The shop’s back door lock turned and, a second later, the door opened.
I paused in my work, turned my head, and asked, “How did the ‘mares afternoon and dinner retreat’ go?”
“Everything was great,” Coco responded.
My left ear flicked at something in her voice.
“Coco, is something wrong?”
“You’re getting too good at reading me,” Coco said as she approached my worktable.
I touched my nose to hers. “I have to know if the mare I love is having trouble so I can help.”
“Oh, I’m not the one you should be worried about,” Coco said and gave me a gentle poke in the chest with her hoof. “You are in deep.”
I blinked. “What did I do? I’ve been balancing the books most of the evening.”
Coco giggled, and I caught a light scent of wine on her breath.
“According to Rarity, our post courtship activities and mutual ear nibbling have led me down a path of ‘behavior that does not concord with a mare with such an innocent and precious affectation.’ ”
“Oh no,” I groaned.
“I tried to be as vague as possible during the interrogation, but some details came out,” Coco said and gave me a hug. “Berry told me to tell you she’s planning a trip to the Ponyville Spa for copies of their books.”
I hugged Coco back and let out a sigh. “At least Aloe and Lotus will be happy to have more business.”
“Muffins asked what we are going to name the foal,” Coco said and laughed at my resulting dumbfounded expression. “I told her we weren’t to the picking names stage yet.”
“I don’t think either of us wants to follow in Satin’s and Stormbreaker’s hoof steps.”
“Not now,” Coco agreed. “Someday, though, before I get too old,” she said and tucked her head under my chin.
“You’ve got a while to go before you have to worry about that,” I told her and kissed her head.
“I know.” Coco nuzzled against my neck and shoulder. “I think there is a part of my brain that still doesn’t believe it could happen for us.”
“It will happen,” I assured her. “It doesn’t it have to be that long from now, either, but I don’t think we want to be trying to scramble to get ready for a foal coming with all the other things up in the air.” I turned my head just enough to allow me to kiss the tip of her ear. “We might catch it from my parents and my sister for a while, but I know that Mayor Mare loves to do elopements. We could go that route, if we want to do things the ‘proper’ way, after things settle down a bit.”
“We can’t do that to them. My family would be upset with us too, and it still would be a bit too soon.” Coco looked up at me, and gave me a smile. “Thanks for the offer, though. It means a lot.”
“You’re welcome. Speaking of your family, am I a guilty secret or will I get to meet them someday?”
Coco gave an amused snort. “You’re not a secret. I’ve written to them about you and talked with my parents about you, when I was in Manehatten.”
“I didn’t know they had been there too.”
“For two days, right when I got there. They had to leave again, though, and missed meeting Applejack and Rarity. They don’t get to stay in Manehatten too long anymore, with all the traveling they have to do with their promotion work.”
The happiness faded a little from Coco’s eyes.
“Whatever thought is bothering you is back,” I said.
“That’s right, I still haven’t told you.” Coco turned and reached into one of her saddlebags. “This came in the mail at Rarity’s.”
Coco pulled out an envelope and put it on my worktable.
Noting it came from the acting troupe she had contracted with, I opened the envelope and read over the letter.
“They confirmed they are planning to need you for only a month. That’s excellent news to me.” I read further. “The commission was about what they thought it would be. That’s still bad.”
Coco leaned against me. “It was telling you about the dates they want me to be there that was bothering me.”
I read on and flinched. “The starting date isn’t even two weeks after the wedding.”
“We’d just have enough time to get home for me to have to dig into my research, get my concept sketches done, and then pack for…”
She trailed off as I turned to her and stared at her in a state of giddy shock.
One of her ears angled out as she looked up at me. “What?”
“Home. You said home.”
Coco tilted her head, and I had to restrain myself from grabbing her in a bear hug. She gave me an infectious smile, which I could not help but mirror.
