Hey guys it's me again! :) I'd just like to say thank you to all the reviewers and to those that have subscribed to the story as well as to anyone else that has read this story! I can already see a massive difference in the way I write and it's all thanks to those reviewers that give me tips on how to improve. So I'd like to respond to all those that have reviewed my fic currently. So in no particular order:
To fluttershy-22 and luni - I do realise that the start of my fic may be a little on the slow side. But I have tried to move things along a tad bit faster in the following chapters. So I hope that you enjoy them. :)
Also, I'd like to say that I won't be able to post a chapter up everyday. I do have reasons for that though! Whether it's being too busy at school, work or home to find time to write. Or whether I have to re-read through a chapter before publishing it. I will always try the best I possibly can to get a chapter out as fast as i possibly can. I'm averaging a chapter every 2 days which is alright at the moment. But with A-Level exams in early January and a medical interview (yep I'm a wannabe doctor! :P) to prepare for in late December I know that I will be spending less time in the future on writing.
I also write these chapters out based on whatever comes into my head at the time. Absolutely none of this is planned out before hand! The ideas are completely on the spot. So obviously it'll take time for me to be able to put my ideas to paper...or in this case Word.
This along with the fact that I intend for this fic to be a rather long one. How long? Honestly, I have no idea even I don't know how this fic will end up at the moment :P. But I can say these three chapters are just a very tiny portion of what I hope to be a good story full of twists and turns along the way.
But have faith, I've already promised no matter what I will see this fic through to the end! :D So no matter what happens to me this fic will get finished! And I hope you guys will enjoy as we go through it together, chapter by chapter.
To monus781 and kabal1337 - I'm glad that you guys have found no problems with my fic and are enjoying reading it and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as I post more chapters! ^_^
To Mamoo - Thanks for the pointers! :D Seriously, you've made my writing much better than it was before. I get what you mean about Fluttershy and all. I actually feel qute silly for overdoing it quite a bit. So I've amended that in this chapter and I'll hope you enjoy that.
As for commas, (see how I used one there ;D) I have to be honest I know they're important and all but they're truly the thorn at my side when it comes to writing! Basically, whatever I write when it comes to an essay or a work of fiction. I never ever use enough commas and no matter how many times I re-read a piece of work I WILL ALWAYS find somewhere to put a comma in. So I've just given up on using commas where needed and only use them how I normally would. So I apologise for not taking that into consideration but I'd rather just write how it naturally occurs to me. Because, at the end of the day whilst I am writing to improve my skills I also want to write because I enjoy writing. And I also hope that you continue to enjoy future chapters to this fic.
And I'm glad you think that my story despite it's obvious flaws is still of decent quality! So for that I'm extremely thankful! :D
Last but not least To ANWaspiring - Wow. Just simply wow. For my story to be compared to Psychodrome's 'Nocturne' is just astounding for words. I've been reading his fic as well and truly thinks it is amazing! I'd never have thought that people would compare me to the likes of him and his OC Dusk! So seriously thank you for that comment. It's comments like that that really make writing this stuff worth it! :') Also I'm so glad that you like my OC so much! :D I'm surprised as he was just a character that I came up with completely in the space of a couple of minutes! And I'm glad you like the ending of the 2nd chapter as well! I was quite happy with that twist myself as I decided on that perhaps halfway through writing the 2nd chapter! As for Applejack's dialogue I understand it's exactly what I'm afraid of as I don't want to overuse to many bits of 'Southern slang'. So I've just been going with phrases I remember her saying in the T.V. series. If you have any advice you can give me on that I'd appreciate it very much! ^_^
Wow. That's the longest intro bit I've done so far. This is also the longest hapter I've done so far at 3,231 words! More than twice the length of the last chapter! So I hope you enjoy Chapter 3 of A New Arrival!
'The name is BlackSpire.' - thoughts
"The name is BlackSpire." - actual speech
A second later... - time skip
"Woah woah woah! Let's get this straight Twilight. You..." Dash pointed at Twilight,"...went out with a hunk of a colt like that!" she finished whilst pointing to Sunny, to which he blushed at the compliment.
"Well I..."Twilight began.
"Whatever Dash! I'm just glad that my little filly has finally gotten her head out of those books and found herself a real stallion!" teased Rarity whilst staring rather seductively at Sunny, to which he was ready to make another teleportation spell...away from her.
"We're not..." Twilight began again.
"Well I'll be darn why didn't you tell any of us you had a coltfriend sugarcube?" interrupted Applejack.
"He's not..." Twilight was about to respond before again being interrupted again by a rather excited Pinkie Pie.
"Yay! We can have a double party! We should heart shaped balloons, confetti, streamers and oh we'll need a bigger banner!" she said whilst jumping up and down as if she were on a trampoline.
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on Fluttershy just stood there in shock at what she had just heard whilst also feeling slightly angry and jealous as the same time.
