CHAPTER NINE
"Two Tickets to Paradise"
Spike sat sullenly on the bench inside the paddy wagon. His arms cuffed, all he could do was look around forlornly, wishing to be anywhere other than where he was right then. The matter was made all the worse by Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around inside the paddy wagon, and peering out the grating in the back. It reminded him of the tourists on the sightseeing bus he had taken when they had first arrived in Los Pegasus.
"Spike! Look!" Pinkie Pie called out to him from the back of the paddy wagon, "Everything looks like I'm looking at it through a waffle! I love waffles! Don't you? Of course you do! Everypony loves waffles! They're super duper deliciously fun and waffley good! Mmm! Ooh! You know what would be fun?! If we could all live in a land of waffles! There would be waffle streets, waffle clouds, waffle houses, waffle trees, and when it would rain, it would rain maple syrup! We could eat waffle cones, waffle candy, waffle apples... okay, not waffle apples, but we could put apples on our waffles! Oh! Oh! Spike! What if we took apples and waffles, and smushed them together! We could call them Wapples! Or maybe Affles. Hey Spike, which sounds better? Wapples or Affles? Wapples or Affles? Wapples.."
Spike couldn't stand anymore.
"Pinkie Pie!" he shouted, "can you calm down for just a minute, please?! Don't you realize we're going to jail?! I'm just a baby dragon, I can't go to jail! What's worse is that Twilight's going to be so angry with me! Who wants a number one assistant who's also a number one felon?! It's all over!"
At this, Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing and giggled.
"Oh, Spike, don't be silly! There are at least a couple of chapters left before the story resolution."
She resumed her bouncing.
Spike tilted his head to the side and stared at the pink pony, wondering how much of reality she had completely disregarded up there in that puffy mane of hers.
"Um, Pinkie, the ponies pulling the wagon are police. They're taking us to jail because they think we were trying to break into that house back there," he replied, pointing a claw in the direction of the neighborhood long out of view.
Pinkie Pie cocked her head and stared at him like a dog would stare at a funny noise. She then scratched her chin with her back hoof, again, much like a dog would when scratching an itch. Suddenly, she perked up.
"Ooh, that reminds me! I have to ask the police ponies something really, really important!"
She bounded toward the front of the paddy wagon and, without warning, completely disappeared from sight. Spike rubbed his eyes, and blinked a couple of times. He was about to investigate the area toward the front of the paddy wagon where she had vanished into thin air, but a moment later he was caught off guard when the paddy wagon jolted and swerved sideways, upending, and finally landing on it's side, throwing Spike against the grating. The force of the impact was enough to knock the lock loose, sending the dragon flying out the back, and landing hard on the ground, rolling to a stop.
He lay there for a minute, catching his breath and watching the tiny blue pegasi spinning around his head. When the whole of Equestria stopped spinning so quickly, he sat up, rubbed his head, and looked around.
He could see the overturned wagon off to the side, the free wheel spinning lazily. He got to his feet and hurried over to the front of the wagon, worried that the Pinkie Pie and the police ponies had been injured. As he approached, and then knelt beside them, examining them carefully (having taken an introductory first aid course thanks to Twilight), he concluded that the police ponies seemed unhurt, but were definitely unconscious.
What captured his immediate attention, however, was the bright pink pony, hopping in place and looking them over with what appeared to be mock concern.
"Um, Pinkie?! What happened! How did you get out of the wagon? Why did we crash?" Spike asked as he stood, trying to look over the excited mare to see if she had any scrapes or bruises.
"Ooh! Lots of questions! Is this a game?!" she asked, her voice rising in pitch at the prospect of another "game".
Spike nodded. "Um, sure! So, uh, tell me your answers." After a final check, he felt she was okay, and he began to wonder whether the pony was invincible like some kind of robot zombie or something.
Pinkie put her hoof to her chin. "Hmm..." she began, "We crashed. I just did, silly, and we crashed because the nice police ponies were surprised to see me walking backward in front of them! Did I win?!"
"Sure, whatever", Spike said, rubbing his head from trying to process her answers. A dull ache in tyhe back of his head had began to make itself known.
