Here we are with another chapter fairly quickly. Thank you for the support on the first chapter. I am glad I decided to just do this remaster and found myself looking forward to expanding and improving from the original version.

Hope you enjoy and have a great day

Marcus took a relaxing breath as he entered the school cafeteria and received smiles and nods from his fellow peers. He sheepishly smiled and waved back, before he began to make his way to his usual table, only for his vision to turn pink as he felt something soft and poofy lightly rubbing against his face. Like how thunder always comes after lightning, Pinkie’s excited greeting came not that long after her surprise appearance.

“Hello, Marky!”

“Pinkie, must you always greet me like this?” He asked as he felt a chunk of her hair lightly rubbing against his nose.

“Of course! I missed you and unlike what happened with Sunny, I am not letting the chance to give my new friend some affection pass me by!” She began cheerfully and forcibly with a giggle.

“You greeted me this morning and may I still point out that we just met three days ago.”

“So? I always like to greet my friends at any opportunity,” Pinkie argued innocently in a cheerful tone, “Though, I admit I have taken more of a liking to you than I do for most.”

What? Before he could question her and ask what she meant by that he suddenly sneezed.

“Oh, bless you, Marky!” She began with another giggle, “Now, let’s go meet with the others!”

One of the most surprising things for Marcus after joining Canterlot High was how friendly and welcoming everyone seemed to be. Most of all is the excited girl who seems to lack the concept of personal space, though even more surprising is how Marcus doesn’t mind the acts of affection from the adorable and cheerful girl in front of him. In fact he actually really likes it.

“Ok,” He responded simply, before managing to separate from her.

Pinkie managed to resist the urge to pout and followed him to their table. The others were chilling and eating their lunch. Rainbow and Applejack were joking around and teasing one another. Rarity was sharing the latest gossip with Fluttershy, who shyly nodded to whatever she said. However, Sunset was eating her lunch with a smile that seemed completely forced.

“Hello girls. I brought our new friend here!” Pinkie greeted as she hopped back into her usual seat between Sunset and Fluttershy.

Marcus took a seat at his usual spot and quickly placed his lunch onto the table. He could barely hear Fluttershy mutter agreements to Rarity’s statements.

“Yeah, as you usually do, Pinkie,” Rainbow quipped.

“What are you girls up to?” He asked as he unwrapped his sandwich.

“Just explaining to Applejack how better I am than her at most things,” Rainbow responded with a cocky smile.

“Last I checked, Rainbow, you couldn’t beat me or Applebloom at armwrestling, nor could you during our drinking competition with our family’s special apple cider.”

“I was just having an off day those times,” Rainbow pouted bitterly and surprisingly cutely.

“So, interested in a rematch?” Applejack teased with a smirk.

Rainbow could only groan bitterly in defeat.

“Sorry about her, Marcus,” Applejack began with a chuckle, “She talks a big game, but always folds like a stack of cards when she meets her match and I am happy to say I am one of a few that can cause her to, especially when it comes to games of strength.”

“Good for you,” He responded, before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Speaking of strength, you look like you keep in shape quite well yourself,” She began as she glanced at his noticeable muscular arms, ”My family are looking for some hired help and you look like you can handle it.”

“I have been thinking about getting a job once I finish getting settled in,” He admitted with a smile, “I will be sure to think about it.”

“Well, at any rate I should show you around at our family shop. We have the best apple products in town and do have a bit of a promotion going around.”

“Promotion?”

There’s a reason Rainbow tried to beat me and my sister at armwrestling and outdrinking us,” Applejack began with a smile and shot Rainbow a cocky look that made the rainbow haired girl groan in defeat once again, “Anyone who can beat an Apple at either gets free apple products for a year.”

“Her cider is so good and sweet but getting it for free will only make it sweeter,” Rainbow grumbled bitterly.

“That’s interesting. I will keep that in mind.”

“Well, aside from the few times I ever lose,” Rainbow began bitterly, ignoring the cocky look on Applejack’s face, “The next sports season starts soon, so let me know.” She added, getting a nod in response.

