The Kings of Clopton

Chapters

A New Beginning
Meeting Magic
DO NOT WANT: The Art of The Dress
Meeting Adorableness: DAWWW
Sweet Apple Rampage
Pinkie Party Disaster
That Mare...
Jealousy
New Beginnings In Ponyville

A New Beginning

Chapter One: A New Beginning

“Holy bucking shit dude look at that pink one!” Said a dark blue unicorn stallion off in the distance, looking through his binoculars.

“Nah bro, I’m, checkin' out the orange one.” Gurgled a powerful brown stallion looking through his glass of Kool-Aid.

“Y’all negronies are crazy. It’s all bout that cyan one with the rainbow mane.” Stated a crimson colored pegasus, as he nudged his large brown colored friend. The three stallions started their trot to the town from their new "stalkin" bush.

"I can't believe we got lucky enough to watch three hot mares play some hoofball, did you see those flanks bro?!" Stated the unicorn stallion.

"Hush up foo, we're comin' up on the targets." Scolded the large brown stallion as they approached the three mares.

"I dunno guys, I don't really cope well with rejection..." whimpered the crimson colored pegasus.

"That's not what you were sayin' when we started stalkin' em', now was it?" Shot the unicorn stallion.

"That was then, and this is now, I haven't actually talked to a mare for days ever since we left Clopton." Replied the pegasus stallion.

"Ohhh nooo! We got a badass over here!" Snickered the earth pony stallion.

"You try to stay calm while some huge negrony mare's yellin at ya, oh that's right, you didn't stay calm, you ran off cryin' for few days." Retorted the pegasus.

"That was my first marefriend you asshole! And plus that bitch spit in my eye." Whispered the earth pony stallion.

"Both of you, shut the buck up, we're comin' up on em now." stated the unicorn stallion.

The pegasus then sat down and refused to move any further.

"What the buck is wrong with you, don't you wanna score some tail?" Questioned the Earth Pony.

"I'm not ready to go back out there, and I never will be." whimpered the pegasus

"If you don't move, your gonna have to shit sideways after my hooves are done wit ya." The earth pony bellowed angrily. The pegasus had a worried look on his face, as he had been the victim of the earth pony's rage before, but the unicorn was sure that said beating would never happen, they were all "Bros" to the end, especially since the beating would probably attract the mares nearby.

"Oh, shut the buck up, we all know your all talk and no game." Retorted the unicorn. The earth pony's eyes flashed a hint of rage. The earth pony walked a little closer to the unicorn, and began to stare him down, he said,

"This is mares we're talkin' bout, and I take my mares VERY seriously, plus you really don't wanna challenge me, do ya?" Snorted the earth pony. The unicorn showed a flicker of fear, but was quickly replaced with him throwing the first punch, landing a hit on the Earth pony straight in the jaw. The earth pony got up, inspected his new wound, and charged faster than a dashing rainbow at the unicorn. The earth pony tackled the unicorn to the ground, quickly punching him in rapid succession with his large hooves. The pegasus merely watched in fear, hoping that he wouldn't be next, and to traumatized to help his unicorn friend. Just as the earth pony was about to land a hit on the unicorns face, they heard the distinct call of

a mare.

"Waht in tarnation' is goin' on here!?" bellowed the orange earth pony mare, with a deep southern accent. The stallions looked up to see the distinct stare of an orange mare with a blonde mane, who was also wearing a Stetson cowboy hat, a determined looking cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, and the intrigued smiling face of a creepy all pink earth pony mare, with a dark pink mane.

"Oh... well ya see..." The stallion pegasus began, but was abruptly cut off by the unicorn stallion, "You see, this buckhole here thought it would be fun to start wailin' on me like a punchin' bag." The mares' gaze averted to the now aggravated and embarrassed earth pony stallion.

"Well, you see here, we just came to this town and as we were walkin' in, I made a comment on how some certain orange pony looked pretty strong and independent, when my buckhole friend here made a few "uncivilized" comments, I don't know bout these two, but my pa always said that you should stand up for a mare's honor, and I guess I got a little carried away."

The now slightly blushing and embarrassed earth pony mare seemed to calm down at that, however, her cyan pegasus friend seemed aggravated at the now trembling pegasus stallion.

"And what kinda friend are you!? Just watching as your two friends go at it and not even TRY to stop em!?" Shouted the cyan pegasus, pointing at the pegasus stallion.

"Well... I... Um... You see...." The pegasus stallion started, but was blatantly interrupted by the cyan mare.

"I mean honestly, a person like that doesn't deserve friends if he doesn't know how to stick up for em!" Blurted out the cyan mare, to the now sniffling stallion.

"Rainbow! Don't ya think ya'll er' bein' a bit harsh?" Said the once again enraged orange mare, staring daggers at her friend.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that Applejack I'm just callin' it how I see it! But yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?!" yelled "Rainbow" once again at the poor pegasus stallion.

"Helicopter?" Blurted out the pegasus. However, his statement seemingly diffused the situation, all looks of rage now turning to ones of bewilderment.

"Waht in tarnation' is a heli-cop-toor?" Questioned "Applejack".

"Just ignore em', he tends to blurt things out at times, ya get used to it," Stated the black stallion, "but anyhow, nice ta meet ya Applejack." He then proceeded to raise his hoof for a hoofshake. Applejack's bewildered look immediately changed to a large smile as she then proceeded to give the stallion the strongest hoofshake he had ever received before.

"Nice ta meet ya too partner, waht's yer name?" Asked Applejack. (Insert character creation screen here hehe.)

"My name's Ulfric Stronghoof, pleased to meet ya ma'am" The stallion then proceeded to give a curt bow.

"Now we won't be havin any of that, you just call me Applejack, none of this Miss business ya hear?" Stated Applejack

"Certainly Mi... Applejack." The stallion allowed a smile to escape his lips

"Now Rainbow, why don't ya'll go ahead and introduced yerself?" Applejack asked Rainbow, who proceeded to fly off in a huff, to which Applejack sighed.

"That one can be a handful at times, but anyway, this ere' is Pinkie....," The mare stopped, noticing that "Pinkie" was no longer there. "Well um, never mind that un, Ah'm certain we'll see ere' again soon!" Applejack blurted. "But anyhow, who migh' you two beh?" Applejack questioned at the unicorn and pegasus stallions. The unicorn proudly stood tall, despite just being beaten, and began to speak.

"Well I'm Allegro Aftershock, but my friends just call me "Shock"." The unicorn proudly stated. The pegasus then spoke up, albeit it being timidly.

"I'm... Traz, nothing that special." The pegasus stated while staring at the ground beneath him.

"Well it's nice ta meet ya'll, like I said, Ah'm Applejack and I run Sweet Apple Acres over yonder," She waved a hoof suggestively in the south. "If ya'll ever need anything apple related, don't hesitate to come by, we'll fix ya right up!" The mare proudly stated. Strong Hoof could tell when someone was bluffing, and he could tell by this mare's boasting that they did have some mighty fine apple products, and he made a mental note to stop by there if he ever needed anything apple related.

"The pleasure is ours Applejack, would you mind giving us the grand tour of this town named....?" The stallion leaned slightly forward as he spoke, as if indicating he had absolutely no idea where he was.

"Ya'll are in Ponyville, the nicest little town you'll ever find in Equestria!" Applejack once again boasted.

"Ponyville, REALLY ಠ_ಠ ?" Questioned Shock, oblivious of his rudeness.

"Yes, Ponyville." Applejack spoke through gritted teeth, obviously annoyed at the unicorn's statement. Traz proceeded to nudge Shock, whispering.

"Shock, could you maybe be a little more polite maybe?" Traz stated. Shock brushed off the statement, simply shrugging and looking as if he gave zero bucks about Traz's opinion.

"Well anyhow, It'd be mah pleasure to show ya'll around, buh I got to get back to the farm soon, why don't weh go find mah friend Twilight, she loves helping out the new ponyfolk." Applejack said, pointing further into the town.

"Sound good to me Applejack, lead the way!" Said Stronghoof.

They began their walk into the center of Ponyville, Applejack pointing out land marks and important areas of the town as they went, however, Ulfric's attention was glued to something else in front of him as they walked, he said to himself before snapping out of his trance.

"DAT FLANK."

