The Kings of Clopton

“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