//------------------------------// // Recoveries and Ceremonies // Story: A Tale of Equestrian Proportions // by DitzyDerpy1992 //------------------------------// It had been a couple of weeks since Robbie had awoken now and I was feeling optimistic for the future, even if we couldn’t get home to earth, at least we were all okay after this ordeal. Twilight and I were getting along better than ever now, Robbie was on the mend and we could go home to Ponyville in a few days. I had been informed by Twilight that we were to attend a ceremony held by Princess Celestia in two days’ time. Robbie was getting out of the hospital tomorrow, although he would be confined to a wheelchair, but he seemed happy. He could remember everything now and he seemed happy that he had managed to escape alive. There was a new lease of life about him that I had never known before, and he was even more lively that usual. It was still early in the day as Twilight and I made our way to the local record shop, which by now was mostly repaired. The city of Canterlot was still littered with broken homes and businesses, but the whole community was pitching in and, slowly but surely, the whole city was being rebuilt. We were trotting merrily through the streets to buy Robbie a present for when he left the hospital, and Twilight and I had settled that an album for him to listen to would be the best choice, given that Robbie had listened to no music and was now going slightly mad from the experience. Eventually we arrived at the dusty store and we entered, it was a small shop but cheery non-the-less. Records lined all of the walls and some signed shirts were framed behind the counter. We had asked Applejack and Rainbow for a recommendation on a rock band that Robbie would like, and Rainbow named quite a few, but we had decided on Applejacks choice as we browsed the shelves hoping to find it. “Aha!” I said triumphantly, pulling the album from the shelf and holding it up to the light. The sleeve of the vinyl disk was emblazoned with the image of a small western town, with very few wooden buildings. The sun was setting over a desert and across the top was written in bold letters: “Marenyrd Skynyrd: Greatest Hits” and it featured tracks such as “Sweet Home Apploosa” and “Freehorse”. The album would surely be perfect for him, and satisfied with my find, I made my way to the counter to pay the young, scruffy colt behind the desk. His mane was black and scruffy and he wore a black T-shirt with some obscure bands name and emblem on the front of it. After paying, we departed to the hospital to give Robbie his gift, but we were in no hurry so we took our time walking through the streets to chat and generally see if there was anywhere we could eat out tonight. Twilight had agreed to let me take her to dinner and I was excited to have another date with the mare I had fallen for. Before long we arrived at the large, sterile white building with the Red Cross built onto the wall and we entered, greeting the receptionist as usual we made our way through the maze of corridors to Robbie’s new room. He no longer needed to stay in the I.C.U, as his injuries now only consisted of a broken leg and wing. As we entered the grey Pegasus spied us, and his eyes lit up. “Hey guys! I thought you were never going to get here!” He greeted us from his wheelchair. Rainbow had also managed to acquire a wheelchair and it seemed like we had interrupted some form of cheap destruction derby as Rainbow was consistently ramming the side of his chair. He brushed the small bashes off, however and wheeled himself over, narrowly avoiding a heavy ram from Rainbow; he laughed and told us to take a seat. As he opened his gift his eyes lit up in excitement, looking at the front cover he immediately started to browse the track list before scooting his way over to the record player that was placed in the corner of his small room. The sound of electric guitars, drums and bass filled the air as the album began to play, but he turned it down to a reasonable level so we could all hear each other. “Thanks guys, this is really great.” He said shaking our hooves and proceeded to continue the offensive on Rainbows wheelchair. “So, what exactly are you guys doing?” I asked looking quite confused at the game they had somehow invented while in a pretty bland room. “We’re extreme wheelchair battling!” Rainbow answered from across the room lining up a charge at Robbie before wheeling forward and crashing into him. “We get scored based on the severity of the hit to the other person’s chair. One point for a light hit, two for a decent one, three for a heavy one, and you immediately win if you knock the other person out of their chair.” I rolled my eyes at the measures that pair would go to just to amuse themselves, but I had to admit it was rather amusing to watch. I found myself getting drawn into the game that they were playing, taking Rainbows side as