Chapter 8
The Last Element
I hauled through this. And, as I always say, I hope the story keeps going in a good direction for all of you guys.
Anyway, I only own my OC Characters and YES Louis is in this chapter...and he is the complete opposite of what you'd expect.
So please read, review and, most of all, enjoy.
Carl's house
It was late at night as Carl kept looking over the yearbook for anyone whose name was Louis Clarkson. So far, he found just about as much as the police did of Jimmy Hoffa, nothing. Carl's head was bopping up and down as he fought to keep himself awake, which sucked because it was summer, and that struggle with sleep usually only happened in school when the teacher droned on about some stupid Civil War Battle or some bullshit about derivatives. As he did this, Twilight remained right next to him, just as tired as he was.
Carl turned to look at her to see if she was still awake. When he did this, Twilight noticed his move so she looked at him and smiled, "Maybe the rest of this can wait until tomorrow."
"Yeah, I agree." Carl said with a yawn before he closed the yearbook and got up. He walked over to his bed and crawled under the covers. As Twilight got in, he noticed that she was shivering a bit.
"Twi; are you okay?"
She looked at him and nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, just a little cold is all."
Carl smiled and brought himself closer to her, wrapping himself around her in a hug to warm her up.
"Better?"
Twilight looked at Carl and gave a big yawn right, "Better."
Carl smiled, "Why am I fighting this? She's so cute. Why should I care what other people think?"
They looked into each other's' violet eyes with pure love that they both shared for one another. Carl sighed as he felt like now would be as good a time as ever to tell him his feelings.
"Twilight I…?" Carl started.
"Yes?" she asked excitedly.
"I…" he began when, suddenly, he heard his cell phone buzzing on his dresser.
BUZZ BUZZ
He sighed, "Hold on a second."
Twilight chuckled and gave him a nod, ready for him to finally tell her his true feelings.
Carl grabbed the phone and looked at it for the caller I.D.
"Who is it?" Twilight asked.
"It's James, but he's calling from his home phone." Carl quickly pressed "talk, "he never does that. (to James over phone) Hello?" he said before waiting for James to respond. After a few seconds, eyes mouth dropped, "What? Oh my God I'm sorry James I…..that's terrible, wow. Are you sure you don't need someone to come over?…Okay, okay I'll talk to you tomorrow…okay, bye."
He hung up and looked at Twilight. By her face, he knew that she could tell it wasn't good.
"What's wrong?"
Carl looked at her sadly, "James' cousin died."
Twilight put her hooves up to her mouth and gasped "Oh no, that's horrible."
Carl put his hands on his hips and looked down. He shook his head, "James is going to be a wreck."
"Do you still think we should look for that Louis boy tomorrow?"
"First we have to find out who he is." Carl said as he got back into bed next to Twilight, "and then….geez what do we do after that?"
"We have to find your elements."
"Wait, aren't we the elements?"
"I'm talking about the necklaces that you six have to wear," Twilight said, pointing to her neck, "like the ones we wore. Well, scratch that, I had to wear that crowny-thing."
Carl laughed a bit, "You mean a tiara?"
"I think it was a little big to be called a tiara."
"Whatever."
They both laugh a little bit and Carl yawns. Carl turned the lamp off besides his bed and turned back to face Twilight.
"Good night Twi."
"Good night Carl."
Though they were both in bed, their night was over. Once Carl was asleep, Twilight opened her eyes and leaned forward. Smiling, she gently pressed her glowing horn against Carl's forehead and then she too was asleep, her mind entering his mind.
Carl's Dream
Carl was in a large, white hallway that was adorned with stained-glass windows and a long, red rug. It looked very familiar, but Carl couldn't think of where he'd seen it before.
He also noticed that it seemed a bit…animated.
"What is this place?" he asked to no one in particular.
"This is Princess Celestia's Castle, Carl."
Carl turned around to see Twilight standing right behind him with a smile on her face, "Sorry, she sent me another letter and asked me to take you here."
"So, wait….am I really here though? Or is this a dream?"
"This is a dream for you both in that it occurs in your mind Carl, but it is real."
They both turned around to see a large, white alicorn with a rainbow-colored mane and tail, and a warm smile on her face. Carl's mouth dropped open when he saw the one, the only Princess Celestia standing before them both. Almost out of instinct, Carl got onto his knee and bowed forward to her as if he were one of her loyal subjects, even if she wasn't technically his ruler, he had a hell lot more respect for her than any politician in the U.S. government.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted before she ran up to the princess and they hugged.
"Twilight Sparkle, it's good to see you again." They broke the hug and the Princess looked down at Twilight before looking back up at Carl, as if she was addressing them both, "I'm aware that five of the six elements have been accounted for."
They both nodded, Carl's nod was a little slower than Twilight's through, as he was still in shock at what was happening. When the Princess saw that he was still kneeling in a bow-like position, she chuckled.
