then he would have either pushed her away or edged himself away right now.

“Really? How so?”

“Oh…I don’t know…” He noticed her horn glowing once more as cloth started to form around him, tightening almost instantly to prevent his escape once more. “You can help me by modelling my new line of clothing for stallions!”

Ashley gulped. He looked at the clock; it was 1:56PM. He had plenty of time to get ready for his revenge and his shift at Neon’s but he would rather drag himself around town doing nothing, or watch paint dry, or watch a guy watching paint dry for that matter.

Rarity didn’t wait for him to respond as she dragged him into the depths of the store, eager to get him into a suit. It was hard to come by male models since one; the town consisted more of the female population and two; it’s modelling. Enough said.

This brings us back to a couple hours later when Ashley had finally managed to escape. Bursting through the door in terror, Rarity had asked him to wear a latex suit to which he was not going to be any part of. He didn’t even know why she would consider that he would get into it let alone why she had to make one.

Ponies shot looks of curiosity at the running stallion but lost interest quickly.

*

After Pinkie’s visit to Ashley at Rarity’s, she had already begun getting a party ready which didn’t take long. It was her talent after all and only took her to conjure up everything in a matter of ten minutes. The one task she needed to be done was getting Celestia to come to it.

Her only option was to go see Ponyville’s single dragon resident. All she had to do was imagine she was at the library and poof. She was there. No fancy light shows or mist like the princesses except a simple popping noise when she arrived. Sometimes there would be confetti and the sound of children saying “Yaay!” but she went with the pop. (Yep, that’s how Pinkie gets to places and is capable of controlling her entrance to her destination however she wants.)

Spike had already finished his chores for the day and was relaxing with a bowl of sapphires, emeralds and rubies that Rarity let him have for helping her with her gem mining. Even though he was doing most of the work, the appreciation he got from the fashionista meant a lot to him. It always was gems with either a hug, a peck on the cheek (To which he loved the most but a hug was just as good but he had to wait to clean himself before he would touch her. Didn’t want to get her beautiful white coat dirty and the fact that Rarity wouldn’t want to hug a muddy dragon.) or a simple thanks which was the most common.

Pinkie knocked on the door to which the dragon scurried along the wooden floor, his feet making the scratching sound as he grew closer to the library’s entrance. Opening the door, a pink blur bounced around the room, Immediately identifying that it was Pinkie since she was the only one capable of doing so.

“What do you need Pinkie?” The baby dragon asked as he closed the door, going back to his snack.

“Oh-oh! I need you to send something for me.” The party pony stopped in mid-air before she slowly descended to the ground.

“Uuuuh. Okay.” He replied before stuff a ruby the size of his fist into his mouth, crunching on it with ease.

Pinkie Pie rummaged through her mane with her hooves, presenting a small rosy pink envelope, giving it to Spike immediately.

“So who’s it for?” He held the parcel in front of his face, ready to breathe his signature green flame onto it.

“Oh, it’s for Celestia of course! It’s super duper important!” She replied.

Spike nodded as he inhaled as much as he could. Reaching his limit, he sent his flame onto the note, engulfed quickly as it was sent to the princess.

“Thanks Spikey!” The earth pony chimed as she bounced out of the library (opening the door herself) “Come down to Sugarcube corner at four o’clock for Callum’s party!”

“Will do Pinkie!” The dragon called out as he closed the door, grabbing his bowl of gems. Now…Where can I find my top hat?

*

Twilight and Sunny Daze or better yet, Celestia were both eating at a restaurant in Ponyville called “The Four leaf clover”. Their specialty was the stir fry they made since it had won a couple of rewards from food critics from around Equestria. Luckily it was a slow day for them otherwise neither Twilight nor Celestia would have been able to get served. The waiter had set down their meals in front of them shortly after they ordered. The aroma of the stir fry filled their noses. Celestia had never actually had this type of food and after little convincing from her prized pupil, she wanted to try the experience.