she was beginning to win, but I was soon snapped out of that thought by a pressure on my left front hoof. I glanced down to see a purple hoof resting on top of mine and I gazed into its owners eyes for a brief moment, which for all I knew could have been an eternity. A loud crash startled me slightly as my head whipped around to find the source of the commotion. Rainbow was now spinning in circles cheering loudly, and Robbie was on his side on the floor. “Hey! No fair using your wings! That should be disallowed!” Robbie protested while struggling back into his chair, and I went over to give him a hoof. “There was nothing in the original rules that say wings cannot be used, so therefor, you lose” Rainbow retorted with a smug look on her face that could only mean Robbie had been defeated. He muttered something under his breath about needing an independent judge, and how using wings shouldn’t have been allowed considering he only had one good wing. It was all in good fun though as they quickly got settled into round two, and this time it was a little more intense. Although his leg was broken, Robbie showed no signs of pain when Rainbow repeatedly rammed his cast, but the fun was soon interrupted by a pony clearing his throat from the doorway. Robbie and Rainbow both had the look of a child that had been caught stealing cookies from the jar plastered on their faces as the doctor came to check on Robbie. He didn’t hang around for very long though, and soon the battle raged on again. This seemed to go on for hours, until finally they grew tired and decided to call it a tie. Twilight had retreated into a book that she had brought along with her, and I had become engrossed in the game that had been taking place but now I had to find some other form of amusement. I disrupted Twilight from her trance and she looked around the room slightly confused before sliding a book mark in the pages, and she put the book back in my saddlebags. We all began to chat about what we would do when Robbie left the hospital, and the ceremony that Celestia was holding in a few days. Robbie would, once again, be donning his kilt for the ceremony, with a brand new shirt that Rarity was making him and I opted just to wear a shirt and tie. Twilight had a simple gown picked out, but Rainbow wasn’t being so formal and was just going as her usual self. The idle banter continued throughout the day, with intermissions for air guitar from Robbie and Rainbow for the solo of Freehorse. He was really enjoying the album; it must have been killing him to not have any music on. As the day drew on Twilight and I decided to depart for dinner and after bidding Rainbow and Robbie farewell, we departed into the busy streets of Canterlot once more. We walked casually through the busy streets, looking for somewhere to stop and have dinner, but I secretly already had a place picked out, and I guided Twilight in that direction without her noticing. We arrived outside a small building on the outskirts of Canterlot, it didn’t look like much but the mare at the reception desk of the hotel we were currently occupying had said it was a “hidden gem” of Canterlot. The entrance way had a small veranda overhanging the door, and Ivy grew, neatly pruned, around the doorway. Two large windows took up the rest of the space on the front wall, and a few ponies sat eating dinner, but it wasn’t busy at all. “This place doesn’t look too great Matt” Twilight said eyeing up the building with a look of discouragement on her face, “I know a really great place though, we could go there if you prefer?” I thought about this for a second, but decided to trust the receptionist. “Come on, I’m sure this place is great! Look at the menu, it has some great stuff; Pasta and tomato sauce, its proper Neightalian cuisine.” With a defeated sigh, she followed me through the door and a white mare greeted us, and quickly appointed us to a table. The inside of the restaurant was very traditional, red chequered tablecloths were draped over every table, with a small candle set in the centre of each one. Arrays of wine glasses were on display behind the small bar, and a large selection of wine arranged neatly in racks along the far wall. The table we had been sat at was in the corner, secluded almost from the rest of the dining area. The feeling of privacy made this table seem almost perfect for the reason we had come out tonight. Twilight looked amazing in the faint glow of the candle, her eyes had a certain gleam in them that I had never seen before, but the moment was interrupted by the waitress returning to hand us our menus and the wine list before she shot off to attend to some other patrons. Twilight’s eyes scanned over the menu, almost as if she was looking for something specific, and eventually she seemed to have found what she was looking for. I too quickly browsed for something to settle my hunger, and before long, I settled on a pizza with