Chapter 3:3: Pinkie VS. Train

Two mares stepped onto the train, panting away. The gallop to the train station was constant and non-stop and only then, did they both make the same realization.

"Didn't we just leave everypony behind? Y'know, everypony coming?" Rainbow asked in between pants as they stepped to the same booth as last week.

Applejack spent a moment thinking before slapping her face against the table top.

"Augh, consarn it. That battle was jus' too chaotic... Ah don't even know why we even went along with it," Applejack sighed.

Rainbow smirked, leaning back in confidence.

"Well, I did think it up. I just thought that the things we did wouldn't suit those two," Rainbow said before actually shifting her position to get comfy.

Applejack's ear twitched. She glared over at Rainbow who payed no attention.

"Err, what I mean is, we're more or less friendly and... y'know, mares. Big Macintosh is a big, gruff and burly stallion while Gilda is a..." she paused, wracking her brain for the right words.

Applejack sighed, rolling her eyes while she leaned on the table top. Her eyes examined Rainbow closely as the cyan mare fidgeted. Rainbow rubbed her hooves together, rubbed her temples, twitched her ears rhythmically, almost anything that could be classified under fidgeting. Applejack found it highly amusing to watch Rainbow's thought process.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted Rarity, Spike, Big Macintosh and... Pinkie and Gilda enter the station. She looked over back to Rainbow to spot her gnawing on her hooves, switching back and forth. She chuckled once before bursting out into laughter. Rainbow stopped gnawing and looked at Applejack with curious eyes. She frowned before realizing what exactly she was doing. She spat her hoof out with a sheepish chuckle.

"S'alright, sugarcube. Ah know what ya mean. Thanks fer th' show, though," Applejack replied with stutters.

"You're a lovely audience! Rainbow Dash, star comedian. Sounds like a nice side-job," Rainbow placed a hoof on her chin whilst she stared at the ceiling.

"Heh, well, y'all coul' pro'bly knock th' funny bone right outta th' audience with yer crash stories," Applejack nudged Rainbow under the table.

"Don't push your luck, 'jack. Atomic Rainboom's are deadly."

A brief moment of silence due to withheld laughter broke only when Pinkie burst into the train car, bearing confetti and-

"Oh sweet Celestia is that apple cider?" Rainbow spat out upon spotting the beverage held in Pinkie's hoof.

"Sure is! I stock piled enough cider from Cider Season to supply the entire Royal Army!" Pinkie piped, moving in to take a sip.

Pinkie shuffled down the hallway, refusing to take a sip, mostly because of the look Rainbow was giving her. Rainbow had the biggest puppy dog eyes Pinkie had ever seen. It could rival Applebloom's pout. Pinkie looked at Rainbow, then to her cider, then to Rainbow, then to her cider. She looked at Rainbow once more before shrugging and tossing the entire mug into her mouth and swallowing it whole.

The pink pony bounced towards the booth Applejack and Rainbow sat in, oblivious that Rainbow had attempted to self-destruct using her mind, only stopping when Applejack patted her shoulder.

"Don' you worry none, RD. Ah think y'all deserve a couple'a free ones next chance we get," Applejack reassured the pegasus.

That certainly cheered Rainbow up, well enough that when Pinkie bounced right next to Rainbow in the booth, the pegasus didn't react violently. Rarity and Spike made their way into the train car, Spike holding the door open as they did so. Rarity elegantly trotted over to the booth across from Rainbow and Applejack and sat down with utmost grace while she levitated two bags and a case into the cargo hold. Spike quickly followed, only to slow down and 'gracefully' sit down in the booth, if you can count doing a failed Olympic high jump as graceful. Rarity giggled at the baby dragon's actions.

Big Macintosh and Gilda followed after, both entering in possibly the most nonchalant way ever. Big Macintosh trotted up casually past the two occupied booths, setting himself down behind Applejack and Rainbow's booth with a thud. Gilda looked over to see Rainbow with a goofy look plastered on her face and Pinkie Pie swaying back and forth like a drunkard. Applejack chuckled softly at the two. On the other side, she spotted Rarity talking... quietly with Spike. Too quietly, almost as if they had some secret to keep. She sighed, passing both and walking to Big Macintosh's booth. She sat down and rubbed her stomach, directly where she got pelted by Fluttershy moments ago.