"Pinkie, what are we supposed to do now? We've been in a crash, the police ponies are knocked out, and we were being carted off to jail!"
Pinkie stomped her hoof in the grass, raised the other above her head, and said with a seriousness Spike hadn't seen since the day the parasprites invaded Ponyville, "we have to call the police!" She held her gaze firm for a second, before looking upward, putting a hoof to her chin. "Oh wait, no, they are the police. Hmm. Who do you call when the police need the police?" she asked, a quizzical expression on her face.
Spike shrugged. "Iohknow, Coast Guard?" The dull ache had become a sharp pain.
"Are there police for the police? Do they have different uniforms? I wonder what kind of hats they wear", the pink mare continued her rambling, "Oh, wait, I know! Police ponies have to go to the doctor when they get sick! So all we have to do is call an ambulance! A big white ambulance with sirens that go Woo!Woo!Woo!"
"Pinkie, I think we need to be serious." Spike's vision began to blur.
"I am being serious, you super silly! I...", she stopped as she saw Spike start to wobble on his feet. "Um, are you okay, Spike?"
Spike held a claw to his head. "I don't know. I'm feeling kinda weird. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought."
Before he could say anything else, the baby dragon fainted in the grass.
Pinkie took on a worried expression, looking around to see if there was anypony who could help. Seeing nopony, she realized that she would have to do everything herself. She had to get Spike and the police ponies to the hospital.
She had to be a mare of action.
-//-
Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy, were standing on the sidewalk, in front of the modest home that belonged to Dash's parents.
"Is everypony ready to change some perspectives?!"
"Absolutely!"
"Aw yeah!"
"Ah'm ready, Ah guess!"
"Um... okay, you know, if you want to. <eep!>"
Just as Twilight took her first step, a flash of purple shot from the house to the sidewalk in front of them.
The mares jumped back, with Rainbow Dash taking a defensive mare-tial arts position.
They all blinked at once. It was Violet.
"Wait, please! I want to take a stand with you!", she said, a plaintive cry in her voice.
Rainbow Dash floated over and grabbed her sister in a hug. "You bet, little sis! You'll make us all at least 20% cooler!" she said, and rubbed the young filly's mane. Everypony took that moment to look upward, their gazes focused toward one particular part of the sky, before looking back toward the house.
"Agreed. You're part of the group!", Twilight said with finality.
Together, they turned toward the porch and began to walk with determination toward the front door. Twilight was the first to reach it, and the first to ring the doorbell.
After a few moments, the door swung open, and they were standing face to face with Dash's mother. Thin, dark tracks under her eyes gave the appearance that she had been crying. In her hoof was a tissue, and her voice was filled with hollow emptiness as she spoke. "Have you returned to yell at us?" she asked, dabbing her eyes with her tissue, "because I'm not certain we can handle any more of that."
Twilight's eyes widened. ""Actually, uh..." she began, momentarily caught off guard, "Ms. Sunset Wind, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and we're here to...well...". She didn't want to say "lecture", because everypony always thought of it as a bad thing. Twilight felt otherwise. A lecture was an opportunity to make a wrong into a right, to correct an error, to become aware of one's mistake and have it rectified.
As she stood here now, though, and looked into the puffy red eyes of Dash's mother, she couldn't quite see it that way. She was about to apologize, when she was cut off by Rarity, who had stepped in and filled the gap.
"Madam, my name is Rarity, and I am a dear friend of your daughter Rainbow Dash. I am also a dear friend of Applejack, despite her chosen fashion, of course", she stated offhandedly, receiving a quick glare from Applejack.
"Ahem, as I was saying", she continued, "I am their friend, a dear friend, an almost irreplaceable friend". As she spoke, the other mares rolled their eyes. "And even still, I must say that we're not here to yell at you. Quite the contrary, we want to speak words of love to you, words filled with hope, and romance, the ideas of scholars and poets made manifest in your hearts and minds, to abscond with the dreary dour thoughts of-"
"Ma'am, we're here to prove to ya that Rainbow's and mah love, well, that our love is real." Applejack finished, interrupting Rarity's well intentioned, if slightly meandering, soliloquy. "Mah friends will tell ya just how much we care about one another. Ah'm a hopin' that if Rainbow and Ah cain't prove it to ya, that our friends can at least tell ya that we ain't just sayin' it to give th' hogs somethin' ta nibble on."
