Country wedding (Pt. I)
Macintosh awoke to the booming voices down below. It took a while for the house party to scatter for sleep last night, but he figured a good few hours of rest was better than nothing. Annabelle was not in bed with him, nore had she come back last night, which was understandable.
Before he'd gone off into the western orchard for some peaceful time gone prophecy, the mare and he had a private conversation about her mother. It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was to him, but Annabelle hadn't seen her in the better part of a year and wanted to spend the evening with her at the inn, once the Apples and Circus folk had been acquainted enough to mingle of course. Between circus acts preformed for entertainment and apple foods of every like and type being present, the two families had their own little carnavel on the farm, some had even taken to making up games using the farm equipment and tools.
The stallion pushed himself out of bed and rubbed his eyes, Shade's odd words from last night still buzzing in his mind. Why did he think today wouldn't be the day Macintosh thought it was? Was something going to happen at the wedding? Well, considering how the last wedding in Equestria went, it wouldn't surprise him too much.
'C'mon partner, it was Star Shade. You know? Crazy pony who always spouts a bunch of nonsense? Remember what he said the first time you met him?'
Yea, but that was when he was nuttier than a bag of peanuts. Slowly, over time, Shade had been changing for the better, and last night he almost seemed normal.
'He's had moments when he appeared normal before.'
Yea, when he'd just woken up, that was it, and that lasted ten minutes tops at any given time.
'Your point is?'
Mac wasn't sure what he was getting at, maybe it was just the stress of the wedding, Annabelle, the foal, Scootaloo, Brute, that ordeal in Cantelot... but something about the bat pony's words just didn't sit right with him. Like he knew something, something that he shouldn't have known but somehow did. And what was he talking about when he said he was being "compelled"?
'I told you Mac, you're reading too much into it. Into Shade of all ponies. Hate to be that guy, but today isn't really the day you can afford to waste time contemplating the mad rambles of a crazy pony.'
His inner voice was right, he had a lot to do today. Mac looked up at the clock and gasped as he saw that it was three minutes til nine.
As quickly as he could, he made up his bed, ran into the bathroom and readied the shower. The wedding was going to be in four hours, and checking in with Pinkie Pie for decorating and catering would need to be a priority.
Once he'd cleaned himself up from the previous night's grime, Macintosh opened his closet and looked at the emerald green blazer he'd purchased for the wedding day. Granny had suggested he buy some kind of tie, but the pony had no desire to indulge the overly dressed, stuffy monkey suite. He was a simple stallion with simple tastes.
A massive boom from down stairs set Mac on edge, fearing something had gone wrong with the gas, the stallion made a bull rush down stairs. What greeted him was a sight he didn't expect. The entire living room was empty, save for one skeptical and analytical pink earth pony who stood beside a blue canon.
"Hmmm, something's missing..." She mused, looking at the wall, which was now covered in all manner of streamers, roses and red, silver and gold trim. Mac was a little afraid that her childish nature and tastes would result in the wedding appearing more as a child's birthday than a day of wedlock, though from what he'd seen so far, he felt relieved in the serious and elegant results of the party mare's efforts.
"THAT'S IT!" She squealed before reaching out with her fetlock and pulling the string on the cannon. A second loud exploasion shook the house as a blast of white and golden balloons burst forth, magically tying themselves to a lamp, the desk and a few of the other surfaces that stood in front of the wall.
"Perfect! Oh hey, Macintosh, you're looking spiffy!" She purred, taking only a moment to look at him before turning back to the next wall she'd turn her cannon upon, staring at it like a painter, judging, contemplating, seeing what are she could bestow.
Macintosh asked how things were going with the decorations, to which Pinkie replied that her art couldn't be rushed. Decorations were a fine, detail oriented art. She'd already hit the entire outside, all that was left was the house itself for the post wedding reception party. Macintosh wished her luck and went outside to see how the outside looked.
Again he was pleasently surprised to the sight that met him. When he'd come in last night, the entire ground was a mess of tables, pounded stakes, make shift booths for games and an absolute mess of tools and what not for the performance of acrobatic stunts.
