//------------------------------// // Warm Welcome Pt. 3 // Story: Three Equestrians and an Engineer // by Greasebrony //------------------------------// “So you mean to tell me that Eduardo used your trailer to bring his weapons here?” Said Luna. “Seems like it.” Replied Jericho. “And he is in Ponyville now trying to get every citizen there to allow you into their town?” “Yeah.” Said Joseph. “And the only ones who have ANY idea how well armed he is, are the element bearers themselves, and not even they suspect he’s carrying because of that search Twilight did to him, his truck and his trailer.” “Yes. Mind you the only things I allowed were a couple of swords a bow with a few arrows and other traditional weapons.” Replied Twilight. “I think a couple of those belong to Alison.” Said Joseph. Luna thought for a moment bringing her hoof to her chin and looked down. “Why would he do such a thing? That is what I want to know.” “Maybe he didn’t bring much more than a rifle and his pistols. He has mentioned to me and Jay that he was looking to practice his sharp shooting.” Joseph said. “Yeah for all we know he probably just brought his 1911s and Joe’s Bad News AR.” Said Jericho. “The problem is that we don’t know that for sure.” Twilight said. “Then again though he does play it close to the vest. He wouldn’t tell the towns ponies anything more than what they need to know.” “That’s true, the only reason he opened up to you guys was because you were living with him.” Said Jericho. “Yeah, kinda hard to keep a lot of things to yourself when you had as many roommates as him.” Said Joseph. “Lucky bastard.” “I know right?” Eduardo let out a series of violent sneezes. “My word Eduardo, are you alright?” “Yeah you look like you just dove head first into a vat of pepper for a sec there.” Recovering from his attack he looks towards Applejack and Rarity. “Someone’s talking crap behind my back.” “Who would do something like that?” Asked Pinkie. “Ugh whatever lets just finish up here.” “How Alison didn’t kill him is beyond me.” Said Jennifer. “C’mon, we’ve been over this. As smart as the guy is and as much of a dumbass and a joker he can be at the same time he’s better than that.” Said Joseph. “What does Alison have to say about it?” Said Laura. Twilight immediately spoke up. “Its best we don’t bother her for now. She’s…vulnerable at the moment.” She said looking down. “Why is something wrong with her?” Asked Luna. “No, just, her and Eduardo have some issues to talk over.” All eyes were on Twilight now as she was pawing at the polished floor with her hoof. Jericho was first to speak after a moment of silence. “Well you mind filling us in?” “I can’t.” “Why not?” Asked Joseph. “I made a promise not to tell anyone and I intend to keep it.” “Are they breaking up? At least tell us that.” Said Jennifer. “If there’s anything we can do to help we’ll find a way.” “I’m sorry. Telling you anything would directly break my promise to her. She’s going through enough as it is. For now let’s just focus on how to handle Eduardo.” “Agreed.” Said Luna. “Jericho, Joseph. Take us to the trailers and take inventory. We need to know what he took and account for anything else he might have brought.” “What about your sister?” Asked Twilight. “For now she doesn’t need to know. As far as she’s concerned Eduardo took off without saying anything to anyone save for Goldwing and Silvermane to which they have already sent an escort.” “Isn’t he hurt though?” Asked Joseph. “Its just a sprained ankle, he’ll be fine. In any case based on Spike’s letter he seems to have already made a good impression on him.” “As opposed to the other guards and Blueblood.” Twilight said. “Well they seemed to have ironed things out.” Luna grinned. “Then again I have received several complaints about Blueblood being…difficult. So any aggression towards him isn’t unwarranted.” “That’s great but how about we discuss this on the way to the trailers?” Said Joseph. As they made their way the group had passed by Alison’s room to which Jericho stopped for a moment. “Yo, whats the hold up man?” Asked Joseph. “Something doesn’t feel right.” “The hell are you talking about? For all we know Eddy could be fine. He’s not stupid.” “Its not him. Its Alison, we just finished passing by her room. Not a peep.” “She could be meditating. I’ve seen her and Eduardo do it at the same time when she comes over to spend a night at the warehouse.” Said Luna. “Well, alright. I’m probably just being paranoid anyway.” “Dude we spend our lives taking down the worse Miami has to offer, its no surprise to me you aren’t.” “Same can be said about you Joey.” Said Jennifer. “Touché.” “Okay enough chit chat we have to get going.” Said Twilight. Alison approached the throne room feeling a little apprehensive. She felt fine talking to Twilight but what she needed was advise. ‘Who better than a deity?’ she asked herself. She saw the large double doors open as several what seemed to her like bureaucrat ponies trotted out to what seemed like an important meeting. They trotted past her too focused on conversation about budgets, foreign relations or other politics she couldn’t begin to care about. Looking inside she can see the princess herself rubbing her temples trying to undo the headache she got from whatever it was that was being discussed. “I swear its like all they want to do is argue.” Said one of Celestia’s assistaints. “I won’t lie Featherduster, as much as I love Equestria at the moment, I miss Miami.” Said Celestia. “I’m sorry if this is a bad time, I’ll just come back later.” Said Alison turning around. “Oh no Alison its fine, I could use a little break right now.” Smiled Celestia. “Feather, do I have anything else scheduled for today?” “Not from what I can see, Princess. If anything within a few hours you and Luna managed to get ahead of schedule by a good 3 days. Pretty good considering you just had over a month off.” “Oh don’t worry about that, with all the coffee and energy drinks Luna and I had to consume we’ll be paying for it later.” Featherduster giggled. “Good thing we have excellent plumbing.” As she left the throne room she gave Alison a smile and a nod as she passed to which she responded in kind. “So Alison, is something on your mind?” Celestia asked with a smile. “OH! Um, I first wanted to apologize about earlier. That news from this morning kind of caught me by surprise.” She giggled. “Its okay, after seeing what Eduardo is capable of and the lengths he is willing to go it didn’t surprise me when he was gone. However was I was not expecting was the fact that you could also use the Royal Canterlot Voice.” She blushed and grinned sheepishly. “Oh well, he can bring out the best and worse in some people.” Eduardo had once again gone through another sneezing attack. “Dude, what is with you today?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I DON’T KNOW!” “So whats on your mind?” “Well, a lot to be honest.” “Such as?” Alison only put on a slight frown and looked at her mid-section. “Oh, I see.” “I don’t know what to do or how to tell him. I know he’ll find out either way but I’m afraid of how he’ll react.” “Your fears are not unwarranted. Maybe though this is exactly what you both need.” “I know, something like this is always a blessing. But it can also be a curse.” Tears began to well in her eyes. “How do I tell him?” “By telling him.” Celestia replied gently. At that moment a letter from Spike appeared before Celestia. After taking a moment to read it she set the letter down and smiled towards Alison. “It seems everything went well in Ponyville. But I think you should be the first to go.” “Are you sure? What about the others?” “They’ll be close behind.” “Are you sending me in a carrage?” “Is that what you want?” “I would rather go myself.” “I think I can help with that.” Celestia said giving her a confident smile. “How?” “Eduardo brought that other car with him right?” “Yeah but theres a problem with that one.” “Its everything really. I'm not familiar with the characteristics of it considering its complex layout and yeah its a beast like my Skyline but that thing is a totally different animal.” “Hmmm, perhaps Jericho and Joseph have something more suited to your driving style then?” “They mentioned having something that would be just as ideal for these roads, just as good as the RS200, just not as monsterously as powerful.” “Well then, lets get right to it, shall we?” As Luna, Jericho, Laura, Jennifer, Joseph, and Twilight approached the trailers they noticed the Joseph and Jericho’s trailer was wide open. Joseph Immediately ran to the trailer and his face turned to that of pure horror. “WHERE THE HELL IS MY EVO!?” Meanwhile in the main road just outside of Canterlot, Alison was making a push for Ponyville. She has the pedal to the floor going on nothing but instinct to guide her with her bags in the back seat and Rocky sitting right by her. Going downhill there was an S-Curve fast approaching. “Okay Rock, this is gonna be a little rough.” She shifted to third and kicked the rear end out flooring it and counter-steering all the way though. All the while ponies who were on the side of the road were awestruck by the car with the whistling and the popping sounds from the EVO’s turbo and anti-lag system. ‘Well I guess it can be explained to them as magic.’ She began thinking about Eduardo and what to say when she saw him again. “What happened Eddy? How did we let it get this far?” ‘Better question still how did I fall for you? The last thing I wanted was to let this happen. But there was no stopping it was there? Ever since that day.’ Alison had heard of what had happened in Malibu on the news. For four days she was outside of the warehouse anxiously waiting for him. On the 5th day she approached the warehouse in her GTR, she saw a familiar black Mustang parked out front. ‘It can’t be…’ She parked behind the Mustang noting that it was not a regular Mustang but an all American icon. A vintage ’67 GT500, the same one that had passed her as if she were sitting still 2 weeks before. “Something’s wrong.” ‘Eddy would never leave something like this outside.’ She got out of the GTR and approached the half opened main door. She got inside and quietly made her way around looking for any signs of life. She heard sobbing coming from the back. She began walking towards the sound and noticed shattered bottles scattered around the floor, the strong scent of various liquors fuming from them easily reaching her nose as well as bloody bandages in the same state. Against her better judgment she continued on. Passing a wall that was obstructing the source of the sobbing, what she saw nearly made her heart stop. Before her was her best friend, standing over a desk covered in bandages and seeing new injuries all over his back and torso, some of them bleeding. The most shocking part was the barrel of a revolver pointing to the side of his head with the hammer cocked and finger on the trigger. For a moment she couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t breathe. A man she considered her only true friend was about to take his own life. She desperately worked up the nerve to speak. “EDUARDO!” For a moment, time had completely stopped. There were no sounds, no movement. Even the wind and wildlife seemed to have stopped. “Alison?” “Yes Eduardo, its me.” Eduardo slowly removed the revolver from his head and de-cocked it then removing the bullet from the chamber and setting both on the desk in front of him. He turned to face Alison. The look on his face was that of confusion, pain, and rage. However, she saw desperation in his eyes crying out for help. Alison approached him slowly. As she got within arms reach, careful with his injuries, she pulled him in for a hug. For a long while neither of them moved or said a word. For what seemed like hours she stood with him, holding him close. She spoke. “I’m not going anywhere.” Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, resting his head on her shoulder. She felt his warm tears dripping onto her as he spoke. “I’m so sorry.” He then succumbed to his injuries and exhaustion as he passed out gently leaning himself onto her. ‘I guess it was that day. From then on you became more than a friend and much more than someone to care for. From the sleepless nights you put me though to the heartache and the countless aspirins I took because of you.’ She smiled. ‘The countless amount of times I’ve had to patch you up for stupid injuries you got while working or pull you out of work to see the sun. These past three years have been an experience that made us closer to each other. This is what it boils down to.’ She places her hand on her stomach. “You’re going to be a daddy again Eddy.” She approached the fork on the road. She took a close look at the dirt road and noticed thick tire tracks going to the right. Back at Canterlot Castle, Jennifer and Laura were waiting in the trucks while Twilight, Joseph and Jericho packed their bags. “Damn that woman, fucking taking Christie like that.” Mumbled Joseph. Twilight looks over at Jericho. “He’s taking this pretty hard.” He rolls his eyes at his younger brother. “Its kind of an unspoken law amongst car guys in general, and a cardinal sin. Should that law be broken it earns you 5-7 years in prison or a severe ass kicking.” “Whats the law?” “You never, ever take someone else’s wheels unless its an emergency.” “I’m still not seeing the big deal.” “Okay I’ll put it to you like this, would you ever share your boyfriend?” Twilight became wide-eyed at the thought. “Exactly different setting, same principle, though I have to admit watching him is fun.” They both look back at him and watched as he left the room still ranting to himself. “Taking her without even saying a word. Eddy has a legendary Group B RS200 but noooooo SHE TAKES