I roll over in bed and sigh deeply. I spent all night working on the course, reworking his sword, doing some chores around the house, and now the sun is shining right in my face. At least it turned out pretty good though. I kind of feel bad for them, but then again, this is still nothing compared to what I had to go through in those simulators. *shivers* eh, bad memory, better get up now. I slowly get out of bed and head to the restroom. After a shower I head down stairs to get some breakfast. Hmm... where's Lupus? I open the back door and see him in the tree line, digging at the ground. After a few seconds of digging he pulls out a charred... thing, and starts eating it. OK then, better follow him and get some food.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Ahh... what now. I go to the front door and open it to find Pinkie Pie jumping up and down.

"We're going to the carnival, we're going to the carnival, we’re going to the car-ni-val! Come on Miles, let’s get going!" She sings as she continues to bounce up and down.

"What are you talking about Pinkie?" I ask groggily.

"What are you talking about sleepy Mcsleeperton? Today's the carnival! We're all going to go play games, ride the rides, cheer Applejack on in the rodeo, eat super-duper ultra-tasty overly deep fried goodness! Come on!" She says in her usual cheery manner. Oh, that's right, the thing Applejack was practicing for.

"Alright, I'll go with you, just let me get ready" I say as I step aside and allow her in.

"Okey dokey lokey!" She says as she hopes in. I go upstairs and get dressed quickly. I really miss shoes. I need to make time either today or tomorrow to get some made, hopefully they won't cost too much. Once I'm ready I head downstairs and find Pinkie sitting on the couch, humming to herself.

"Hey, this isn't a... party... is it?"

"Nopey dopey wopey. It's more of a... social gathering."

"Social gathering... right. Well, let’s get going then, we don't want to be late..."

"We're already late" Pinkie says as she hopes off.

I shut the door behind me and follow her, why she skips I'll never know. "What do you mean we're late?"

"Silly, the carnival started at twelve."

"And?"

"It's three."

"Three? Do you mean fifteen hundred?"

"If you want to go by griffin time then yes." Fuck me over. I haven't slept that long since.... oh wow. Tomorrow is going to suck. "Hey Miles, are you alright? You look as if something is troubling you."

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just... wondering about what a carnival is."

"It's the annual Ponyville carnival. It's to celebrate the founding of Ponyville. I help plan and organize it almost every year, so I know it'll be super-duper fun!"

"If you say so."

"Just stick with me and you'll see, now come on! We're missing out in carnival time!" See says as she quickens her hops, making me pick up the pace. We go through Ponyville until we come out of the southern district where we find the carnival. It's made up into three parts. To the left is an assortment of contraptions that ponies are riding, about eight are in view, but there's space for more. To the right is a large track where some ponies in hats similar to Applejack's are doing various contest. In between those two are an assortment of tents, some selling food, others having games with oversized toy prizes. It's fairly crowed, but getting around really shouldn't be a problem.

"Wow... what should we do first?" I ask, getting my stomach to yell at me.

"I think we should get food first" Pinkie says with a laugh as she hopes towards the tents. I follow her into the crowd and look around. All of the foods here look sugary.... fuck yeah. Most of the residents of Ponyville that I see don't really pay me any attention, but all of the new comers stare at me in disbelief. Oh the joys of being foreign. We come to a stop at a stall that's selling pink and blue puffs of... I'm not entirely sure what to call it.

"What is this?"

"Silly it's cotton candy, let’s get one!" We go to the counter and each get one, pinkie getting pink and me with blue. I watch her stick the entire thing into her mouth and devour it all in a single gulp. I have a feeling that was a Pinkie Pie thing. I try to bite a chunk out, but the instant it touches my tongue it turns to sugary water goodness.

"Wow... that's weird."

"How so?"

"Well, it went from a solid to a liquid."

"Yeah and it has sugar!"

"Yeah... that too." We walk around some more as I finish up my cotton candy. It was good at first, but after a while it started to get gross, so I gave the rest to Pinkie. "Are you sure this isn't a... party?"

"Absolutely! Because I would never invite somepony to something that they wouldn't like and if I brought you to a party you didn't like then you'd run away and I would probably cry from making you uncomfortable and then Meliron would be upset and probably get mad at TB and then TB would argue with him, making RandomEncounter try to stop them and LOOK funnel cake!" She says in one breath. I look over to see a stand selling what looks like holey pancakes with white powder on them. We go over and each get one, though I not opt to get strawberries on mine. Once again, Pinkie devours her food in a single illogical bite, ending it with a satisfied sigh. I use the fork they gave me and try a chunk. What is it about anything being pancake related being awesome? I eat this with much more gusto, finishing it relativity quickly.

