Shadow of Fury

Chapter 9

Adventures Part IV

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch(or DJ PON3) were the best of friends. They were roomates, and even if they didn't see eye-to-eye musically speaking, that didn't stop them from looking out for each other. That said, this didn't mean that they never had a few arguments. And on this day, theirs had gotten pretty heated.

"I'm telling you, Tavi, dubstep is SO much better than classical music," Vinyl said.

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Maybe in another dimension. Besides, I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

Vinyl smirked. "Tavi. Tavi. Tavi. Tavi. Tavi," She didn't stop, causing Octavia to growl.

"Real mature," she said. "Either way, your wrong. Classical music has far more elegance than your conglomeration of sound could ever have,"

That made Vinyl stop. "At least my music is way easier to play than yours!"

"So?"

"I'm just sayin. If classical weren't so hard to play, maybe more ponies would like it. Actually, nah," she said, dismissing the thought as impossible.

Octavia now felt a little offended. "Maybe it's that difficulty that draws ponies to it," she replied. "Did you ever think of that?"

Vinyl merely shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think many ponies would be that interested in old, stuffy music,"

Now Octavia was very offended. "I'll have you know that this 'Old, stuffy music,' is far more refined than anything you could create. Besides, if nopony liked it, then how is it still around?"

Unfortunately for Octavia, Vinyl had yet to drink her morning coffee. This meant that she was in a more easily agitated mood than usual. "Well, all sorts of bad stuff is still around. Justin Beaver, Trot Direction, Rebecca Clop, to name a few,"

Octavia felt her face blush in pure anger. "How DARE you compare my music to the likes of them!" She shouted. VInyl immediately knew she had crossed a line. "Octavia, I'm so sorr-"

"No, Vinyl! That was too far and you know it!"

"But, Tavi, I-"

"Don't 'But, Tavi,' me! I swear, Vinyl, you can be the worst pony sometimes! I mean, first you missed my concert the other day, then you stole my date the day after! And you didn't even do anything with him, you just had a one-night stand!"

"Octavia-"

"I've had it! Honestly, Vinyl, I can't take it anymore!"

Octavia got up, grabbed her cello which happened to be packed next to the door, and opened it.

"Octavia, where are you going?" Vinyl asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I'm going to see if I can live with my sister. Goodbye, Vinyl,"

And without another word, Ocavia slammed the door and left to find her sibling. Vinyl was left alone. She didn't fight the tears when they came.

*  *  *  * *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus was having a nice day. He got up in the morning, he had a nice breakfast, and on top of all that, he had his new pet Terrence to cheer him up. But with Willus' luck, a nice day could never last, now could it?

Willus had decided that he would head into town, as he needed to pick up some groceries. Big mistake.

As Willus walked through the town square, he noticed Applejack standing at her booth, selling apples. She looked tired and frustrated, and for a moment, Willus wondered why. The answer made itself clear in the form of three fillies. One was Applejack's younger sister, Applebloom. One was a white unicorn filly, with a lavender and pink mane. The last was an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane. He decided to check on the cowpony and see how she was doing.

"Hey, Applejack! What's up?"

Applejack took notice of Willus with a grunt. "Hey, Willus. Not much,"

"You okay?"

"Ahm fine," she said, clearly not. "It's just, Fluttershy was supposed to take care of these three today, but she darn went and cancelled on me! Poor thing, told me she had a terrible headache,"

Willus shuffled awkwardly, knowing full well why she had it. "That's rather unfortunate," he said, trying to sound polite. And innocent.

"So now, I'm stuck takin care of my li'l sis and her friends, while trying to sell apples no less!"

Willus didn't know why he did what he did next, but he did it anyways. "You know, I'm free pretty much.....always. Why don't you just let me take care of the fillies?" he offered.

Applejack, however, had no desire to subject Willus to such cruel torture. "Are ya sure? They can be kind of a hoof-full sometimes,"

WIllus looked down at the three fillies, who simply smiled benignly. How bad could these innocent little fillies be? "I'm positive, AJ. Besides, I kind of owe you, what with you trying to help me and all,"

Applejack smiled, blushing. "Shucks. Don't mention it," she said.

Applejack then turned to her burden. "Girls, Ahm gonna leave you in Mr. Willus' care now, okay?"

"Okay, sis! No problem!" Applebloom chimed.