mushrooms, peppers, onion and pineapple. My attention was then drawn to the wine list, I had no clue what to look for in a wine but I knew that red would be appropriate with dinner. I looked for something in the mid-price range, and I eventually settled on a bottle of Stablefare Rouge. Seeing that our menus were finished with the waitress once again buzzed over to the table and took our order. “So what made you so keen on eating here?” Twilight asked me across the table, resting her chin on her front hooves which made her look adorable, yet refined at the same time. “Well, to be honest, the receptionist at the hotel described this place as a hidden gem of Canterlot” I said with a slight nervous chuckle. I was hoping that she wasn’t just saying that and that the food would actually be worth coming for. The wine arrived at that moment, and I was asked to taste it to make sure the bottle wasn’t corked. After taking a test, and not finding anything wrong with it, she poured us two glasses and then placed the bottle on the table, before retreating back to the counter. We descended into some light chat over the candle-lit table; the atmosphere of the room definitely matched the romantic image I had conjured up in my head. The smell of delicious food wafted through from a quiet kitchen and if it tasted anything like it smelled, it was definitely worth coming to this place. We discussed what our plans would be for when we arrived back in Ponyville, after Celestia’s ceremony. Twilight would have a lot of work to catch up on after leaving Spike in charge of the library for the past month. I would obviously be helping her out as much as I could, but my work would also be cut out for me. We had spoken to Record at the radio station for Robbie, and he would be returning to work when he arrived back home. The food arrived after a while of waiting, it had taken some time but it looked delicious. My pizza was cut into eight neat slices and picking up the first one and taking a bite, my taste buds were in heaven. The cheese was expertly blended with the sauce, and there was an even distribution of all the toppings I had ordered. Twilight’s dish looked a little more complex than what I had ordered; sheets of pasta covered in a cheese sauce with mushrooms, garlic and multiple other items of food infused. We sat in silence for a few moments enjoying our meals, before conversation was once again flowing between Twilight and I. Soon enough the wine started to seep its way into our systems and the chat became light hearted and joking. Our food had been finished long ago, but we still sat at our table, joking and drinking. The waitress was now clearing all the other empty tables, and we decided it would be best for us to take our leave at this point, so after paying we trotted our way through the semi-repaired streets of Canterlot to the Bed and Breakfast that we were staying in. The door to our room closed with a hastened thump, as Twilight had me now pulled into a tight embrace, her cheeks slightly red from the alcohol. I leaned in and kissed her lips with a passion that only the effects of the wine could conjure up. Excitement and anticipation filled the room as the kisses became more and more passionate, our lips moving in synchronisation, almost performing a perfect dance. I was caught slightly off guard, however, when Twilight spun me, pushing me onto my back on the bed. I hit the sheets with a soft thump, and the purple unicorn climbed on top of me before our lips engaged once again. My heart was now pounding in my chest, almost threatening to burst through my ribcage and escape, her hooves were running through my mane, and my hooves had come to rest just above her flank. With a mischievous smile, Twilight sat up and used her magic to flick the light switch, plunging us into darkness, the beginning of a great night. It was the day of Princess Celestia’s ceremony, the sun was beaming down upon the city, and Twilight and I were feeling a little rough from the previous night but the satisfaction of our night together made up for it. Twilight was up before I was, getting herself ready but I couldn’t stay in bed all day as I had to accompany Rainbow to the hospital and pick Robbie up. I said my goodbyes to Twilight, giving her a quick kiss and telling her that I would see her soon. She gave me a distracted goodbye and I trotted off into the city to meet Rainbow. I still had a reasonable amount of time until Rainbow and I were supposed to meet, so my pace was relaxed as I trotted through the streets. The business day was underway, and shops were filled with ponies browsing and the streets bustled with the noise of construction as buildings were repaired. Eventually I reached the hospital, Rainbow was waiting for me by the door with Robbie in a wheelchair. He had managed to get himself dressed, as he was wearing his kilt and Rainbow had styled her mane slightly, but other