"Carl, you don't have to bow to me, after all I'm not your ruler."
"I know…though I should say," Carl said as he slowly began to stand up, "if you were our ruler, Earth probably wouldn't be as screwed up as it is."
"I wouldn't count too much on it." She said with a chuckle, "I've been observing your world for quite a while now, and I can safely say that I wouldn't make much of a difference there."
"Still, you'd be better than any of the leaders we have now." Carl said before remembering something vital, "Oh yeah while I'm here, I want to thank you for helping me out with the…you know…cop that was chasing us."
"Don't mention it," she said with a chuckle, "but I shouldn't be the one you should thank here, Carl. After all, you and Twilight were why it worked."
At this statement, Carl shut his eyes and clenched his teeth nervously having a bad feeling about where this conversation was going. Twilight looked at the Princess with curiosity. "What do you mean Princess?"
"Please don't tell her I was thinking romantically about her, please don't." Carl kept thinking over and over to himself, pleading for her to say something else. He didn't even want to think about Twilight knowing the thoughts that he had about her, and how he really felt. She already knew, but if she knew it powered him to create magic, he knew that she would constantly bug him until they went on a date.
He knew that he was close to telling her before James called about Caroline's death, but after that his brain took over his decision-making process from his heart, and began to fill his head with multiple negative "what if" scenarios.
"You brought Carl's faith in magic back, and it was that faith in magic that gave him the ability to teleport the car."
"THANK YOU PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Carl unclenched his teeth and let out a sigh.
"Oh really," Twilight asked and she turned to Carl, "I didn't know I helped you recover your faith in magic that quickly."
"Oh ya you did." Carl said in a very quick and nervous manner. "Very much so in fact, thank you Twi."
That's when Twilight gave Carl a very disbelieving look, her eyes half closed and her face serious, before she nodded, "No problem Carl."
"Shit." Carl thought as he put on a fake smile to make it appear as if he had nothing to hide. But if anything, it made him look more suspicious.
"Sooooo," Carl said, turning back to face Princess Celestia, "why did you summon us here?"
"I just wanted to tell you that you must hurry and find the Element of Generosity so that you can search for the necklaces and crown that represent the elements and defeat Discord once and for all."
"I know, and we've actually been looking for Louis Clarkson in my yearbook but there isn't anyone with that name."
"Hmmm," Princess Celestia though for a minute, "I'm not exactly sure, then. Sorry I couldn't help you out more with that. But it must be someone in Wilmont and you had to have met them before."
"I have another question, sorry if I seem like I'm pestering you Princess Celestia."
Princess Celestia giggled a bit at Carl's neurotic side, "I don't mind Carl; ask away."
"Thank you. I was wondering if you could use magic like Twilight to search out the element."
"I'm sorry, I can't. If I use such a large spell, Discord will pick up on it and know who the Element that I'm searching for is before you can get to him." Princess Celestia said,
"Good to know."
"Anything else that you'd like to ask?"
"Not right now."
"Just remember, I am always watching over you and your friends."
"Thank you very much for everything Princess Celestia." Carl said before he kneeled again to show his gratitude for everything that she had done for him. He then heard hoof steps and felt somepony put hooves onto his shoulders. He looked up and saw that he was directly under the Princess, who was giving him a kind smile.
"You can do it, all you and the other five have to do is believe in what you stand for." Carl nodded without blinking, unable to avert his eyes from the Princess for even a second.
"Yes Princess."
"And," she said with a sly smile on her face before leaning into Carl's ear, "Your feelings aren't wrong and you shouldn't hold them back. Let her know how you feel."
Carl looked up at the Princess in shock as she smiled at him and winked knowingly. Carl gulped and looked over at Twilight, who had an inquisitive look on her face. Carl sighed and looked back up at the Princess.
"Yes Princess Celestia." Carl said.
"Now if you excuse me, I need to have a word with my student." At that, Princess Celestia walked back over to Twilight. Carl bit his lip and waited patiently as they talked to each other. He began to think everything over in his head, from Discord, to how he was going to find the last element, and, of course, to him and Twilight. He didn't know what to do about that. Clearly Princess Celestia knew about it, which didn't really surprise him, but he didn't know if he could tell Twilight how he felt; it was just too…weird.
He knew that Ryan and Alex were had crushes their partners, hell he saw Alex and Applejack making out at the mall. He knew that he loved Twilight, but he really wasn't sure how he was going to tell her. After all, no matter how often he got lost in her eyes; he remembered the thought that constantly said, "What the hell is the matter with you? She's a purple, animated pony from another dimension, and you like her? SHAAAAAMMMMEEEEE!"
He wished he could just listen to his heart rather than his head this one time, but it was much more difficult than one might believe.
Carl snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Twilight trotting over to him after talking with the Princess. "Carl, you ready to head back?"
"You mean wake up? Yeah, I'm all set if you are."