Sunset stared at Applejack for a moment, and looked down at the other mares gathered in front of her. Finally, she settled her gaze on her youngest daughter. Violet was staring right into her eyes, and she could feel this bright sense of purpose there. She had always taught her daughter to stand up for what she believed in. If she failed her now by disregarding those words, then she had failed completely in everything, and she wasn't going to let that happen. So with resignation, she stepped back and motioned them inside.
"Please come in. I will make us some tea, and we can talk. While I can't promise you anything else, I can promise you that much."
The six ponies stepped inside the Dash home, and made their way to the living room, taking seats on the lovely plush furniture.
They sat in the living room, in various states of discomfort, not knowing what to do or say now that they had been graciously invited inside.
Quite frankly, I didn't think we would get to this point right away. I hope this is a good sign, Twilight thought to herself as she tried to find places to sit her hooves without appearing antsy.
"Twilight, dear, you're being a mite antsy. Relax." came a soft, cultured whisper to her right. It was the voice of Rarity.
Well, there goes that.
A moment later, Sunset entered the room with a tray loaded down with silver cups, and a beautiful silver decanter, steam rising out of the spout.
"I hope you like Earl Neigh, it's a favorite of Violet's", she said gently, as she sat the tea on the coffee table in front of the mares, who had mostly positioned themselves on the, soft and plush, forest green couch.
"I-" Twilight began, but was interrupted by Sunset.
"Miss Sparkle, before we begin, let us take a moment to pour the tea, and situate ourselves. If we're going to discuss something distressing, let us do with some measure of relaxation. Perhaps it shall ease the discomfort so many of you feel toward myself and my husband."
They all sat together, for a moment, as Sunset poured a cup for each pony and passed it around. Twilight received hers last, and she took a moment to sniff the aroma as she saw Sunset pouring a cup for herself .
Twilight leaned in slightly, bringing the cup close to her muzzle. The aroma was sharp, but fragrant. She could detect a touch of honeysuckle. She figured it was there to lighten the heavier bitter taste of Earl Neigh, and add a bit of sweetness to the normally astringent brew.
As she took a sip, she could feel the hot tea coat her throat. The warmth spread to her shoulder muscles, and she could feel herself begin to relax. As they sat in silence, drinking their tea, Twilight glanced around the living room. She saw a large picture over the wall, above the fireplace. It was a picture of the Dash family. In it, was a younger Dusk Thunder and Sunset Wind, their forelegs around the children; a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and braces on her teeth, and in her hooves, a lavender foal with a silver, black, and purple mane wearing a pink and purple onesie, her tiny hoof resting on her father's.
She let her gaze wander over to a large shelf, loaded for bear with antiques and knick-knacks, tiny collectibles from various family vacations and school functions. She noticed a small trophy that said "1st Place - Championship Spelling Bee - Rainbow Dash", and surprise registered on her face for a moment before she glanced over to her friend, who was merely looking into her empty tea cup.
Twilight let a small smile break the somber expression she had been wearing. Life was full of surprises, and, big or small, only Celestia knew where and when anypony could happen upon them.
She looked back toward her own tea cup, looking up for a moment, only to notice that Sunset Wind was looking at her. A second later, Twilight realized she had been watching her the entire time. Just as she was about to say something, Sunset Wind spoke.
"Miss Twilight", she began, her voice gentle, with a soft, lilting quality to it as she spoke, "I'm not a monster. My husband is not a monster. I don't know if you are aware of what is going on, or how much Rainbow Dash has told you, but we don't hate her. We don't hate Miss Applejack. Quite the contrary, we like her. We find it gratifying that our eldest daughter has made so many friends so far away from home."
"Then why are you afraid of Rainbow Dash loving Applejack?" Twilight asked, taking another sip of her tea.
Sunset took a breath and sat forward a touch, setting her tea cup and saucer down on the serving tray before beginning.
"My dear, we're not afraid of their love."