The first bite of her food had filled her taste buds quickly; the food was amazing to say the least.  Twilight watched as her mentor began to savour every bite of the meal before digging into her own. Out of the blue or green flames in this case. A small envelope had appeared in front of Celestia. Both ponies shot curious looks at each other before Celestia used her magic to open the letter.

It read:

Dear princess Celestia.

I’ve planned Callum’s welcome to Equestria party later this afternoon, would you and princess Luna like to join?

As for Ashley, sadly he did not want to attend the party. I don’t know why but who doesn’t like a good party?

From your faithful party pony, Pinkie Pie.

P.S.I loved your coat colour yesterday!

“Well it seems Miss Pie would like my sister and I to attend Callum’s welcome to Equestria party.” Celestia spoke up after she teleported the letter to her sister to get her answer.

“Are you going to?” Twilight asked after swallowing the recent bite of food she had in her mouth.

“Well I’m sure that Callum would love to see us both there and since He and Ashley are Equestria’s first contact with an off planet species and are friends of Luna and I, how could I object?” Celestia responded with a smile to which Twilight smiled in return.

Pinkie had found Twilight eating with a mare that she had never seen before, instantly going to introduce herself to the unicorn with the pink mane in her presence but Twilight cut her off.

“Should we tell her?”

“I don’t see why not.” Celestia replied with a smile.

Twilight looked around for anypony nearby who might hear what she had to say. Luckily the booth they were placed in wasn’t nearby others. “This is Sunny Daze…”

“Oh hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie an-“ Pinkie held out her hoof to the new pony in town to shake but was silenced by Twilight shoving her own hoof into her mouth, although the hoof didn’t stop her from trying to speak so all.

Twilight glared at Pinkie who stopped trying to talk, continuing herself before the interruption but cleared her throat first. “Who is also Princess Celestia in disguise” She whispered.

Even though Twilight’s hoof remained in the party pony’s mouth, she still managed to stifle a gasp. Celestia took it to herself to prove the claim by quickly shutting off part of the disguise. Her cutie mark changed back to her original one and a pair of wings accompanied her sides. Her mane had quickly turned into the multiple shades that everypony had seen before. Pinkie was in awe as the princess turned her disguise back on a couple seconds after of doing so.

Twilight removed her hoof slowly from Pinkie’s mouth but her jaw just hung there. Celestia was giggling a bit from Pinkie’s expression of shock.

Pinkie shook her head rapidly, breaking her awe-struck trance with a gleaming smile. “So Twilight, are you going to Callum’s welcome to Equestria party later?”

“Of course Pinkie, I wouldn’t want to miss one of your parties.” The lavender unicorn smiled warmly.

“Super! What about you Cele- I mean Sunny Daze?”

“Oh I would love to.” She replied. Pinkie was excited that her and Ashley’s plan could be set in motion now. “I’m just waiting for my sister to reply to your letter.” And conveniently, the letter reappeared in front of them in mid-air with a small bright light and dark blue mist that covered a small portion of the table. Celestia / Sunny Daze used her levitation magic to bring the letter to her eyes, a small grin found its way onto her face. “She accepts. She will be teleporting to Ponyville in twenty minutes after she finishes a current meeting with Gryphon diplomats. Oh and Pinkie, don’t let anypony else find out who I am.”

“My lips are sealed.” Pinkie made the motion of zipping her mouth closed with her forehoof before she left...

I won’t tell anyPONY...Except Ashley of course She thought to herself as she ventured back to Sugarcube Corner to double check everything was set for later.

*

Ugh...Meetings. Luna thought to herself as she just finished a long discussion with Gryphon diplomats about a dragon making itself home in one of their clans mountains. The Gryphons prefer building their colonies in the mountains not only for the wide open spaces but for the view of the landscape. The mountains were located next to a nearby forest to which they hunt their prey.

