Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, was busy with another project.

Chapter 11: Manehattan part 1

After all of them had finished their routines of washing up, Twilight (whilst wearing a new outfit), Invictus and the Rainbooms decided to take a tour around the big city. Though it may not be on some of their bucket lists, they were here and they were going to enjoy their visit. Everyone walked down the streets, marveling at the city, to say that the city is amazing would be an understatement.

‘Wow,’ said Twilight as she looked around ‘The entire city resembles a lot to the Manehattan back in Equestria.’

‘Oh,’ said Rarity when she gained her attention ‘How does it look?’

‘Picture all of this,’ said Invictus as he motioned the entire city ‘But all of them pony sized.’

Fluttershy pictured it, began to squee with a smile and saw ‘Aw, how cute.’

Invictus pretended to have a heart attack and said ‘The cuteness. My one weakness.’

Fluttershy ended up being surprised and blushed when Invictus called her cute, but she ended up smiling and giggled at the same time. The rest of her friends also joined in from it.

‘So what else is similar between here and Equestria?’ asked Applejack.

‘Well, as you know,’ said Twilight ‘I took a lot of notes.’

‘Technically I took the notes for you because you were excited like a little schoolgirl on a good day.’

Twilight merely gave him a look whilst the others laughed, with Rainbow saying ‘That is so you Twilight.’

‘Our Twilight also happen to sometimes forget to take notes and get excited like a little schoolgirl.’ said Pinkie Pie.

‘No I don’t!!’ said human Twilight our loud.

‘Uh, you kinda do Twilight.’ said Spike ‘And your parents, Cadance and Shining Armour can vouch on that.’

Human Twilight groaned a bit as she placed her hand on her forehead.

‘But if you want to know the difference,’ said Invictus as he looked at Rarity and said ‘Rarity, you work part time at Carousel Boutique, correct?’

‘I do, why?’ asked Rarity.

Invictus motioned Twilight to speak, which she smiled and said ‘In Equestria, the other you owns it.’

‘I do?!!’ said Rarity all excited.

‘Indeed you do.’ said Invictus ‘And because of the success of your business, you ended up opening a boutique in Canterlot, Equestria’s Capitol city, and one in Manehattan.’

‘I opened one here?!!’ said Rarity, even more excited.

‘You sure did.’ said Twilight ‘It’s called “Rarity 4 U”. We had a little trouble helping her open up the business, but after much determination and a lot of hard work, we were able to open the business.’

‘And the others added some great additions to it,’ said Invictus whilst he remembered the Mane 6 from his Equestria ‘Vinyl Scratch played music whilst they began to shop, whilst Blue Bobbin and Coco Pommel helped run your shop. Even the Raccoons were a lot of help.’

‘Wait,’ said Rarity as she was surprised by the last part ‘Did you say…Raccoons?’

‘They sure did.’ said Twilight ‘They even served some water for the ponies who attended. They’re even great at sorting things. Fluttershy gave me a picture to remember them by.’

She showed them the picture of the Raccoons wearing tuxedoes and work clothes as they helped the other Rarity out.

‘Awww.’ said the girls when they saw the Raccoons.

‘Okay, I’ll admit, that’s adorable.’ said Rainbow Dash.

‘So about our pony counterparts.’ asked Applejack ‘What else can y’all tell us about them?’

‘We’d be happy to tell you.’ said Twilight.

They walked around the corner, with Invictus starting.

‘In Equestria,’ said Invictus as he looked at Rainbow ‘The other you happens to be in charge of the Weather teams in Ponyville to make sure that their weather stays in line. But more importantly, you finally became a Wonderbolt, Equestria’s Elite Flying Team.’

‘Whoa, really?!’ said Rainbow in excitement, she then said ‘I always dreamed of being part of the flying team.’

‘She sure is.’ said Invictus ‘But uh…she had a problem with her nickname.’

‘Nickname?’ asked Rainbow.

‘As you don’t like being called Skittles,’ said Invictus ‘She doesn’t like being called Crash.’

‘Crash?’

‘Turned out she crashed into a garbage can by accident when she was a filly,’ said Twilight ‘And they bullied her with that nickname.’

‘Turned out,’ said Invictus ‘All Wonderbolts gain their nicknames after their disastrous attempt on their first day. You know all of your teams? In that world, all of them are members of the Wonderbolts, and Coach Spitfire happens to be the Captain there.’

‘Really?’ asked Rainbow ‘What were they?’

‘Well, from what I remember,’ said Twilight ‘Soarin’s called Clipper, because he accidentally clipped his wing against a flagpole on his first day.’

‘Ouch.’ said Rainbow.

‘Fleetfoot on the other hand is Flatfoot.’ said Invictus ‘She misjudged her landing and came right on top of Spitfire’s hoof.’

The others cringed at that, with Pinkie saying ‘What do they call Coach Spitfire.’

‘Well…’ said Invictus, causing him to whisper to them, causing them to widen their eyes in surprise.

‘Whoa.’ said Fluttershy.

‘Okay,’ said Sunset with a partial snicker ‘That’s so much worse than Rainbow’s.’

‘And…’ said Rainbow as she wondered something ‘Is Scootaloo…?’

They saw both Twilight and Invictus with sorrow faces.

‘About that,’ said Twilight ‘Scootaloo really wanted to fly more than anything alongside my Rainbow Dash. But…’

‘She was born with Avian Unireflexia.’ said Invictus ‘Meaning she would never fly, no matter how hard she tried. She even has really small wings.’

‘Oh, the poor dear.’ said Rarity, feeling sorry for Scootaloo’s counterpart.

‘And believe it or not, Rainbow Dash hated reading and Daring Do.’ said Invictus with a smirk, causing them to gasp.

‘What?!!’ shouted Rainbow Dash ‘Why would the other me hate Daring Do?!!’

‘Well,’ said Twilight as she remembered the conversation they had some time ago ‘She said that she “Don’t read.”, and that she’s a world class athlete, that reading’s for Eggheads. For reading is, in her own words, “Undeniably, Unquestionably, uncool”.’

Everyone stared in shock, even Rainbow Dash looked at them with her mouth agape whilst her eye was twitching.

‘But thankfully,’ said Invictus ‘She was so bored, she started to read a bit. Soon she began to be into it. But unfortunately, just as she was getting to the good part, the hospital staff told her to leave.’

‘Hospital?’ asked Fluttershy.

‘Turns out she was practicing her flying maneuvers,’ said Twilight ‘Until she lost control and crash landed hard onto the ground.’

They cringed at her accident, with Invictus saying ‘And she even tried to steal the book from the hospital.’

That stifled a laugh from some ‘But thankfully she accepted reading,’ said Twilight ‘I even let her borrow the entire series. She became a fan ever since.’

‘And get this,’ said Invictus as he looked at them ‘In Equestria, AK Yearling and Daring Do are the same pony.’

All of them were taken aback by this, with Rainbow shouting ‘What?!! They’re the same?!!’

‘Trust me, it was a shock to us too.’ said Twilight.

‘Wait,’ said Sunset as she looked at her fellow Rainbooms ‘You don’t think…?’

They all thought about it for a moment, but ended up smiling and said ‘Nah.’

‘Or is she?’ said Invictus with a smirk.

Then the Rainbooms ended up staring at him in both shock and surprise, with Invictus nearly wanting to laugh, same with Twilight.

‘The Applejack of my world is a part time owner of Sweet Apple Acres.’ said Twilight ‘She helps run things alongside her family. Although, her Granny Smith won’t trust her running the business anytime soon.’

‘What?’ said a confused Applejack.

Invictus looked at Applejack and asked ‘Did you happen to have lied to much when you were a little girl, your whole family ended up in the hospital?’

Applejack was taken by surprise about this, but slowly nodded. Twilight explained ‘My Applejack was young and she wanted to run the family business, unfortunately her brother kept talking too much before he became the strong silent type. And my Applejack ended up lying so much they ended up in the hospital.’, she then giggled and said ‘It was quite hilarious when she told us.’