than that she looked as she always did. We set off towards the Canterlot Palace Courtyard, where the ceremony in remembrance of the Gala Night’s events, was being held. Robbie spent most of the walk complaining that he was stuck in a wheelchair, but there was really nothing else we could do for him as his leg was still wrapped in a heavy cast and his wing was healed, but in no condition to try flying just yet. He settled down after a while, and Rainbow gradually brought up that the Wonderbolts would be in attendance today for saving the lives of many groups of ponies. Some Royal Guards were nominated for medals, mainly for acts of bravery and selflessness that had never been seen before throughout Equestrian History. I listened intently of everything she was saying, taking in as much as I could so I knew slightly what was going on once I arrived. The crowds were growing larger around us, as ponies made their way towards the palace, and upon arrival, the security was really something to behold. Hundreds of Guards were scattered strategically around the courtyard and surrounding streets, some ushering the crowds into the correct area and others just there in case anything went down. Eventually after a long process of stopping and starting, we finally arrived at a large area full of seats. A large stage was set up at the opposite end of the courtyard, a large megaphone sat alone in the centre of it, and a few seats occupied the area behind the megaphone. I looked around at the large area, and it was quickly filling with ponies of all shapes and sizes. Lots of Pegusi had taken to hovering above the seats, and the first twenty of thirty rows were now packed. At the front I noticed Twilight waving and shouting on us, so we made our way down the centre isle to join her at the front. She had managed to save us a few seats in the V.I.P area, which looked a little comfier than all of the other seats, and Robbie was pushed to the side of the row where Rainbow sat beside him. I took a seat beside Twilight and we descended into some idle chat as we waited for the hall to fill and things to get started. We were not waiting for very long before everypony had found a seat and a few important looking ponies had seated themselves at the back of the stage. Shining Armour had ignored the chairs and stood at attention, proudly scanning the crowd with his eyes before he gave us a quick wave and a smile. A quickened hush fell over the crowd as Celestia walked onto the stage standing in the centre, wings spread and looking very grand. To her right stood Princess Luna, looking a little uncomfortable, but still very grand and regal. The hall was now silent, all eyes focused on the stage. “Ladies and Gentlecolts,” Celestia announced in a grand voice that demanded respect, “We have gathered here today, in remembrance of the Events of the Grand Galloping Gala this year. Although it may now seem like a horrible memory to most of you, others are still suffering the consequences of that dreadful evening. A few will be awarded some medals and awards, others, unfortunately, are no longer with us.” A strange feeling wrenched my gut at the last statement. The atmosphere in the room changed instantly to a strong respectful tone. Glancing around, a few ponies had tears forming in their eyes. Others had abandoned trying to hold back, and were sobbing quietly to themselves. Celestia allowed a moment for the words to sink in, obviously still a little stunned that she was having to even say there words after such a long regime of peace. “And today, we are here to thank those brave ponies who gave their lives to protect the lives of others, and the peaceful order that we uphold in our fair land.” She continued on, Shining had now bowed his head, obviously having lost a few stallions to the fray. “But also we are here to pay thanks to the ones injured, and the ones who have given up their time and helped to rebuild homes out of the kindness in their hearts.” A few ponies stomped their hooves from the back of the room, and a few others joined in as Celestia stood aside and Luna took her place in front of the megaphone. One by one a steady stream of injured Royal Guards were called up onto the stage and awarded medals, promotions and honours by the Princesses. Shining saluted every one of them, before shaking their hoof. This seemed to go on for a while but eventually the subject changed and ponies were awarded thanks for charitable acts and extreme kindness shown to all of the citizens who had lost homes and loved ones in the terrible ordeal. These ponies received a large round of hooves stomping and cheering from the crowd, as did the Soldiers who now lined the stage. Many had bandages and casts on their limbs but a few had managed to come through unscathed. “We have a few final awards to hand out now,” Luna announced after shaking the hoof of the last pony to trot proudly onto the stage. “The first