I was waiting for the clock to let us out for the day, and just as we had five minutes to go, Miss. Ruler made an announcement. “Alright, before we leave for the weekend, I have a special announcement.”

“This should be good,” I heard Cedar say in a bored tone.

“Next week, we’re holding an outdoor science fair. You’ll have the opportunity to show what you’ve been learning. And as an added bonus, the Princess herself will be judging the fair.” That got us all excited and we cheered until the bell rang. “Alright, have a good weekend. And remember, you can do this alone or in pairs.”

"Science project eh?" I thought to myself as I packed my stuff and headed for home. I tried to think of what I could do for the fair that would blow everyone's minds but I seemed to be drawing a blank.

As I kept walking and thinking, thinking and walking, I hadn't noticed Cheery come up behind me and wrap her arms around me. "So, I was thinking that you and I could be partners."

"P-p-partners!?" I asked in surprise.

"For the science fair, silly," Cheery laughed at my expression before kissing my cheek.

"Oh! The fair, right. Whew!" I wiped away sweat that hadn't even accumulated yet

"What did you think I meant?" Cheery asked making my cheeks turn a little pink.

"Nothing! I wasn't thinking of anything!!"

"Mhmm, sure you weren't," She teased me as we walked to my house together. "Anyway, I don't think we should enter the usual science project, you know, like a volcano or wind reader. If we can, let's come up with something no one has ever seen before."

"Oh yeah, like those just grow from trees. I'll just go ahead and buck one out and we'll get started," I joked back just as we made it to the porch where Granny was knitting a onesie for Applejack on her rocking chair. "Hi, Granny."

"Hey there, John Boy. Cheerilee. Did you two have a good day at school?" She asked us.

"It was great, Misses Smith," Cheery said for the both of us before we sat down next to her. "Miss. Ruler said we have a science fair next week, and that Princess Celestia herself will judge it."

"Well hot dang. That's something to be excited for. I remember when I was just a young mare and I met with the Princess. She was a sight to behold. Course you two already know that," Granny said.

"We sure do. Alright, we're going inside to get started on the project," I told Granny before kissing her cheek.

"Don't do anything suspicious now youngins, I got these ears for a reason." Granny winked making Cheery blush while I tried not to have an outburst from the embarrassment.

"Hey big bro!"

"Hey mac."

Macintosh was already in the living room with his coloring book when he came to greet us and was already treating Cheerilee like she was one of the family.

After giving him a hug, I heard Ma come down with Applejack in her arms. "Afternoon, son. And hello to you to, Cheerilee," Ma greeted while Jackie reached out for me. "Looks like little sister wants her big brother."

"Come here, Jackie. I got ya." Ma handed me Jackie and I went over to the couch with her and Cheery.

"She's so cute I can't even stand it!" Cheery gushed while Jackie grabbed her finger.

Just then, I saw that Pa had snapped a photo of the three of us while Ma giggled. "It's like they're married," I heard Ma whisper to Pa, making him and Cheery chuckle while I did my best to try and turn invisible.

"They sure do. So. Your Granny tells me you have a science fair coming up," Pa said while sitting in his favorite armchair.

"We do. The problem is, we don't know what to do for our project," I told him.

"Well, honey, it's the first you're hearing of it," Ma said while taking Applejack from me. "I'm sure you two will come up with something."

"Only if that boy can keep his hormones in check. Why I remember when me and your Grandpappy-rest his soul-were supposed to do a botany project together in the orchard but then-"

"OKAY MA! Thanks for the stories." Pa cut off granny at the last second while the rest of us shared a quick laugh. "There's a workshop in the barn son. Why don't you try tinkering in there? Might give you some inspiration."

"He can do that tomorrow. Right now, he has some chores before dinner," Ma said from her chair while feeding Jackie.

"Yes, Ma." I got off the couch and hugged Cheery. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Cheery surprised me with a kiss right on the lips. "Count on it," She told me before leaving.