“Good afternoon, Marcus, darling,” Rarity began with a flirty smile and wink, making him lightly blush, “I trust you have been settling in well and have been enjoying your first week here.”

“Yes, you girls have been nice and welcoming,” He responded nervously while sheepishly rubbing his head.

Perhaps, a little too nice and welcoming, but he certainly wasn’t complaining too much. This seems like a nice place for a fresh start. Perhaps, he could make some friends and live well and comfortably here.

“Speaking of that, I was wondering if you wanted to finally hang out after school, Marky?” Pinkie asked with a beaming and begging look on her face.

“I… I’d like to, but….”

“Yippie!” Pinkie interrupted with a cheer, “We get to start and enjoy the weekend with our new friend. Oh, what should we do? We could…”

“Pinkie.”

“How about we show you around town?”

“Pinkie.”

“No, how about I take you to Sugarcube Corner, where I work?”

“Pinkie!”

“No…. I know….”

“Pinkie! I would like to, but I still have to finish unpacking and….”

“Oh, no worries, Marky, we will help you with that,” Pinkie interrupted again with a smile.

“You will?”

“Yep, we are more than happy to begin the weekend by helping out then we can get right to something more fun, right guys?” Pinkie responded, getting nods from the others.

“Yep!” Rainbow simply agreed.

“With all seven of us it shouldn’t take that long,” Applejack added.

“Like Pinkie said it’s no trouble and we are happy to help, darling,” Rarity assured him with another wink.

Fluttershy simply nodded in agreement.

“Sure, we are more than happy to help you out,” Sunset agreed with another forced smile.

Despite not buying the smile, Marcus nodded and forced a smile of his own.

“Right. Thank you girls. I guess wait for me after school and I will lead you all there.” He told them, getting nods in agreement.

Marcus took a relaxing breath as he felt the cool fall air on his skin and he briefly ignored the awed looks of the girls as they glanced at his home. They were completely surprised when he led them to the more wealthy area of the town and that he lived in a nice manor with enough room for a large family to live comfortably. He quickly found and used his front door key to open it.

“Come on in girls, before a few flies decide to invade your mouths,” He quipped, before entering.

The girls blinked and gave each other a look, before they slowly made their way inside. They found themselves in a large living room that only had a few furniture. There was a large couch at one end of the room facing a large flat screen television on the opposing wall. Between them was a large table with a large candle and a few coasters. A good half of the living room, however, was filled with a bunch of boxes. The girls shared another surprised look as he effortlessly stacked a couple large boxes in his arms and walked closer to the them.

“Well, are you going to ask the question that is on all of your minds, or….”

“You live here?” Rainbow blurted out in shock.

“Yes, my father owns his own mining company and thought it would be great for me to live out here alone to make some friends.” He simply answered, “Now, I guess you girls each grab a box and we open its contents together, then I will guide you to where it all should go.”

The girls nodded and they each got to work. Applejack and Rainbow did most of the work, though Rainbow tried to turn it into a competition by trying to outdo Applejack, only for Marcus to have to intervene and prevent her from dropping and potentially breaking anything. Rarity and Fluttershy being weaker helped with the smaller boxes, though they didn’t mess up with anything. Pinkie being her, tried to rush it in order to get done asap and get straight to the fun, ended up moving things to where they don’t belong. Sunset tried her hardest to stop it, but since it was again Pinkie it was futile.

“Well, despite someone almost dropping one of the largest boxes, though luckily it only contained all the plastic dishes,” Marcus began, getting an annoyed groan from Rainbow as the others chuckled, “Not to mention someone deciding to rush and not wait for me to decide where some of it should go,” He added, getting a sheepish giggle from Pinkie as the others shook their heads, “You girls were a great help.”

“Glad to help, Marky!” Pinkie responded with a cheerful smile and giggle, “Now, we can have fun and get to know you more.”

“Now that everything is unpacked, I guess I can give you a proper tour and show you around,” He suggested, getting nods of agreement.