"Some battle," Gilda said, forcing a chuckle out to appear normal.

"Eeyup."

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "So, you're taken. By... Fluttershy, I assume?" Gilda asked.

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow. "Eenope."

Gilda's claw twitched. "Too embarrassed by her to mention the name?"

Big Macintosh's hoof twitched. "E~enope..."

Gilda shifted her position, resting her elbow atop the table. "Who is it then? Open up a bit, you're a curious guy. Probably why I gave a damn about competing earlier."

Big Macintosh shifted his position, resting his elbow atop the table. "Miss Cheerilee, school teacher."

"Brains and brawn with brains for children. Attract a lot of eggheads?" Gilda replied, looking outside to see the light rain pelting down.

"Ya came t' me, must mean I don't," Big Macintosh replied with a confident smirk.

Gilda did a double take and growled. "Listen here, lame-o, I may not be the sharpest knife in the sink but I know an insult!" Gilda retorted with coarseness in her voice.

Big Macintosh chuckled lightly. "No offense present, ma'am."

Back at Spike and Rarity's table, the two conversed obliviously to the rising tension in Big Macintosh and Gilda's booth.

"So, my little Spikey-wikey, you say there is a diamond shop you must take me to in Troronto?" Rarity asked, smiling at the lovestruck dragon.

"Yes... it has the most beautiful gems in north-western Equestria. A lot of it's jewelry is made with gems from Great Caulk; imported and well taken care of. You simply must see some of their items. I'm glad to be your tour-guide of the city," Spike replied in a slow, confident tone.

"Yes, it's nice to have such a well-educated gentlemen as an escort. Of course, we can't spend all day gawking at gems so we must begin to plan out our day tomorrow, setting aside time to check the orchards themselves and of course, our three meals," Rarity replied in her lovely tone of voice.

Spike sighed. No gem can compare to you, my sweet. You are more priceless than the Elements of Harmony, to me. My heart burns for you with the passion of 1,000 suns and beats in preparation for the day I swoop you off your hooves; that's enough heat and pressure to create diamonds larger than anypony could fathom... larger than anypony deserves... except for you... Spike sighed. "Yes, of course, m'lady..."

"Yes! I did, in fact, come for 'the lulz' as I like to put it! I just thought a nice trip to the grounds of the Market Harvest would pump me full of enough party ideas to use up all ideas in the world which would leave the world in a party-drought and then I'll have to find new ways to get ideas to make parties. I'd probably have to break The Wall in order to do that, yes sir-y bah!" Pinkie spat out in one go.

Rainbow sighed. No Rainbow, don't tire out from this. It's just... Pinkie Pie... you now have to spend two days with her... and Gilda... and a lovestruck couple-are-not... and Big Macintosh...

... but at least I'm with Applejack.

Rainbow was broken out of her thought process when the train's PA system kicked to life, the conductor speaking.

"~KZZT~ This is your conductor speaking saying we are now leaving Ponyville for Troronto. Please don't mind the incoming bump, thank you and enjoy your train ride. ~KZZT~"

True to his word, the train started and the quick bump when the train's cars yanked on each other hit. Pinkie was yawning when the bump hit and hiccoughed, letting out a belching sound. The hiccoughs continued, and Pinkie's face contorted into another rage. Rainbow looked at her pink friend with worry.

Twice in one day? Yeesh, calm down, pinks. You're going to snap at the ground, next, Rainbow thought. Applejack apparently had thought the same thing.

"Uh, are ya okay, Pinkie?" Applejack asked with slight worry in her voice.

Pinkie hiccoughed once more and her small, diluted pupils turned to face Applejack. "Okay? OKAY! NO! I just HICCOUGHED!" Pinkie almost screamed out.

Rarity and Spike turned their heads briefly before returning to their conversation while Big Macintosh and Gilda only stared each other down with murderous eyes. Pinkie let out a few huffs, growling now and then. She turned so she was facing Spike across the aisle. Rainbow and Applejack leaned in and placed their hooves on Pinkie's shoulder, brushing each other at the same time. Applejack payed it no mind but Rainbow felt an odd tingle in the back of her head.

