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// Chapter Ten: In Which the Final Confrontation Takes Place 
// Story: A Family Matter 
// by Bardsworth Brony 
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	A crowd had gathered in front of the Ponyville town hall.  After his experience with crowds the previous day, Sketch kept his distance and remained out of sight.  Sweetie Belle had confiscated a long, black coat and a wide-brimmed hat from her sister's boutique for him to disguise himself with, but even just a glimpse of his purple hair made him easy to pick out of a crowd.  From the shadows of a nearby building, he scanned the area to see if everything was in place.  He caught sight of Spike by Twilight Sparkle's side, a satchel slung over his shoulder.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood at the edge of the crowd, a wagon resting nearby with a tarp covering it.  Overhead, a lazy cloud floated by in an otherwise cloudless sky.
Finally, the mayor stepped out onto the hastily-constructed stage and up to the podium.  "Ahem," she cleared her throat into the microphone, causing everypony to quiet down.  "Good afternoon, fillies and gentlecolts.  As you know all too well, our beloved town suffered greatly this past summer.  But today is the mark of something truly wondrous for Ponyville, a chance for it to rise again and be rebuilt, and to become something even greater.  And here is the pony who will help us achieve that.  I introduce to you, all the way from Whinnypeg, Astor!"
Sketch watched his father walk across the stage, stiff and proper, negotiation spectacles glinting in the sunlight.  There was no anger in him as he watched Astor; he finally knew the truth and wanted to help his father.  At that moment, Spike turned, as did the Cutie Mark Crusaders, looking directly at Sketch.  He nodded, and then stepped forward, heading towards the crowd.
"Residents of Ponyville," Astor began, clear and loud.  "Your town is a town of many things – beauty, joy, and strength.  These are things that can serve as a foundation for so much more.  I can see what Ponyville could be.  And I'd like to share with you my vision for what potential your wonderful town has."  Sketch took a moment to envy his father's public speaking skills before continuing through the crowd.  Nopony paid him any attention, focused instead on Astor's vision for Ponyville.  By the time Sketch reached the front of the crowd, his father had finished his oratory and was taking questions.  Such was the trust that the ponies of the town had in Astor that nopony raised a hoof to ask a question.  So Sketch did.
"Can you promise us that what happened to the town of Horseshoe Crescent won't happen to this town?"  
Astor was shocked, first that someone had asked a question, then at the question itself, and finally at who had asked the question.  "Waldorf?  Is that… what are you doing?  What are you wearing?"
"It's a simple question, dad," Sketch said, removing his hat.  All around him rose the familiar harsh murmuring that he had experienced the previous day.  He almost lost his nerve, but he knew that if he didn't do what had to be done there and then, Ponyville was lost.  And so was his father.
Regaining his composure quickly, as Sketch knew he would, Astor responded, "This is a different town with a different set of circumstances.  Each evolution of a town is unique to it and its residents."
"Oh, bravo, dad," Sketch said, climbing up onto the stage and shedding the coat he had borrowed.  He looked out over the crowd and nodded to the Crusaders, who then started making their around the edge of the crowd to the other side of the stage.  Nopony paid any attention to the fillies, instead focused on the confrontation taking place in front of them.  "You didn't actually answer the question.  You always had a flair for spinning the truth."
"I'm not a prognosticator, Waldorf," Astor retorted in a gruff town, frowning at his son over his negotiation spectacles.  "I can't look into a crystal ball and see the future."
"No, but you can look into a pony and figure out what they want, can't you?"
The shock that had registered earlier on Astor's face was nothing compared to the gape of astonishment that Sketch saw at that moment.  Taking the opportunity while his father was stunned into silence, he turned to his captive audience and… froze.  The momentum that had been building in his confrontation with his father came to a screeching halt as he looked out over pony after pony, pair of eyes after pair of eyes, all watching him, waiting for him to speak, judging him…
When you speak about something you're passionate about, the fear goes away and you're left with just the passion.  Twilight Sparkle's words appeared in his mind, and he located her in the crowd.  His friend, his best friend, stared at him, half curious and half angry.  Seeing her, even in the grip of the enchantment, warmed him enough to thaw his motivation.  He had to do this.  He had to snap her out of it.  Not just her, but everypony else.  Everypony including… his eyes found Applejack, giving him the same glare that she had been giving him with the day before.  Instead of feeling frightened and alone, though, he felt determined.
