“No. I won’t do anything like that,” Daimon sad as Twilight told him about the challenge.

“What? Why not?” Twilight asked surprised. “I thought you were the toughest human of your school!”

“Yes, I am,” Daimon agreed. “However, I’m not at my school right now, am I? And by the way, he is a horse, and one that spent his whole life working on field! I’m not about to try defying him at all! He’ll just trash me!”

“Ah, come on! That’s just the time for you to be not only the toughest of your school!” Rainbow Dash said looking at Daimon. “You could be the toughest human of all Ponyville!”

“I just don’t care about it!” Daimon shot back. “I’m just here for some punishment because some girly boy cursed me. And as soon as you think my punishment is done, I’m going home!”

“What? I thought you were cool!” Rainbow Dash looked at him somewhat furious.

“That’s a matter of view point, I guess,” Daimon turned his face from them and returned to his book.

Looking at him, Twilight had an idea. She enveloped the book on her levitation field, closed it and lifted the book from his hand, returning it to its proper shelf. Daimon looked at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“It’s supposed to be a punishment, right?” Twilight asked back. “So you won’t be doing anything you like when there’s something to learn about friendship.”

“And how a challenge like this can teach me anything about friendship?” Daimon looked at Rainbow Dash and back at Twilight.

“Easy!” the cyan pegasus said with a large smile in her face. “The rivalry of competitions can create valuable friends! I have a few friends back at Cloudsdale that once upon a time were rivals!” then Rainbow Dash chuckled. “And some of them still are my friends and my rivals!”

Daimon let out a sigh. “There’s no way I’m talking myself out of this, there is?” he asked looking at the duo. They only shook their heads though. “Fine. Whatever.”

***

Twilight had dug out, after some hard time cursing, a spare mattress from the basement. Handing him the bedding that he could use, she helped him upstairs where they could sleep. The night had come sooner than they thought, and the next day promised to be rather exhaustive, at least for Daimon.

“There. Place your mattress somewhere,” Twilight said as she took Spike’s basket and placed it closer to her bed.

“Are we going to sleep in the same room?” Daimon looked somewhat puzzled.

“Do you have any problem with that?” Twilight asked. “It’s either there or downstairs at the lobby.”

“It’s just a bit surprising that you are inviting me to share a room,” I looked at her. “Not that anything would happen, but its tradition…”

“Don’t worry. Spike will keep an eye out for you,” she said with a smile.

As he prepared his bed, Daimon couldn’t help but to think there was actually a joke out there, somewhere. After his bed ready, the human just went to bathroom to take a quick bath before sleeping and then, remembered he had no clean clothes at all. Returning with his clothes wrapped to the room, with only his underwear on, Daimon commented that to Twilight.

“Well… If you haven’t noticed, most ponies walk around nude,” was her answer.

“It’s a human thing you know?” Daimon answered back, getting under his blanket. “First, we don’t quite have a fur coat to hide our skin from the cold and such. Second, our… parts, get all upfront. Everyone… I mean… everypony can see it.”

“You, humans, are so strange…” Twilight chuckled.

“Funny… I was about to say the same…” Daimon answered. Then they decided to just shut up and get some sleep. Daimon would need all his energy the following day.

***

After a breakfast, Daimon prepared himself mentally for the tests the following day. As Twilight kept telling him, ponies and humans had about the same size, so their muscles should be equally strong.

Daimon, though, knew that wasn’t quite true. Equine musculature is denser and, because of that, stronger than human. He was going to be totally pounded.

However, he had a surprise when he saw who was going to be his challenger. There was the blond orange mare with the cowboy hat, smiling at him, with forelegs crossed.

“Hey there, big boy!” she called upon seeing him. “I had a talk with muh brother. He seems to agree that it would not be fair with ya, so Ah decided to challenge ya muhself!”

Daimon looked around. There was quite an amount of ponies waiting to watch the challenge. He then focused on Applejack, “So how are we going to do it?”

“A better o’ three. Ya pick a challenge, Ah pick one and Twi pick the last. The one that win two is the winner,” Applejack offered.

“I agree with some rules,” Daimon said. “First rule is not a pony or human-only challenge, as for example a singing egg-run or things like that. I know that would be kinda impossible for you to sing and held a spoon with an egg in your mouth at same time.”

Applejack nodded, “You’re being fair, pardner! I like that!”