Meeting Magic

“…..An here’s Ponyville’s public librareh!” Ulfric was eventually snapped out of his perversion when Applejack had finally found a structure worthy of a loud mention.

“Uh-wha?”Ulfric dumbly asked, proving to the other stallions and Applejack that he really wasn’t paying attention. This confirmed Applejack’s suspicions that while this stallion talked like a charmer, he was really all talk no game.

“Mah friend Twilight lives here, so if ya’ll ever need a book or somethin’, she’s the one to talk ta!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Unless they have a book on understanding a mare’s mind, I don’t think I’ll be visiting here anytime soon.” Shock whispered to his counterparts, earning him a few snickers from the group. Applejack noticed this, and raised an eyebrow in their direction, but didn’t press the issue any further.

“Ya’ll wanna go inside and say hello? Twi enjoys meetin’ the new pony folk.” Applejack questioned.

“Certainly Applejack, I’d love to meet your friend, I hope I can make a good impression on her” Ulfric said, recovering from his daze just moments ago. Applejack rolled her eyes upon hearing this; it was going to be a long day indeed.

“Meh, whatever, let’s get this over with.” Shock stated bluntly, earning glares from Applejack and Ulfric. The quartet proceeded through the doors, not knocking of course; after all, it WAS a public library. (Plus, Allegro was a notorious douche back in Clopton, so he probably wouldn’t have knocked anyway.) As soon as they walked in the door, they saw a purple mare who they presumed to be Twilight surrounded by books.

“Doesn’t anypony ever knock now a days?” Twilight asked when they entered.

“Well it IS a public library, didn’t think I needed permission to knock.” Shock shot back, again, earning some glares.

“That wasn’t a very kind thing to say Allegro you should be more respectful of ponies that allow you into their homes, sorry for my friend’s rude interruption miss, but we’re new in town and your friend Applejack here said we should stop by for some introductions.” Traz explained, instinctively covering up Shock’s bad behavior.

“Oh, it’s alright, he is correct after all, this is a public library and ponies shouldn’t have to knock all the time. But anyhow, Applejack said you’re all new in town? Let me introduce myself, I’m Twilight Sparkle, current librarian of Ponyville.” Twilight expertly stated, as though she had been practicing that line for the longest time. It was obvious this mare really loved her job, and it was more than just that to her.

“The pleasure is all ours, Miss Sparkle, and may I say it is a pleasure to meet you as well, I am Ulfric Stronghoof.” Ulfric spoke, again further refining his high-class accent.

"There's no need for the "Miss" Ulfric, Twilight will do just fine." Twilight seemed to appreciate Ulfric's refined behavior more than Applejack had, as she was from Canterlot and understood how people had had conversations there. "And who would your friends be?" Twilight asked

"I'm Allegro Aftershock, but my friends just call me "Shock"." Shock spoke.

"I'm Traz, pleasure to meet you Twilight!" Responded Traz.

"Well, it's my pleasure to formally welcome you all to Ponyville! If there's anything you all ever need, don't be too hesitant to ask." Twilight beamed. Shock had a slow coming grin to his face, and this worried Ulfric, he better stop him before...

"Well, if you insist, I could use a glass of water and a snack, chop-chop Twilight." Shock snickered out. This plan almost immediately back fired, Twilight giving him a stare that went to his soul. This is what Shock always hated about mares, they all had stares that could freeze you. Him and Traz had been on the receiving end before.

"Mind runnin' that by us again city boy?" Applejack shot, glaring daggers at Shock.

"I said," Shock slowly recovering from the stare, "... would you be sooooo kind as to get me a glass of water and some food, Twilight?" Shock stated. Almost instantly he was covered by a purple aura of magic, presumably from Twilight, and was thrown out of the library door, confirming his departure with a loud smack on the nearest tree, and a large amount of screaming. Ulfric began to laugh uncontrollably at Shock's misfortune, he always had been bad talking to mares.

"I'm very sorry for Shock's behavior Twilight, he can be a handful a lot of the time, he really just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut." Traz stated, albeit now being somewhat feared Twilight.

"It's alright Traz, I know he was probably just trying to be funny, but it still wasn't very nice of him." Twilight said, slightly frowning.

"Come along Traz, we better go see if our idiotic friend has recovered from his sudden departure." Ulfric said, now walking out the door towards the tree.

They were greeted by a sight of several ponies gathering around Shock, many trying to help him up or asking him if he was alright. He simply responded with "Yes's" or "I had it coming, don't worry." He noticed a laughing Ulfric and a snickering Traz as he tried to pick himself up, but failed and fell back onto his ass.

"Oh Traz, we simply must stop meeting like this, you getting humiliated and then attracting attention, it's quite rude you know." Ulfric said between his laughing fits as Shock consistently fell back onto his ass.

"Oh yes, I loved being forcefully propelled out of a home by a crazy unicorn and then bashing into a tree, it's pretty awesome, you should try it some time." Shock said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Crazy Unicorn? Excuse me? Twilight stated, as she had followed the duo outside to the tree. Shock again froze up, his face going pale as he began to stutter.

"Nonononono! Never mind what I said, just a joke! What's joking within friends, nothing right? Hahaha!" Shock instantly spouted, obviously not too thrilled with the perspective of him getting his ass kicked once more.

"Well Twilight, this has been a wonderful meeting, you've managed to put Shock in his place, which is no easy task, I congratulate you, but we must be going now, I believe Applejack said she had some other friends for us to meet. " Ulfric said, turning his attention to Twilight.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure I won't have to do that all the time, he's probably just a bit rude for his own good, I'm sure he'll behave now, right Shock? Twilight said, glaring at Shock for an answer.

"Y-yes Twilight, no problems here! Hehe!" Shock blurted out, now intimidated by the Unicorn.

"It was lovely meeting you Twilight, I'll come by to visit sometime!" Traz said, with less than holier thoughts in mind, he was more than intrigued by Twilight at this point.

"Sure, just stop by anytime, but I've been caught up in my studies recently, I might not have any free time for a bit." Traz was visibly saddened by this, but picked himself up quite rapidly.

"Thanks fer puttin' that one in his place Twi, he doesn't know how to behave sometimes, I reckon we'll have to put him in his place a few more times." Applejack formed a devious grin after saying those words, not entirely against the idea of putting this stallion in his place.

"Well, I think it's time to move on, more friends to meet and all, see ya later Twilight gotagobie!" Shock said, immediately bolting from his position under the tree and away from Twilight.

"See ya later Twilight!" The group said, as they headed in the direction of Rarity's Boutique, Applejack had a feeling Rarity and Ulfric would get along just fine.

DO NOT WANT: The Art of The Dress

“Psst! Ulfric! Is she still there?” Shock whispered from inside one of the local trash bins, still frightened for his life and visibly shaking after his encounter with Twilight.

Ulfric fought back a chuckle, “Yeah man, she’s gone, just us and Applejack again, you can come out.” Immediately after saying this, Shock jumped out of the trash bin and let out a sigh of relief.

“Celestia man, I thought she was gonna tan my hide after that, gotta remind myself to stay behaved around her…” Apparently Shock failed to notice Applejack eavesdropping, and she was now fighting to stop herself from bursting out laughing, but failed when she noticed a wet piece of toilet paper dangling from one of Shock’s legs.

“Er… Shock, not to beh a bother er nothin’, but it seems you took some trash with you from the bin.” Applejack then proceeded with another fit of laughter after viewing Shock who was trying to shake off the offending trash, but managed to end up on the ground again, groaning.

“Shock, maybe you should just try to take the trash off with your hooves?” Traz suggested, not fairing much better than Applejack at holding back his laughs.

“Are you bucking kidding me bro? Do you KNOW where this thing could’ve been? For all I know it could be from the sewers or something!” This caused Traz to give a wing shrug, showing off his extra appendages.

“Traz, you know we hate it when you do that, you and that damn pegasi race of yours and your wings… T’aint fair, T’aint fair.”Ulfric said, now looking visibly saddened by not having wings.

“Hey now, we Earth ponies got stuff goinfer us too! Why, I betcha no pegasus could beat an Earth pony in a competition of strength!” Applejack defended, she was always offended when people thought Earth ponies were less superior to other pony kinds.