The dragon was described as being bipedal but not as large as a regular dragon that gave into greed and grown to its monstrous size.  This dragon was around seven to eight feet tall or to put in pony terms, bigger than two ponies on top of one another in height.

They described the dragon to having dark, navy blue scales, quite muscular, very sharp claws and carries its own weapons and instead of taking things from others and being hostile, it would help the Gryphons catch prey in return for gems and help them build some of the cave systems which the Gryphons would make into their nests.

Luna however didn’t see the initial problem since the dragon was helping them but they told her that it was an Equestrian dragon that should stay in her and her sister’s country. She knew that she would have to have a word with the dragon so after a large amount of discussion, the Gryphons agreed to try and persuade the dragon to come to Equestria to speak with the royalty.

“Finally.” Luna sighed in relief as she entered her chambers, passing Night Wind and one of her ‘Night guards’. She started to prepare herself for Callum’s party later. To her, it was a shame that Ashley would not attend but she’d ask him about that later.

She wondered around her bedroom, thinking of what to wear. The only parties she had really gone to were the Grand Galloping Gala and her sisters. She enjoyed going to her sister’s birthday parties that were the highlight across Equestria. The Grand Galloping Gala however, she despised with a raw passion to match the sun in its ferociousness.  All the nobles that tried to suck up to her sister and herself was annoying alongside the intolerable nephew Blueblood that walked around like he owned the place.

Then again, he’s always been like that.

Before her banishment to the moon, Luna gave up on going to the Grand Galloping Gala altogether since it was a waste of time in her eyes and she could see it in her sister’s eyes too. She thought to give it ago next time since at the last Gala, Twilight and the other element bearers alongside Spike attended the social event and she heard that it was chaotic from Celestia. Hearing how much her sister enjoyed it since it broke the bad habit of boredom.

“Night Wind?” She called out. Shortly after Night Wind opened the door slightly but did not enter.

“Yes your majesty?”

“I need your help with something. Please enter.”

Night Wind decided to do as he was told, glancing back at the guard that lip synced the following.

“Sucks to be you.”

Night Wind leered at the guard who had a smug grin on his face. “Lets see that smirk when I make you go on bathroom duty...Using your tongue.” He mumbled but loud enough only for the other guard to hear. His grin disappeared instantly. Yep...Still got it.

Closing the door behind him, he drew closer to the princess and bowed “How may I assist you princess?”

“I...I need you to help me pick a dress.”

Night Wind gulped.

*

It was now 4:06 PM and Ashley was immensely bored, again. Pinkie had found Callum and told him to go to Sugarcube Corner later, not telling him why. The party pony had already asked Applejack, Big Macintosh, Applebloom, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Grey Ink, Shockwave and Neon to go to Sugarcube Corner for the party. Shockwave assumed that Ashley’s revenge was taking place at the confectionary but only having a small insight on what the human could do, he didn’t to get on his bad side.

Pinkie managed to track down Ashley who was sitting on a park bench, talking a mint green unicorn by the name of Lyra who she introduced herself to him because of the way he was sitting. He watched as she got comfortable on the bench in her unique way, the same way Ashley was sitting on the bench.

“I don’t see why the way I sit is a problem to other ponies.” Lyra stated.

“It’s good to be different and it’s the way ya feel comfortable.” Ashley replied with his fake southern accent. He already had his hood down since their introduction. He learned that Lyra had a roommate by the name of Bon-Bon.

“So what is it you do?” Lyra asked.

“Ah’m a guard. Just got in Ponyville today and met some nice ponies. Quite relaxed town ya guys have ‘ere.”

“Thanks. Although for the past few days it hasn’t though.”

“Really? Why?”

“Well, A few days ago, two humans came into town and...Well I can’t tell you much except they fought against the Royal guard and one of them stopped an entire diamond dog attack by himself!”

“Ah see. That was Ashley wasn’t it?”

“I think so. How’d you find out about him?”