The Princess walked over and smiled at them both, "You two will wake up now. And don't worry about being exhausted, because even though this conversation really happened, it is still technically a dream, and your body will still feel like it got great rest."
Suddenly, everything started to turn white. Just before everything disappeared into the bright, white void of nothingness, Carl heard, "Remember to embrace your element."
Reality
Carl's eyes shot open as he looked around to see that he was back in bed, the morning sun slowly creeping in through the venetian blinds that were covering his window. He looked over to his right to see Twilight looking at him with happy eyes.
"So, I take it that the dream was real." Carl muttered and Twilight giggled.
"Yeah, sorry about that, but I couldn't let you know that I was taking you under like that. The spell wouldn't have worked on you if you knew. Your subconscious would have stopped it."
Carl chuckled, "That's really cool, Twilight. Do you know that?"
Twilight blushed and nodded, "Yeah, I-I guess so. Oh, I hope I didn't sound too self-centered."
Carl laughed a bit, "Not at all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I am. Geez you sound like you did when Trixie was showing off and you were afraid of looking like a show-off."
They laughed a bit more until Carl looked over at his bed-side clock to see that it was ten.
"Aw geez it's ten, come on Twilight come on let's go get some breakfast."
Twilight nodded and they both got out of Carl's bed. Carl bent over and sighed before he stretched his arms out over his head and let out a huge yawn.
"Hey Carl, is it okay if I use your bathroom, I need to freshen up a bit."
Carl finished his yawn and nodded, "Yeah Twi, go right ahead."
Twilight smiled in gratitude and left the bedroom. A few seconds later Carl heard her scream at the top of her lungs, as if someone jumped out from behind something and scared the daylights out of her. Carl quickly ran out into the hallway to see if Twilight was okay.
"Twi, are you…?" he stopped when he saw what had frightened her. In the bath-tub, with that clichéd green facial mud on her face and cucumbers in her eyes, was Rarity. Carl had to do everything in his power not to burst out laughing at the sight, it was just too hilarious. Rarity removed one of the cucumbers with her hoof and looked at Twilight.
"Twilight, dear, can you please shut the door, I can feel a draft coming in." she waved her hoof towards the door.
"R-Rarity? Um, what are you….what are you doing?" Twilight asked. "And where did all of that cosmetic stuff come from?"
"Oh, this facial mud here? I found this in the cupboard over there" she said pointing to the cupboard that was directly underneath the sink. "I hope it isn't a problem Carl, I only used a little bit." She asked.
"It's not a big deal." Carl shrugged, "I mean, it's my mom's, but if she asks I'll say Lisa used it. That way you don't get in trouble, and she does. I love to mess with Lisa, it's awesome."
Rarity nodded and put the cucumber back over her eye, "Thank you dear." She lay herself back against the tub and let out a sigh. However, now Twilight had a very irritated look on her face. She wanted to freshen up, and it irked her that Rarity was hogging the bathroom like this.
"Um, Rarity, I kind of need to use the bathroom."
"A little longer Twilight, after all, you can't rush perfection."
Twilight roller her eyes and turned to walk out when Carl stopped her. She gave Carl a confused look but he just grinned down at her before he got onto one knee and whispered into her ear. She suddenly had a mischievous smile and walked back over to Rarity.
"Rarity, how much longer did you say it would be?"
"Mmmmm, perhaps another five, fifteen, no…thirty minutes? Forty? Well perhaps an hour would do."
"Yeah, I don't think so." With that Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. Slowly, Rarity was surrounded by a purple aura before being lifted out of the tub. The cucumber slices fell off and she opened her eyes to realize that she was levitating.
"AHHH! Twilight! Put me down!" she screamed, flailing around like a mad-pony, foam and water spraying everywhere. Twilight slowly levitated her over the open toilet that was right next to the tub, water dripping off of her fur and into the bowl. When Rarity saw this, she shrieked and Carl couldn't help but laugh like it was the single funniest thing that he'd ever seen.
"I'm sorry Rarity, how much longer is it going to be?"
"Twilight!"
"How much longer!"
"Five minutes, okay! Five more minutes, that's all I ask. Now please, get me away from that disgusting bowl of shame!"
The phrase "disgusting bowl of shame" sent Carl into such a laughing fit that he fell to the floor, clutching his sides as it felt like his ribs would break from laughing so hard. Twilight nodded and slowly brought Rarity back into the tub. Once back in the water, Rarity huffed and crossed her arms, "I hope you're happy, if I look like repulsive today I'm putting the blame on you."
Twilight shrugged it off and patiently waited as the queen to get done with her beauty soak in the tub. Carl looked down the hall at Lisa and Anna's rooms and tapped Twilight on the head.
"Hey Twi, I'm gonna go wake my sisters and Spike up."
Twilight nodded and Carl went off to Lisa's room. When he entered, he jumped back at the sight of Lisa and Spike sleeping right next to each other, Lisa's arm draped over Spike as if he were a stuffed animal.