“Second rule: let’s try making something productive. Not strength or endurance only tests. Make something worth doing and that both has chances to put skills on the test,” there was another nod from the orange pony. “Is that fine for you Jack?”

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Applejack said with a large smile.

“Ladies first, choose your destiny,” Daimon said with a challenging smile.

“What about a little horseshoes game first?” Applejack called.

“Oh man… he’s getting trashed!” Rainbow Dash commented from somewhere above them.

“Bring it on!” Daimon said nonetheless.

After preparations ready, they were set a certain distance from the stake and each were given five horseshoes. Applejack went first, missing by little the first shot. Daimon doesn’t do much better though, also missing the first. Applejack’s next shot though hits the stake, but the horseshoe doesn’t quite stay on it.

“Aw… Horseapples…” she cursed.

Daimon just shook his head, taking aim and shooting his horseshoe. It land around the stake, earning him his first point in the game. Applejack then hits the stake dead-on with the next shot of hers. Daimon misses his third shot by very little, so they keep tied at one point each.

On the next shot, Applejack scores another point and all the ponies began to clap their hooves. Daimon giggled and shot his best. Two points for the mare, one for Daimon, though.

Daimon’s only chance was Applejack missing the next shot. If not, there was no way he could reach her. She prepared herself, took aim and lanced the horseshoe. Spinning it went and hit the stake, spinning one time. All eyes were upon it now. A second turn around the stake and most ponies were approaching. After the third spin, though, the iron horseshoe hit the others and stood. Everypony cheered and clapped hooves at that.

Daimon shook his head, but kept a smile. “So you have dexterity and aim,” he said. “And probably strength too and I’m not about taking you in a race. At least not in a clean track,” he said with a challenging smile. “Hey ponies! Help us producing a nice track with obstacles! That’s the challenge two!” Daimon claimed as the ponies ran towards somewhere to prepare the track.

Applejack approached him. “A race with obstacles? Are ya sure?”

“There’s more than plain speed in an obstacle course. Even more when it’s the first time you’re running. And I’m quite skilled at doing these kinds of runs.”

Applejack chuckled at that. “So ya will fight muh skill at last challenge with one ya had skills?”

“The best course of action,” he said with a smile. “Also, asking ponies to make a track, I assure you that a pony can do this.”

She just nodded and sat there while the track was prepared. It took a while, and then Twilight came to fetch them when the track was done.

“It’s pretty simple,” Twilight said with a smile. “Pinkie Pie marked the checkpoints with candy canes. Every candy cane is at sight line with the next. The start line has also two candy canes, so you will have to pick the first there, hold it until the next and give to the pony on the next check point, grab the next candy cane and so on. There is a total of two checkpoints plus the finish line. The first to get to the finish line and finish off his candy cane wins. Any question?”

“That’s a typical Pinkie Pie idea!” Applejack said with a smile.

They were placed at the start line and could see it wasn’t going to be easy. There was all kind of challenges, as things to crawl under or to pass over. Some had a proper way to pass as an additional challenge. And all this only to the first checkpoint!

“There are still chances for you to back off,” Daimon offered.

“In ya dreams! Give ya best shot!”

Both of them got ready. “The start will be given by Pinkie Pie’s party cannon,” Twilight said. “Ready! Set!” there was a loud sound of something exploding and lots of confetti started raining. “GO!”

And the two, pony and human, got their first candy cane and were off.

The first challenge was a wagon placed with crates upon it so only crawl would let you pass. Until there, though, Applejack got a nice lead. However, she slowed down to crawl under. Daimon though, just closed his eyes, braced himself and threw him sideway under the cart, rolling and, in the process, getting the lead. The ponies got crazy with that! He wasn’t done yet. Now was a rope-web he had to climb up and down and surely his lead would be reduced in there. He had an advantage, though: he had hands, so he could jump and grab the ropes. Then, placing himself in a position he could climb easier, he looked at Applejack. She was already getting close at him. Climbing as fast as he could, Daimon noticed that the orange mare was very good at climbing and was reaching him. He would have an edge on the changing of sides.

Or so he thought. When he was half way down, Applejack reached the top and just jumped down. Daimon cursed a bit and also jumped and resumed his running. The next challenge was another wagon. This time it was to be climbed as a rule and Applejack was half way through it when Daimon managed to reach. He, though, had advantage there, jumping and using his hands to climb to the next crate up and then to the next, mostly ignoring the middle boxes that Applejack had to use for step for the next level and was even easier to get down than for the pony.

