A tiny sliver of moon was just visible on the horizon when Pepperdance and her father arrived home. The small farmhouse windows spilled lamp light into the yard as Dug ground to a halt. Pep leapt from her seat and helped him out of the harness
“Thanks, Pep.” the stallion said gratefully. “By the Stones, I’m beat!”
“Ya ain’t gettin’ any younger, after all.” the rosy mare replied with an impish grin.
“Is that so? Well, I’ll jes let you empty the wagon, seein’ as how yer so young ‘n strong.”
“Sure thing, Pa!” Pep saluted, trotting round the wagon and jumping into the back. She stacked the empty produce bins together and hopped back down, carrying them to a nearby shed. Upon returning to the wagon, she found that her father had taken the still occupied bins down for her, then disappeared in the house. She smiled and went to work carrying them all into the shed with the empty ones.
Ten minutes later, Pep exited the shed, wiping her brow and sighing. The moon had made it halfway over the hills that hid Ponyville. Pep paused to enjoy the view, and a gentle breeze that stirred her crimson mane.
“Princess Luna sure does fine work.” she thought aloud “I hope I DO get ta meet her, someday.” The enormous silver orb pulsed slightly, as if in reply. Pepperdance was surprised, but recovered quickly. She bowed briefly, a little humbled and said
“G’night, Princess.” she then turned and headed into the house, eager to record the day’s events in her journal.
As she entered the house, the lingering aroma of dinner hit her nose, making her mouth water. She eagerly followed the scent of mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers towards the kitchen, and found her family gathered around the table. Roma gurgled at her from his high chair
“Howdy ta you too, lil’ bro.” she greeted, walking over and kissing the top of his head. The little colt giggled, and pounded his hooves on his messy tray. His rust colored coat was stained with his leftovers, and his auburn mane was mussed.
“Hello, dear.” Her mother greeted, rising and hugging her.
“Hi Ma. I sold all my ‘penos today.”
“ So Ah heard. Cay wil be proud of ya. She had ta go to bed, though.” She released her daughter and added “Ah’m guessin’ yer a bit hungry, eh?”
“Sure am!” the young mare replied, seating herself between Roma and their father.
“She oughta be after all that business she helped with, Belle.” Dug told his wife, pride in his voice “She’s got the ol’ Pepper family gene, sure enough.” Pepperdance flushed with pleasure as her mother placed a heaping plate of tortillas and filling before her.
“Portobello fajitas, my favorite!”
As Pep dug into her meal, Dug reported on the events at Market.
“We sold two and a half bins of the bells, five jars of pepperocinis, and the tub of Pep’s ‘penos.” His wife nodded, her firey mane bouncing as she recorded the information in a notebook.
“Which colors?” She asked, referring to her namesake.
“Mostly green, nearly two bins. Rest were reds ‘n yellers.” Dug replied.
“Got it.” Belle said triumphantly, replacing her pen in an apron pocket. “Ah’ll let mah sister know tomorrow. She’s still not feeling too good. Poor thang.” Roma gurgled again, in seeming agreement, giving his family a good laugh. Pep took a long drink of tomato juice, and sighed contentedly.
“That’s the stuff.” she said, wiping her mouth. “Oh, almost fergot, Ma. Miss Pinkie REALLY liked that new batch o’ sauce.”
“Ah’m sure Cay’ll be pleased ta hear it. You two ‘ave been workin’ on it fer months now.”
“Yep, it should be ready for sellin’ next Market day.” Pep replied, happily.
“We’ll need to think of ways ta advertise it.” Dug commented
“Ga da da!” Roma agreed, pounding his tray again. His father chuckled, ruffling his mane.
“We’ll make a business-pony of ya yet, my boy.” Pep giggled and stood, carrying her empty plate to the sink.
“Thanks Ma, it was awesome, as always.” she said, hugging her mother again. “I’m gonna head to my room now.”
“She’s eagerly waiting to tell her diary about the ‘good looking unicorn colt’ she met today.” her father added, dryly.
“Pa!” the rosy mare protested, flushing again. “I’m just goin’ up ta listen to my radio. And it ain’t a diary!”
“Whatever you say, Pep.” the stallion smirked. His daughter stomped off upstairs, and he chuckled again.
“Good looking unicorn?” Belle asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He came and picked up his nephew, that dappled colt I mentioned earlier. He bought the last of her ‘penos, and they spoke fer a bit. I kept an eye on ‘im, though.” his wife sighed
“Hun, Ah can understand yer concern, but ya don’t need ta hover. Pepperdance is a grown mare, now. Handled ‘erself right proper with that Grape boy.”
“I s’pose yer right.” Dug agreed. “I’ll try ta back off… a bit.”
“Guess that’s all Ah can hope fer.” Belle sighed. She removed Roma’s tray and helped him down from the high chair. The little colt immediately tottered over to his father, and looked up expectantly.