"Ha. Kids these days," Granny said before heading into the kitchen.

Later that night

As I slept that night, I had one of my odd dreams again. But this time, it was with one of my own kind again, at least I think it was one of my kind, and he was yelling at me like a drill instructor.

I saw him point to various objects that seemed odd yet familiar at the same time. One of the most interesting things was a kind of black powder that burst with explosive force when lit. After that, I saw the powder and a ball be shoved into a metal tube and saw the small ball blast out with a loud bang as it destroyed a clay target from 70 yards away.

As I stood there in amazement the instructor got in my face. "Get the lead out and wake up!"

Morning

I woke up from the dream and headed right for the barn..... after getting dressed.... and eating breakfast.... and saying good morning to the family. Wow, I had a lot to do before heading to the barn.

Anyway, after all that was done, I got started to work on the project.

I found some extra metal tubes left over from when we replaced the irrigation system, powder from the fireworks we had leftover from last years Summer Sun celebration. Now all I needed was a way to light it safely.

As I stared at the stuff before me, I didn't see this coming. "Hey, John!" Cheery startled me from behind and kissed my cheek. "Working on the project?"

"Morning, Cheery," I gave her a kiss in return. "And I believe that I have the perfect project for us to work on," I told her while measuring the metal tube.

"And what kind of project would that be?" She asked me while dipping her finger in the powder.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure myself. I had this odd dream the other night about all this stuff. Long story short, it can take this piece of metal," I took a ball bearing. "and shoot it across to the far end of the orchard faster than any pegasus can fly."

"Really!?" Cheery asked before taking one of the ball bearings. "But, wouldn't something going that fast... kill?" She asked me nervously.

"Well... minor detail. But in the dream, I saw it destroy a clay vase like Pa does Ma's flower pots when he trips," I told her while cutting the pipe with Pa's hacksaw.

"I see. Well, we might as well get to work. What can I do to help?" Cheery asked me while getting a piece of wood.

I smiled at her before going over the shape of what our project will be.

We took a break for lunch in the orchard but that did little to stop my brainstorming as I found myself munching on a sandwich while drawing up the blueprints for my idea and began scribbling down calculations I didn't even know I could do. It was like all of this was somehow wired into my brain. "You're really committed to this." Cheerilee said while watching me work.

I put in the last calculation before setting the blueprint aside. "I guess I am." I split the last apple and gave the larger half to Cheery. "It's just... I feel a connection with this. It's hard to explain really, but it makes me feel like I'm connected to my own kind."

"Oh... I see." Cheery had a sad tone when she said that.

Realizing what I just said, I gave her a hug. "Hey. You and my family are the most important ponies in my life. And I wouldn't trade you for an entire world of my own kind."

"You're sweet." Cherilee said as she gave me a quick peck, much to the dismay of my little brother who came to spy on us.

"Eeew!" He said from the bush he was hiding in.

"Why you little!" I went running after him while Cheery laughed at the whole deal.

The next day

With the supplies and blueprints ready, we got started on making the project. After three hours and a few mishaps, we had our first prototype.

"Hmm, we still need a name for this," I said while working on the tube.

"Well it shoots a projectile and it's mechanical." Cheerilee said as we brainstormed a name together.

"Hmm. How about," Cheery and I held hands while looking into each others face.

"Boomstick!"

"Perfect! All that's left is to test it out," I said as I took the device into my hands, making Cheerilee a bit uneasy since we were working with black powder.

"Now John, you sure you know what you're doing?" She said while watching me load the powder and ball with ease like I had done this before.

"Don't worry, I know a safe way to do this." I said while taking a thin metal rod and began packing down everything into the barrel.

Using an old chair and a piece of string, I set up a target for the Boomstick to shoot while the two of us hid behind a haystack in case anything went wrong.

"Alright then." I said while taking a deep breath. "Test fire in 3...2...1!"