'Why am I feeling this way? I mean it isn't like me and him were going out or anything. Besides I don't see how he could like a quiet and silly filly like me when he has Twilight with her brains and her skill in magic. I wouldn't have stood a chance...'
However, Fluttershy's thoughts and everyone else's discussion were interrupted by Twilight's patience finally snapping.
"EVERYPONY BE QUIET!" she yelled so loud that everyone stared at her wide-eyed and Pinkie in mid-bounce deflated like a balloon back to the ground. "O.K. first of all Rarity you forgot the words 'used to' we're no longer together anymore," at this Fluttershy's ears perked up.
Twilight turned to Applejack and answered her question "The reason why I never mentioned it is because there's never been any point in time where I've ever needed to tell any of you ponies about my previous relationships." Twilight then turned to Pinkie Pie and said "We are not having a double party because me and Sunny aren't going out," to which she just deflated even more. Before finally, turning to Rainbow Dash, "And just WHY is it so hard to believe that I can go out with a guy?" she yelled at Rainbow Dash whilst turning white and her mane and tail being set on fire. When this happened Sunny was freaked out.
'Damn since when did Twilight get such a bad temper! Note to self: NEVER piss of Twilight!'
"W-well it's just that your always reading your books and hardly have time to be socializing with everyone let along finding time for a relationship." said Rainbow Dash quite scared for her life as she had never seen Twilight like this before. Just as quickly as the flames had appeared they disappeared with Twilight left singed.
"I guess you're right. Now that I do think about it, it does sound like something I wouldn't normally ever think about."
"Well I'd hate to interrupt your discussion! But I thought we came here to get some animals ready for winter?" said Sunny after he'd realized they were now and hour and a half over the original tie they had set.
"Ah by golly he's right! Here we are chit-chatting away when there are some poor critters out there that need our help! We can talk about Sunny and Twilight later. Right now we have to get to work!" Applejack said as she began to make her way to the gate with everyone soon following close behind her.
A few minutes of walking later...
"...So everyone should meet back here at 4 p.m." said Fluttershy as she finished explaining to them how long they'd do their tasks till.
"So what exactly are we meant to be doing Fluttershy?" asked Sunny whilst looking towards Fluttershy as they walked.
"Well I wanted to get you, Rarity and Twilight to gather up all the nuts, berries, acorns and other foods from around the forest and sort them out into piles. That is if it's alright with you of course?" she asked.
"Sure no problems leave it to us!" all three of them said in unison before looking at one another and laughing as they made their way into the Everfree Forest.
"O.K. now Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I was wondering whether you could go to all of the empty burrows that were used last winter, to see if they can be used again for this year. That is of course if you're alright with that too?
"Sure no problem Fluttershy." answered Applejack.
"Okie dokey lokey. We'll get start on that!" responded Pinkie Pie who was about to run off.
"Wait a minute! You're going to need a map of all the existing burrows. Also, if any of them can't be used anymore, then could you make new places for the animals to hibernate in and mark them on the map as well please?" she asked as she handed them the map.
"Yep, you can count of us Fluttershy." said Applejack before going after Pinkie Pie to make sure she didn't get distracted by anything.
"That just leaves you and me Rainbow Dash. We actually have two jobs. One of us will have to go to Clouds dale and tell the people of the weather making factory a date for when we want the snow to come in. The other will have to start gathering up the animals to sort them out into what burrows they'll be going into to avoid any fighting between animals about hibernating space."
"Alright then, I'll go to Clouds dale and you can sort the animals out!"
"O.K. then this is the letter that the Mayor gave to me to give to the manager of the factory. Also when you're finished you can go and help Applejack and Pinkie Pie as there are quite a lot of burrows to check on for just two ponies." she said as she handed the letter to Rainbow Dash.
"O.K. I'll get this done in ten seconds flat." she said as she sped off towards Cloudsdale leaving.
"Now to get to work." Fluttershy as she went into the Everfree Forest to start getting the animals together.
Meanwhile, the three unicorns were all in a clearing in the forest. Rarity was simply making her own small pile of berries by using her magic to carry small amounts of berries. However, Sunny and Twilight were arguing.
"I bet I can carry more acorns with one spell than you can carry nuts with the same number of spells." he said to her. He always found then making a challenge or competition out of work made it more fun and got it done more quickly as well.
"Have you already forgotten that I'm Princess Celestia's most faithful student? And that I've spent my time since we last saw each other training in magic under her tutelage." she said with her chest puffed out with pride.
"Well then this should be fun. Now here are the rules: 1) You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item. Obviously with nuts and acorns weighing roughly the same it should be fair. 2) You can only use the levitation spell once and only once. 3) The nuts or acorns must be in the pile to be counted. 4) The pony who has the most acorns or nuts on their pile wins." finished off Sunny.