Applejack then left, pushing away her cart. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity, as she knew what Willus was up against. Willus, meanwhile, decided it would probably help to learn a bit about his new cargo. "So, what are your names? I know you, Applebloom, but what about you two?" he asked, gesturing to the other two fillies.

The unicorn was the first to reply. "I'm Sweetie Belle," she said. "I'm Rarity's little sister!"

Willus took a mental note. There weren't many things he feared, but the resident fashionista of Ponyville was one of them.

The pegasus spoke up next. "I'm Scootaloo!" she said. "And we're.."

Suddenly, all three spoke in unison. "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" they shouted, nearly destroying WIllus' eardrums.

It was then that Willus discovered his fatal mistake. He had volunteered to take care of fillies. Little fillies. Little fillies who get hopped up on sugar to the point that their brains operate on higher levels of existence, and their super-sensory nerves subject them to a fantasy world that exceeds that of an adult on the most powerful narcotics known to science.

Basically, Willus' day was going to be really weird.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Living with Pinkie was like living with a tiger: best accomplished with iron bars seperating it from you. Unfortunately for Reaper, such was not the case. And so, he had to devise a way to keep the mare in line. What he came up with was simple, but it would get the job done. Earlier, he had discussed with the mare the situation.

"Pinkie," he had said, "If you're going to live with me, there need to be some ground rules,"

"Okie-dokie-loki!"

"Rule 1: Don't go in the study,"

"Uh-huh,"

"Rule 2: Don't go in the study,"

"Isn't that rule 1?"

"Yes. Your point?"

Pinkie didn't know how to respond.

"Exactly. Rule 3: No loud noises in the morning,"

"Uh-huh,"

"Rule 4: No parties at the house. Have them somewhere else,"

Pinkie then loudly went, "Awwww!"

Reaper flinched. It was still only nine-o'clock, and he had woken up early. "Rule 3?"

Pinkie groaned. "Fine. Anything else?"

"Just one. Rule 5: Don't go in the study,"

Pinkie rolled her eyes.

That had not been long ago. Since then, Pinkie had made herself comfortable in her new room. It was lucky that Reaper happened to have a bedroom he wasn't using, and Pinkie seemed to enjoy it. Of course, some changes had to be made. According to Pinkie, Reaper's house was - how did she put it? - "Boring." Reaper had no idea what she meant by that? True, his house lacked any evident decoration beyond what was absolutely necessarry, but so what? He didn't bother trying to stop her redecoration spree, however. If he was going to be a psychiatrist now, he would need to ensure that the ponies he treated were as comfortable as possible.

Suddenly, Reaper heard a knocking at his door. In the name of the queen, the ponies just couldn't get enough of him this morning, could they? He opened the door to reveal the most blandly-colored mare he had seen in his life. "Can I help you?" he asked.

The mare looked slighly intimidated. "I'm so sorry to bother you, sir, but is Pinkie Pie here? I went to Sugar Cube Corner, but the cakes told me she moved here,"

Reaper scowled. Was this going to become a common occurence now that the pink mare lived with him? He hoped not. "Pinkie!" he called. "Somepony's wants to see you!"

Pinkie appeared next to Reaper in a physics-breaking flash, suddenly embracing the other mare.

"Tavi! It's been so long, sis!" she exclaimed.

Reaper's eye twitched. "Sis?" he asked. "As in sister?"

Pinkie and the other mare nodded, and Reaper's mind exploded. There were two of them? One was enough, how could he possibly handle two?

"Come in!" Pinkie chimed, closing the door behind the other mare.

"I should probably introduced myself," she said. "I'm Octavia, resident classical musician of Ponyville, and Pinkie's little sister," she said with the utmost poise and elegance. Reaper responded with gibberish, as his mind worked furiously to comprehend the possibility of Pinkie having siblings. "Please tell me there aren't more of you," he said to Pinkie.

"Oh, no! There's five of us total. Me, Blinky, Inky, Tavi, and Clyde! But we don't talk about Clyde," she finished with a shudder.

Reaper sat down, eyes wide with disbelief. Pinkie and Octavia continued their conversation.

"So, Tavi, how ya been? We haven't seen each other in so long, tell me everything!"

Octavia suddenly became downcast. "That's what I came her for," she said.

"What happened?"