‘Not to mention she even found out more about her family lineage.’ said Invictus, then looked at Applejack and said ‘You know about your mom Buttercup?’

‘Uh, yeah?’ said Applejack.

‘Her name’s actually Pear Butter.’ said Twilight ‘Meaning you’re half apple, half pear.’

Applejack was taken aback by this, and said ‘But…but…how…?’

‘It’s…not a pretty tale.’ said Invictus, remembering what the Applejack from the other Equestria told him ‘You see…’

One complicated recap later

‘And that’s what happened.’ said Invictus.

Applejack nearly fainted from the story, but they were able to help calm her down as she said ‘I…I can’t believe Grand Pear would just, up and left Ma like that. No wonder mah granny never told me, Big Mac or Apple Bloom about any of this.’

‘These things are never easy.’ said Twilight.

‘And it’s hard to know when it is a good time.’ said Invictus.

‘Still,’ said Applejack once she adjusted her hat ‘Once ah get back, ah need to have a long talk with her.’

‘That you should,’ said Invictus ‘But just take it slow and steady, she might not be willing to open up once you tell her.’

‘Ah’ll try.’ said Applejack.

‘Ooh, what about the other me?’ said Pinkie Pie as she appeared out of nowhere right between Twilight and Invictus.

‘Well,’ said Invictus from what he could remember ‘Pinkie helped Cranky Doodle reunite with the love of his life. Then she tried to babysit the Cake Twins.’

‘Cake Twins?’ asked the girls.

‘Oh,’ said Twilight when she perked up to that ‘Don’t both Mr. and Mrs. Cake have kids of their own yet?’

Applejack then thought out loud ‘Now that y’all mention it, they did start attending at Canterlot City Nursery Center.’

‘In Equestria,’ said Invictus ‘Pinkie tried to babysit both of them, until she realized just how much of a handful they really are.’

‘Oh, I bet they weren’t that bad.’ said Pinkie Pie.

‘Uh,’ said Twilight ‘Did you ever try to babysit a baby Pegasus and baby Unicorn with unpredictable magical outbursts and random flying? They’re a nightmare to take care and aren’t really easy to take care of.’

‘Trust me, they really aren’t.’ said Invictus, but then he suddenly shuddered at the one thought and said ‘Then there’s the clone apocalypse.’

Even Twilight shuddered at that, gaining their attention, with human Twilight asking ‘What?’

Then they both looked at them, with Twilight saying ‘Imagine Pinkie Pie.’

‘But with like a hundred of her all over town going “Fun, fun, fun!!” all day.’ said Invictus.

Everyone thought about it, causing all of them to shudder at that. ‘I so don’t want that.’ said Rainbow ‘One Pinkie Pie is more than enough.’

‘That’s true.’ said Pinkie Pie ‘Only one Pony can bring smiles and that’s me.’

‘The other you joined with Cheese Sandwich to make Rainbow Dash’s birthday anniversary happen.’ said Invictus.

‘A what?’ asked Sunset.

‘From what she told me,’ said Twilight ‘On the day of her birthday, was the exact same day that she moved to Ponyville.’

‘You wouldn’t believe how wild and crazy it was.’ said Invictus ‘It was quite a lot of fun. But not as interesting as Pinkie’s PSSSD.’

‘Uh, what is it?’ whispered Rarity, which caused Pinkie to giggle, for she knew what it meant, with Rarity asking ‘What?’

‘Not Pssst, Rarity.’ said Invictus ‘PSSSD. Pie Sister Surprise Swap Day.’

‘Huh?’ said the Rainbooms, minus Pinkie Pie, in confusion.

‘Oh, that’s easy.’ said Pinkie Pie as she interrupted ‘It’s the same thing me and my siblings do. Every year, we set aside a special day to spend time with each other. One day is with my older sister Limestone, then my sister Maud, and then my younger sister Marble. I do separate trips with each one. We make it super fun by picking a different location every year. We see the sights all day, and then we swap gifts by sunset.’

‘Oh,’ said Rarity as she cooed ‘That’s the sweetest tradition you have ever come up with.’

‘We sure did.’ said Pinkie Pie ‘Maybe you girls should do the same thing with…’

She suddenly stopped, realizing that Rainbow doesn’t have any siblings and Fluttershy’s brother is currently…occupied. And Sunset doesn’t have a sibling either, as far as they could tell.

‘Oh right.’ said Pinkie Pie ‘Slight problem with that.’

‘No, it’s alright.’ said Fluttershy as she looked down ‘I don’t want to visit him anyway, not after what he did.’

‘And I like Scoots and all,’ said Rainbow as she rubbed the back of her head ‘But uh…it doesn’t feel the same.’

‘I know what you mean.’ said Sunset, then said from within her thoughts ‘I wish I could make amends with my brother.’

‘But from what my Pinkie Pie told me,’ said Twilight ‘Because of the fact that Rarity was such a big help, they decided to have a new tradition to have Rarity be part of it.’

‘Which they call PSSSDWR, Pie Sister Surprise Swap Day With Rarity.’ said Invictus.

‘Aw, how sweet.’ said Rarity.

‘Not as sweet as Maud’s roller skating trick,’ said Invictus ‘That girl really knows how to do a swan maneuver.’

They were a bit surprised at this, with Invictus saying ‘I’ve seen her skate twice. Once back at Equestria. And the other when she offered to teach me how to skate. But sometimes I question her whenever she goes to places.’

Pinkie then flexed an eyebrow and asked ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, to quote Maud when she ate at that one restaurant here in Manehattan,’ said Invictus, until he suddenly shape shifted into Maud with her usual monotone facial expression and voice as he said ‘It’s only restaurant in the city with Nepheline cyanide in their bathroom tiles.’

Everyone stared at him in shock and their mouths agape whilst he shape shifted back to normal. He the rubbed the back of his head and said ‘My magic also allows me to shape shift into another’s appearance. For example.’

He suddenly shape shifted into Gilda, but with her in a frilly dress as he said through her voice ‘Oh, look at me, I’m a frilly little princess named Rose Petal.’

The moment when Fluttershy and Rainbow saw Gilda in the most ridiculous dress, they ended up laughing really hard at the sight of her in a dress like that, even Sunset laughed at that, however, the rest couldn’t help but stare at him shocked.

‘And it makes my butt look but.’ said Invictus through her voice whilst he showed off her butt, then ended up slapping it and said ‘Ooh, she has some nice gluts.’

Rarity ended up stuttering and out of embarrassment and then shouted ‘Invictus!!!’

He shape shifted back to normal and tried to defend himself as he said ‘Oh come on, you gotta admit, that was funny. Be glad I didn’t shape shift into you.’

He then snuck to her with a smirk and said ‘Unless you want me to…’

‘No!! No!!’ said Rarity, clearly still feeling embarrassed about it ‘We’ll stick to the Gilda thing.’

‘Too late.’ said Invictus as he shape shifted into her, but the outfit she wore the day Twilight met her, as he said in her voice ‘Oh, darling, I simply look fabulous.’

That made Rainbow Dash laugh at her hardest as she fell over, with Rarity now steaming mad ‘Invictus!!!’

However, she noticed Invictus looked at her, then himself, then her. He began to ponder something. After Rainbow had stopped laughing and got up, Invictus walked over to Rarity.

‘You know what,’ said Invictus with Rarity’s voice ‘Comparing this outfit and the outfit you’re wearing right now. I love that outfit much better, it really speaks to you.’

Rarity blinked in surprise as she said ‘It does?’

‘Well of course,’ said Invictus with Rarity’s voice as he said ‘You so have the hips and beautiful body to pull off an outfit like that.’

Rarity couldn’t help but blush whilst Invictus turned back to normal as she said ‘Oh, well um…thank you.’

