//------------------------------// // Reconcile // Story: Scarlet Foal // by Collins4112 //------------------------------// Hello, so I didn't think I would get this out before I went to vacation but I did. So, please read & relax. One day later. The lighter sparked and lit the cigarette. Macintosh took a long drag on it. Braeburn had finally gotten him out of the house and down to the saloon, but all that managed to do was have him out in public drinking and smoking. The lighthearted bar music didn't help his mood. Ditzy consumed all of Macintosh's thoughts, his heavy drinking wasn't helping, but he was willing to keep on trying to drown his sorrows. Braeburn was busy wooing the mares in a nearby booth. He had been trying to get Macintosh to talk to somepony, but after a while of trying he had left him to his moping. Macintosh downed another shot, and the bartender filled it up again, like he had so many times before. "Ya look down, mare troubles?" The bartender asked. Macintosh looked up at the stallion. Macintosh grunted in return, but somehow that was enough for the bartender. "Yeah... If ya are in need of some... company we have lots of mares who would love to roll in the hay with ya." "Nope." Macintosh responded. The bartender shrugged and walked down to the end of the bar to talk to some mares. Macintosh took another drag on a cigarette. As expected the mares at the end of the bar came down to Macintosh. "Hey there, big boy." One of them said. Macintosh didn't look up to see which one it was. Two of them took the seats on both sides of Mac, and one stood behind him. "You look lonely." Macintosh put out his cigarette in the ash tray. The mares were getting closer to him. Another one said seductively: "Why don't you come with us?" "Nope." Macintosh grunted. The mares were getting very close. One of the mares put a hoof very near to a stallion's sensitive area. "Oh come on, I know you want to." The one behind him said. "And I can feel it..." The one with the hoof near his area said. Macintosh's eyes shot open as she touched his sensitive area. "Oooo... You are a big boy." "Go away...please." Macintosh slurred. He didn't think the mares were going to leave him alone. "If Ah give you the money for y'all... services, will ya leave me alone?" "Nope. We're going to have fun with you." They whispered in his ear. Macintosh decided enough was enough and stood up. "Braeburn!" Macintosh called to his cousin. "I'm gonna go." He started to walk, but his vision was blurry, and he was forced to sit back down. The mares surrounded him again: they were like vultures. "Now, ready for a good time?" The mares asked. Macintosh grunted as he downed another shot. ___________ "I can't believe that worked." Ditzy said as the train started to pull away from the station. Carson was looking out the window with his usual happy face and buzzing wings. Dinky was holding her Peashooter doll, or action figure as Peashooter insisted she call it. The plan had just been crazy enough to work. Pinkie Pie had started a party that encompassed the reporters and photographers. Then, while the party was going on, Ditzy and company had snuck out of the house. They almost got away smoothly, but a photographer has spotted them and soon they were caught in a race to the train. They had just managed to get on the train before it left the station. "Of course it worked. I'm the one who made the plan." Carrot Top said. The train was gaining speed as Ditzy checked the map. The train had three stops before it reached Appaloosa: it worked out to be an eight hour train ride. "Now, Appaloosa is pretty far away, so we should probably plan out what you're going to say to him." "Well, I think I should probably tell him that I didn't sleep with Peashooter." Ditzy said. "And he's gonna believe that?" Carrot Top questioned. Ditzy shook her head no. "No...Probably not." Ditzy muttered. Peashooter looked like he had an idea, but he wasn't sharing it. "Pea, do you have anything?" "I...I could tell him I'm gay." He said. Carrot Top raised an eyebrow at this, and Ditzy gave her a look that told her not to say anything. "If you could even get close enough to him to tell him that without him clocking you." Carrot Top said. "So, maybe we can't plan out what to say..." The train pulled itself along steadily. The hours passed and the landscape changed. Carson had fallen asleep in his mother's lap, Dinky was also napping, and Peashooter was quickly succumbing to the rhythmic movements of the train along the tracks, rocking itself gently. Ditzy was too worried to sleep, and Carrot Top wanted to