Marcus led the girls upstairs and into one of the first rooms on the right. Sunset’s eyes widened and practically shot out of her skull. She and the others had entered a large room filled with various classic arcade cabinets in one half, with another large flat screen television on the wall of the other half of the room. Underneath the television was a large table with countless different gaming consoles from over the decades and besides it was a large and expensive looking gaming PC. Everywhere else were large shelves filled with countless games. Drool began to form and fall from underneath Sunset’s mouth as she continued to gaze at the room in awe.

“I take it you like the room?” He quipped with a chuckle.

Sunset could only nod sheepishly while blushing hotly as he chuckled once again at how adorable she looked. Her blush deepened as the others joined in, before she awkwardly began chuckling herself.

“I guess we have time to play a quick round or two before moving on, if you want?” He offered.

“Yes!” She squealed in excitement with a cheerful grin, causing his heart to melt at the sight of her giving a more genuine smile for once, “I… I mean sure, I don’t mind,” She added sheepishly, before taking a relaxing breath.

He nodded, before he quickly looked through his collection of fighting games and picked one he thought would be best for now. He then placed it in the console and grabbed a couple wireless controllers.

“I should warn you that I have never lost against someone at this,” Sunset told him, managing to sound more confident as she took the controller.

“Yeah, she always beats Applejack and I during sleepovers,” Rainbow added bitterly

“Really? Well, I am undefeated at this game myself, so that should make this more interesting,” he responded, before quickly setting up the match.

Sunset only gave him a cocky look in response. Not long after she first arrived to this world, she discovered her love of gaming and like with many things was naturally great at them. At the earliest opportunity, she snuck back to Equestria and got a bunch of valuable gems, which apparently is more rare here and managed to get a nice apartment. She then filled it with a nice collection of gaming computers and consoles with a sizable collection of games. She even started doing streams to earn extra money on the side and quickly became known as the gaming queen, where she ruthlessly showed her dominance at gaming. She still does it, though now has a much softer approach to it. Thankfully, most of her audience is from across the world, so they are unaware of her terrible past and she doesn’t have to deal with too much hate because of that fact. At any rate, she has never lost so far and she isn’t starting now. She mentally giggled as she waited for the match to start. This shouldn’t take too long and hopefully that means more matches for her to win…

“Ten seconds?” Rainbow questioned with her jaw dropping to the floor and she wasn’t the only one.

The others could only glance from the results screen and back to each other rapidly in pure shock.

“Ten seconds for Sunset to lose,” Applejack managed to finish, once she and the others managed to snap out of it, “I… I never thought she actually could lose, but to suddenly and without warning see her lose so quickly and effortlessly was surreal.”

The others could only nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, Sunset was frozen in pure shock, disbelief, and even anger as she could only focus on the result screen. How could it happen? She was undefeated and a natural, yet somehow he managed to effortlessly and quickly beat her!

“That was a good match,” He began with a smile, snapping Sunset out of it, “Want to do another?”

“Yes! Best two out of three! I wasn’t completely ready!” She quickly blurted out in annoyance and determination.

He simply nodded with a grin and pressed the rematch button. Sunset took a relaxing breath and narrowed her eyes, more than ready not to be taken off guard this time. She was cocky and underestimated him. That led to her downfall and she won’t repeat that mistake this time.

When the round began, she was quick and extra careful. She managed to dodge and avoid most of his hits, though he did the same to her own onslaught. As the round continued and dragged on and on, he managed to land more hits than her which caused her to quickly become more annoyed.

“What?! I had you! How did you manage to avoid damage when I hit you?!” She complained bitterly, after he managed to block a devastating final hit from her combo.

“Experienced players learn and manage to master the timing of the invincibility frames to avoid the most damaging of hits from combos,” He explained calmly with a smile, “Natural talent, while great generally speaking, can only take you so far and to be the best you have to practice each game and master their tricks.”

Sunset could only groan bitterly in response and take a relaxing deep breath, before she nodded when realizing the merits of his advice. This opened her up for him to perform the same brutal combo as payback and unlike him couldn’t evade or block it in time, leading to her defeat.