"You... uh, really should calm down, Pinkie. You're going to pop a blood vessel at this rate," Rainbow chuckled.

Pinkie's head twisted a full 180 degrees and grimaced at Rainbow. Rainbow retracted her hoof instinctively.

"No. NO. I, Pinkie Pie, will get to the bottom of whomever it is that caused this unfortunate hiccoughing. I shall investigate the mystery of the train bump, the conductor, and the ghosts of spooky wah-wah train car #3!" Pinkie swatted Applejack's hoof away and donned her detective cap and zipped off through the train car towards the rear-end of the train.

Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other in worry. "Uh, Ah think we shoul' follow her... jus' t' make sure she don't wind up destroyin' half 'o th' train by day's end," Applejack said as she shot to her hooves.

"Agreed. Knowing Pinkie Pie, this is going to be complete chaos."

Pinkie scoured the train cars, gathering looks from the various passengers aboard the train. She sniffed at the ground, her hooves fumbling around like a dog. She caught a scent which doubled her efforts as she rummaged through the cargo compartments, popping in and out of various places like a Benny Hill chase. Shortly behind, Rainbow and Applejack followed like they were taking their dogs for a walk. Pinkie picked up a magnifying glass out of her mane and began to examine the indents in the ground. She stared at the rhombus-shaped indents, studying the very sand particles that vibrated in her search for the source of her... "problem".

"Ah do hope Pinkie's justified 'er search this time. Glad she picked up on a few things from Twi, 'else we'd be here for a long while, heh," Applejack said in response to Pinkie's dog-detectiveness.

"I'd rather just not have to deal with this and head to the station like normal folk. I mean, rare enough that something absolutely crazy doesn't happen, but Pinkie is a living instigator of chaos. I'm surprised Discord hasn't broken out of his shell by now," Rainbow scoffed as she kicked away at the ground.

Applejack chuckled and Pinkie stopped her search. She looked over at Rainbow as she kicked the ground lightly out of boredom. Pinkie shuffled, almost silently, to Rainbow's hooves that stopped only when the pegasus took notice of the curious detective.

"Ra~ainbow, could you keep doing that thingy with your hoof-y, please-y?" Pinkie asked, staring up at Rainbow with her usual cute smile and puppy-dog eyes.

Rainbow looked at Pinkie in confusion but chose not to question it. Rainbow began to pelt the ground with her hooves once more at the same steady pace. Pinkie's eyes squinted, focusing heavily on Rainbow's hooves as they made contact with the ground. She held out her magnifying glass and observed the ground at the point of contact. Rainbow slowly felt annoyance creep into her mind but shoved it off in favour of letting her pink friend do her thing to save the space-time continuum. Pinkie retracted the glass and pounded her hoof on the floor. She watched her hoof again as she continuously pounded on the ground. Rainbow groaned and stopped pounding. Pinkie stopped. She sprung to her hooves and her Pinkie smile broke out once more, threatening the cyan mare with promises of a song. Rainbow winced, and instead...

"Aha! I, Pinkius Piecus, have deduced with her deductive skills of dangerous deadly deduction of seductivity, that the bumps are made from hitting them with something hard!" Pinkie spat out, pulling a note pad and quill from her mane and began writing it.

Rainbow facehoofed and turned to leave only to have Applejack block the door. Rainbow attempted to go around, Applejack blocked. This happened twice more before Rainbow sighed.

"It's Pinkie Pie bein' Pinkie Pie, jus' go with it fer th' time bein'," Applejack said with a smile, spinning Rainbow around.

"Girls, follow me and Rainbow, I need you to match my movements to a T!" Pinkie exclaimed before spinning around and half bouncing, half crouching away.

Rainbow attempted to copy, only to trip and hurt her legs. She grunted and tried again, this time successfully imitating Pinkie's movements for a few seconds before stumbling again. She attempted to return to her self-dubbed "crouncing" before Pinkie's hoof stopped her.

"Do the whole thing again. We must not have any faults or mulligans half-way. This is essential!" Pinkie said. "If not, my power will fail!"

Rainbow scoffed. "Ugh, what power? Why do I have to do this?" Rainbow growled.

"I just to~old you, the power has to work and it only does so if we do the moves to please them," Pinkie said with gusto.