Looking at it now, he'd thought it a dream. The grass was trimmed, with not a single misplaced blade of grass. The once haphazardly placed tables were stright now, lined from one end to the other with simple white cloths and silver platters covering, presumably, food and drink. The alter was simplistic, yet elegant. The platform he'd built now had a white, wicker alcove on it, two sets of white and yellow roses lining the sides. Even the trees closest to the alter were decorated with white streamers in perfectly patterned curves.
All in all, it was exactly the balance of simple and nice that he was hoping for.
'Yea, Pinkie outdid herself with this one. You know who else might like this? Scootaloo!'
Oh yea, he needed to go get her! Hopefully the dress she had for the Canterlot wedding was easy enough for Rarity to spruce up.
Pacing back and forth in his black blazer, white shirt and top hat, Spike pulled out his pocket watch and groaned. "C'mon Twilight, we're gonna be late!"
"Coming!" He heard from upstairs.
Spike pulled out his pocket watch again and sighed. The wedding wouldn't start for another four hours, but they weren't going directly to the wedding. Firstly, they had to stop by the mayors office to see to the rumors about the new magical restrictions rumors that were floating around town, then they'd have to stop by the train station to pick up Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
Despite conventional wisdom, Spike had absolutely no knowledge about the restrictions on unicorn magic in town, though rumor had it that there were some complaints made about a certain lavender librarian attempting to turn apples into oranges outside and, instead, turning a bird into a flying citrus fruit that prompted the legislation.
'To be fair, she did fix the bird.'
Yea, try telling that to city council.
It didn't matter, though. Spike had finally worn down Justice's defenses and prompted the mare to rewrite Fluttershy's animal exemption again last night. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before, but when Discord himself had come in to express grievance to the council for their treatment of Fluttershy and the state of distress she was in, Social Justice was tipped off to the draconequus arrival.
To the council -and most of Ponyville- Discord was an untrustworthy, manipulative, dangerous trickster who loved to prank ponies and had almost lost the world to chaos. To Social Justice, Discord was a misunderstood creature who's liberties and oppression was unjust. His actions were deplorable, but that didn't mean he was deplorable.
Spike could empathize with the statement, the draconequus had once been part of conspiracy to save his life, after all. That being said, others didn't know Discord very well and, considering the tartarus he unleashed twice upon the world, it would take time for trust to be gained; but with some subtle communication, Discord caught on to the powers that Justice possessed over the city council and he gave her his undivided attention.
Spike had seen some great performances in his life, ponies acting as miserable as possible one second, building up the guilt and shame of their opponent and letting small hope show as they made their opponent question the virtue of their actions and consider alternatives to said actions.
With Discord, it was like comparing a pre-school play to a college drama club. The weeping, the changing of colors, the argumentation on Justices own level with strange logic mixed in with conventional logic, magical props to emphasize his points, over exaggerated facial expressions and mannerisms that the pink pegasus didn't dare question... like the systematic oppression that was the government itself holding him down by harming Fluttershy and denying him her pleasant company.
Justice was no match for Discord's manipulation, and it was absolutely glorious to watch. Spike made a mental note to ask the chaos lord for some pointers after the wedding.
Finally, Twilight descended the stairs.
Spike's eyes widdened, stunned by the mare he was seeing. The dull and typical librarian had been transformed into something graceful and pristine. Her mane was pulled back into a bun, her body covered by a wine shaded dress with a light blue star pattern adorning her chest, with a subtle amount of eyeliner accenting her delicate deep velvet eyes.
She was beautiful, not in a way Spike was uncomfortable with, but still...
"Sorry that took so long, ready to go?" She asked.
Spike broke himself from his stupor and nodded, complimenting her appearance and making his mother blush with embarrassed gratitude.
The two exited the Library and made way to the city hall. Spike straightened his tie and top hat, if he had a mustache, he'd make sure it was well groomed, but Twilight denied his request, siting the silliness of the appearance as her reason.
'Ridiculous, you'd look awesome with a mustache!'
I know right! This top hat and this tux? I mean, c'mon!
The two entered City Hall to find the place as empty as it usually was, not but the receptionist in the lobby to greet them. "Welcome to- oh great." She bemoaned, rubbing her forehead. "What ever you're about to do, can you not? The council's in a bad enough mood as it is."
Spike continued his forced smile, as rude as the receptionist was, he couldn't be mad at her. Usually when he came in, bad things happened, and he was slowly coming to enjoy that fact.