“Met him. We got on well and he asked me to fill in for him at the school since he had to go do some important business.”

“I wish I could get to see him and Callum more.” Lyra said with disappointment “You see...I’m sort of  fascinated by their ‘hands’. The way they don’t need magic to hold things is amazing! I wish that I could have them to play my Lyre. Sure I can play it with magic but I want to let the music flow from my body, not my mind...” She looked Ashley “Do you know what I mean?”

“Of course. Y’all seem quite passionate about that there music of yers. Ah’d like to hear ya play sometime but that’s up to ya.” Ashley replied softly. Seeing how excited the mare was about his former hands, maybe he could cheer her up some time? “Ah’m sure if ya ask Ashley to get a look at his hands, he’d be happy to you.”

“Yeah but that’s the thing. What if he thinks I’m weird like some other ponies do?”

“Simple. Ya don’t know if he will unless you ask him. Yer fergetting that he’s from another planet and that ponies will ask questions about him. Besides, he wouldn’t want to say something that offensive to ya. Sure he jokes a lot but he knows restraint when it counts.” Ashley placed a hoof under Lyra’s chin, forcing her to look at his eyes. “Just go ask him.”

“Th-thanks...” Lyra had definitely cheered up since she wrapped her hooves around his neck, pulling him into a hug “Thanks for cheering me up Cloak. You’re a good friend.”

“Heh...” Ashley returned the embrace “Ah always get that.” Both ponies set themselves of the bench “Well, Ah’ve got a party for Callum to attend so Ah’ll catch ya later.” He turned to leave but an idea struck him.

“Actually...” His words made Lyra’s ears perk up “Why don’t ya come with? Ah’m sure ah can easily convince Callum fer ya to get a look at his hands and answer some stuff fer ya. How does that sound?”

“Really? You’d do that for me even though we just met?” Her eyes were gleaming with excitement as a wide smile started to form.

“Yer mah friend even if we just met and ah know this will mean somethin’ to ya.”

Lyra couldn’t contain her excitement as she started to bounce around Ashley, her speech was going at a speed that could almost rival Pinkie Pie’s. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthank-“ She stopped when she realised how foolish she was acting and that ‘Cloak’ was chuckling to her antics. She sheepishly smiled at him as they both made their way to Sugarcube Corner.

Shockwave and Grey Ink saw Ashley with a unicorn next to him. The captain easily picked up that Grey Ink had affection for ‘Cloak’ since she wouldn’t stop talking about him and his accent. Shockwave rolled his eyes as both unicorn and Pegasus approached Ashley and Lyra. Introductions were thrown around as they all walked towards the confectionary for the party.

Keep calm Grey... The Pegasus thought to herself He’s just an average stallion like them all...

...with a southern accent. You know how that gets you Grey...

Shut up brain, I don’t need those thoughts...Well...Not now anyway.

As the group entered the confectionary, Ashley promised to himself that he would stick next to open windows to avoid the smell making him vomit on the spot, If he done so then it would blow his cover. Pinkie knew she couldn’t do anything about that.

*

It was now 4:15PM. Callum was now at the front door of Sugarcube Corner as he opened the door slowly. The room was dark I wonder... He thought to himself.

“WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA!” Everypony shouted as he entered, the light immediately came on. Callum was shocked, he looked around the room. Cakes, cookies, milkshake fountain, candy floss machine and more sweets than he could possibly eat. It was like heaven...Well for him anyway.

Ashley saw this as hell, having to attend a party, being near sweet things that want to make him throw up. The only way it could get worse was if the place was crawling with spiders.

Fucking spiders...

“Daaaaayummm Pinkie! You must of went all out on this thing!” Callum looked around the room. A large banner saying ‘Welcome to Equestria!’ hung from the rooftop, above the counter. He saw  Applejack and her brother alongside Applebloom who was next to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Rarity, Fluttershy (Who was hiding herself behind her mane a bit but she did ease up near Callum), Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Spike and Rarity. Next to Twilight however was a unicorn he never saw before. Guessing he would be making introductions soon. He saw Grey Ink standing next to Ashley, getting quick glances of his pony turned friend. Next to Ashley was a mint green unicorn which smiled at him widely. Next to her was Shockwave.