“Do you think I could consider any place other than here home after we finished our courtship?” Coco put her hoof to my cheek. “Pin, I knew what I was doing the other night. What we were doing the other night. We bonded ourselves to each other.” Her smile turned vulnerable. “At least, that is what it felt like to me.”
“It was a bonding,” I agreed with solemnity. I kissed her and enjoyed the sensation of her eager lips and the lingering hints of wine on them. When the kiss broke, I told her, “I could never love another mare like I love you. I made myself yours. My home is yours. My-”
Coco tapped my nose, cutting me off. “I did not take you or anything of yours. We shared with each other and we loved each other.” She giggled and smiled. “Just to warn you, when you do meet my parents, they know about the Canterlot courtship traditions. I’m sure there will be awkward questions asked.”
I chuckled. “If they can surpass the interrogation Mom will put me through, I’ll be impressed.”
“Speaking of my parents, I wanted to talk to you about maybe having you visit Manehatten while I was working on the commission so you could meet them.” Coco put her head back down on my chest and snuggled against me. “It will be tricky, since they will only be there a few days while I am there and their exact itinerary won’t be set until the last moment.”
“We’ll figure out a way for it to work,” I promised.
“There was something else,” she muttered. “Oh!”
Coco lifted her head so fast I had to turn my chin to keep her from hitting it.
“Sorry.” She said and kissed my cheek. “But I have to tell you, before I forget, Sassy wants you to send her copies of the books and a set of the oils you bought from the spa, since she’s leaving tomorrow and won’t have time to get them herself. She said she would pay you back as soon as she could.”
“That will be an interesting conversation.” I sighed. “Make that two interesting conversations. One with Aloe, and another with whoever I talk to at the post office to have the package shipped.”
Coco grinned. “That will be Muffins. She expects to see you the day after tomorrow at the post office. She promises to not tease or say a word, while you're there, so long as you make a list of whatever you ship and give it to her for her own reference.”
“I noticed the ‘while I’m there’ part.”
“I’m sure she’ll have things to say later,” Coco said.
I looked back down at the letter. “They’re doing Too Hot to Trot In Canterlot? I liked that one.”
“I thought you would.”
My ears perked up. “The play’s set a few decades back, right?” I asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of my voice.
Coco looked up at me with an interested expression. “It is. Why?”
“How would you like to see some vintage Canterlot fashion magazines from then?”
Coco’s eyes widened. “You have some here?!”
I shook my head. “I don’t have any here, but I know that the Canterlot Library has a collection of them down in the basement that’s open to the public.”
“You’re kidding,” Coco said.
“I’m serious. They’re part of the Equestrian Association of Haberdasher's archives. I happen to be a member of the Association and have used the collection a couple of times myself. Since we’re going to be in Canterlot for the wedding, I’m sure we can work things out with my folks to stay a bit longer so we could dive into the collection.”
“That could save me days of research time!” She paused and raised an eyebrow. “Wait a second. We?”
“Yes. You and me.” I grinned. “You tell me what you need me to do, and I help.”
“Pin, I appreciate the thought, but this is my commission. You should spend time with your parents.”
“Mom and Dad will have to be back at work.”
“Then you should be off enjoying yourself.”
“Me wander around Canterlot while knowing you’re working your tail off?” I shook my head. “The thought would drive me to distraction.” I touched my nose to hers. “You’ve helped me with the shop. Let me help you in return.”
Coco smiled. “Pin, you realize helping with the business of their employers is what employees do, right? On top of that, you haven’t just paid me for my work, you’ve bought or made me lunch most days. It’s sweet of you to offer, but you don’t have to help me with anything.”
“But-”
“Just showing me the archive will be more than help enough. You deserve some time for yourself.” She gave me a self-certain grin. “When was the last time you took days off, besides the Celebration or a festival?”
I paused and thought.
The more time passed, the wider Coco’s smile grew and the further her eyebrows rose.
“Two or three years ago... I think.” I felt my ears fold down, as I confessed, “I’m not sure.”