is to be awarded to a Pegasus from Ponyville, who sacrificed himself to allow his friends and the Elements of Harmony to aid my sister and I in purging the Changelings and Griffons from our land.” Twilight leaned past me and smiled at Robbie who appeared to have been hit with a ton of bricks. Rainbow smiled proudly beside him as Luna announced his name and he was wheeled onto the stage. A small bronze medal was given to him, and then multiple hoof-shakes from the Princesses and a few members of the royal guard. Still looking shocked, Rainbow wheeled him to the side of the stage where he admired his medal and he was excitedly whispering to his marefriend. “The final award, goes to yet another pony from Ponyville. It is being awarded for overcoming a great emotional trauma, aiding in the spell that cleansed our lands before he ran out so save the life of his friend.” Lunas eyes were now fixed upon me. My heart was beating through my chest. She couldn’t possibly mean me? “Matt would you come to the stage please.” Celestia summoned and in no hurry to disobey I trotted onto the stage where I was handed a medal. It was small, and in the shape of a star, most likely made of bronze or some other similar metal. “This unicorn you see before you, unleashed a raw, passion filled magic which I have never witnessed in my lifetime, and he deserves one of the highest honours that can be given to a civilian, The Bronze Star.” Celestia reached a hoof out towards me and I shook it, still in awe that I was being given a medal simply for helping, although I couldn’t really remember what happened when I began to cast the spell. I just remembered pulling myself from the ground and then chasing after Rainbow. The sound of stomping hooves snapped me out of my thoughts, as the crowd began to applaud me, and a little bashful, I gave a smile and a wave. Robbie waved me over and I took my place beside him on the stage. My eyes fell upon Twilight, who was beaming at me proudly, so I gave her a small wave and she returned it with a huge grin. The rest of the ceremony passed quickly, as the honours for the Elements of Harmony and the Royal Guard were finished up and before long we were on our way back to the hotel to rest up. Rainbow and I took turns in pushing Robbie, although he did seem a little antsy to fly, but the doctor had said no flying for the next week so he was grounded. The streets of Canterlot were now bustling with ponies on their way home from work, or just finishing their work. Luckily the hotel wasn’t very far away, otherwise the crowds could have become bothersome after a while, but we arrived without much fuss. Rainbow and Robbie retreated up to their room pretty much the second we arrived in the foyer, but they had been stuck in the hospital for so long I bet they were dying to have some time alone. Twilight and I decided on dinner then spending the rest of the evening in the room having a quiet night in. After putting our clothes away and I made sure my medal was somewhere safe and out of sight, we headed out into the streets of Canterlot once more. The bustle of the day was now dying down as the night began to creep in and it was a pretty easy to find a small café for us to dine in. I had a feeling that tonight would be a great night, but I was also sad that because now Robbie was out of the hospital, we would be departing for Ponyville in the morning. And that meant I would have to test the portal gun out again, just to be sure that the events at the Gala meant we could go home now. Although that thought put me on a bit of a downer. I was toying with the salad I had ordered, and Twilight was looking at me slightly worriedly from across the table. “MATT!” She almost shouted at me, snapping me out of my trance and back to the café, “are you alright? You seem a little… well, distant to say the least.” I placed the fork down on the table, knowing I would have had to have this conversation with her sooner or later. “Twilight I have something I need to tell you,” I was trying my best to make eye contact, but with such bad news about to be announced I was having a hard time. “I might have to leave Ponyville within the next few days. The plan for Robbie and me was just to come for a short time, but our plans for getting back kinda messed up, and we became stuck in Ponyville.” I glanced up, daring to look her in the eyes for this one moment. Her eyes were filled with confusion and a little sadness laced the deep black pools that her eyes had become. I let out a sigh and continued, “But now I’m filled with all these… feelings, for you, and your friends. And I can’t help but feel like maybe I should stay. But I just don’t know, I need to get back to my family and my friends.” My head dropped now, feeling like it weighed a ton. Twilight had now stopped eating and it looked like what I was saying was beginning to set in. She set her fork down dejectedly and took a deep