"Somepony yesterday said that I'm not from Ponyville.  It's true.  I'm an outsider.  But you welcomed me.  You made me feel like a part of the town.  And I became a part of it.  I've only been here a short time.  It's not my hometown.  But it's my home.  And I love it just as much as I know the rest of you do.  You just need to be reminded of how much you love it."
By that point the Crusaders had reached the stage and Apple Bloom ran up onto it holding a large canvas.  Smiling at his "little sister", Sketch held the painting between his two front hooves and lifted it high.  The ponies all glanced at it, studying it with curious eyes.  Sketch didn't need to see it; it was burned into his mind, an overhead view of Ponyville.
"I painted this just this past spring, before the fires struck," he said in a strong voice, stronger than he would have thought possible coming from him.  "It was a labor of love.  I went around town to the highest points that I could, on rooftops and treetops when necessary, and sketched the view from there.  Then I put them all together and painted this.  This is your home.  This.  Not some promised resort town.  This is Ponyville."  He was elated to see the eyes of some of the ponies softening, their facial muscles relaxing.
"Now just a minute," Astor said, stepping forward and addressing the crowd.  "There's no doubt that your town is a special place.  But we can work together to make it even more special.  I can see great things in your future!"
"Is that what you can see through those spectacles of yours, dad?" Sketch said, catching his father off guard again.  Then he shouted, "Ditzy, now!"
From the lazy cloud that had been mysteriously stationary in the gathering autumn breeze came a gray blur.  Sketch ducked and she passed over him, grabbed the spectacles off of Astor's face, and then swooped back up.  "I did it!" she cried.  "I swooped!  I-"  She crashed into the side of the town hall and fell to the ground.
"All right, this has gone far enough," the mayor said, stepping forward with a deep frown on her face.  "Explain yourself, Sketch."
"Actually, mayor," Sketch said, glancing into the crowd.  "Why don't we let Twilight Sparkle explain it?"
"What?" he heard her cry in surprise.
"Spike, give her the book."  From the satchel, Spike produced a thick tome and handed it to Twilight Sparkle.  She looked at it for a moment and then back at Sketch questioningly.  "Turn it to page two-hundred and twenty-seven."  Twilight's curiosity won out, as Sketch knew it would, and she levitated the book in front of her, flipping through the pages until she came to the correct one.  Her eyes grew wide and she gasped.
"The spectacles," she said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.  "They're the Spectacles of Sooth Sayer the Seer."
"Um…what does that mean exactly?" the mayor asked, looking at the unicorn over her own spectacles.
Twilight made her way up to the stage, the book floating in front of her.  "The spectacles allow the wearer to 'see' into a pony and determine what he or she desires.  Then, it casts an enchantment to lock that pony into wanting that thing above all else.  When multiple ponies are affected in the same area, the enchantments start to build in intensity and become one large enchantment covering the area."
"Can you… can you remove the enchantment?" the mayor asked, concerned.
"Once the spectacles are broken, the enchantment will be, too."
Ditzy came wondering onto the stage at that moment, the spectacles dangling from her teeth.  One of the lenses was missing and the other was cracked.  "Sorry," she said, dropping them to the stage.  "I almost had it that time."
"You were amazing," Sketch said with a smile.  
"Oh!"  Ditzy blinked a few times and then beamed.  Then Sketch glanced out over the crowd.  Everypony seemed to be back to normal, and there was no anger to be seen, though there was quite a bit of confusion going around.  He turned back to the stage and looked at his father.  The stallion looked as if he had shrunk.  The cool, calm expression of business was gone from his face and replaced with worry.  "Dad?" Sketch said in a gentle tone and approached him.
"Waldorf, I… I…"  Astor's eyes teared up.  "I couldn't help myself.  I bought those glasses ages ago and thought it was a bunch of hooey.  But they were the real thing!  And the more I used them, the more addicted I became.  And I…"
"I know, dad.  It's a side-effect of the magic.  It doesn't just look into other ponies to discover what they want most.  It looks back into you and amplifies what you want most.  And you wanted to provide for your family.  But the more the magic worked, the farther you went until you lost sight of what you were doing.  The enchantment became too strong and you passed the point of no return."
At some point, Ginger Snap had climbed the stage and approached her husband.  "Astor, I never knew…" she whispered.  "You never told me."
"I know," he said, almost inaudibly, hanging his head.  "I'm sorry."  His wife put a foreleg around his shoulder and pulled him close.
The mayor cleared her throat quietly and said into the microphone, "I think this press conference is over.  Thank you for your time, everypony."  
The crowd dispersed, slowly, until a small group remained – Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack.  Sketch jumped down from the stage and approached them.  "Are you guys… okay?"