“It also helps not to get distracted,” He quipped with a chuckle.

No one chuckled with him as the girls could only once again view the results scream with stunned looks on their faces.

“Tough crowd,” He grumbled playfully, before shrugging.

Sunset once again found herself staring at the results screen completely stunned. She had lost and it wasn’t a fluke, or her underestimating him. She had lost against someone fair and square. Against someone more skilled than her. Against a handsome and nice boy. Wait, what? She shook her head to clear her mind. Not only is he handsome and nice, but he is skilled and into gaming like her. Oh, she could learn a lot more from him and become even better. Now, she really wants to befriend him even more and perhaps even something more if the cards play right.

“Are you ok, Sunset?” He asked with concern, snapping her out of it.

“O-Oh, yeah,” She began nervously as she could feel her warm cheeks, before she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “That was a great and fun match. I can’t wait to play more with you.”

“Glad to hear it,” He responded back with a smile, “Now, shall we move on with the tour?”

Sunset only nodded as she managed to regain her composure while he quickly put everything away. By that point the others had gotten over their shock as well and they left the room.

Marcus then led them to another room on the opposite side of the floor. Once inside both Rainbow’s and Applejack’s eyes widened and excited smiles formed on their faces. He had led them into a workout room filled with different ways of staying fit. There were a few treadmills in one corner and a collection of different dumbbells and weights in the other. In the center was a large fridge stocked with plenty of bottles of ice cold water.

“Yes, I figured you two would like this room,” He quipped with a chuckle.

“Wow, I knew you kept in shape muscle wise but not doing cardio too,” Rainbow responded as she glanced at the treadmills.

“Of course. I tend to be more well rounded when I keep in shape.”

“Oh, now I really can’t wait to put you through the winger during our training,” Rainbow began with a challenging smirk, “Though, I want to see how strong you really are.”

“I guess we have time for a quick match,” He responded with a smile, “What do you have in mind?”

“Simple,” She began, before walking to a small table and placing an arm on it, “One quick round of armwrestling.”

“Really, Rainbow?” Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Shouldn’t you pick something you are actually good at like a competition of speed?”

“Oh, shut up! I will have you know I am pretty strong,” She shot back, “Besides, I want to save that for later and give him more of a chance before I dominate him.”

“Sure, one quick round can’t hurt,” He responded, before joining her at the table and wrapping his larger hand around hers.

“Awesome. On the count of three and no holding back. I can handle it,” She told him with a cocky grin, “One. Two. Three.”

To everyone’s amusement and Rainbow’s shock and annoyance her hand was almost instantly pinned to the table.

“You were right. It was a quick match,” He quipped with a chuckle.

“One more. I wasn’t ready!” She pouted cutely with a groan.

“Sure, since it was so quick,” He teased with a smirk and another chuckle.

Everyone else joined in, causing her to pout even more, before she managed to turn it into a look of pure determination. She narrowed her eyes as they put their hands back together.

“One. Two. Three.” She called out while giving it all she had.

The two ended up in a stalemate, but strangely while Rainbow was clearly straining and even sweating while giving it her all, he was completely unaffected and didn’t seem to be trying one iota.

“I got you now!” She called out as she wiped sweat from her forehead, “See how strong I am and how outmatched you will be during our training sessions?”

“I think it’s time to actually try,” He simply responded.

“What?” Rainbow could only ask, completely confused, before her hand was slowly pushed onto the table, “No! Come on!”

Despite her best efforts, Rainbow couldn’t stop her hand from eventually touching the table. She groaned and grunted in pure defeat with a light blush on her face. She had lost not once but twice and the worst part was she couldn’t use her usual excuse, since she actually gave it her all to no avail. Oh, now she really wants to start training this handsome stud in front of her. If he is this strong, then with her guidance CHS will be unbeatable. Wait, handsome stud?

“Well, that was fun, Rainbow,” He teased with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah. Just know this is something I am only pretty good at,” She responded hotly, “I will show you when we try something I am better at.”