breath before speaking. “Well if it’s something you feel you need to do, I’m not going to stop you. But the past few weeks have been the best of my life, and I’m sure you know how I feel towards you.” Her eyes had begun to tear up now and the pain of seeing those deep purple eyes laced with sadness and pain drove a sharp spike straight into my heart. “It’s not a definite plan though, it could be that Robbie and I are unable to return home, which means we would live in Ponyville permanently. I just thought you should know in case we do make the decision to leave, although I really don’t want to now.” I tried to look her in the eye with a reassuring glance, but her eyes seemed adamant to avoid mine at all costs. “Please don’t be too upset Twilight, I really have fallen for you, and I will stay with you as long as I am in Ponyville. I promise you that.” I placed a hoof on top of hers and tried to give her a smile but she simply pulled her hoof away from mine as a single tear dropped to the table. The spike in my heart had just grown thorns as she pulled her hoof away. My face dropped and I could feel tears brimming in my own eyes as she simply stood and walked away leaving me sat at the table by myself. What had I done? I had broken a unicorn’s heart, to put it plain and simple, and I knew only one person who could help me out in this situation. I took to the streets galloping after quickly paying for the meal and dashed towards the hotel, not caring about all of the ponies who had to jump out of my way to avoid me crashing through them. I couldn’t even see them to be honest; all I knew is that I needed to speak with Robbie straight away and after galloping through the foyer of the hotel I pounded on his and Rainbow’s door. An eternity seemed to pass before anyone answered. Rainbow slowly opened the door and I pushed past her to see Robbie sat in his wheelchair looking worried at my urgent appearance and my fatigue. He immediately told me to take a seat and Rainbow fetched me a drink. “Matt what’s wrong? Where’s Twilight?” He asked looking over to the door, expecting to see her enter after me. I took a long sip of the whiskey Rainbow had given me and exhaled sharply at the sweetness and strong alcohol. I then began to explain the situation making sure to include even the most insignificant of details, which could prove to be important in the future. After I had finished talking I let out a sigh. I felt like such a fool, letting her leave like that, on such a bad note. “Well that seems like a pretty tough situation” Robbie finally said after a slight pause. Rainbow sat quietly on the bed, taking in every word. “I think the best solution would be to give her a little while to cool off and then try to speak to her.” He finally continued after another brief pause. “Well how long should I wait? It’s been almost half an hour now, is that long enough?” I was firing off questions as they came to my head like a machine gun and Robbie raised his hoof to silence me before I overloaded him with questions. “Give it another half hour, and then go find her. Don’t go in too bold though, listen to everything she has to say and be understanding, it won’t be easy for her.” He offered me another drink which I didn’t decline and we spent a while discussing my options. Before long though I decided to return to the room and see if Twilight had returned. Turning the handle the door was unlocked and I entered to see her sprawled out on the bed, her head resting on a pillow facing away from the door. I slowly walked over to the side of the bed, she must have noticed my presence but she didn’t acknowledge my arrival. “Twilight,” I said finally breaking the silence and her head turned slightly to listen to what I had to say. “Look what I said earlier, I know it’s difficult for you to hear, after all what we have is special. I can feel it in my heart and we have had the best times I have ever had in my life. So can we talk this out? I’d like to spend a lot more time with you before I leave.” She sat up, turning to face me. Her eyes were puffy and slightly red from crying. I stood awkwardly waiting on a reply and she looked thoughtful before speaking. “Matt, the time we have spent together has meant so much to me, and I love you. I can’t deny that and you can’t either. We love each other and even though you might be leaving, I think we should keep going and we’ll see what happens.” The tension lifted from my chest as the talk came to a conclusion as quickly as it did. She then trotted over to me and gave me a hug which I returned happily. I planted a kiss on her lips and she returned it which I was thankful for. The return of harmony between us had been restored and we decided to hit the hay and get some rest for travelling back to Ponyville the next day. We lay side by side on the bed, embracing each other, thankful for the quick resolution to the problem and we soon drifted off to sleep.