//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Home Again // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 9 The following day, Rick had a nice breakfast of apples and relaxed in the small park with Paul. He enjoyed playing fetch through the expedient of forming a force field ball and throwing it with a magic hand. After a while, he got bored and tried other ways of throwing the ball. He tried a small air canon, a sling shot even a catapult. Rick decided he had gone too far when he formed a trebuchet and it took Paul five minutes to chase down, find and return with the ball. “Oh I do say, that is quite impressive, Darling.” “Oh, good morning, Rarity. Where are you off to?” “I’m going to Canterlot to pick up some supplies I need for my boutique.” “I see. Is that the reason for your lovely hat?” Rick asked while indicating her sun hat. The pink flowers that were tied in a bunch to the Persian green ribbon around the crown accented the light beige hat perfectly. “Do you like it? I always like to put on a little something special for my trips to Canterlot. Speaking of which, if you have no plans for today, I could use an extra set of hooves to help me with my supplies.” “Sure, why not, I just have to find someone to take care of Paul and I’m all yours. Maybe Fluttershy, though I do hate to impose on somebody out of the blue like that.” “I wouldn’t worry. If there’s one thing I know about Fluttershy, it’s that she would do anything for animals or a friend, so I can guarantee that an animal of a friend would be welcome at any time.” Rarity offered. “Hmm, I guess you’re right. Okay, let me get Paul over to her cottage and I will meet you at the train station. Oh wait; I don’t have any bits yet. I can’t buy a ticket,” Rick said dejectedly. “I suppose I can’t help you after all. I’m sorry, Rarity.” “You should know me better than that by now, Dear. You are going for the sole purpose of helping me, I will buy your ticket.” She placed a hoof on his barrel for reassurance. She almost looked surprised at just how solid it was under her hoof. “Alrighty then, I’ll head out and then meet you later. Oh, is this a day trip or are we staying the night?” “I see no reason why we shouldn’t be back before dark. I will see you soon.” They parted ways, waving as they went. Paul barked his goodbyes to Rarity as well. Chapter 10 The stop at Fluttershy’s cabin was uneventful, Rarity was right after all. The train ride was short and pleasant with mild conversation and beautiful scenery. Soon, the ivory colored towers of Canterlot came into view. “Looks like we’re here. So where do we go first?” Rick asked as he pulled his head back in the window. “Well, first we go to the store and order my materials, oh how I wish they would sell these divine items in Ponyville. While we are waiting for the order to be filled, we shall have oodles of free time. I think lunch at one of the darling cafés here would be simply marvelous. We should have some time for a little window shopping before we return to the fabric store and then to the train for the return ride.” “A schedule to match Twilight’s planning abilities if I’ve ever seen one,” Rick said grinning. “Then shall we begin?” He stood by the door to the car and waited for Rarity to pass and step out onto the platform. As she did, he couldn’t help but notice her cutie mark comprising of three perfect diamonds, “hmm, it really suits her well.” They arrived at the fabric store shortly after leaving the train. Rick patiently waited for Rarity to pick through several different rolls that all looked the same to him. After what seemed like hours, Rarity ordered a huge variety of types and colors of fabrics, some were shiny and glossy and reminded Rick of metallic automotive paint. “Thank you so much for waiting, Darling, now let me buy you lunch to say… oh no.” Rarity slunk down behind Rick. “What’s wrong? You’re acting like Fluttershy.” “It’s them, Jet Set and Upper Crust,” She peaked out from behind Rick and pointed to two unicorns. One was a gray stallion with black, stylized mane and tail. The other was a cream colored mare with a big purple mane and tail with a white stripe. They both had polo shirts with sweaters tied around the necks and to Rick’s amusement, both had popped their collars. “Those two snobs? Why do they bother you so much?” “Before you first came here, I stayed at the castle and those two humiliated me and insulted not only Ponyville, but *gasp* my designs.” Rarity raised her cannon to her forehead in a swoon like gesture. The thought of anyone insulting a town full of so many friendly ponies made Rick angry, but the thought of someone making a pony as generous as Rarity feel humiliated made him furious. Now add to that that it was Rarity that was humiliated, Rick wasn’t sure he could hold it in. “Rick, are… are you alright?” Rarity asked as she walked up beside him. “Huh, oh, oh yeah, I was just upset about them insulting one of my best friends.” He could feel his forehead unfurl and his face cool. He looked down at Rarity to see her blush slightly and grin. “What?” “Oh, uh… hehe… shall we get some lunch?” “Um… yeah that sounds good.” The pair went to a café that Rarity had suggested. Rick enjoyed his first daffodil sandwich as Rarity had one of her favorite salads. Suddenly, a nasally type of laugh came from the street. A quick observation revealed the snobs from before. “I say, who designed your chapeau?” Jet Set asked Rarity. Rick could feel his blood pressure rise slightly. “Oh, this is just one I made some time ago in my boutique in Ponyville.” She seemed quite proud of it. “Oh, I thought it seemed more suited for country ponies.” Upper Crust added and both ponies chuckled, “I did say these ponies seemed a bit too rough to be from Canterlot.” When Rick saw a tiny tear start to form in Rarity’s eye, he lost it. Jet Set was lifted off the cobblestones by a