//------------------------------// // Envelope 3: April – May, 1000 A.B.N.M. // Story: Paper Romance // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// Jonagold closed her bedroom door behind her before she trotted over to her desk. Setting the bowl of ice cream by her computer, she clicked onto the next letter from her ancestor. Right away, she noticed that unlike the other letters, this one was apparently written in black ink which made it easier to read from. Dear Soarin, I wanna take a moment to respond to your question in your last letter. In which you asked how folks here in Appaloosa might react to a gay couple. To be honest with ya, I don’t really know, and that scares me. This is because here, all the couples, married or otherwise, are straight. Never once have I heard anything regarding gay ponies aside from jokes here and there. There’s a huge ambiguity here that, in my eyes, probably makes things all the riskier. After all, I would rather have a general conscience that this town supports/condemn something then to have probably gambled everything. Soarin, after nearly a year since I first moved here to start a new life, and now I’m wondering if I told these folks the truth, that we might be putting both of us at risk. I’m not exactly sure how open-minded everyone is here, even if they are kind and hardworking. Sometimes, the thought that if I say the wrong thing might jeopardize my safety is enough to keep me up at night. I could already sense as you’re reading this of what you might say, “Oh common dude, don’t be like that. It’s not good to hide who you are from the ponies that you worked with for this long.” But let me ask ya something: how much is your safety worth? What do you do to make sure that you have a roof over your head, or that you have ponies to rely on, or to have a job, and to make sure that someone will come to your side when you call for help? I’m starting to think that the price that I have to pay, is my silence. Jonagold was stunned when she read this paragraph. Even though her great-great-great-grandfather had died about a century ago, long before she was born, she could sense the very insecurity that bleeds from those words. In a way, it was heart-wrenching to reading something like this, because form those words, she could only come to one conclusion: her own ancestor was afraid. “Whoever knew that somepony like who that’s been looked up to is scared of the ponies that helped build this town?” she thought aloud. The pegasus mare took a moment to jot down some notes before she continued on reading. In a change of subject, I’ve been trying to keep myself distracted as much as possible to get my mind off of… that. Plus, I do have some good news: the trees that had been trampled on from the Buffaloes have recovered and they’re starting to really grow. This means that, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a surplus of food come autumn. There’s been talking that maybe we could sell our apples outside of the town so we can get some bits flowing in. I think it would help us a good deal in the long run, perhaps create a town for tourists, but maybe I’m just thinking ahead. The pegasus mare couldn’t help but snicker at that last paragraph, “Oh if only you knew gramps.” Oh! Before I forget, do you remember a while back when I said that I was picking up the fiddle again as a hobby? Well, a couple of days back when I was on my porch, I was improvising on my day off. Just making up a tune when I suddenly heard someone calling out to me, this turned out to be the manager of the Salt Lick saying that I was pretty good. So much so, that he asked me if I could come to play at the place and he’s willing to pay me for doing so. Well, I refused at first, sayin’ that it was all just a hobby, but he ended up persuading me to go over there and do it in front of all those ponies. You could imagine that I was probably in a nervous wreck after standing up there for a good hour or so improvising, but in the end, the ponies did like it. Plus, I was paid fifty bits from that one performance. So I guess I got myself another job! So how was that Young Fliers Competition? I’m guessing that by the time you get this letter you would already have an opinion on that event. Or even if nothing happened over there, it would be nice to read something from ya. Your description of Las Pegasus makes me wish that I could have walked down those streets with ya to see those colorful lights. I kinda want to see the controlled chaos of those casinos up close or have a seat next to ya during one of those fancy shows. Soarin, I confess that I’m actually rather jealous of you. That your team has the means to travel to cities and other places throughout Equestria, and probably beyond that. I wish that I could be as free as you are to go off to these far off places that I only read in books. Perhaps, if I’m really lucky, do you think you can take me with ya to those places? I do want to see besides Ponyville, Appaloosa or the outskirts of Manehattan. Do you think it would be possible for us to go to other places for the occasional adventure? Like seeing the Crystal Empire of the north, or go through the jungles of the Mysterious South? Or maybe Saddle Arabia to have a look at the sea of sand that I read about when I was a colt? But I gotta wrap things up now, it’s already past six and I still haven’t eaten dinner yet. I wish I had the time and creativity to write long letters to ya. I wish there were other ways of telling you that I miss to having you around. Appaloosa seems complete to me when you are over my head, cracking jokes at everyone and everything you see while I try my hardest not to laugh. I also missed our kiss as well Soarin, perhaps the next time I see you, I ought to give you a good one. Seriously though, do find the time to come see me as soon as you’re