MY FUCKING EVO INSTEAD!” Twilight was unable to fight back a smile. “You’re right he is fun to watch, oh that sounds horrible to say.” “Ah we’re rubbing off on you, I’m so proud.” Twilight nudged him with a hoof. “Hey, don’t get used to it buddy.” They finished packing their bags and proceeded to the gardens. Joseph was sitting back in the Raptor with Jennifer while Twilight and Jericho mounted up with Laura in the Super Duty. *Radio Static* “Took you long enough Jer.” Jericho laughed with Laura while Twilight took the radio with her magic. “We’re not the ones who left our trailer open, Joey.” A nervous bus colt was trotting towards his destination which required him to carry all sorts of heavy luggage. Passing the gardens, he heard a deep bellowing voice. “GO TO HELL!” The colt turned to the voice. “I ALREADY AM!” He opened his eyes to see Silvermane standing before him with a look of surprise on his face. “I….um…” The colt broke into a gallop in the opposite direction. “What was that all about?” “Okay, okay enough of the chatter, lets get going.” Said Jericho over the radio. As they left Celestia was on her balcony soon joined by Luna and watched the humans leave the palace grounds. “You think they will be okay sis?” “Yes, so long as they are together nothing can stand in their way. However we must plan on what to do with the Nightmare.” “Indeed, though I fear the worst at the moment.” “Why is that Luna?” “The human Eduardo referred to as Cortez.” “Yes, your fear is not without warrant. The Nightmare will surely seek him out and make an alliance with him if it hasn’t already.” “I think there’s something you should know.” “Eduardo brought his weapons with him.” Luna looked at her sister with surprise. “How did you…” “LuLu it should be clear that he is predicable in that sense. Considering what might unfold, and I can’t believe I am saying this, its probably best. Especially since he will have something else to fight for.” “Celestia, what do you mean?” “He is going to be a father agan.” Luna’s jaw hung. “Don’t worry, we will handle the Nightmare and even Cortez if it comes to that. Those are two evils that cannot be allowed to roam free. With any luck we can keep the others from this. For now though, we must plan.” “Do you think they will find out?” “I hope it doesn’t come to that, for everypony’s sake.” The convoy drove though Canterlot reaching the gates without incident. Many of the locals were either fascinated, appalled, or terrified of the imposing figures and aggressive sounds bellowing out of them. One blue maned unicorn with his pink maned wife were enjoying iced mocha together when the convoy rolled by. “I guess the carnival is back in town.” The white pink maned unicorn began. “I wonder where they are headed.” The stallion replied. “Rumor has it that they are headed to Ponyville. A similar carriage was headed in that direction.” “Is that right? I say such a charming, colorful town that is.” “Yes Isn’t Rarity from there?” “Indeed, I wonder how business is.” *Radio Static* “Yo I’m looking on the map here and its saying there’s a fork coming up.” Began Joseph. “Whatever you do, do not turn left. That way is the Everfree Forest.” Said Twilight. “Why whats in it?” Jericho asked. “Think of every mythological creature you have ever heard of and add many more that you haven’t.” She replied. “Point taken, are we going straight or making a right?” Asked Jericho. “According to the map going straight will take us there sooner and cut our travel time by a lot. Plus the trails meet near the end.” Said Joseph. “Only problem is that is a rough route.” Said Twilight. “Can the trucks take it though?” “Hell yeah! The Raptor was built for this and Eddy modded the trailers and Super Duty for this. Even on gravel these things ride like caddies.” Said Joseph. ‘ So that’s why he put on that brush guard and those lights.’ “Okay then, go straight, just take it easy.” Said Twilight. “Copy that egghead.” Alison noticed a parallel road to her left as she was nearing the end of White Tail Wood as well as a trail of dust behind two trucks with trailers in tow. “Hmm, all roads lead to the same destination I guess.” She shifted from 6th to 3rd unleashing the EVO’s power quickly catching up to the trucks and passing them as the roads merged. In the trucks everyone took notice of the red sedan as it blew by. “Guess Ali took the long way.” Said Jericho. “Yup.” Twilight said. *Radio Static* “I swear she better have a good reason for taking her like that.” Said Joseph. The next few seconds were filled with the sounds of a jealous fueled anger of a six month pregnant woman and hitting sounds mixed with incoherent sounds of the man trying to calm her down. *Radio Static* “Wow I’m glad I don’t have that problem.” Smiled Laura as she looked towards Jericho who remained deathly silent focusing on the road in front of him. “DO I?” Jericho quickly turned to his wife. “No honey, never.” He gave a nervous grin. “Good.” Said Laura smiling sweetly turning back to the road. “Such a beautiful day out huh?” Twilight thought to herself. ‘Wow, even with everything these men have been through it seems the one thing they fear is angering their significant other. Less they face a fate worse than death, sleeping on the couch.’ She giggled to herself. “Its good to be home.” With Alison leading the convoy out of the forest, down the road Joseph could make out the silhouette of an all too familiar car on the side of the road facing their direction, as if it were waiting for them. *Radio Static* “Yo, Eddy’s up ahead.” “You sure about that?” Asked Jericho. “I know that body anywhere.” He responded. The supercharged 427 idled with the driver sitting calmly behind the wheel. “Hey Pinkie?” Eduardo began. “Yeah?” She replied. “You think they’ll like it?” “Oh definitely. Who doesn’t love a good surprise?” “Good point, I’m still trying to process the fact Ponyville was okay with us kicking back for the next few weeks.” “Well, duh. You’re a totally cool sweetie sweet pie and an awesome friend. Not to mention you totally made the right impression with your cool personality and sweet side. Everypony is gonna be so excited to meet all of you.” Pinkie Pie said, bubbly as ever. Eduardo chuckled. “Yeah, been a long time since I’ve been that silly. I forgot how it felt to be so, so, whats the word?” “Happy? Bouncy? Cheery? Chipper? Silly? Excited? Random? Butterflies? Wait, can you feel butterflies? I mean I’ve heard of feeling butterflies in you’re tummy when you see somepony you like but can that be happy as well I-mphmphmmmph.” Eduardo had a hand over her mouth chuckling lightly. “All of the above Pinkie.” He smiled at her as he moved his hand off her muzzle. “OH! Tickly Nose!” “Whats that mean?” “They're close.” Like clockwork, a red EVO and two trucks hauling trailers came into view rolling towards them. “What do you say we get this show on the road Pinks?” “AAAAAAAAllllllrighty then.” “Haha I love that movie.” Eduardo shifted to 1st and unleashed the powerhouse of an engine on the unfortunate road below it turning in a 180 spin and began barreling towards town square. “Where is that man going?” Alison throttled up eager to chase the Shelby into town. She couldn’t help but feel he was leading her into something. “What are you up to Eddy?” She smiled as she floored it once again letting herself be led to wherever Eduardo was headed. After a short time she was right on his tail and ahead were a few corners to which the Shelby drifted through them keeping the rear kicked out the whole time to which Alison did the same not letting of him for a moment. ‘Stop being such a tease, what are you up to?’ Ponyville came into view and Alison expected to be led inside however the Shelby broke a hard right throwing her off his tail entirely as she continued forward into town. Too late to turn around and follow she decreased her speed to a mere 20mph, careful to avoid any pedestrians that may have been on the road. However to her surprise there weren’t any pedestrians. Scratch that, the town looked deserted save for one part which was next to what could be described as town hall. There was a stage with instruments in the center of it. Two guitars she immediately recognized as Eduardo’s own. She parked the EVO next to a large tree that looked like it had been hallowed out and made someone’s home. Stepping out allowing Rocky to come out as well the Raptor’s and F-350’s exhaust notes could be heard nearing closer to her. Parking alongside the occupants came out of the trucks and gathered in a small circle. “It was to my understanding that this place WAS’NT a ghost town.” Began Jericho. “Maybe it was the trucks. These things are pretty scary looking to folks who haven’t seen anything like it before.” Replied Joseph. “Nope, this place was deserted when I came.” Said Alison. “Why is there a stage there?” Asked Laura. “Better question, where’s Eddy?” Asked Twilight. “He gave me the slip on the way in. I guess he’s coming in another way.” In that moment it dawned on Twilight. She knew what was going on and decided to go along with it. “Maybe we should go up to the stage and see whats going on there.” “Why the stage?” Jennifer asked. “Seems like a