"I feel like I do when I finish flying around in circles for a long time," Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head a bit.
"Yeah, or if I was spinning around in place," Pinkie Pie said, then frowned.  "Wait, let me make sure it's the same thing…"  She began spinning around and around, and Fluttershy turned a bit green watching the pink blur.  When she stopped, she stumbled and then flopped to the ground, and said, "Nope, that's more fun!"
"I can't believe we all acted like… like… well, not us!" Rarity said.
Sketch looked at Applejack.  "And you?"
The orange pony looked down and said, "Ah can't believe ah doubted you, Sketch.  Or that ah wouldn't listen t' yer side of the story."
"It wasn't your fault," Sketch said and kissed her on the cheek.
"What about yer father?" the orange pony asked, looking at the stage.  Astor and Ginger Snap were still standing there, whispering to each other.  "What'll happen now?"
"I don't know," Sketch admitted.  "We need to sort some things out.  But I think my family is going to be a lot different from now on."  He excused himself from his friends to go check on said family.  
Twilight was still on stage, studying the remains of the spectacles.  "All of the magic is gone," she concluded.  "Which is kind of a shame.  I would have been interested in studying it further."
"Some things are better left alone," Sketch said, and Twilight nodded, but still looked a bit disappointed.  He caught sight of Ditzy, watching things from the sidelines.  "But not ponies," he added softly, and made his way over to the gray pegasus.  "Thanks for your help, Ditzy Doo.  It was good not to be alone in all of this."
"You're welcome," she said with a smile.  "I'm just glad I didn't mess anything up!"
"You know, you should let me paint your portrait sometime."
"Me?" she responded, shocked.
"Absolutely.  You've got a beautiful smile.  I think it has to do with your eyes."
Ditzy blushed, but shared a smile with Sketch before saying goodbye.  She took off into the air, narrowly missing another pegasus who happened to be flying by, yelling an apology over her shoulder which caused her to flip upside down.  Sketch grinned and shook his head, then made his way to his parents.
"Are you going to be okay, dad?" he asked.
Astor nodded.  He looked as if he had managed to gather his wits, some of the business-like calm returning to his features.  But they were softer now, tempered with humility.  "I think so, Waldorf.  Thank you.  Thank you for rescuing me from that enchantment.  I can't believe I destroyed so many years of your life… of our lives, just because of those stupid spectacles.  That was why I was always so hard on you… deep down I always had this wish that you'd follow in my footsteps and be a businesspony.  But the enchantment took a hold of that and twisted it, made me lose sight of what you wanted.  I wish I could take that all back."
"You've got a second chance now, dad.  Make the best of it."
Astor smiled, an expression completely foreign to the pony's face.  Sketch found that it suited him, though.  Then the smile disappeared.  "And you need to make the best of something, as well, Waldorf."
"Oh?  What's that?"
"When I used the spectacles to look into your friend Applejack, there were two dominating desires.  There was the desire to keep her farm afloat and her family from destitution.  And there was another desire."
"What was that?"
Ginger Snap chuckled.  "A typical male," she said, though more out of love than anything else.
Confused, Sketch just shrugged.  His parents made their way off of the stage headed in the direction of the bed and breakfast.  Only one pony remained nearby – Applejack.  When Sketch's eyes caught hers, the conversation with his parents replayed in his head and suddenly he knew.  He knew what Applejack desired, because it was the same thing he desired, only he had been too afraid to admit it.  And, to be honest with himself, the prospect still scared him.  As he made his way to the orange pony, though, he steeled himself for the question, prepared himself mentally.  When he finally stood in front of her he opened his mouth and a squeak came out.
"Say that again?" Applejack said with a bemused look on her face.
Sketch cleared his throat.  "I… Applejack…"
"No, ah Applejack.  You, Sketch."
"We… what I'm trying to say is… oh, gosh…"
"Sketch…"
"You and I… that is, if you want to…"
"Yes."
"Because I… and… wait, what?"
"Ah said 'yes'."  She kissed the surprised pony.
"How did you…?"
"A gal knows, sugar cube.  Especially when it's somethin' she's been waitin' t' hear."
They walked side by side towards Sweet Apple Acres, although Sketch felt more like he was floating.  He thought about how he had gained several families that day.  He had gained the whole of Ponyville as a family.  He had gained the mother and the father he had always wished he would have.  And he would be gaining a family through his love for Applejack.  It was becoming clear to him why family was so important to her after all.  And he didn't need magical spectacles to see it.