Everypony was smiling but Ashley’s was a bit more sadistic, eager to get his revenge. After doing so much work of getting almost everyone to believe his disguise, he waited for Celestia / Sunny Daze to have a bite of the special surprise that awaits her. Luckily, Pinkie said that Celestia was here but in disguise and seeing that the only pony he didn’t know was Sunny, he pinpointed her as the sun goddess. The fact that the white unicorn was near Twilight much also helped convince him.

“Seriously guys, I thank you all for the great welcome.” Callum began “Trust me when I say this, I’m really glad I came to Equestria.”

Everypony cheered as the party began, except Ashley who was focusing more on payback. He looked over at Lyra who was eyeing Callum’s hands Figures.... He rolled his eyes as he made his way to Callum.

“Hey...Uh Callum.” Ashley spoke with his usual fake country accent.

“What ya’ need Cloak?” The human answered, everpony was already in conversation while Pinkie was sorting through a mass collection of records for the party music. Shockwave was talking to Spike who was styling a top hat for some odd reason. Then again, the accessory did suit the baby dragon well. Twilight, Sunny Daze and the others were all in a conversation them selves.

“Not much, just need ya’ to do me a favour.”

“Depends on what it is...Oh one sec.” Callum raised his hand “Pinkie, cupcake me.”

“Okey dokey!” The pink party mare shouted, pulling a cupcake from the table near her and threw it in the human’s direction. The base of the cupcake impacted with Callum’s hand softly, pulling it down to take a bit of the sweet haven of baked treats.

“Cheers Pinkie.” Callum thanked the mare after swallowing the bite, Ashley grimaced from the sight. Callum waved him off “Continue.”

“Can ya let Lyra...” Judging by Callum’s look of confusion, Ashley pointed out the mare with his hoof “That’s Lyra and ah promised her that she could get a look at yer hands.”

“She...Wants to look...At my hands?” Callum scoffed, obviously a bit freaked out from the question. “Err...Sure I guess.”

“Thanks man, Ah owe ya one.”

“Last time I checked, I made you eat a cupcake so I guess we’re even.”

“Yer right. We’re even.”

“Hey Lyra!” Ashley called out to the unicorn who instantly moved herself next to him.

“Yes?”

“You wanted to have a look at my hands?” Callum asked. Lyra could barely contain her excitement but she was able to do so. She eagerly nodded, Callum reached out his hand to the unicorn who enveloped it with her magic.

The other party goers were slightly confused of her actions and their faces shown it. Callum could feel a slight tingling sensation in his hand as Lyra used her magic to mentally get a look at every bone, muscle, blood vessel and everything else in his hand. After a few minutes of using her spell and everypony watching in curiosity, Lyra finally ceased her magic hold on Callum’s hand.

“Well...That was...” Callum struggled to finish his sentence, rubbing the hand that had been used for Lyra’s test with his other one.

“Cool?” Ashley suggested.

“Seems about right.” Callum agreed, looking at the unicorn “Anything else?”

“Ummm...Not that I can think of at this moment...Thanks a lot by the way.” Lyra smiled which Callum done the same.

*Knock Knock*

“Huh...” Ashley spoke out loud “Wonder who that could be...” He trotted to the door, he didn’t know how he managed to open the door with his hoof but it worked and that’s all he cared about. He looked up at the pony at the door...Well, ponies.

There, standing right in front of him was princess Luna. She shot him a look of curiosity since he looked somewhat familiar but she couldn’t put her hoof on who it was. Next to her were the second most hated ponies Ashley hated, Night Wind and Solar.