Rarity ended up smiling whilst she blushed. For even though she was mad that he shape shifted into her, she couldn’t help but feel flattered over the compliment of the dress she’s wearing, as well as her body. Invictus cleared his throat and said ‘Fluttershy also has some interesting adventures.’

‘Really?’ said Fluttershy.

‘Oh yes,’ said Twilight ‘Back when a dragon wanted to take a hundred year nap near Ponyville, we had to wake it and send it away because his smoke was going to engulf all of Ponyville. At first Fluttershy was afraid to face the dragon.’

‘And Rainbow gave her a hard time too.’ said Invictus, which surprised all of them ‘For not only did that Rainbow Dash flat out ignore that Fluttershy when she tried to warn them about the dragon, she grumbled and complained about her all day. That Rainbow acted that Fluttershy was nothing but a burden when all of them know for a fact she knew her longer than any of them had. For if that was the way she treated her, it’s no wonder she doesn’t have any confidence in herself, and they called her the Element of Loyalty.’

‘Wow,’ said Rainbow ‘I know I can be a jerk but oh man, comparing to the two of us, she sounded like a bigger pain than I did.’

‘Oh she is.’ said Twilight as she rolled her eyes ‘But no matter how many times we try to help or help her change her ways, she still doesn’t want to listen.’

‘There was even the part where that Fluttershy wanted to learn how to be assertive, but that turned into a disaster.’

‘Huh, how…?’ asked Sunset.

‘Iron Will.’ said Twilight and Invictus.

Half of them groaned, knowing full well who he is.

‘She even helped Rainbow Dash choose a pet.’ said Twilight.

‘Whoa, she helped her pick Tank?’ said Rainbow.

‘Yes and no.’ said Invictus ‘That Rainbow Dash was too stubborn to have tank as a pet because she didn’t want a pet that would slow her down. But in the end, Tank helped her in a tight situation. In the end she chose the tortoise, she even attached a miniature propeller on top of it so that it could fly.’

‘Whoa, cool.’ said Rainbow.

‘Anyway, from Fluttershy,’ said Invictus ‘She even befriended a Chaos being named Discord. She was really brave to give him a chance.’

‘That’s our Fluttershy.’ said Pinkie Pie as she lightly elbowed their Fluttershy, which she blushed and smiled at the same time.

‘But do not let us get started when she got turned into a bat.’ said Invictus.

‘A bat?’ said the girls.

‘You’re not gonna believe this,’ said Twilight ‘But whilst we were trying to get rid of the vampire fruit bats from the Apple Farm, I accidentally affected Fluttershy, causing her to turn into a vampire bat pony, with our Pinkie calling her Flutter Bat.’

‘She sounds scary.’ said Fluttershy.

‘But you have to admit, she looked kinda cute with the fangs and red eyes and all.’ said Invictus, causing them to look at him with flexed eyebrows as he said ‘Well she did.’

‘But she also came through for Sweet Feather Sanctuary.’ said Twilight.

‘She what?’ asked Invictus, with the others also wondering.

‘Oh right, you guys didn’t know.’ said Twilight as she realized it. She then looked at the others and said ‘My Fluttershy was able to make a place where all of the animals would come together. She called it Sweet Feather Sanctuary. It’s kind of like an animal shelter.’

Fluttershy was surprised by this as she said ‘I…the other me…created an animal shelter?’

‘She sure did.’ said Twilight. She then suddenly recalled what Invictus told her, then turned to him and said ‘Oh, right. Tell her what you told me.’

‘Oh, right.’ said Invictus.

‘Tell me what?’ said Fluttershy as she was curious what he wanted to talk about

He turned to her and said ‘You remember the White Tail Nature Reserve?’

‘Oh, I do.’ said Fluttershy ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Your great grandmother Posy Shy founded and was the exact owner of the place.’ said Invictus.

Fluttershy was greatly surprised, as was the Rainbooms.

‘Her great grandmother?!’ said Rarity.

‘Are y’all sure?’ said Applejack.

‘She sure did.’ said Twilight ‘But she and her husband had a divorce and took the kids with him, so he didn’t tell them, but it turned out she never stopped trying to reach out to them.’

‘My dad’s dad was a lawyer back at the day when he was starting out.’ said Invictus ‘He met Posy Shy back at the day. They even made a will that’s still under lock and key, which they even track down her family members. And seeing that you’re the only heir, the will said that once you graduate and you reach out to them, you’d be the proud owner of White Tail Wood Nature Reserve.’

Fluttershy’s eyes widened like dinner plates, not believing what she was hearing. She was quiet for a few moments, with her friends noticing.

‘Uh, Fluttershy?’ said Rainbow as she waved her hand in front of her ‘You okay?’

And in three, two, one, Fluttershy screeched in joy, which caused many to hold their ears within a five hundred mile radius. Fluttershy ended up grabbing Invictus as she violently shook him with her biggest smile.

‘I get to be the proud owner of that place?!!’ shouted Fluttershy ‘This is incredible!!’

She ended up dropping Invictus as she danced around in joy, which surprised her friends. Invictus sat up whilst groaning in pain because of Fluttershy’s excitement. Twilight knelt over with a smirk.

‘So,’ said Twilight ‘What did we learn?’

‘Don’t tell Fluttershy something that would make her that overexcited.’ said Invictus.

‘Good boy.’ said Twilight as she helped him up.

‘Me, the owner of the Nature Reserve.’ said Fluttershy in her cheery tone ‘It’ll be a dream come true!!’

Rolling his eyes at her display, Invictus walked over and rubbed her shoulders a bit in order to calm her down ‘Calm down Flutters. Sheesh, you’re more excited than Rainbow Dash when the last Daring Do book came out.’

‘I did?’ said Rainbow, which Applejack reminded her on that one book release, which made her blush and giggle sheepishly at that ‘Oh yeah, I did.’

‘Now then, what are we going to do first?’ said Sunset Shimmer.

‘How about this.’ said Invictus as he made them an offer. ‘Seeing that it’s already eight o clock. A bit early but also enough time. We each get to do something for an hour and a half. That way, we’ll be able to do something the other wants. And then by tonight, we’ll be going out for dinner. My treat.’

They were surprised by the offer.

‘Oh, darling, we couldn’t possibly…’ said Rarity, wanting to change the subject.

‘Let’s just say it’s my way of saying thanks for being my friend.’ said Invictus as he smiled ‘For giving me a chance. And for helping me fix my friendships along the way. And it’s my way of showing I care.’

They were surprised by his touching words, with Invictus then saying ‘That and I know most of you don’t want to say no to free food.’

Pinkie then giggled and said ‘That’s true. I never say no to free food. Same with Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack and Sunset.’

‘Well,’ said Twilight ‘If you insist. I suppose it’s fine.’

‘Alright!!’ said Rainbow Dash ‘So, what’ll we do first?’

Invictus checked his watch and said ‘Well the other places won’t be open for an hour and an hour and a half, so luckily the petting zoo is opened.’

He looked at his certain shy friend and said ‘So congratulations Flutters. We get to do your thing first.’

‘Yay.’ said Fluttershy with her usual quiet tone, which he couldn’t help but smile whilst nodding his head, for she really is adorable.

They arrived at the Manehattan petting zoo, where all the animals were already up and about and the kids were already interacting with them. Fluttershy seemed to be having a good time petting most of the animals. Rarity didn’t want to pet any animals because she was fussy as usual, but forced herself to pet a horse. At first she wanted to quickly go wash her hands, until Invictus offered her some hand sanitizers and wet wipes. She smiled and accepted them whilst cleaning her hands.

Human Twilight and Spike were being kind to the ducks and ducklings, even Spike enjoyed giving the baby chicks a ride on his back. Rainbow Dash petted a few turtles because they reminded her of her pet tank.

‘Say, how’s Tank doing?’ said Invictus as he remembered the turtle ‘I hope he’s doing well.’

‘Oh, he’s doing fine at home.’ said Rainbow whilst she petted them ‘He was bummed that he couldn’t come along. Coach Spitfire had the whole no pets allowed thing.’