"D'awwwwwwwww." Carl thought with a mocking tone as a mischievous grin, similar to Twilight's few moments before, grew onto his face. He took his phone out and quickly snapped a picture of the two.
"This will come in handy when I need to convince Lisa to do something she doesn't want to, blackmailing is awesome." He smiled as he walked out of the room and purposely shut the door loud enough to wake both Lisa and Spike from their slumber. As they slowly came to and saw, they noticed the position that they had slept in. They looked at each other, eyes wide in horror.
"Spike, um….why are you so close to me?" Lisa asked nervously.
Spike, with a similarly nervous look replied, "I-I don't know…why is your arm on me?"
The quickly drew back and looked away from each other, turning beet red and rubbing the back of their heads in embarrassment. Both were breathing deep and fast, as if they had run a marathon.
"Errrr…" Lisa began, but couldn't bring herself to say anything more.
"Uhhhh…." Spike replied. Eventually, they calmed down enough to look back at each other without blushing. Lisa pointed at Spike and gave him a stern, yet still embarrassed, look.
"This moment never happened, got it Spike?" Lisa asked.
Spike mimicked a zipper going across his mouth to show that his lips were sealed about the matter.
Soon, everyone was up and downstairs in the kitchen eating a quick breakfast. Spike was talking with Lisa and Anna, and Twilight and Rarity were going on about some girly stuff. Carl, meanwhile, was still mulling over who and where Louis Clarkson was. Twilight noticed Carl's face that was stuck in a "pondering" expression.
"Carl, what are you thinking about?" Twilight asked.
"I'm trying to figure out where I'll find Louis." Carl said.
"Well try and hurry up Carl, I feel absolutely dreadful waiting to meet him when everypony else has met their partners." Rarity complained.
"I'm trying Rarity; do you think it's that simple? We've been lucky with the other four being my friends or people I've actually heard of. But this is someone that I don't ever remember meeting. Besides, we're doing our best in our search. It's not like the name is going to pop up out of thin air."
"Found him." Lisa muttered as she tossed the newspaper at Carl as it partially landed in his bowl of cereal. Carl looked up at her with a shocked expression. She simple shrugged and pointed at the newspaper. "Page three, Louis Clarkson there's an article on him."
Carl sighed and picked the newspaper up off of the table, some milk dripping from the corner that had landed in Carl's cereal. He also noticed that it was not the entire paper; rather it was the sports section. He opened it up to the third page to see a large, blown-up image of an African-American teen wearing a red and white soccer jersey that says "Cardinals" and was number 10. The title under the name says, "ST. MARY'S STAR PLAYER COMMITS TO NORTH CAROLINA".
Carl kept reading and his eyes widened, "Holy cow it is him."
"That's Louis?" Twilight asked, peering over his shoulder.
"Yeah; no wonder I've never heard of him. He goes to a completely different school."
"He does?" Anna asked, "but I thought you said that all six of you were from going to be from Wilmont."
"No he is from Wilmont; he just goes to the local private school instead of the public school that the rest of us go to. That's why I didn't know who he was."
"Carl, may I see him?" Rarity asked; her eyes wide with excitement. Carl nodded and handed the newspaper over to her. She took it with her magic and looked at Louis' picture. Her excited face quickly became even more so as she saw who she would most likely be partnered with, and how attractive she found him to be.
"Oh wow, he's so….handsome." she said in a dreamy way that made Spike turn red in envy.
"Let me see that." Spike said before he grabbed the newspaper away and looked at Louis' picture.
Once done, he tossed it to the ground with a fake lack of impression.
"Pfft. He's not so cool." He said as he rolled his eyes. Carl couldn't help but chuckle at how obvious his jealousy was. Carl grabbed the paper from Spike and opened it back to the article.
"Rarity, do you want to know more about him?"
"Oh yes! Definitely!" She said with an enthusiastic grin, leaning forward on the table with interest.
"Okay, here's a little bit of the article."
Carl cleared his throat and began. (Note; this is all fake as far as school names etc. There is a Section III for sports in NY, but there is no real St. Mary's Holy Catholic Academy that this is referencing.)
"Louis Clarkson, a rising senior at St. Mary's Holy Catholic Academy, has just committed a year early to The University of North Carolina's soccer team for the 2013-2014 academic year. He was named to the All-State soccer team earlier this year after leading his team to victory in the Section III Championship, and then to the State Semi-Finals, where St. Mary's lost 2-0. Clarkson currently lives with his Aunt and Uncle as his parents were killed overseas while they were doing charity work in Somalia. To this day, people will see Clarkson point to the sky after each goal and victory that his team has in honor of his parents."
Carl stopped reading and looked up. Rarity's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open, "H-his parents died?"
"I guess so."
"What is it with this place?" Spike asked. "It seems like everyone is either getting bullied, has dead parents or parents that are abusive."