"You seemed afraid when we told you yesterday," Rainbow Dash spoke up, her eyes still looking toward her tea cup, but a rough edge was evident in her voice, "in fact, I seem to recall that you were ashamed of me for loving another mare. Were you?" she finished speaking, clipping the last words with a sharp tone, her gaze moving up toward her mother, who was sitting across from the others, in her own wingback chair.
Sunset looked downward for a moment, her forelegs twitching slightly, as if she wanted to pour herself another cup of tea but couldn't bring herself to concentrate on such a mundane task. After a moment, however, she did so. Holding up the steaming cup in her hooves, as if like a barrier between herself and the focus of her pain, she replied to Dash's stinging words.
"Rainbow Dash, I am not ashamed of you. Your father and I have never been ashamed of you. You have always been unique, you've been your own mare. We knew that you had a spirit that couldn't be brought down or tempered with wisdom-"
"Hey!"
"Let me finish, Dash. We knew your spirit couldn't be tempered with wisdom or the day to day mundanity of living in this world like all of the other ponies. You had courage and such talent. My Celestia, you had such talent. You still do, and that makes us proud."
"What does this have to do with why you're too scared to let me and Applejack stay together?"
"It's not that, it was never that. Rainbow Dash, your father and I would love you if you came home with two mares on each foreleg. Why would we be afraid of you being yourself?"
"But yesterday, Dad told me that I was just confused."
"Your father was afraid that-"
"Ah ha! So you two were afraid!"
"No, Dash, we weren't afraid of you, we were afraid for you!" Sunset's voice began to rise slightly in earnest, "Don't you see, Dash? We're not afraid of your choices reflecting upon us, we love you and always will. We're afraid that your choices will reflect poorly upon you by others! Dash, when I was a young filly, two mares didn't get together, and if they did, they certainly didn't tell anypony about it. It was a shameful thing, and some ponies were ostracized and ran out of town for admitting it out in the open. What kind of life would that be for you or Applejack? To be hated? To be shunned? What kind of future is that for the two of you?! Look at your friends here. What wonderful friends! They know of your relationship, and they accept it. That is a rare thing, my young mare."
"Actually", Twilight began, raising her hoof and wincing as she tried to interject as politely as possible, "that's not the way it is anymore."
"I beg your pardon?" Sunset asked, now turning her attention to Twilight.
Twilight was caught off guard by the intensity of Sunset Wind's gaze, but she pushed forward, her teacup shaking slightly as she spoke. "I said, um, that's not the way it is anymore. I, uh, realize that you and Dusk Thunder probably don't visit the more popular social circles..."
Sunset Wind's eyebrow raised at that.
"Er, no offense, Ms. Wind. Heh. Um, what I mean is that our generation, the younger generation, is much more open and accepting to relationships like the one Dash and Applejack enjoys. We've come a long way since the days where loving a pony of the same gender is frowned upon. Even the Princesses approve of such things."
Sunset Wind's look of open concern turned to suspicion. "How would you know that, Miss Sparkle? I highly doubt the Princesses would let just anypony look into their personal lives, and unless you can read minds, there's no way to know for certain."
Twilight blushed. "Um, actually, I am the protege under Princess Celestia."
Sunset Wind covered her muzzle with her hoof in surprise.
"Oh my!" she said, sitting her tea cup down, "you know the Princess personally?"
"Yes, ma'am. I have been her prized pupil since I was a filly. I have been taught under her auspices, and am a graduate of the Royal Academy, and I am three years away from my Doctorate in Magical Sciences."
"So Princess Celestia is not only a friend, but a mentor."
"That is correct", Twilight replied.
"That is simply amazing that you were taught under Princess Celestia! What about Princess Luna?"
"Oh, she's been under Princess Luna, that's for certain", Rarity quipped, and then realized a moment later that she had spoken aloud. "Oh my!" she said quickly, covering her muzzle with her hooves, her eyes wide.
Everypony in the room gasped and began blushing, save for Sunset Wind, who looked around at the assembled ponies with some confusion.
"I don't understand", she said.
Twilight caught her breath, and spoke with care. "Um, you see, that, well, I, you, we, Luna, and I are, we're um...", she took a deep breath. "We're together."