"I'm sorry, but we've come to speak to mayor Mare. See if there's any substance to the rumors going around about restrictions on public magical practices."
The receptionist eyed the two skeptically, as if she was trying to determine if their intentions were really so simple. "That's it, I'm putting in an official request for a bulletin board." She sighed and gestured up the stairs.
"A little tighter around the barrel, I think." Rarity mused, looking down at the filly she was fitting, taking the needle and thread in her magic and making a small alteration in the back.
Scootaloo wasn't about to protest again, the last time she had, Rarity went into a five minute tirade about her dress needing to look "absolutely perfect" and using a bunch of fashion terms the filly couldn't possibly hope to understand to emphasize her point. As far as the filly was concerned, the dress looked fine enough as it was originally, but the alabaster unicorn was overly meticulous about her appearance. Weddings, apparently, were "cherished impressions and memories that would last a life time and looking one's best was the only option."
"She looks fine, Rares." Rainbow sighed in frustration. "Look at her, if you make that thing much tighter, she's not going to be able to breath, for pony's sake!"
"Thing!?" Rarity gasped, looking as if she'd been slapped. "Rainbow Dash! This elegant and form fitting gown is part of an ensemble that must meet the standards of Carousel Boutique! To reduce the significance of a fillies apparel to such a simplistic word is an affront to not only the wedding in which she must preform, but to fashion itself!"
She pulled a little tighter, making Scootaloo's eyes bulge. "Besides, breathing is optional, perfection is not."
Scootaloo disagreed with the sentiment and felt a pang of sympathy for Sweetie Belle. How the unicorn foal tolerated this day in and day out was beyond her, her camp in Whitetale wood was a preferable life.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yea, whatever. So Scoots, you ready for the big day?"
Scootaloo nodded, unable to verbally answer since her lungs were struggling to give her enough oxygen as it was.
"That's good, I'm sure that Macintosh and Annabelle will make great parents." The speedster paused, her face dropping a little in enthusiasm. "Sorry things didn't work out for you coming to live with me, but hey, you can come over any time you want. If you need anything at all, you just let me know, squirt."
Scootaloo beamed, Rainbow's words filling her with joy. Even if Rainbow couldn't be her mother, she would still be her mentor, her idol, a pony she could look up to and emulate.
"You can count on Rainbow Dash to take care of her friends." Rarity said happily. "By the way, how is Fluttershy doing?"
Rainbow informed her that the pegasus was doing much better now. Discord had teleported into her house last night and had, some how or another, convinced the city council to reinstate Fluttershy's ability to care for animals again. The process would take a few days to be enacted, so she wouldn't be able to do anything until then, but still, the timid pegasus would be allowed to do what she loved in life.
Rarity was thrilled over the matter, after getting over the fact it was Discord himself who'd made it happen. Scootaloo was happy as well, Angel wasn't happy on the farm. He was a lot less rude and demanding now, but it wasn't any better to see him moping and somber all the time. The rabbit was happy enough to see her, but she could always tell how miserable he was after such happiness had worn off.
A couple of knocks at the door drew thier attention and Macintosh walked in, asking if everything was ready.
"Just a few more things, darling." Rarity said absently, concentrating on her work.
Macintosh nodded politly and thanked the unicorn again for her work on Scootaloo's gown, taking special notice of how uncomfortable the filly looked.
'Be polite, she's only trying to help.'
Yea, sorry Scootaloo, but she does look adorable in it. She'll make a beautiful flower filly.
Spike couldn't believe it, the city council was seriously considering legislation against magical usage in public spaces! How absolutly rediculous!
Okay, yea, Twilight turned a bird into an orange, which was pretty disturbing to the foals who saw it, but really? Making a law prohibiting un-permitted magic practice illegal? That was just too much!
Twilight herself was also a little sour over the news, but she wasn't about to let that sully her good mood. They were about to see her brother and soon-to-be, would-have-been-if-not-for-a-changeling-attack sister in law. Today wasn't about them, it was about Macintosh and Annabelle, two ponies Spike cared about dearly. If Twilight could put this issue on the back burner for the day, so could he.
The two stood on the platform and waited for the Ponyville Express. The wait wasn't long, the train arrived right on scheduled and the passengers spilled out just as quickly as they could.
