Author's Note

Hey y'all. Sorry for uploading this towards the later portion of my update schedule. I got bogged down with driving all over the Eastern United States. I-95 can be tiring on a person I'll say that!

I'd appreciate your comments on this as I felt this chapter was more fillery than others. It wasn't really my intention, but that's how it reads to me. If you guys felt differently, let me know!

The next chapter will conclude our little break from the Pacific and get us back into the action.

Also, since I don't think I've done it yet, thank you all for your lovely comments and commendations. I read every single one and it really boosts my confidence every time you guys post one. It makes me really glad that you all like my story!

Alright, Ch.10: The Fair

Ch.10: The Fair

A midnight blue hand firmly grasped James' salmon and white one, Luna bobbing and weaving them gracefully through the crowd like a cat. Soon, the two of them came out the other side, standing in a bustling, busy center plaza holding the rides and games of the fair.

Crowds of pastel saturated ponies milled about the different stands, a few occupying each booth and playing the game. Little fillies and colts ran around gleefully with their fathers and mothers keeping close watch over them. Groups of young adults sat off to the side conversing with one another over menial things.

Delicious smells wafted into his nostrils, blown over from the food section by a gentle breeze. The scent was barely there, only a glimpse of the wonderful food that they had taken their exodus from, but it was enticing nonetheless. Tent flap ends from the booths wiggled in the gentle breeze in a restrained dance and the small flags topping the canopy followed. A great Ferris wheel towered over the both of them to their left, its metal supports blocking out some of the mid-afternoon sun. The voices of the game ponies competed for dominance with the fair-goers, their yells being drowned out by the loud conversations of the patrons.

"So, what do you want to do first? We got the whole day ahead of us," James asked the Prussian blue alicorn.

"Hmm, why not indulge in some fair game whimsy, my barely furred gentlecolt?" she snarked a little, a smile adorned on her face. She held up her hand, gesturing it over to another row, this time filled with an assortment of carnival and fair games instead of food counters.

There were the usuals: dart throwing, bobbing for apples ran by an especially enthusiastic-looking orange mare in a Texas Stetson, ring tossing. Each were being run by very friendly, amicable-looking ponies which warmed the man's heart, endearingly watching the interactions between the patrons and the owners.

However, one caught his eye, a classic in his eyes and one he could definitely win.

"Hey, let's try out that one," he raised his finger to the booth, drawing the attention of the lunar princess away from the group of ponies staring at them to the game.

The good 'ol fashioned cup knockdown game. Throw a ball and knock all the cups down to win a prize. A warm sense of familiarity and nostalgia flooded into him, his memories wandering back to summer fairs long ago, long before the war.

The booth itself was very pedestrian compared to the extravagant colors and stand-out features of others. Its plain oak counter was worn, not dirty or decaying, but it had seen its fair share of use. A large, chocolate brown tarp hung in the distant back of the tent with two clips holding it from the top of the tent, likely a backdrop to catch the balls thrown its way. Resting in front of it, two wooden stands had sprout from the dirt, arraying ornate plastic cups in a stacked pyramid. The cups themselves contrasted with the drab cinnamon look of the tent, its artistry possessing saturated light blues and crimson reds instead of a dull brown palette. Little cartoon ponies danced happily on the cups sides, their smiles infectiously instilling a mirth into the viewer. They reminded him of a circus getup, similar to the ones he had been to as a boy.

Finally, a chocolate brown, grizzled, jovial middle-aged stallion was occupying the counter, shooting a giddy smile towards the two of them.

"Well howdy there, how can a- OH! Princess Luna, I am honored that you would come to mah booth," his accent betrayed his Appleloosan origin, "I hope y'all are having an excellent day!"

"We certainly are," she gave a respectful nod back to the older stallion, "How much for a game?"

"1 bit for 1 throw, 3 bits for 3 throws. If you knock down all the cups, y'all can have yer pick of the prizes," he flashed a toothy grin at the pair.

"Okay," James agreed, fishing out a bit from his coin pocket and setting it down gently on the wooden counter. The coin clinked softly against it before being whisked off the counter by the gamepony. Collecting his wares, the stallion tossed a smooth white ball to James, the man catching it as nonchalantly as grabbing a newspaper in the morning.

"Go ahead and give it yer best shot, son."