“Yeah yeah, but you have to admit it sounds fun flyin’, don’t it?” Ulfric responded, looking slightly cheerful at the thought. While Applejack would never admit it, she did think that if she had wings it would be fun to fly once and a while, but her stubbornness would never allow her to admit that, so she simply responded by continuing her walk down to Rarity’s Boutique, beckoning the others to follow along.

“So Applejack, where are we headed?”Ulfric questioned, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“We’re goin’ to see mah friend Rarity, somethin’ tells me a refinedstallion such as you will have a fun time meetin’ her.” Applejack said, imagining how to upcoming conversation would go. Ulfric was visibly embarrassed seeing as his gentlecolt persona had been seen through by Applejack, but decided he might as well end it sooner than later. Eventually they came within viewing distance of the Boutique, Shock visibly groaning and Ulfric giving a facehoof.

“Here? Your friend lives here? Are you kiddin’ me man?” Shock said, not at all pleased with the idea of being seen inside a Boutique. His friends also didn’t look happy about the idea, but they kept their comments from exiting their mouths.

"Will ya'll quit yer yappin' and just come on inside?" Applejack said, becoming frustrated with the stalling stallions. They eventually let out a sigh of defeat, and walked in. It was even worse than they had imagined, the whole Boutique was a Fru-Fru nightmare. Dresses hung from the walls in dozens, and the floor was so polished they could see their reflections. When they entered fully, a bell had rung to announce their entrance, and they heard a, "Coommiiinnnngg!" from the back room.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is magn.... Oh, hello Applejack, how are you doing, and who are these fine stallions with you?" Rarity said, looking slightly down at not having a customer.

"Well Rare, these stallions are new in town an I was just showin' em round the place, care to introduce yourselves?" Applejack said, motioning over to the stallions.

"Well, I'm Ulfric Stronghoof, and may I say it's nice to meet you Rarity, the pleasure is all mine." Ulfric said, as he took Rarity's hoof in his and gave it a gentle kiss which held many hidden intentions the stallion was now having. Rarity giggled at this, seemingly pleased by his behavior.

"What a gentlecolt, it's nice to meet you Ulfric." Rarity said, still apparently pleased.

"My name's Allegro Aftershock, but my friends just call me Shock, sorry bout my friend here, he tends to act like this around mares." Allegro said, pointing over towards Ulfric, who shot him a glare that practically screamed, "Buck you man."

"...Traz." Traz said, still mortified by his current location.

"Quite... and may I say it's nice to meet you all, if I may ask, where did three fine stallions such as yourselves come from?" Rarity asked, eager to learn more about her new guests.

"Well, we came from the lower district of Clopton Rarity, if you must know." Shock shot her a burning glare, that simply said, "Don't push the subject." Applejack was stunned by the trio's behavior, but decided it would be best to leave it at now.

"Yeah, if possible, I'd like to not talk about that place anymore...." Traz said, now visibly shaken from bringing up past memories. Even Ulfric was saddened, looking to the ground with a solemn expression.

"Oh, I can see why, how could you all bear to live there? It's simply uncouth! Well don't you all worry, Ponyville has much higher standards than Clopton!" Rarity said, now intent on making a good impression on her guests.

"I hope so Rarity, but I'm sure anywhere is better than there." Traz said, with little emotion going into his voice. After that sentence, Shock's stomach betrayed him and let out a loud grumble, portraying his hunger. Rarity beamed at a new opportunity to impress her guests, and jumped on it immediately.

"Oh! You all must be famished! Clopton is so far away, how about you all stay for lunch?" Rarity beamed, not even waiting for an answer to dash into the kitchen and begin making food. Shock looked to the others who simply shrugged, and walked into her kitchen. By the time they had made it to the table, five plates had already been set with daisy sandwiches on top. Shock snickered at this, about to make a mare pun, when Applejack shot him a look that dared him to make the first move. Shock immediately sobered up, sitting down with a frightened expression.

They mostly ate in silence, with the occasional cough or sneeze that came with an awkward meal. Before long, they had all finished their food and decided to head out to meet Applejack's next friend. On the way out, Ulfric turned to Rarity, and said,

"Thank you Miss Rarity, that was lovely. I'll be sure to come along again sometime, that is if you don't mind my presence." Again, Rarity beamed at the formal attention.

"Certainly Ulfric, that would be lovely. And no need for the "Miss" Rarity, we're all friends here." Ulfric gave her a gentle smile, and headed out trotting alongside his friends and Applejack, ready to get away from the Boutique. Rarity shut the door behind her and thought to herself, "What a gentlecolt... and handsome too..." She immediately scolded herself for said thoughts, she had just met this stallion. Though she couldn't argue that he looked dashing. Again, scolding herself for her thoughts, she headed off in a light frustration to take out her small anger on dress fabrics.

Author's Note: Thank you harrisonkenwood, you gave me the boost I needed to get this chapter pushed out today, I'll try to update as often as possible, although finals for me are just around the corner. Thanks to any and all who read this, you make me and SgtRainbowDash's writing enjoyable! See you all later! :D

Meeting Adorableness: DAWWW

“So Applejack, who we goin’ to meet next?” Asked Shock, obviously bored out of his mind.

“Well, iffin’ ya must know, we’re goin’ to see mah friend Fluttersha.” Applejack said, again, resisting the urge to buck Shock in the teeth.

“Don’t mind him Applejack, he never was one to try and keep on a leash, you’ll get used to it after a while… Although, getting a leash for him might not be a bad idea…” Said Ulfric, grinning madly at the opportunity to embarrass his rude friend.

“Cmon guys, can we please just stop fighting for maybe MORE than 5 minutes at a time? I mean, seriously, for Celestia’s sake!” Said Traz, fed up with the arguments.

“Oh no! Look out! That badass from earlier is back! Run!” Said Shock, laughing full-heartedly at this point, embarrassing Traz and making him turn a bright red.

“Don’t listen to him sugarcube, he’s just foolin’…. I hope.” To which Applejack shot Shock another one of her trademark glares, yet again.

“Well if he isn’t fooling around, I think it’d be a perfect opportunity to see how much stronger I am after that hike on the way here from Clopton, don’t you think Shock?” Ulfric said, cackling, as Shock turned a shade of pale and immediately began to shake his head as if to say no.

“Wait a minute…. Is that… The Everfree Forest!” (Insert dramatic music here.) Traz said, turning as pale as Shock was only a few moments ago.

“Eeyup, that’s it alright. But don’t worry, Fluttersha only lives on the outer edge of thaEverfree, we won’t be goin’ inside anytime soon if I got anything to say bout it.” Said Applejack, more or less saying that to assure herself if no pony else.

“An here we are! Fluttersha’s cabin. She’s pretty shy, so lemme go talk to her before ya’llcome say hi.” Applejack spoke, trotting up to Fluttershy’s cabin.

“Oh, no, Applejack, we thought Fluttershy was brave, as if her name didn’t imply that she was shy.” Ulfric said, chuckling slightly to himself, or at least he was, until he got hoof-smacked across the face, courtesy of Applejack.

“Oh great, we gotta shy one, I’m probably gonna have to convince her not to be afraid of these big ol’ guns over here.” Shock began to flex his almost non-existent muscles, getting a sigh of disapproval from his other two companions.

“Shock, if you were muscular, why did you run away from that bear we found on the way here, when it hadn’t even NOTICED us?” Questioned Traz, annoyed once more by Shock’s behavior.

“Well… Um… You see….” But he was cut short as a carrot seemingly came out of nowhere, hitting him between the eyes, which caused him to let out a yelp in pain.

“Oww…. What in the buck was that?” Said Shock, looking over his two companions, but after seeing they had no access to carrots, he looked over to where the carrot had originally come from, seeing a white bunny with several carrots and looked as if he was ready to fight the stallions with them.

“Oh you little…” Shock trailed off, approaching the bunny with a murderous look in his eyes. The bunny didn’t waver though, and when Shock got close enough the bunny jumped up, kicked him in the face, and proceeded to stab at him with the carrots. After about 5 minutes of this, (Which involved Ulfric and Traz laughing until they had no breath left.) the door to Fluttershy’s cabin opened, and out came Applejack shadowed by an adorable pastel pegasus. Even Shock stopped his wailing to look at her, the sense to hug the life out of her becoming hard to resist.