large, orange hand and held a few inches from Rick’s face. “Apologize,” was all he said. It was calm and level but forceful none the less. Jet Set got a close look at this large pony and an even closer look at his scars and realized they were earned the hard way. What really put the fear of Celestia into Jet Set, was the look of unbridled rage in his eyes. “Put me down! Gau-mmph!” Jet’s cries for help were cut short by another magic hand that was clamped around his snout. “That’s not how you apologize. Say you’re sorry for insulting my friend.” “Put him down or I’ll… ” Upper Crust’s horn started to glow but before she could do anything, a tiny force field enveloped her horn completely, stopping all magic from escaping as well as holding her fixed in place. No matter how hard she struggled, the force field kept her horn fixed. Another hand clamped her mouth shut. “I’ll put him down as soon as he apologizes for insulting my friend.” The magic hand around Jet’s snout opened. “Let go o-mmmph!” the hand closed again. Another tiny force field was placed on his horn as a precaution. “Five letters and you can’t say it.” A tiny magic hand formed in front of Jet’s face and drifted up to his mane. The tiny fingers selected a single hair and… plucked it. “You are beginning to upset me. Apologize.” Jet Set flinched at the small but acute pain. To his horror, hald a dozen more tiny hands formed out of thin air and slowly moved toward his mane. Jet Set closed his eyes and nodded. His muzzle vanished, “I-I’m sorry, Miss, I should not have insulted you.” “Rarity, do you accept his apology?” Rick turned to see her and had to stop himself from chuckling about her jaw being on the ground. “Rarity?” “Wha… oh, yes, yes I do.” “Very well, be on your way you two.” Rick ceased all his magic and both Jet Set and Upper Crust ran off. “While I do appreciate the gesture, Darling, why did you do that?” “Because they’re bullies. I hate bullies. I especially hate them when they insult someone I care about.” Rarity blushed at this and hugged Rick tightly. “You there, don’t move!” A guard came galloping up the street towards them. “Here comes the downside.” Rick raised both his forelegs as Rarity released her hug. Chapter 11 Rick was being led toward the palace by a pair of armed guards. He knew better than to try to resist. “I say, where are you taking him? What are the charges? Release him right now.” Rarity was berating the guards as the headed toward the palace’s cells. “Rarity, they are arresting me for assault. You can’t just go around attacking people, even if they are stuck up, snobbish bullies.” The castle was quickly approaching. “Go back to Ponyville, Rarity, I’ll be fine here. These guys aren’t going to hurt me as long as I comply with their orders. Go on home.” Rarity looked dejected but she knew he was right. “Very well, I will return home but I’ll be back with Twilight as soon as I can. Please be safe until then.” “I will, Rarity, I’ll see you soon.” After Rick and his escorts passed through the gate to the dungeon, the lead guard looked over his shoulder at Rick, “did you really do all that to them because they were being bullies?” “Yeah, I did. One doesn’t have to be friendly to everyone the meet, but there is no excuse for just being rude for the fun of it.” The guard chuckled,” I can’t officially agree with you right now, but I can say I don’t disagree with you either.” They continued through the halls where paperwork was completed on the incident and descriptions of Rick were recorded. “…height of…” “…forelegs measure…” “…cutie mark… blank? How does a full grown…” After all the monotonous paperwork was completed, Rick was led down the hall to his cell by the same gaurdspony who led him here to begin with. “Here is your cell. The water is clean, the straw is fresh and a meal will be brought along… did you say Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle? Princess Twilight Sparkle?!” “Huh, oh yeah, she did get made a princess didn’t she. Yeah that’s the Twilight I was talking about.” “Why didn’t you say so from the beginning? I’m sure we could get you better conditions than this.” “Why should who I know make any difference on this incident? She wasn’t involved.” “Should I mention the other princesses? That’d really throw him for a loop.” Rick walked into his cell, looked around a bit and settled in as the door was closed and locked behind him. Rick decided to try to get some sleep since he would be here a while. His nap was interrupted by a bright flash of light that startled him from his slumber. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, “what the hell was that?” “You really can’t stay out of trouble can you?” The familiar voice of the princess of the night was a welcome change to the silence. “Lu… I mean, Princess Luna, what brings you down here?” “I heard a rumor that the friend of a certain princess had been arrested in the city for assaulting some civilians simply because they were picking on his friend.” Rick hung his head, “yeah, that was me. Those two insulted Rarity, Ponyville and myself. I don’t care what anyone says about me, but they made Rarity cry and… and I just reacted. I may have been a little rough, but they aren’t hurt and hopefully they learned a little lesson.” “I see, so you still protect your friends no matter the consequences. You really are Rick reincarnated aren’t you?” She giggled a little. “That’s what I keep trying to tell everyone,” he said with a smile. “Well I believe you. Sadly, I cannot release you. Celestia is in charge of the royal court and she is the only one who can. All I can do is allow you to call me by my name again. I will also see to it that your case is seen to first so we can put this all behind us.” Her horn started to glow. “As always, I can’t thank you enough… Luna.” She nodded deeply as she faded out of sight. Again, Rick settled in for the night.