James eyed his target like a general strategizing over a map. What kind of pitch should he use to ensure maximum potential knockdowns? He noticed that the spacing of the cups were carefully arranged. The bottom three cups were spaced far enough away from each other that if he aimed for one side of the pyramid, the other corner cup wouldn't be jostled enough to topple over, losing him the game.

"Clever man," he thought to himself. It seemed the gamemaster had a few tricks up his sleeve.

So, his fastball was out of the question. But, if he could somehow curve it around the sides, coming at it from the right corner piece, he may be able to knock the cups into each other and earn himself a win.

It had been awhile since he'd thrown it and this certainly was no baseball, this ball lacking the grooves of one, but he could possibly pull a win out if he threw his breaking ball. So with his mind made up, he took a few strides back from the stand, holding his left hand out and twisting his right hand into the desired grip.

Was he taking a harmless fair/carnival game way too seriously? Probably. But, like Dad used to say, "Play to win always."

So with that, his stance taken, ball gripped the way he wanted, and aiming off to the right to compensate for the spin, he began his windup, taking a step back with his left leg, bringing his knee up to his chest, taking a big step forward, and rocketing the ball towards the cup.

Initially, the ball didn't start to break towards the side, causing a twinge of doubt to creep through his lean frame. But soon enough, the spin from his grip began to take hold and quickly "slid" the ball to the left, his breaking ball finding its mark on the right corner cup and knocking it into the other bottom two, toppling the stack over. A muffled POOMF and a clatter of plastic cups hitting each other on the ground confirmed his victory.

"Still got it," he triumphantly smiled to himself.

"Looks like we got ah winner!" the stallion give a gentle clap in commendation.

"Thank ya kindly sir," James nodded.

"Such an interesting throw. How did you do that? Any pony who tried that would surely fall over from that... elaborate motion you did," he waved his hand in a circle in emphasis of his legs, his tail swishing a bit from mild curiosity.

"Used to pitch in high school. Had a killer slider back in the day; called it 'Jim's Schlippin Slider'. Not what it used to be, but I still got it," he restrained a smirk, a little piece of it creeping onto the corners of his lips.

"Pitch? What do you mean?" he gazed at Luna, his heart jumping as he gazed at her cute confused look, her head tilted slightly to its side.

He threw up his hand as if remembering a crucial answer after a test, "Right, I forgot. I played as a pitcher in baseball. Old sport I used to do as a boy. With all the similarities pony culture has with humanity's, I'm surprised baseball hasn't made the proverbial dimensional leap here."

"Hmm, I wouldn't know. It has been some time since I've indulged in a sport. Perhaps you should ask Rainbow Dash if you should ever meet her," she smiled, placing down a bit, taking the ball from the gamepony, and taking a shot at her stack.

Unlike the muddy red-brown haired man's throw, her ball flew with much less grace and agility, instead clambering into the cups head-on at a much slower speed. She was not as successful, the left corner of the pyramid stack remaining standing.

"Aw thundershowers," her mouth contorted into an innocent pout.

"Better luck next time, your Majesty," the stallion assured, popping the golden, grooved bit into his coin pocket and beginning the work to collect the cups and restack them, "Now, what will the strapping young stallion take home for his prize?"

"Hmmm, I don't know. Lu, you want anything?"

"That stuffed manticore looks positively adorable," she pointed to the small twelve inch long plush toy.

"Alright, one stuffed manticore for the lovely Princess!" the gamepony handed off the prize to James, who in turn gave it over to his date.

Luna, after giving the toy a hug, brandished her new prize in her right hand like one holds a small dog, "Thank you James. That was very kind of you."

"Think nothing of it. What are you going to name him?" he asked, the two of them walking away from the stand and bidding the nice stallion farewell.

"Something vicious. Something terrifying. Something that could strike fear into even that insufferable bird my sister keeps," she put her hand to her chin, "How about... Harold?"

James let out a quick laugh, "Harold? Sounds like some guy who does your taxes who lives in those new suburbs in New York instead of a terrifying animal."

"It's a work in progress! And how dare you insult his name? You'll hurt his feelings!" she let out a chuckle, giving him a playful hit that bounced harmlessly off his bicep.

"Harold's mother shouldn't have given him such a stupid name," he traded back with her, his smile growing as he put his hands up to defend himself.

"Well, I think it's a lovely name so NYEH!" her long equine tongue stuck out at him in the universal gesture of 'NEENER NEENER NEEEENER'.