good place to start.” As they made their way towards the stage a familiar engine can be heard coming from behind the stage. They stopped moving when the Shelby came into view. It slowly rolled to the side of the stage facing them and the engine cut off. “I can’t see Eduardo in there.” Jericho said trying to get a better view of the cab. “That can’t be possible, he’s the only one here who can handle that thing.” The group took a few steps forward towards the stage and GT500 when suddenly loud cannon bursts came out from every direction raining confetti and within moments colorful blurs came into view surrounding the group. All at once everything stopped moving as colorful candy colored ponies smiled at them. All of them either pegasi, unicorns or earth ponies. “SURPRISE!” They all shouted. Stunned the group looked around to see friendly faces smiling at them except for Twilight who was sporting a knowing grin. Jennifer took notice of this. With a smile she addressed it. “You knew this was going to happen?” Jennifer said with a laugh. “To be honest I caught it at the last second. I guess I should have warned you about the traditional Ponyville welcome party.” At that moment a familiar voice came from the stage. “Silly Twilight, it wouldn’t be a surprise then would it?” The group looked towards the stage to see Eduardo, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and a purple pegasus stallion on stage each handing an instrument. Eduardo on lead guitar, the stallion on rhythm guitar, Applejack on bass, Pinkie Pie on drums, and Fluttershy on the violin. Eduardo smiled brightly as he met eyes with Alison as he strummed chords on his guitar. There's a place off Ocean Avenue Where I used to sit and talk with you We were both sixteen and it felt so right Sleepin' all day, stayin' up all night Stayin' up all night There's a place on the corner of Cherry Street We would walk on the beach in our bare feet We were both eighteen and it felt so right Sleepin' all day, stayin' up all night Stayin' up all night The crowd began to move to the music, stallions and mares of all ages let the rythem control their movements and to cheer them on. If I could find you now things would get better We could leave this town and run forever Let your waves crash down on me And take me away, yea yea, yea There's a piece of you that's here with me It's everywhere I go, it's everything I see When I sleep, I dream and it gets me by I can make believe that you're here tonight That you're here tonight If I could find you now things would get better We could leave this town and run forever I know somewhere, somehow we'll be together Let your waves crash down on me And take me away, yeah Eduardo was looking directly at Alison giving her a wink as he sang allowing himself to be drowned in the moment, in truth all this effort in putting this together was for her. I remember the look in your eyes When I told you that this was goodbye You were beggin' me not tonight Not here, not now We're looking up at the same night sky And keep pretendin' the sun will not rise We'll be together for one more night Somewhere, somehow Tears were welling up in Alison's eyes. That moment where he looked her in the eye is when she realized all of this was for her. But she saw something else, it showed in his movement, in his playing, in his singing. After three long years, he was happy and he wanted the world to know it. If I could find you now things would get better We could leave this town and run forever I know somewhere, somehow we'll be together Let your waves crash down on me And take me away, yea yeah When the song was done applause could be heard coming from the crowd as the band members and took a bow before putting their instruments down and descending from the stage, all of them heading directly for the group of humans with Eduardo leading the way. “You guy’s lik-” Alison had yanked Eduardo’s neck allowing their lips to meet. For a moment he felt his neck about the break but when his lips met hers, he seized the moment and embraced her not caring who was around to watch. “OOH Twitchy Tail!” When they broke the kiss they became lost in each other’s eyes. Alison was first to speak. “I have a surprise for you too.” “And what might that be?” She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. His eyes went wide and he looked at her face to see a wide smile and tears welling in her eyes. “Yes Eduardo, we’re going to be a family.” Eduardo stood in stunned silence for a moment looking directly into Alison's eyes before letting gravity overwhelm his body resulting in a loud thud.