“Pin! No wonder Berry thought you were working yourself to death.” Coco gave me a playful poke in the chest with her hoof. “If you don’t take those days for yourself, I’ll tell Berry and the girls.”
“No need to bring them into this!” I held up a hoof and promised, “I’ll take those days for myself.”
“Good,” Coco said and nodded with satisfaction. “I would have felt guilty if-” She stopped as a yawn interrupted her. She covered her mouth for the last part of the yawn and looked mortified. “I’m so sorry. That one surprised me.”
“No problem. It’s late, and I bet it’s the wine getting to you. Besides, it was cute.” I nuzzled her ear. “Should we turn in for the night?”
“Sounds good to me,” Coco said.
“May I ask a favor to do you a favor?”
She giggled. “Sure.”
“Would you like me to carry you up the stairs again to the bed of your choice?”
“Are you going to carry me on your back again?” Coco’s asked in a sultry tone and caressed my cheek with a hoof.
I stammered something almost coherent in response.
Coco bumped her nose to mine. “While the thought is tempting, I doubt I could do a repeat performance of what we did the other night right now.”
I blushed. “While that would be… delightful. I was aiming to carry you up the stairs, beg a kiss or two, and then tuck you into your bed of choice.”
“You wouldn’t have to beg,” she said and gave me a quick kiss. “What if I chose the cloud chair so we could cuddle?”
“Sounds good to me.” I stood and lifted Coco with my magic. After settling her on my back, I asked her, “Comfy?”
“Quite.” She kissed my left ear and then rested her chin on top of my head.
After I took a few steps, Coco nuzzled into my mane.
“I thought about something, while the girls and I were at the spa,” she told me, her voice muffled against the back of my head.
“That would be?”
“You’ve given me a full grooming a couple of times now, but I haven’t returned the favor.”
I went up the steps. “You don’t have to do that. I enjoy grooming you.”
“I know, and it’s wonderful.” She asked, her voice sounding uncertain, “Would you say no, if I asked you?”
“Of course not. I enjoy a little pampering, every now and again.”
“So I’ve heard.” Coco gave a light nibble to my right ear. “Rarity informed me you made ‘frequent’ trips to the spa yourself, when you were training.
“Under the orders of Rainbow Dash,” I protested while making playful evasive maneuvers with my ear. “She told us she wanted us to get massages to make sure we were ready for competition.”
“Muffins hinted she thought you might have been enjoying the ‘scenery’ at the spa while getting those sports massages.”
“They do have nice decorations,” I said.
“So that’s what you call Aloe and Lotus? I agree. They are lovely and their accents are adorable.”
As I realized the implications of what Coco had said, my ear froze.
Coco caught my ear in her mouth. “Eye ache it u ink zo?”
My hooves hastened us towards the study.
She released my ear. “You’re surprised I like mares too?”
“A little.”
After stepping into the study, I lowered myself to the floor. Instead of getting off my back, as I had expected, Coco rested her weight on me and hugged me around the neck.
“After my question about sharing you with another mare and my comment to Barrel about Pinch, I thought you would have known.”
“This will sound idiotic of me, but I’ve been interested in stallions so I didn’t even think about the possibility of you liking mares too.” I turned my head to see her face as best I could. “Am I your first stallion special somepony?”
Coco leaned so I could see her face. “No. Does me having dated another stallion bother you?”
“No, but I hope he was a gentlecolt to you.”
“He wasn’t bad to me, but he didn’t care for me the way you do on any level.” Coco stood, moved to my front, and offered me a hoof. As soon as I got to my hooves, with her help, she guided me to the cloud chair.
After climbing onto the chair, we settled down together, holding each other close enough we shared breath.
“I can tell that got your mind going,” she said. “Judging by your expression, not in a good way.”
“I’m feeling… inadequate for you,” I confessed.
Coco blinked. “What?!”