The man admitted his defeat, rolling his eyes, "Whatever. So, what next?"

"There's some ponies here I want you to meet and one of them should be riiiiight... here," she crowed, stopping the two of them in front of that orange pony with the Stetson.

"Howdy there Princess! Nice to see ya came to the fair!"

Wow, if this mare wasn't a pony, he swore that she'd fit right in with the girls down in Dixie. Long, well-groomed golden locks of hair, a patch of freckles upon her orange furred face, and the physique of a working girl, she looked the part of a Southern plantation owner's daughter. Her hands wore leather gloves, hiding the likely calloused hands underneath it. She was shorter than him, the top of her head only coming to his neck, but that was par for the course considering he towered over most ponies. Her blue jeans fit snugly around her bottom and the red plaid button-up shirt complemented the look quite nicely. The top two buttons remained opened, revealing the white undershirt hiding behind the plaid.

For a tiny pony, she looked really strong as well, her muscles defined and lean.

"Hello Fair Applejack. Have you met my friend, James? He's that 'human' the papers were talking of awhile back," Luna offered, gesturing to him.

"Well howdy Mr. James. Pleasure to meet you," she held out her hand which James gladly took, matching her incredibly strong grip with his own.

"And you as well. Where do you hail from?" he inquired of the mare.

"I live in the little village by that forest called Ponyville. Mah family owns the apple plantation just a ways out of town," she gestured in the general direction of said town.

"Oh, you that apple farmer who makes the cider that's throwing everyone in a tizzy?" he adjured.

"The one and only," she tipped her hat, letting go of the man's hand, "How have you been settlin' in here in Equestria?"

"Some days are good. Some days not so much. Pony folk are nice enough, but I get stares from a few on the streets still. Princess Celestia has been very kind to me. She gave me my job teaching, was nice enough to give me those flattering compliments during that public address, and... well, has been a good friend. More than I would have initially expected of a head of state," he gestured over to Luna, "And here I am hanging out with her sister. So, I've been settling quite well. Ponies have been mostly kind to me and I can respect that."

"I am so glad! I know we ponies can be a bit wary of new creatures, but ah hope we can start to work past it. Celestia knows I've learned my lesson from a certain zebra," she glanced off to the side in remembrance of something.

"I hope you've been enjoying yourself today, but is Twilight attending today? I'd love to see her before the competition," Luna ran her hand through her ethereal mane, her ears slightly shifting back.

"Ah believe she's with Princess Celestia right now over there," she remarked, pointing to her a ways down.

"Thank you Applejack. Give little Applebloom my greetings!" she waved as she started walking towards her sister and student.

"Be well, Miss. Nice to meet you," James followed behind his date, giving his own stiff wave.

"See ya, sugarcube!"

It wasn't a terribly long walk as he followed dutifully behind Luna. Celly was easy to pick out, which was surprising to the gentleman. Most of the time, ponies seemed to flock around her where ever she went, but the area in front of her was peculiarly vacant.

"I thought that fat white blob in the distance was you," Luna snarked at her older sister.

"Goodness Luna, not even a hello for your dear old sister," Celestia smirked back, folding her arms underneath her bust, "Good to see you."

"And you too, Tia," she replied, giving her Celestia a chaste hug.

James scratched his head, allowing the sisters to have their moment, before Celestia noticed him.

"Ah, if it isn't my 'Royal' Chemistry Professor. How goes the school year, James?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Well enough I suppose. It's still a little early and most of the students are trying to find their bearings. I imagine a complete upheaval of your understanding of the natural world can do that to you," he joked. The unknown purple pony, he presumed she was Twilight, was studying him fiercely as he talked with the solar princess, her eyes drinking in every detail on him.

"But when the students grasp what you're showing them, I swear it will be worth it. It's why I love to be a teacher," Celestia smiled, gesturing over to her right, "Speaking of my students, James, I don't believe you've met my star student Twilight Sparkle."

The man towered over the violet pony, holding out his comically large hand for a handshake, "Charmed."

She said nothing at first, taking his hand in her own and giving it a shake, "My goodness, the newspapers said you were big, but you are simply too massive to describe."

"You callin' me fat?" he snapped at her roughly.