Rainbow let out probably her longest sigh of the past three weeks and proceeded to trot back to where she started. Applejack watched, chuckling as she did so. Rainbow crouched down, Applejack did the same now, and both proceeded to bounce after Pinkie towards the next car.

Pinkie came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the next car, Rainbow and Applejack stopping just as suddenly. Rainbow prevented a growl from escaping, taking in a sharp breath before exhaling.

"Alright girls, it appears we have another mystery on our hooves!" Pinkie said, holding a hoof in the air.

Rainbow was taken aback then really let out a growl, dragging her hoof down her face.

"Pinkie, you are so... random."

Applejack started to lose her patience too at this point. She kept most of it but the scowl on her face made it evident. Rainbow went to move forward, stopping before she did. If I make the wrong move, Pinkie'll probably tear my mane out... Rainbow thought.

"Okay, Pinkie, what in Celestia's name, is our new mystery? Why can't we finish the old mystery?" Rainbow asked, gritting her teeth with each word.

Pinkie turned around, a blind eye to those watching. Rainbow peeked out the window, noticing them coming up to a familiar town. Masato got off there... huhn... Rainbow thought. She focused on Pinkie once more as the pony's face broke into a determined smirk.

"Oh, I knew the answer to this mystery when you banged your hoof. The train vibrates," Pinkie said.

Rainbow's temper spiked. She was dangerously close to breaking physics to self-destruct and only didn't because she would make a terrible mess on Applejack. Rainbow's face contorted several times into looks of extreme rage, focus, tension, exhaustion, and even lust. She finally let out a long yawn that destroyed the ones over the previous week. At this rate, I'm going to set a world record for yawning, Rainbow thought to herself. Applejack merely took a deep breath and exhaled.

"As for our next mystery, I simply want to discover one thing and again, I need you to follow my steps. Again, the magic is very delicate," Pinkie said before spinning around and doing graceful leaps in the air, landing without so much as a sound.

Rainbow and Applejack sighed simultaneously and crouched before taking a leap. Both ponies attempted to shut out the looks and whispers, only to forget their landing. They landed with a loud, audible thud. Before Pinkie could spin around, they quickly set themselves up again before taking another leap, landing with almost no sound. They followed Pinkie once more, bouncing away into the next car. Rainbow realized how hard this actually was. Trying to focus on a high, graceful jump and a nice, almost soundless landing? She wondered how Pinkie did this flawlessly.

This continued for several minutes and eventually, Rainbow got the hang of it. Applejack had a little bit more trouble. She was larger, muscle-wise and also tended to not have any grace at all. The instant Applejack was able to successfully leap and shut out the looks of others, Pinkie Pie changed her bounce and the train decided to start breaking. Applejack cursed under her breath while Rainbow snickered at the mare's attempts. She almost forgot to continuing bouncing herself and focused on Pinkie. Now, she bounced with arched legs like her crouncing. This immediately made things more difficult.

Pinkie turned around, able to move with ease regardless of the train's breaking. The announcer spoke over the PA, same stuff at each stop. Some ponies departed, some boarded. This didn't bother nor did it stop Pinkie. She did continue her bouncing when she started to talk, however.

"This mystery is solved: No, I do not have trouble when bouncing during a break nor when others get on or off. We also have a new mystery on our hooves soooo..." Pinkie didn't specify this mystery either.

At this point Rainbow continued only out of the fear of what Pinkie will do if she stops. Granted, Pinkie is usually good when her friends back out of her antics, knowing the side of her that is somewhat hyperactive annoys some... but Pinkie almost exploded when Rainbow fumbled the first time. Rainbow's patience was being beaten, broken, and it's family, murdered. She used sheer willpower to continue on, this brought on when she realized how tired she was getting from this entire ordeal.

Pinkie eventually did stop and spun around to face Rainbow and Applejack who then collided with each other.

"Pinkie, what gives? What mystery was this?" Rainbow asked exhaustively.

"No mystery! This entire ordeal was to test whether or not you can be patient with tedious tasks... well, mostly," Pinkie admitted.

Applejack and Rainbow looked dumbfounded for a second, broken out of their shock when the train jolted, reminding them of their location. Applejack and Rainbow grunted simultaneously.