"Most families don't have these issues; it's just us elements for some reason." Carl said with a small chuckle. "So I think we should pay Mr. Clarkson a little visit, eh?"
Everyone nodded. And Carl turned to his sisters.
"Lisa, Anna, Spike; you three stay here. If the Princess sends any more letters, call me and tell me what she says."
They all nodded and Carl turned to Twilight and Rarity, "Girls, we're going to go to the park. The article said how he always plays pick-up games there with his friends, so maybe he's down there now."
The ponies nodded and Carl stood up, "Okay, I'm going to call Alex and Pete to see if they want to come."
"What about James?" Rarity asked. Carl didn't look up, he just sighed and shook his head, "He can't today; he has some…family problems. That reminds me I've got to call him to make sure everything is okay."
RING RING
Carl looked down at his pocket as his phone began to ring. He quickly reached into his pocket and, without looking to see who was calling, he answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey dude, it's Ryan. What are you guys doing today?"
"Hey, um, we're going to get the Element of Generosity. I think we found him."
"Okay, we're coming with you."
"Ryan you and Rainbow Dash have to stay at your house, if you leave Discord's men are going to…"
Carl stopped when he heard a quick conversation going on between Ryan and a raspy-voiced girl, obviously Rainbow Dash, before a few more noises were heard that indicated that someone else was now on the other end.
Or somepony else, and she was not pleased.
"Carl, this is Rainbow Dash."
"Fantastic. Good to know when Ryan doesn't want to argue with me, he puts you up for it." Carl muttered with disdain.
"Look here Carl; we are bored out of our minds. Do you have any idea what it's like for a Pegasus to be cooped up in a house most of the day! Let alone me!"
"Look Rainbow Dash you…"
"No one is looking for us! If they were don't you think they would have come after us yesterday! We've been patient and today we need to get out, now!"
Carl rubbed his temples, "All right, fine. You can come with us today. I'll call you to let you know when to meet at the mall. First we need to get Louis."
"Who?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"The Element of Generosity."
James' House
James finally woke up at around eleven O'clock with his t-shirt drenched in sweat and tears from both the night before, and his sleep, as his dreams were filled with sadness and horrors. The memory of getting the call from his Aunt; when she told him that Caroline had died returned with a vengeance. This thought pained him terribly and he wanted to cry until he felt something warm and furry stir next to him. He looked to his left and saw Fluttershy pressed up against his side, with her forelegs wrapped around him.
Her eyes were closed and she breathed softly while she slept. James still felt horrible about Caroline, but whenever he laid eyes on Fluttershy's cute face he couldn't help but feel a little better. He tapped her on the shoulder which caused her to wake up.
"Hm…oh James. I'm sorry did I wake you up?"
"No Fluttershy." James said weakly, "No I was already up."
"Oh," she said as she looked away from James for a second before sighing, "James, I'm so sorry about your cousin. It's so…so…" suddenly Fluttershy shut her eyes and began to cry. James wrapped his arms around her, as it was now time for him to comfort her.
"Shh, shh, it's okay." As he said this, he slowly began to cry as well, realizing that he was in no state to be comforting anyone, he looked away to hide his crying from Fluttershy, but she knew.
"James, I know it hurts you. It even hurts me, and I just met her yesterday. I just wish I could do something to make you feel better." She whispered to him, rubbing his back as she cried.
"Thanks Fluttershy," James said with a sniffle, "you're a great friend. And your being here for me has helped me feel better."
Fluttershy looked up at James and smiled weakly at him.
At that point, James' phone rang. He slowly broke the hug and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey man how are you doing today?" Carl asked on the other end.
James wiped his nose on his wrist and sniffled. "I've been better."
"I'm really sorry about what happened, James."
"Thanks bro." James said with a depressed tone.
"Listen, I found the last element and we're going to get him. I called to tell you to stay home for the day with Fluttershy."
"A-are you sure?"
"Yeah dude, unless you're up for it. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to, especially now after what happened to Caroline."
James closed his eyes and sighed. He really did want to come to help out his friends, but he knew that he needed a day to grieve so he answered, "Yeah I'll stay home, I mean, unless you need me…"
"We're good man, thanks though. I'll call you back later after we get him."
"Word Carl."
"All right man, stay strong."
"I will."
"Okay see you."
"Bye." James muttered as he hung up. He sat back on the bed and rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes.
"Was that Carl?" Fluttershy asked and James nodded.
"Yeah, he told me to take a day off if I wanted."
"I think a day off will do you some good."
James nodded, "Yeah, but Caroline is still dead. No amount of rest can change that."
Fluttershy looked up at James, "Why don't we go out?"
James looked back, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, after all, Twilight's spell isn't in effect for you so if people saw you, they'd see a pony."
Fluttershy nodded, "Yeah that's probably for the best, besides, we can find something to do here, right?"
"Right." James said when he heard voices downstairs. He could tell that Patrick was home for the day and, therefore, his parents would be gushing about all of his accomplishments, which would drive James insane.