“Well, Fluttershy, how about ya introduce yerself to our new friends’ ova here?” Applejack said, nudging the pegasus out from behind her and closer to the stallions.

“Oh.. Hello… I’m Fluttershy….” Said Fluttershy, in a voice so light you could barely hear it, but before any of them could respond, she noticed Angel’s stabs at Shock with the carrot.

“Oh nonono Angel bunny, you shouldn’t hurt strangers!” Fluttershy said, rushing over to Traz and scooping up Angel in her arms, taking him back to her house and letting him inside. All of the stallions simply stood, jaws dropped, as she walked back over, albeit, much more timidly.

“Fluttershy… I know this is going to sound weird, but…. Could I hug you?”Traz said, noticeably restraining himself from already doing so.

“Umm… I… okay…” Fluttershy said, he face going beet red in a matter of seconds. Traz let out a shriek that sounded demonic in every way, and took no time in rushing over, and scooping up Fluttershy in the biggest bear hug Equestria had ever seen. Everyone besides Fluttershy, who was currently caught up in being hugged, gaped at Traz, as he hugged the life out of the shell that once held a Fluttershy. After about 5 minutes of this, Traz let go of Fluttershy and had the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on him before, but after realizing what he had just done, his face immediately went red and he reverted to his shy persona.

“Oh… I… I’m sorry, but Fluttershy, you are probably the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life. If you don’t mind me saying that is…” Fluttershy, while visibly calmed by this, still retained a beet red face and shaky hooves.

"Well uh... that was different.." Said Ulfric, still stunned by Traz's random act of affection.

"Woooo! Get some Traz! Yeah buddy!" Said Shock, now hoof-pumping the air, but he was cut short when Ulfric's hoof found his way to Shock's face, sending him colliding into yet another tree.

"Anyways.... I'm Ulfric, the colt who just hugged the crap out of you was Traz, and over there under that tree is Shock, sent there expense free from my hoof." Ulfric said, finally regaining his composure.

"Oh... Um... It's nice to meet you all... Would you like to come inside for a cup of tea?" Fluttershy said, finally starting to accept what had happened. Ulfric smiled, seeing that his friend had not caused too much damage... Hopefully.

"That sounds wonderful Fluttershy, would you kindly lead the way?" Asked Ulfric, giving a small wink to Traz as Fluttershy turned, exposing her flank for Traz to take in.

Applejack finally snapped out of it, and decided it would be better to just forget what had happened, following Ulfric into the cabin. Shock groggily got up from his temporary resting place, waddling over to the cabin, still recovering. By the time they were all seated, Fluttershy had already set the table and began drinking her tea.

"Thank you for the tea Fluttershy, it looks lovely." Ulfric said, and he wasn't lying, this was probably the best drink he had in months, seeing as in Clopton they had to purify their own water over a fire or a stove.

"Oh... Um... It's really nothing... just some herbal tea I learned how to make from Zecora..." Fluttershy said, still not accustomed to having vistors in her home. They again had an awkward silence, when Shock broke it by saying,

"Well Fluttershy, this was lovely, but I do believe it's time we hit the old dusty trail." This earned him a glare from Traz, who had obviously taken a liking to Fluttershy.

"Oh! But we couldn't leave so soon after just meeting you Fluttershy, I'd like to get a tour of your lovely abode." Traz retorted, earning a similar glare from Shock, that simply said, "Buck you".

"Sure... That is... if you don't mind walking around a little bit I could show you to my animals." Traz nodded furiously, and they went off, leaving Applejack, Shock, and Ulfric by their lonesome. Applejack was the first to talk up.

"You're gonna make sure he doesn't do anythang drastic right? We all see how he's lookin' at Fluttersha." Applejack said, making sure to add emphasis to her point.

"You have nothing to worry about Applejack, we'll keep him in line. Plus, I doubt Fluttershy will accept his advances anyway." Ulfric said, waving a hoof dismissively in her direction. Applejack was about to retort when the front door opened, and the two walked in talking about animals and whatnot, which forced her to stay her tongue.

"Alright, I'm ready, lets head out Applejack." Spoke Traz, seemingly pleased with his visit. Without saying much, the quartet exited the cabin, and headed off into the distance where Sweet Apple Acres was located. When they were approaching the front entrance, Shock said something loud enough for them all to hear.

"Traz, my stallion, I respect you now. You are totally going after Fluttershy! You get that tail colt! Woohoo!" The last thing Shock noticed was a certain orange hoof slamming into his face and pain racking through him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm SOOO sorry for this chapter being so late. With finals and all recently, along with some birthdays, I haven't had much time to write. GOOD NEWS THOUGH, Finals are over, and Rainbow Dash is going to be writing a horror story soon! Woohoo! Thanks readers, hope you liked the chapter! :D

Sweet Apple Rampage

"I have had just about enuff of you, you varmint!" Applejack yelled as her hoof collided with Shock's face, sending him flying, yet again, towards a tree. Unfortunately for Shock the tree was filled with apples, and with the force of the buck, they all fell from the tree onto him, effectively burying him in apples.

"Bwahahaha! Oh Applejack, that was hilarious!" Ulfric wheezed, trying to regain his breathing after witnessing such an act, but eventually regained his composure.

"If you ask me, he has it coming every time. He still hasn't changed from Clopton." Traz said, shaking his head in disapproval of his friend's actions. After calming down slightly, Applejack continued her small trek to the farm, with the current duo following. Coming into range of the farm, Traz saw the biggest stallion ever. He didn't even think Ulfric reached his massive size. It was hard not to notice him either, as his coat was a shade of red that showed throughout the now slightly darkening day. Traz couldn't help to feel intimidated by the stallion just by looking at him.

"Applejack, where have ya'll been all day? And who are these folks you brought wit ya?" The humungous stallion said, casting his glance over in their general direction.

"Just some new ponies in town Big Mac, showin' em round Ponyville, probably won't be back home till sundown." Applejack said, responding to the giant. Even Ulfric himself was intimidated, what if this Big Mac was her lover? With all the flirting he had been doing, he'd be as good as dead.

"It's... nice to meet you Big Mac, I'm Ulfric Stronghoof, this is Traz, and over there is Allegro Aftershock, but we just call him Shock for short." Ulfric said, still clearly worrying for his well being.

"It's nice ta meet ya'll, I'm AJ's brother, Big Macintosh. And Applejack, I know ya'll are probably wantin' to introduce these folks to Applebloom, but she's off crusadin' with the others, and Granny Smith just fell asleep not to long ago. Why don't you take em on with ya back to town, I'm sure ya'll got somethin' better to do than sittin' on a farm. If Ulfric hadn't been fearing for his life, he may have noticed that Big Mac winked at Applejack as he said those final words, as if to imply something.

"What do ya mean Big Ma... Ohhh Ohh! Yeah! We got lotsa stuff to do, let's get a move on ya'll!" Applejack said, now visibly nervous about the situation. While Ulfric was still thanking Celestia that Big Mac was only her brother, Traz picked up on her new attitude and got suspicious, but kept it to himself.

"Ughh....My head..." Shock said, finally rousing from his fruit coffin, and noticed his friends and Applejack walking back towards town. "Ohhh Cmon! We like, JUST got here!" But like most of the time, he was ignored and simply sighed in defeat as they headed towards their next location.

Along the way, Applejack thought she heard snoring coming from one of her trees, but let it slide. However, as they got closer to town, the snoring got louder, and finally it was clearly audible from one of the Acre's trees. Applejack, protective as always, immediately fished out her lasso and hogtied the offender from the tree. While the figure was falling, Applejack immediately realized it was Rainbow Dash, who she had told days ago to stop napping in her trees.

"Rainbow! I thought Ah told ya to stop nappin' in them trees!" Rainbow, stunned from being force ably pulled from her nap, and slamming onto the hard ground, simply stared at Applejack for a minute before her brain started working again.

"Ohhh your in trouble!" Shock cackled, happy at the idea of someone besides himself getting beat for once, but this was not meant to be as Ulfric's hoof found it's way to the back of his head.

"Oww! Why do I always get hurt!" Screeched Shock, now clinging to the back of his head as it throbbed repeatedly. Rainbow Dash began to snicker, but then she too received a hoof the the back of the head, albeit this one being orange, and that shut her up.