stay awake for her friend. "So what condition do you think he'll be in when we get there?" Ditzy didn't want to think about it. Several worst case scenarios played through her head at once. He could have wanted revenge, and had sex with another mare, or ten mares. He was still quite handsome. She could see him now with so many different mares, slowly forgetting about Ditzy and the family he left. He could have gone crazy and started hurting ponies. He was big and strong and nothing short of the Royal Guard could stop him. He could kill with his kicks if he really wanted to. Another scenario was that he could have...killed himself, but that was too horrible for her to even think about. "I don't want to think about that." Ditzy mumbled. Carrot Top sat back in the bench chair of the passenger car. "You know why I think Macintosh will believe you?" Carrot Top asked. Ditzy gave her a look like she didn't want to talk about it. Carrot Top sighed. "You remember your bachelorette party?" "Yes." Ditzy said, confused by the sudden change in subject. "You remember when Fluttershy asked you 'how he was in bed?'" Carrot Top asked. Ditzy remembered that vividly. She remembered that she tried to shake that question off, but Carrot Top and the other mares wouldn't let her avoid it. So she answered the question. She definitely remembered how hot her face had felt, when they started to ask more questions. "Yeah." Ditzy responded. "You remember what you said that he said every night before you went to bed?" Carrot Top questioned. Ditzy nodded, she knew it, but it wasn't that special. "Ah love you." Ditzy repeated, even copying his drawl. "What about it?" "You know how many couples, married or otherwise, say anything like that before they go to bed? Not many, I'll tell you that. If you go up to him, look him straight in the eye, and say 'I love you,' he will know." Carrot Top explained. "Thank you." ___________ "Ah said no." Macintosh was starting to get frustrated; the bartender had stopped serving him alcohol, the mares still wouldn't leave him alone, and Braeburn had returned to the farm. He wasn't sober enough yet to walk back to the farm, he had downed another mug of the coffee the bartender said would sober him up real quick. The coffee was awful. It wasn't pure; it had several different ingredients that were supposed to help. "Last chance, you're letting the best time you've ever had slip through your hooves." One mare said. Macintosh grunted in return. He was out of cigarettes too, and that wasn't helping his mood any. "Buck off." Macintosh cursed. "Ya hussies have been botherin' me for the past two hours! Ah don't care to roll in the hay with y'all because y'all are whores, so many stallions have been inside ya Ah wouldn't touch ya with a ten foot pole. Now get! I don't want ya to annoy me anymore or we're going to have a problem, bitch." The mares looked like they thought about trying again, but decided against it. Big Macintosh stood. finally sober enough to get himself home. He stumbled out the door. The bright light blurred out all his vision for a moment. He swung by the general store to buy another pack of cigarettes, before walking to Braeburn’s farm. ____________ The train grinded to a halt. Steam hissed into the night. The train was far behind schedule; in fact they had arrived six hours after their scheduled arrival. There had been a breakdown with one of the axles, then the stop in Manehattan had taken longer than expected, and finally, some of the passenger cars had been disconnected from the rest of the train. "Sorry, we're late folks." The conductor said in a tone like he knew he was going to get fired. Ditzy stepped off, carrying both Carson and Dinky, who were sleeping. "Excuse me, Mr. Conductor, but where is the nearest hotel?" Carrot Top asked. The conductor thought for a moment. "I don't believe they have one in Appaloosa. Although I think the saloon has a few rooms to rent." The conductor said as he hopped back on the train, and then he waved his bull's eye lantern to signal the train engineer that they were ready to get moving. The train hissed in response, and lurched at the beginning of its movement. Ditzy looked at the company she kept. Carrot Top looked tired, and Peashooter looked nervous. He knew that a lot of Macintosh's relatives lived in this town. "Come on, let's go." Ditzy said. The saloon was close to the train station so it didn't take long to reach it. Ditzy pushed open the double swinging door to come to a large room with tables and a bar, a few card tables, and a staircase leading up to a second floor. There