‘Yeah, he would’ve loved it here.’ said Invictus.

Pinkie Pie waved to a handful of baby gators, and they seem to like her, which was weird because she doesn’t have a pet gator, just a doll.

Applejack was busy petting a pig because they reminded her of her fellow swine back at home. Sunset and Twilight were busy petting a horse, which the horse seems to enjoy.

‘I see he likes you two.’ said Invictus.

‘Looks like it.’ said Sunset.

‘They’re just so adorable.’ said Twilight.

‘Yeah, at least they don’t “Neigh” about it.’ said Invictus, causing Twilight and Sunset to slowly look at him with flexed eyebrows, with him sheepishly saying ‘Yeah, you’re right, it was bad.’

Even the Horse blew raspberries about it.

Rainbow walked over to a Llama and petted it whilst saying ‘Hey, check this freaky hairy horse out.’

‘Rainbow Dash.’ scolded Fluttershy ‘That’s a Llama, not a hairy horse.’

‘Eh, still looks hairy to me.’ said Rainbow with a shrug, then muttered under her breath ‘And ugly.’

Unfortunately for her, the Llama overheard her and ended up spitting in her face, which surprised Rainbow after the massive spit wave she got. She growled in anger over it. Invictus took notice of this. He ended up smirking and had an idea. He walked over to a nearby fountain.

‘Oh Rainbow Dash,’ said Fluttershy as she used a towel she kept in handy for just in case to wipe off the spit from her face ‘You shouldn’t do that. When a Llama gets angry, they always do that.’

‘You don’t say.’ said Rainbow, until she saw Invictus sipping in water from the fountain, then asked ‘What is he doing?’

Invictus then walked over to the Llama with his mouth filled with water. The girls watched him walk over to the Llama. The Llama was curious over what Invictus was planning. That was, until he spat the water all over the Llama’s face, which surprised the girls, even the Llama.

‘When Invictus angry when Llama spits on friends, he always does so.’ said Invictus whilst he dusted his hands and wiped his mouth.

Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh out loud whilst Fluttershy pouted, that was, until Invictus slipped and fell into a crocodile pit, which shocked them as they ran over. He stood up and said ‘I’m okay.’

That was, until an crocodile came from behind, which shocked the girls as Spike shouted ‘Behind you!!’

Invictus turned around and saw the crocodile, allowing him to quickly jump out of the way before the gator could chomp on him.

‘Oh, you wanna play rough, eh you overstuffed handbag?’ said Invictus whilst he rolled up his sleeves.

He grabbed the crocodile by the mouth before it could respond, lifted it up and ended up wrestling it, which surprised the girls.

‘Huh,’ said Applejack as she leaned forward ‘Ah didn’t know he knew how to wrestle, let alone a crocodile.’

‘Yeah, me neither.’ said Pinkie as she and the others watched the display.

Within moments, Invictus had it pinned on the ground on its back, with his legs wrapped around it, with the Crocodile struggling to get back up. As the crocodile struggled to get up, Invictus ended up rubbing its belly whilst humming a lullaby. Within moments, the crocodile fell as sleep, which surprised the girls.

‘Goodness,’ said Rarity ‘I didn’t know crocodiles fall asleep whilst giving it a belly rub.’

‘Crocodiles tend to easily fall asleep whenever their bellies are rubbed.’ said human Twilight whilst she looked at the display.

‘Crocodiles love it when others give them belly rubs.’ said Fluttershy before she let out a giggle ‘Helps them sleep better at night.’

After he was done, the girls applauded him whilst clapping their hands.

‘Nice work Invictus,’ said Twilight ‘Didn’t know you could do that.’

‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me.’ said Invictus before he looked at the Crocodile and said ‘Sleep tight young fella.’

But as he made his way to the side of the wall to climb up, he made a mistake on stepping onto the crocodile’s belly, waking it up and getting back up, shocking the girls.

‘Ooh,’ said Rainbow as she cringed ‘Big mistake.’

The crocodile ended up biting Invictus in the butt and ended up wrestling him. The Crocodile ended up pinning Invictus onto the ground with its legs wrapped around him whilst Invictus struggled to get back up. And in a surprise conclusion, the crocodile ended up rubbing Invictus’ belly and humming a lullaby, making him fall asleep. This surprised the girls even greater.

Rainbow ended up resting on her right hand whilst her elbow was on the concrete wall, whilst she flexed an eyebrow and said ‘Now that’s something you don’t see every day.’

The crocodile walked a bit forward, then looked at Invictus. And instead of eating him, the crocodile used its tail to lift him up and swat him right out of its pit, surprising the girls as they quickly ran towards him.

He ended up crashing near a florist, who happens to be selling flowers, which surprised her, whilst he slowly sat up and said in a groggy tone ‘Eight roses and a bag of doggy treats please.’

The girls soon made it to him, whilst they saw he walked up to them whilst he was dizzy in the process.

‘Uh, you okay there Sugarcube?’ asked Applejack.

‘I am,’ said Invictus ‘Because I gave you girls these.’

He handed them a rose each, which surprised them as they accepted it one by one, whilst he handed Spike a bag of doggy treats, which he smiled and accepted them. Invictus cleared his head whilst shaking it, then said ‘Eight roses for all of you because all of you are awesome.’

The girls couldn’t help but blush at his kindness, even Fluttershy smiled and giggled at that. He then clasped his hands together and said ‘So, where to next?’

‘Oh, my turn.’ said Rarity, then she said ‘It’s shopping time.’

Some rolled their eyes, for it was typical Rarity.

Soon enough, they arrived at the mall, where Rarity was eager to try out some new designs.

‘Oh, I simply cannot wait to try something new.’ said Rarity as she got excited.

‘Ugh,’ said Rainbow as she rolled her eyes ‘You try something new all the time Rarity.’

‘And yet you’re wearing her designs.’ said Invictus as he gestured her clothing, which she noticed as he said ‘I seem to remember a certain someone who kept wearing bicycle shorts and a skirt every day.’

Rainbow rolled her eyes at that and said ‘Okay, you have a point. But still.’

‘There’s nothing wrong to show off your feminine side Rainbow, you of all people should know that.’ said Invictus.

Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk and said ‘This coming from a guy who didn’t like to style his hair with hair gel and was forced to wear a monkey suit?’

‘First of, that was back in sixth grade,’ said Invictus ‘Second, it was picture day and I wore braces that day before they removed it.’

‘Y’all used to wear braces?’ said Applejack.

‘Not something I like.’ said Invictus as he had a deadpanned expression ‘And my stupid braces kept short circuiting every time whenever I passed something electronic.’

He then rolled his eyes and said ‘And Ms. Harshwinny still wouldn’t forgive me for it.’

Sunset looked at him with a flexed eyebrow and said ‘What did you do?’

‘Well, uh…’ said Invictus, until he grumbled and mumbled stuff at the same time.

‘I’m sorry what?’ said human Twilight.

Having no choice, he huddled the girls together and said ‘My braces made her boobs and butt grow a little bigger.’

Everyone stared at him with their mouths agape, with Fluttershy saying ‘So that’s why Mr. Cranky Doodle wouldn’t stop ogling her.’

After the huddle, he said ‘I didn’t do it on purpose. I used magic to help make my teeth better because I was so sick of the braces. How the heck was I supposed to know it was going to happen.’

‘You what?’ said Twilight, then she was face to face with him and said ‘That was reckless.’

‘It was in the sixth grade.’ said Invictus in defense, then he mumbled ‘I still think she looks better that way anyway.’

They were then once more surprised, with Rarity saying ‘Well, you were the one responsible for her getting married.’

‘Really?’ said Invictus, for this was news to him.

‘Oh of course, I was there.’ said Rarity before she giggled, remembering like it was yesterday.

(Flashback)

Rarity was walking down the hall, on her way to class.