“I’m not- umph!” Coco cut me off with a kiss. When her lips left mine, I tried to continue, “I’m serious if you need or want-”
She covered my mouth with a hoof and smiled. “No, you’re not a mare. As you could tell the other night, that is something I very much like about you.” She smiled. “The shop’s closed tomorrow, right?”
I gave a slight nod.
“Rarity’s is closed too. How about I groom you sometime tomorrow?” She gave me a kiss that held promises of greater passions. “After I’m finished, we can see what other potions and suggestions from those books we like.”
“That sounds great,” I said and smiled a relieved smile.
“Pin, I have no intention of sharing myself or you with anypony, unless we find a mare we both fall head over hooves for.” She put her forehead to mine. “I would never risk losing you over something so trivial.”
“Your happiness is not trivial.”
Coco kissed my forehead, just above my eyes. “Your happiness is not trivial to me either.”
“I know you’d put on a smile for me, and that’s why I am concerned.” I touched my nose to hers again and stared into her eyes. “If you need affections I can’t provide, whatever they are, I want you to tell me so we can try to find a solution.”
Coco giggled. “Pin, there are two things that you do not have to worry about. The first is that your ’affections’ are inadequate for me. The second is I will be as honest with you as you have been with me about these kinds of things and we will work things out if anything does come up.”
“I’m glad.”
I smiled as a thought occurred to me.
“There’s the smile I want,” Coco said. “You had a much nicer thought right then.”
“I never thought I would have the possibility of mare watching with my marefriend.”
Coco giggled. “Sounds like this won’t be an issue for us at all.”
*****
My ear turned at the sound of several sets of trotting hooves coming up behind Coco and me.
“There they are!” a familiar voice called from behind us.
“What in Equestria?” Coco asked, as she and I turned to look behind us.
“Come on everypony, we can catch them!” Thunderlane called out, encouraging the small herd of fillies and colts running along with him.
“I think we’re being pursued,” I said through my chuckling.
“Should we speed up?” Coco asked.
“Just for a bit, then we should slow down so they can catch us.”
Coco glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”
I looked back and was surprised to see how much distance the herd had closed on us.
“Set the pace for us,” I told Coco.
Coco grinned and nodded. She sped up, and I kept with her.
“We’ve spooked them!” Thunderlane said. “We’re going to have to push to catch them!”
“I’m not sure how much push I’ve got left,” Dinky declared between panting breaths.
“Come on Dinks!” Noi encouraged. “We can get 'em! Just a little more!”
Coco kept our pace for a couple more minutes and then slowed down.
“They’re getting winded!” Thunderlane cheered.
“So are we!” Pinch said and gasped in a breath.
As we rounded the turn in the park’s trail that brought us back to the picnic area, Coco led us off the path and towards the pavilion.
“Hello everypony,” Coco greeted our pursuers, as she brought us to a halt.
Dinky more staggered than walked to Coco and put her forelegs around her. “Gotcha!” she declared, sounding worn out and proud.
Coco laughed and hugged Dinky back.
“Oh, wow, Piña was right, you are soft!” Dinky said and snuggled against Coco.
Coco looked at me and smiled. “Pin takes wonderful care of me and my coat.”
“That was fun!” Pinch said, after getting her breath back.
“You okay, Rumble?” Kevin asked.
“What we did is called pacesetter chasing,” Rumble said. “The Wonderbolts do it as part of their training of new recruits.”
“I’m proud of you, Bro!” Thunderlane said and patted Rumble on the back with a hoof. “Not too many ponies know about that.”
“We should have been doing that too,” Rumble said, sounding disgusted with himself. “Then maybe at least one of them could have placed.”
“Rumble!” Piña walked over and put her hooves on his shoulders. “You’ve got to stop this.”
“But I let you down,” Rumble said.
“Dinks,” Kevin said. “You’re on.”
Dinky let go of Coco, turned towards Rumble, and settled herself into a pouncing position. “As soon as Piña is clear, he’s hugged.”
