It was a sunny day out, and all the young colts were talking in a circle. One of them pointed to a far away cloud. "Hey, I bet you 2 bits I can reach that cloud and back in 30 seconds or less!" He said confidently. None of them had their cutie marks yet. Phoenix, standing up, said "You're on!" and placed his bits on the ground. "I guess." said another, and he, too, dropped his bits. He was slightly shorter that Phoenix, with a blue and yellow mane, and a small red dash on his white coat. The others did not want to lose their money, so they all backed up. "Ok, here I go!" The young pegasus flew to the cloud and back. "Ha! 30 seconds!" A shy unicorn spoke up "Actually, that was 33 seconds." "So what? I want my bits!" Phoenix stepped forward. "The deal was 30 seconds or less. You went over 30. Pay up." "What if I don't want to?" The pegasus said, trying to sound tough. They both knew he was weaker than Phoenix, and would be easily beat. His father was Celestia's combat expert, for revolutions were becoming a threat. "Then we're going to have a problem." Phoenix said, unmoving. "Uh, uh..." The pegasus was running out of things to say. Lucky for him, his friends stepped up to defend him. "He said he didn't want to pay, so he's not gonna pay!" they yelled. Alone, they were no match for Phoenix, but together, they had a shot. The next few minutes was chaos. It ended with Phoenix holding the pegasus down, and the 2 friends on his back. Suddenly, a voice all too familiar to Phoenix spoke. "What is going on here?" A white and blue pegasus landed in front of the 4. He was much, much older than them. 'Well, Phoenix?" He said. It was Ace, Phoenix's father. Without knowing their past, one would have a hard time believing they were even related. The police have even stopped Ace a few times in Ponyville for attempted kidnapping, only to realize the little black and red colt on his back was his own son. "Uh, nothing Dad!" Phoenix said, letting the other colt back up. The 2 friends fell, but immediately stood back up after looking into Ace's eyes. "Meet me in the kitchen, NOW." Ace said, flying away. Phoenix was the only one in trouble, yet all 4 were scared.

When Phoenix got home, his father was sitting at the kitchen table. "Listen, Dad-" "I don't want to hear it, Phoenix. I've told you before, you can't go out getting into fights. Eventually, you'll get yourself into something you can't handle!" Phoenix wanted to say something, but decided not to. "I didn't start that fight!" Ace didn't feel like hearing his son's excuse. "Alright, since you like fighting so much..." He stood up. "Fight me." Phoenix was confused. "Um...what?" He said. "You heard me, fight me." Phoenix backed up. "That's not such a good idea..." He said, trailing off. "What? You were fine with fighting a few minutes ago, now you want to avoid it at all costs?" Ace was about to do that thing again. He would make Phoenix's decisions seem like things nopony would ever do, not even Derpy. "Yeah, but-" "Make up your mind, son! It's not that hard!" "Well, I don't-" "You don't what, son, you don't what?" Phoenix was now whispering. "Never mind." Ace stepped forward. "What was that? You need to speak up." "Never mind!" Phoenix yelled. "What did I tell you about yelling?" Ace said. It was about to happen all over again, and Phoenix knew it, so he didn't say anything. All was silent for a moment. "You know I don't like to do that, son." Ace said, walking towards Phoenix. "I'm sorry Dad." He said, hanging his head. "Why can't you just do what you're told?" His father said, picking Phoenix's head up. "It's just that, well..." He began. And so, Phoenix told his father about the cloud, and the bits, and the pegasus's friends. He was in the middle of explaining how he tackled the pegasus, when he looked as if he just remembered something. "I left my bits in the grass!" He almost yelled. "Relax" his father said, walking upstairs. He came back down, and threw his son a small pouch. "Here's 4 bits." Phoenix caught the money, and ran outside. "Thanks Dad!" He yelled behind him. "Don't start any more fights, okay?" His father replied. "No promises!" Phoenix was glad he got what he earned, but he would soon realize that his father wouldn't always be there for him.