Ultra Combo - Brother, Gamer, Pony Chapter 8

Ultra had never actually had anypony other than his sister and occansionally Derpy come into his house ever, so inviting AJ in was a bit of a change for him. As they entered, he quickly remembered WHY he didn't invite people in here: It was ground zero. It looked as if a small bomb went off in the house, with tools, planks, cables and wire strewn about. The only part of the house that was even slightly presentable was the living room. In the plain, white living room was two couches, a coffee table, and a LCD television which had many different devices hooked up to it.

Ultra trotted over to the couch as AJ scanned the house, looking at all the clutter. "Well, it's a might messy, but y'all look like yer makin' pretty good progress!"

Ultra nodded, looking at the mess himself. "Wanna take a seat?"

Applejack smiled an walked over to the couch, slowly sitting down. She was still rather tired from her race against Ultra, and she DID realize that she needed some time to rest her aching muscles. "Only fer a bit though, cause then we'll git t'work on whatever it is y'all raced me fer!" she said with a grin.

"Okie dokie..." Ultra sat down on the other couch and pointed at the wall directly across from him. "Well, see that wall over there?" The wall was discolored, obviously not painted for some reason. "It has to come down." Ultra continued, "I put it there, thinking it would look good, but it didn't as you can plainly see." Ultra turned back to Applejack, lowering this hoof. "See, THAT'S where you come in."

Applejack gave Ultra a look of confusion. "Well, whaddaya want me t'do to help?"

"I've seen your bucking power, shaking ALL the apples off the trees down at the farm. So, you think you could help take this bad boy down with that power?"

Applejack got up and walked over to the wall. She eyed the wall up and down, wondering if it was truely safe to help him buck this wall down. She didn't like to toot her own horn, but she WAS one of the strongest mares in Ponyville, and the house was still under construction, and it's structural integrity was questionable.

Nah. Ah'm sure it fine. Ultra wouldn't've built a house he wasn't safe in. His sister is stayin' here! He'd never put 'er in danger if he could prevent it.

Applejack turned to Ultra and nodded. "Ah'm thinkin' I could do this."

"Oh, great!" Ultra got up and joined her by the wall. He began carefully checking the wall, trying to locate the sweet spot that AJ would have to hit in order to bring the wall down easier. Eventually, he found it and marked it with some paint. "Right here. Give it all you've got!"

"Alrighty then! Y'all keep back there fer a moment!" she yelled. She lowered herself, preparing for the buck. She took one last look at the wall to get her buck lined up, and, as a grin spread across her face, she unleashed a massive buck, colliding with the sweet spot on the wall perfectly, and making the house shake from the huge impact.

When the dust cleared, Applejack turned around to look at the damage. AJ's buck had been so powerful, that she had completely dusted the area where her blow landed, leaving a good-sized hole in the wall. Ultra shook the dust from his mane and approached the wall, inspecting Applejack's handiwork.

"That outta do it. It's weakened enough, so I could probably manage to finish the job myself, you know, just clearing everything out and making it look presentable." He turned and nodded to AJ. "Thanks!"

She smiled and gave a little tip of her hat. "That's what ah'm best at round these parts." She ran her hoof along the inside of the hole, as more debris fell to the floor. "Y'all got a broom an' dustpan round here? Can't be leavin' a mess like this layin' around or else somepony is gonna trip on it." she said while sweeping some of the mess up with her tail.

Ultra nodded and responded, "Don't worry, I've got this." He trotted out of the living room, leaving Applejack alone for a moment. As he approached the closet in the kitchen, he felt a mighty rumbling in his stomach. Wow. I didn't even realize how long it's been since I've eaten today. he thought. Then, an idea struck him. "Hey, Applejack!" he called back to her from the kitchen as he grabbed the broom and dustpan, holding them under his wings.

"Yes?" called the familiar country-sounding voice from the living room.

"Well," Ultra began, "since you've been such a big help, how about I treat you to something to eat? Wherever you wanna go..." Ultra entered the room and saw AJ examining the hole, and his presence caused her to turn her attention back to him. "...I'll be down with it. How about it?"