“Don’t move!” Rumble pleaded to Piña. “I’ve been hugged enough!”
“Only if you promise you’ll stop doing this,” Piña told him.
“What’s going on?” Thunderlane asked Noi.
“Rumble’s feeling like he let us down since none of us won or placed in the Sisterhooves Social this year,” Noi explained.
“That’s crazy!” I said. “The competition was the fiercest I’ve ever seen it. There’s no way you should be feeling bad about what happened.”
“They trained as hard as they could,” Rumble said. “So it had to be the training routine.”
Coco shook her head. “You’re looking at this the wrong way.” She turned to the fillies. “How many of you didn’t place in the top ten pairs?” she asked, even though we all knew the answer from having been at the event.
No pony raised a hoof.
“Since I didn’t start training with them not too long ago, I don’t think I should count,” Dinky said.
Coco smiled at Dinky. “If you trained with them, you count too. I’m sure it helped, even if it was just for two or three weeks.”
“It did!” Dinky said.
Coco asked, “How many pairs of sisters competed this year?”
“Right at two hundred,” Thunderlane said. “I know, because Big Mac called me and Caramel in to help since there were so many partners competing this year.”
“Sounds to me you did a great job, Rumble,” Coco said. “Not one pair of sisters you helped train didn’t place in the top ten out of an entire herd of ponies. That’s very impressive.”
“Thanks, Miss Coco, but I wanted them to win,” Rumble said.
“So what if we didn’t?” Piña said. “We had fun and we’re in great shape.” She let her hooves drop back to the ground. “You’ve been pushing yourself and us too hard. Even with Dinky, Pinch, and Kevin joining us, it’s getting to be where it’s not fun anymore.”
“Rumble,” Thunderlane said, “I thought we had talked about this kind of thing.”
“I know not to push things too hard, but they can do it!” Rumble said. “They’re the best fillies in Ponyville!”
“Awww!” Piña said and hugged him.
“He meant that,” Kevin said, with a grin.
“Do you know why I could keep chasing Miss Coco and Mister Pin?” Dinky asked, coming out of her crouch.
Rumble shook his head.
“Because it was fun.” Dinky smiled. “I wanted to keep up with everypony so I wouldn’t miss out.”
Rumble stared at her. “Really?”
“That’s why the Wonderbolts use the technique too,” Thunderlane said. “It allows us newbies a chance to chase the ponies we’ve been figuratively chasing for years.” He slumped and acted disappointed. “None of us have been able to catch Spitfire yet, except Dash, but she’s in a league of her own.”
“You caught Soarin, though,” Rumble said.
Thunderlane gave Rumble a somewhat guilty grin. “That didn’t count. We cheated and loaded him down with pies the day before.”
Dinky looked up at Coco. “Could we chase you again?”
“Sounds like fun to me. I enjoyed being a pacer pony. It gave me a bit of push.” Coco glanced at me. “Sound good to you?”
“I’m in.” I looked to Dinky, Pinch, and Kevin. “I know what they are training for, but why are you three training?”
Dinky puffed herself up and held her head high. “We’re going to run the Running of the Leaves Foal’s Race, and I want to do better in the Social next year.”
“There you are!” Berry called as she approached. “I thought we were supposed to meet at the park’s entrance.”
“They got a little sidetracked,” Coco said.
Berry glanced at Coco and me as if just recognizing us. “What are you two doing here?”
“We chased them here!” Dinky said with pride.
Berry’s ears angled out in confusion and she tilted her head. “What do you mean ‘you chased them here’?”
“It’s exactly what she said,” I told Berry. “They chased us here after coming up on us from behind, while we were trotting.”
“Then we caught them,” Dinky said, turned, and hugged Coco again.
Coco smiled and hugged Dinky back. “Thunderlane started it all,” she said to Berry.