"You know what, let's go on that hike." He said.
"Really?"
James nodded, "Come on, let's go in the woods behind my house, no one will see us there."
Pete's House
Pete had just gotten the text from Carl to stay home because he would pick him and Pinkie up later when they found the last element. He was outside on his porch, watching as some birds flew by chasing some insects that were buzzing around.
In the chair next to him was Pinkie Pie, who was looking up at the clouds in the sky. Every now and then she'd point to one and said what she thought it looked like.
"Oh! Oh! Pete! That one! Right there! It looks like a giant cupcake!"
"Which one?"
"That one!" she said, pointing with more emphasis at one of the clouds that did, in fact, look a bit like a cupcake. "See! There's the cake, and there's the frosting!"
"Oh yeah, ha-ha that's great."
Pinkie pointed to another cloud that was close to the "cupcake". "And that one, right there, looks like a BIG, hungry pony, that's ready to eat the cupcake! Mmmm…" she rubbed her stomach and licked her lips as if she ate the cupcake herself and thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Actually, that pony cloud looks a lot like you." Pete said quietly. Pinkie looked at the cloud again; her eyes were squinted with intense focus before she smiled in agreement again.
"Oh yeah, I see that! It even has my poofy mane!"
Pete sighed and sat up, "Hey Pinkie, before we go, do you want to eat? I have some cupcakes in the fridge, if you're interested."
"YAY!" she said, jumping into the air with pure excitement on her face before sprinting off into the house.
Pete chuckled a bit before he followed her. Once inside, he grabbed a plate and gave her the cupcake from the fridge. "Here you go Pinkie."
"Thank you Pete!" she said happily before she leaned back, mouth wide open, and ate the cupcake in one bite. Pete's mouth hung open at the sight. Even though it should have been expected, she was a cartoon pony after all; it was a shock to see such an act done in reality.
"Awwww, it's gone." Pinkie said sadly.
But looking at her face and mannerisms made Pete chuckle, then laugh harder, until he was soon leaning over the table, laughing the hardest that he had in years.
"Pete are you okay?" Pinkie asked.
Pete calmed himself down and wiped a tear of laughter away, "Yeah I am, you're just so….random."
Pete continued to laugh and soon Pinkie did as well. Pete was finally opening himself up and felt less like a wall-flower and more like how he was before everything changed for him. And he owed it all to Pinkie.
But she was far from done changing his life.
Wilmont Park- Afternoon (around 11)
"Hey Gregors; pass me the ball!" shouted the six-foot two-inch, pumped up, soon to be Division I athlete that was Louis Clarkson. Louis was playing a four v. four soccer game against some of his classmates from the year before. His eyes showed steely determination as the ball was passed to him. He trapped the ball and then began to sprint with it down the field, weaving in and out; juking two of his friends so badly that they lost their balance and fell over. He then passed it off to another one of his friends and sprinted towards the goal for a cross.
The player with the ball crossed it high into the air so that Louis could get his head on it. He leapt at the same time as the goalie. The only difference was that he jumped at least half a foot higher than the goalie. His head made contact and the fall smashed into the net with force that most players wish their feet had.
As he landed, looked up, and saw the ball in the goal, he pumped his fist in victory and pointed to the sky as he did whenever he scored, real game or not.
"Hell yeah! That's my boy Louis right there!" shouted his friend Alan Gregors.
"All in a day's work!" he shouted before high-fiving Alan and clapping his hands excitedly.
Meanwhile, in a parking space near the soccer field, Carl had parked his car and was now watching the pick-up game with Alex, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight. They had all seen the goal; and their mouth were all hanging open in astonishment at Louis' soccer skills.
"Holy Mother of God." Alex muttered.
"He's UNC bound man, what did you expect?" Carl asked as he bit his nails in anxiety, all though he was also impressed by Louis' skills on the field.
"I…I…wow." Is all Alex could say, "but wait, since he is the Element of Generosity, does that mean he's a brony too? I mean, all of us so far have been."
"I guess so." Carl said without taking his eyes off of the Element.
"If he is, he is as far from the stereotype as anyone could possible get."
"What do ya mean stereotype?" Applejack asked.
"When I imagine a brony I see a nerdy white kid who doesn't do a lot of sports. Not a six-foot African-American all-star soccer player who looks like he can lift me up with one hand."
"Wow, racist much Alex?" Carl asked teasingly
"No! Dude, I'm not a racist, I'm just observant. Could you really see a guy like him sitting at his computer watching My Little Pony?"
Carl thought about this for a second. Suddenly, the mental image of Louis Clarkson staring wide-eyed at the computer, vomiting rainbows as he watched my little pony came up. Carl had to restrain laughter from thinking about it.
"True, but don't be so quick to stereotype someone because of his skin-color. That'll get you into a shit-load of trouble with people who don't know you."