‘About a month after the uh, incident you had. I saw Miss Harshwinny walking down the hall. I think she was very embarrassed over what happened to her figure and she didn’t realize it.’

Rarity saw Ms. Harshwinny walk down the hall, whilst having a flustered look on her face, not comfortable of how the men were staring at her, especially that her butt and breasts were now very snug underneath her dress whilst most of the male teachers couldn’t stop but stare at her.

‘Then one day, she met someone.’

Ms. Harshwinny accidentally bumped into someone, and whilst they were holding onto one another, she felt a bit more flustered.

‘I’ve never seen her stare at any man like that before. I think she had a crush on him from the sidelines. I think his name was Intellect Wisdom.’

‘Intellect Wisdom?’ said human Twilight ‘As in the Superintendant of all the schools in Canterlot City?’

‘Indeed.’ said Rarity as she giggled again ‘But he also couldn’t stop staring at her.’

Rarity saw as Ms. Harshwinny walked away, she noticed how Intellect Wisdom was staring at her, and noticed how her hips were swaying, which made him flustered as he noticed her body.

‘He also fell head over heels for her. Though I was a bit worried, considering he kept staring at parts of her body.’

Another month later, Rarity was sitting outside doing her homework whilst she saw Ms. Harshwinny walked to her car, until Intellect Wisdom walked up and talked to her. She had the same expression, but they just kept talking. Before Rarity realized it, Intellect and Ms. Harshwinny kissed, taking her by surprise.

‘Then a month later, whilst I was doing my homework, I saw Ms. Harshwinny walk towards her car until Intellect walked up to her. They kept talking, and before I knew it, the two of them kissed.’

Than another month passed, and whilst Rarity left Ms. Harshwinny’s class, she caught a glimpse on her face, and noticed that she was smiling.

‘Though she kept her expression,’ said Rarity ‘I saw that she was secretly smiling, not wanting students to see her. I think he left a good impression on her.’

(Present)

They were surprised how much Ms. Harshwinny’s life had been turned around whilst Rarity squealed.

‘And a year later, the two of them got married.’ said Rarity, barely being able to keep in her excitement.

‘Huh,’ said Rainbow ‘No wonder she sometimes gave me some slack whenever I was sometimes late for gym. She’s always grumpy and threatened me with detention whenever I was late.’

‘And that’s not the best part.’ said Rarity, trying to contain her excitement.

‘What’s more exciting than that?’ said Fluttershy.

‘A few months before summer started…’ said Rarity, still containing her excitement, then squealed ‘She got pregnant.’

The girls got excited as they were happy for their teacher. ‘Wow,’ said Twilight as she was surprised ‘Good for her.’

‘Wow,’ said Invictus as he was surprised ‘To think, it was because of…’

He then remembered, he knew Ms. Harshwinny knew that he was responsible for his predicament, but for some strange reason, after he kept holding him in class, she was trying to find the courage to thank him. Then shortly before summer vacation started, she walked up to him and whispered in his ear “Thank you,” kissing him in the cheek, which surprised him greatly.

‘Wow.’ said Invictus as he folded his arms and looked a bit in the air ‘Instead of being mad at me…she was actually trying to thank me. If it weren't for that accident, she wouldn’t be married. I did something right for once.’

‘For once?’ said a voice.

Invictus looked and the girls looked at him as they noticed something off when he mentioned it.

‘Okay, another secret, but an accidental one,’ said Invictus. He cleared his throat and said ‘I uh…was the reason Mr. Cranky Doodle got bald in the first place.’

The girls were partially surprised and curious at the same time. Until the Rainbooms widened their eyes and looked at one another as Sunset said ‘I thought his hair looked different.’

‘Yeah, and it turned out that it was a wig.’ said Pinkie Pie.

‘Okay, enough talk,’ said Rarity as she pointed towards the nearest store that caught her eye whilst she said ‘Paradise awaits.’

‘Only you’d think that a clothing store is paradise Rarity.’ said Rainbow Dash whilst rolling her eyes.

‘This coming from a girl who once complained that when she was ten, one of the jeans made her butt looked flat?’ smirked Invictus, then said ‘And then one day before the showcase started, I thought it looked very cute whilst you try so hard to hide it underneath the skirt.’

Rainbow had a surprise look on her face, blushed bright red and was so embarrassed, she looked at him and shouted ‘Y-You idiot!! Why would you think that’d made me feel better?!!’

Rainbow ended up hitting Invictus’ back with her fists whilst the Rainbooms laughed at her reddened face, even Twilight thought that was funny. Soon enough, everyone was in the store, trying on certain outfits that really matched their personalities.

Rarity tried certain outfits that made her look like a movie star, a fashion model and a bikini model. The girls, even Rainbow liked it. Invictus liked them and gave a thumbs up for it, which Rarity appreciated the moral support.

Fluttershy tried on outfits that fit more her personality. One that looked like a pretty vet, one that looked like a safari outfit, then one dress that Invictus remembered she was wearing whilst she was singing to herself. The girls thought she looked amazing, even Invictus blushed at her outfit, which Fluttershy did too when she saw the look on his face.

Pinkie Pie was trying on outfits that nearly resembled to candy themed outfits and her kooky personality. She tried on an outfit that made her look like a baker, then like a pirate, then a dress that made her look like something from Songbird Serenade’s collection. The girls cheered for her, as did Invictus. That was however, until she randomly got out of the curtain and she was naked, making the girls gasp in shock whilst Invictus quickly covering his eyes, whilst Rarity quickly dashed towards her prismatic friend and made sure nobody saw her.

Applejack tried on outfits that matched her farmer style personality. She tried on an outfit that made her look like a country singer whilst holding a guitar. Then she began to wear an outfit that made her look like a proper Western, then finally, wore an outfit that made her look like a Texan Ranger. The girls cheered for that, even Invictus, for those outfits looked really great on her, whilst Rarity kept on cringing at that, not comfortable that Applejack wears the same outfits all the time.

Sunset Shimmer tried on outfits that screamed her personality out loud. She tried on an outfit that makes her look like a motorcycle club member. Then she tried on an outfit that was twice as better as her camp Everfree outfit, then she tried on a new swimsuit. She then tried on an outfit that almost looked like the one she wore from the Friendship Games’ welcoming committee, but it also had a bit more of a tropical flare. The girls cheered for her, even Invictus liked it. That was, until she walked out in a bikini, which nearly made him pass out when he saw how hot she looked. Sunset however, noticed the look on his face, whilst also remembering what he said about her posterior, which made her blush and cross her arms whilst looking away, trying not to remember the embarrassing comment.

Human Twilight wore outfits that matched her scientific personality. She wore a different kind of lab coat, but with a shirt that had her mark on it, whilst she had a stylish ponytail. The next outfit she wore resembled that of a botanist from the great outdoors, whilst she also began to wear a different outfit that nearly resembled that to her outfit from when she first met Rosetta Nebula.

Twilight tried on outfits that resembled more to what a Princess should wear, considering she is one. She first outfit she was wearing resembled that to a beautiful dress. The next was from when she was wearing the outfit that she wore during the times she and her friends sang the song “Shake your tail”, whilst she later tried on an outfit that some would say make her look like a goddess, which the girls greatly approve, even Invictus.

Rainbow tried on athletic outfits that matched her style. She wore an outfit that made her part of a jogging team, but with more stylish decoration. Then she tried on an outfit that was made for motocross riding. Then an outfit that was for an International soccer’s outfit. However, what she wore next took them all by surprise. She was wearing a blue dress, whilst the lower part was a pinkish skirt that only reached above her knees whilst she was wearing stylish sandals. The girls were amazed by the outfit, even Invictus liked it as he nodded in improvement. Truth be told, she only dressed like this because she secretly wanted to impress Invictus, but she still kept her blush and smiled.

Spike on the other hand tried on outfits that would make any puppy look adorable, which the girls couldn’t help but fawn over and take pictures, much to his displeasure as he said ‘Why me?’