"TWILY!" Shining cheered, rushing forth to embrace her.
"Shiny, it's so good to see you!" Twilight said, giving her brother's neck a nuzzle. "You know, when we're not dealing with some great, world ending catastrophe."
Her brother nodded his agreement before allowing Candace a similar greeting. Spike couldn't understand why they took the train, they had access to sky chariots, but eh, to each their own.
To his surprise, the two weren't alone, a third pony stood behind them, this one another pony he knew, but not too well.
"Uppity! You came for the wedding?" Twilight asked.
The orange mare shook her head, looking as serious and forlorn as last he saw her. Uppity had actually come to town to ask for Macintosh's presence in Canterlot soon as a Character Witness against Cupid. Sin's body was never recovered, so her being charged with murder couldn't be done, but she could be charged with conspiracy to commit murder, along with the other Trotski who were still in custody.
"But that can wait," she said with a sad smile, "today a happy day for your friend, I'll bring this up to him tomorrow most likely."
Nodding her thanks, Twilight and her family made way to sweet Apple Acers.
Spike walked beside Shining Armor as Twilight walked with Cadance.
"How are things in Canterlot?" The drake asked casually.
Shining grimaced. "Could be better."
Spike quirked a brow and prompted Shining to elaborate. Sombra, under the order of Princess Luna, had been released from imperial custody a few days ago.
The drake couldn't believe it, Sombra, the big shadow figure from-
'Easy there, Spike. Remember what we-
Yea, yea, I know. It's just, he knew what he was doing! I didn't! How could Luna just let him go like that? Didn't she see how dangerous he was?
Spike groaned as his inner critic, once again, reminded him of the similarities between himself and Sombra, a notion the drake didn't care for in the slightest, but one he also couldn't argue. It would be hyporitical of him to cast such harsh judgement on Sombra in an arena where he had absolutely no room to talk.
"There... something else." Shining said slowly. "I'm not supposed to tell anypony about this, but you know Soarin? He was on a prison transfer out of the Canterlot dungeons. Something happened and he escaped..."
Spike felt his blood run cold and hot all at once. Soarin... just hearing that name made him sick to his stomach. What he did to Applejack, what he did to Macintosh...
'Spike, chill, now's not the time. Happy day, remember?'
"That's not good." The drake replied, repressing the anger bubbling inside. Today was a happy day, it was a good day, he needed to keep himself in check until it was over, until after the wedding at least. "Don't tell Mac, he's under enough stress as is."
"I wont, but he'll need to know, so will Applejack."
The four entered the market district and passed a green earth pony."
"Wait a sec." Shining said, stopping in place and looking back, Spike followed suite, having seen the pony as well.
"You don't think that was..."
"I do, Blade!"
The green Pony stopped and turned to face them. His typically rough mane was slicked back in an almost presentable display, complimented by the black blazer he was wearing.
"Hey Blade, where are you going? Sweet Apple Acers is that way!" Spike said. Blade chuckled and walked up to the two, mentioning how he was going to pick up his date, unaware that she was the one catering the wedding, and already present there in.
The mistake was quickly rectified and the pony fell in line behind them.
Macintosh escorted Scootaloo back to the farm, constantly on the look out for any danger that might tarnish her beautiful gown. He stole looks at her constantly to see how she was doing. Her face which had started out happily enough, was growing somber and throughtful beneath the crown of flowers that rested atop her head.
She looked worried about something, like she was trying to figure something out. He didn't say anything, hoping she would come to him if she wanted to talk about it, but as the reached the outskirts of the farm, he realized that the hope wouldn't be realized.
"Hey Scoots, ya alrigh'?"
The filly looked up at him and nodded. Mac was afraid she was going to clam up again like she did before, but then she sighed and admitted that there was something on her mind.
"I guess I'm just... a little confused and worried is all."
Taking care not to dirty his blazer, Macintosh knelt down and asked her what was troubling the filly.
The answer hurt to hear, but it was from a place her could understand, a place he could relate to.
"I'm just, I'm kind of confused and scared is all."
"'Bout what?"
Scootaloo sighed. "About you and Annabelle... you know... being my parents."
The stallion kept his face neutral, making an attempt to with hold any sign of judgement. Scootaloo took a moment to collect her thoughts before explaining that she wasn't sure what to make of the situation, about feeling obligated to accept their parent-hood over her and feeling both guilty about putting them in that kind of position, as well as the idea just plain being confusing.