"Carl, should we go out there now?" Rarity asked with an excited grin.
Carl nodded, "Yeah, but listen, you and Twilight do this by yourselves and ask him to meet you two at the mall in an hour, but don't say anything about us being there with you."
"Why?"
"He'll be more interested if two girls he doesn't know ask him to the mall than if a group of people that includes guys that he doesn't know invited him." Carl said before turning to Twilight, "Use your spell so he thinks you're Tara and Raquel."
"Got it." Twilight said as her horn had the familiar purple glow for a few seconds and then it faded. "We're all set."
"Good. Now go get him and, oh Twilight!" Carl said as she began to get out of the car, opening both doors using her magic. She stopped and turned around to face Carl. "I almost forgot, check him to see if he's the element while you're there, but don't tell him anything until we go to the mall."
"Carl I know what to do, if you don't remember I'm very organized." She said with a wink and a cocky smile before exiting the car, along with Rarity.
Applejack and Alex leaned forward from the back seat.
"Do ya think he'll agree ta meet us?" Applejack asked.
"He'd better; otherwise you can go buck him AJ." Carl replied, not taking his eyes off of Louis, still biting his nails anxiously as he leaned back in his seat.
Down on the field, Louis was about to take a corner kick on the side of the field that was closest to the parking lot, when another one of his friends called him.
"Hey Louis! Looks like you got some hot biddies coming your way!"
Louis turned around to see Twilight and Rarity heading his way, and, as with every other case before him, he only saw two stunning, teenage, human girls heading his way. His friends began to whistle and holler flirtatious phrases at the girls as Louis simply grinned before he walked over to them.
"Hello ladies." She said in a very flirtatious way that made both girls giggle.
"Are you Louis Clarkson?" Twilight asked.
"Ah I see you've been reading the newspapers recently." Louis said as he extended his hand to be shaken. "Yes, I am Louis Clarkson, future captain of the North Carolina Tarheels Soccer team."
"I'm Tara and this is my friend Raquel." Twilight said, gesturing to Rarity, who gave a small wave and batted her eyelashes in a very animated way that made Louis' face turn red.
"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you Louis." Rarity said as she "shook" Louis' hand.
"Listen, we were wondering if you wanted to meet us at the mall in an hour for lunch." Twilight asked and Louis chuckled.
"Yeah, of course." He said and shrugged, "I should be done here by then. Do you want to meet in the food-court?"
"Yep, that sounds perfect." Twilight said as Rarity just kept staring.
"Great! Well, we'll see you two there." Louis said with an excited smile.
"Wait, Louis, could you hold still a moment?" Twilight asked, doing her usual head-to-chest ritual that caused everyone on the soccer field to start hurling sexual statements, and everyone in Carl's car to burst into laughter.
Twilight backed away from Louis, who was blushing, but smiled. "I see that you're really into me." Louis said.
Twilight smiled, "See you at the mall."
With that the two girls waved and walked back towards the car. Louis turned to make the corner kick, "Hey guys, here it comes, look alive out there I want this ball in the net!"
With that, he ran up and booted the ball brilliantly right to one of his friend's heads so he was able to score.
On the way back to the car, Carl watched as Twilight whispered something to Rarity. After this, Rarity suddenly jumped for joy and strutted back to the car with her eyes closed and a huge grin on her muzzle.
Carl smiled and gave a small nod, "We have found the Element of Generosity."
Ryan's House
There was absolutely nothing to do for Ryan and Rainbow Dash in Ryan's house as they waited for Carl's text, so they sat at the couch and did nothing but watch television and eat junk food from the pantry. Ryan had his phone on vibrate so Carl could tell him when and where to meet.
"Ryan, I was thinking," Rainbow Dash said after swallowing a potato chip, "when do you want to tell everypony that we're….you know, a couple?"
Ryan shrugged, "I'm not sure. I mean, I don't have a problem telling Carl and those guys. After all I don't care what they think about us."
"What about your parents?"
Ryan sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. I don't think that they're going to like it."
Rainbow Dash saw how stressed out Ryan was now and scooted closer to him and rested her head onto his shoulder, "Is it because I'm a pony, isn't it?"
"And I'm a human, yes." Ryan muttered, closing his eyes, "But when I do tell them, and if they don't approve of it, I don't care. I'm not going to stop being your boyfriend because of it."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled against Ryan's shoulder. "Thanks Ryan, I'm glad I mean that much to you."
Ryan felt a little better now. Having her beside him always made him feel better. It was just like in the show. Whenever she was on it, he would suddenly feel happy and comforted. As he looked into her eyes and imagined that somewhere out in the vast number universes and dimensions that she existed, he would be happy. Now that she was here, Ryan's feeling of wanting something more that accompanied his romantic's personality went away. He felt like he was complete, like he didn't have the desire for "something more" any longer, and that was a feeling he had ever since he was very young. This also made Ryan thrilled because it proved that his love for Rainbow Dash was pure love rather than just a "you want something that you can't have" kind of relationship that usually ended in heartbreak and hatred.