However, whilst they continued to choose more outfits, Invictus snuck around and took various things and added some more makeup in secret without them noticing, whilst also placing what appeared to be grease on the ground, then placed some nails on the ground for good measure

‘Pssst, hey, hey girls.’ said a voice, causing the girls to look at the direction.

Within an instant, Invictus popped out, wearing an ugly polka dot dress, combat boots, a funny looking scarf, a large wig and the craziest makeup on anyone’s face as he shouted ‘TADAAAAAA!!!’

Some widened their eyes in surprise, some gasped, and Rarity let out a big gasp as she dropped her outfits whilst her right eye was twitching. When all of a sudden, he began to chant.

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

He then stomped like a crazy person from one part of the store to the other.

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

He then did the same routine back whilst still keeping that goofy face.

As he continued, the Rainbooms were greatly surprised at first over his crazy antics. Then before they knew it, they found themselves snickering, covering their mouths, barely being able to hold in their laughter, even Rarity had a hard time controlling herself. He suddenly swung his hips around.

Cha-cha-cha!!

He went sideways and did the same routine as he swung his hips around.

Cha-cha-cha!!

When all of a sudden, the moment he reached the grease, and he ended up slipping and sliding and slipped on his butt whilst his combat boots flew away from his feet. Until he reached the end and stepped on the nails whilst he flailed and wailed and moaned in pain at the same time, but thankfully the nails didn’t get stuck on his feet. The moment he was on the other side, he moved looked at the girls, whilst he moved his hips to the right, placed both his fists on his waist, whilst giving the most silliest and grumpiest facial expression he could muster, which got the girls snickering even louder.

He did the same thing as he walked back and secretly dropped a banana peel, but on the nails again, and slipped on the grease like a total idiot. Then suddenly, he realized something and noticed he forgot his hat, then he ended up doing the same thing like he did earlier on the grease, then on the nails. The moment he stepped on a banana peel, he slipped and fell onto a large pile of clothing that was placed there by him just in case. He was suddenly placed under the pile of clothing, and instantly popped out whilst having a mime makeup on his face.

‘Good evening, friends!!!’ sang Invictus in a goofy tone.

Within a split second, no longer being able to contain themselves, Twilight, Spike and the Rainbooms ended up laughing out loud, for it was the most funniest high jinks they have ever seen, even though Rarity would’ve thrown a hissy fit about it, she couldn’t contain herself as she ended up laughing over it too, even Spike thought it was funny as he was on his back.

Invictus then stood up, was back in normal clothing and removed the wig and makeup, whilst saying ‘Thank you, thank you very much.’

Rainbow leaned against him as she held onto his shoulder whilst wiping a tear away as she said ‘Oh man, now that was funny!!’

‘I’ll say,’ said Pinkie Pie as she tried to recollect her breath after she laughed really hard ‘I never realized you had such a funny bone!!’

Rarity then walked over to him, after recollecting herself, spoke to him and said ‘Thank you for the display darling. But uh…ahem, don’t you think that you might have caused a scene here?’

‘Sorry about that.’ said Invictus, but as he looked at the outfits, he suddenly thought of something, he then smiled and said ‘Can I try some outfits on too?’

The girls were a bit surprised by his gesture as Sunset said ‘Are you sure about this?’

‘Oh, believe me,’ said Invictus with a smirk as he pointed at himself with his thumb and said ‘I can make any outfit look good on me.’

‘You do?’ asked Fluttershy.

‘Yeah, watch.’ said Invictus as he instantly darted all around, finding what he could. He then darted back to the changing area, but then popped his head through a curtain as he said ‘Watch and be amazed.’, before he popped back in.

Invictus came out and was wearing an outfit that nearly resembled Rarity’s style. He was wearing black shoes, black pants, black long sleeved coat with a light grey shirt, whilst his hair was combed neatly. Rarity liked the outfit as her eyes suddenly shined like stars.

He then began to wear an outfit that made him look like an explorer, mixed with safari as well as a backpack with what appeared to be medical aid for animals. Fluttershy nearly made a squee sound when she saw him in that outfit.

He then came out wearing what appeared to be a chef’s outfit whilst he was holding what appeared to be a cupcake platter, which made Pinkie Pie squeal in excitement, but she was more excited for the cupcakes, causing her to run towards Invictus, which made him freak out and ran away whilst Pinkie Pie ran after him, begging for a cupcake, which the others couldn’t help but laugh at his predicament.

Next up, he then appeared to look like a Western Cowboy. He had the boots with black pants with a belt buckle that had a symbol of an eagle up front. He wore a white buttoned shirt with a black sleeveless leather jacket whilst he was also sporting a fingerless cowboy gloves, as well as a black hat that made himself look like a proper cowboy, whilst he walked over like a cowboy and leaned close to Applejack and dipped his had to her, which made her blush and couldn’t help but smile at that.

Invictus then came out wearing also brown combat boots, blue jeans, black belt, black shirt as well as a type of jacket that bikers like to wear. He even wore glasses for the occasion. The girls like the outfit, until he turned around and showed them the picture on his back, which was them, and underneath, it said “Rainbooms Rule”, which surprised them as many approved of it.

Invictus came out wearing an outfit that made him look like a scientist because of the coat, but he was wearing clothing that made him look like he was ready for combat in case he was attacked by any bad guys, but he also wore glasses whilst holding a physics book. Human Twilight liked the look, and strangely so too did the others, for he was right, any outfit he was wearing can make him look good.

The next outfit he wore surprised the girls, for Invictus was wearing a black tuxedo, with a white buttoned shirt and a red tie whilst his hair was neatly styled backwards. He walked over to the girls as he said ‘The name’s Victus. Invictus.’, which made the girls roll their eyes with a no kind of nod, but they couldn’t help but smile, for even though he sounded corny for saying that, he really looks awesome in that getup.

Then Invictus began to dress up that would make him look like a treasure hunter. He wore black boots, black pants, black sleeveless vest, whilst also wearing a utility belt, black fingerless gloves, as well as hair to match the occasion. However, the girls were distracted by his biceps, which they all thought was really interesting.

Sure enough, all of them had exited the store, with their own clothes in their own bags. Some even enjoyed the outfits that all of them had received.

‘Oh, darlings,’ said Rarity as she held her bags in the air ‘We’ve certainly hit a jackpot in our design of choice.’

‘I still don’t know why you keep fussing over outfits all the time.’ said Invictus.

Rarity gasped at that and said ‘Invictus, how could you say that? They make us look fabulous.’

‘I’m just saying,’ said Invictus ‘I don’t even know what’s the big deal, I mean all of you wear the same outfits every single day anyway.’

The Rainbooms blinked in surprise as they looked at one another, with Twilight and Spike noticing too.

‘Come to think of it,’ said Twilight as she realized something ‘All of you did wear the same outfits ever since I met all of you. Before the Fall Formal, before the Battle of the Bands, before and after the Friendships Games.’

‘Then also the outfits all of you began to wear after you guys helped sort Juniper Montage out.’ said Spike.

‘Yeah,’ said Invictus ‘The only times all of you wore different outfits were from the Fall Formal, the Battle of the Bands, the Friendship Games, Camp Everfree, the Dance Video, the filming of Daring Do, the Beach and Spring Break. But everything else, no.’

The girls were greatly surprised as they never thought about that before. They ended up slowly looked at their outfits, some inspected it, whilst Rarity’s left eye began to twitch, muttering ‘The same…outfit…every…?’, then she fainted from that idea.

Thankfully, Applejack was able to catch her whilst using her hat to fan the Fashionista.

‘Come to think of it,’ said Rainbow whilst they continued to inspect their clothing ‘My shoes does strangely feel like it’s getting worn out lately.’

Amadeus snickered a bit and said ‘Reminds me of that time we were at Camp Cloudsdale, huh Rainbow?’