Berry looked toward Thunderlane. “You supposed to keep them out of trouble, not rile it up.”
“It was part of our training, so it wasn’t trouble,” Thunderlane said.
“It was fun too,” I said, and Coco nodded in agreement.
Berry shook her head. “You three are crazy.”
Piña looked as if inspiration had struck her. “You can train with us too! You could be our pace pony. You’re fast.”
“I would, but I have a store to run and so many other things to do,” Berry said.
“You don’t have to everyday, but sometimes, when you can, please.” Piña pressed. “Thunderlane’s been having fun with us.” She turned to Thunderlane, “Haven’t you?”
“It’s been a blast,” Thunderlane said with a grin. “I’d plan on doing it some more, if you’ll have me.”
“That would be great!” Rumble said. “Getting training tips from a real Wonderbolt could help us a lot.”
“I don’t know, Bro.” Thunderlane reached over and ruffled Rumble’s mane with a hoof. “I’m not sure how much I can add, since you’ve been training them so well.”
“Lane, come on! Not the mane!” Rumble ducked away from Thunderlane’s hoof, but looked pleased at the compliment.
I did my best to keep a neutral expression as I looked to Piña. “Sounds like you're going to have to put in some extra training to make up for Berry not joining in,” I told her. “Golden Harvest and Noi came close to you this time. You will have to pick up the slack, or they might get you next year.”
When Berry’s eyebrows rose at my comment, I knew I had hit my mark.
Noi grinned, seeming to pick up on my plan. “I bet Goldie will come train with us sometime.”
“Oh no!” Pinch said in dramatic fashion and put a hoof to her chest. “That means you’ll beat Mom and Piña for sure!”
Kevin, though staying quiet, smiled in a way that expressed he was enjoying every second of the banter.
“Ammy will come!” Dinky said with enthusiasm. “She was already talking about getting a training schedule going for us.”
Everypony paused and looked at Berry.
Berry sighed and smiled with happy capitulation. “I’ll come train too.”
“Yes!” Piña, releasing Rumble, ran up and hugged Berry. “Thank you!”
Berry looked to Pinch. “I’ll need you to help me get your father to come along too.”
Pinch nodded. “I will!”
“Speaking of getting ponies somewhere, you lot need to come along with me,” Berry told the foals. “We need to get some lunch in you.” Berry looked back towards Thunderlane, as she led the foals away. “You too, Wonderbolt.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Thunderlane told her.
I waited a moment or two to be sure the foals were out of ear shot before asking Thunderlane, “Have the girls picked up on anything?”
“I think they know something is up, but I don’t think they have any idea about the details,” he answered. He turned his attention from the departing group to Coco and me. “Thanks for playing along. They got a kick out of chasing you two.”
“It was fun,” I said. “I meant it, when I said I wanted to do it again.”
“Me too,” Coco added.
Thunderlane grinned and nodded. “The more the better. Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack have been training with Scoots, Bloom, and Sweetie. We need to help even the odds.”
“Competitive as always,” I prodded.
“You don’t get better unless you push yourself and pick a good rival to go after.” He looked to Coco. “So, you’ve lasted over a month living with him. I take it he’s treating you halfway decently.”
Coco leaned against me. “He’s been wonderful. I keep trying to get him to quit spoiling me so much, but nothing’s worked so far.”
“And nothing you do ever will. He’s always been a mare admiring romantic, but he worships you. You couldn’t get him to quit fawning over you anymore than you could get him to stop breathing.”
“I guess I’ll have to quit trying,” Coco said.
“It would save you a lot of time, energy, and frustration.” Thunderlane gave us a wave. “I’ve got to get going, or Berry will not be happy with me. See you two later.”
“See you at the station,” I told him, as he launched himself into the air.
Coco shook her head. “He’s a mess. He’s no better with Rarity.”
“He may be, but he’s right,” I told her.
She turned to me with a curious smile. “About what?”
“I’ll never stop treating you the way you deserve.”