Right on that moment, he wanted to break both of their necks like twigs but the only thing stopping him was his promise (And the fact that he had hooves now). Ashley immediately bowed down to the princess of the night.

“Sorry I’m late.” Luna began with slight embarrassment.

Callum approached the door, looking over Ashley to see Luna and the two captains “Oh hey Luna, here for the party?” Luna nodded “Awesome. Any reasons why you’re a bit late?”

“Oh...Um...” Luna dug at the floor with her hoof a bit “I couldn’t decide what to wear.” She smiled sheepishly.

Callum raised an eyebrow “Like...A dress?” Luna nodded slightly “How come you’re not wearing one?”

“Because...” Night Wind began “I managed to talk her out of putting on a dress before she started to ask me questions about them.”

“Ahhhh.” Both Ashley and Callum knew why. The last thing they would want to do is get involved with girls and clothes as well. (Who can blame them?)

“May we enter?” Luna asked.

Both Callum and Ashley mentally face palmed / hoofed, both moving out of the way for the princess of the night, followed by Night Wind and Solar. Luna looked around the room, getting a quick look of who was attending the party. One specific pony drawn her attention and it was Sunny Daze. Luna knew it was really Celestia since only she knew what her sister looked like when she was younger and the fact that it was the disguise Celestia always used when it was necessary.

Pinkie had found a track to play and began playing the music in the background. Ashley looked over at Pinkie who winked at him, signalling him to start the plan. The former human walked over to Twilight and the group.

“Howdy ladies.” He greeted himself “Would y’all like me to grab ya somethin’ to eat or drink?”

“Hmmm.” Twlight began “I’ll go for some punch.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy squeaked “I’ll have some too. If you don’t mind that is.” She asked in her usual quiet voice since she was talking to a stranger but only knew of his name from Grey Ink.

“I would love some too darling.” Rarity smiled.

“Ditto.” Rainbow Dash replied “Oh and a cupcake.”

“Ah’m good.” Applejack stated with a warm smile, it was nice to hear somepony with an accent similar to hers around these parts.

“Oh. Ummmm.” Grey Ink tried to answer but her mind was else where, focusing on both his face and accent most likely. “I-I’ll just h-have a glass of punch.” And you tonight *insert dirty mental image* ...DANG IT BRAIN, I DIDN’T WANT THAT IMAGE YET.

“Alright...” He felt a bit awkward from Grey Ink just then but shrugged it off. He turned his attention to Sunny Daze. “Would ya like somethin’ too ma’am?” Please for the love of god pick a cupcake.

“Hmmmm....” Celestia pondered, she did feel a bit hungry at the moment and from what she can recall, and Twilight did mention that the cupcakes here were amazing so it convinced her more to try one “I think I will go for a cupcake.”

Ashley nodded and walked off to get the girls what they requested. None of the ponies or Callum noticed the sadistic, twisted smile forming on his face except for Pinkie. Judging from his reaction, Celestia / Sunny Daze had asked for something to eat.

“She said yes?” Pinkie asked the former human who nodded in response. Pinkie quickly zoomed into the kitchen, grabbing the cupcake that was designed for the revenge. Ashley put it on a nearby tray and carried it with his mouth, making his way to the punch bowl.

Callum saw his friend struggling to carry the tray so he offered his help. The human grabbed another tray and put the requested number glasses of punch on the tray. Ashley’s tray carried both Sunny Daze’s and Rainbow Dash’s cupcakes.

“Here ya go ladies. Ashley balanced the tray on his forehoof, “The one on my left is fer ya Rainbow.” Rainbow picked up cupcake with the white frosting m almost entirely covered by rainbow coloured sprinkles. “And this is fer you ma’am.” He held out the tray to Sunny Daze who used her magic to levitate the overkill sky blue frosted baked treat to her mouth.

Callum had placed the tray of drinks on a table next to the girls, making his way back to Luna who was in conversation with Shockwave and Spike along with Lyra. Night Wind and Solar stood outside, doing their duty by not letting anypony in except without proper authority or if they owned the establishment.