Rainbow ended up chuckling at that, remembering that day and said ‘Yeah, and you ended up getting an ingenious way to reuse your clothes.’

‘What did he do?’ said Fluttershy.

‘Oh right, you were sick that day,’ said Rainbow as she remembered Fluttershy wasn’t there with their school camping trip a while back ‘Our camp’s washing machines were broken, so all of them had to wash clothes the old fashion way. But Invictus on the other hand, had a different by not doing his laundry.’

Some were surprised by this, with Rarity waking up for a bit as her eye twitched again ‘Never…did…laundry?’

‘Yeah,’ said Invictus as he was strangely proud around that day when he was younger ‘I didn’t do my laundry for three months straight. Cause one pair, lasted me for four days. I went front, I went back, I went inside out, then I went front and back.’

As Rarity fainted again and Applejack caught her again, Fluttershy, Twilight, Sunset and human Twilight gagged all of a sudden as they felt they were going to throw up, with Rainbow chuckling again as she said ‘Yeah, that was both disgusting and awesome.’

‘Ugh, Dash…’ said Pinkie as she felt queasy from the mentioning of laundry ‘Don’t encourage that idea.’

When all of a sudden, they heard someone say ‘Like, what are all of you doing?’

Some looked at the direction of the voice, however, Invictus rolled his eyes, for he was not in the mood to see her again. He sighed loudly and said ‘What do you want, Suri?’

He turned around and sure enough, it was Suri Polomare, who was also striding to be a fashion designer, however, he knew her all too well, for she would do anything to come out on top, even if it meant stealing from others’ designs.

‘Like, I was just going around the big city, M’kay,’ said Suri as she rolled her eyes ‘I didn’t like, expect to see you around here looking at yourselves like a bunch of weirdos.’

He then mocked her and said ‘Well I least I don’t talk like an idiot with a stupid accent just to make me look cool, M’kay.’

Suri gasped in partial shock as she stood near him and said ‘How like, dare you, M’kay…’

As Rarity was able to come to her senses, she looked and saw whom they were talking to. However, the moment when she regained her sight, she saw Suri Polomare. Normally, she would sigh in disgust and ignore her. However, after remembering what Invictus told her of what Suri did to her career and made sure she ended up on the street from what happened if Sunset hadn’t been born, her blood began to boil and got angry.

She stood up and walked over to Suri, with her eyes glaring at her. Suri noticed her and said ‘Like, what do you…?’

Before she could react, Rarity slapped Suri hard in the face, causing the girls to gasp in shock, with Invictus just as shocked to see what she did. Suri ended up holding the side of her face, as if she was ready to cry, but she was now suddenly scared of Rarity.

‘Listen here and listen well Suri,’ said Rarity ‘I don’t care what drove you to do such horrible acts of copying others’ designs, nor do I care why you want to be on top. Just to let you know, I work hard tirelessly every day making people happy with my designs. I don’t strive to be famous, nor do I strive for fame, I simply design and sell because it makes people happy, and in turn, makes me happy. So if you ever, ever, try to ruin mine or anyone else’s career…’

She then leaned over to Suri and said ‘I will personally make sure that you are ruined and you will never, set foot in the fashion world again. Do I make myself clear?’

Suri’s eyes widened in shock, but needless to say, she was now really scared of Rarity, whilst she nodded yes. Rarity then pointed her finger and said ‘Now get out of my sight and don’t ever show yourself until you’ve learned to make your own designs and not copy others’ works.’

Within mere seconds, Suri ran away, scared to face her again. Rarity on the other hand sighed whilst rubbing her eyes in frustration. She then looked at her friends, with all of them had shocking expressions on their faces, making her realize her mistake.

‘Uh, I overdid it, didn’t I?’ said Rarity.

‘Uh, ya kinda did Rares.’ said Applejack.

Invictus sighed and said ‘I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘I’m sorry darlings,’ said Rarity as she assured them ‘It’s just that…when we were told of what our futures would be like without Sunset and what Suri did I…I just couldn’t help myself. What she did to me in the other life I…I just…’

Invictus walked over and hugged her, whilst he said ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘No, it’s quite alright Invictus.’ said Rarity as she reassured her friend after they broke the hug ‘You only told us because you tried to point out just how much important our friendships are.’

She then looked down and said ‘Thinking back, during Anonymous, Wallflower, Equestria World, and partially during Spring Break. I just feel so ashamed of what I put Sunset and the rest of our friends through.’

He placed his hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention as he said ‘We can’t always predict what the future might hold, the only thing we can do is accept the hand we have been dealt with and move forward. One can’t always expect things to work out the way you want it to. We don’t know how much they’re important to us until all of them are gone. All what you can do is remain strong for those who need strength.’

She couldn’t help but smile and deliver a small peck on his cheek and said ‘Thank you Invictus.’

Twilight was surprised by the wisdom he gave Rarity, she began to ponder on those words too, thinking about remaining strong during difficult times and moving forward if need be.

Rarity then spoke up and said ‘Does anyone also feel the need to have a sweet snack before we go anywhere else?’

‘Oooh, I know.’ said Pinkie Pie as she had an idea ‘There happens to be a new Sweet store just around the corner, follow me.’

She ended up zipping over and ran off with the speed of sound, which was quite amusing for the others, whilst they decided to take a slow pace towards the store until they spotted her. Sure enough, all of them had arrived at the new Sweet Store, which took all of them by surprise when they didn’t realize how amazing it looked.

‘It’s a good thing Princess Celestia’s not here to see any of this,’ whispered Invictus when he spoke to Sunset and Twilight, gaining their attention as he continued ‘Because if she decides to eat it all…’

He then began to bloat his face and tried to do the same with his stomach, causing Sunset and Twilight to look surprise, snort, then laugh out loud, for it would be so true. They soon entered inside and boy were they surprised, for the place was as big as a restaurant and there were many people who came to sample their cakes and everything bake related.

‘Wow, this place is amazing.’ said Twilight as she looked around.

‘Glad you like it.’ said Invictus ‘According to the tour guide, this place is called “Sweet Galore”, one of the most popular bakeries in Manehattan. They pride themselves in making any kind of cakes you can dream off. They even make great cookies, as well as bread that would make your mouth water because they have recipes of different breads from all over the world. And don’t even get me started on the cakes they bake here.’

‘Oooh, I want to try them.’ said Pinkie as she got excited.

‘Just don’t go overboard.’ said Invictus ‘We don’t want a repeat of Halloween 09.’

Everyone shivered at that, except Twilight and her counterpart. ‘What happened?’ she asked. Applejack ended up whispering to the both of them, whilst they slowly widened their eyes in shock, not realizing that it was that bad. ‘Oh…’ said Twilight as she now regretted asking them.

Soon enough, they began to buy certain cakes that caught their eyes. They soon gathered near the table and placed their cakes on the table, but Invictus on the other hand, placed a very large cookie on the table, which surprised both the girls and Spike.

‘Wow,’ said Spike as he took a peek ‘Now that’s a big cookie.’

‘It was on special.’ said Invictus ‘This is a new cookie called the chocolate coated chocolate chip cookie. Now in deluxe size. I always wanted to taste a cookie like that.’

‘Wow Invictus,’ said Pinkie as she looked at the cookie ‘That cookie looks really good enough to eat.’

‘Yes it…’

Invictus suddenly looked at them as he suddenly got an idea and said ‘What, you say?’

‘She said it’s really good enough to eat.’ said Sunset.

‘You’re right girls…’ said Invictus, until he suddenly turned into what appeared to be a blue furry puppet with googley eyes and said through his voice ‘This is, good enough to eat.’

Both Sunset and Twilight were suddenly extremely confused by this, until the two of them heard gasps from the rest of the Rainbooms. And to their surprise, they saw all of them, and surprisingly Rainbow Dash, suddenly had a giddy expression and were suddenly excited over something, then Invictus started to sing.

It good enough to eat!!

This cookie’s such a treat!!