"Okay, I'm going to not totally flip out on the basis that we're friends, but what the hay? Was there a purpose to this besides literally testing my patience?" Rainbow spat out, ignorant of the gazes being directed at them.

Applejack set a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Now now, sugarcube. Y'all do have a bit of an issue with patience..." Applejack said. Rainbow scowled while Pinkie gave them a large smile. "... but yes, what the hay, Pinkie Pie? Ah am legitimately confused." Pinkie stared back in confusion, Rainbow the same. "Ah can understan' Rainbow Dash here. Did y'all seriously jus' test our patience?"

Pinkie stared, dumbstruck for a moment before giggling. "Silly, of course not! Everything I do has a point! Notice how tired you got?" Pinkie replied rather readily.

Applejack and Rainbow both thought for a second and looked at Pinkie with the same looks of shock.

"Hey yeah, you're right. I worked up a bit of sweat there... and I learned how to gracefully leap like a dainty doe," Rainbow looked to the ceiling, thinking back on what they did.

Applejack's eyes widened and her mouth bent in a smile. She looked at Pinkie with glee.

"Pinkie Pie, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, chuckling as she said so.

Pinkie shook her head. "No I'm not, I'm a pony," she said before trotting back to the booth.

Rainbow couldn't help but smile at this. She let out a long sigh once more, this time due to a loss for words.

"Pinks?" she asked.

The pink mare stopped in her steps and turned to face Rainbow as she and Applejack trotted towards her. "Yeah Dashie?"

Rainbow ruffled up Pinkie's hair causing the mare to giggle.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random," she said, walking past Pinkie towards the booth.

"No I'm not silly. I'm a party planner," she responded.

A few seconds later, the three ponies were back in the booth, resting after their tiring workout. Pinkie was the only one who almost immediately rejuvenated herself. Applejack and Rainbow now shared a bench, Pinkie rambled on the other side. None of the others took notice. Rarity and Spike were both caught up in conversation. Spike had actually lost his lovestruck stare and instead seemed to be the conversation leader, entranced by the topic. Rarity only listened in as if her were some smart philosopher. Gilda and Big Macintosh said nothing, only staring at each other. As a matter of fact, neither seemed to have blinked... Rainbow looked at Pinkie Pie, watching as she happily rolled around on the bench.

Sometimes, I wish I had Pinkie's stamina. She is, undoubtedly, the Queen of Parties, so her stamina has an explanation... still, I'd rather be a fair challenge for Applejack, Rainbow thought to herself, smirking as she did.

"Alrighty! Dashie, there actually is a mystery on this train..." Pinkie got all quiet, staring at her hooves. Rainbow and Applejack both leaned forward out of curiosity. Pinkie adjusted her stare towards both mares. "It has kept me up nights... conquered my dreams..." she looked away.

Now Rainbow was actually starting to worry. This doesn't seem like usual Pinkie attitude, not even her joking attitude when she acts sad. This... this is a legitimate depression... Rainbow thought.

"Sugarcube... Pinkie, are ya okay? What is it?" Applejack asked, coming to the same conclusion as Rainbow.

Applejack and Rainbow leaned back, allowing Pinkie room to breath when they noticed this was serious. Pinkie leaned back, taking in a sharp breath.

"I'm... I had an odd dream once. Involving trains. It's actually been bugging me the past year. I just never mentioned it because I thought it would go away. I probably would have told nopony if we weren't talking about mysteries today, heh..." Pinkie attempted to cheer herself up with that giggle.

"Pinkie, you should have told us sooner. We're your friends," Rainbow said nonchalantly regardless of Pinkie's attitude.

"Yeah... I'm scared of trains," Pinkie spat out, looking at Applejack and Rainbow Dash with sadness.

Rainbow leaned forward in confusion. Scared of trains? What? Why? Rainbow pondered the question. Pinkie let out a few saddened giggles.

"These dreams started after the dessert contest, when the desserts were being eaten up behind my backsy," Pinkie said.

Rainbow thought back to then. Okay, so thievery... doesn't help I was involved, but... Rainbow looked at Pinkie, a nod nudging her to continue.