Sunset Wind's mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as she stared at Twilight.
"You mean... you... and the Princess... are..."
"Yep. We're lovers." Twilight answered, warmth returning to her chest as the effects from the rather large, but purely accidental, bomb dropped by Rarity had worn off.
"We've been together for over a year, now, and we love one another." Twilight added, a smile showing on her face.
"Who knows about this?" Sunset Wind asked, her face betraying her curiosity at getting a chance to hear some Royal Court gossip.
"Everypony in Canterlot knows, and most of the ponies in Ponyville."
"And... and they're okay with this?" she asked.
Twilight nodded. "They threw us a huge party and everything. They did the same for Rainbow Dash and Applejack."
Seeing her chance, Twilight drove the point home. "The thing is, we were openly loved and accepted, just as Dash and Applejack were loved and accepted. We have realized, as a culture, that love is to be celebrated and cherished, not to be hidden away and shamed. That is why we were so concerned, because we were afraid that you and Mr. Thunder had become angry at Rainbow Dash merely for finding somepony to love."
At this, Applejack, who had been silent the entire time, began to break down in tears. Rainbow Dash pulled her close and whispered something in her ear.
"See, Ms. Wind", Twilight continued after a moment, "there is nothing greater than love. Granted, if you would have told me this a couple of years ago, I would have considered it all foolishness. Something for those who didn't have any real direction in life. Then my brother married my foal sitter, and I saw how that love affected them. Then I found out that two of my dearest friends loved each other, and that changed my whole perspective. Finally, I fell in love with the most beautiful mare in Equestria, and that shook my world from top to bottom, and changed my life. You see, that love is just as real as the love you have for Mr. Dusk Thunder."
By this time, Sunset Wind had began to weep. Her shoulders shook with heaving sobs as she reached for her hoofkerchief.
"How could I... be so foolish?" she said between sobs, "How could I be so shortsighted? Dash, you must hate me, and what have I done to you, sweet Applejack?!"
She buried her muzzle in her hoofkerchief.
The mares looked at one another, but before Twilight could say anything of comfort, Rainbow Dash and Applejack rose together, walked over to where Sunset Wind was sitting, and pulled her into an embrace together.
There the three of them cried together, letting pain and hurtful words get washed away by tears. A small "D'aww" was heard from under the table next to the couch, where a butter yellow pegasus had crawled once the emotions began running high. Now she had regained her courage, and had stepped out, witnessing the outpouring of emotion in the room, as sweet and savory as the honeysuckle in the Earl Neigh tea that had long since cooled on the table.
-//-
"Spike!" a hushed whisper called out.
"Spike, wake up!" it called out again.
Spike lay on a soft surface. He wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was, it had been easing the pain in his aching scales. He let the darkness remain for a few more seconds.
"Spike, wakey wakey dragon fakey!" came a light voice, followed by a giggle.
Spike finally opened one eye, recognizing the voice's owner.
"Hey Pinkie..." he croaked, his throat dry. "where are we?"
The last thing he remembered, he had passed out in the grass next to a paddy wagon, two unconscious police ponies, and an ultra hyper Pinkie Pie.
Opening his eyes, he sat up. He was in a mostly bare room, save for a few old pictures of flowers on the dirt colored walls, and an old mattress upon which he was sitting.
"I'm glad you woke up, Spike! I thought you were going to be a sleepy dragon forever!"
Another giggle.
Spike turned to see Pinkie now hopping on the bed next to him.
"So, where are we, Pinkie? Did we get away from the police? Did we call an ambulance? What?"
Pinkie Pie smiled and pointed a hoof behind him.
"Oh, nothing like that silly!"
"Then what?" he said as he turned himself around slowly, trying to avoid the pain of moving too quickly.
"We're in jail!" A giggle.
"What?!" Spike called out as he turned fully, experiencing a moment of dizziness.
Sure enough, turning to look in the direction her hoof was pointing, Spike saw bars, and outside those bars, a dimly lit hallway with other cells.
They were in jail.
And Pinkie Pie was giggling.
Spike felt the headache return as he smacked his forehead with his claw.
They were in so much trouble.
<(/)*(\)>