Applejack thought for a moment as a smile spread across her face. "Ultra?"

"Yeah?"

"Are y'all tryin' t'get me on a date?"

Ultra's face turned bright red. "What? Uh...no! Of course not! I-I mean...you're a perfectly nice mare and all, but I don't....you know.....Not that there's anything WRONG with you, it's just..."

Applejack brought a hoof up to his mouth, silencing him. She laughed at his awkward stammering. "Ah'm just kiddin' around. Stop yer fussin'!"

"Oh, um, of course....hehe...." Ultra shook off his embarrassment and swept up the dust and debris from Applejack's work as she thought.

"Well, somethin' from Sugarcube Corner would sound mighty fine right 'bout now!" Applejack responded, "O'course, if yer okay with that."

Ultra lifted up the dustpan in his mouth after gathering the remainder of the mess and dumped it in the garbage. "Sounds great!" he answered, propping the broom up in the corner. "Let's get a move on."

AJ nodded and exited the house with Ultra into a brightly lit Ponyville. They stood for a moment and admired the sunny day, as the birds chirped and the heat from the Celestia's sun beat down on them. "Mighty fine day, ain't it?"

"Sure is." Ultra hadn't felt this in a VERY long time. For the first time in a while, he felt......content. Like he truely was happy, and it was all because of Joy and AJ. He looked at AJ surveying the town square and felt that he should say something to her, but decided against it for now. He wanted to say something, but simply didn't know what.

The two began the short trek to Sugarcube Corner. As they made their way there, they passed Twilight's library. Applejack looked over to the library and waved, noticing Twilight through a window. Twilight noticed her as well and did the same.

"That's one o'mah friends, Twilight Sparkle." Applejack informed Ultra as they closed in on Sugarcube Corner,  "One of them real intelligent types, she is."

"Yeah, I've actually met Twilight already." Ultra responded, "When I picked up Joy, we ran down to the library. She was the only one there, so we decided to say hi." Upon talking about Joy, he began to worry about her. "Speaking of Joy, I wonder what she and Apple Bloom are up to. I sure hope they're alright."

Applejack chuckled a bit and gave Ultra a playful shove. "Oh, ah'm sure they aren't gettin' into anythin' too bad. And if anythin' does happen, Big Macintosh is always around just in case too. Ah'm not always the one she goes a-callin' to fer help all the time." The two walked into Sugarcube Corner, the scent of cakes and other baked goods filling their nostrils.

They were barely in the door when a pink blur came speeding towards them, stopping right in front of them.
"OHMYGOSH! Applejack!" Pinkie cheered. "Hi! Oh, and hi to you too, Ultra!"

Before Applejack could respond, her tummy began to rumble furiously. She chuckled and said, "Wow, ain't had a growl like that in ages I reckon." She chuckled and patted her hungry belly. "Don't y'all worry down there, we're gonna get some grub soon enough!"

The three approached the counter and Pinkie leaped over it, grinning widely at the two. "So, what can I do you two super special awesome friends today?" she asked, tilting her head.

Ultra answered first, "I think I'll have a blueberry muffin. Derpy got me one when we went to retrieve our supplies, and I'm really hooked now. What about you, AJ?"

"Hmm..." Applejack pondered her decision for a moment, and responded, "Ah'll have the same, keep things simple!"

Pinkie quickly wrote up the order on a pad and spit the pen out onto the counter. "Okie dokie lokie! Two blueberry muffins coming riiiiiiiight up!" Pinkie dove through the doors into kitchen, and many loud noises erupted from behind the swinging doors.

Ultra turned to Applejack. "She's going to bound out those doors with fresh muffins in mere seconds, isn't she?" Almost on queue, Pinkie burst through the doors holding two plates, each graced with a fresh muffin. "Of course." Ultra remarked.

Ultra and Applejack walked over to one of the booths next to the window. They sat down as Pinkie placed the plates in front of them. "Here you two go! Hope you like it!" she sang, her trademark Pinkie Pie smile plastered on her face.