were a few ponies in the room, most of them drunk and half asleep sitting at the bar. Ditzy walked up to the bartender as he sized her up, then asked: "Y'all looking for a room?" "How did you know?" Peashooter asked. "Ah heard the train arrive. A room will be 10 bits." The bartender said. Ditzy shrugged, the offer was reasonable and she paid the stallion. She received a key in return. They walked up the stairs and into a room that had a number one nailed into the door. The room had two beds, and Carrot Top immediately fell into one and was fast asleep. Ditzy put Carson and Dinky next to her. Peashooter and Ditzy looked at the other bed. "You go ahead; I'm going to get something to drink." Ditzy said. Peashooter looked at her thankfully as he fell into the bed. Before Ditzy could even get out the door she heard Peashooter's breathing becoming deep and even with sleep. She trotted down the stairs and over to the bar. The bartender asked: "Ya look like ya need a gentle drink, help ya sleep, and am Ah right? A hard lemonade sound nice?" Ditzy nodded. She was surprised that the bartender could guess what type of drink she wanted by just seeing her. So she inquired: "How do you do that?" "Ah guess it just comes with experience. Like earlier today, there was this stallion, a large, red colored fella, and cousin to an Apple farmer round here and I could tell just by the way he walked what type of drink he wanted. He wanted whisky, and a lot of it, nearly paid my whole day trying to drown his sorrow." The bartender shared his story. "Orange-ish mane and freckles?" Ditzy asked. The bartender nodded. "That's my husband." "Oh... Ah know it probably not any my business, but did y'all have a fight?" The stallion asked. He took a seat behind the bar, interested in the current conversation. Ditzy thought on it a moment, it truly wasn't any of the bartender's business, but she decided to tell him anyway. "Not exactly... It's a long story..." Ditzy trailed off. "Well, as you can see, Ah'm not particularly busy at the moment, so I have time." The stallion said as he picked up a mug and started to clean it. "Well, I'll just make it short. He thinks I cheated on him." Ditzy gave the very short of it. "Did you?" The bartender asked. "Of course not, but the problem is that I have to convince him that I didn't." Ditzy said. She was still stuck on that, how would she prove that. "That sure is a pickle. Although Ah think he still has some faith in ya." The bartender said. He usually didn't get involved in other's problems, but it was a slow night so he thought 'why not?' Ditzy raised an eyebrow to ask what he meant. "As Ah was saying he was in here and some mares tried for about two hours to get him 'in the roll' but he refused. Ah've never seen anypony not take those mares up on their offer. They are quite tempting." Ditzy was glad that Mac still faithful, even if he thought she wasn't. Ditzy took a drink of the lemonade. After she finished about half the bottle, she started to feel very tired, but before she left she paid for the bottle and left a large tip. "Thank you." "Ya are welcome. Ah hope it works out between ya." _______ Ditzy woke up as soon as the sun started to peer through the window. She had fallen to sleep in the chair that was in the room. Her back hurt from sleeping in a sitting position. Ditzy was surprised to see Carson was already awake, and by the smell, he was in need of a diaper change. Ditzy quickly changed his diaper and got a bottle of milk they had brought with them. Carson sucked down the liquid quickly. He looked up at his mother with his crooked eyes and bubbly smile, and hugged his mother's leg. It warmed Ditzy's heart and gave her new resolve to keep on working to fix the problem she had. Ditzy heard ponies in the room next to theirs. It was quickly evident that a stallion had bought one of the mare's services; before she heard too much else, Ditzy left the room with Carson crawling under hoof. She trotted down to the bar. Ditzy was surprised to see it was the same bartender working. "You're still awake?" Ditzy asked, as she sat at the bar, putting Carson in the chair next to her. "Ah don't get too much sleep anymore, I suppose it's the amount of caffeine I drink." And as if to prove his point he took a long drink from a coffee mug. "Do you know where I can find the Apple family orchard around here?" Ditzy asked. The bartender nodded as he grabbed a napkin and began to draw a map. "Okay, this is the saloon, then you take main street down to the general store, turn right down this road and y'all come up to a fork road, go