"Vinyl and I got in a really bad fight. I left, and now I don't have a place to stay. So that's why I'm here. You don't think I could stay here for a while, do you? Just until I get back on my hooves, I wouldn't want to impose,"

Reaper's head shot up. Live her? With him? No! He had too many residents in his home as it was! He cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

"Well, I don't have a problem with it, but this isn't my house," Pinkie said, looking at Reaper.

Octavia now tried to convince him. "Can I please stay with you, sir? I promise I won't be a problem, I just need somewhere to sleep!"

Reaper was annoyed. There was no way he would ever let her live here. She would simply have to find lodging elsewhere. Actually, Reaper suddenly got an idea. He was a psychiatrist now, wasn't he? Perhaps if he simply helped her solve her problem, then she could go back to her home, and leave him alone! It was a win-win situation! Reaper grinned like an eagle that had spotted a mouse. Of course, his services weren't exactly cheap....

"Perhaps there is another solution...."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Derpy had decided to visit her friend Vinyl Scratch that day. The reason for this was that, after her visit with Shamrock, she couldn't help but feel the need to reconnect with all of her old friends. And foremost of thsoe was Vinyl.

Vinyl had always been kind to Derpy as a filly, not like the bullies at their school. Vinyl always stood up for her, and Derpy decided that it was high time to return the favor. But Derpy did not expect to hear the sound of sobbing from behind Vinyl's door when she actually arrived. Derpy let herself in, worried for her friend. "Vinyl?" she called.

Vinyl was sitting at the table, her violet sunglasses folded beside her. She was crying her eyes out into her hooves, and didn't seem to notice Derpy's entrance.

"Vinyl?" she repeated. The DJ looked up this time, her eyes stained from the tears.

"Derpy?" She asked. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Who else?" Derpy said with a smile, trying to cheer her friend up.

Vinyl smiled a bit, but it didn't last long.

"What happened?" Derpy asked.

Vinyl told her everything. She told of what had happened before, and how she had gotten into a fight with Octavia that morning. She told of how Octavia had left to live with her sister, and how horrible she felt.

"Derpy, what am I going to do?" she asked.

Derpy didn't know. Suddenly, she got an idea.

"Vinyl, I'll be right back!" she said.

"Where are you going?"

Derpy stopped briefly before walking out the door.

"To a friend," she said.

*  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  * *

Shamrock opened the door when he heard it knock, and wasn't surprised to see Derpy at all.

"I need your help," she said.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus didn't know how much more he could take. These fillies just didn't know when to shut up. It was driving him insane! And with him, that was quite a feat. Applejack was right - they were more than a hoof-full. He should have listened to her, then he wouldn't be in this mess. He groaned as they arrived at his bookstore.

Terrence chirped as the door opened, and hopped off to greet his master. Willus took his post behind the desk, and began to read a book. "Do whatever you want," he said disinterestedly to the fillies.

No other words could have made Applebloom happier. She grinned mischievously, before turning to here friends. "Come on, girls!" she said, "Let's see if we can find any books that'll help us get our cutie marks!"

"Wait, didn't we already try that at Twilight's?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo groaned. "Sweetie Belle, not every place that has books is gonna have the same ones!"

Sweetie Belle blushed, feeling stupid. "Oh, right,"

Applebloom tried to make her feel better. "Don't worry, Sweetie! We'll find something here, Ahm sure!"

"Yeah! Maybe we'll even get book-keeping cutie marks!"

Sweetie Belle grinned with newfound excitement. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go look!"

Meanwhile, Willus was starting to have a nervous breakdown. He had experienced these many times before, and he could tell that it was barely starting. It was in its infancy, and had started only as doubt. Doubt in the self-restraint of these fillies. Doubt that they would be able to control themselves around his books. His books. His precious books. What horrible things might they do if he didn't pay attention? He began to observe the fillies carefully.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a hard time finding what they were searching for. Every book on cutie marks was frustratingly vague - saying things like, "A pony gets their cutie mark when they're ready," or, "A pony cannot rush getting a cutie mark." It was really quite annoying.

Applebloom groaned. "None of these books are helpful!" she exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle closed the book she was reading. "Well, I found something for Scootaloo," she said.

Scootaloo suddenly perked up. "Really? Lemme see!"

Sweeite Belle showed her the cover. It was titled, "The Farmer's Guide to Proper Chicken Breeding." Applebloom laughed, while Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "That joke stopped being funny a long time ago!"