"Alright I agree those rule do sound fair. But how do we count the acorns and nuts?"
"Quick Count Spell of course! Come on Twilight didn't you pay any attention in Maths?" he said teasing her.
"O-of course I did! I just forgot about it ok!" she said rather flustered and annoyed at Sunny.
"O.K. then mares first." Sunny said with an exaggerated bow.
"Such a gentleman" she said sarcastically as she closed her eyes to focus on the images of all kinds of nuts as well as the area in which she wanted her spell to reach out. To win she decided she would increase the range of her spell as far as possible. Her horn began to glow a bright white as her spell started to form. Gritting her teeth she began to widen the range of her spell to pick up as many nuts as she possibly could. With some effort she finally managed to finish preparing her spell and began to use and soon after thousands of nuts from all over the forest came to the clearing and began piling up in front of Twilight. By this time, Rarity had panicked and had ran well clear away from the gathering of nuts that came towards Twilight choosing to hide behind a tree and just watch from a distance.
As they continued piling, the obvious draining of her powers starting to become visible. Just when she thought she could get a few more nuts onto the pile her concentration suddenly broke and the rest of the nuts fell to the ground all over the clearing. Twilight began to breathe heavily from the sheer effort that spell had taken to do.
"Beat...that!" she puffed out as she sat on the forest floor to catch her breath.
"Yeah let's just see how many you actually collected shall we?" Sunny smirked as his horn glowed a bright red as the massive pile of acorns also began to glow the same colour. This lasted for a few seconds before Sunny finished the spell, "Wow you got 27,964 nuts! I'm impressed Twilight it seems that all the training with Princess Celestia finally paid off!" he chuckled." Although I don't think it was meant for collecting nuts in a forest! But hey what can you do right?"
"Well it's your turn." Twilight said having finally caught her breath and standing up again. "Let's see you top that!"
"With pleasure." Sunny smirked. As he closed his eyes, his horn glowed a bright white light at which point he then opened his eyes and tapped an acorn that already lay on the ground. Then he closed his eyes again as his horn began to glow a bright orange. He then focused on the corners of the Everfree forest and used a spell to set the corners as markers for his next spell.
By this point Twilight began to complain.
"Hey! I thought we agreed that we were only allowed to use the levitation spell!"
"That's where your wrong! If you remembered correctly, I said 'You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item' and I also said 'You can only use the levitation spell once and only once'. As you can see, I have not used a levitation spell yet so have broken neither of those rules. I never said anything about combining other spells along with a levitation spell now did I?"
"Yeah but I..." she said before sighing dejectedly and giving up on the argument. "So what spells are you using?"
"Well I'm using a combination of the Pin Point, Marker and the Levitation Spell." as he finally used the levitation spell as acorns from all over the forest whizzed in front of Sunny as they began to pile up in front of him rather rapidly.
"Ah that's genius! You're using the Pin Point and Marker spells to mark all the acorns in a selected area and then using the levitation spell to lift them!" she said in awe.
"Well yeah! It sure beats having to put more effort into increasing the range of one spell when you can just combine two simple spells to do the job for you!" he said quite happy with himself.
"You always did think outside the box when it came to using spells."
"Yeah that's probably the only reason why I kept beating you in Spellwork class!" he said with a chuckle.
"Hmm...I guess." she said looking rather disappointed. Sunny realizing how much like an arrogant douchebag he was being decided he would fix things up.
"Damn...it...this levitation spell...is harder than it looks! I must...out of practice!" he started to breath heavily as he shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. As several more acorns came to the pile, he finally released the spell and fell to the ground exhausted.
"Sunny are you alright?" Twilight asked worried about him.
"Yeah...I'm fine...might've... overdone it...with that...levitation spell...I think." he said gasping for breath. "Anyway...check how many...acorns I got..." as he laid on his back to catch some breath.
"Oh right..." Twilight said as she quickly performed a Quick Count Spell. "You got 26,254 acorns...wait a minute. That means I won! Yes!" Twilight squealed jumping into the air in victory. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he got up and went over to Twilight.
"Congrats Twilight I guess all that hard-work did finally pay off for you!" he said smiling at her as she continued to celebrate her victory before her ears perked up and she stopped facing him.
"Hang on a minute weren't you exhausted just a second ago? It couldn't have taken you that quickly to recover!"
"O-oh well I'm just a fast healer!" he quickly said.
"No you aren't! You let me win didn't you!" she said now walking up to him.
'Oh crap! She's going to kill me! I've already seen her angry and I even made a mental note NOT to piss her off! But what did I have to do hours later! Man, I'm a dead colt!' he thought as he closed his eyes expecting to be brought into a world of pain by the hooves of Twilight. When he felt something some hooves wrap around his neck and something warm on his chest. When he opened his eyes and blushed as he saw Twilight giving him a hug whilst nuzzling against his chest as she said:
"That was really sweet of you! Thinking about how disappointed I was that even after 5 years of training I still couldn't beat you! To let me win! You're a true friend you know that."