Is it cookie, yes it is!!

And it’s the bestest thing, me ever got!!

And it good, good, good enough to eat!!

And within a moment, he grabbed the cookie and chomped it down like crazy, which caused the rest of the Rainbooms to get even more giddy and excited at the same time when they saw him do all that. After he was done, he looked at the others and said one word.

‘Cookie.’

That did it, causing the rest of the Rainbooms to laugh out really loud, even Invictus after he turned back to normal, but Sunset and Twilight were extremely confused by his antics, even Spike.

‘Uh, what just happened?’ said Sunset.

‘Duh,’ said Pinkie as she wiped a tear from her eye after they were done laughing ‘He acted like the cookie beast.’

‘What’s the cookie beast?’

Some gasped at that, as Rainbow said ‘The Cookie Beast was from a show called Puppets.’

‘And you know what it is?’

‘Well duh…’ said Rainbow.

‘It used to be our favorite show.’ said the rest of the Rainbooms, causing them to look at one another with gasps and wide smiles and said ‘You like that show too?!’

Invictus explained things to Sunset, Twilight and Spike after the waitress placed a plate of strawberry vanilla cake on the table in front of him ‘Puppets happens to be a kid show back then. It was quite popular, entertaining a ton of kids as they were taught a ton of stuff in the most hilarious ways possible. The Cookie Beast is my favorite. He always has a way to make a ton of people laugh because of his love for cookies.’

He then lowered his head in shame and said ‘And I ended up getting fat and gained a hundred pounds as a result.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stared at him in shock as he said ‘I had a bit of a cookie addiction after I first watched it a couple of times.’

‘So that would explain all those empty cookie boxes in your backpack.’ said Fluttershy, remembering that one fieldtrip.

‘But,’ said Rainbow as she crossed her arms with pride on her face ‘I was able to whip him back into shape. You wouldn’t believe all that bad tasting protein shakes and hours of exercising and training I had to make him go through.’

‘That you did.’ said Invictus, then he couldn’t help but chuckle as he said ‘I feel sorry for the next poor sap who’d get caught in your training program. I mean seriously, you’re such a good trainer, you’d be the coach of every single player in the home team for the Olympic Games.’

Rainbow couldn’t help but smile at that thought, with Twilight asking ‘Olympic Games?’

‘It’s kind of like the Equestrian Games,’ said Sunset ‘It first started in Greece, but back then women weren't allowed to compete. But decades ago, they were allowed to enter. And every four years, they go from one different country to another to compete.’

‘Wow,’ said Twilight ‘I’d love to see that.’

‘Well you’re in luck,’ said Invictus ‘The Games are next month, and everyone is planning to come to Canterlot City.’

‘Canterlot City?!!’ shouted the Rainbooms in shock as they got up.

‘Yeah,’ said Invictus ‘Didn’t you notice that big stadium they constructed right next to the observatory last year?’

‘Ah was wondering what they were building up there.’ said Applejack.

‘At the moment they’re still going through final preparations.’ said Invictus ‘They should be ready by then.’

‘So, now that’s all out of the way,’ said human Twilight after she finished her cake ‘How about we go to that library.’

Rainbow then groaned and said ‘And be surrounded by boring books?’

‘Now Rainbow,’ said Invictus playfully ‘You promised to suck it up for your friend so that she could enjoy something.’

Rainbow then slumped a bit and said ‘I know.’

‘Besides,’ said Invictus ‘After we’re done at the library, we’ll go to the Arcade and gaming expo afterwards. But whilst we’re also at the library…’

He whispered to her ‘And maybe check out if there are any Daring Do books out there that you haven’t read yet.’

‘I read through them all.’ said Rainbow Dash.

He smirked and said ‘Not the definite edition.’

Her ears perked up at that whilst she looked at him and asked ‘Definite Edition?’

‘Yep,’ said Invictus ‘Because the book “Daring Do and the Dragon Kingdom” was such a huge hit, they remade the book, but also ended up adding extra content that no one had ever noticed. With a DVD that goes with that.’

Rainbow gasped at that, grabbed Invictus’ shoulders and shouted ‘We gotta head to the Library!!’

‘Wait,’ said Twilight ‘Aren’t they supposed to rent those books?’

‘Oh, they have something new,’ said Invictus ‘Not only do they read and check out books, but they can also buy them.’

‘Oh wow,’ said Twilight ‘I’d love to purchase some books there that’ll help me research more differences between this world and Equestria.’

‘Just make sure you only take a select few,’ said Invictus, until he muttered ‘Unless she gets to world languages, then we’re in trouble.’

‘What was that?’

‘Nothing.’ said Invictus, then pointed at the door whilst all of them stood up ‘Let’s get going.’

‘Wait,’ said Pinkie as she pointed at the cake ‘You forgot your cake.’

‘Oh, so I have.’ said Invictus. Until he did the unexpected. He grabbed the cake and said ‘Man the helms!! Dive!! Dive!!’

They widened their eyes in shock when they saw him swallow a whole slice without choking. He then licked his lips as he said ‘Hmmmm, that was some good cake.’

‘Uh, wow.’ said Sunset ‘He just swallowed half a whole cake.’

‘That’s nothing,’ said Invictus as he grinned ‘You should’ve seen me swallowed something much bigger.’

‘Like what?’ asked Applejack, who now regretted to ask.

‘He swallowed a camera.’ said Rainbow Dash, causing the girls to look at them in shock ‘I kinda dared him to swallow it.’

‘Why would you do that?!’ exclaimed Rarity.

‘Because when you make a dare, you never go back.’ said both Invictus and Rainbow at the same time.

‘So what kind of camera did you swallow?’ asked Pinkie Pie.

‘You guys know the cameras that the news crew used to broadcast their news live?’ asked Invictus.

The girls thought about it, then widened their eyes in shock as they looked at him. ‘Not something I wanna do again.’ said Invictus.

‘Yep,’ said Rainbow ‘You had to go to the hospital so that they could remove it out of your system.’

‘Too bad I didn’t have my camera with me.’ said Pinkie ‘Otherwise I would’ve added that to my baking channel.’

‘Oh, no way Pinkie.’ said Invictus as he disagreed with her ‘I don’t want you to go all mental breakdown after you forgot your password when you wanted to update, not after what happened last time.’

‘Hey, I made a new channel.’ said Pinkie with a pout ‘And I remembered to write it down this time.’

‘Wait, last time?’ asked Applejack ‘What happened?’

Invictus chuckled and said ‘Now that’s a story that you have to hear.’

He turned around to face them and said ‘You see, four years ago, Pinkie Pie set up a channel where she could talk about her baked goods, but only problem was, she forgot the password for her channel. When it gave her a prompt it said quote, “Your favorite pie”, and she ended up having a four year long existential crisis.’

As a result, Rainbow Dash bawled in laughter as she was on the floor with Spike joining in, Applejack clutching her stomach in laughter, Sunset and human Twilight snickering, Fluttershy giggled, Rarity and Twilight stifled their giggles whilst Pinkie Pie pouted whilst she crossed her arms and a blush was on her face.

‘Can we just get to the library already?!!’ shouted Pinkie Pie.

‘Okay, okay, let’s go.’ said Invictus once they were done laughing. They soon exited the bakery, where their tour of Manehattan continues. He then realized something and said ‘You know, if you wanted to set up a password, you should’ve just set up a password of your least favorite vegetable.’

‘Eeyup,’ said Applejack ‘And we all know the one vegetable she least likes the most.’

And right on cue, everyone says out loud ‘Brussel sprouts.’

‘You know, I never thought about that.’ said Pinkie.

‘Nope,’ said Invictus ‘You were thinking about bun and moon cakes when you tried to think of a password.’

Pinkie was surprised about that and said ‘How did you know that?’

‘Maud.’ said Invictus ‘She’s really super chatty.’

The others stared at him in disbelief. They’ve known Maud for some time, and she never talks as much as Pinkie does.