Ashley watched as Sunny Daze took the first bite of the cupcake, hearing a light moan of happiness as it plagued her taste buds. Rainbow was already half way in eating her cupcake but Ashley paid no attention to that. The moment that he had been eagerly waiting for is finally happening.

As Sunny Daze finished her cupcake, Ashley had to fight the urge to blurt out who he really was but he wanted to see the results. He made his way to Pinkie who was adorning an almost invisible smile. She too wanted to see the results so both sat back and relaxed, letting time take its course.

“So you girls can see my problem...” Grey Ink began.

“Like A.J. said before, just ask him.” Rainbow began “He seems like a nice colt.”

“I’d have to agree with them both here.” Rarity said “Who knows, maybe he feels the same way about you.” As much as she wanted to mention what their love could blossom into (like in romance novels), she knew it would be inappropriate and held back.

Sunny, Twilight and Fluttershy all nodded in agreement. Their responses did improve Grey Ink’s confidence but not enough to just walk up to the light green stallion. Rainbow Dash groaned, she pushed Grey Ink towards Ashley even though she kept objecting, telling the cyan Pegasus to stop, as she got close to Ashley, the more furious the blush on her face became.

“There.” Rainbow Dash had pushed the grey Pegasus next to Ashley who was looking confused. “Now don’t come back until you ask him.” Rainbow Dash demanded before retreating to her friends.

“That was really uncalled for Rainbow Dash.” A voice said, it was deep and masculine. Everypony in the group shot a look at who spoke...

It was Sunny Daze...

Well...A pony that resembled her...

Okay a stallion had taken her place.

“What the!?” Sunny Daze said in his newly acquired male voice “W-what is g-going on!?”

*

“Sooo...what is it ya need Grey?” Ashley asked. Pinkie decided to leave the two ponies alone for the time being.

Grey Ink was frozen like a statue, the blush was going all out and was highly noticeable. Ashley found it quite cute. The Pegasus mare couldn’t even stifle a single word since her throat decided to dry up.

Ashley narrowed his eyes, leaning close towards Grey’s blushing face. He smile warmly to the mare “Ya really like me...Don’t ya?”

Her heart was beating fast, slowly nodding in response. Come on Grey! You can do it! Her mind tried to persuade her to speak but she only blurted out sounds that weren’t even words.

Ashley rolled his eyes, the smile still on his face “Y’all were going to ask me something that is related to ya likin’ me. Weren’t ya?” Grey Ink nodded.

COME ON GREY. Her mind pushed on. JUST SAY IT. YOU’RE MAKING IT HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE!. The mare gulped, sucking up her confidence and taking a deep breathe.

“Cloak...Will you-“

“What the!?” A voice shouted “W-what is g-going on!?”

Everypony (including Callum and Spike) immediately looked towards who just blurted out. There stood a stallion who had the same features as Sunny Daze.

“Oh my god...” Ashley whispered to himself “BAH-HAHAHA!” He immediately fell to the floor, clutching his sides from the laughter taking over him.

Sunny Daze was panicking, she tried to use her magic to revert the problem but instead it got rid of her pony disguise all together. After a bright white light had filled the room and faded, there stood a male version of Celestia.

Since Ashley’s laughter was loud, everyone shot looks to him. Rainbow Dash, Luna and Twilight immediately got up in his face out of anger. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” They all shouted at him, reducing him to a chuckle.

It was time. “Oh man...” Ashley spoke, ditching his accent. He stood back up and pointed at the male Celestia who was still in a panic “YOU JUST GOT PLAYED!”

Callum, Shockwave, Pinkie and Rarity were the only ones whose jaws didn’t drop. But Rarity and Shockwave were still shocked by the severity of the prank that had just been pulled. On the other side of the room, Callum was chuckling.

“Wha-“ male Celestia couldn’t manage to speak from her confusion.