No, he would never leave Rainbow Dash's side, and she would never leave his. They were equals; both sources of comfort for one another when the other needed it. It wasn't male dominated or female dominated, it was completely mutual, how a relationship should be.
That's the thing that made them both the happiest about their relationship, even if it was only about a day old.
BUZZ BUZZ
Ryan took his phone out of his pocket and saw that he got a text from Carl.
"Meet at mall in 45 minutes."
Ryan quickly replied with a "k" and pocketed his phone.
"Duty calls Dashie, come on let's clean up and go out to the truck."
She nodded and lazily got up from the couch, crumbs dropping onto the cushion.
"Oh great." she muttered as she began to sweep the crumbs off of the couch into one hoof with the other.
"Hang on Dashie, let me help you." Ryan said as he began to brush the couch cushion off.
"I've got it." She said stubbornly as she swept faster so Ryan would have less. She then looked up with a smile, "I'll race ya to the kitchen!"
"You know you're going to beat me." Ryan muttered.
"You'll never know if you don't try!"" she said with a big grin. "Besides, I'll run so it'll be a little fairer."
Ryan sighed, "All right, fine."
"Okay, ready, set, go!"
They both ran off to the kitchen, which was down the hall. Ryan eventually saw her sprint by him with unbelievable speed and he knew there was no way that he'd win, and he was right.
Once she was in the kitchen she flew up off the ground with her hooves in the air in triumph.
"Ha! I won; the fastest flier in Equestria has won! I beat you!" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky smile.
"You sure did Dashie." Ryan said with a chuckle.
She then looked at Carl, her competitive face melting a bit into a soft, happy one. "No, Carl, you're supposed to say "you got lucky"."
Ryan looked at her confused and she smiled, "In a playful way of course. But you don't need to completely give me a victory that's no fun. Say "I want a rematch later" or something." She added.
Ryan shrugged. "You'd probably beat me anyway."
Rainbow Dash then grabbed Ryan by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to her own, which had a pleading expression on it, "No, Ryan look. You have to be a little cocky sometimes; this is what I'm trying to tell you now. Tell me that you want a rematch later."
"But.." Ryan began but when he saw Rainbow Dash scowl at him he sighed. "Fine, I want a rematch later." He muttered.
Rainbow Dash smirked, "Um, what was that?"
"I want a rematch later." Ryan said a little louder.
"What?" she asked as she put her hoof to her ear to emphasize how quiet Ryan was.
"I want a rematch!" he finally shouted.
"Are you sure that you can take me? After all I am the awesome Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! I can do anything! I can even run fast! I can defeat you with both wings tied again."
"Prove it then!" Ryan shouted as his face dropped. He suddenly realized how confident he sounded all of a sudden and it made him feel…good.
Rainbow Dash smiled at Ryan and hugged him. "You see? You just need some confidence in yourself."
Ryan smiled and hugged her back, "I do, thank you Dashie."
"No problem Ryan." She said right before she broke the hug and looked directly into his eyes, "but I do want a re-match. And I do want you to believe that you can beat me."
"Deal." Ryan said with a small smile before they kissed one more time and headed out to the car.
Ryan's head was reeling. Rainbow Dash had just given him a lesson in confidence, something no girl on Earth would ever do. Most girls would just take advantage of his lack of confidence and use it so they had the upper hand in the relationship. But not Rainbow Dash. She was such a great friend, she loved Ryan so much, that she wanted him to become competitive with her.
As they got into the car, Ryan started to cry a little bit. Rainbow Dash noticed this and looked at him, "Ryan what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said with a smile, "It's just nobody has ever done anything that nice for me in my life, besides maybe my parents."
Rainbow Dash smiled back, "No one loves you like I do Ryan, remember that. Now can we get going? I don't want any of my friends to see me this soft and mushy."
"Right, sorry." Ryan said with a chuckle as he turned his car on and drove off, Rainbow Dash' head still resting on his shoulder as they both hummed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
He was so happy that he didn't even notice a white van begin to follow him.
The driver of the white van, a middle-aged man who was balding and had a bushy beard, picked up the radio and spoke: "They just left."
City Hall
Brett sat at his desk with the radio as he got news about Ryan and Rainbow Dash leaving their house.
"Right, follow them and tell me where they go. And do not to anything until I get there." Brett muttered.
"Got it Obscure; hail Discord."
"Hail Discord."
There you go, now all six elements are known.
I hope you enjoyed that Chapter, and I hope that the character devellopment is working out.
Anyway, thanks for reading nad hopefully Chapter 9 will be up soon.
Also, with Louis, let me know if I stereotype too much at all. I am trying not to, but just give me a heads up if it seems like I am.
Especially because it will be the most action-filled chapter so far.
Go Giants! Go Rainow Dash!