"Don't get me wrong, I like you guys, I really do!" She said hastily. "I just... I don't know."
"Do ya not trust us?"
The question came from left feild, a total shot in the dark with little logic, but a lot of feeling coaxing it. Scootaloo looked up at him in shock. Not indignant shock, but the kind of bewildered shock of having your mind read.
Macintosh gave the foal a small smiled and opened his foreleg, promting Scootaloo to trudge to his embrace. "Ah know how ya feel, Scoots." he said, holding her tightly. "When mah ma n' pa went, Granny Smith offered ta take care o' me 'n mah sisters. Ah didn't know what tah make of it, sometimes ah still don't know tah this day..."
He felt the filly sniffle into his chest, her forelegs squeezing around his ribs.
"What- what did you do?"
Mac sniffled himself, trying to repress the emotional tears of speaking about his late parents. "Ah trusted mah Granny." He swollowed, regaining composure. "Ah trusted in mah family ta take care o' us. Time didn't stop so Ah could figure it all out, no matter how much Ah wanted it to." He paused for a calming breath. "Life is a sad thing sometimes, but Ah knew that Granny was doin' her best to make us happy n' keep us as comfortable as possible. She loved us all, n' we loved her. She wasn't just our Granny Smith who was just there. She became our guardian, our rock, the thing that held the three o' us together n' in line."
He began gently stroking Scootaloo's mane, feeling her sniffling intensify. "She tol' us that family was the most important thing in the world, n' a family needed to be strong, especially after the loss o' loved ones. Ah've never told anypony this, not even Annabelle, but... when they first went, Ah didn't want any part o' my siblings..."
Scootaloo froze in his embrace, making the stallion double guess if this story was a good idea.
'Too late to back out now.'
"It hurt to look at 'em. Applejack looked so much like ma, everytime I'd see her, Ah just get upset for no reason. She would always follow me 'round the pasure, n' part o' me hated her for it." He paused, looking down at Scootaloo who looked up at him. "But one day, Granny sat me down n' told me that ignorin' my sisters wasn't somethin' Ah should be doin'. They were hurtin' just like Ah did. Applejack followed me cause she wanted comfort, cause ah was still there. It was when Ah saw that, even though ma n' pa were gone, there was still ponies that cared 'bout me, that's when Ah realized that shuttin' down n' bein' angry did me jest as much harm as it did everypony else."
Scootaloo looked up in wide eyed curiosity.
"Things were bad already fer us, n' Ah was jest makin' it worse. Once Ah got my head outta my plot, n' started tryin' to be part o' the family again, ah felt happy. Life didn't seem so bad all the time, n'... well, things got better."
Scootaloo sniffled. "But... but what if- what if someone else from your family tried to take you away?" She asked, completely out of the blue.
Suddenly, it all made a great deal of sense. Scootaloo was worried that she might not be able to stay, that something might take her away from the Apple's like life took away her parents. "What if you guys die too?"
Mac crushed her to his barrel, his concern over her gown completely forgotten. "We ain't gonna die, Scoots"
The sniffles came back. "But- but what if-"
"Shhh. ya can't live thinkin' bout the negative stuff like that. If yer too focused on what ya might loose, ya never appreciate havin' it in the first place." He cooed, trying to comfort the filly.
Scootaloo's breathing slowed, her clinging to him also softened and she almost went limp in his grasp, but keeping just enough tension to cling if he dared try to pull away.
"Ah promise ya, Scootaloo, ain't nothin' gonna happen, okay? Ah... Ah love ya too much tah let it..."
The words came out without him meaning to, Scootaloo's grip redoubled itself and she began to cry. Macintosh meant what he said, he'd only had her for less than a month, but... he loved Scootaloo. The two the time had spent together were memories he'd treasure forever. She wasn't his biological foal, he had come to terms with that, but she was still a foal, a foal who was good at heart. She treated the family well, and had a great amount of character and pride to her.
To be her father filled Macintosh with a pride and warmth he'd never before experienced. A happiness that almost brought him to tears.
"You promise?" The filly asked, her voice muffled through his chest. "You promise that you'll stay with me?"
"Ah promise."