Behind the boxes was the first checkpoint. At Daimon’s side was a cute white unicorn filly, rather like Rarity, only with dual colored mane. He handed her the candy cane, grabbed the next one and rushed to the next checkpoint. The first challenge after the checkpoint was to move a rather heavy chart to one specified side, not to get in the middle of the other’s way. The charts were named, so you should move yours only.

Daimon placed both hands on his cart and positioned his feet so they wouldn’t slip and pushed as strong as he could. It wasn’t all that heavy, but was a challenge after all. He managed to finish that a bit earlier than Applejack and still held the lead. However, there was a small part only for running, where the pony gained vantage. Both looked to each other and gave a smile. They were really enjoying this!

This one was a rather strange challenge and Daimon had to grin. If a pony set it up, a pony could do it. A medium sized pole had been covered in oil and had the next candy cane on its top. Looking to both sides, he saw another filly there, one orange pegasus with pink hair, that was rather eager to receive her candy cane. Giving the candy to the pegasus, Daimon took off his shirt and wrapped it around his neck with its sleeves, jumped and hugged the pole, using all his might to get up. He also noticed that Applejack was having the same problems.

Eventually they reached the top and managed to get the candy canes and, from up there, saw the finish line. Placing his candy cane on his mouth, Daimon began to slide down the pole and turned the corner to rush towards the finish line. Then he saw the next quick succession of small obstacles: a few crates to jump over, followed by a cart to crawl under and, of course, the candy cane itself to finish.

Daimon jumped and rolled over the crates, while Applejack just jumped above them. He then jumped and rolled under the cart, noticing that the pony had learned with him that trick, and quickly got up to rush at the end line, still with the candy cane in his mouth, already sucking at it to finish a bit faster.

Stopping at the finish line, both he and Applejack almost at same time started to suck the candy cane, trying to finish the sweet candy as soon as possible. Daimon was using his teeth to take small pieces of the candy while still sucking on it, making softer and easier to swallow. He ended up winning that competition for little more than half a minute and all the ponies cheered at how that human had managed to keep up with Applejack, and getting the lead more often than not.

Both exhausted, they just laid down and panting hard. Twilight, though, chuckled. “Well, last challenge will be restoring strength and replaying the route back to the start, the pole included,” Twilight said with a smile. “If both of you are that tough, you must restore your strength as soon as possible!”

Daimon and Applejack at first laughed at the very silly idea, but then began taking deep breaths, trying to restore their strength quickly. Daimon, though, surprised everyone by getting up a lot sooner than Applejack and rushing back the track. The pony decided to follow him and quickly got up as well.

Rolling down, getting up and rolling over the crates, Daimon quickly took off his shirt, already throwing it around the pole. Most of the oil they had taken off on their way up so with his shirt acting as a support, he reached the top rather easy, while the late-start pony still had a bit of work getting up. The sprint was Applejack’s chance to make up some of the distance, but all she managed to do was recover the time he gained with his stunt at the pole.

Pulling his cart back, though, proved to be a rather hard task for Daimon. Applejack approached dangerously close while he did so. Soon, though he was running again and before he knew it, he was climbing the boxes and the cart back. Going down was the tricky part: neither of them could easily jump out that height safely. Next was the rope climbing, which he jumped as high as he could and quickly made his way to the top. Panting heavily, he knew that Applejack wasn’t going to let him get over easily, so he got down a few steps and jumped out, placing his hands on the ground before resuming his sprint. Applejack was almost at his side by now.

It was the last challenge now, a cart to crawl under and a small sprint. Jumping and rolling under it, Daimon got up as quickly as he could and ran. Not losing his focus from the finish line, Daimon ran to it as fast as he could and only allowed himself fall to the ground, after crossing it.

Panting really hard, his lungs burning, and his legs not answering him at all, not counting the bruises for throwing himself at the ground so many times, he was recovering his strengths now.

“You’re… very tough… pardner…” Daimon heard Applejack’s voice.

He managed to turn his tired head and look at the mare with a large smile in his face. “You’re… not so… bad… after all…” he answered.

“WOW! This was an awesome race!” Rainbow Dash said flying above them. “I couldn’t even see who had won!”