"Wait a minute, I remember you! You're that pegasus who ran off earlier, I never got to introduce myself, I'm Traz, and this idiot over here is Allegro Aftershock, or just Shock for short." Rainbow for a minute looked puzzled, but then the gears started turning in her mind, and her confused expression soon turned to a scowl of annoyance.

"Yeah, your that stallion from earlier who didn't help his friends when they started fighting! I thought I was clear when I acted like I didn't like you!" Traz looked visibly hurt by this, but Shock didn't seem to give a buck.

"Now Rainbow, it's not like that anymore, wha don't ya just make up with em? He looks mighty sorry ta me." Applejack, as always, was counted upon to console the aggravated Rainbow Dash.

"Ughh, Fine. I'm Rainbow Dash, best flyer in all of Equestria!" Shock immediately burst into a fit of laughter, and received glares from everyone in the group. When he finally recovered, he noticed this, and simply shrugged.

"No offense, Rainbow but I highly doubt that you're faster than the wonderbolts." While his behavior was rude, Ulfric and Traz seemed to at least somewhat agree with his evidence.

"Oh yeah? Can the wonderbolts pull off a sonic rainboom?" Rainbow Dash asked, effectively silencing the entire group.

"What's a sonic rainboom?" Ulfric stupidly asked, but was met with an answer when Rainbow dashed off into the sky, leaving a glowing rainbow trail in her wake. Traz "Oooed' at this wondrous sight, but they hadn't even seen the beginning. As Rainbow reached miles into the sky, she turned, and began to fly down at wonderous speeds. Traz, as a pegasus, thought this meant she was falling and quickly leaped up into the air after her, but was halted by Ulfric grabbing his tail.

"What are you doing? She's falling, I have to do something!" Screamed Traz, not intent on letting anyone die on his watch.

"She's doing it on purpose you nitwit." Ulfric said, his mouth full of tail. Traz was still on edge, but let himself be pulled down. When he finally touched down, there was an explosion of epic proportions of color and noise, and when they looked up, it spread in all directions effectively shining the night sky with beauty. All of them besides Applejack gawked at the sight, amazed by what they had seen. When Rainbow Dash finally touched down, it was with a smug look that simply said, "I told ya so."

"So, gonna question me again Shocky?" Rainbow smugly questioned, but before he could even respond, she beat him too it. "I know, that was the coolest thing you've ever seen, and I'd love to have you all adore me some more, but I've got places to be." And with that, she took off towards Ponyville.

"What. Just. Happened." Ulfric said, after about five minutes of silence.

"That was Rainbow's signature move, the sonic rainboom" Applejack said, still amused at their reactions.

"I think I'm going to hurl, that filly actually did something pretty damn awesome." Shock said, not at all happy with the situation.

"Well ya gotta hold it for a little while longer, we're goin' on to Sugarcube Corner." Applejack proceed to walk down the road, with the trio following her. The trip was made in relative silence, but when they got there, the trio knew something was wrong. No one was outside, not even a mouse, and all the lights in the Sugarcube Corner were off. But before they could question anything, Applejack shoved them all inside, shut the door behind them, and they were bathed in the darkness. Before they could begin to panic, the lights flashed on, and only one word could be heard above the screaming now admitting itself from the crowd that surrounded them, and it came from each of the stallion's minds.

Buck!

Pinkie Party Disaster

"SURPRISE!!!!"

All of the ponies in the room yelled simultaneously, shattering the group's eardrums. After the first minute, the screaming had died down substantially, and Ulfric even found time to laugh at it a little bit. However, all sounds stopped when they heard sobbing coming from one of the corners. Traz, was in the fetal position, crying like a newborn under a table.

"... Mister Traz, you simply must see the situation from our position. It's been three weeks since our last payment, and even then you hadn't managed to pay us in full." Spoke Regal Masquerade, the current godpony of the largest mafia gang in the lower districts of Clopton.

"But sir, all we need is a little more time! Ulfric just got a job at the local warehouse, Shock finally managed to afford his instrument, Lightning got a job at the local flight school to teach the kids how to fly properly, and I found a job in the local bakery! Things are looking up!" Traz pleaded, this wasn't the first time he had displeased the mob, although it was the first time he had been "Escorted" by two very large Earth ponies with makeshift weapons. Traz cursed himself mentally for allowing himself to drift to far away from Ulfric, he had always been able to scare or beat off the mob's cronies.

"That's what you said last week, Mister Traz. We're getting quite impatient with you. I think you all might need to have an example made of you...." Regal ended his sentence, snapping his fingers. Traz prepared himself for a beating, but instead found the two mob ponies backed off, no longer guarding the entrance.

"Wait, you're not gonna beat me up? Or kill me? Or even shake me down?" Traz said, still stunned by the showing of generosity.

"Not today, Mister Traz. You have until 10P.M. tomorrow, or we will extract the money from you... with alternative methods..." Traz gulped audibly at this, and quickly proceeded to scamper out the door, leaving a smiling Regal and two laughing mafia ponies in his wake.

"Oh nonono, I have to tell everyone... we have to skip town or something... we gotta go!" Traz screamed to himself, flying as fast as his wings would take him towards the house the quartet currently shared. When he finally arrived, he saw them all chatting in the "living room" through the window, which was really the only room in their current abode. He crashed through the door loudly, spouting gibberish at the ponies that currently resided on the couch.

"Traz! Traz? Where have you been! It's been like an hour since you left!" Yelled Ulfric, not at all happy with the sudden disappearance of one of his best friends. Traz, breathing heavily, tried to calm himself, but to no avail, at least until Lightning Runner walked over to him and placed a kiss on his lips. He immediately calmed down after that, it was funny to him, how his marefriend could always calm him down with the simplest gestures.

"Wanna tell us what's wrong Traz?" Lightning asked, smiling lovingly at her coltfriend. Traz took a deep breath, much to the annoyance of Shock, who was already bored of waiting, and began.

"It's... It's the mob. They said we only have until tomorrow at 10 P.M. to get our cash that we owe them, or else they'll get the money from us another way..." The room suddenly became quiet, all the color quickly being drained from its occupants. After a long, awkward silence, Ulfric was the first to speak up.

"We have to leave Clopton. The mob knows that we aren't very high-valued targets, but they won't hesitate to make an example of us." Everyone, again, was shocked at first at this realization, but they all began to nod their heads, Clopton wasn't safe anymore, and it was obvious.

"Tomorrow's Friday, and we all have jobs. We go to work tomorrow, get our paychecks, meet up here at around 6, and then we'll leave together. That'll give us a 4 hour head start before the Mafia starts looking for us, and we should be long gone by then." The room again, nodded in agreement.

"Well... about that... I may have actually gotten fired for hitting on one of the waitresses at the place I was playing for...." Shock said, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof. Naturally, the three facehoofed.

"Well.. I think that's good, that way you can pack all our stuff during the day while we work tomorrow. So what do you all say? Get some shuteye and then get to it in the morning?" Lightning said, yawning audibly to get across her point."

"Sounds great Lightning, let's get off to bed, and hope for the best." Traz spoke, finally regaining his composure. He and his marefriend embraced each other for a few minutes, and headed off to bed.

"You sure we're gonna be alright, Ulfric?" Shock asked, when the couple were out together like a light. Ulfric sighed heavily, and spoke calmly.

"I don't know Shock, I just don't know." Were the last words the giant uttered, before he too, fell into the heavenly white that was his pillow. Shock sighed, and decided, he'd hope for the best.

The next day they all headed off to their respective work zones, minus Shock, who began to pack. Not long after 5, Traz and Ulfric showed up, and gathered what they would be carrying for the trip. Naturally, since Lightning wasn't there, Traz began to freak a little bit, but Ulfric assured him she had just been held up. This thought calmed Traz, at least until the clock struck 6 and she still hadn't showed up. Despite his warnings, Traz left the house, to search for his love.

"Ok... Ok... She's probably just at the schoolhouse, still held up by some kid who's complaining or something, right?" Traz asked himself, still freaking about the fact that his marefriend was nowhere to be found on the way back. He finally made it to the schoolhouse, and it was dark. Traz lost it at this point. He burst through the front doors, and was immediately hit by the stench of... death. Almost as soon as the stench hit him, and the lights burst on, Regal standing in front of a chair that looked as if a figure was sitting in it. Smiling, Regal simply said the word,

"Surprise."

Regal backed away from the chair, and what was in it made Traz stop in his tracks. There, laying in the chair, was his beloved, Lightning. She had been cut openly across her body, and blood continued to gush from these openings. Her eyes, those beautiful, fiery golden eyes, were lifeless. The realization hit Traz like a train pulled by the world's strongest stallions, as he turned and flew off into the night sky, sobbing, trembling, and flying like he was the drunkest pony in Equestria. When he finally made it back to his home, he said no words. He only said that it was time to go, and that Lightning wasn't coming. The two were shocked by this truth, but noticed the pain that was in Traz's eyes. They asked no questions, and they all headed off into the night, with one of their eternal friends, gone, forever. When they were on the edge of the city, Traz turned, and fished out his most prized possession from one of his bags. It was a locket that held a picture of him and Lightning, smiling and in each other's embrace. He shed a single tear, and resumed his trot, away from the city that had held him for so long.

That Mare...

"Traz! Traz! What's wrong!?" Bellowed Ulfric, while he would never let on in a million years, he loved Shock and Traz like brothers, and seeing Traz is so much pain brought out his big brother personality. He refused to let anyone besides Shock get within a few feet of Traz without shooing them off. Traz, however, didn't seem to hear. All that he could think about was Lightning, and how it was his fault that she had died. If he had left quicker, he might have been able to save her. Eventually, Traz did manage to calm down, and opened his eyes. Both Shock and Ulfric had seen this look, only once before, the night that Lightning had been killed. While reluctant, Traz shared the story with them when they had been about 2 days into their trip.

"She... She's gone guys... gone... and it's all my fault... if only I was faster..." Traz said, continuously scolding himself for his past failures. What Shock did next surprised both of them, as it was one of the few times Shock was ever serious.

"Traz. It's NOT your fault. I understand why you think so, but would Lightning want you to act like this? Would she want you to be burdened for the rest of your life? You have us, Traz. And we won't be letting go anytime soon." This stunned Traz and he immediately stopped crying, and brought in his two "brothers" for a hug. Deep down he knew Shock was right, he still had his best friends, and it was all going to turn out OK in the end.

"Ttraz? I'm sorry that I surprised you so bad.... I didn't mean too... I'll leave if you want..." Said a voice above the crowd. Turning, the group saw who they knew as Pinkie, with her mane seemingly deflated and with tears flowing out of her eyes. Traz sniffed one last time, and got himself up.

"No, Pinkie, I'm sorry, but for some reason that introduction just brought out some bad... memories, if anypony's to blame, it's me. Can you forgive me?" At this, the pink mare's mane bounced back up, and she rushed at super-sonic speeds towards Traz, effectively glomping him and squeezing the life from him.

"Yay! When I saw you crying I was like oh no, he hates me now and now he won't wanna be my friend but then when you said that you didn't hate me and that you wanted me to forgive you I was so happy and now I'm hugging you and we can be friends!" Pinkie said, so fast that they could barely get word of what she was really saying. But Traz seemed to understand, or at least he did, seeing as his face was beginning to be purple from the lack of air in his lungs.

"Ppinkie... please let go... can't... breath..." Traz choked out, almost blacking out. Pinkie released him from her death-grip, still beaming at him.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you guys!" Pinkie burst out, jumping around like nopony should be able too.

"Well, thanks I guess, got any drinks?" Shock said, already wanting to get hammered after listening to Pinkie for less than a minute.

"Shock! Sorry Pinkie, he has a personality you just gotta get used too." Ulfric said, still glaring at Shock for his outburst.

"Oh! It's no problem! I'm just so happy you all want to stay for the party!" Pinkie continued her bounce around the bakery, seemingly effortless.

"Well, thanks Pinkie, but how are we gonna get this party started? Seems a bit awkward now..." Traz said, looking apologetically towards Pinkie, realizing the awkwardness in the air had been caused by him.

"Oh! I know! Vinyl! Let's get these ponies partying!" Pinkie yelled out to a mare that had an electric blue mane, who was currently stationed at a DJ table. She nodded enthusiastically and immediately began to play ear shattering music through the speakers. The music was good, and the ponies began to party, but they still decided to keep a certain distance from the group, as not only did Traz's outburst left many ponies edging away from them, but Ulfric had been quite forceful in keeping ponies away from Traz while he was sobbing, which made several of them scared of him.

Ulfric got an idea, and smiled towards his two friends. "Ya'll remember when we used to DJ at those clubs before we got replaced by some official DJ?" Catching on to what he was implying, the other two stallions smiled and they made their way to the DJ table. Ulfric whispered something into Vinyl's ear, and she smiled.

"Sure dude! Go for it!" And with that, Vinyl stepped down from the table, allowing the stallions to take their places. They stopped the music, and many ponies angrily looked up to the stage, expecting to see Vinyl screwing up somehow, but instead saw the three stallions readying themselves. Ulfric took a microphone and yelled,

"Ya'll ready for DJ $h4dow?"

At this, Shock managed to configure one of the lights to fire Ulfric's custom logo, with the S being replaced by the Equestrian currency figure, and the a being replaced by a 4. While at first the ponies were hesitant, seeing how quickly they managed to set this display up probably meant they knew what they were doing, and some even starting cheering. Ulfric smiled and turned to Shock and Traz, nodding his head as they went to work uploading their custom song. Surprisingly, they had managed to save the beats on a custom disk they had made, and Ulfric had never forgotten the lyrics. They had invented the song when they were on better times, and were on a visit to Canterlot. During their stay, apparently some evil entity called Discord had caused chaos throughout many Equestrian cities, including Canterlot, and it had inspired them to make this song.

When the music hit, the ponies ear's confirmed their suspicions. They KNEW what they were doing, already the few first seconds of beats had acquired their attention, and it even got better when Ulfric began to sing the lyrics.

I'm not a fan of puppeteers, but I've a nagging fear, someone else is pulling at the strings. Something terrible is going down, through the entire town, wreaking anarchy and all it brings. I can't sit idly, no, I can't move at all, I curse the name, the one behind it all...

Discord, I'm howlin' at the moon. And sleepin' in the middle of a summer afternoon. Discord, whatever did we do, to make you take our world away? Discord, are we your prey alone, or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne? Discord, we won't take it anymore. So take your tyranny away!

The ponies began to dance wildly, loving every second of the song, and the songs that came afterwords. Hours into the night, they finally called it a night, allowing Vinyl to retake her position, albeit not without much praise on how good they were from her. They dispersed, some going into the crowd, but Ulfric decided to go to the counter, because that's where drinks were being served. Upon sitting down, he called over to the "Bartender" who really just turned out to be the owner of the establishment from what Ulfric cared upon hearing. He ordered his favorite, a good old-fashioned Whiskey, and chugged it down when it arrived with gusto, ordering another. Before it arrived, however, he noticed a grey coated mare with dark grey mane take a seat next to him. He took in her features, and had to admit, she was quite a mare. Beautiful purple eyes, with a music related cutie mark. She looked a bit too refined to be in a place like this, but Ulfric wasn't one to complain.

"Hmm. You don't seem to be a bit too refined for this place, don'tcha think?" Ulfric asked, bringing his full attention to her. She turned towards him, smiling slightly.

"Maybe, but Vinyl usually gets me to go to these things. I do have to admit though, it was worth it to hear your music, even if it's not my cup of tea, I must admit it was quite excellent." The mare responded, ordering a drink of her own. Ulfric grinned a little at this.

"May I ask your name, Miss?" Ulfric inquired, wanting to learn a bit more about this mare.

"I'm Octavia, and you would be?"

"I'm Ulfric Stronghoof, pleasure to meet you."

"Please, the pleasure is mine. So, new to Ponyville I see. Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Quite, even though recently we have had our ups and downs, including the incident with Traz back there." Ulfric, while slightly saddened by this, didn't allow it to change his expression much. But Octavia was a mare of perfection, and she noticed even the small movement in his face.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Octavia asked, the concern she had now visibly apparent.

"Why do you even care?" Ulfric snapped at her, and she recoiled properly, hurt now evident in her face.

"Because... Your hurting.. and that's not something anypony should have to bear with." Ulfric actually listened to her this time, but shed a tear. Octavia, thinking she had done something wrong, apologized before being silenced by a hoof.

"No, no, I appreciate the thought. It's just been so long since someone's actually cared about my well-being. You get used to hostilities when you live in Clopton..." Octavia immediately understood, she had heard of how bad Clopton really was.

"But I'm not ready to talk about what we went through, it's pretty personal. Thank you for your concern though Octavia." Ulfric felt something in his chest... what was that feeling again? He finally realized it after some debating, his face going pale. He was becoming actually attracted to this Octavia. He hadn't been in a relationship for years, and they always ended in pain. He only looked around for a good buck once and a while, not a relationship. He never asked for this. When he was about to make up some excuse to leave, but he was stopped when Octavia spoke up again.

"You know, you seem like a decent Stallion..... I've always carried one of these around with me on Hearts and Hooves day..." Octavia began to blush seriously, and pulled out a card of some sorts, and handed it to Ulfric. He opened it, and even gasped when he saw what the card implied.

"Octavia... are you asking me to be.." He was cut off short as a pair of lips found their way to his. He looked at Octavia, and took in the full beauty of the mare he was with. She was an elegant creature, and he laughed internally at how lucky he was to have her. He closed his eyes and returned the kiss with passion, their tongues intertwining and playfully fighting each other for dominance.

"Things are gonna be alright..." Ulfric thought, as he let himself be engulfed by the mare he now knew as Octavia. Right now, there was only them, and they were going to enjoy every second they spent in that kiss.

Jealousy

Vinyl watched as Octavia and Ulfric passionately made out at the bar, feeling her blood boil. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen, not by a long shot. There was a reason Vinyl had asked Octavia to come to these parties, there was a reason she asked her to hang out all the time, there was a reason for ALL of it. But no, Octavia hadn't realized this, and Vinyl was left at the situation at hand. Part of her wanted to go up, buck Ulfric in the face, and expose her true feelings for Octavia right then and there, while another part of her wanted to just leave. Leave and never been seen again, hide, like a turtle cowering in its shell.

Vinyl couldn't decide in time. Her eyes began to water, and the music seemed to become messy, and everypony noticed. They all looked displeased, almost furious that their good time had just been ruined, but that changed to a face of confusion when they looked up to see a close to sobbing DJ barely mixing the records at this point. Before anypony could ask her if she was OK, she began to sob as she ran out the front door of the confectionery, leaving many confused ponies in her wake. Even Octavia and Ulfric noticed, as it had been enough to push them out of that perfect kiss.

"Vinyl! Vinyl! Where are you going?" Octavia yelled as she chased after her best friend, still unaware that she had caused the disruption. Ulfric was simply left there dazed as he relished the experience that he had just shared with Octavia. Eventually his mind finally caught up with him.

"Oh! Yeah, Vinyl! What's wrong!?" He said much to late, and charged out after the two mares. Traz and Shock, who had been enjoying the party, noticed this and rushed off after their friend, they too confused at Vinyl's sudden outburst.

Eventually, Octavia found Vinyl crying under a park bench, curled in the fetal position. Octavia hurt inside seeing her friend like this, and would not rest until she got to the bottom of it. Dragging Vinyl ever so forcefully until she could fully embrace her. Eventually, Vinyl stopped crying, just enough to return her friend's gesture. Octavia knew she had to get to the bottom of this, and pulled away from her friend.

"Vinyl, what's wrong? In the middle of a party, you just seemingly burst into tears and run outside, did someone insult you? Did... someone hurt you! All I need is a name Vinyl, a name and I..." She was stopped by a hoof to her lips, shushing her entirely. Vinyl looked deeply into Octavia's eyes, and both felt a blush coming from under their coats. Octavia could tell it all from Vinyl's eyes, the look of hurt, the look of betrayal. Octavia had been looking, so far, so long, for the right pony just for her. It turned out that she was right in front of her eyes. Ever so slowly, the distance between their lips closed.

"Vinyl...."

"Octy...."

The two embraced each other, passionately kissing, not even noticing the pair of eyes that was watching them in despair. Ulfric knew this was too good to be true, and it was being shown here. All that mares wanted was a heart, so they could stomp it, crush it, until it was nothing but dust. Ulfric rarely cried, he didn't even shed as much as a tear at his mother's funeral. But this, this was the last straw. The emotion that Ulfric had pent up over the years, came spilling over. He thought of his many past "loves", he thought of his mother, his father, how they would be ashamed of him. The giant, who many had called emotionless at times, walked away from the two lovers, water streaming from his eyes.

"Ulfric! Where are ya buddy!" Traz called in vain, they had been searching for the past hour, and no one had seen hide nor tail of the giant. They were getting worried. Ulfric wasn't one to hide, and he certainly wasn't one to go missing. Especially since his latest score, recounted by Shock. He had seen the two kissing, and for once hadn't been enough of a douche to actually ruin the moment, simply leaving the two to their activities. Several minutes later, they came upon a site that explained everything. Near a park bench, Ulfric's latest "Score" was making out with another mare. Shock, felt his blood boil. He knew Ulfric's long history with mares, and suspected this had been the final push he needed. Even Traz, usually too timid to speak to some, rose to his full height, expelling his wings in an aggressive stance.

"You.... You little.... WHORE!" Screamed Traz, making his presence known. Almost immediately Octavia and Vinyl broke their kiss, looking over in the direction of the insult.

"Do you... have ANY, idea what our friend has been through!? Do you have ANY, idea how many mares he has seen break his heart? Does it feel GOOD, to hurt another pony? Huh?! Does it, you little slut!?" Shock's jaw dropped. Traz had never been so assertive in his life, even Shock couldn't help but feel slightly afraid. Traz's wings fully extended, his eyes burning a glare at the two mares, he looked as if he could take on the princesses.

"I.... I... I'm sorry.... I guess I was just confused... is all..." Octavia stuttered, barely able to talk considering the look she was receiving, Shock decided it was time to support his friend.

"OH! You were CONFUSED, that's it isn't it? It only took a broken heart to make you realize it, didn't it? You know what, buck you, buck your little marefriend, we're going to go comfort our friend, since he's now got a broken heart to deal with, courtesy of you." Shock and Traz left the scene, both still blaring hate for the two figures. Now, it was Octavia's turn to sob, realizing the pain she must've caused that pony. Vinyl comforted Octavia, stroking her mane, letting her know she was there.

Ulfric looked out into the distance, tears still running down his face. So many disappointments clouded his life, so many failures. Ulfric had never been one to sight-see, but right now anything to take his mind off her would do just fine. He heard movement in the distance, but was too tired, to weak, at this moment to care. He didn't realize who it really was until he saw them take a seat at both his sides. This cheered Ulfric up a bit. He realized something at that moment, no words were needed to help him there, that no matter how bad things turned out, he still had his friends. He still had his friends, that were there for him whenever he needed them. And right now, he needed them more than ever. After an hour, Ulfric finally felt confident to get up and walk away. He needed to look to the future, not the past. He would recover from this. It would just take a leap of faith.

"So uhh... not to be rude or anything, but where exactly are we sleeping tonight?" Shock spoke out suddenly. At this, the trio simultaneously face palmed. How could they have forgotten a place to stay? Instead of placing blame, they were all content to rent out a three bed room in the nearest hotel. Upon their arrival, they were met by a friendly old landlord, who gave them the room they needed for the night. After paying appropriately, they all went to their new room, and one by one, they fell asleep. Ulfric, being the last, stared out the window until the sun set.

"I'll get through this, I always have, and I always will." With a confident smile, Ulfric fell asleep, leaving his hurtful past behind him.

New Beginnings In Ponyville

The trio awoke that day to the sound of a tapping against the door. Ulfric, usually the first one up, couldn't be bothered with small tasks such as rising from his bed today, and prompted to let the tapping continue at the door until one of his friends got up to get it. Shock, grumpy from being awoken so early, stomped over to the door with a mean look on his face. Upon opening the door, his anger almost doubled. Not only had they been awoken up early by some inconsiderate jackass, they had been woken up by Ulfric's thought-to-be love, Octavia. Shock almost slammed the door on her face, which would've surely sent her stumbling backwards (Fus-Ro-DAH!), but was stopped when she put her hoof into the door frame.