I pulled the trigger, causing the mechanism to activate the flintlock hammer, hit the powder pan, ignite the powder, sparking the powder in the tube, and blasting the ball bearing head to rocket out.

BLAM!!!

A thick powder cloud obscured our vision and made us cough. After getting up and fanning away the smoke, I took a look at the target. "Sweet Celestia!"

"What?" Cheery asked me before looking at the target. "Oh, wow!" We saw that the target had a one inch hole right above dead center. "It worked! You did it!"

"We did it, Cheery. We did it." I gave her a hug before smelling something burning. "You smell that?"

"My tail!" Cheery screamed before I stomped on the flame putting it out. "Maybe we need to lessen the powder a little?"

"Agreed," I told her before we saw Ma and Pa run up to us.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT NOISE?!?" Pa screamed while fanning away the remaining smoke.

"Sorry Pa, testing out our project!" I cringed after putting out the remaining embers on Cheerilee's tail.

"You kids alright?" Ma asked us.

"We're fine Misses Apple." She told her.

Ma and Pa were relieved to see we were alright and brought us into a hug.

"What in tarnation did this?" We heard Granny shout while looking at the target we had set up. "Looks like someone has gotten good with their pitches."

"Actually, Granny." I stepped out from the hug and showed her the Boomstick. "It was our science project."

"What in Equestria even is that thing?" Ma asked, looking concerned as I held it up.

"It's called a Boomstick. Me and Cherry are gonna nab first place with this!"

"Heh. And here I thought you two were gonna make a volcano," Pa said while ruffling my hair. "So, a Boomstick, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty cool, right?" I asked while handing him our project.

"It seems a bit dangerous." Ma said while Pa tried to figure out how to hold the thing before showing him.

"You'll wanna keep it just a ways from your shoulder, it's got a kick when it fires."

"Hey this might solve our boar problem!" Pa said when he was struck with an idea. "Son, after the fair, you mind testing this thing out on a few bog boars in the east orchard? they've been uprooting the crops and trashing the fields."

"Really, can I?" I asked, hoping it wasn't a joke. When Pa nodded, I jumped for joy. "Alright!"

"Come on, John. We still have to figure out the powder ratio," Cheery said before we went back to the barn to make more calculations. "We're not gonna tell them about my tail getting caught on fire, right?"

"It'll be our little secret," I winked at her before she kissed my cheek.

"No need hon, I know the smell of burnt hair!" Ma shouted from the distance, making us both blush before we shared a quick laugh and made the finishing touches on our project but little did we suspect that somepony else had heard the noise and was spying on us the whole time.

After successfully testing out the Boomstick one more time, Cheerilee and I congratulated ourselves on a job well done and began cleaning up the barn when I heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. I figured it was probably some rabbits or other critters and chose to ignore it before I wrapped up the device and blueprints and escorted Cheerilee home.

When we got to her house, we saw that her Ma and Pa weren't home yet. She invited me in and we had a snack. We sat on the couch while I helped her cut the burnt hair from her tail. "Sorry that our project burnt your tail, Cheery."

"It's okay. The price of science, right?" We both laughed at her joke before I felt her hand on mine. When I looked in her eyes, I saw she was gazing at me like Ma does with Pa. "I love you, John."

I was caught off guard by what she said. I mean, I know we're special someponies to each other, but we never said the 'L' word before. Now that I heard her say it, I felt a burden lift from my chest as I finally spoke. "I love you too, Cheery."

After hearing me say that, she squealed and jumped from her side of the couch and onto me before she kissed me on the lips. I just wrapped my arms around her back and kept the kiss going. We stayed like that for what felt like forever before we both broke away for air.

We just stared into each other's eyes as we kept panting for air. "Best kiss of my life~," Cheery said before laying her head on my chest.

"Best kiss of your life so far~," I told her while holding her in my arms. Just then, we heard the front door open.

"Are we interrupting?" Cherry's mom asked while our cheeks were still pink from almost getting caught.