"I first got my fear when we went to Appleoosa to deliver Bloomburg to Applejack's relatives. I was fine then, but when the caboose was stolen by those then-mean old buffalo, I was fine then... but I realized Spike was on there."

Rainbow and Applejack slowly came to the same realization, looking down at the table thinking the same thing: This is my fault...

I had to wake up the others in the middle of the night, making Spike leave to the back... Rainbow thought.

Ah had t' take a tree down... why didn' Ah jus' go another week... Applejack thought.

"I almost lost a friend. I thought for sure Spike was gone... I hated the thought of losing my friends, that's why I went after them where I met Rainbow," Pinkie said as she shot Rainbow a weak smile.

"When we were going to Canterlot to deliver the desserts, I thought that because I failed as a security mare, the Cakes dessert was ruined and they lost. I got so frantic to find somepony else to pin the blame on that I made up stories and accused those other nice dessert makers." Pinkie stopped, a few tears leaving her eyes. Rainbow grit her teeth, again blaming herself. "Now, I'm just afraid something else will go wrong. I'm not so much scared of trains, but scared of..." she paused to think, "well, scared of what could happen on a train." Pinkie said.

Rainbow was thinking of the proper words to say when Applejack beat her to the punch.

"Sugarcube, none of those were yer fault. Y'all jus' happened t' be there when th' bad stuff happened. If anythin', Spike left to th' caboose because it was a mite bit noisy," Applejack said, placing a hoof on Pinkie's cheek.

Pinkie didn't seem to buy it, looking to the side. Rainbow realized that she was the most to blame out of all of it. She looked at Pinkie.

"Pinkie, it's my fault. I'm sorry," Rainbow said, trying to hold back a few tears. Normally, I'd bump off this phobia as a Pinkie Pie thing, but... she's really broken up, and both times are my fault, she thought. Pinkie stared back in confusion while Applejack listened.

"What do you mean, Dashie?" Pinkie asked, wiping a tear.

Rainbow sighed. "I'm the one who woke you up and started our chat on the Appleloosa trip and... I took a bite of the..." she paused. "Mmm cake. Don't feel bad because of me," Rainbow said, setting her head down on the table top.

Pinkie smiled, a little more genuine than before. Applejack placed her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder now.

"Thanks, Dashie but..." she paused. She wiped her tears away entirely first and swallowed a few times. Her smile grew to it's usual Pinkie Pie level and her eyes were the only giveaway that she was crying. She gently lifted Rainbow's head up with a hoof. "I shall have no crying aboard this train! Sgt. Pinkie Pie demands your full laughter immediately, otherwise she will have to break 'the wall'!" Pinkie said in a stern voice.

Applejack's smile returned, having been brought back with Pinkie's joyful revival. Rainbow was taken aback slightly. She choked out a chuckle, before breaking out into giggles. Applejack did the same while Pinkie's smile only grew. Rainbow burst out laughing, leaning over on Applejack who started laughing herself.

Rarity and Spike looked over, finally breaking their deep conversation briefly before turning back. Gilda and Big Macintosh, however, have not so much as shown they're still alive or petrified corpses yet. Pinkie giggled her usual Pinkie Pie giggle (patent pending).

"So, what say we ignore that we were just saddy-waddy pony puddles of tears moments ago with lunch?" Pinkie said.

Rainbow managed to stop herself from dying of laughter when Pinkie spoke. She recollected herself along with Applejack and sat up. "Aheh, lunch? How do you know it's lunch?" Rainbow asked, wiping away a few tears that built up in the corners of her eyes.

"Silly, I can see it over there." Pinkie pointed back towards the car they came from.

Rainbow and Applejack turned around to see a mare pushing a cart with the meal on it. She chuckled, a sheepish grin on her face. "Heh, oh..." she said, facing forward again.

Spike and Rarity payed no attention as the mare trotted up and opened up the small doors, levitating a tray with magic in front of each mare. Rainbow looked down to see four things in particular: A salad, fruit salad, an orange, and a few grapes. It was a healthy meal-eaters dream... well, for those on the go. However... she looked to the right, seeing Pinkie and Applejack's meal. She snatched the grapes from all three trays and set them on the table top. Applejack and Pinkie had slight shock. Rainbow then pounded on the grapes, squishing them into oblivion. Applejack chuckled.