Twilight lost her composure swiftly, sputtering and raising her hands, "What? No no! Not at all! I was simpl-"

"Heh heh! No it's fine, it's fine! I was just messing with you!" he laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

"I get that comment a lot," he said, putting a good-natured smile on his face, shrugging off the admittingly worn-out notion of his height, before letting go of her hand.

"So, you're the 'interdimensional alien' with weird hooves. Can't believe I'm meeting the greatest scientific discovery of our time," Twilight seemed to be leaping in place, her enthusiastic excitement barely being constrained behind the wide grin on her muzzle. Her tail swished happily behind her as she looked him up and down.

"Unless you've got any other featherless bipeds walking around here, then yup, that'd be me," he rested his hand on his chest.

"We have plenty of featherless bipeds here, James. I'm not sure what you mean by that," Luna interjected.

He sighed, "You ruined it, Lu. It was an old phrase I heard from a philosophy major friend of mine to describe humans. Can't remember who originally said it though."

"Whatever. It's nice to meet you Twilight and as Celestia said, name's James Milligan and I am a professor of Chemistry at the University," he put his hands into his pockets and took a step back, resuming his original position.

"Chemistry? Can't say I've heard of that," she tilted her head, her face constricting into confusion.

"It's apparently fairly new around here, or so I've been told. It's the study of matter and the natural world, primarily concerning itself with the study of the atom and the compounds it makes," he clarified, satisfied with his answer.

Her confusion seemed to only intensify, "What's an atom?"

"Right. They don't know what atoms are," he thought to himself, giving himself an internal slap on the forehead. He can still remember that astonished gasp he let out when he learned of pony's complete ignorance of basic elementary chemistry.

"Atoms are made of a positively charged nucleus and negatively charged orbiting electrons which constantly are in motion," he made a spinning gesture with his finger in an attempt to visualize the motion of electrons.

"Wait, how can humans observe these 'electrons' without being overtaken by their anger and misery?"

"Baby steps, Jim. Baby steps," he thought as he tried to figure out a way to simplify down year's worth of study, "We say it's negative just as a way to classify them. We denote like that to rationalize its tendency to be pulled towards its opposite, in this case, the 'positive' nucleus."

"But still, what does that have to do with nature?" she asked of him.

Yet again, James found himself slightly dumbfounded as he again tried to rationalize how these ponies had gotten this far without fumbling upon grade school chemistry. How they managed to scrape together a headache medication, let alone an accredited, functional study of medicine, without working out chemical bonding and compounds baffled him.

Recovering from his shock, he decided to pose a question to help her figure it out, "Twilight, what is water made of?"

"Wha-What do you mean 'What is water made of'? It's water! One of the four elements from which Equus' creatures get their innate magic from and which makes up a portion of the material plane! Tha-That's like asking what the wind is made of!" the poor purple pony blathered out.

"Wind's made of about 80% nitrogen rounding up and 20% oxygen, plus some other trace argon, hydrogen, and some other inert gases," he stated with all the nonchalance of a grandmother talking about her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Twilight looked like a sputtering, confuzzled mess, trying and failing to hold herself together. All three mares stared at him like he had told them one of the universe's most guarded secrets, each in varying degrees of severity.

Seeing the collective silence and gaping from Twilight, he took that as his moment to continue, "Wind, like everything else, is made up of atoms. Nitrogen and Oxygen are atoms. The grass is atoms. I," he gestured to himself with his hands, "Am atoms. All of nature is made of atoms, and that's why I study them."

Twilight began to recover from her little episode, "Mr. James, you must understand that I'd like to see some proof of this before I can entertain these atom's existence. As an amateur scientist, I must insist."

"Good. I'm glad you're not just believing me on my word alone. If you're in town for awhile, come on up to my cabin just over yonder," he pointed up to his cabin on the side of the mountain, "And Celestia, why don't you come too? I can put some tea on the kettle and we can chat."

"My, that would sound lovely, James. Thank you," Celestia hummed.

A comfortable silence rested over the four of them, Twilight still muttering something about 'knowing the makeup of wind', James kicking the dirt a little, and the two sisters observing them.

But that silence was soon ended as a loud announcement was made near the center plaza.

"Oh! The competition must be starting!" Twilight yelled, starting to run off to join the rapidly accruing, loud crowd of ponies, "Nice meeting you James!"

"You too Twilight! Come by my house, we'll chat!" he yelled to her, cupping his hands around his mouth.