"Nope! Everything's good here mom!" Cherilee said as her mother leaned on the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Uh huh then you don't mind letting go of your new boyfriends hand so he can leave?" Her mom asked when we looked down to see we were still holding hands.

We blushed at being caught before I got off the couch. "I need to head home anyway." I kissed Cheery on the lips before whispering, "I love you." As she smirked I waved to her mother. "Goodbye,"

As I was leaving, I heard what Cheery's mom said to her. "He's a keeper."

"MOM!!" She said in embarrassment.

As I headed home blissfully unaware of what was about to happen, I returned to the barn to put some last minute touches on the Boomstick only to find the barn had been completely ransacked.

"What the?" I exclaimed and began looking around for our project before furiously turning over everything in the barn, alerting my family. "No..NO! NO NO NO!!!" I shouted while tossing the barn equipment just as Ma and Pa came rushing in.

"John?" Ma called out when she noticed how distressed I was.

"It's not here! It's gone!!" I shouted some more.

"Calm down son. What's gone?" Pa asked after managing to get a hold of me.

"The Boomstick, it's been stolen!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

Ma grabbed hold of me and did her best to calm me down. "I'm so sorry, honey." She kissed my forehead and rubbed my back. "We'll do all we can to find it."

"My question is, who would do this and take just that?" Granny said while helping to clean the barn. "And when I catch whoever did this, I'm gonna put my foot up their ass!"

"Point taken, ma. Now, let's get everything cleaned up," Pa said while picking up some overturned barrels.

As I wiped away the tears and helped clean up, I found that my blueprints were still here, so at the very least I wouldn't have to start from scratch. And better yet, I can make some improvements.

"Now don't fret son, we can still fix this." Pa told me.

"But Pa, the fair is in a few days and we've used up ALL the materials we needed to make the first one! We'll never finish in time!"

"Never say never sonny!" Granny snapped with a scolding finger pointed at me. "Why I'll bet we can make that new fangled contraption of yers faster and better if we all work together."

"You mean...you'll help?" I asked all of them.

"Of course we will sweetie, we're family." Ma said while giving me one of her best hugs.

I smiled while returning Ma's hug, which turned into a group hug with all of us, even felt Jackie squeeze my nose as Pa held her. "I love you all."

Tomorrow

"It was stolen!?" Cheery said after I explained what happened after I got back from her place. "Why would someone steal our Boomstick?"

"I don't really know. All I know is, the barn was ransacked and they took our project. Luckily, they didn't take our blueprints, so we can make another, and better still, we can make it better." I showed her the new tube that would make up the barrel of our next project. "I realized that the inside of the barrel was smooth."

"Yeah? Should it not be smooth?" She asked me.

"Well, it can, I mean, you saw it shoot yesterday, so it's fine if it is. But then I thought, what if the bullet-"

"Bullet?" She interrupted.

"Got tired of saying ball bearing. Anyway, what if the bullet could spin? Like how when you throw a football, it spirals and flies faster and straighter," I explained before showing her the inside of the new barrel. "Pa helped me put some grooves in here, so when the bullet leaves the barrel, it'll spin and fire straighter. Also, I figured out how to make it go farther."

"Let me guess, more powder?" Cheery asked before grabbing her tail. "May I remind you what happened last time?" She said with a smirk while tickling my nose with the end of her tail.

Fighting back a sneeze, I shook my head. "No, no. In fact, I found the perfect amount of powder to use without burning ourselves. But anyway, I theorized that the longer the bullet stays inside the barrel, the more energy it'll create behind the projectile."

"So what, we just call that muzzle velocity?" Cheery asked while helping to make the trigger.

"......Wow. That's a lot better than what I was going to call it," I said before attaching the barrel to the stock.

"Oh! You know what else this could use. Front and rear sights," She suggested before I wrote that down.

"Well don't just stand there yapping, let's get to work!" Granny said while rolling up her sleeves as we got started.