"Uh...so you're not mad?" Sunny asked rather confused.
"Of course I'm mad. But I realized why you'd do something like that and for that I'm grateful." she said as she got off of him with a slight blush as she realized what she had just done. "Anyway we best get back to work! With that spell combo you used we'll have this entire forest clear of nuts and acorns in no time!" she finished as she made her way back to work. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he did the same.
Meanwhile, Rarity who had seen the whole thing that went on between them from afar began started to think, 'Used to' my hoof. It's obvious you still have feelings for him Twilight. Well he's still single! So let's just see if I have anything to say about it!' She then went back to work to make it look like she hadn't seen any of what had just happened.
At 4 p.m...
Everypony made their way back to meet up with each other. The unicorns with their piles of nuts, berries and acorns with them. Sunny's and Twilight's pile being at least 10 times bigger than Rarity's. Along with Sunny being the gentlecolt that he was carrying all of the piles for them, which would've been hard had he not combined a simple Hover and Loco-motor Spell together. The earth ponies and Rainbow Dash came back with their hooves covered in dirt from having to make all the new burrows. Whilst, Fluttershy came back with a list of what animals were going to be hibernating in what burrows.
"Great job everypony! I think this year's preparations for hibernation will be the fastest yet!" said Fluttershy, "Now I'd like to invite you all back to my cottage for dinner. That is if everyone you're all o.k. with coming?"
As she was met with a chorus of 'Sounds good' and 'Count me in' Applejack finished off by saying:
"Finally some food am so hungry I could eat half the apple orchard!" at this everyone including Applejack laughed as they made their way back to Fluttershy's cottage.
Soon, everypony was at the cottage eating an array of appetizing meals that both Fluttershy and Applejack (after much persuasion) had both prepared. As the meal progressed everypony talked about what had happened that day. With Rainbow Dash getting half-stuck in a burrow being one of the funniest events that had happened.
It was only till after dinner that Rarity then asked a question to Sunny, "So Sunny. Why don't you tell us how you and Twilight met and became a couple and why aren't you still a couple now?"
"RARITY! That's personal stuff! Besides I don't think Sunny wants to..." Twilight said as she stood up from her seat.
"Actually Twilight, I'm alright with telling them how we got together. But, I thought you wouldn't of wanted that after all it involves you just as much as me." Sunny defended Rarity to which she smiled at him.
"W-well no. I thought you didn't want anyone to know...but if you're o.k. with it then that's fine with me." she said whilst sitting back down in her seat slightly embarrassed.
"Well ok then I'd think it'd be easier if I just showed you, rather than tell you." said Sunny as he got out of his seat.
"How are you going to show us?" Applejack asked now rather confused.
"Well I'm going to be using a combination of an Imaging Spell and a Memory Spell to create a sort of movie of the memories I have with Twilight." he finished as he closed his eyes to concentrate. His horn began to glow a bright pink colour, signaling that he was casting the Imaging Spell. A stream of pink light began to erupt from his horn as it began to form a rectangle in front of him. Once all the lines were connected he released the spell so his horn was no longer glowing pink. But the pink rectangular outline still remained floating in mid-air in front of all the other ponies.
"Oooooh! It's so pretty!" said Pinkie who had left her chair. Her eyes as wide as dinner plates as she reached out a hoof to touch the pink outline.
"Pinkie don't touch it! If you break the line then the Imaging spell will fail!" scolded Twilight.
"Oh sorry!" she said and returned to her seat.
"Thank you Twilight!" Sunny said with a nod, "Now for the Memory Spell." He continued as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate on all of the memories he had with Twilight as his horn began to glow a golden colour. Then moving ever so carefully he placed the tip of his horn into the pink rectangular outline. Almost instantaneously, the gold and pink colours began to mix with one another to form a rather strange but...magical colour. The gold colour proceeded to run along the outline as well mixing with the pink colour as it went, until the entire rectangle was bordered with that indescribable yet desirable colour. Finally, Sunny took his horn tip out of the outline and released the spell and an image of a big city appeared on the screen.
Sunny then began to speak, "This is where it all began...in Canterlot!"
That's the end of Chapter 3! I could've written more, but I felt this was probably a good place to stop! Again, please feel free to leave a review for me. As I really do take time to read them all! As well as try to implement tips given to me into future chapters. I really do think this is the best chapter I've done yet and hopefully as more people give me ideas on how to improve on my fic (with a few positive ones along the way ;P) I'll end up writing a great fic for all of you guys to read and enjoy! :D So while I start to write Chapter 4, I do hope you take the time to leave a review for me so that I can use it as motivation for my writing. Until then, BlackSpire out! ^_^