able. I’ll be waiting. Yours from the desert, -Braeburn. Dear Braeburn, Boy, where do I start? So many things have happened to me that it’s kinda difficult to put it all down on paper. Maybe I should start at the Young Fliers Competition first because I’ve got quite a story for you! So after we’ve made our grand entrance, we took our seats to start judging who among all these ponies would get to hang out with us. We sat there for at least an hour or so, watching one pegasus after another do their tricks with speed, grace, and acrobatics that we could do if we were brain dead. (I realized how harsh that sounds but with all seriousness, I was getting so bored from having to watch all of that.) And just when I thought nopony could bring up anything new, one of the contestants, a unicorn I think who had these butterfly wings had suddenly started falling. Of course, we’ve jumped right in to rescue her, only she was screaming and flailing around so much that she kicked us off balance. We were falling with her when suddenly, out of nowhere it seems, another pegasus with a rainbow mane dove straight down and flew so fast that she broke the sound barrier. Not only that, but I swear to Celestia that I saw the sky had rippled out a rainbow of color. In no time at all, the mare scooped us and saved us from hitting the ground, all the while taking all of us at a speed that none of us had thought possible! You can tell who we determined who the winner was when we’ve finally gotten the chance to talk to her, she said that her name was Rainbow Dash. Jonagold had to do a double-take when she read that name. “Wait a minute…” she scanned through the last few paragraphs again. “He’s not talking about that Rainbow Dash isn’t he?” Putting the photographed letter aside, brought up the internet and typed in the keywords: Rainbow Dash Young Fliers Competition and went straight to the top result. To her astonishment, the account that this Soarin gave and the historical record of what happened matched up perfectly! She clicked back to the letter to see what else it said. I can tell ya Brae that she really is a huge fan of us. She practically hung on every word we’ve said after the competition. If it weren’t for her age, I would easily mistake her as a filly on the ultimate sugar high. Though I can’t blame her, she saved our necks after all after doing something called the Sonic Rainboom. Captain Spitfire later told me that it was a rare stunt that, according to the local legend in Cloudsdale, a filly was going so fast that she did essentially what she did. This Rainbow Dash had pulled off what was considered impossible right before our very eyes. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ve listened to her in not only how she’s a big fan of ours, but now that she has this dream of joining us someday. Given from what we’ve seen, I can tell you that the team has come to a consensus that maybe after she’s gone through boot camp, that she could very well qualify as one of us. I too agreed with them, there’s potential in that filly. “Oh you have no idea,” Jonagold commented before she read on. Another thing that’s happened recently is that I came out to Captain Spitfire about our new relationship. Now before you start panicking, just read this through, okay? Remember how I promised that I would try to find some time to come and see you? Well, in order to have some time off, I have to get permission from my superior, in this case, from Spitz. I went into her office the other day and asked if it were possible for me to take some time off in the near future. She asked me why, and I told her was because I wanted to spend a little more time with my date. This took her by surprise as she told me that she didn’t know I was seeing anypony before she asked me who it was. I won’t lie, I did hesitate for a moment in that I had no idea how she would react that I was dating a stallion. But when she repeated her question, I told her the truth and said that I was going out with you. The look on her face as she took off her sunglasses is something I kinda wish I could put it in a frame because her eyes went as wide as her eyes, her cheeks were blushing a deep pink (something I’ve never seen her do before) and her mouth hung ajar for what might have been a good five minutes. Finally, she said, “Wow. I didn’t take you to be the kind of guy who has a coltfriend. I guess you learn something new, huh.” She then asked me how long this was going on and I told her it was a couple months and that we’re mostly communicating by letters. Long story short, she gave her permission in that she’ll let me be on leave in by next month. As for your situation in Appaloosa… I admit I don’t really have an easy answer here. I really do wish that I have something to give ya that would cheer you up. It’s kinda heartbreaking to read from your last letter how much you’re afraid of the very ponies that you’re relying on. The only thing I could come close to as advice is as a rule of hoof: safety first. Try to listen, and if necessary, try to find out how your neighbors would react to us. Perhaps give some bait into hearing their opinions on the subject. I don’t mean just ask them upfront about it, but rather give a sly way of provoking an answer. Chances are, you might be able to find those in your town to maybe more accepting then you give them credit for. Expect me next month from now. I do hope that you might give me some ideas on how to make you feel secure. Until then, your pegasus, -Soarin. “Hey Jo?” she heard her dad knocking on the door, “You got a minute?” “Come in.” Jonagold’s door opened in which her father walked in, “I know why the name Soarin sounded familiar to me now.” “Okay, so what did you find?” “As it turns out,” the deep green stallion sat down before her. “I found out that he grew up in the same town as our Braeburn in