"Sugarcube, what're y'all doin'?" Applejack chuckled.

"Oh, she's just being a silly filly," Pinkie giggled as she slammed her face into her salad.

To the left, Rarity and Spike were dining with the utmost elegance... in other words, pretty much not at all. They conversed about something dainty regarding gems while Big Macintosh and Gilda continued their infinite staring contest while they ate. Rainbow continued her mashing of the grapes and only stopped when she felt nothing more was getting mashed.

"Those grapes probably belong to that Fullbucket Monkeystarch. There's no way, absolutely no bucking way, am I going to eat those grapes or watch somepony from Sweet Apple Acres' team eat that stuff," Rainbow said, wiping her hoof off on the bench.

Applejack stared down at the mashed mess and chuckled. "That's swell of you, sugarcube... but wasn't necessary. Y'all could'a jus' threw them out," Applejack said with a smile.

Pinkie raised her head quickly. "Silly filly be whack, yo!" she said before diving her face back into the salad.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, smirking. "Hey, his product deserves nothing but the worst. I sure hope we don't run into that little b-"

Rainbow was cutoff by a thud next to the booths. Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Spike looked to the source. Rainbow and Applejack immediately recognized it.

"Oh... um, sorry... hi again or something..." Chibi Masato said as he stumbled to his hooves.

"Masato! Hey!" Rainbow piped up.

"'ey there, Masato. Nice t' see ya, 'gain," Applejack said.

He opened his mouth to speak but grit his teeth. Finally, he spoke up. "Um, nice to see you too..." he trailed off, kicking the floor.

"Who is this dashing young colt you know, dears?" Rarity asked.

"Um, actually, I'm a young stallion... I'm older than I appear..." Masato corrected, avoiding eye-contact.

"Oh, my apologies. He is quite a tall one," Rarity replied.

Spike leaned on the table, setting his grumpy face on his claw, withholding a grumble.

"This here's Chibi Masato. We met 'em last week on th' train t' Troronto. He drew us a picture. Quite a fine artist, too," Applejack said.

"Yep! He drew us a picture of us in this same booth," Rainbow said.

Rarity examined Masato for a few more seconds before speaking up again. "I must ask, how do you get your mane like that? All rugged and sticking up like that. You look full of adventure," Rarity remarked, her eyes eyeing the tall, slender figure of the maroon pony.

"Well, I am on many adventures... I don't cut my mane and let it get rugged. I also like hiding this thing..." he moved his hoof up and moved the antennae of hair to reveal a horn. It was longer than most unicorn horns, and sharper too. It was in between the length of Celestia's and average horns. "My hairs closer to the front of my mane were originally gelled back to hide my horn. After a while, my hair just got used to being in that position," Masato said, still avoiding eye contact.

"Here, why don't ya sit down, silly fil... colt... stallion," Pinkie said, offering the spot next to her.

Masato looked for a second before reluctantly setting down. "Thanks..." he said, levitating his bags into the cargo compartment.

"Why would you hide your horn, dear?" Rarity asked, picking away at the salad.

"Well... I dunno, I just prefer being an Earth Pony. I try not to use magic often, but the last week of action-packed awesomeness caused me to use magic pretty much every five seconds. Had another adventure in Great Caulk," Masato said, getting quieter as he spoke.

Rainbow perked up. "Adventure? Awesomeness? Elaborate please! This sounds exciting!" Rainbow asked as her focus latched onto Masato.

"Me, a pegasus named Spry, a dog named Chance, and a unicorn named Trixie, cleared the name of royalt-" Rainbow stuck a hoof into Masato's mouth, preventing him from finishing.

Spike, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow all stared at Masato with glares.

"Trixie? As in, the Great and Powerful Trixie?" Spike said in a demanding tone.

All three mares and dragon awaited an answer; Pinkie Pie remained eating her salad. Masato gulped and reluctantly nodded. "Um, yeah... blue mare... silver mane... magic wand and dust as a cutie mark... hat and cape... ego taller than Canterlot..." he said, quieting down to an almost inaudible tone.

"Why were you with Trixie?" Rainbow asked, her tone remaining in a near-harsh level.