“But I have!” Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

“That’s not actually the point, Pinkie.” Twilight said with a smile. “This challenge wasn’t to see who returned first. It was to see who recovered enough strength to do it all again first. Daimon won for getting up sooner than Applejack.”

“Aw… Horseapples…” Applejack said, trying to laugh while panting.

All that Daimon managed to do was to close his fist into a thumb up and open a wide smile while panting. “In your face…” was all he managed to say for quite a while.

***

To gather all ponies of Ponyville to a party, Pinkie Pie had asked for the Apples’ Barn. However, Twilight agreed that Daimon had more pressing problems.

After heading home and taking a bath, Twilight took the human to the Carousel Boutique. Rarity already warned about their visit was expecting them with the lunch ready.

“You sure are a tough pony… I mean, human, Daimon…” Rarity said while they ate. “Trust me, it’s very hard to keep up with Applejack, let alone win!”

“It has been a long time that I don’t do this just for the fun of it…” Daimon said with a large smile. “I had forgotten how much fun I used to have before, when I did this for the fun of it.”

“There in Ponyville, though, you will understand that we only wish the best for you, Daimon,” Twilight said. “Oh… And I sent a letter to Princess Celestia about your family. She told me that someone is taking care of them for you.”

“How are you sure of that?” he asked.

“She hasn’t brought the details up. You have two options to confirm it though,” Twilight said. “The first is writing to Princess Celestia yourself. Maybe for you she’s willing to answer. The second is getting to Canterlot and ask her in person.”

“Let’s try the letter first,” he said. “It was very good, Rarity. I’m afraid, though, that as a human I will need more than just vegetables and fruits.”

“Oh… I see…” Rarity said. “Well… there are a few griffin merchants and griffins need meat as well, so… You may get it from them.”

“Good to know. I will go find some myself and then find a way to raise some money,” Daimon nodded.

“While you don’t find a proper job, you can go making odd jobs around the town,” Twilight asked. “There are jobs that can only be done by unicorns because of our telekinesis. But Ponyville is mostly composed by earth ponies, so that help would be welcome.”

“I will consider it, Twilight. Thank you.”

“Now, Rarity, the reason for me calling you,” Twilight said looking at her pony friend. “Daimon needs some clothes more than the one he was wearing at the race.”

“Making clothes for humans? Hmmm… that would be a challenge,” Rarity said. “Well, if you need it, we should get started. We don’t want you getting to the party Pinkie Pie is preparing with this same clothing, right?”

Daimon only nodded. “However, I would like something simpler,” he warned. “I’m not one to enjoy calling too much attention.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rarity said. “If you will come with me, I had to take some measures. And I would also like to have a look at your clothing, so I can see better how they are done to have a proper general idea.”

“Okay.”

After a reasonable time taking measurements, Rarity declared done. She made a few questions like tight or loose, and plain or many details. Then, Daimon helped Rarity with a few templates of both sleeved and sleeveless shirts, shorts and pants and some underwear as well. Then he had to explain why the underwear for Twilight.

His answer was simple enough, “I don’t know what purpose is the underwear. However, every human wears, so there must be a meaning behind it.”

Twilight insisted that he should think on the reason, but after the fourth time or so he answered ‘I don’t know’, she let it slip.

Daimon didn’t have to wait much for his first set of new clothes. Plain simple, Rarity offered them so he could prove. A simple plain moss green sleeved shirt and long light gray pants made a nice visual. After working a bit on his hair, and repeatedly dismissing Rarity’s help with that, Daimon made an appearance. His short black hair was now laid backwards with a few nice strands falling over his face. Rarity suppressed a wish to whistle at the bad boy face Daimon now had. Not menacing, not intimidating, but inexplicable attractive.

“Wow… such a difference view…” Twilight commented with a smile.

“This is just the typical me in fact,” Daimon said with a smile. He knew very well the effect it had on the girls and supposed it wasn’t that different from the mares.

“You’re going to turn a few heads at the party, that’s for sure!” Rarity commented. Then she whispered to Twilight, “Too bad he’s not a stallion though…”

Not wanting to embarrass his hostess with any comment, Daimon just registered that whisper and held a grin. “So, shall we go? If I remember right, the farm isn’t that close to Ponyville,” Daimon commented instead. “The party is to celebrate my victory, so I don’t want to seem like I put a tough face and show them I’m a lazy.”

The two mares nodded at him and they headed to Sweet Apple Acres. Next Chapter: Episode 04: The Forest Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes