Twilight and Soarin' were checking around their room, making sure that they didn't forget anything they brought with them. While doing so, the two circled through their heads all of the sites and events that happened on their vacation to the coastal paradise.
Twilight was placing her book in her saddlebag, next to her souvenirs that she was taking home with her. A few ticket stubs from movies they watched at the movie theater to put in their scrapbook, along with the receipt that was from the night of their first dinner engaged that was labeled 'free of charge'. Next she picked up an envelope with her magical aura and blushed as she placed it in her bag, it was a personal complaint from the manager that they got the morning after the night of their first dinner engaged.
Soarin' was wearing a jersey he had bought at a ballpark game, wearing the team's home colors of white and blue. He finished packing all of his belongings and walked out onto the balcony to take a final look out at the ocean. Propping himself up on the railing, he reminisced with a smile all of the times he shared with his fiancee this month. Closing his eyes to enjoy the scent of the salty sea air, he took a moment to relax, but quickly becoming irked with the thought of losing the ring. He opened his eyes again to look down at the sandy beach, near the area where he proposed to Twilight, wondering how the ring got lost.
(flashback)
Soarin' carefully swung his saddlebag over his shoulder, cautious to make sure nothing happened to the ring. The excitement of his coming proposal to the mare he was certain he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he didn't see the small glimmer of the metal of the ring trickle out of the bag and onto the sand.
Soarin' and Twilight left their spot on the beach where the ring lay to walk along the beach. The ring's diamond shining in the remaining sunlight behind them.
Soon afterwards, an odd bald and scrawny colt came trudging along the beach, looking sickly and misshapen. He was a colt down on his luck, he lived in an alleyway in the downtown portion of Tamphay Bay and he spent his days walking down the beach, grateful for at least being in the presence of beauty. He saw in the distance, the glimmer of the diamond, his mouth agape he became hypnotized by the shine and quickly galloped to its source. He scooped up the ring in his hooves and a smile grew on his face, "My precious... We wills nevers be apart again..."
Soarin' looked away from the beach, unwilling to think about the ordeal any longer. He turned and walked back into the room, "Hey Twilight did yo-". Before he could finished he ducked from hearing a flapping of wings behind him, and in flew the familiar owl that lived at the library.
The owl perched itself on Twilight's back with a 'whoo', a scroll attached to it's leg.
"Owlocious? Why are you here?" Twilight asked as she looked back at her pet.
"Whoo." The owl hooted again.
"You, what are you doing here?" She repeated the question.
"Whoo."
Twilight face hoofed, remembering that he was just an owl. She spotted the scroll on the owl's leg and grasped it with her magic. She opened it and read it out loud. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, You sound like you're having a great time with Soarin', your father and I can't wait to meet him. Don't worry, I'm sure the ring will show itself up eventually. When I got this message in Canterlot your father and I made plans to go to Ponyville to meet you when you got home. I would have replied sooner, but the postage service was having some problems... So your father and I decided to go straight to Ponyville, but the postage's mail mare here was on vacation as well, so we had Owloicious send the reply. Your father and I are very anxious to meet your fiance, Love Starlight." Twilight closed the scroll and placed it in her bag.
"You wrote to your parents?" Soarin' asked as she finished.
Twilight nodded, "Mhm, I wanted them to know that we were engaged, and I want them to meet you."
"Oh... Well, what do we do about Owlocious? I don't think they let pets on the train..." Soarin' began to say, but as he said his name, the owl flew off again outside of the window, back into the direction of Ponyville. "Wow... That owl has some stamina..." He admired.
The two finished packing their bags, certain that they forgot nothing. They left the room for the last time, and found themselves in front of the manager of Hayton Hotel.
"Hello again," He bowed, "Did you enjoy your stay here at Hayton Hotel?"
"Y-yes we did sir..." Soarin' replied, he and Twilight had gotten two strikes of complaints and he imagined the manager would be happy they were leaving.
The manager straightened his tie, "Yes, I'm sure you did... although we will miss your business and the presence of a revered Wonderbolt at our hotel... I'm sure our guests will be certain of a... quiet night now."
Twilight blushed and began to pretend she was looking for someone down the hall, and Soarin' cleared his throat.
"I've told your father that you were here with your fiancee, he hasn't been here in awhile, but I remain in good touch with him. I'm a big fan of your fathers work, I hope you choose our hotel again, goodbye Soarin'." The manager said before taking his leave.
Twilight's head snapped back to look at Soarin', his face a paler blue.
"Soarin'... are you alright?" She put a hoof on his shoulder, in hopes of a response.
"Ye...yeah I'm fine... We should hurry to the station." Soarin' took a deep breath and his color returned. He gave Twilight a quick nuzzle before they walked towards the elevator to exit the hotel.
They reached the recipients desk where Fire Dancer was doing some filing.
Soarin' didn't ring the bell like most visitors do, he knew it annoyed most the workers, "Hello? We're here to check out..."
The receptionist stopped filing and put on her work smile, "Okay just let me get on this computer..." She rotated her chair over and turned on her computer, waiting for it to turn on she started talking to the two, "Did you enjoy your stay?"
Twilight nodded, "Yes, your hotel here is very beautiful."
Fire Dancer felt a little awkward, just sitting there, waiting for the computer to turn on, "This thing is a dinosaur..." She saw the two instinctively leaning on each other, "You two look so happy together... My coltfriend is shy."
"Whats his name?" Twilight asked, she had talked with the receptionist a few times, most of the visitors at the top floors were snobbish and ignored her, but she had made a good friend.
"Ash Burns... We've been together for a few months... I'm hoping he proposes to me." She sighed in response.
"He would be crazy not to! You're one of the prettiest mares I've seen in this town." Twilight complimented with hopes of rising her spirits.
Fire Dancer genuinely smiled, "Thank you so much... Ah here we go this thing is finally ready..." She started typing in, "Soarin' right?"
He nodded to confirm her question.
"Okay... and... done." She finished her task, "You're all set now, I hope you two stay again, you're both some of the rare nicer guests." She told them as she handed them a piece of paper saying that they successfully checked out.
Soarin' and Twilight both smiled, and said bye to Fire Dancer and left the hotel.
They both reached the train station after taking their time walking through the town. Their train had just arrived and the conductor was calling all passengers. They took one final look out at the town, in the noon sun, it was full of life. Their vacation at an end, they both boarded the train and sat down in their train cart and watched Tamphay Bay roll away as the train chugged along the tracks.
The train ride lasted for hours, leaving in the early morning, and then arriving back in Ponyville around mid-day.
And so our prologue comes to an end.
Soarin' and Twilight stepped off of the train, both stretching to shake off the weariness of the long ride.
Soarin' finished stretching and took a step forward to see a thing sheet of snow still on the ground. February was his favorite time of the year in Ponyville, he wanted to do a quick fly-over of the town... but even though he was able to carry Twilight in flight, he wasn't confident that he could do it again. He turned to face his fiancee a smile on his face, "Ready to go home?"
Twilight nodded and the two walked back to the library, which would now be in larger size. While they were on vacation, Soarin' contracted several construction ponies to expand the library. With their foal on the way, they would need it. She enjoyed the vacation, but she missed her friends and her brother Spike.
They walked through the town, seeing its familiar sights and smells, little Pip was playing tag with Dinky. The smell of fresh bread and goods filled the air from the local bakeries like Sugar Cube Corner. As they walked towards the library, they were greeted by several ponies, glad to see their librarian and the ex-Wonderbolt couple.
"Welcome back you two! I got a new shipment of quills, so I'm in full stock!" Davenport said from across the street as he saw one of his most frequent customers back in Ponyville.
"Hey Soarin', how was your trip?" A pegasi asked as he flew over them.
"Great, hope you're keeping these skies clear now that you're the new weather team leader." Soarin' replied to his good friend, who had taken Rainbow Dash's place as weather team director ever since she took his spot in the Wonderbolts.
"Welcome back Twilight," Cherilee greeted as she was walking by.
Twilight was happy to see one of her friends already, "Thank you Cherilee."
The library was now in view, almost in double the size it was before, and no trace of the construction workers, or their tools, were in sight; the library was finished.
In front of the library were two older ponies, a mare with a mane similar to Twilight's, but with a light grey coat, with a purple and white mane. The pony next to her was a stallion, taller then Soarin', with a blue coat, and a darker blue mane.
Twilight gasped loudly, and quickly went to the two ponies, "Mom! Dad!"
The two ponies embraced their daughter, and the mare spoke, "Twilight! I'm so happy to see you!" The bundle of ponies were laughing in the tight hug.
Soarin' approached the three cautiously, this was the first time he had ever met Twilight's parents.
Twilight saw Soarin' walk up and let go of her parents, and walked between her parents and Soarin'. She cleared her throat and pointed to the mare, "This is my mom, Starlight." She pointed to the stallion, "This is my father, Orion," She took a step aside so Soarin' could greet them.
Soarin' took a deep breath and took a few steps forward and put out a hoof, "Hello, I'm Soarin'."
Orion took a step forward, but didn't take Soarin's hoof, instead he observed his hoof, and then turned to nod to his wife.
She then joined her husband in circling Soarin', observing his features, and stopping for a moment to lift up one of his hooves for a closer look, or shuffling through his mane.
Soarin' was too confused to say anything, and looked helplessly at Twilight.
She saw her parents circle her fiance, and her eye twitched, "Mom, Dad! What are you doing?!" She began to feel embarrassed by her parents already.
Orion and Starlight stopped circling Soarin' and then popped up from observation into a hug, "Welcome to the family!" They both said cheerily in unison.
Soarin' was to confused to return the hug, and his face clearly showed it.
Twilight's mother let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry Soarin'... Orion and I just want whats best for our daughter, and you definitely fit the picture!"
Orion let out his hoof, "Glad to meet you, son."
Soarin', now relived, took Orion's hoof and gradually shook it.
Now that they were all acquainted, they went into the library to see its new changes, and once they stepped inside Twilight and Soarin' immediately noticed the size difference. They both began to quickly scan their home, the only thing untouched was the actual library, they didn't need to expand it because it was already big enough. Before the rooms that were in the library were just small, with no purpose other than to be occupied by the owner, now they were large enough for a family.
Twilight looked beside her, a basket was on the small table by the door. The basket was full of muffins and had a mailmare's postage label on it.
The label read,
From: Derpy
To: Twilightlicious
Item:Delsparkle muffins.
She saw that on the label her name was messed up, but she knew it was because of her crossed eyes that she couldn't write correctly. She left the basket there for now, Derpy is such a sweetheart... I'll thank her later.
The four went into their new living room, where the construction workers were kind enough to put the couch back where it was originally.
Orion spoke up, "So what do you do for a living, Soarin'?"
Soarin' lightly cleared his throat, "I help here at the library, but I also get called in to Canterlot once in awhile... ponies like to endorse ex-Wonderbolts... When I was a Wonderbolt we weren't allowed to accept endorsements, but Spitfire, my old captain, said that it was okay now that I'm not in the team anymore."
"Because of your wings right..?" Starlight asked dolefully. She knew from Twilight's letters what happened near the end of the Welcome Summer Celebration festival.
Soarin' nodded, in slight depression, "I can't really fly anymore... but that's alright." He looked at Twilight, the love of his life, "As long as I have Twilight, I don't care."
Twilight, who sat next to Soarin' hugged him, and they shared a quick kiss before a knock at the door sounded out and interrupted them.
Before Soarin' could stand up, Orion was already walking out of the living room, "It's okay Soarin', I'll answer the door."
"Oh! I almost forgot, Twilight," her mother abruptly spoke up, "I told your brother, Shining Armor, about your engagement, he wanted to be here today but he had duties in Canterlot..."
Orion left the happy couple and his wife, and made his way to the door. He opened it to see a unicorn stallion, a yellow coat, with a short black mane and tail. He was wearing a leisure suit that was unbuttoned and had a roll of film for a cutie mark. The stallion's coat and mane were a mess, he had dark spots below his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. He spoke, his voice sounded exhausted and almost slurred his speech, "Does, a pegasus named Soarin' live here?"
Orion raised an eyebrow at the mysterious messy stallion, "Yes, who are you?"
The stallion stood up straighter, but his eyes kept their tired demeanor, "I'm Soarin's father."