"Well... we met in Manehatten and immediately hospitalized each other... then me, Trixie and the other two... mentioned discussed our talents during recovery and... well, formed a performers group. We travelled to Great Caulk because Trixie wanted a true tale to tell," Masato said, shuddering slightly.

Rarity, Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all did a double take and thought for a few seconds. Rainbow replied finally.

"Trixie wanted a true tale to tell?" she asked.

"Yeah... after some mess in Ponyville, she decided that she would rather go on a real adventure and get a true tale... we kinda got one when we saved an entire nation from going to war," Masato said, his confidence slightly returning.

All four shocked characters immediately wracked their brains for a possible explanation or point to denounce as fake but couldn't; this wasn't coming from the egotistical mare herself but somepony else entirely... and he claims to have been right there.

"Um... I'm the artist who creates plans for firework shapes, choreography, and costume designs... Trixie's performances have tripled in quality, according to her, when I started planning," Masato replied, able to finally make eye contact with the others.

"Well that's swell. She managed t' get back on her hooves after all," Applejack chuckled with a feeling of warmth invading her face.

"Oh, no no..." Masato replied.

"Whaddaya mean? She lost her cart and was embarrassed. What, no backlash?" Rainbow asked, eased up entirely.

Masato shook his head. "No, when other towns heard of what happened, they didn't think badly of it but took into account that she's a showmare, supposed to entertain others and didn't reject her if she tried to perform again. As a matter of fact, the Ponyville incident boosted her business," Masato said as he got comfortable.

"Well thank Celestia, nopony deserves to suffer, even if what she did was terrible to an extent. She presented an open challenge, we accepted, and lost. I'm glad that she did learn that honesty is the best policy, the dear does have some talent," Rarity admitted, chuckling. "I must admit, it was a tad bit funny when she reduced my..." she choked, biting her hoof before releasing it, "beautiful mane, to a green mess. It took me a while to get used to transforming my mane that fast," Rarity nibbled a bit more on her salad.

"Well, she still should have toned down the bragging a bit," Spike huffed, smoke coming out of his nose.

"She did. Ego is still large, but she is slightly more modest than from when I met her... and we reportedly hospitalized each other for a month," Masato replied. "I'm going to Troronto to meet up with somebody. The dog, Chance. We saw an ad for... well, advertising a product for some farming contest."

"The Marvel Hammock?" Rainbow asked with some leaf greens in her mouth.

"Market Harvest," everypony and dragon corrected.

"Whatever," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, that... we're helping to advertise a team known as 'Olive Garden', run by Sweet Olive," Masato replied.

"Oh! I meth themth lasht thime!" Rainbow replied with a mouth full of food.

"Heh, well, Rainbow Dash 'ere is advertisin' fer us. Good luck, Masato," Applejack said as she dug in to the fruit salad.

"Good luck, Applejack. From what I've heard, every team is gonna need it... Fullbody Moneybags apparently has some new plan different from previous years," Masato said.

This caused all ponies, including Big Macintosh to turn. "YES! I WON!" Gilda exclaimed, finally closing her reddened, tear-filled eyes.

"Plan?" Big Macintosh asked.

"Can you tell us more?" Applejack asked, her tone serious.

Rarity and Spike slid over to the edge of the benches. Pinkie half-listened, half-ate her food. Masato let out a sigh and placed both forelegs onto the table, leaning his face on his hooves.

"His plan for his team is called 'Dirigible Bahumut'..."

Author's Notes: Dirigible Bahumut. Cliffhanger, set up for the future, prepare for a flashback next chapter part. This bumps the plans for next chapter part, the Applejack VS. Rainbow Dash chapter part, back to Chapter 3.5 AND it extends Chapter 3 several more PARTS because this is so large.

Please leave comments and I'm actually requesting some help now:

Will any of you readers tell me what you think of this fic in three ways: the plot, the pace I'm taking it, and what you speculate will happen next? I really want to know to know where exactly I am in terms of pleasing the readers.

Please read "Just Friends" by Lonewolf.007 and recommend Apple Spectrum. Srsly, I know Just Friends is better than the Apple Spectrum, but he has less chapters, shorter chapters, has been posting for not as long, yet he's got way more popularity than I do. (,_,')

Thanks, Mr. Masato/Arby Works.