"Hot damn that was good, so what now?"

"Well, Applejack won't be competing until six, so let’s...." She starts to say but stops when she see's someone walking towards us.

"Hey baby, what’s happening?" Asks a pale earth pony with a long brown hair and a silhouette of a pony on a pole as a cutie mark.

"What are you doing here Squishy?" Pinkie asks cruelly.

"Aw come on now honey, why ya gotta be like that? You know I'm always where the party's at" Squishy says giving a wiggle with his eyebrows.

"Party..."

"It's not that! It's a social gather!" Pinkie yells, ending my thought process.

"Whatever you want to call it, if it's happening, imma be there. Now if you excuse me, I have a client to find" he says as he walks off, swaying his hips side to side.

"Good leave" Pinkie says as she walks away from him, holding her head up high.

"Jealous?" Squishy asks from a distance.

"As if!" Pinkie says as she gets further away. I shake my head and run up to Pinkie.

"Who was that guy?"

"Squishy Trap. He's a... entertainer..."

"Like what you do?"

"What! No way Jose! I make ponies smile and happy!"

"And… he doesn't?" I ask, getting Pinkie to look away. "Wow, I didn't think it was possible for you to hate someone..."

"I don't hate him... I just disagree with every choice he's ever made and would like to never see him again."

"Yeah... that's not hate, anyway, we've got some time to kill, let’s go check out the rides."

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie says in her usual cheerful manner. We make our way into the ride section where the sound of ponies screaming in joy and rides moving around fills the air. "Let's do the teacups!" Pinkie says as she runs off for one of the rides. This one has six cups that you sit in as the platform it sits on spins around, powered by a unicorn at the entrance to the ride. Inside the cups is a disk that you apparently pull on to make the cup spin faster. As we wait in line, Pinkie starts telling me about her secret technique for getting the cups to spin the fastest. Once we get to the cups I have to basically sit cross legged to fit, with Pinkie sitting in my lap. Once the platform starts to spin we immediately start working together to get the cup to spin. I don't think it was made for a human to pull on it, because we get going fairly quickly. Soon the world around us becomes a blur as we spin faster and faster around. "WWEEEE! Don't stop!"

"Are you kidding! I'm about to fly out..."

"Faster!" I keep pulling on the disk, spinning the cup even faster around. With every revolution of the platform, we toss and turn until I feel something begin to stop us. I look down to see the aura field of the unicorn stopping us. "Aww, we're slowing down" Pinkie says as she pouts. Oh fuck yes... I seriously thought I was going to fly out. I've never been so dizzy in all of my life. I can't even think right now, let alone walk away. The ride operator tried to yell at us, but as soon as he saw our faces he just laughed and walked away.

"Aw... ugh... Pinkie.... I feel as if I'm going to puke my brains out."

"Yeah.... me to.... worth it... let’s do the Ferris wheel.... it'll calm us down."

"If you say so." We stumble our way to the line for the Ferris wheel and wait for it's our turn. By the time we get a cart I'm feeling much better, but Pinkie still looks a little green. This ride is basically a giant standing wheel with carts in it, standing around thirty meters tall. The operator uses his magic to spin the wheel in place and you just sit there. Seems calm enough. We get on and wait for the other two carts to fill up. "How're you feeling now?"

"Much better."

"Yeah... let’s not do that again... I don't think my stomach can handle that much torture."

"Aw... I was gonna say we do it again after this." We share a small laugh as the wheel begins to slowly spin. Pinkie looks out the window and starts to take in the view as we get even higher up the wheel. From this height you can really see the surrounding area. You have the Everfree to the north, Applejacks farm to the west, Canterlot in the far east, and a small settlement far away in the south. The wheel comes to a stop with us at the very top. The wind up here is crisp and cool as it blows at a brisk pace.

"Damn, who'd think that the air gets cooler the higher you go."

"Hey, I think I can see Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie says as she sticks half her body out the window.

"Pinkie, be careful..."

"HEY RAINBOW! RAINBOOOOOOOW AAAAAAAHHH!" She screams as she falls out the window. I jump after her and try to grab her tail, but miss it. I jump out of the window and launch myself at her. She's screaming and kicking, but I manage to grab a hold of her and flip around. We hit the ground with a solid thud, making a small crater with me standing in the middle, holding a shaken Pinkie.

"You alright?" I ask as I set her down.

