It took about five days for Hal to heal enough, with the attention of healers and doctors, for the body cast to come off and his therapy to begin. That was harder for him to take than the immobility of the cast, but his wife, housemate, and most especially the kids helped him get through it. Either Black Onyx or Kaleidoscope was with him as he went through the hours of therapy he needed to get himself back in condition.
When he wasn’t working on his therapy or getting treated by the doctors, he had a steady stream of visitors, reporters, friends and political figures. It turned out that his recovery was the talk of the town, his release eagerly anticipated. Four weeks after his therapy started, he was permitted to head home, with the stern admonition that he was to exercise daily.
After release, the Mayor proclaimed that the upcoming Saturday will be known as Hal Sleet Day in the city, with a parade culminating in a party to be held at the Civic Center that evening. One thing that Hal insisted on, and both the Mayor and Blue Blizzard granted, was that the entire weather control team be honored that day, with only the minimum duty squadrons missing the parade. To his surprise, when the weather control ponies arrived, they were all wearing their chess piece shirts instead of the official ones, the new Chessmaster One, Elena Strong Wing, leading the flights.
After the parade, Hal was not only honored with a dinner, he was roasted by the major movers and shakers in his life, with the roastmaster being his station manager, Stanley Livingstone. The head table was set in the shape of a large V, with Hal and his wife seated next to the point on one side, the tables going forward on each side. Wordy was narrating the newsreel being shot during the roast, which went on for over an hour, each speaker making Hal want to melt further in his seat. Finally, it was his time to get up and give a speech.
“Friends, Ponies, Countryfolk, lend your ears to my jive, cause I’m going to tell you how to catch some evil malefactors alive.” he led off to much laughter.
“The main thing to remember with all these yahoos up here, making me want to melt into my seat much of the night, is not to get caught doing anything to strike back at them.
“For that, you call upon some help.” he said, looking straight out at the audience as a spray of ice water went from one end of the high table to the other. “Next thing you do is give them the cold shoulder.”
The notable figures up on the dais squawked some at the unexpected soaking, but the audience loved it. “Actually, give them cold shoulders.” Hal said without missing a beat. “Thank you, Raven!” he called out, looking up to the ceiling just in time to see a cream pie heading down. He didn’t have a chance to get out of the way before impact.
“If this is how you say, ‘you’re welcome’, I’m spending tonight with the kids.” he said in a bland voice, to the audience’s laughter.
Hal looked back at the audience. “As I was saying, plausible deniability is a good thing.” He licked his nose. “Coconut cream. Why not lemon meringue?”
Raven walked up next to him, giving him a kiss. Her horn sparked a little, and Hal found himself paralyzed, unable to do anything but blink. “That’s coming next, love. I believe His Honor the Mayor said he would throw the first pie. I just dropped one. He will throw the first, but by no means the last.”
Raven backed away from Hal as the Mayor rose from his seat. “For the next two minutes, you’re the target, Hal!” she called out as she got out of the line of fire.
The mayor’s throw was true, hitting Hal right in the head. “Strawberry cream.” he thought as it hit. To his horror, he saw everyone at the head table get up, bearing pies. “Now I know why the tables were set this way… to give good lines of fire…”
When the blizzard of pies subsided, not an inch of Hal’s coat was clear of cream, his rainbow mane and tail buried. He snorted some cream clear of his nose. “Say good night, Hal.” Raven said.
“Good night, Hal, and thanks for all the fish.” Hal said obediently as the entire audience erupted in applause. He was led out from the auditorium to a separate room, where he was scrubbed, dried, combed and a new suit put on him. The reception line was next up.
“That wasn’t in the script, Raven!” Hal protested as he was neatened.
“No, but you deserved it for being so crazy, Hal. Scaring me so bad I delivered the twins early, having you in a full cast for a week, in the hospital for a month, what did you think you were doing?” Raven yelled at him, the groomers taking no notice of the screaming fit.
“Only what I thought was necessary, love. Even if I knew what was going to happen, I would not have done a thing different. Would you like to live here with Hard Ass running the NAS?”
Raven wilted some at the question. “Not really.” she said weakly. “I would hate to leave BUMA, though.”
“As much as I would hate leaving Retro Radio Two, I would say. If the coup was successful, I would sell everything, pack you, the kids, Wordy and Summer Sun onto a ship for Australia in a heartbeat!” Hal declared. “Now, let’s go have some fun