"Could I speak to Ulfric, please? I'd like to apologize for my horrid actions yesterday, and hopefully make amends with him." Again, Shock was tempted to slam the door just to break her hoof, but something was holding him back, so reluctantly, he let her inside, not speaking a word to her.

"Ulfric, you've got a visitor. Somepony I'm SURE you'll love to see again." Shock, still being angered at the rude wake up, was hoping Ulfric would at least yell at her.

"Ul...Ulfric?" Octavia timidly said, most definitely afraid of the giant's reaction to her being there. If he was hurt as much as his friends said he was, Octavia had no doubt he would consider hitting her, in some fashion.

"Octavia. Lovely to see you in our humble abode, what brings you here?" Octavia almost fell backwards at this, as Ulfric slowly rose from the bed. When he finally looked at her, she saw nothing. The deep, sea green eyes she had thought to be in love with were now lifeless, as if somepony had drained the color from him.

"I... I... Ulfric, I'll be blunt. I can't let this go on any further without formally apologizing, I will admit, recently I have been desperate to get somepony who would love me... and for the smallest amount of time I thought it was you, but I didn't realize the pony I had been looking for was right in front of me all along.. Vinyl." At this, Ulfric showed some emotion, some of it showing his hurt, while some of it showed he was happy that she knew what she did was wrong. But in the end, he still ended at his lifeless, drained eyes.

"Octavia. You hurt me, and for that, I don't think I'll ever be able to fully forgive you. I may have come from Clopton, but my parents raised me better as a foal to know what hurts others. One day, maybe we'll be friends, but right now, I don't want to see you for a long time. I'd be very happy if you left now, so I can continue with our day, we'll be very busy." Octavia looked hurt by this, but she was understanding. She had broken Ulfric's faith in mares, and it would be a long time before he could let something that major slide. Without another word, Octavia left the residence, with small tears draining from her eyes. When the hotel owner asked what was wrong, she merely told him something had gotten into her eyes, and left the building before he could question her anymore.

"Well. That went pleasantly, at least, no screaming, no yelling, I'm glad you didn't let it come to that Ulfric." Traz said this, looking a lot more calm then how he had been yesterday. He was almost prompted to yell again at Octavia, but seeing the look on her face when she approached Ulfric changed his mind completely.

"I'm not in the mood to yell at her, Traz. I've already gotten over this, but I would be lying if I said it didn't change the way I look at love and romance." At this, both of Ulfric's friends were visibly saddened, but were happy that Ulfric wouldn't be dwelling on this anymore. With nothing else to do, the trio checked out of the hotel, and heading to the town hall. Normally, you'd have to set up a appointment with a mayor of an establishment, but since Ponyville was so small they were spared that small inconvenience. Upon arriving, they met the secretary, who didn't pay them much mind, and sent them into the building. Upon reaching the mayor's office, she was doing some small time paperwork it seemed. They walked up to the desk, Traz announcing their presence.

"Miss Mayor? We've come to inquire about a house that we would like built. Do you know where we could talk to a builder of some sorts?" At this, the Mayor jumped back in her chair, smashing into the wall behind her, and looked up shocked at the trio in front of her.

"Could you at least knock first?!" Mayor Mare was gripping her heart like it would explode, and Traz immediately saddened at this, but Shock had other plans.

"Well, you see Mayor, the door was kinda opened, I didn't know you were supposed to knock on opened doors." At this, Traz facehoofed enough to leave a mark, and Ulfric was kind enough to facehoof the back of Shock's head, effectively shutting him up.

"Ah... yes, well I guess that was my fault then. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mayor Mare, and I would like to formally welcome you to Ponyville."

"Thank you Mayor Mare, we're glad Ponyville would have us. But yes, we're looking for a house to be built if that's quite alright with you, we'll be needed a form of residence." Ulfric said, calm and stoic. Ulfric always had a way of haggling, and when it came to money agreements he always went into business pony mode.

"Ahh, yes, a house. Let me call my chief architect. Snazzy Summary! I need you for a few moments!" At this, a white pony with a dark red and black mane walked in, going up to the desk carrying himself with a small stride.

"Yes, Miss Mare?"

"These three here are looking to have a house built in Ponyville, and I'd like you to help them in creating said home, whenever you have the time."

"Certainly Miss Mare, I'll get on it immediately, would you three please follow me so we can fill out the appropriate forms and then discuss what kind of house you'll want built?" The trio followed Snazzy to his office, albeit, Shock with a less refined stride, he already didn't like this pony, to much business talk for him to really care about. They all took a seat in his office, and signed the appropriate forms, eventually, Snazzy cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"Phew, thank Celestia, I hate being in that office. She always makes us act so businesspony with everypony. Anyway, I'm Snazzy, it's nice to meet you three, may I get your names." Shock noticeably picked up at this, happy that Snazzy wasn't just a boring old business pony.

"Hey, I'm Traz, this is Ulfric, and that's Shock."

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you. Now that you've signed the correct paperwork, what kinda house are ya all looking for? I hate to brag, but I can have basically anything you'd like constructed, as long as you have the bits to pay of course." The trio assembled to talk for a small moment at this, and returned a few minutes later.

"We'd like a two story house with 3 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen if it's at all possible." Ulfric said, readying himself for the cost. After a few minutes of calculations, Snazzy returned with how much it was going to cost.

"All in all, that's going to run you about 10,000 bits in total. You can pay all of it here and now, or you can pay it gradually over time with monthly bills ranging at 1,000 to 1,500 bits." Ulfric looked visibly calmed at this, the houses here were much cheaper then they were at Clopton.

"Alright, and how long is this house going to take before it's ready?" Shock asked, eager to find out when their new home would be completed. At this, Snazzy noticeably grimaced, and said with a heavy sigh,

"Unfortunately, most of my best workers are currently off duty traveling or something of the sorts, so with the current workers I have it will probably take about two weeks."

"Ughh, are you serious? Where are we going to stay then? I am NOT going back to that crappy ass motel." Shock was a bit open with his thoughts, so Ulfric took the liberty of silencing them with another hoof-to-the-head solution. Snazzy thought deeply. These stallions weren't that bad, and it had been a while since he really made any friends, besides Pinkie Pie of course, who knew everypony in Ponyville. Knowing he would probably regret it later, he said with yet another heavy sigh,

"You all can stay at my place, if you like, I've got ample room for all of you. Although you'll have to pay for your own food and any expenses it costs me." Traz, at this, glomped Snazzy in a tight hug, uttering many thanks.

"Erm... could you please get him off of me?" Ulfric, snickering, ripped Traz off of Snazzy, and they all calmed down.

"I'd like to say thanks, I'm sure housing us for two weeks can't be your exact cup of tea, but we'll try to be as kind as possible while we're residing in your residence." Ulfric said, happy they wouldn't be staying in a hotel for the next two weeks.

"Don't mention it Ulfric, we gotta help each other out sometimes right? Plus I'm sure you'll all be interesting enough. I get off work today at seven, so why don't you all tour the town until I'm done? I'll get the plans together for your house as soon as possible, and send workers within the next day or two."

"Sounds good Snazzy, again, thanks for the place to crash." Ulfric, after finishing that sentence, left with his two friends out into Ponyville, ready for their next challenge of the day. Getting jobs. Hopefully they would all find something that would pay the bills, but they hadn't been the best at acquiring jobs beforehand...

"Hey guys, do we all know exactly what we're gonna be doing for jobs? I'm thinking of checking over at Sweet Apple Acres to see if they need another farmhand." Ulfric asked, hopeful they had something in mind.

"Well, I was going to go back to Sugarcube corner and ask Pinkie if she needed another baker. It's been a while since I was able to work with pastries!" Traz said, excited at his new job opportunity.

"Well.... as for me, I think I'm gonna try DJing at some of the local clubs tonight. I'm more than capable of handling the songs we know by myself, and I think I might be able to gain some popularity. And some mares. Hehe." Shock rubbed his hooves together vigorously, happy at the opportunity of becoming popular.

"Alright then, we all meet back at the Town Hall at around 6:45, got it? Good luck to everypony!" And with that, they all dashed off in separate directions, racing, eager to work at what they did best.