Coco kissed my nose. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable being ‘worshiped’ though.”
“How about admired, valued…” I gave her a soft kiss. “And deeply loved?”
Coco smiled and touched her forehead to mine. “I would be very happy with that.”
*****
“We’re over here!” Barrel called to the rest of our group and waved.
“Quit grinning, you’ll spoil things,” Rarity chided me.
“I can’t help it,” I said.
Rarity gave a good natured sigh. “At least your tail is behaving itself.”
“His tail is reserved for Coco,” Berry said.
“That’s not true, Pinch has braided it too,” I pointed out. “Hello everypony,” I greeted, as Berry, Piña, Pinch, Rumble, and Thunderlane joined us on the train station’s platform. “Anypony need help with their luggage?”
“We got it, Uncle Pin,” Pinch declared.
“I feel bad, Uncle Pin, I didn’t hug you this morning.” Piña put her travel bag down and hugged me. “I-” She paused, leaned back from me, and then stared at my chest.
“What?” I asked, looking down at my coat. “Do I have something on me?”
Piña giggled and looked at Coco.
Coco, grinning, nodded.
Pinch looked up at me. “Uncle Pin, what’s going on?”
“He’s soft!” Piña said and nuzzled against me. “Nearly Coco soft!”
“I didn’t realize you were a measure of softness, darling,” Rarity said to Coco, with a teasing smile.
“She is to me,” I said, causing Coco to blush.
Pinch put down her bag. “Let me try!”
Before I could say anything, Pinch had swapped herself for Piña in hugging me.
“Oh, Mom, you’ve got to try this!” Pinch said, after a second and a content hum. “I can’t believe a stallion can have this soft of a coat!”
“Wait a minute!” I protested.
“Hush and accept your hug.” Barrel jabbed, “You don’t want her tackling you and getting your nice, pretty, soft coat dirty, do you?”
I gave Barrel a nasty look, as Berry swapped places and hugged me.
“Coco! What have you done to him?!” Berry asked.
“I convinced him to let me pamper him a bit,” Coco said, giving me a grin.
“His coat is softer than mine!” Berry said.
I blushed as other ponies on the platform looked our way. “Berry, could you tone it down a little?”
“No! I’m jealous.” She reached up and touched my mane with a hoof. “Your mane too?! You’ve always had a nice mane, but this isn’t fair!”
Barrel laughed and gathered up the luggage from the platform. “Come on girls, you can exchange beauty tips with him and Coco on the train.”
Berry poked me in the chest with a hoof, after letting me go. “I will know you two’s secrets, by the time this trip is over.”
Thunderlane chuckled and then gave Rumble a light elbow. “You want to hug him too?”
Rumble shook his head. “Nah, I’ll pass.”
I held out a hoof. “Hoof bump?”
Rumble grinned, nodded, and bumped hooves with me. “That works.”
“You three go ahead,” Rarity said, waving Coco, Berry, and me on to follow Barrel, Piña, and Pinch. “I am sure you will want to stay close to the girls.”
Pinch glanced over her shoulder and gave Rarity a curious look.
“Where is your luggage?” Piña asked Coco.
“Barrel and Pin loaded it with all the things everypony is taking for the wedding,” she answered.
Barrel entered our car and seemed to do his best to block the fillies’ view down the aisle.
I started grinning again, as we got closer to our seats.
Barrel moved to put the girls luggage in the overhead rack, but kept his eyes more on the girls than his efforts.
“Dad, I can help…” Pinch stopped and stared at Mom and Dad, who were in their seats and looking relaxed.
“Hello to you too, Pinch,” Dad teased.
“Aunt Study! Uncle Insight!” Piña blurted. “What are you doing here?!”
“The same as we are,” Turner said, from across the aisle and then looked at his watch. “Waiting for the train to depart in five minutes.”
Piña laughed, raced over to Mom, and gave her an enormous hug. “You came just to ride with us?”