“Let me clear things for you Celestia.” He pointed at the gender swapped alicorn “You.” He then pointed to himself “Just got played by me.” He chuckled.

“What...No...It can’t be...” Celestia was dumbfounded. The light green stallions voice, the colour of his mane, his eye colour and his scar on his right cheek. The fact that she heard that Ashley was supposedly away on business and this mystery stallion got along well with Callum...

She finally understood...

Her potion turned him into a pony...

And he used it to his advantage...

She couldn’t face it...

...

I’ve been defeated...By Ashley. male Celestia thought to himself. The only thing he could do was laugh a bit. His masculine laugh had joined Callum’s which had confused everyone, including Ashley.

“It seems I’ve been bested...” Celestia said with slight disappointment. he had to add Ashley to the list of ponies that defeated his in the art of pranking. Right below a pony that labelled them self, The Pink Menace.

In the background, Pinkie winked at Ashley who nodded at her with a smirk.

“What...” Twilight began. If looks could kill then Ashley would be running from the face of pure anger coming from the lavender unicorn. “What. Did. You. Do?” She demanded through clenched teeth.

“Geez Twilight, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Ashley began with a chuckle “That cupcake she ate, that was gender swapped her.”

Luna, Rainbow and Twilight took a step back from Ashley. Grey Ink on the other hand was the most shocked out of all the ponies in the room. The stallion she fancied...Was Ashley. She didn’t know what to do but tears had already formed, she burst out of the confectionary store as fled the scene. She felt as if her heart has been torn from her chest and spat on in disgust.

“Oh for fuck sake...” Ashley facehoofed. “Cal, can you get Grey Ink for me? I need to talk to her.”

“Sure thing bud.” Callum walked out but stopped next to Solar and Night Wind who were curious from the shouting “Oh by the way, say hi to your new prince in there.” He chuckled once more as he saw Grey running through the town, he began his chase.

Both Solar and Night Wind raised an eyebrow at each other, peeking into the store. Both their jaws dropped when they saw an alicorn stallion that look very much like Celestia. They both agreed to ask about it later.

“Why did she run out crying?” Spike asked, still a bit shocked from what was going on.

“Easy Spike.” Ashley began “Grey Ink fell in love with the pony I was faking to be. Her heart must feel like crap right now.” He said with a slightly depressed tone. He didn’t mean to cause her to fall in love with him but it was too late. No...No. I’m going to solve this... Ashley found a sense of confidence from his thought but right now, he had to deal with a bunch of confused, angry mares.

“I think...” prince Celestia began, gaining everyone’s attention “I think that Ashley and I should stop this meaningless battle to out do each other’s pranks. It’s starting to affect other ponies emotionally and I can’t bear to stand with the guilt.” The gender swapped alicorn walked up to Ashley, towering over him and bowed. Everyone was confused, including Ashley but Pinkie wasn’t. he knew what Celestia was doing.

“Ashley. You win.”

“But at what cost Celestia?” His question made the prince stand up and cock an eyebrow “Like you said, ponies are getting hurt emotionally and Grey Ink just proved that.” Ashley looked up to the alicorn “There is no real victor here, only two beings that didn’t think of the emotions of others, only the satisfaction of out doing one another.” Ashley walked towards the door but stopped, looking back at the ponies (and Spike).

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a heart to try and fix. Oh and Pinkie...Be a dear and go to Zecora’s for me, she promised to make me a cure for what Celestia did to me and I REALLY want my hands back.” Ashley turned back and trotted out of the door, both Night Wind and Solar pointed in the general direction that Callum ran off to.

Well guys there you go. The final joke of the battle but at what cost? Will Ashley be able to mend the damage he caused on Grey Ink's heart? Will the potion be ready for the human? Will Spike finally get a mustache?

So many answers. So little time to update the story. Anywho, hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to comment! I need those things to sell to get more chloroform to use on a user called VitaExdet or as I call him, Vitamin.