He and Luna dissociated themselves into the crowd, looking up at a raised wooden stage. Standing on said stage was none other than Applejack, holding a card in one hand and a glowing, deep pink crystal in the other. Her large braid blew in the wind as she waited patiently for everyone to gather around her.

"Is, Is this thing on?" she muttered into the crystal, her sweet accent being projected by the crystal in her hand.

"Hey y'all, welcome to the second annual uhh... Super Fun Exciting Water Balloon Battle Royale? Ok Pinkie. Uh, welcome to the competition. Hope y'all have been enjoying the day just as much as I have. So before we start, let me read off the rules to ya," she switched her cards and squinted a little at the text.

"So, if you're hit directly at any point by another player's balloon, you're eliminated from the game. You can leave or do something else, but you're out. If you or your team is the last surviving, you win the grand prize of 15 liters of mah family's Famous Apple Cider and 1000 bits. Now, we've cornered off a large swath of the city for the arena this year. It's much bigger than last year's and we've made a few uhh... 'adjustments' to make it a little more interesting. If at any point you go outside the arena while you're still in, you are eliminated. Other contestants may use this to force you out and eliminate you that way if they wish."

She shifted her cards again, "Pegasi may hover no more than 6 feet off the ground. Anymore will result in a disqualification," she heard groans from the pegasi contestants, "Hey its to keep things fair for tha' rest of us alright? I don' wanna hear it."

"Unicorns may use magic only to propel the balloons. Any use of magic to alter the properties of the balloon or its contents will also result in an elimination. The use of tools are allowed for any party to use if they wish," she continued.

"And finally, no fightin' is allowed, but you can use yer hands to push or tackle your opponent out. No hurtin' each other y'all. This is supposed to be a friendly competition," she crossed her arms, watching a few earth ponies disappointingly put away a few 'dangerous'-looking weapons.

"So that's that! You'll have 5 minutes to get yourself into the arena before the fun begins. Best of luck to you all. There's about 100 contestants this year, so try to stay dry out there! Over here, we'll issue you your starting ammunition in a bag. Careful to not let them burst!" she added at the end as she gestured over to a gleeful, bubbly pink pony holding bags full of water balloons.

Walking over and grabbing two bags from the pink pony, who somehow knew his name, he returned to his date and handed her the satchel filled with their slippery weapons.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" he asked.

"Don't know. T'would really depend on where they've made the arena this year. I think we should try to keep out of sight, let the populace destroy themselves, and pelt the stragglers," she muttered, checking her satchel and adjusting it comfortably.

"Hey speaking of when we fight," he rustled through the inside of his jacket, apparently trying to fish something out of the inside pockets, "Since you were really intent on winning this, I, shall we say, made a few things that could help us win."

Her curiosity peaked now, she peered over at his hands finding in his firm grip a pair of hastily put-together slingshots. The dusty-brown, dead sticks looked like they had just fallen off of the tree, but were thick in diameter. There were signs of wood carving adjustments, particularly near the vertex where the two shoots met in the middle. At the bottom on the handle, she felt a patch of deep black tape wrapped around it for better grip. She grabbed one from him and gave a pull on the elastic string, testing the integrity of the branch.

Sitting in the middle of the weapon, held up only by the elastic, strechy bands, was a white, concave-in cup, presumably where new balloons would be loaded in. It had the size and shape of a small lid, dangerously similar to the ones on top of a sugar container for tea, just without the handle. She smiled as she took a practice aim with the DIY slingshot.

"James, you didn't have to do this," she muttered.

"Yeah, I suppose I didn't. But, it seems winning this means a lot to you, so I figured this would be the best way to help," he rubbed the back of his neck and put his satchel on like a bandolier.

"Thank you James," she crowed, "Now, let's go win us some cider!"

Finding the outside of the arena, they took refuge in a nearby alleyway, far away from any other contestants, and waited for the starting whistle. She tucked Harold into her bag nice and snug, far away from any potential 'danger' that could befall the innocent manticore.

"Alright y'all! 3... 2... 1..., GO!" the twang of Applejack's voice projected through the streets, aided by the pink amplifying crystal.

The sound of exploding water balloons hit her equine ears almost immediately, the furry appendages swiveling around to pick up every sound.

She gave herself a small smile, slouching back on the brick walled alley.

The game was afoot!