“We had business in Appleloosa again,” Dad explained. “We timed our trip back so we could take a bit of break at Pin’s and then ride back to Canterlot with you. So, in a way, yes.”
While taking a seat between Mom and Dad, Piña turned to Dinky and asked, “Did you know they were coming?”
Dinky shook her head. “I don’t think anypony knew except your Mom and Dad, Mister Pin, and Miss Coco.”
“I didn’t,” Amethyst said.
“I didn’t know either!” Rumble said, as if trying to head things off. He looked to Thunderlane. “Did you?”
Thunderlane grinned. “I might have had a clue.”
“I must confess, I knew they were coming too,” Rarity said.
Mom patted the seat beside her with a hoof. “Care to sit by me? I think there’s just enough room.” She asked Pinch, who was still standing in the aisle like a statue.
Pinch snapped out of her daze and smiled. “Sure!”
Coco and I took our seats across from Mom and Dad.
Barrel and Berry sat across from Dinky, Muffins, and Turner.
Dinky looked up to Muffins. “Mom…” she said and glanced towards Piña and Pinch.
Muffins kissed Dinky’s head. “You can go sit with them.”
“Thanks, Mom!” Dinky said and scrambled from her seat.
Muffins sighed and looked at the empty spot beside her.
“She is growing up, dear,” Turner said and nuzzled his wife.
Thunderlane leaned close to Rumble’s ear and whispered something.
Rumbled blushed and nodded.
“Miss Muffins?” Rumble said and approached her. “Could I sit by you?”
Muffins smiled. “Of course.”
Rumble took his seat beside Muffins and looked out the window, his ears perked.
“Look out,” Amethyst warned, as Muffin’s. “Mom’s in a nesting mood, since she knows we’ll be seeing Satin. She could grab you at any moment.”
“Ammy, let your mother have her snuggles, if he’ll allow it,” Turner said.
“Um…” Dinky said, as she looked at our seating arrangement, drawing my attention from the others.
“I can scoot over,” I offered.
Dinky smiled. “Thanks Mister Pin!” she told me and hopped onto the padded bench seat between Coco and me.
“Have you given Uncle Pin a hug today?” Piña asked Dinky.
“No,” Dinky answered and tilted her head. “Why?”
Piña grinned. “Give it a try.”
Dinky looked at me as if asking permission.
I decided not to struggle against the inevitable and told her, “Go ahead.”
Dinky hugged for a second and then looked at my coat as if in disbelief. “Wow! He feels like a mare!”
I blushed and looked towards the train car’s roof, as laughter broke out all around me.
“You’re not going to live that one down,” Barrel said to me, still chuckling.
“Nope!” Thunderlane confirmed, as he and Rarity took their seats.
“If you keep that up, you’re going to make me jealous,” Coco told Dinky with a grin.
Dinky let go of me and turned to Coco, who took her in a hug.
“You have him beat, though!” Dinky nuzzled into Coco and hummed.
Even after several seconds, Dinky showed no signs of letting Coco go.
“Uncle Pin, I don’t think you’re getting her back,” Pinch kidded.
I met eyes with Coco, and she smiled and shrugged.
“Now, I’m getting jealous,” I kidded.
“All aboard!” the conductor called from outside the car’s doorway.
“Right on schedule,” Turner said, glancing again at his watch.
With a slight jolt and some rocking motions, the train pulled away from the station.
Dad looked to Pinch. “How was Twilight’s Celebration?”
Pinch smiled. “It was interesting.”
Dad gave her a look.
“Can we tell them?!” Piña asked Pinch.
Pinch nodded. “Just keep your voice down and you know who’s name out of things while we’re on the train.”
One of Dad’s eyebrows rose. “I take it there was a bit of excitement.”
“You won’t believe what happened!” Pinch told him, and the three girls took turns giving him and Mom their version of the events of the Celebration, while the train carried us on to Canterlot.