“Thanks for an entertaining show, Rainbow,” Applejack cackled with a grin, “It’s nice to see someone else beating you effortlessly at armwrestling.”

“Oh, shut up!” Rainbow shouted bitterly, before taking a relaxing breath, “If you think you are so great, Applejack, why don’t you give it a try?”

Applejack grunted and was hesitant.

“I don’t mind and since those matches were quick, I can do one more before we move on,” He told them with a smile.

Applejack sheepishly smiled back and nodded, before she and Rainbow switched spots. She then unrolled her sleeves, revealing her muscular arms in their full glory and even did a few flexes. Marcus found himself staring at them in awe and looked even more forward to their match.

“I won’t lie and say I haven’t been curious, or looking forward to testing my strength against yours. Fair warning, though, the ones who have beaten me at this can be counted on one hand,” She bragged with a cocky smile, “And we Apples do this all the time.”

“You’re only making me more excited and you better live up to the hype, unlike Rainbow.”

“Hey!” Rainbow complained hotly with an embarrassed blush on her face.

The others only chuckled as Applejack placed her arm onto the table and connected her hand with his.

“Alright, on the count of three,” Applejack began as she used her other hand to remove her red scrunchie, “One. Two. Three.”

Like during his match against Rainbow, the two were in a stalemate, but unlike said match the two seemed to be treating it equally as casually. Applejack lightly grunted as she used her free hand to quickly stroke her hair, before slowly managing to get a chunk of it in her scrunchy. Right before she could finish setting it in place, he managed to move her hand closer to the table. She grunted slightly more loudly than before while quickly setting her hair in a long ponytail, instead of her usual short one.

“Impressive,” She began with a chuckle, “I see that unlike with most matches, I shouldn’t be too casual and actually focus completely on it,” She then narrowed her eyes in pure determination, “But for your information I have been holding back!”

After applying more pressure, she not only managed to return their hands back to the starting position but moved his hand a little bit closer to the table. However, much to her shock, it suddenly felt like she was pushing hard against a brick wall.

“You aren’t the only one,” He responded with his own chuckle, “Oh, and by the way a longer ponytail suits you much better than your short one.” He added with a charming smile.

“Oh, thank you,” She responded while blushing lightly.

She grunted and sweat even formed on her face as she tried to apply more pressure to no avail. His hand refused to budge one iota and her blush deepened a little. The only other person that gave her this much trouble was Big Mac. She never thought she would meet anyone else that would, especially not a handsome guy around her age. She was hoping he would be able to compete with her, but seeing that he is stronger than her is a dream come true. Which is why when her hand ended up being slowly moved to the table, she only smiled in both defeat and acceptance.

“That was a good match,” He began with a smile, “Unlike Rainbow you actually managed to live up to the hype,” He added with another chuckle.

“Hey!” Rainbow snapped bitterly as the others chuckled as well.

“Thank you, I enjoyed it too… sugarcube,” She responded with a sheepish smile and giggle, “Like I said you should come visit my family business soon, especially since you just won free cider for a year.”

“Sounds great. I will keep that in mind and maybe your job offer.”

“Great, we will work that out later and I look forward to working with you, sugarcube,” She told him with a bigger smile and even gave him a wink.

“Well, I guess we can move on to the next location,” He told the group, before making his way out of the room.

While the others quickly left, Rainbow with a grin walked right up to Applejack.

“Not that easy, huh? Did you enjoy getting easily dominated?” Rainbow teased with a chuckle.

Much to Rainbow’s surprise, Applejack nodded with her own grin.

“Yes, Rainbow, I did. Unlike you my ego isn’t as weak as paper and I actually enjoy losing to people fair and square,” She responded, before making her way out, “In fact I always had a thing for strong guys and it’s great to finally meet a handsome guy that is much stronger than me.” She mumbled to herself with a quiet giggle.

The next room he led the girls into was a large room filled with plenty of easels and tables filled with different art supplies, including paint, markers, colored pencils, and plenty of paper. The girls found themselves staring in awe at the impressive drawings on the easels and eagerly looked around.