"Glad we finally got to put all those broken farm tools to use." Pa said as he wiped the sweat off his brow while working the smithy to form more bullets.

"Oh! What can I do? What can I do?" Mac asked while holding my arm and jumping in place.

"Hmm how's about...you help ma keep the place clean? we got sawdust everywhere and don't want Applejack sneezing now do we?" I winked as my little brother gave a quick salute and went to grab the nearest broom while our little sister was fast asleep in the corner despite the ruckus we were making.

"Thanks for helping John with this Granny." Ma smiled while Granny carved out the stock for the barrel.

"Aw anything fer my grand kids, and besides that lowdown thief robbed us of a good pest control tool!" Granny said while carving the wood some more.

"Damn straight," Pa said while making more bullet balls, and even a second ramming rod. "So, what you gonna call this one? Boomstick 2?"

"Maybe. But maybe we should call it something more sophisticated." As I thought about names, I started to remember the dream that started this, and it hit me. "A rifle."

"I like it!" Cheerilee said as we began to assemble the rifle piece by piece and even though the first one was amazing, this new improved version looked a hundred times better. To add to the flare of our new tool, Granny carved an apple into the stock before coating it with varnish to give it a nice shine to go along with the barrel.

"Well, if that isn't the finest looking science project I've ever seen," Ma said as she brought Jackie over to look at the finished project.

Jackie giggled and lightly batted the stock with her little hand. "Bam! Bam, bam!" She babbled, making us all laugh.

Taking hold of the rifle, I gave it a look of approval. "Alright, we have it assembled. Let's test it out."

Back outside, we decided to test my theory of the bullet traveling further with the longer and grooved barrel. Pa set the target at a hundered and twenty yards while Ma had us wear our ear muffs. Once Pa made it back, I took the rifle and loaded it.

"Hey," Cheery told me before whispering in my ear. "Make it dead center," She said before kissing my cheek.

Feeling my cheeks warm up, I shouldered the but of the rifle and took close aim. Letting out a few calming breaths, I squeezed the trigger.

BLAM!

Day of the fair

Cheery and I were setting up our both on the school ground while we kept our rifle under a tarp. "You nervous?" Cheery asked me.

"Not really. I figure, win or lose, we made something that'll change the world," I told her before giving her a hug. "And I couldn't have done it without you."

We decided to keep our rifle covered when we noticed most of the crowd had gathered around one booth in particular booth just opposite of ours and once we were able to get a good view of what was going on, my blood instantly boiled. The one responsible for the sudden uproar in the crowd was Cedar Pines with his usual smug and behind him was our missing Boomstick.

"Feast your eyes mares and gentlecolts!" He said while showing off our project like it was his.

"That no good rotten theif!" I was about to go and punch his lights out, but Cheery stopped me.

"Don't. I have a feeling he'll be the butt of the joke," She told me with a smirk.

I chuckled along with her before setting up our two targets a few hundred yards away. When I got back, the judges were going through the projects. Among them was Princess Celestia and two of her guard. Perfect.

"Why if it isn't young John and Cheerilee. Good to see you both again." The princess greeted us both as we bowed in respect.

"Good to see you too your highness," I told her while Cheery and I stood from our bow.

"I trust your project is ready for the fair?" She asked us while looking at the tarp.

"It is your majesty, we worked hard to make this." Cheerilee said while taking my hand, not caring for some of the onlookers.

"I'm sure you both did. I look forward to your presentation." She winked at us.

Princess Celestia went over to the judges to start their rounds. Meanwhile, Cedar came over and started taunting us. "Ha, good luck. I have the best project in all of Equestria!"

"Yeah, the one you stole from us, you thief!" I accused him before reaching for the rifle, only to remember something and smirk. "Actually, you're right. Amazing project. Hope you win."

"Hmph, glad to see you know your place for once." Pines scoffed as he strutted back to his booth while Cheerilee raised her brow at me with a smirk of her own.

"What are you up to?" She asked while bumping my shoulder with hers.

"Nothing." I replied as we awaited our turn.

For the next half hour, we saw the Princess and the other two judges go from one project to the next, from a simple wind reader to a volcano made of mud. Soon, they came over to the last two booths, ours and Cedar's. And as luck would have it, Cedar was to be judged first.

"Alright son, let's see what you got here," The lead judge said.

"Gentlemen, I present to you a mechanical marvel! The Boomstick." Cedar presented his stolen idea with eagerness as the judges marveled at the creation before them.

"Impressive but what does it do?" Celestia asked, sensing something was off as very few could hide secrets from the princess.

"Glad you asked that princess! Simply take one of these ball bearings and drop it into the barrel of the device." Cedar happily explained while Cheerilee and I shook our heads in amusement. "Then pull back this little device here, aim, pull the trigger and fire. Allow me to demonstrate." With his usual arrogance, Cedar Pines walked right past us with a smug grin as he took aim at the target he set up for himself. "And...now!"

Tink...

From the look on Cedar's face, it looked like he was very shocked by what happened, or rather didn't happen. "Umm, hold on, maybe I didn't set up right." He pulled back the hammer again and tried to fire the ball bearing again, only for the same thing to happen again. "Why isn't this working!?"

"Oh dear, I guess we'll chalk it up as a failure," The lead judge said while marking something on his clipboard.

"No! Wait, I can make it work!" Cedar kept trying to fire the Boomstick, and he even smashed it a few times on the booth he had set up. When nothing happened, he threw it on the ground. "Why isn't this working!?"

"Young colt, shouldn't you know how it works? Since you created it?" The Princess asked him, making Cheery and me snicker at the comment.

"Umm, well I mean, it's complicated. It sort of just fell in my lap," Cedar explained.

"And he forgot the powder," Cheery whispered to me, making me giggle and try to shush her.

After they judged Pines, the three of them came over to our both. "Okay, what have you two got?" The lead judge asked us while pointing to the tarp.

"First, we want to show you this." Cheery bent down and got out the blueprints from our original design and showed it to the judges. "As you can see, John is the original inventor of the Boomstick, and it was stolen last week. And we just found out today by whom." She pointed over at Cedar, who was getting glares from Celestia's guards.

"That's not true!" Cedar pointed a finger at us. "They stole my blueprints! That's why I can't get it to work!"

"That," I started before unvieling my rifle, getting surprised gasps from the judges. "and you forgot the powder." I took the rifle and stood where I would fire at the target, before turning to Celestia. "Your highness, may I borrow one of your guards, please?"

"I don't see why not," She turned to the earth pony guard on the left and signaled him over to us.

When I got a closer look at the guard, I saw that it was Lieutenant Shield. "How you doing kid?" He asked before standing beside me.

"Doing pretty good. Ready to help with my project?" I asked him while getting my rifle ready.

"Sure. What do I have to do?" He asked me before Cheery pointed at the two pumpkins I had set up.

"Pick one of those pumpkins, run up, and attack it,"I instructed him before putting in the bullet and ramming it down.

"You're the boss," The Lieutenant told me before drawing his sword and running over to the target and after a few seconds of running, he sliced it in half before running back. "So, how did that help?"

Cheery brought out the stopwatch she had and showed off the time it took to attack."Two minuttes and thirty four seconds to run over, attack your opponent, and run back."

"Impressive work Lieutenant," I told him before turning to the judges and showed off the rifle. "This here is what I call a rifle. An upgraded version of my original Boomstick before it was taken from me." We all glared at Cedar, who was fixing me with a death glare.

"I see. And tell me, what can it do?" The Princess asked me.

"It can fire a projectile, in this case a bullet, yet another invention of mine, and it will hit a target at great distances without the weilder to actually get up close and personal." I told them before taking aim.

"As a precaution, please cover your ears. It can get very loud," Cheery instructed while showing them to cover their ears and for her to put my ear muffs on my head.

Taking in a breath, I aimed for the center of the pumpkin and squeezed the trigger.

BLAM!

The whole fair cringed at the sound before they were mesmerized by how fast the bullet traveled and made the pumpkin explode. Cheery held up the stopwatch and yelled out. "Three seconds!"

Hearing that, the judges were awestruck, the mare with the hair bun even dropped her clipboard before the whole fair erupted in applause and I held up the rifle in celebration.

Lieutenant Shield clasped both mine and Cheery's shoulders and laughed. "You two are gonna make a killing with this. Hell, I could use a few hundred of these for the guard."

The Princess then came over with a huge smile. "You two have done a tremendous job. In fact, you did so well, that I would like to make you this offer." She turned over to Quill Pen, who I haven't noticed until now. She came over and handed the Princess two slips of paper. She takes them and offers them to us.

We take them and I ask, "What are these?"

"An acceptance letter, to my school for gifted youngsters." The moment she said that, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

"Oh my sweet... well, you!" Cheery said over to Celestia before hugging me and peppering my cheek with kisses.

"Wait until my parents hear about this," I told her before I bowed before the princess. "Thank you for this honor. You won't regret this one bit," I told the princess.

"NO!! THIS CAN'T BE!!" Cedar shouted in outrage before everyone glared at him.

"As for you Cedar Pines, it seems very clear that you stole your classmates original design for his project and tried to plagiarize it as your own. Therefore, you are disqualified from the fair," Celestia said without so much as batting an eye to cedar while turning her back. "I will be notifying your parents about this incident as well."

Cedar was angry beyond belief before and stormed out while grabbing my Boomstick and ran off to who knows where. I thought about going after him, but I had more important things on my mind. Like celebrating mine and Cheery's acceptance into the most sought after school in Equestria, and we weren't even trying.

That evening

"Oh my stars! My grandboy's going to a private school!" Granny shouted the minutte I told everyone. Now I was stuck in her arms and being spun around.

"Granny! Please, I'm getting dizzy!" I told her, hoping I wouldn't throw up.

When she finally put me down and the room stopped spinning, I saw that Ma was crying softly and Pa was doing his best to comfort her. Concerned I went over to them. "Ma? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She answered by bringing me into a hug.

"My first boy, the one I raised since you were a little baby, is leaving me at the age of twelve! And so very far away from home!" Ma cried while she and Pa held onto me like I was going to disappear into thin air. "I'm goona miss you soo much!"

I hugged Ma back before doing my best to calm her down. "Ma. I won't be gone forever. The Princess gave me and Cheery a train pass, so we can visit you on the weekend. And we'll always have the summers," I told her, feeling her sobbing lessen.

"But, what about us?" Mac asked me while holding Jackie in his arms. "We won't get to see our big brother very often."

I went over to them and gave them both a hug. "You'll both be fine. Jackie has you as her big brother. And you get to be the big brother of the house." I reassured them while Jackie grabbed my hair. "I will miss you though."

"We'll miss you too, big brother," He squeezed me tight before I ruffled his hair and kissed Jackie's cheek.

"Well, I think Johnny boy here is in need of some celebratory pie. And I just happen to have a hot one sitting in the window sill." Granny went over to the kitchen to get the pie, though I saw that she wiped a tear away. Guess she wasn't all that happy to see me go.

The next day

My family was up in celebration as they set up a little party to celebrate my acceptance into the most prestigious school this side of Equestria. Jackie and Mac were helping themselves to some of Granny's famous apple pie along a few other of her home recipes.

"Eat up youngin! Yer gonna need your strength."

"Granny don't make him eat so much or he won't even be able to leave for the station." Ma said while giving Jackie a taste of pie.

"It's fine Ma, I can just walk this off when I go to the station." I smiled while popping another morsel into my mouth.

After my third piece of pie and fourth fritter, I was brought into a massive group hug by my family. When I went out the door, Cheery was already waiting for me. "Hey, Cheery. Ready to start our new journey?"

"A bit nervous actually. It's not often that you get accepted to a fancy school on a scholarship." She said while fidgeting with the bag in her hands.

"Like I told my Ma and Pa, we won't be gone forever. And besides," I took her hand and kissed her cheek, making her giggle and smile. "we have each other still."

"Hmhmm, you're right. As long as we're together, there's nothing that can't stop us," She told me before kissing me back.

"Amen to that," I told her before we headed for the train station.

As we headed down the dirt path, Cheerilee heard a rustling in the bushes nearby and clung to me thinking it might be something scary, not that I minded the attention though. "What was that?" She asked while hugging my arm.

"Oh probably just some pests." I scoffed before hearing a very familiar and unpleasant voice.

"A pest am I?" Both of us froze up when we saw none other than Cedar Pines coming out of the bushes with a bruised face and a black eye and in his hands was the Boomstick. "Because of you, everyone calls me a thief and a cheat! Even my own family thinks I'm a disgrace!!"

"You did that to yourself!" Cheerilee said in my defense when he gave her a murderous glare.

"You know Cheerilee, I really did like you. I even thought of asking you out until you fell for this...CREATURE!" Cedar spat before pulling out some powder and a single bullet. "Thanks for showing me how this works by the way. Now I can take away everything from you just as you did to me."

Before I could say anything, we watched as he carelessly poured in the powder before loading the bullet and packing it down with haste as he pulled back the hammer and took aim at Cheerilee. "Cedar wait! That's too much-"

"Too much?!?" He screamed, cutting me off before I could warn him.

"Having to be outdone by a mongrel like you that's too much! Having to live EVERY DAY in humiliation is too much! HAVING TO BE CALLED A FAILURE BY YOUR OWN FATHER! IS!! TOO!! MUCH!!" Cedar shrieked before calming down. "But now...now it ends."

"DON'T!!" I screamed as he pulled the trigger. I went in front of Cheery to protect her, only for the Boomstick to burst into flame and the metal and wood to blow up in Cedar's hand.

"Aaaargh!!" Cedar screamed in pain while clutching his hand. Before we could do anything, he ran back into the bushes, leaving behind his right pinkie and ring finger.

I thought about going after him, but after all that he said and his wound, I consider him dead already and tended to a shaken Cheerilee. "Cheery, are you alright?"

"I-I think so." She said when several of the towns residence came rushing over to see what was happening.

"Is everything alright? we heard a scream."

"You kids okay?"

"It was Cedar Pines, he attacked us." I said while calmly keeping my arms around Cheerilee.

As the guards went off into the woods to find him, Cheery and I headed for the train station, hoping to put what happened behind us.

When we finally got to the station, we waited on one of the benches to wait for our train. As we kept on waiting, I took Cheery's hand in mine and she leaned her head against my chest. "I'm sorry this happened."

She hugged me around the waist and whimpered a bit. "He pointed our weapon at me, and you got in front of it." She then looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "If it didn't explode, you could've died, and I would never see you again." She starts to sob as I hugged her.

"If I didn't and the Boomstick didn't explode, then you would've died, and I would never see you again," I told her before we just held each other. "And I would never let anything happen to the mare I love."

Hearing me say that seemed to calm her down before she sat up and we kissed. When we pulled back, the train was pulling into the station. "I love you too." She kissed my cheek before grabbing her bag. "Come on. We have a new adventure ahead of us."

"That we do." I grabbed my bag and joined my marefriend for our next great adventure.

Author's Note

Okay, some real development with John in his relationship and they've been accepted into Celestia's school. A new weapon has emerged, and some answers into John's past, or is it more questions?

I like to thank Valiant Charge again for his help, and I should just consider him my co-writer.

Now, for the clips.