"Y-yeah... thanks Miles... you saved my life."

"Yeah I.." I start to say but stop when I hear the moans of metal bending. I look over to see the Ferris wheel starting to tilt away from us. Dropping Pinkie, I flare my hands and grab a hold of the structure, trying to get it to stand still. I pull down, making it stand back in its correct position. I hold it there until they empty all of the carts and tether it down. Once they finish, I let go and step back. It gives a small wiggle, but stays standing. "Damn, that was..." I start to say but stop when the crowd around me starts cheering. I rub the back of my neck and try to be modest about it, but after a few minutes of them not letting up, I decide to take Pinkie and leave the area.

"Thank you so so so much Miles! I really owe you..."

"Pinkie, for the hundredth time, don't worry about it. It wasn't that big of a..."

"Yes it was! Miles, you saved my life! That's like an ultra-omega gigantic deal!"

"Well... just promise me you'll try to be safer."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She says as she crosses her heart, flaps her legs and pokes her eye.... OK. We walk towards the bottom of the ride area where we hear the sound of music filling the air. "Ooo, let’s go dance!" Pinkie says as she runs off towards the music. We find a mass of ponies dancing in an open area. Pinkie has already jumped into the mass, knocking ponies out of the way as she bounces her way in. I try to stand this one out, but Pinkie ran back over to me and pulled me into the mass of dancing ponies. I just do a little shuffle and try to make my way out, but a group of ponies to my right push me further into the crowd. Everyone just seems to be jumping around, having a good time, so I join in. We jump around, kicking, spinning, anything to move around. Pinkie is swaying side to side, knocking anyone unfortunate enough to be next to her over. I look around and find the DJ bobbing his head at a turn table. He's all grey with blue hair that ends in red. He's wearing thick blue head phones and his mark seems to be a tombstone with arms and head phones. I look back to Pinkie, who’s trying to tell me something, but I can't hear her over the music.

"What?!" I yell out. She shakes her head and motions for me to follow, which I do. We walk out of the crowd and start heading for the contest area.

"I said, we have to get going or else we'll miss Applejack's contest, duh!"

"Alright, well, let’s get going then." We walk towards a set of bleachers where we find all of the other girls waiting for the contest to start.

"Did you guys see the Ferris wheel earlier?!" Rainbow Dash asks excitedly.

"Uhuh" Pinkie says nonchalantly as she takes her seat next to her.

"Yeah, that was us" I say as I sit behind her, next to Big Mac.

"My heavens dear, what happened?" Rarity asks, getting Pinkie to explode in a frenzy of storytelling. I lean back and look over to Big Mac.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?"

"EEyup."

"Is the farm going to be alright without you?"

"EEyup."

"You realize that you could very well die during this, right?"

"EEyup."

"I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise, am I?"

"NNope."

"Well, hope you're ready" I mumble to myself as the contest begins. The contest come and go, with Applejack winning most of the events, I tried to focus, but I kept losing my focus when other thoughts came to mind, I still managed to cheer along though. With Pinkie, Rainbow and I, we're easily are the loudest cheering section for any of the competitors. Applejack takes home a blue ribbon, which I think signifies first. When they finish everything, we head down to congratulate her on her performance.

"WOO, way to go Applejack!" Pinkie says as she waves a flag with an apple on it.... when did she get that?

"Yeah, you were totally awesome!" Rainbow cheers as she pats her back.

"Awe shucks y'all, yer embarrassin me. Thank ya kindly fer comin out ta cheer me on."

"Think nothing of it dear, we'll always be here to cheer Ponyville’s best athlete on... you and Rainbow Dash" Rarity says, eyeing the two of them.

"Great job Applejack, primi de multis."

"Uh... what?"

"First of many, well... it's getting late. I would like to stay and congratulate you some more, but I really need to get going. Congrats again on getting the blue." I say as I start to back away.

"Aw. Can't you stay a little longer?" Pinkie asks.

"Heh... sorry, but time is of the essence on this one, I'll catch you all later" I say as I wave good bye and walk home.

When I get home I start preparing for tomorrow. I go upstairs and remove my shirt and pants, putting on an old ragged pair of pants from earlier. I go down stairs and open up the back door for Lupus to run in and out. I walk into the space between the living room and kitchen and sit in the center of the open area. Last time it only took a couple of hours... how long will it take this time.

Shout out to Glyph255 for picking the food, jaime9897 for picking the song (Discord by Living Tombstone, and Rancid Muffins for picking the first ride. Thanks for reading and like always, Brony on!