“You sure are a messy lil’ foal.” the slate stallion told him “I think it’s time fer yer bath.” he swooped the giggling colt onto his back and raced towards the bathroom at a gentle trot.
Upstairs, Pepperdance entered her bedroom, muttering darkly about nosy fathers, and shut her door with unnecessary force. The room was simply furnished, a bed in one corner, and desk, lamp, and small radio in the other. The blankets on the bed were rumpled, and a small stuffed animal lay face down on the pillow. Pep walked over and propped her old friend into a sitting position.
“Sorry Beaky, I left pretty fast this mornin’” the small Pheonix plush stared up at her, accusation in its button eyes. “I know it’s my own fault fer stayin’ up so late. No need to go pointin’ talons.” the young mare sighed “And yes, I know I shouldn’t be talkin’ to a stuffed animal.” she turned to the desk, which was still littered with her late night research. She sat down and cleared the notes away, stacking them in the ‘Encyclopedia Scovilla’ and shutting the enormous book. She slid it to the corner, and grabbed her journal down from the other. She switched on her radio, and it crackled to life.
“ – Now at BARNYARD BARGAINS!” it blared
“Thank goodness, missed my least favorite commercial.” Pep said, opening her journal as the station identified itself and the DJ returned.
“And now, back to the good stuff!” a cheery female voice declared “DJ PON-3 here, rockin’ the late shift with my best bud, Blues!”
“Just don’t forget that you owe me one for staying.” a deep male voice added “I could be home, practicing my sax.”
“Yeah, yeah.” The DJ replied, almost petulantly. “Now then, it’s time for Bridleway hour!”
“Indeed, Vinyl.” her co-host agreed “And tonight we have a special recording of Junior Bridleway’s recent performance of ‘Neigh Miserables’.” Pep perked up at this announcement
“Sweet, one of my favorites!” The overture swept out of the tiny radio as Pep lowered pencil to paper.
“Dear Journal, I finally got to go back to Ponyville today. I saw Scoots, and Miss Pinkie, and even made a new friend, Pipsqueak! We had lots of fun together, then his uncle came a got him. Pip is a dappled earth pony, but his uncle is a Unicorn. He’s an actor, and is fun to talk to as well…” Pepperdance paused in her writing as the exchange between Jean Valjean and Javert began.
Javert - “Now bring me prisoner two-four-six-oh-one! Your time is up, and your parole’s begun,
You know what that means!”
Valjean – “Yes, it means I’m free…”
Javert – “No! It means you get your yellow ticket of leave. You are a thief!”
Valjean – “I stole a loaf of bread!”
Javert – “You robbed a house!”
Valjean – “I broke a windowpane…”the song continued as Pep listened closely.
“That Javert sounds familiar…hm.” a knock on her door brought her back to reality. She turned to find Belle peeking in at her.
“Howdy, Ma. Whatcha need?” Pep inquired.
“Jest checkin’ in on ya.” was the reply “It’s gettin’ late, an’ we’ve got lots ta do tomorrow.”
“I know, Ma. I’ll go to bed as soon as Bridleway hour is over.” Belle shook her head in amusement
“Well, I s’pose since yer ‘gettin’ some culture’ as Cay would say.” the young mare grinned
“Thanks, Ma. G’night!”
“Sleep well, dear.” Belle said, quietly shutting the door behind her.
Seven miles away in Ponyville, another bedroom door closed softly on a dappled colt, snoring away in bed.
“Good night, Pip.” Roleplay murmured, smiling. He trotted down the hall to the guest room, and found his sister straightening up. “Little tyke just fell asleep.” he reported.
“Excitement from seeing his favorite uncle finally wore off, eh?” the white Earth pony grinned.
“Well, seeing as how I’m his only uncle, I guess I’m a shoo-in for favorite.” the unicorn laughed. Bobbin chuckled in agreement.
“I’ve tidied up, as you can see.” she said, brushing an errant strand of brown mane out of her face. The small bedroom had a twin size bed in the far corner, a nightstand next to it, and an antique radio near the window.
“You still have that old dinosaur?” Roleplay asked, walking over to the radio.
“What can I say? I’m a sentimentalist.” his sister replied. “Well, I’m off to bed now. See you in the morning, brother mine.”
“Sleep well, dear sister. And thank you again for letting me stay.”
“Anytime, Roleplay. Good night.” she shut the door behind her, and the teal unicorn gazed out the window at the twinkling stars.
“Such a beautiful night… I’d best get to bed, though. Got a big day tomorrow.” he turned, got into bed, and settled in with a sigh. Perhaps he’d get to see that red-maned mare again. “What is it with me and red-manes? Ah well…” he drifted off to sleep, anticipating the next day eagerly.