“Marcus, darling, are these your paintings?” Rarity finally asked the question that was on the rest of the girls’ minds.

“Yeah, this is a small hobby of mine,” He answered sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, “Sorry if they aren’t any good and….”

“Good? Darling, these have to be the best paintings I have ever seen,” Rarity interrupted with a smile, “The colors and the designs of the wedding outfits of this bride and groom is much better than any clothing design I could come up with.

“Yeah, this painting of a few race cars in action is beyond cool and awesome,” Rainbow agreed.

“This painting of these little bunnies out on a nice grassy field is really adorable,” Fluttershy gushed with a giggle.

“Anyone that can’t paint a nice bowl of fruit is worthy of my praise, sugarcube,” Applejack complimented with a smile and wink.

“Oh, this lovely void of rainbow colored shapes and lines really calls out to me,” Pinkie added with a cheerful grin.

“As someone who recently got hooked on art, I have to say you have wonderful natural talent,” Sunset added with a smile.

“Oh, thank you girls,” He responded nervously with a sheepish smile and blush, “I guess we can finish the tour.”

The rest of the tour was not as impactful and soon enough he showed the girls the last room. Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she let out an excited giggle, when a certain female dog raised her head at them entering the room. This room was a personal room for Sissy and in the center was a large play area filled with countless different toys and a large doggy bed. In one corner were two large bowls for food and water.

“As you can see, this is her room.”

Fluttershy quickly rushed towards her and began gently petting her on the head.

“Aren’t you an adorable girl? Yes, you are!” Fluttershy gushed as Sissy closed her eyes and melted from the simple act of affection.

Marcus walked to her bowls and lightly frowned when he saw they were close to empty.

“Right, I have been so busy showing you girls around that it slipped my mind to refill her bowls.”

“Oh, may I help!” Fluttershy asked… no begged with adorable puppy dog eyes, “It’s the least I can do to make up for making her have to wait.”

Marcus practically melted from the adorable pleading look and tone of the timid animal lover that he could only nod.

“Sure, though, don’t think you are at fault.”

Fluttershy nodded back with an adorable and excited smile.

“Speaking of food, I guess I better get started on dinner after we take care of her needs.”

After all that, they noticed it was getting a little late and the girls decided they better get home.

“Well, Marky, it was fun seeing your awesome house and getting to know you more,” Pinkie began with a cheerful grin, before embracing him, “I know we are going to be the best of friends!”

“Oh, thank you,” Was all he could say sheepishly.

“Well, dude, you made me have even more expectations for you during our future training and you better live up to the hype,” Rainbow told him with a teasing grin.

“Well, one of us should,” He quipped back.

“Yeah, well….” She stuttered with a light blush, before groaning in defeat as he and the others chuckled at her expense.

“Remember you are always welcome to work on our farm and to enjoy your free cider at our business. I will be sure to let my family know you won our little promotion, sugarcube,” Applejack spoke up with a smile and wink, “Don’t be a stranger now.”

“It was nice to see you have great artistic talent, darling. In fact I can help you expand it in the future. If you are interested, just let me know,” Rarity complimented and offered with a charming smile and wink.

“It’s nice to see and meet your adorable dog and it’s great you seem to be taking good care of her,” Fluttershy began with an adorable smile, “I work at the animal shelter in town and am always looking for help. If you are interested, of course.”

“It was great to meet another gamer, especially one with an impressive collection. Like Pinkie said I hope we become great friends,” Sunset told him with a smile.

He found himself smiling back when he noticed that Sunset’s smile was more genuine this time around and at the girls’ kind words.

“Glad you girls enjoyed yourselves and the feeling is mutual,” He responded back.

“Bye, Marky, and we will see you soon!” Pinkie shouted as the girls went on their way home.

Marcus took a relaxing breath, before a smile formed on his face. It seemed that moving here was what he needed and he seemed to have made great and supportive friends. He couldn’t wait to spend more time with the girls and maybe make even more friends in this nice and friendly town.