Sweetie chuckled. "That's what you think!"

Willus continued to watch as his paranoia began to set in. Terrence chirped in concern, but the unicorn colt ignored him, too deep in his thoughts to notice. What were those fillies doing?  Was it dangerous? It looked dangerous. For the books, of course. Had it not been for Applejack, Willus would have hardly cared about these three nuisances. Scootaloo slammed a book shut with a groan. There! Right there! That was definite proof they couldn't be trusted, right? Willus' eye twitched, and Terrence chirped again.

Sweetie Belle began to notice Willus' strange glares. "Girls, do you think we should be worried about him?"

Applebloom and Scootaloo gave him a glance, before returning to their books. "Nah," they said in unison.

"Would Applejack have let him watch us if she didn't trust'im?" Applebloom added.

Sweetie Belle shrugged, before continuing the search for a book.

Willlus' paranoia was beginning to reach its climax, but he didn't notice. These three fillies were a problem. A big problem. Had they no respect for books? Clearly that must be the case. If they had no respect for books, then something had to be done, right? He couldn't have them continue being a threat, now could he?

Willus was snapped out of his psychopathic thoughts by Terrence, who now was pecking at Willus' idle left hoof. Willus shook his head, suddenly realising the horrible things he almost did. "Thanks, Terrence," he said to the bird, who merely chirped happily. The unicorn sighed in relief, thinking the worst was over.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

If there was one thing Reaper hated(although there were many, many more), it was ponies who couldn't figure out their own emotions. This may seem unfair, and Reaper did make exceptions for cases of love, hate, etc. But it was inability to make the simple decision of being angry ot not that truly agravated him. So it should be no surprised that his latest "patient," was causing him great amounts of stress.

"Let's try this again," Reaper said. "Why exactly do you think Vinyl would have done all of these things that led to where you are now?"

Octavia lay in a big reclined chair, staring at the ceiling. Reaper sat next to her, leaning forward with fake interest in his wooden seat. Pinkie had left by now, off to help at Sugar Cube Corner, no doubt. "Well, Vinyl's always been...headstrong. She doesn't think things through before she does them,"

"And does that annoy you?"

"Well, yes it annoys me! It always has! I'm sure it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, and here we are!"

Octavia's stubborn attitude was not good. If Reaper had any hope of keeping her out of his house, he had to ensure that she would forgive her friend. At this rate, it would take all day to get her to change her mind. That was time Reaper simply did not have, so he would have to attempt something more direct.

"But don't you think you would be used to this by now? After all, you've lived with this mare for how long?"

"Three years,"

"Three years. So you mean to tell me that for three years, you have been able to put up with her. What makes now so different?"

Octavia didn't say anything for awhile.

"It does sound silly, doesn't it?" Reaper continued.

"Well, when you put it like that," Octavia replied.

The ex-general grinned. He had her right where he wanted her. "See? Clearly, Vinyl has every reason for you to forgive her. Sure, she said some bad things, but aren't you the bigger mare?"

"I am,"

"Are you really going to let something small like this ruin a friendship of three years?"

"I..."

"Are you?"

"I...."

Reaper leaned in closely to Octavia, his squinted eyes and disapproving scowl providing a very intimidating image. "Answer the question," he said flatly.

Octavia began to feel uncomfortable. She sighed. "No," she finally said with a tone of defeat.

Reaper sat back in his chair, content with his victory.

"See?" he said. "Isn't it better to just forgive her? Besides, I'm sure she feels pretty awful right now,"

Octavia's eyes widened. "Oh, Celestia, what have I done?" she exclaimed, before grabbing her things and running out the door. "Thank you for the help, Mr. Reaper, but I need to go fix this!" And with that she left.

Reaper was left dumbstruck in his chair.

"You forgot to pay!" he called out, but Octavia was already out of earshot.

Reaper grumbled. "Nevermind....," He said sadly.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Little did Reaper and Octavia know, but Shamrock, too, was trying to help somepony. Derpy had explained to him the situation with Vinyl, and he had agreed to help Derpy help her. Any friend of Derpy's was a friend of his. So when he arrived at Vinyl's house, he was ready and willing to help.

"Vinyl," he said, as the three each drank from cups of coffee. "Could you please explain to me why you did what you did?"

Vinyl sighed. "I dunno. I guess I just thought it would be funny. I must've gotten carried away. I didn't mean for things to get so out of hoof,"

Shamrock in no way approved of what happened, but he did not judge Vinyl for what she did. However, he knew that this would not be an easy thing to make Octavia forgive.

"Do you think there is anything we could do to make Octavia forgive you?"

Vinyl shrugged. "She seemed pretty upset in the morning. I don't think there's much that I could do,"

Shamrock thought deeply. How were they going to get out of this? Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Vinyl, friendship is all about give and take, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so,"

"So, if you really want to make Octavia forgive you, you have to do something that shows how much you really care,"

"Like what?"

Shamrock leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Vinyl's eyes widened behind her shades. "No. No way! There's a reason I don't do that kind of stuff!"

"Come on, Vinyl! This is what you need to do, I'm sure of it!"

"No! I mean, I don't even know how!"

"We'll figure it out. It can't be that hard can it?"

Derpy was lost as to what was going on. "Wait a minute, what did you suggest, Shamrock?"

The two unicorns looked at each other, before Shamrock addressed Derpy.

"I thought that it might be a good idea if Vinyl tried playing some classical music," he said tentatively.

Derpy stifled a giggle, before struggling to contain her laughter. She failed. As the grey pegasus rolled on the floor, laughing her plot off, Vinyl Scratch seethed. "See? Even Derpy knows that I can't do it! It's just impossible!"

Shamrock was not one to be dissuaded so easily. "Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. You just have to try, Vinyl,"

Vinyl gazed into Shamrock's eyes. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so,"

The DJ sighed. "Fine. I'll do it,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Everything was fine and dandy until the books started talking. For a while, Willus was sure he was imagining things - which he was. But Willus had a vivid imagination, and they had very persuasive voices. Willus probably would have done something stupid, if his natural body systems hadn't taken over. Not sure of how to react to a hallucination, Willus' mind responded in the only way it knew how - by having a seizure.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were alerted to this by Terrence suddenly chirping panicedly. They didn't know exactly how to react at first, considering that their caretaker was having a seizure. As the three fillies surrounded the older colt, they began to discuss their next course of action.

"What should we do, girls?" Sweetie asked.

"Should we help him?" Scootaloo added.

"How?"

"I don't know! Have you ever seen somepony have a seizure?"

Both of the others shook their heads.

"Wait! Ah have an idea!" Applebloom exclaimed.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Applebloom finished sucking the last drops from her milkshake. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had already finished, and with a satisfied sigh, Applebloom spoke. "That was good!"

"Applebloom, how was that supposed to help in any way?" Scootaloo asked.

"It wasn't, Ah just wanted a milkshake," Applebloom replied matter-of-factly.

"But seriously, girls, we need to do something!" Sweetie continued, looking down at the unicorn they were supposed to help.

"Well, how do you girls usually deal with problems?" Applebloom asked.

"Usually I ask Rainbow Dash for help," Scootaloo said.

"That's no good, she's in Cloudsdale today!" Sweetie replied.

"Well, what do you do, Miss Dictionary?"

The unicorn filly tapped her chin. "Sing a song about it?"

The disgusted looks her companions gave was answer enough.

"And you, Applebloom? What do you usually do?"

"Usually, I just hit the problem with a hammer til it goes away," she said.

The other two contemplated the idea for a moment. "Well, I think it's our best bet," Scootaloo said. Sweetie nodded in agreement.

Shrugging, Applebloom produced a hammer from her saddlebag. "Here goes nothing," she said.

Willus had never felt a more excruiating pain in all of his life. Over and over, he felt a horrendous banging on his skull. It felt as if something were going to break. Yet despite this suffering, he was saved. It was this pain precisely that brought him out of his hallucination-induced seizure.

Groggily, Willus came to. "What happened?" he asked.

"You had a seizure, mister. But don't worry, Applebloom saved ya!" Scootaloo chimed.

Willus couldn't believe it. These annoying little nuisances had saved him? "Why?" he asked.

"Well, you're supposed to take care of us! Besides, Ah know that you're friends with Applejack! She'd be pretty upset if anything happened to you!"

Willus was at a loss for words. He got up, noticing a slightly annoyed glare from Terrence. He was about to say something when Applejack walked in. "Sis!" Applebloom exclaimed.

The three fillies nearly tackled Applejack with their combined hugging power, but still she stood. "Hey, girls. How did it go?"

"Oh, we had the best time! Willus is the best foal-sitter ever!"

"I am?" Willus asked himself.

"They weren't too much trouble, Ah hope?" Applejack asked him.

Willus looked down at the three fillies, each of them smiling adorably at him. With a warm grin, Willus replied "Nah,"

Applejack nodded, before returning. "Come on, you three. We better get you home,"

"Bye Willus!" They all called to him as they left.

Willus waved goodbye, feeling happy. Suddenly, he had an idea.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Vinyl scratch sat on the stage she had hastily set up. In the center was a seat, which was next to a cello. There was a full surround-sound system set up. Everything was perfect. And DJ PON3 was nervous.

Vinyl had only been nervous once before in her life, and that was on the day she got her cutie mark. She remembered that day well. She was just a filly, a late bloomer, like the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her sister was supposed to play music for  a school play, but she had gotten sick. Vinyl was forced to take her place. She wasn't sure of herself going in, but decided to do it anyway. It was the best decision she had ever made in her life.

And now Vinyl was nervous again. She had taken a few moments before to try and figure out how to play this thing, but it didn't help. Classical music was still as alien to her as the surface of Mars.

By now, a crowd had gathered. They probably were confused. Why was DJ PON3 going to play classical? Where was Octavia? Had something happened? Was it just a publicity stunt?

Vinyl took a deep breath, and looked at the time. 7:oo. It was time. She walked out onto the stage, greeted by a wild applause. She looked to the side. Offstage were Derpy and Shamrock, both with an encouraging look on their faces. With a final sigh, Vinyl resigned herself to her fate. As the crowd's applause died down, Vinyl began to play.

If cats could play the cello, they'd hate it too.

Octavia was panting, out of breath from running all the way here with a cello strapped to her back. She couldn't believe it! Vinyl was actually trying to play classical music! And failing miserably at that. And yet, Octavia knew that this was Vinyl's way of apologizing. The earth pony was touched.

Octavia felt tears of happiness form in her eyes, but she quickly blinked those away. However, the crowd did not feel the same way. Very quickly, boos were being thrown at the DJ. Vinyl stopped playing,shrugging. She knew that she was bad, and didn't deny it. Suddenly, Octavia appeared on stage.

"Vinyl, I'm so sorry for being mad at you! Can you ever forgive me?"

Vinyl happily embraced her friend. "No, I'm sorry! It's my fault all this happened, please forgive me!"

"Oh, Vinyl. You know I could never stay mad at you!"

"How about we celebrate? Yeah, let's go to Las Pegasus, you and me! Just the two of us!"

"I'm game if you're game!"

And so the two friends ran off together to pack. Shamrock watched, smiling, when suddenly Reaper decloaked next to him. "Well, it seems everything turned out better than expected," the changeling said.

Shamrock eyed him suspiciously. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

Reaper chuckled. "Now why would you ever think that?"

Shamrock smiled, before punching the changeling in a friendly manner. "Damn bug,"

Reaper awkwardly returned the gesture. "Dumb pony,"

The pair chuckled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to attend to," Reaper said, before cloaking.

Shamrock called out to him. "You know, you don't have to cloak every time you go out! It's not like you'll be arrested or anything,"

An invisible voice replied. "Force of habit,"

"And how did you pick that habit up?"

There was no reply. Reaper had gone.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Lightning Hawk had been shopping when he bumped into Twilight. Literally. "Oh, hi, Lightning! Fancy seeing you here!" she said, still in a good mood despite having fallen on her flank.

Lightning was equally surprised. "Hey, Twilight. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. So what's up?"  She said, standing up.

"Not much. I was just looking for some stuff to decorate my new house," He said, beginning to feel himself feel nervous already.

"Well, I'm not really doing anything right now. Wanna hang out?"

Lightning began to panic mentally. Was she asking him out? No, she was far too relaxed for that. "Yeah, sure, if it's okay with you," he blurted out.

Twilight sat on a bench, before gesturing for Lightning to join her. "So, I've been wondering," she started. "Where do you come from? I mean, if you don't mind telling, of course,"

"N-n-no of course not!" Lightning stammered.

He thought back, remembering his life story.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   *

Lightning Hawk was born to a normal family. He was an only child. Unfortunately for him, both of his parents died when he was very young, only 2 years old. He had since forgotten their names.

Orphaned so early, Lightning Hawk was forced to learn to take care of himself. He never placed himself in an orphanage, instead deciding to turn his life into a search for adventure. And that's exactly what it was. He traveled, never staying in one place for more than a week.

He traveled everywhere. Manehatten. Fillydelphia. Las Pegasus. Canterlot. Cloudsdale. Virtually any city one could mention, Lightning had visited it. Every landmark, every national treasur, he had seen it. He grew up, absorbing experiences from each of the places he visited. Be it hiding from the cops after stealing donuts in Chicacolt, or gambilng against the most legendary poker sharks in Las Pegasus. Be it touching everything in the Canterlot museum, because he didn't play by the rules, or tasting pure, unfiltered rainbow in Cloudsdale.

Lightning always thought that he would never run out of things to do - that is, until Neighagra Falls. It was there that, for the first time, Lightning encountered something he had never met before. Boredom. Any normal pony would think that skydiving under the largest waterfall in Equestria was exhilirating, but Lightning Hawk was not any normal pony. It was a strange experience, to fall towards the earth while feeling nearly no emotion.

After that day, Lightning began to stop taking pleasure in travel. He began to feel an increasing urge to get away from it all, to start over. That's why he came to Ponyville. He had thought that he might escape adventure by coming here. He was wrong.

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Twilight nodded, soaking in the information she had just received. "Wow. It must've been horrible to have been orphaned so young," she said.

Lightning shrugged. "To be honest, I really can't remember my parents. I guess that's what time does to you," he said.

Twilight placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "I'm glad we're friends, Lightning. You're a great colt,"

Lightning blushed, when suddenly Twilight noticed the moon. "My, look at the time! I should probably get back home before Spike gets worried,"

Lightning waved goodbye as Twilight walked away, feeling completely lovestruck. It was true. He really, truly was in love. As the mare of his dreams left, Lightning came to a conclusion - he was going to ask her out. What could possibly go wrong? Yes, he would do it tomorrow!

Lighting grinned, as he realized that there still was some adventure out there.

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Applejack opened her front door to find Willus standing with a book. "Oh, hey Willus. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I wanted to give Applebloom this book. I think she might like it,"

Applejack was surprised, but pleasantly so. "Applebloom! Somepony's here for you!"

The filly in question arrived relatively quickly. "Willus? What are you doing here?" she askd.

"I came to give you this book," he said simply.

"Really? Thanks!" Applebloom said. She grabbed the book, and took it from Willus, examining the cover. "A Filly's Guide to Carpentry? Well, maybe I can get a carpenter's cutie mark! Oh, the girls are gonna love this!" She said, before running back to her room to read it.

As for Willus, never had anything so simple been so difficult. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and Applejack patted him on the back. "Thank you, Willus. Ah'm sure that wasn't easy for ya,"

Willus nodded, breathing deeply. "It was worth it," he said.

Applejack smiled. "Ah appreciate it,"

Willus was about to leave, before turning back to the cowpony. "Applejack, there's something I've been meaning to ask you,"

"Shoot!"

Willus shuffled awkwardly, not sure how to form the question. "Well, I was just wondering. If Applebloom is your sister, and Big Mac is your brother, and Granny Smith is your grandmother......where are your parents?"

Applejack's smile left faster than you could say "uncomfortable."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" Willus said, suddenly feeling bad.

"No, no. It's a perfectly reasonable question," Applejack said, waving away his doubt with a dismissive hoof.

"It was a long time ago. Applebloom was just a filly. There was a fire in the barn, and they couldn't get out. Mac and Ah had to take over control of the farm, and the rest is history," She told the short story as it was, but Willus could sense that she was keeping her emotions at bay.

"I'm sorry," Willus said.

"Don't be," She responded. "What's past is past. Mac and Ah have run this farm practically alone ever since, and we'll keep doing it as long as we need to,"

There was a pause, until Willus said sheepishly, "You don't have to,"

Applejakc raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I could help, I'm sure of it! Sure, maybe not physically, but I'm not bad at math! Maybe I could help run your sales, and I'll even sell apples in my bookstore!"

Applejack smiled. "Thanks, Willus. Ah'd like that,"

Applejack hugged him, causing him to nearly blush. As the two sat on the porch, they stared up at the evening sky. Two shooting stars streaked by, leaving a sparkling trail.