the rural area of Manehattan, after which he was in the Wonderbolts a hundred years ago. Right around the time when Rainbow Dash joined, he had done stunts across the country, had taken part of the Equestria Games, and even was one of the ponies that were on the front lines when the second Changeling invasion happened.” “Did your research come up with his relationship with my great-great-great-grandfather?” “Well… yes and no,” he said scratching the back of his head. “From what I could find, he did move to Appaloosa eventually and has gotten to known Braeburn pretty well. So much so, that I was stunned to find on his biography that he did marry him. So yes, they were a couple, but that’s where all the info went dry.” “Huh?” his daughter cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?” “I mean that’s pretty much it. There’s nothing about what their marriage was like, or if they adopted foals, or anything. Although, I did find that this Soarin had outlived Braeburn by a couple of years. Perhaps there’s some clue in that. Maybe after he died, Soarin had gotten so grief-stricken that he just locked everything about their married years away or something.” “Do you think that’s why we haven’t known about this until now?” Her father shrugged, “It’s possible. I mean it has been a hundred years so Celestia knows what could have been lost in that time. So what did you find out?” “In short, Soarin is a little more opened than Braeburn. From what I’ve read, the Wonderbolt had told his superior about his relationship, but Gramps hasn’t told anyone because he wasn’t sure how the settlers would react to them. Essentially, I think he was afraid.” She looked over at the computer screen, “You know dad, I actually feel sorry for him. I know it’s silly to feel bad for a guy who lived a century ago, but the more I read these letters, the more I wonder how he didn’t go mad from hiding himself all the time.” “I don’t know any more than you do,” her father scooched over and wrapped a foreleg around her. “Still, it’s amazing to me that you were able to find these letters at all. This is an amazing record you’re creating for future generations to come from your paper to let the past finally speak. I bet that your great-great-great-grandfather would have been proud that you’re doing this for him.” “But I still have so much to go through,” Jonagold pointed out. “And my paper isn’t due until next week. I still have a lot go to through.” “Of course,” he looked up at her desk, “You finished with that ice cream.” “Take it.” After picking up the bowl and before her father headed out, he said to her, “Jo, thanks for sharing this with me.” “You’re welcome, and good night dad.” Once her father left her room and closed the door behind him, the young mare clicked on the next letter. This one came from her ancestor. Dear Soarin, First of all, I apologize for not writing back to ya in the past several weeks. The Buffaloes have caused us more problems since the last time I wrote to you. To put things short, there was a fire that broke out in the orchards not too long ago. Right in the middle of the night, somepony was shouting “FIRE! FIRE! WAKE UP! FIRE!” so some of us went outside what was going on to see there was an orange glow where one of our fields was. Everyone was in full panic as we took whatever buckets, bowls, or whatever we had to create a pony chain to put the fire out. It took a good deal of time but after what might have been an hour or so, it was put out but the scent was still strong in the air. By morning, we found a burned up arrow that was embedded on a tree. No surprise then that many folks here are beyond angry. But there are still some, like myself that still wonder why in all of Equestria that this tribe would do such a thing to us. If only we had an idea where they were, then maybe we could at least get an answer to destroying our crops. But you don’t have to worry too much, there’re still enough trees to feed us thankfully. We’re expecting to get new trees to replace the burnt ones, but some of us are worried about how many trees the tribe would rob from the trains that will come down here. My cousin, Applejack, said that she will give us a sapling sometime soon, possibly in June. I already told her about the train robberies and she replied back that she’ll bring the tree up here herself. (I’m rather looking forward to showing off Appaloosa to her anyway; it’s been a while since an Apple has come to see me.) I’m relieved that your captain not only gave you permission to come to see me but has approved of us as well. And yes, I can’t wait to see you again as well. With all the troubling stuff that has happened in the past few weeks, and I fear for what is about to come, I anticipate the day when you fly in. I need your ray of sunlight to disperse the gloomy clouds of uncertainty. Call me impatient, but I simply can’t wait as a foal waits for Hearths Warming morning to see you on my doorstep. I miss you, and at a time as tense as this, I need you now more than ever. But if I have to wait just a little longer to see your smiling face, then I’ll do so. Yours from the scorched earth, – Braeburn. (P.S. Before I forget, can you tell Captain Spitfire that I said thanks? P.P.S. Does the rest of your team know about us too? Just out of curiosity.) By now, Jonagold yawned and looked over to the clock on her computer. “It’s past ten already?” She looked at the screen at the other unread letters, “I guess I’ll try to read you guys tomorrow.” After turning her computer off, the sleepy Pegasus tucked herself under the sheets of her bed and turned off the light. Letting her mind drift from all she learned about her ancestor and his growing love for a Wonderbolt. Before she could let her mind slip into the land of dreams, she half wonders if she would dream of being in Appaloosa all those years ago.