Applejack leaned in an took in the aroma of the muffin, enjoying herself thoroughly. "Mmmmmmmm...reeeeeal good Pinkie, real good!"

Ultra, however, didn't take time to take in the delicious scent, and immediately dug in. "This is delicious! I don't know how you do it Pinkie. Thanks!"

Pinkie smiled even wider at Ultra's compliment. "Any tiiiiiiime..." she sang as she bounded back to help the Cakes with another order.

When she was out of sight, Ultra turned his attention back to Applejack. "Man, she is so full of energy. Kinda reminds me of my sister a little." They laughed as Applejack took her first bite of her muffin. "Are you two good friends?" Ultra asked, still hungrily nibbling at his muffin, "I seemed to get that vibe from you two."

"Y'all would've guessed correctly." she answered, "We've been talkin' fer a little while now since Twi came t'town."

Ultra laughed, and said, "Pinkie was the first pony I ever met in Ponyville. I swear, as soon as I stepped into town, she was already dragging me to a party. A party in MY HONOR, no less." He laughed, but the laugh soon faded, and his quick, hungry bites of his muffin changed to much smaller, slower nibbles. "We still talk when I come in here, but I wouldn't consider her really close." Ultra had become very quiet. He began thinking about before, how he pondered telling AJ how much she meant to him as a friend. How she truly was making a difference in his life.

Just tell her. Just start talking, just like when you met her. You can do this, Ultra. Eye of the manticore, baby. Let's go.

He looked up to see AJ staring, confused at his strangely absent-minded mood. "Hey, AJ?"

"Yeah, sugarcube?"

"Can I tell you something?"

She tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. She nodded. "Sure thing. Ah've got an ear t'lend if y'all need it." she said, smiling at him comfortingly.

Ultra swallowed the last of his muffin and began, his head hung low. "Well, I moved here from home 3 years ago, and didn't have many friends...I-I mean, I had friends back home but they all sort of...moved on. And I was so new here that I never bothered even trying to make friends, because...I figured I didn't really want friends anymore. At the time they just seemed like a bad idea, since eventually, they were bound to leave...and I didn't think I could handle losing friends again like that, y'know? For the past 3 years, I've spoken with people I've considered acquaintances, but you're the first person I've met here that I feel like I can really talk to, even if we haven't known each other very long. So.....thanks." Ultra brought his head up and smiled, looking Applejack in the eye. "Thanks for being a friend."

There was a long silence, besides the activity in the bakery already. It wasn't a bad silence though, no. Applejack's cheeks blushed a bright red. "Y'all are far too kind to this here mare." she giggled, reaching out to touch his cheek softly. "But it does make me feel happy that ya finally got a friend here in Ponyville." AJ finished her muffin and stood up, stretching out a bit. "If y'all are ready, maybe we best head back to the farm and see what the young'uns are up to. You said it yerself, now ah'm a bit worried bout what they're gettin' into over there."

Ultra was perked back up by Applejack's response, returning to his normal self. "Sure thing. Let's get a move on!"
He got up, and the two began to head out the door, but before leaving, Ultra looked over his shoulder and yelled, "See you later, Pinkie!"

"Byeeeee!"

The two trotted out and towards the farm. AJ spoke up, saying, "Ah know those two can't be up t'too much, but knowin' how Apple Bloom an' her friends are tryin' t'get their cutie marks…ah'm hopin' they don't drag Joystick in on their shenanigans."
Ultra's ears perked up. "Really? And what do these 'shenanigans' entail most of the time?"

"Well..." she began, "There was a time when they thought they'd get it by singin'...That didn't end too well, trust me. More recently, though, Apple Bloom took some weird stuff Zecora had an' used it to get a cutie mark...But the she got more than one mark an' she started doin' everythin' her marks did all the time! They call it 'Cutie Pox', I believe..." There was a long pause. Ultra had heard of Cutie Pox in school, but had never heard of an actual case of it, especially not a RECENT one.

"...Maybe we better get back there a bit quicker..."

"Yeeeeeeah." Ultra agreed, as the two friends dashed of towards the farm.