down the left path, and that will bring you straight to the orchard." The bartender handed her his quickly drawn map. "Thank you." Ditzy said as, she looked down at the map. "No problem, always here for a pony in need." He said, and then went to serve another pony. Ditzy heard some hoof steps coming down the stairs, and she looked up to see Carrot Top and Peashooter coming down, with Dinky right behind. They had a cheap bar breakfast before setting off, following the bartender's map. They saw the rows and rows of apple trees long before they actually reached the farm. They came up to the front gate to the orchard. Ditzy took a deep breath, knowing that there would be a lot of pain and emotion coming out very soon. She shifted her back to get Carson into a comfortable position. Carrot Top put a reassuring hoof on her back. They pushed through the gate and walked up the dirt path to the farm house. Ditzy saw some of the farm workers staring at them. They were Macintosh's relatives, Ditzy vaguely recognized them all, and she knew that they recognized her. She could hear them following, hoping to see what they thought she had coming. They picked up their pace and they quickly reached the farm house. Braeburn was sitting on the attached porch. His eyes wide as he saw who his visitors were. "What are y'all doing here?" He said in a very deep, brooding voice. "I-I've come to see Macintosh." Ditzy responded, trying to sound confident. The farm workers were around them now, waiting to see some difference from their regular days. Braeburn thought on it a moment then called: "Macintosh, somepony is here to see ya." Everypony watched as the front door to the house opened. Ditzy's eye went wide as she saw her husband. He saw her, and stopped in his tracks. He took a drag on a cigarette he held in his mouth, letting a cloud of smoke out on his exhale. Ditzy took a few steps towards him. He just stood there, unmoving, his face emotionless. Ditzy looked into his half open eyes. "Go away." Macintosh grunted. He looked down, unwilling to meet her gaze. Ditzy didn't move from her spot. "Mac, I didn't sleep with him." She tried. "Yeah, right. Ah suppose you just ended up in the same bed by accident." Macintosh mumbled. "It was an accident!" Peashooter shouted. He flew in between Ditzy and Macintosh. Big mistake. "She flew into a tree and I was just watching over her, and-" He didn't finish, because Macintosh punched him right in the face. He flew about ten feet before hitting the ground with a horrible thunk. He didn't get up: he was out cold. "Why did you do that, Daddy?" Dinky ran up to him. That caught him off guard, and he accidentally showed emotion. Ditzy saw the pain that he was holding back. He quickly regained his emotionless face. "Cause your momma's a whore." Macintosh said. Ditzy felt like her heart had just been torn out. He had never, ever said a harsh word about her. Dinky looked up at Ditzy, a confused look on her face. "W-what's that?" Dinky stuttered. Before Macintosh could answer Ditzy pushed Dinky aside. She took a deep breath looked in straight in the eyes. "I love you." She said clearly. She didn't know what she expected. She hoped that that he would see the honesty and sincerity she had in her eyes and believe her. Macintosh looked at her a moment. He opened his mouth, and she thought he was going to say something, but instead he blew smoke in her face. "Braeburn, is the still running?" Macintosh called to his cousin. Braeburn nodded. Macintosh started to walk into the apple rows. Ditzy wasn't going to give up so easily, so she followed him. She brought Carson with her in hopes that their foal would help convince him, while Carrot Top stayed to look over Peashooter with Dinky. She knew Macintosh saw her following him, but he didn't say anything. She followed him to a shed with one wall missing and a still inside. Macintosh turned a valve and a clear liquid poured out and into a jar. He turned the valve and the liquid stopped. He took a long drink of it. Ditzy thought for a moment then recognized that it was a moonshine still. "What are ya still doin' here? Go away." He said between drinks. "Macintosh, please, believe me, I didn't have sex with him." Ditzy said. "Peashooter is a homosexual." "Lies!" Macintosh hissed at her. "Mac..." Then she heard a hissing sound. Macintosh's eyes shot wide open before he tackled Ditzy. Then the still exploded and the world went black. Well, I'm off to Hawaii. A twelve hour flight, yay. I hoped you enjoyed. I'll be back on the 24th. Thank you all for your time. Thanks go out to my Beta Reader.